CFC Summer League Basketball 2002

"I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don't do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results." - Michael Jordan

This week I chose 7 players that stood out as men among boys. Most of them helped their teams go 2-0. The other few, after looking at their stats, were acknolwedged for their hard work.

*The stats are based on 2 game totals played up to 30 points. The stats may not be 100% accurate. But it's close and serves its purpose.

WEEK ONE TOP PERFORMERS | WEEK TWO TOP PERFORMERS | WEEK THREE TOP PERFORMERS

Ben Bodensteiner (Team Aurum Laguna)
Formerly known as Vin Diesel, Ben did just about everything tonight: shooting from the arc, no-look passes, driving to the lane, grabbing boards, etc., while guarding opponents twice his size (i.e. Chang Sik). His team went from 0-2 to 1-3 this week. Despite the team's lack of size, Ben stepped up and took on the role of as a big man and took a lot of beating but still stood tall like a man in the end. All this adds up to: 26 points, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 12 rebounds. Way to Vin...can we have your autograph?

Marcus Pearson (Team Hyung Ro)
The main reason why he's up here is because he's been begging and bribing the commissioner since the day this tournament started. But we could not help but overlook the fact that he helped his team go 2-0 this week improving their rankings from 13th to 4th place. He played a key role in distributing the rock (5 assists) while managing to hog the ball for his share of 17 points. He actually played defense this week stealing the ball 3 times and grabbing 16 boards. As the character Watto from Star Wars I would say: "Oooo...not bad, not bad!"

Joe Jun (Team Dan Song)
You can't call him fat anymore because he lost over 50 pounds of weight. And looking at his face, you also don't want to call him the player of the week...but after looking at his stats, I couldn't help but to be surprised by the fact that he actually passed the ball 4 times. That in itself is worthy of earning the player of the week award considering their entire team only had 2 assists last week. Any man that can lose that much weight from his rookie season to now deserve to get a recognition here. He finished the night with 25 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, 15 rebounds, and 2 blocks (including the one that made Zion Park almost not want to play basketball again).

Mike Illuzzi (Team Kenny Kim)
This Italian Stallion can do it all. When Pastor Min is on the bench, he distributes the ball. When Ki Kim is being lazy, he goes inside to grab boards. When the team is not shooting well, he'll step behind the line to drain the bucket. And when he's resting on the bench, he's usually cheering on his teammates. He's the reason why this team is able to keep up with the big boys despite the lack of size in comparison to some of the other teams. Even though their team went 1-1 again, his teammates still love him because he's all about team basketball. He put up 19 points, 4 assists, 4 steals, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

Joel Park (Team Sean Lee)
With Scott Roeschelle causing all the ruckus inside, everyone forgot about Joel Park and that he can actually shoot the three. He drained 24 points and literally sucked the life out of everyone on the other team. Joel usually keeps himself busy concentrating on playing defense (He plays this game like hockey - minus the fight - and plays all out, but tonight, they gave him the green light and he became their offensive shooting star. He didn't do too much in the other columns - 2 assists, 3 steals, 2 rebounds and 1 block. But he 24 points and his team's continuing perfect record were good enough to land him a spot here on the player of the week page. Good job Joel.

Henry Cho (Team Lester Cruzat)
Henry doesn't know how when to quit. He's the Dennis Rodman that everyone wants on their team. He prides himself on his defensive ability. He grabbed 16 boards this week along with 2 assists and 2 steals. The pressure was on him to step up this week as their team was without their offensive star M.C. Neal. But Henry stepped up nicely and contributed with 18 points. Sometimes it's not always about the win. Even though this team went 0-2 this week, with guys like Henry, they are sure to climb up in the ranking when their full squad returns.

Marc Glanton (Team P.Jong Park)
Will someone please tell this man that he belongs in the CBA? Teams are left feeling helping around him as they "attempt" to box him out only to realize that he already hast he rebound. He's what you call a wild stallion. You just have to get out of his way and hope that he stops himself. We've yet to see him give his 100% in this league. Can't imagine what he'll do when he actually tries. The last time he actually tried, he almost ripped out a little asian kid that they call "tough monkey's" arm out as they both tried to grab a rebound. He ended the night with 13 points, 1 assist, 2 steals, 20 monsterous boards, and 3 blocks.