On a recent Saturday afternoon in Harlem, a bus stopped at 155th Street and Eighth Avenue, dropping off dozens of tourists at what is perhaps the world's most famous asphalt arena.
Gregory Marius, the chief executive of the Entertainers Basketball Classic, was soon holding court at Rucker Park, regaling visitors with stories of the great games and colourful names that have filled his summer tournament the past 25 years.
"We've come a long way," he told the crowd. Many were taking pictures of the magical, windswept stage located across the street from the site of the Polo Grounds, where a housing complex now covers the same ground that Willie Mays once did for the New York Giants...
Has an Entertainers’ Basketball Classic player ever been nicknamed “The King of Poland� Not terribly likely – but, if he keeps this up, Chudney Gray might soon be wearing the royal moniker.
“I’ve been playing for AZS Koszavin in the Polish Elite Division,†the 6-4 St. John’s swing man of not-so-long-ago related at halftime of the Certified-Long Island’s Finest game at Rucker Park. “Last year I led the league in scoring with 24.6 points per game, was second in assists, first in steals, and MVP of the All-Star Game. It’s fun to be there -- the money is good -- experiencing a different culture and everything that goes along with that. The money is good, too. But I haven’t given up my NBA dream – I’ve played for four teams, including the Grizzlies and the Bulls, in Summer Leagues. And I plan to play for some team again this year.â€
Gray is an amazing story in that he was no more than the quintessential journeyman- reserve at St. John’s for the longest time. Though he always was a world-class athlete – he owns high-jumper hops – the bench always beckoned because couldn’t shoot a lick. Until his senior year that is, when his stroke finally clicked to the point where the NBA was a real possibility...
The main goal for a player showing up for the AND1 Mix Tape Tour tryout Thursday afternoon in downtown Minneapolis was to get a pink bracelet.
Forget about being fashionable. That was the only way you could get a shot at playing the AND1 streetball legends that night in Target Center.
AND1, a sports shoe and apparel company, began endorsing playground basketball nearly a decade ago, and now these streetball players have their own video games, shoe commercials and movies, and they travel the world like the Harlem Globetrotters.
But becoming the next AND1 streetball legend might be as difficult as becoming the next LeBron James.
As the tour travels to 25 cities entertaining fans across the country every summer, it also is on the lookout for one player who can make the team.
The Mix Tape Tour has come to Minneapolis for three straight summers, but no player had made it onto the bus until Thursday night...
In the middle of a layup drill Wednesday, players from the AND1 Mix Tape Tour ran off the floor to get a glimpse of a video highlight from a game last week in Houston. One by one, they huddled up to the team's general manager, Lisa Fusco, who replayed a 720-degree fast-break dunk by their newest teammate, Taurian "Air Up There" Fontenette. It's a dunk that you had to see a few times to believe.
"That's crazy," said Phillip "Hot Sauce" Champion, who is among the AND1 streetball legends in town this week to match their skills tonight against a group of local players at Target Center. "I missed that dunk on ESPN. Hey, can you send it to my e-mail?"...
"Ball Don’t Lie" is the story of Sticky, a foster kid from Southern California whose life has been anything but easy. But his great equalizer is that he can ball - you can’t help but immediately compare Sticky to B-Rabbit, Eminem’s character in in “8 Mile.†And like Rabbit, Sticky’s gift is the only thing that can potentially give him a better life. But it’s up to Sticky to make it happen.
"Let me say it for the record: we’re working day and night to make the movie version of BDL come to life. Man, how cool. Sticky on the big screen. Grayson (The Professor) turned leading man. Brin Hill, one of the most talented young directors in LA, doing hoops in a brand new way, casting Venice in a whole new light. Ball Don’t Lie. The movie. At the same time it’s such a roller coaster. Some days the squad is super up — we hear Common’s in, we get a rough cut of the teaser. Other days we’re down in the dumps. A Hollywood head says there are too many flashbacks or that black people don’t equate to foreign dollars."
Download page Ball Don't Lie
The Movie Trailer starring Professor
Quicktime Movie File
Any basketball fan can remember his favorite dunk of all-time.
For some, it’s Michael Jordan taking off from the free-throw line. Others prefer the old-school Doctor J one-handed thunder slam.
For me, the dunk that has always stood out in my mind was Vince Carter’s “It’s Over†dunk in the 2000 slam dunk contest, when he bounced the ball off the ground, brought it through his legs in midair and slammed it.
It was my favorite dunk — that is, until Wednesday night.
When I heard that Hitchcock native T.J. Fontenette, a.k.a The Air Up There, and the rest of the AND 1 Mix Tape Tour were coming to town, I knew I had to be in attendance.
Streetball is a type of basketball with more concentration on dribbling skills and high-flying dunks as opposed to zone defenses and mid-range jumpshots.
The AND 1 Tour is basically a traveling streetball team, taking on teams of local streetballers from around the world. They are said to be the best basketball players in the country that don’t play for the NBA....
Pat Da Roc will release his most anticipated solo mixtape on DVD entitled "Who Is Pat Da Roc?" extremely soon. The tape includes exclusive footage from the AND 1 tour, China, Africa, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, and NBA All-Star weekend. Pat “Da Roc†Robinson aka "That's Crazy" was the youngest player ever to be featured on a mixtape back when the Street Wise tapes came out. Pat’s tremendous showmanship and character have led him to entertain fans worldwide and this new DVD will only expand his horizons. Pat "Da Roc" Robinson AKA "That's Crazy" is one of the most original streetballers of our time. His moves, style, and techniques are completely his own, that's what makes him so popular. "Who Is Pat Da Roc?" consist of all-new, never-before-seen moves and freestyles. It's been a while since a DVD of this originality has come out. Watch the official trailer and see what it's all about here.
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The Notic: Uncut & Unreleased
Vancouver HIU - Chad vs. Rory
On a recent Saturday afternoon in Harlem, a bus stopped at 155th Street and Eighth Avenue, dropping off dozens of tourists at what is perhaps the world's most famous asphalt arena.
Gregory Marius, the chief executive of the Entertainers Basketball Classic, was soon holding court at Rucker Park, regaling visitors with stories of the great games and colourful names that have filled his summer tournament the past 25 years.
The main goal for a player showing up for the AND1 Mix Tape Tour tryout Thursday afternoon in downtown Minneapolis was to get a pink bracelet.
Forget about being fashionable. That was the only way you could get a shot at playing the AND1 streetball legends that night in Target Center.
AND1, a sports shoe and apparel company, began endorsing playground basketball nearly a decade ago, and now these streetball players have their own video games, shoe commercials and movies, and they travel the world like the Harlem Globetrotters.
"Ball Don’t Lie" is the story of Sticky, a foster kid from Southern California whose life has been anything but easy. But his great equalizer is that he can ball - you can’t help but immediately compare Sticky to B-Rabbit, Eminem’s character in in “8 Mile.†And like Rabbit, Sticky’s gift is the only thing that can potentially give him a better life. But it’s up to Sticky to make it happen. 
"Let me say it for the record: we’re working day and night to make the movie version of BDL come to life. Man, how cool. Sticky on the big screen. Grayson (The Professor) turned leading man. Brin Hill, one of the most talented young directors in LA, doing hoops in a brand new way, casting Venice in a whole new light. Ball Don’t Lie. The movie. At the same time it’s such a roller coaster. Some days the squad is super up — we hear Common’s in, we get a rough cut of the teaser. Other days we’re down in the dumps. A Hollywood head says there are too many flashbacks or that black people don’t equate to foreign dollars."
Pat Da Roc will release his most anticipated solo mixtape on DVD entitled "Who Is Pat Da Roc?" extremely soon. The tape includes exclusive footage from the AND 1 tour, China, Africa, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, and NBA All-Star weekend. Pat “Da Roc†Robinson aka "That's Crazy" was the youngest player ever to be featured on a mixtape back when the Street Wise tapes came out. Pat’s tremendous showmanship and character have led him to entertain fans worldwide and this new DVD will only expand his horizons. Pat "Da Roc" Robinson AKA "That's Crazy" is one of the most original streetballers of our time. His moves, style, and techniques are completely his own, that's what makes him so popular. "Who Is Pat Da Roc?" consist of all-new, never-before-seen moves and freestyles. It's been a while since a DVD of this originality has come out. Watch the official trailer and see what it's all about 
