Summer 2009 closed out with plenty of good food, good company, and a preview of chilly fall nights to come.  Crowds gathered to watch the final four games of the league as the AA & A championship titles could have gone to any of the 6 remaining teams.

With the best all around team effort seen all season, Sea Club overplayed Free Agents with every player on its roster contributing to the final score, capturing the A division title by an astounding 17 points.  As for the AA final, it was deja vu all over as Drexel matched up against Brick City once again.  Both teams are known for their tenacity on offense.  However, it was cautious but hard defense that paced the game.  With steady advances and patient playmaking, Brick City was able to keep the ball in play on their side of the court longer to find more open looks.  Drexel had their usual good ball movement but without any true big man to answer Brick City’s twin towers, they had to bank on their outside jumpers.  The league’s leading scorer, Darren Tang (12.6 PPG), was able to find his rhythm with ten minutes remaining to single-handedly double Drexel’s first half score.  But it was too late.  Brick City hit 8 of 13 free throws to triumphantly claim their second AA division title in as many years.  Great job to all the finalists.

2009 Men’s MVPs & All-Stars:
(* denotes divisional champions)

*AA MVP - Dave Ma (Brick City)
*Richmond Huynh (Brick City)
Darren Tang (Drexel)
Tang Vu (Cookie Monsters)
Hoi Lam (Li)
Paul Vu (Temple)
Sam Prak (Samsun)
Anthony Chantharath (Most Wanted)
Minh Tran (Philly)

*A MVP – Minh Nguyen (Sea Club)
*Dennis Du (Sea Club)
Ferdie Mendoza (Free Agents)
Arvie Dazon (Lawry’s)
Darrel Sing (Haze)

*B MVP – Victor Rong (Heroes)
*Andrew Wong (Heroes)
Fred Choi (Ponies)
Richard Chau (Ocean Boys)
Siuman Yau (Sin)

*C MVP – Tuan Tang (Bodine)
*Loc Tang (Bodine)
Tony Nguyen (Young Gunners)
Marc Diana (Ronin)
Thuong Le (Monstars)

2009 Junior’s MVP & All-Stars:

*MVP Kar-wai Tsang (Rising Suns)
*LiJohn ‘KK’ Fung (Rising Suns)
Nelson Ching (Tommy)
Kiet Phung (Joy)
Yaozong Yuan (Mic)
Jon Lai (Young Suns)

Congratulations are in order to all participants for an excellent season of impressive basketball and great times on and off the court.  We hope to see everybody again for the 2010 CCC&C Summer League!  Stay tune for details on where you can continue to ball into the fall and winter.

 Richmond Huynh, Andrew Young, Ethan Quoc Tran, Kevin Ngo, Huey Diep, Kellen Ngo, Lee Ho, Dave Ma, Philip Wan, and Tommy Ngamlerdsuwat.

6:30pm Semi
Cookie Monsters, 27 vs. BRICK CITY, 34

#7 Dave (Brick City) – 11 pts
#12 Quoc (Brick City) – 9 pts
#7 Eric, #1 Bin (Cookies) – 7 pts

7:15pm Semi
Temple, 31 vs. DREXEL, 42 

#2 Darren (Drexel) – 13 pts
#8 Andrew (Drexel), #21 Pat, #7 Denny (Temple) – 10 pts
#41 Danh (Temple) – 9 pts

8:45pm CHAMPIONSHIP
Drexel, 24 vs. BRICK CITY, 35

#2 Darren (Drexel) – 13 pts
#3 Rich, #9 Andrew (Brick City) – 9 pts
#7 Dave (Brick City) – 7 pts

 Sam ‘Homer’ Do, Vu ‘Blackie’ Le, John ‘JB’ Banh, Dennis Du, Minh ‘da Man’ Nguyen, Philip Mal, Jeff ’Mini’ Yu, Alex ’Mun’ Lam, Simon “Lambchop’ Lam, and Michael ‘Skip’ Lam.

8/24, 8:00pm Semi
Lawry’s, 28 vs. FREE AGENTS, 32

#1 Alex (Lawrys) - 14 pts
#4 Ferdie (Free Agents) – 12 pts
#12 Arvie (Lawrys) - 8 pts 

8/24, 8:45pm Semi
Haze vs. SEA CLUB, forfeit 

8/31, 8:00pm CHAMPIONSHIP
SEA CLUB, 23 vs. Free Agents, 8

#2 Mun (Sea Club) – 5 pts
#6 Dennis (Sea Club) – 4 pts
#2 Josh (Free Agents) – 3 pts

First game is a repeat of last year’s AA semi with defending champion, Brick City, matching up against friendly rivals, Cookie Monsters.  Familiar with each other’s game through the Suns, the game will be intense as both teams like to press for easy turnovers and buckets and are skilled at swinging the ball in & out & around to find open looks.  Rich Huynh (8.2 PPG, 62.5% FT)  & Tang Vu (9.5 PPG, 66.7% FT) are offensive leaders for their respective teams but they are backed up by a supporting cast of just as skilled players in their own roles.  We will be watching out for Kellen Ngo’s precision defense, Quoc Tran and Dave Ma acting as the twin towers in the paint, Allen Van’s crisp point-guarding, and Rich Poeng’s smooth shooting from beyond the arc.

Second game is the AA semi between Drexel and Temple.  All attention & fanfare will be on the deadly trio of Darren Tang (12.5 PPG, 80%), Erik Nguyen (8.3 PPG, 63.6%), and Andrew Nguyen (9.3 PPG, 66.7%).  However, it is their small but productive bench that makes Drexel the most well-rounded team in the league and a favorite to win it all.  Temple will have a tough time especially with high-scorer, Paul Vu (11.6 PPG, 59.7%), sitting out with 2 techs from the previous quarterfinal game.  Offensive duties will fall on stealthy guard Danh Diep and big man Pat Young to step it up on the scoresheet to make their first appearance in the AA chip game. 

The A division championship will be played between Sea Club and Free Agents.  Free Agents (2008 B Champions) are eager to prove their development to grab the 2009 A division championship title.  Sea Club is full of long-time summer league players who have won Junior & 3on3 titles but never the Men’s open crown.  Dennis Du (8.7 PPG, 59.1%) from the Sea Club will be deadly if he finds his rhythm early on.  Same goes for Ferdie Mendoza (8.1 PPG, 35.7%) from the Free Agents.  The game could be turned into a feeding frenzy from the top but if not, both teams are full of energetic players ready to take it in at any cost.  With solid frontcourt anchors in Homer Do (Sea Club) and Simon Wong (Free Agents), their opposite tendencies in the paint will result in an interesting clash of titans.  Homer dominates with his full-force ground advances to the hole but Simon can own the space right below the rim with his hop & pop shots. 

The AA division championship could be a repeat between Brick City and Drexel.  But let’s see what Cookie Monsters and Temple has to say about that tonight. 

—

Individual Statistics have also been updated.  Click HERE to see the league’s leaders in field goals, three-pointers, and free throw percentages. 

Leading Scorers
Men’s:

1. Darren Tang (Drexel) – 12.5 PPG
2. Paul Vu (Temple) – 11.6 PPG
3. Thuong Le (Monstars) – 10.3 PPG
4. Tuan Tang (Bodine) – 10.3 PPG
5. Andrew Wong (Heroes) – 9.9 PPG
6. Tang Vu (Cookie Monsters) – 9.5 PPG
7. Andrew Nguyen (Drexel) – 9.3 PPG
8. Pat Young (Temple) – 9.2 PPG
9. Ky Cao (Samsun) – 9.2 PPG
10. Hoi Lam (Li) – 8.9 PPG
11. Joe Riel (Most Wanted) – 8.7 PPG
12. Dennis Du (Sea Club) – 8.7 PPG
13. Kabay Prak (Samsun) – 8.7 PPG
14. Minh Tran (Philly) – 8.5 PPG
15. Andrew Vang (Ronin) – 8.4 PPG
16. Rich Chau (Ocean Boys) – 8.3 PPG
17. Erik Nguyen (Drexel) – 8.3 PPG
18. Rich Huynh (Brick City) – 8.2 PPG
19. Ferdinand Mendoza (Free Agents) – 8.1 PPG
20. Tenzin (Sin) – 8.0 PPG

Junior’s:

1. Canyu (Mic) – 11.3 PPG
2. Kar-wai Tsang (Rising Suns) – 10 PPG
3. Nelson Ching (Tommy) – 9.4 PPG
4. Jon Lai (Young Suns) – 8.1 PPG
5. Justin Phu (Tommy) – 6.9 PPG
6. Yaozhong Yuan (Mic) – 6.8 PPG
7. Xiong (Mic) – 6.8 PPG
8. Tommy Le (Tommy) – 6.8 PPG
9. Eric Tseng (Rising Suns) – 6.3 PPG
10. Jordan Ly (Rising Suns) – 6.1 PPG

Top 3-point shooters

1. Jack Tran (Ocean Boys) – 15 triples
2. Duck Fung (Li) – 11 triples
3. Andrew  Wong (Heroes) – 10 triples
4. Darren Tang (Drexel) – 10 triples
5. Andrew Vang (Ronin) – 10 triples
6. Fedinand Mendoza (Free Agents) – 10 triples
7. Tang Vu (Cookie Monsters) – 9 triples
8. Hoi Lam (Li) – 9 triples
9. Tuan Tang (Bodine) – 9 triples
10. Minh Tran (Philly) – 9 triples

6:30pm Quarterfinal
Li, 17 vs. COOKIE MONSTERS, 30 

#2 Tang (Cookies) – 16 pts
#9 Jerry (Li) – 7 pts
#5 Rich (Cookies) – 5 pts

7:15pm Quarterfinal
DREXEL, 44 vs. Philly, 27

#2 Darren (Drexel) – 18 pts
#6 Yit (Drexel) – 12 pts
#8 Andrew (Drexel) – 10 pts

8:00pm Quarterfinal
Most Wanted, 32 vs. BRICK CITY, 43

#3 Rich (Brick City) – 15 pts
#12 Quoc (Brick City) – 10 pts
#7 Anthony (Most Wanted) – 9 pts

8:45pm Quarterfinal
TEMPLE, 30 vs. Samsun, 29

#21 Pat (Temple) – 12 pts
#5 David (Samsun) – 10 pts
#3 Paul (Temple) – 8 pts, teched out

Chung Siu, Daniel Lui, Wayne Li, Victor Rong, Alvin Oung, Andrew Wong, Stan Liu, Alfred Li, Steve Mei, and Jon Leung

6:30pm Semi
Ocean Boys, 12 vs. HEROES, 26

#1 Andrew (Heroes) – 10 pts
#3 Alvin (Heroes) – 9 pts
#4 Stan (Heroes), #7 Jeff (Ocean Boys) – 4 pts

7:15pm Semi
PONIES, 36 vs. Sin, 13 

#6 Jet (Ponies) – 10 pts
#11 Chris (Ponies) – 8 pts
#9 Sin (Sin) – 5 pts

8:00pm CHAMPIONSHIP
HEROES, 21 vs. Ponies, 15

#6 Jet (Ponies) – 7 pts
#4 Stan (Heroes) – 5 pts
#11 Victor, 15 Dan, 1 Andrew (Heroes) – 4 pts

Cody Nguyen, Loc Tang, Dave Horowitz, Kenny Cheung, Tuan Tang, Dai Giang, and Phu Nguyen

6:45pm Semi
YOUNG GUNNERS, 37 vs. Monstars, 21

#7 Dat (Monstars) – 10 pts
#16 Thuong (Monstars) – 9 pts
#7 Frank, #5 Van (Gunners) – 6 pts

7:30pm Semi
Ronin, 32 vs. BODINE, 38 

#14 Tuan (Bodine) – 20 pts
#9 Chris (Ronin) – 14 pts
#11 Loc, #6 Phu (Bodine), #3 Andrew (Ronin) – 8 pts

9:00pm CHAMPIONSHIP
Young Gunners, 21 vs. BODINE, 35

#14 Tuan (Bodine) – 21 pts, with 3 triples
#11 Loc (Bodine) – 8 pts
#0 Tuan (Gunners) – 6 pts

Coach Philip Wan, KK Fung, Michael Lam, Kar-Wai Tsang, Jordan Ly, YunQing Jiang, Eric Tseng, and Thang Van.

4:30pm Semi
Joy, 17 vs. TOMMY, 21

#12 Nelson (Tommy) - 7 pts
#5 Tommy (Tommy) – 6 pts
#9 Teran (Joy) – 6 pts

5:15pm Semi
Mic, 17 vs. RISING SUNS, 20 

#21 Canyu (Mic) – 8 pts
#15 Kar-wai (Rising) – 8 pts
#8 Xiong (Mic) – 5 pts

6:00pm CHAMPIONSHIP
Tommy, 21 vs. RISING SUNS, 22, OT

#15 Kar-wai (Rising) – 13 pts
#41 Eric (Rising) – 7 pts
#12 Nelson (Tommy) – 7 pts

Tell us about your basketball background.
I started playing when I was in middle school.  Learned a lot  of the basics and I had really great handling skills but could not shoot.  That was my game.  I found out about the Asian tournaments in Philadelphia back then and participated in them.  It was a great experience to be able to see a lot of players from different cities coming into Philly.  I was a suburban kid and anytime into the city was a treat for me.  I stopped playing basketball for like 3 years (girlfriend of course).  Afterwards,  I decided to come back to the sport that I loved.  The bad thing was that I lost all my handling skills and that’s when I picked up on shooting!  And I’ve been playing like that ever since.  It’s always a good feeling when I’m able to score.

It seems like you’ve stuck with basketball for a while now.  What’s your favorite part about the sport? What is it that keeps you so interested?
What drives me to keep playing basketball?  The competition and knowing that I can still compete against the young rising All-Stars and have a chance to win.  It’s the competitiveness in me I would say.

Can you tell us a favorite CCC&C memory?
There are so many that I cannot pinpoint it to just one,  The best thing here is the unity between all the nationalities.  To be able to bond with the other players and I really appreciate them on and off the court.

Who’s game in the league do you admire & why?
I would have to say the Suns.  Even though they’re a small line up, they always work together and never give up!  There’s a lot of good Suns players … Dave Chiu has a nice range, San Mac can drive the ball and I’ve been watching his game improve by being able to shoot a lot better, and the slow but in-control Chiu Lam.  But I guess the 2 people that sticks out in my head are Richie & Benny Tang back in the day.  Benny was a very smart player and took high percentage shots.  Rich was the bigger guy but can drain the three’s with his quick release!

Off the court, where else do you spend your time?  What other sports or interests do you dabble in?
Most of my time is either with my family (wife, son, and daughter) or running my business at Lee How Fook.  That’s a full day already!  I also enjoy golf and have been playing a lot this summer because I committed myself to becoming a better player.

If your game was an animal, what would you be?  Why do you think that?
I am like a rare breed! So if I have to compare myself, I woould compare myself to the Energizer Rabbit that keeps going! 

Regular season games are now done and teams have been seeded to their proper playoff divisions.  It was down to the wire for Brick City, Sea Club, Lawry’s, Philly, and Cookie Monsters as they had to patiently wait to see whether they would land the few remaining spots in the AA division.  With four teams holding identical overall records, decisions had to be made based on the point differentials.   The borderline between the AA & A division was a mere 2 points.   The next week will be an exciting one as teams prepare to compete against their peers in the single-elimination playoff games.  Be on the lookout for no-look bullet passes, speedy gonzales fast breaks, raindrop three’s, and back-breaking rebounds.  Good luck to all the players!

AA division:
(Wed, 8/26 & Mon, 8/31 games)
1. Li
2. Drexel
3. Samsun
4. Brick City
5. Most Wanted
6. Temple
7. Philly
8. Cookie Monsters

A division:
(Mon, 8/24 & 8/31 games)
1. Lawry’s
2. Sea Club
3. Haze
4. Free Agents 

B division:
(Tues, 8/25 games)
1. Ocean Boys
2. Heroes
3. Ponies
4. Sin

C division:
(Mon, 8/24 games)
1. Young Gunners
2. Monstars
3. Ronin
4. Bodine