Manny Maldonado organized an invite-only run on Thursdays at the Boys’ Club of New York in the Lower that unites entertainment/apparel industry folks with the BCNY staff to make connections that ultimately help the city’s youth
After a one-week hiatus, it was the Manny and Will show at 4 da love run in Harriman gym. They both looked about 12 years younger. Despite games going to seven, it looked like both of them dropped fiddy. Londie made his 4 da love run debut. Bobbito drained a bomba from Harlem. There was no clear dynasty last week as everybody took at least one L. There were two disappearing acts last week. First Amar vanished into the realm of a shade under a role player after I punched one of his lay-ups (and with it, his confidence) to Boys’ Club’s Gerry clubhouse in El Barrio. Second, Disco Dave aka Shooter 2’s performance left me with no choice but to question where he got his nickname. Disco Dave couldn’t toss the rock in the East River last week. Check out some images of top play nominees and a recap of the not-so-top plays.
Top play nominees include: every time Manny or Will put up a shot (pretty, ugly or somewhere in between) chances were that shot was gonna find the bottom of the net; Sam drove to the cup for an elusive reverse scoop-d-loop as he lead his squad to an improbable dub; Anthony showed up and played well after shaking off the injury he suffered on 9/18; On the low, Anthony might have the most wins of any current 4 da love run baller; Bobbito grilled his defender for giving him too much cushion before he drained a long distance trey (yes, I was guarding him); John, assistant coach of the Academic All-Stars squad this year, drained open jumpers and demonstrated fundamental basketball by boxing out, setting picks and showing off the form on his pull-up; Will scored about 4 straight buckets at one stretch, dribbling between and around defenders before strong finishes that would make Sean proud; My Greg Oden-esque block on Amar shattered his dreams; Manny hit Bobbito with the Boom-Bam, Ah-Man killa crossover (see image below) and, to throw salt, he finished the bucket; and Will challenged the much taller Keith at the baha and won with a dubious lay-up.
Will attacks the butta for another bucket; he probably led all scorers
As for the not-so-top-plays: I attempted one of the all-time ugliest finger rolls when I flicked the ball toward the rim from just inside the foul line (yes, I bricked it); the two biggest men in the gym made more calls than they scored points; and Disco Dave, who considers himself the premier shooter at the Boys’ Club of NY, displayed Shaq-Fu from all over the court.
Manny teaches the Wham-Bam-Thank-You-Ma’am Cross
It was a quality, competitive run last week and all the games were close. The Jon Lopez Roast that took place after the run was hilarious. All I have to say is I’m workin’ on jokes for everybody this week, so be ready! As usual, feel free to add anything I forgot or add to what’s already mentioned. Stay tuned for next week…
Who can come up with the best caption for the picture of Manny crossin’ Bobbito? Post it here!
October 8th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
funkalot says:
Jon,
This was a fun piece and as for my man Bob, “Stuff Happens”: DJ Unhappy Feet, my mind is open but my feet won’t follow. Just joking, Amigo!
October 8th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
jon, you’re really killing me! haha! okay, let me first tell our younger readers that my mistake guarding manny on the play was reaching for the ball. as you see, it left me off balance, allowing him to get by me on the his left. caption suggestion, “hey mannny–let me shake your hand for making helping me get baked on my own website for the rest of the week!’
will laying up lekeith on that play was pure beauty, although somewhat lucky. the next possession, he tried dribbling through four defenders, got ripped, adn we lost the game. he apologized to me for being tired, so how we got that scoop shot past 6′5″ high jumping lekeith who played D1 at Southern Illinois, i’ll never know!
jon, your finger roll had no butter on it, like a burnt piece of rye toast that not even my mom could scrape the black crumbs off with a machete’. i vomited later on in the cab remisniscing about how 1950s-esque it looked. wilt chamberlien’s butter rolls resembled yours, but he invented the shot so i give him a go-free pass.
oh, and you can’t guard me. at all. i drove past you everytime, no problem. you did play outrageously well at our SBL game sunday, how come that player doesn’t show up to bcny, your own homecourt?!!! hahaha
my man
October 8th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
oh, and one more thing . . . you shoot better with your camera than you do with a basketball! great photos! haha! and your boxer shorts with the reindeer print were terrible. do your towels at home have the same print? we were all supposed to donate those to red cross once we graduated from high school my dude. please, if you’re gonna wipe the sweat off your forehead, use a headband/wristband instead of lifting your reversible. that was an ugly site. wow.
October 8th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Sean says:
WOW…..Bob, absolutely slayed you, Jon. I’m giving eveyone fair warning, the boss of the bosses is back this thursday. Scream at me…………..
October 8th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Jon says:
What we have here is a situation where an outraged baller is showing symptoms of misplaced frustration and a failed attempt to shift the attention away from where it belongs. Yes, my finger roll was gross. Agreed. Yes, Bobbito drove past me on many an occasion and even drilled a jumper in my grill piece. My only question is: why attack me? I’m not the one who crossed Bobbito into the cab he threw up in. I didn’t hit Bob with the Boom Bam, Ah Man! killa cross. I didn’t tell Bob to reach. I didn’t even hype Manny up to execute such a debilitating move while Bob was guarding him. That was all Manny Maldonado. Bob, you should be giving Manny the credit he’s due for cracking you the way he did. If Nike came out with a sneaker called the “Hypercross,” then Manny could’ve shot the commercial with that move he put on you. But, if insulting me makes you feel better…
As for Ralph returning this week, I just hope he guards me - I wanna have the kind of day Manny & Will had last week and Ralph guarding me will inevitably lead to that or worse.
October 13th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Feets Malone says:
I agree with Jon (for probably the first time ever!) there’s a lot of misplaced aggression here by the elder statesman! We’ve been doing this a long time and making a contested lay up is nothing new, but to call it luck is a borderline outrage. But rightfully so and to back Bob up - he’s never been known for his Sprewell esque Alabama defense, but I’m just saying….FOR THE LOVE!!!!
October 29th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
mid range james says:
Hahaha Jon good stuff man… shoulda checked out your blogs sooner.
Keep it up and if you need a lesson on jumpers you know who to call!