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 »

Adris “2 Hard 2 Guard” DeLeon scored 21 points to lead the Uptowners.

It was difficult to figure out why Adris “2 Hard 2 Guard” DeLeon had a little smirk on his face as he stepped onto the court at Hunter College Thursday evening. After all, his winless Uptowners were taking on undefeated Gold’s Gym, which suited up former Duke star Jason Williams and former first-team all ACC selection Julius Hodge, in addition to studs Mike “Optimus Prime” Glover and Gary Ervin. Perhaps DeLeon knew something no one else did because two hours later, the smile was still there.

In the biggest upset of the summer, the Uptowners defeated Gold’s Gym, 107-106.

DeLeon led the guys in powder blue with 21 points, and James Roberts added 19 and 11. Read More »

Coach John “The Franchise” Strickland instructs some of his Gold’s Gym players.

Yi Jianlian did something Tuesday night that NBA players Marko Jaric, Speedy Claxton and even Michael Beasley couldn’t avoid when they played at Pro City last year. The 6-11 Nets forward managed not to get booed.

But while Yi put up a solid 23 points in limited action for Dyckman, it was Mike “Optimus Prime” Glover and Gary Ervin who were the real stories. Glover dropped 32 points and Ervin added 29 as Gold’s Gym defeated Dyckman, 114-104. Read More »