Ex-La Salle standout Rodney Green drives to the basket in Sunday’s The-BALL game. (Aaron Bracy/Philahoops)
Whether The Basketball Alumni Legends League, or The-BALL, makes it as a viable professional league is a question mark.
For one night, though, it was fun to see high-quality basketball featuring big-name local college players in a familiar setting.
It was surprising that the Philly team fell for the second straight day to a group of players from D.C., anchored by several talented Georgetown alums. The outcome mattered less, though, than the quality of basketball, the intensity, the hustle, the close result and the thought that The-BALL might, just might, have something here.
“It was good to come back and represent Philly,” former Temple standout Dionte Christmas said after scoring 14 points in the hosts’ 102-94 loss at Hagan Arena. “I think we played hard. It was good to come back and play with all of my former rivals in the Big 5.”
It was good to watching them, too.
Besides Christmas, there was Ramone Moore, Mark Tyndale, Dustin Salisbery and Ryan Brooks from Temple; Pat Carroll, Dwayne Jones and Tasheed Carr from St. Joe’s; Rodney Green from La Salle; Frank Elegar and Scott Rodgers from Drexel; and Curtis Sumpter from Villanova.
“It was good,” said Moore, one of the youngest players on the team. “Growing up and watching these guys on TV it was a great opportunity. We all wanted to win but we wanted to take this opportunity to team up with each other.”
Former Drexel center Frank Elegar dunks during Sunday’s game. (Aaron Bracy/Philahoops)
Moore scored 10 points, one of three Owls to reach double-figures. Brooks added 10 points for Philly. Elegar led the hosts with 16 points, including several highlight-reel dunks.
“It went well,” said Moore, who signed last week to play in Italy. “Me, Dionte, Ryan, Mark and Dustin, we all took pride in representing Temple. We jumped right on it. We all just want to be part of Philly basketball. It was a great thing to get together. It was a good weekend for us.”
As competitors, it would’ve been greater obviously for Philly to come out on top. But the locals, who lost 101-93 on Saturday at the Smith Center on the campus of George Washington University, once again had trouble against their rivals from south on I-95.
Jason Clark, the ex-Georgetown star, cut Philly up for 25 points and was one of four former Hoyas to reach double-figures. Chris Wright had 15 points, Henry Sims added 14 and Austin Freeman chipped in 13.
Philly led 87-76 with 6 minutes, 50 seconds remaining before the visitors took advantage of some of The-BALL’s rules changes to score 11 points in 1:08 to forge an 87-87 tie. Two of the baskets came on four-point shots, which were converted from beyond a 24-foot arc. Another basket came on Wright’s traditional three-point play that was earned with a basket and foul and automatically good free throw.
From there, D.C. outscored Philly 15-7 to go up 2-0 on the series that is scheduled to resume next summer when The-BALL opens a shortened season with four teams.
Former Villanova star Curtis Sumpter dribbles during Sunday’s game. (Aaron Bracy/Philahoops)
Despite the loss, the showcase games were deemed a success by the losing contingent.
“It was a great opportunity,” said Sumpter, who like Carroll was playing in his final pro game after a career overseas. “When I first heard the idea, I jumped right on it. I knew I was coming to an end in my career. So I just called these guys up. I played against these guys. They were great players.”
Christmas, who recently signed with the Boston Celtics, said he looks forward to participating in future events.
“I would, for sure,” he said. “Anytime I can represent Philly. It’s cool. I’m available and I’m definitely on board. Some of these guys I definitely didn’t get to talk to as much. Anytime we have this event, I’m definitely on board.”
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-More coverage coming: Philahoops will have more coverage from The-BALL’s showcase game throughout the week.
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-Aaron Bracy is the editor of Philahoops. Contact him at aaron@philahoops.com, @Aaron_Bracy on Twitter or Facebook.com/Philahoops.
Aaron Bracy
“The-BALL” might have something here, if they get rid of the four-point line.
That is just ridiculous.
the 4 pouint shot is fun. but automatically made free throws… explain this strategy to me. It means you can’t foul the guy, which means you can’t defend him. how do you stop the clock if there are no free throw attempts?
the 4 point shot is fun. but automatically made free throws… explain this strategy to me. It means you can’t foul the guy, which means you can’t defend him. how do you stop the clock if there are no free throw attempts?
You can’t guard if you can’t foul? To the contrary -- a foul simply represents a failed guarding attempt. Anyone can “guard” another player by tackling, hacking, and pushing. The idea here is to have a clean game by denying the trailing team clock control.
Yeah you’re right, but The-BALL made this rules so the clock wouldn’t stop. They visioned a fast-pace game with seldom stoppages. I’d rather have the automatic free throws than the 4 pointer. And there are free throw attempts, but you just shoot 1 that’s worth 2 points. If you make the bucket and get fouled, the And-1 is automatic.
Thanks a lot for taking an interest, you guys. I’d like to make sure to clarify something. We don’t have “automatically made free throws” in The-BALL. With the “And One” play, we’ve simply decided that making a shot when the shooter is fouled should be worth 3 points (just like a shot from the 20’9″ line). So, we’ve removed the free throw from the And One. It’s just one of the ways that we reduce stoppage time and keep the game moving, but I also think it’s a just reward for making a basket while being fouled.
Now, the one rule that didn’t work out so well during our showcase was the “Shoot and Keep the Ball” rule once a team reaches the bonus situation. We learned from that and will be making an adjustment. It just didn’t go the way we expected it to, but that’s what showcase games like this are for. We think we have figured out a great solution that will still remove the late-game intentional fouls, incessant whistles, and parades to the free throw line while not over-punishing for fouls that occur in the penalty situation from simply trying to play tough defense. Stay tuned.