Together We Chill 2009

Where can you see the likes of Kareem “’Reem wit it, Rock wit it” Reid, Antawn “Anti-Freeze” Dobie, Kenny “Serious Satellite” Satterfield, John “Franchise” Strickland, “The Cab Driver,” “Baby Shaq” and other big names in the summer in NYC? Well, actually, Dyckman, Kingdome, Tri-State, and EBC are some of the tournaments where you will find these guys gettin’ busy. But there’s another, less talked-about, tournament where one can find these elite ballers: Together We Chill. Located in the heart of El Barrio on 119th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenue, TWC might be one of the most slept-on tournaments in the city. Read More »

By Jonathan Lopez

Photo by Jon Lopez

Championship crowd at Dyckman, 8/20/09

Someone in the crowd joked that there was a record crowd of about 24,000 for the 19th-annual Dyckman championship Thursday night. He probably wasn’t that far off. The crowd was so thick there was no out of bounds line. In fact, the crowd took up about one-third of the court and the players had to adjust. Coaches were forced to operate almost from the foul line extended. The ambiance was streetball at its core. Fans were in the trees and on rooftops. Escalating shouts of, “Yeeeeaaaaahhhh,” for every one-on-one opportunity filled the air. Cars triple – not double – parked in the streets. Announcer/Commissioner/Coach/Founder Kenny Stevens called the game from atop the scorer’s table just so he could see. Read More »

By Jonathan Lopez

Playoff action at Dyckman intensified Monday as Posse took on the Kingdome Ballers. On paper it wouldn’t have been far fetched to think tthe Kingdome Ballers would make it look easy against Posse because of their star-studded line-up, which included Kendel “World Premiere” Provet, Kenny “Serious Satellite” Satterfield, Total Package and Kareem “Best Kept Secret” Reed.

However, Posse’s Kash and Mike “Get 2 It” Tuitt, who dropped 20 apiece, made things complicated for the Kingdome Ballers. In the end, though, ‘Reem’s game-high 21 points and K-Satt’s 5 treys en route to 19 were too much for Posse, who dropped a close one, 78-76. The Kingdome Ballers and TNP will battle it out tonight for a trip to the championship game. Read More »

UConn’s Kemba Walker is having a solid freshman campaign. Photo: tommymac.com.

Now I realize I’m not exactly breaking news when I say UConn point guard Kemba Walker’s future looks bright. I’ve seen the Bronx native play in person a few times now (at last year’s McDonald’s game and at West 4th a couple times this past summer). But I can’t describe how impressed I was seeing “EZ Pass” first-hand at Wednesday’s UConn Marquette game. Read More »