THE DREAM LEAGUE
National Basketball Tournaments
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New York Renegades 68, New York Cruisers 67 |
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Renegades Outlast Cruisers in Double OT | |||||
December 17, 2006 - Brooklyn, NY (DL) - There was some sick sense in us that never wanted to see this game end. Ever. Play on till 2007. Why not? When something is this good, who wants to see it end? Well, aside from the rule in Dream League that says games that go to a third overtime end in sudden death, we were real close to still being there right now. But we had to settle. Settle for a double overtime classic that will be remembered as the game that pulled out all the stops in terms of rule book reference down the wire. Believe it or not, there has never been a game that went past double OT around these parts and as it looked like we might be headed to a third extra session, a sideline sage had to remind the scorer's table that DL rules dictated that sudden death was applied if the 2nd OT ended in a deadlock.
At the end of regulation, when Renegade forward Gene Kim hit the deck and was concussed for a bit, he had to leave the game and the Cruisers got to pick a free throw shooter of their choice off the Gade bench to shoot Kim's shots. They picked right in picking Mark Lee, who missed both, and as a result, the game would go into a first overtime. But that rule had to be clarified by going on Google and looking up the obscure NBA rule of what happens when an injured player cannot shoot free throws. It was the only time we've ever seen the officials table needing to call "upstairs" to clarify a ruling. And lastly, but perhaps most importantly, was the fact that the Cruisers carried a thin bench (just one sub) and saw two players - CB Liu and then Tony Hu - foul out. That left them with just four players, but because Liu fouled out with 4:35 in regulation, and Hu followed with just over a minute remaining, Hu was allowed to stay on the court so that the Cruisers could have 5 players, but the rule whereby any foul committed by the fouled out player would result in a technical and the ball for the other team, was enforced. So all the odd rulings were in affect, but an odd game it was not. In fact, it was a great game - by far the greatest in the the playoffs, if not the entire tournament. Oh, the Renegades won by the way. After all the dust had cleared, the Gades got the best of their arch rivals, 68-67, and advanced to the Finals.
This game pretty much started as a one-on-one match as in the 1st, Eddie Wang dropped 3 threes on his way to 11 points to Hu's own 11 (5-5 from the line) for the Cruisers, resulting in a 17-16 Renegade quarter. Mika Ohiorhenuan provided a big spark in the 2nd as he scored 6 points for the Cruisers, but James Choi scored 6 of his own to finish the half with 10 and the Renegades ended the half up 35-31. Some fine basketball was being played, and for the Renegades, it got finer in the 3rd as they went a very efficient 6 of 9 from the field as the lack of a Cruiser bench seemed to start to wear on them. David Cheng scored 5 big points in the 3rd to keep the Cruisers in it, but as Liu and Hu started to get into foul trouble, by the 4th period, the Renegades were controlling a 51-43 lead. But as sure as the sun sets, the tournament's #2 seeds came back on the #3 seed. Hu found his second wind and scored 8 points in the 4th and Stan Yeung and Ohiorhenuan provided stifling defense as the Renegades fell apart at the most inopportune time and put up a 2 of 10 quarter.
If not for Joe Kim, the Cruisers would have clinched this game at this point, even with Liu and Hu fouling out. Kim scored 7 points - all 7 of the Renegade points - in the quarter and they had to consider themselves lucky that regulation even ended in a 60 all tie after Lee missed those free throws and everyone else went 0 for 4 from the field. How the Renegades, outside of Joe Kim, managed to attempt just 4 shots over an entire period is beyond comprehension. In the 1st overtime, only Lee and Quincy Tso could find buckets for their teams and so we progressed to the 2nd OT knotted at 62. In the 2nd OT, Joe Kim scored early for the Renegades to put them up 64-62. Hu got a hoop inside but missed the harm to leave the game tied. Wang then penetrated the lane to put the Gades back up 66-64. And Hu got back to the line and split two that left the Cruisers trailing by one, 66-65.
Choi made good on two free throws for a 3-point lead and Hu would score inside again, but the final seconds ticked away without the Cruisers getting a final look and the exhausting ball game was wrapped. Hu, in an otherwise brilliant game - he had 30 points on 10/17 FG and 11 rebounds for his second straight game of at least 30 points and 11 rebounds - was left kicking himself for missing two critical free throws in the tightest spot of the game. He was 10 of 14 from the line, and for the usually excellent foul stripe shooter - fatigue and nerves may have did him in. Ohiorhenuan and Liu had 10 apiece. Wang led the Renegades with 23 points and 8 rebounds. Joe Kim had 15 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 steals. Choi chipped in 14 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Every time these two teams get together, great things always happen, but this one...this might have been the greatest of them all. |
Score by Quarters
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | OT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Renegades | 17 | 18 | 18 | 7 | 8 | 68 |
| New York Cruisers | 16 | 15 | 12 | 17 | 7 | 67 |
Boxscore
| New York Renegades - 68 | |||||||||||
| Player | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | F | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Choi, James | 4 / 9 [0.444] | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 6 / 12 [0.500] | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 14 | |
| Choi, Myong | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 2 / 2 [1.000] | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 2 | |
| Chung, John | 2 / 4 [0.500] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 4 | |
| Kim, Gene | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
| Kim, Joe | 5 / 11 [0.455] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 5 / 6 [0.833] | 9 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 15 | |
| Lee, Mark | 3 / 5 [0.600] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 1 / 5 [0.200] | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| Prassos, Pete | DNP | ||||||||||
| Wang, Eddie | 8 / 13 [0.615] | 4 / 4 [1.000] | 3 / 4 [0.750] | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | |
| Watana, Ace | 1 / 5 [0.200] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 1 / 1 [1.000] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 23 / 48 [0.479] | 4 / 7 [0.571] | 18 / 30 [0.600] | 37 | 8 | 11 | 1 | 20 | 26 | 68 | ||
| New York Cruisers - 67 | |||||||||||
| Player | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | F | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chan, George | DNP | ||||||||||
| Cheng, David | 2 / 6 [0.333] | 1 / 4 [0.250] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
| Cheung, Warren | DNP | ||||||||||
| Hu, Tony | 10 / 17 [0.588] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 10 / 14 [0.714] | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 30 | |
| Jon, Robert | DNP | ||||||||||
| Liu, CB | 3 / 8 [0.375] | 1 / 4 [0.250] | 3 / 4 [0.750] | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 10 | |
| Ohiorhenuan, Mika | 4 / 9 [0.444] | 0 / 1 [0.000] | 2 / 6 [0.333] | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 10 | |
| Park, Thomas | DNP | ||||||||||
| S, Roy | DNP | ||||||||||
| Tso, Quincy (dup) | 2 / 5 [0.400] | 0 / 2 [0.000] | 1 / 5 [0.200] | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | |
| Yeung, Garry | DNP | ||||||||||
| Yeung, Stan (dup) | 3 / 14 [0.214] | 1 / 5 [0.200] | 0 / 0 [0.000] | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 7 | |
| 24 / 59 [0.407] | 3 / 16 [0.188] | 16 / 29 [0.552] | 27 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 25 | 67 | ||
Referees
| William Bullock: | Rate Me |
| Winston Howarton: | Rate Me |