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When you're trying to stay awake all night - either running up and down a basketball court, or trying to film those guys who are - you need something to keep you going. Fortunately, help was on hand at Nike Midnight
Madness....Biscuit and Warren from the TVT street team had "Crunk".
Think Redbull crossed with Nerds (anyone over 22 should know what
I'm talking about). Anyway, this basically kept everyone going on Friday night...from ballers to DJs (I drank three cans...which I swear can't be good for my health). But the guys needed it, as once again this all-nighter saw some hard-nosed basketball played as everyone tried to get their name on that list of elite ballers who'll be competing in Brixton on August 19th. During the first couple of hours, both
courts were overrun by young ballers - pretty much all of them guards.
I swear I didn't see anyone over 6' 3" until about 11pm.
In came guys like Darius Defoe (1st in the Brixton qualifier), Matthew Bryan (3rd at last week's run), Marcus Knight, Junior Williams, Lekan Popoola, Marvin Addy, Darren Sutherland, Frank Batimba and Perry Lawson. What the hell? Half these guys qualified last week...what are they doing putting themselves through all this again? Repeat after me - L. O. V. E. Anyway, things started getting hype when
Darren, Darius and Matthew began throwing down dunks...drawing oohs
and aaahs from the crowd.
She absolutely schooled one team...becoming the first female baller to make the elite court at Nike Midnight Madness 2005. Midnight soon came, and it was time for the big boys. Most of the pre-seeded players were from the north...guys like Keith Jarrett (below, right), Lijah Perkins and Stefan Gill...but they were joined by the London man dem.
Right off the bat, one guy was shining. Number 19...a cat called Darryl (above, left). He had some nice handles and could also put the ball in the basket. A little while later, Stefan Gill showed he can do more than just jump as he began filling it up from outside and making some nice assists. But the best performance of the night came from youngster Kehunde Roberts. This strong guard was absolutely unconscious...burning anyone who tried to defend him, and racking up one basket after another. He built a massive lead over everyone
else and was way ahead at the top of the leaderboard when he bust
his ankle. Meanwhile, Londoner Daniel Montague was on a mission...chasing lose balls, going after rebounds and taking it strong to the basket. Local lads Wayne Robinson, Ronaldo Edmonson and Dennis Prewar did their thing...and Keith Jarrett was carrying on like Dennis Rodman as he snagged an incredible 34 rebounds. However, as the night wore on, one team started killing it. The squad featured Darius Defoe and Matthew Bryan...but as they'd already qualified their scores weren't counted. But their massive winning streak DID help Darren Sutherland (right) and Frank Batimba to finish first and second on the leaderboard. Hackney youngster Ladi Brown also racked up plenty of points over the final couple of hours and manged an impressive 4th place. That made a Sky Sports camera crew take notice...
The basketball standard at the Birmingham run wasn't as high as it was at Brixton...but the vibe most definitely made up for it. The DJ was spinning bare reggae joints that had everyone dancing...and there was a real nice, laid back, chilled out atmosphere. Everyone was having fun.
Come 6am, with the sun up and a long journey back to London facing loads of us, the remaining crates of Crunk got snatched up quick - mans literally forcing them into their gym bags. And when we got to Rok Solid a couple of hours later, believe me - they came in handy.... For a full list of who made the Top 10 (in fact, once again it turned out to be Top 11) click here. Meanwhile, make sure you hit the Crystal Palace this Friday for the third qualifier. Doors open at 8pm.
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Thank
god for Crunk, that's all I'm saying.
Props.
