fbpx

VBL WORLD GAMES (recap) turned into battle of SoCal redemption game!!

9/23/14 VENICE, CA – #VBLworldGames to 21pts no FREE Throws all for the pride and love of the game.
Team Hall of Fame (@halloffameltd) pulled off their ‘Redemption Game’ victory at the streetball Olympics in Venice Beach over the weekend ending Brandlblack’s (@brandblackallstars) 15 game win streak and undefeated start at the VBL. Teams from Qatar, India, France, Mexico, Japan, the Philippines and across the states starred in a drama and highlight filled tournament.
Hall of Fame set themselves up with a more difficult road to the championship than they would have liked, going 0-2 in pool play. Three of their star players, Deshawn ‘Evolution’ Stephens (@destephens23) out of SD State, AJ Stewart (@aj_stew15) out of Kentucky and HOF team captain Justin Archie (@yahdeeteezy), were attending the LA D Fenders invite only tryout on Saturday.
The story seemed to right itself on Sunday, with Hall of Fame rocking the LA Lakers’ purple and gold jerseys sponsored by Peak Sports USA. With a full squad and Hall of Fame reps in attendance for support, they took down two of the top seeded teams from Saturday including Omni, representing Team Qatar and Tri-State’s Finest from New York. The Tri-State ‘Goons’ had a strong tournament, led by coach Dribble2much (@dribble2much), who is best known for his handles and training some of the top players in the game such as Kevin Durant. Tri-State’s standout players were Bronx-born Mani Love (@manilove102) of the Court Kingz (@court_kingz) paired with word- renowned dunker and Harlem Globetrotter, NBA draft Rahyd Byrd and Chris Staples (@errrbody_hatechris) who turned in an MVP caliber performance.
In the quarterfinals an intense matchup between Kenny Dobbs team from Phoenix and Los Fearless from Compton turned into a sudden death overtime where cold blooded Chris “Flash” Tojin hit the 20 footer over everybody to ice it up. Meanwhile on the other court, Team Spaceball (@spaceballmag) out of Tokyo, Japan, sustained a physical and balanced attack from Brandblack but succumbed to the 30-minute time limit in a 18-12 defeat. Vince ‘Bodysnatcher’ Camper and NBA vet Keith “Tall Can” Closs lead Brandblack to a semifinal victory in a clash with the tournaments last standing international squad, Team Pacman, representing the Philippines. The win set the stage for a rematch of the 2014 VBL Championship game which took place 5 weeks earlier on the same asphalt battlefield. The ‘Redemption Game’ did not disappoint. With the sun setting at #hoopersparadise an anxious crowd watched some of the most drama filled streetball moments since Billy Doyle and Sidney Dean. Hall of Fame took the improbably 12-5 halftime lead with several highlight dunks along the way. Needless to say Brandblack went on a run cutting the lead down to one. The tension was palpable the whole stage was on their feet. A benches clearing incident in the waning minutes left eventual tournament MVP AJ ‘Chosen’ Harris (@callmephonsy) bloodied but in the end it was his sidekick ‘Evolution’ who knocked down the 18 foot game winning jumper giving Hall of Fame the win, 21-19. It was a very emotional game with every single player leaving all they had on the floor, lots of them with bumps and bruises but more importantly  unforgettable memories.

#Redemption #fortheloveofthegame

By Brian Matsumoto Photos by Jeremy Renault
10604700_703955546355323_4023591380971356652_o 10700444_703955539688657_1956898946517727578_o 1167375_703955496355328_8064020763617609147_o 10686923_703950739689137_4509009289214750088_n 1072376_703950909689120_4303994977593473500_o 10625003_703950976355780_1617728332467668024_n 10003564_703951093022435_6580962447917435952_o 10704417_703951149689096_591601715781048034_o 10506560_703951469689064_6400412202485891506_o 10422931_703951789689032_836175632208729949_n 10665260_703951949689016_2217904242390558761_n 10669323_703951946355683_4319066803406660074_o 10648253_703952056355672_2312479255928353958_o

10495590_703953233022221_6904204067657264164_o

10648680_703952246355653_4871407264673015132_o 1658394_703952293022315_5621348949665363200_o-1 10636855_703952416355636_4978179198532533618_o 10714580_703952733022271_4739561704619708675_o 1293000_703952903022254_2330568247775650269_o 10644436_703952829688928_2551870016983399626_o 10714411_703953049688906_3920898945488739875_o 10700311_703953216355556_3401504809850136274_o 10688026_703953429688868_308792209298111268_o 10624021_703953639688847_6747404727555214899_o 10700291_703953883022156_5737357105150088296_o 1039914_703953919688819_4052009088911929627_o 10710245_703954033022141_2343616919824755683_o 10484217_703954406355437_7692662276037711426_o 10506815_703954763022068_8400759380750773835_o 10669160_703956996355178_2618754327613241748_o 10688070_703949063022638_3141292848055509282_o 10712574_703949403022604_5389448710490421405_o 1901132_703949606355917_5879902574256859649_n 1540335_703949673022577_5980536053647203707_o 10660212_703948959689315_2241920361402845843_n 10506560_703951469689064_6400412202485891506_o-1 10422931_703951789689032_836175632208729949_n-1 10665260_703951949689016_2217904242390558761_n-1 10628404_703147213102823_1921476433725099877_n 983809_703147266436151_124909326066506152_n 10685504_703147296436148_4037315360515301978_n 10476618_703147359769475_5962956710440737860_n 10505421_703147416436136_6204154249495881110_n 10435033_703147483102796_2736269392900754657_n 10628075_703147509769460_9018061754505031209_n 10612575_703147589769452_240999639829300160_n 10649755_703147646436113_3299854666070720323_n 10454460_703147709769440_1469646707361194922_n 10641196_703147806436097_1259610511146275705_n 10665711_703147833102761_2149641733642141005_n 10353700_703147906436087_5260783551821109483_n 10603686_703148069769404_3579191771558825177_n 1525037_703148116436066_1812258833814750061_n 10580828_703148416436036_8834797908180007705_o 10479659_703148439769367_3661456518488526636_o 10662189_703148479769363_6402551329933429526_o 10264173_703148673102677_1361260141178960771_o 10633163_703148903102654_5947516387411665743_o 10708706_703148899769321_649602337458483743_o 10708586_703149083102636_1222530652073658177_o 10712475_703149349769276_3848314356127956158_o 10633464_703149553102589_8458458509394150950_o 10704216_703149693102575_7471180685532275885_o 10710494_703149829769228_3163157554431996246_o 1094083_703149966435881_418330006623393118_o 10714510_703150066435871_998823260705212692_o 1115925_703150076435870_8678543482376804623_o 10575367_703150183102526_5822099228796414541_o 10628917_703150219769189_4779298440686384424_o 10628695_703150259769185_6428012194816767451_o 10636902_703150353102509_9061447077996755514_o 10661708_703150416435836_4208190789057301290_o 1926253_703150429769168_5497914631775193822_o 10633545_703150486435829_6019595029899640705_o 10001113_703150743102470_846490209689499202_o 1911954_703150966435781_2186692093871389076_o 1922276_703151016435776_9130501848240036099_n 10551603_703151073102437_8106798380461781894_o 10628632_703151106435767_7625357668213129530_o-1 10687408_703151126435765_4435321526308876524_o 1962402_703151156435762_5038143505553782014_o 10700625_703151379769073_3586942610666349621_o 10683547_703151593102385_7149444565320815365_o 10697330_703151709769040_8590727253014926943_o 10515298_703151726435705_4857152119813261027_o 10481016_703151863102358_8134481456371378720_o

10628632_703151106435767_7625357668213129530_o

10624992_703950379689173_8242070390674002143_n 10662003_703950286355849_8768820146936067429_o 1901132_703949606355917_5879902574256859649_n-1 10392471_703949463022598_6031824395541070451_n 10610853_703945813022963_7660378333164349712_n 10590664_703945736356304_4231441440255219786_n 10669160_703956996355178_2618754327613241748_o-1

10714568_10204447425403819_6709846260590130115_o 10710217_10204447446284341_3880476712935768532_o