(Monday, July 13th) Undefeated Angie Martinez All-Stars faced off against James Ryan’s Prime Time squad in the first game of the week. It came down to a defensive battle as Anthony “Africa” Pimble was held to takeoff at half-court. Adris “2 Hard 2 Guard” Deleon came out hitting shot after shot and looking like his typical scoring-self. He finished with 22 points as Angie Martinez’s All-Stars held onto an 8-point halftime lead and closed the gap in the second half for the 70-56 victory. Africa added 13 points and a couple explosive dunks in the third and fourth quarter, as he did what he always does in bringing the crowd to their feet for an entertainer’s performance at the Entertainer’s Basketball Classic. Chris Grant scored 13 points for Prime Time and Brian Addison chipped in 10 points. The highlight of the game came when James “Speedy” Williams showed up and played in the second half. Speedy, a playground legend, still had the fire to put his heart into the game as he did in the 1990s.

—

(Tuesday, July 14th) Not only did Team 914 (most of them) come from Westchester County (New Rochelle, Mt. Vernon, Yonkers, etc) to play at Rucker Park but on Tuesday only SIX players suited up. Tru Warriors, that team from Queens / Queensbridge, came to play with more youth and fresh legs ready to outrun Coach Oliver’s team. Jamel B. and Money Quentin combined for 23 points in the third quarter and finished with 22 and 21 points respectively as Ron Artest’s Tru Warriors were looking for their first win of the season at the EBC. Although Team 914 only had six players, they all worked hard and played team basketball; all six players ended up scoring in double figures! As if it weren’t enough, they made a HUGE second half push and dropped 35 points in the fourth quarter alone — which is almost as much as what they had at halftime (42 points)! Kirk Williams led the pack in scoring with 23 points and Kyle Cuffe contributed 20 points. To round out the unstoppable six, Aaron “The Problem” Williams scored 19 points, Will Cadiz added 15 points, former Providence prodigy Donnie McGrath dropped 14 points (with 3 trays in the 3rd quarter), and Kenny McMillan chipped in 13 points for Team 914’s 104-91 win over the Tru Warriors. AJ West scored 18 points and Anthony Cox provided 14 points in the loss.

—

(Wednesday, July 15thGAME 1) MSG-TV was in the park and ready to film a full-capacity crowd and two great matchups. In the first game, Chris Brown’s All-Stars (also known as The Posse) squared away against Danny’s All-Stars. Despite rumors that Chris Brown was going to show up and play, his team put on a show regardless that showcased its talent. Tayshawn Valentine scored 15 points with a perfect 5 for 5 free-throw shooting in the 2nd quarter, while Karl Sanders added 10 points, connecting on 6 of 6 free throws in the fourth quarter to help pull Chris Brown’s [the] Posse to a 77-65 victory over Danny’s All-Stars. In attendance from Washington D.C. [Silver Spring, MD], Randy “White Chocolate” Gill scored 14 out of his 15 points in the fourth quarter but it wasn’t enough as the other leading scorers for Danny’s team, Malloy “Future” Nesmith (8 points) and Jazz “Total Package” Mansell (7 points), combined for the same amount of points–15.

—

(Wednesday, July 15thGAME 2) After earning a win on Monday, Angie Martinez All-Stars were ready to come out and make the push to go 2-0 in only one week at the EBC. The crowd stayed for the second game and packed all four seating areas, prompting security to enforce a “sit down policy,” so that everyone could enjoy the game no matter his or her view. Team Cam’ron was the opponent today but has been struggling without a win despite loads of talent in stars Kareem Reid, A-Butta, Alimoe aka the Black Widow, Mike Smith (son of streetball legend “El Dorado,” and Kenyatta Brown to name a few. With guards galore, a new prodigy arose for the dynamic Dipset team in forward Kavon Jones. After a slow first quarter, the tempo switched in favor of Team Cam’ron and a 52-44 lead at halftime. K. Jones was just heating up in the paint. The deadly duo on the blacktop–Adris “2 Hard 2 Guard” Deleon and Anthony “Africa” Pimble did what they do best. Africa pulled out his high-flying action and 2 Hard 2 Guard was on fire from everywhere! He would come down, dribble, crossover, jumper! This happened for…26 points. Africa helped on the defensive end and scooped up 12 points, while doing so. Although A-Butta (12 points) and 2 Hard 2 Guard had many clear-outs, the factor was K. Jones. [MC] EJ Da Mayor so desperately wanted to give K. Jones a nickname but nothing stuck that sounded good. The forward was the solution to Cam’ron’s problems. Unfortunately at 8:32 left in the fourth quarter (and only at 10:20pm), the lights went out. The game will be rescheduled for a later date with Team Cam’ron looking for its first win of the summer at the EBC.

—
(Thursday, July 16th) NO MEN’S GAME(S) SCHEDULED

**NOTE – ALL Photography of EBC at Rucker Park (Summer 2009) By: Casey Lee

MEN’S UNLIMITED

~Division A~

(2-0) Sean Bell All-Stars
(3-1) Team 914
(2-1) Chris Brown All-Stars
(1-1) Hustle Hard
(1-2) Danny’s All-Stars
(0-4) Tru Warriors

—

~Division B~

(3-0) Angie Martinez All-Stars
(3-1) Ether Boys
(2-2) Prime Time
(1-1) Evil Training
(0-2) DJ Webstar All-Stars
(0-3) Team Cam’ron

—

Week 5 Scores:

(Mon) Angie Martinez 70, Prime Time 56

(Tue) Team-914 104, Tru Warriors 91

(Wed) Chris Brown 77, Danny’s All-Stars 65

(Wed) GAME PPD DUE TO NO LIGHTS in the 4th Quarter with 8:32 left – Game Stopped at: Team Cam’ron 83, Angie Martinez 73

(Thu) NO MEN’S GAME