Red Cafe & Pete Rock
“THE HEART & SOUL OF NEW YORK CITY”
A K1X film by Kevin Couliau
Yes, it’s about that time. Rain, sleet and snow have made way for the sun, long evenings and fresh sneakers. Early may, when Europe’s hardwood champions have been crowned and the NBA playoffs shift into full gear, marks the inofficial start of the real basketball season: the streetball season! That’s when reputations are made, nicknames are born and every ballplayer naturally gravitates towards that “thump”, “thump” sound of his or her home court. Playground basketball is where it all started. Playground basketball is where talent is honed and friendships are made. It’s where neighborhoods gather and where skills and sweat are a currency. That’s especially true for the mecca of basketball, New York City. Nowhere else do streetball tournaments, players and games attract a quasi-religious following. Dollars, pride and bragging rights are on the line. Believe the hype!
Here’s a recent video made by Nicolas de Virieu, the most prolific Basketball filmmaker we have in France. He has followed the Slam Nation and Kadour Ziani since day one.
On Oct. 17, Kadour Ziani turned 36. Better known as the Flying man, Zianimal, the Dunkfather or whatever nickname he earned the past 20 years, the French-Algerian 5′11″ dude kept doing his thing on the worldwide courts: double windmill, 360° over people, kick the rim and other signatures moves acclaimed by numerous athletes and dunk fans.
Before getting this status of “legendary dunker,” Kadour played soccer professionally, broke some records in high jumping, played volleyball and handball. (He has this talent of being good at any discipline.)
Recently, he was invited to Phoenix, Arizona, to shoot a training DVD with Sport Videos, a distribution and production company specializing in multi-sport DVDs.
In this video Kadour will reveal some of his secrets to improving your body strength, suppleness, footwork and of course vertical leap.
Available Dec. for $30 on Sport Videos
Since Nike launched its Ballers Network, a lot of active ballers and activists went frustrated seeing the lack of possibilities and evolution of the platform. Nike filters everything and the information is provided by some magazines in the few countries represented. Obviously we need more than a small Facebook application, many of us had this idea of identifying all the best basketball courts on earth, websites like Basketsession.com in France already made a tremendous work on the French scene, and a couple of other websites started to list some playgrounds.
yesterday’s game was a night to remember at together we chill! major electricity among the crowd and players. thrills & chills in bunches. the first game of the semi-finals saw kareem reed’s & a-butta’s squad “piff unit” go up against the talented youngsters from “t.o.s.”. an incredible energy spread from the court, as each move by harlem’s own kareem “big game” reid and adrian “a-butta” walton was celebrated by the hyped crowd. piff unit lead by 10 til the end of the 4th quarter, but t.o.s. hustled back into the game with ferocious full court d – and came up with some valuable possessions. piff unit was still ahead by one point (78:79) with just 25.3 seconds left on the clock. kareem reid sliced thru the paint and finished with a beautiful teardrop, bucket! 78:81. then t.o.s. got fouled in traffic but only connected once from the charity stripe. but t.o.s. hustles up the rebound with just 5 seconds remaining. one pick for the point guard, get some space behind the three point line, throw a prayer, bottom of the net! it’s a wrap: 82-81 comeback victory for t.o.s.
next semi-finals tonight at 6pm: don’t miss it at together we chill (119th between 2nd and 3rd avenue).
That’s a good thing when you’re doing tourism, you always find some cool playgrounds, especially in New York. The other day I was lucky to fall on this beautiful court on the Hudson River park. A brand new playground with a nice view on the New Jersey skyline, what else ?!
People already told me the competition over there wasn’t that good. That’s why we’re gonna try to bring the players there tonight.
For those available tonight from 8pm to Midnight , come over the court for some action.
Court is located on Canal Street and West Side Highway, you can’t miss it.
I already introduced Samy Ameziane aka ” Le comte de bouderbala” on bouncemag.com. But recently a documentary has been made about his atypical career, mixing basketball and stand-up comedy shows.
“Bring your game, not your name” , a simple statement printed on dozen of tees, summarizing well the philosophy that was reigning around the 7th edition of the Quai 54. Still sponsored by Jordan Brand and Foot Locker, the biggest intertionnal streetball competition came back this year gathering more than 5000 people on two days with the usual mix of strong basketball, Hip Hop entertainment and some unexpected surprises.
French ballplayer Kevin Couliau a.k.a. "Whatever" has a unique vision. His career started with sneaker reviews on www.basketsession.com; he then took part in the launch of France's b-ball freshness Reverse Magazine. Always on the move, he photographs European streetball for www.Asphalt-chronicles.com and www.Freshoops.com. A long-time contributor to Bounce's print issues, KC still finds time to put down the lens and pen and go to the hole!
