BASKETBALL NEVER STOPS: Drew League vs Goodman League Rematch
Posted by formosanwonderboy on October 20, 2011
The NBA is currently locked out, and I am starving for basketball. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve played basketball this year, but because of the lockout, I’ve played three times in the last two weeks already. If I can’t watch it, I need to play it.
Despite that, I’m still suffering from NBA withdrawal. You just can’t show up at the local park and expect to see or play against anyone like Lebron James or Derrick Rose. I think the people who know me best would say that I’m the biggest basketball junkie/nerd they know, particularly the NBA. And, basketball junkies take every chance they get to see the closest thing to live NBA basketball, especially during a time when there’s a very real possibility that there will be no NBA season.
Enter the Drew League vs. Goodman League, the two premier amateur summer basketball leagues in LA and DC, respectively. In the summers, NBA players occasionally drop in to stay in shape, but this year, because of the lockout, tons of professionals have been showing up. Youtube videos and news stories would pop up daily about how so-and-so showed up and scored however-many-points. There wasn’t much else for the basketball scribes to cover.
Two months ago, someone (very enterprising) got the idea to do a Drew League vs. Goodman League all-stars tournament from which ticket proceeds would go to charity. The game was held in D.C. and tickets sold out almost immediately. On game day, people stood in line for up to 6 hours just to get into the gym. In the end, about 40% of people with tickets didn’t get into the gym because there was rampant ticket counterfeiting, and the gym had hit capacity. Those people ended up missing out on watching the Goodman League edge the Drew League by one point, thanks to the heroics of Kevin Durant. Post-game, some good-natured trash talking ensued on twitter, and there were immediate talks of a rematch.
Last Sunday, Alex and I headed to Long Beach State University for the second chapter of the Drew-Goodman League rivalry, dubbed “the Big Payback.”
Walking into the 5000-seat arena, you could tell that, unlike the typical Staples Center crowd, everyone who was there was hyped for the game.
For example, once the star players started coming out the tunnel, everyone stood up to just to get a good first look.
There’s Kevin Durant, “the people’s champ”.
The whole production was just like a regular game – scoreboard, halftime entertainment, and of course, the stars spangled banner.
Goodman League (East) pre-game
Player Introductions
The game started only a few minutes late and, again, unlike what you’d have seen at the Staples Center, all the seats were full.
This was my favorite matchup of the night: Brandon Jennings vs. John Wall
I wouldn’t say John Wall got the best of him – he with his 50 points. Brandon Jennings just didn’t play as much and had a very ball hoggy teammate (James Harden) who was also very good.
Here’s a good mix of the action from the night
Remember what I said about the production being just like an NBA game? Even Clipper Darrell was there!
At halftime, you had these crazy kids prancing around spouting some incoherent rap, wearing God-knows-what (you can clearly see that one is wearing a Mickey Mouse hat, sunglasses, and nut-hugger jeans that don’t go all the way down).
I remember – DISTINCTLY – Kevin Durant (#35) talking with his teammates, and then just suddenly stopping in mid-sentence to stare at the spectacle of a half-time show. I know in my heart that if thought bubbles were real and visible, there would have been one over his head with three big letters: W-T-F. He really looked genuinely confused.
Michael Beasley was, sadly, booed for most of the game for, you know, sucking. And when he finally got ejected for committing his 6th foul, he sat on the scorers table and was roundly booed even more.
The Drew League led for most of the game, but in the fourth quarter, the Goodman League stormed back to take a small lead.
Thankfully, though, LA, mainly behind the play of James Harden (dude with the scary big beard) was able to pull away.
The game was, overall, pretty damn exciting – not something you’d expect from what’s supposed to basically be a casual exhibition game. And what made it even better was that the crowd was into it, every single basket, every single play. The only thing that upset me was my decision to forgo court side seats. They were only $100, as opposed to my $30 seats – which were excellent at 6th row center court, and I saw damn near everyone in those seats walk right up to the players to get autographs, take pictures, and chit chat, from the warmup period to after the game when half the gym stormed the court.
And, what sucked is where I sat right at center court was precisely the hardest place from which to storm the court. Meanwhile, everyone on the crappier baseline seats got to walk right onto the court. Players were signing autographs, giving away jerseys and shoes, and just soaking up their time with the fans. Yes, it was definitely worth at least $100.
Regret really set in when I realized that I could have gotten right up out of my seat and hopped onto the court to do the dougie with John Wall. Oh NBA, please come back . . .
