The 2008 summer season is in the books and here’s what I saw this summer on the street.
Top 10
1. Ron “Apocolypto” Artest – Played in every tournament in the city with a rep. Did not take a night off earning permanent respect from the streets of NY.
2. Antawn “Anti-Freeze” Dobie – Put the “autochop” on the X-Men in the Nike tournament of champions with a 44-point display that was the best individual performance of the summer. Winner of the playoff MVP in the Tri-State Classic.
Top Performance of the Year – Antawn Dobie @ Nike TOC
3. Mike “King of NY” Campbell – Nike Tournament of Champion MVP and a potent professional scorer. Controls the tempo from the forward position and puts daggers in the heart of his opponents on the regular. Many feel he’s number 2.
4. Darren “DP” Phillips – His block game dominated this summer and no one rebounded like him either. Took on the personal challenge and out-dueled the
the Glover brothers at Tri-State cementing a chip off a clutch offensive rebound.
5. Corey “Homicide” Williams – Before he left for Australia, Homicide was the top performer of the summer. Had a sick week in the middle of July, averaging 40 a game, capping it off with a 44-point performance against Ron Artest.
Read More
6. Quinton “T2″ Hosely – “Q” scored at will but didn’t show the same
dominance displayed last year. However, he is the most NBA-ready playground performer
in the city and his Real Madrid showing could backpack him to a NBA big-money contract real soon.
7. Mike “I-Robot” Glover – Shook off early season rust and played above the rim on offense and defense. Showed strong intensity and focus in close games.
8. Kenny Satterfield – Satterfield is also a dedicated playground pro who shows up everywhere to play. His game isn’t flashy, but his numbers go unchallenged.
9. Sundiata Gaines – Power guard who showed range and superior handles. Strong transition player who is a monster on both ends of the floor.
10. Kareem “Iron Chef” Reid – The King of “chop” had a down year
chip-wise, but his high handle never gets stripped. Reid had to lead all guards this
summer in assists.
September 3rd, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Azucar says:
Solid list of players. Artest was literally a beast this Summer. Gotta mention Andre 3000 Barrett, he did his thing at Pro City.
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
funkalot says:
Great List,
I agree with Artest as number 1. he was the player of the summer. Kareem Reid is a sketchy choice, I might have chosen Corey Fisher, Kiwan Smith, Andre Barrett, smush parker or will cadiz, in his place.
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Brooklyn says:
Great list but keep smush off this list thank you and this kid hardy needs more exposure get off the beach and come too pro-city.
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:08 pm
splash20 says:
good list. would’ve liked to have seen fx, darryl hill, or cab driver instead of reem reid.
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Kenny Patt says:
God Shammgod killed the Tri-State, but it seems this list also takes into account the total # of tournaments played which makes sense to me.
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:47 pm
PFTB says:
Ron Artest is definitely # 1.What player WITH an NBA contract loses a front tooth and dives for loose balls on CONCRETE/ASPHALT?Saw him flip while going for loose ball at Dyckman.I said this man must’ve forgot he got a spot in the League.Good list Sean,as long as you got the “Tru- Warier” at the top.
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:05 pm
mr. k1x says:
almost perfect list, u gotta have cab-driver in there over gaines. that kid is a problem
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:06 pm
mr. k1x says:
gordy malone also had a great summer
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
sean-
i think your list #1-5 is stellar and without compromise. msg summerball asked me to do a top 5 for our show, and i gave them the exact same names. as for the second five, yes, there’ll be arguments and other opinions, but it’s solid. andre barrett had an amazing summer, however his teams didn’t win as often as some of the other players. some of that isn’t his fault, but still has to go into consideration. cab driver was a problem whether at hoops in teh sun, kingdome, or together we chill. geno lawrence ‘built ford tough’ deserves recognition, too. in fact, theer are too many people to mention.
great job sean!
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Mr. Jon Lopez says:
I agree with the list for the most part. Honorable mention should go to Tommy Eddie aka “Tommy Guns” for his consistent play that ultimately helped X-Men earn the Tournament of Champions chip. Since the X-Men are so well rounded and unselfish, their numbers don’t jump out and it’s easy to overlook some of those guys. Tommy Guns took his defender to the block relentlessly and when that got too easy, or when X-Men needed it, he stepped out and knocked down the trey bomb from deep. He was one of my favorite players to watch this summer.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:03 am
Elliot Rosado says:
This was a great summer season. I agree with the Ron Artest being number one on the list. He has set the scale very high for when these N.B.A. Players come out here and don’t want to go hard. They will here it from the crowd. I think the kid J-Hi deserves some consideration. The return of the God shamgod Wells was great for the streets. The cab driver was good but i watched plenty of games where he did not come through crunch time.
September 4th, 2008 at 9:37 am
ali says:
thanks sean, for keeping us native ny’ers up and current. i wish i could get home more and check out summer ball, but at leat you’ll always let us know what time it is.
September 4th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
ken says:
nyc is stock piled with great streetball players at this current juncture. so i can see why it would be difficult to pick JUST 10. BUT, just difficult, not impossible!
certain players that have been selected i would not support enlight of some of their great performances in limited t’ments. this fact is the main reason i find some of the selections being suspect.
for instance, mike campbell. i mean come on, i know he is friends/confidants of alot of you guys and slam mag as well as nike but lets be forreal. antawn dobie shouldve been NYC NIKE 2008 summer tment player of the year hands down (he played in ALL NIKE tments and not 2) kareem reid = no chips, no list! homicide only appeared half of the summer….you guys make a criteria but never stick to it, mike glover who is known as optimus prime in most cases, is #7? the kid won TWO CHAMPIONSHIPS and was in the finals of 2 others and cant get past #7? and P.S., what the HELL happened to the cab driver and kemba walker and dwight hardy and corey fisher????????? cab driver scores 65 at HITS, kemba and hardy kill dyckman during the HITS all-stars vs dyckman all-stars game and hardy gives satterfield 54 and 38 in the same season and fisher just flat out owned dyckman this summer…
bouncemag…whos ever came up with this list needs to bounce!!!
September 4th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
ken says:
dp is primal fear, artest is new world order, glover is optimus prime, satterfield is serious satellite,
September 4th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Sean Couch says:
Ken,
I respect your opinion, however these choices rewarded players who played in several tournaments around the city. Barrett and Hardy put up great numbers as did the cab driver and fisher, however based on overall tournament appearances and professional playground presentation, these ten showed the most consistent and solid ball. Also, Cab Driver and Kemba out of all these players have solid pro potential and were tough to leave off along with Keydren Clark but as u know, in the heat of the street
it’s how many times u show up that the crowd respects.
Sean Couch did the list Ken.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:49 am
DJ Rod says:
So if Homicide would have stayed in NYC instead of coming over here to help my team, The Townsville Crocodiles, win a ring (hopefully) – would he have pushed Ron Ron for number 1?
September 5th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Sean Couch says:
Rod:
When Corey left, he was neck and neck with Ron and
had the upper hand after the 44 point direct confro…
the knock on Homi is winning chips. its the reason Reid is called ‘ big game’ and proven, shown respect by the coaches on the street. Reem is still the first guard asked for if money is on the line.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Sean Couch says:
DJ
Have a great season, with Corey u get one other toughest competitiors and proven winners on the pro level. With his NBDL chip experience and his improved jumper, the league has a problem. as u know, the playground of the city of NY is always a great place to get your game up and chips dont come easy, ask ron artesr who after many years won his first PRO CITY chip this year.
September 6th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
187onyadial says:
found this video at johnrillie.com. Corey Williams responds to Bounce Mag.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4Il3bP6hUg
September 7th, 2008 at 1:23 am
1pac fan says:
rashard bell is the best small forward in the city nobody talks about…has a better overall game than t2…more athletic than campbell…
you cant put some of these guy on this list who play in 1 or 2 tourney’s….the undertaker is for sure top 10…him not being on that list is insane, shame on you sean couch….every big game moneytrain played he delivered…big time
mike glover, not sure he’s top 10….havent seen him put that bookbag on…like the dudes in the streets say…he always plays with an artest or a reid so he’s never the focal point…
September 7th, 2008 at 1:25 am
1pac fan says:
oh yea….yadda gaines played in about 7 games all summer & made top 10….sean couch, you are trippin’ man….WOW
September 8th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Da rebeL I-N-S says:
If you take away homicide…
This is a straight up nike list! Everyone here gets “product” from nike…who sponsors bounce…Hmmmm
Damn, politics in streetball
And –this isn’t the 1st time I heard about this! I heard that queens team got cheated in the tourney of champs a few weeks back because a few guys on their team wear k1x!
September 8th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Dan the Man says:
Corey; Live from AUSTRALIA !
September 9th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Sean Couch says:
Yada Gaines played in Pro-City, Tri-State, and EBC. Playing in the chip at EBC, Pro-City and the semi-finals at Tri-State.
September 10th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Da rebeL I-N-S says:
Yes..he played 3, maybe 4 in hunter
2,3 in 145th
And 1, maybe 2 at a washed up ebc
Couch, you know better! Other guys put in way more work
So I guess if they screaming your name at nike pro city, you’re top 10? Because it seems playing everywhere and posting big numbers means nothing…look where you put kenny satt…
The message I get is:
Screw the #’s of places you put your work in…just go to hunter and score 30 a week or two and you’re top 10!
September 26th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Sean Couch says:
INS:
TOC represents the essence of competition and good sportsmanship. While i didn’t agree with the quick techs on J-Hi that put Money Train at a disadvantage, to make political and a “sneaker chase”statements is wack. Nike indeed sponsors but the MEN behind it are about straight comp, the organizers of the tournament are tournament heads, they live and breathe it, so I have to disagree.
Also, Brian “20″ Woodward did solid, solid work this summer and throughout the years he has not got the rec is deserves. He out of all people has a right to beef with me because of his omission from the list.
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:30 am
troj says:
it’s not all nike when it comes to the guys in the top 10
http://blog.k1x.com/basketball/nyc-top-10/
December 17th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Sean Couch says:
K1X —
Good post and respect for those who support playground ball
in the city.