The result of NY USAB 18’s participation in the Juniors division plays like a broken record. The dynasty has won a record setting 4 straight championships. Although Coach Bill Chan downplays his team’s status, other teams know that this is the team to beat every year. With Devin Figueroa (2008 Youth 15’s MVP), 6-0 swingman Kevin Chang, a much improved Michael Hom and sniper Kevin Cai in the backcourt, you won’t be able to beat them on the perimeter. Sweet shooting 6-2 F Thomas Chu, polished 6-4 center Andrew Lichtenstein, and 6-3 musclehead Osman Ip are awesome up front, and this team has got to be the favorite. They did lose Menley Khuu and Joe Chin off of last year’s squad, but everyone is more than capable of picking up the slack. These guys expect to win, and that confidence is worth something come crunchtime. The NY Young Life Rockits captured this year’s Pre-NACBAIT Classic, as they turned on the throttles upset USAB in the Finals. They also were able to finish second in last year’s Nationals, so it appears that Michael Mei’s kids have the best chance to topple the USAB empire. Led by dominant big man Eddie Zheng, PG Jimmy Lau, and scorer Cheuk Wong this is a balanced team with the ingredients to pull an upset. They play the best defense in the Juniors, with trapping schemes and tough man looks depending on who they face. If kids like Mike Pang and Kenny Yu answer the call to arms, the Rockits may end the USAB reign of terror. In 2008, the NY ISS Flights had their best team ever, and had been building towards the Philly Nationals for quite a few years. But after an awesome 2007-2008 season where they won almost every tourney, the Flights just couldn’t pull it out on the big stage. This year, Jason Wu (All-NACBAIT), Peter Nguyen, and 6-4 Ricky Wang will form quite an ominous frontline. With great athleticism, and an excellent heart for the game, Coach Yeung’s ISS is going to try their best to make up for lost time. Coach Wan’s Philly Rising Suns 18 did not win a game last year, and may not win a game in 2009 or 2010 either at this pace. Don’t remind them how much this team has fallen from the 2007 squad. The only holdover from those days is defensive whizkid and likely All-NACBAIT F De Lin. De will need big help from zonebusters YQ Jiang and Eric Tseng, as teams will likely zone up on Philly this year. The Boston Knights 18 are a big mystery. This is a team who went winless at the 2006 Nationals, and hasn’t played since. They haven’t played on the east coast circuit the past 3 seasons, so no one knows anything about them.
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