The Basketball Tournament 2016 Championship Game Preview
Overseas Elite enters ‘The Basketball Tournament’ 2016 Championship game as defending champions. The team made up mostly of former college stars playing professionally overseas has something to fight for. Bragging rights, the international stars are competing to be the first team to repeat in TBT’s short history. On the other side, Team Colorado scratched and clawed their way through their region and the semifinals to match up with the powerhouse. 64 teams entered and now there are two left. With ‘The Basketball Tournament’ championship game quickly approaching, who has the edge? Which team will walk away with the $2 million prize at the historic Rose Hill gym on the Fordham University campus in the Bronx?
Team Colorado
Team Colorado came into the 2016 tournament looking to exact revenge on one team. Team 23. The runners-up in the 2015 edition of ‘The Basketball Tournament’ rode a cinderella-like path to the championship game, defeating Team Colorado on their way, only to lose to Overseas Elite. Team Colorado, the west region champions defeated border rivals Team Utah to capture a berth in the semifinals. Then in the semis, they defeated ‘Always a Brave’, a team comprised of Bradley University alums. As they head into the title game, they have some pretty solid players to watch. Headlining their squad is a trio of Marcus’ who all contribute heavy to their offense. Make sure you keep your eye on Marcus Hall, Marcus Relphorde and Marcus King-Stockton as a trio that could do some damage. As Jeff Goodman of ESPN reports, Hall is playing with a broken bone in his wrist as well as plantar fasciitis, but managed to score 25 points in the semifinal win. Other players to watch on team Colorado include Dominique Coleman, Austin Dufualt and Levi Knutson.
Also, Team Colorado has the ‘band advantage’ in the championship game. During the semifinals, the band from VCU went 2-0, playing for both Overseas Elite and Team Colorado.
TBT's Pep Band was 2-0 on Saturday. Who should get their support tomorrow night at 7p (ET) on @ESPN? #TBT2016
— TBT (@thetournament) August 1, 2016
Overseas Elite
The floor general for Overseas Elite is without a doubt former Texas Longhorns star point guard, Myck Kabongo. He oozes confidence and even declared it early in Overseas Elite semifinals victory over City of Gods. After drivine to the hoop and getting fouled, Kabongo made quite the declaration that proved to be true on numerous occasions
Myck Kabongo drives, gets the foul and says “These dudes can’t stay in front of me, man”#TBT2016
(via @clippittv)pic.twitter.com/eSik3Kwv9u
— Def Pen Sports (@DefPenSports) July 30, 2016
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Despite his leadership on the court, the guard did not lead the way on the Overseas Elite stat sheet during the semifinals. Former Arizona Wildcats standout Kyle Fogg dropped a ridiculous 42 points on 12-16 shooting including 7-8 from three-point range. Kabongo and Fogg look to repeat alongside teammates Errick McCollum, older brother of Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum, D.J. Kennedy, Paris Horne and a pair of big men in Johndre Jefferson and Todd O’Brien.
Overseas Elite might not have band advantage but they have champions advantage. Coming in as defending champions and being a big favorite over Team Colorado will help them. They took care of their toughest opponent by defeating ‘City of Gods’ in a hotly contested matchup so they come in to their championship game with all the confidence in the world.
If you’re in town, you can come check out the championship game at Fordham University and buy tickets at the door. You can also tune in to ESPN at 7pm ET and see who wins $2 million, Overseas Elite or Team Colorado.
