City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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The 2016 version of The Basketball Tournament (TBT) and its $2 million prize are almost here. The field is set, and as of Friday, so are the brackets.

Philly will play host to the Northeast Regional, with the first two rounds of action taking place at Philly U on July 16 and 17. The 16-team region was seeded and the first-round matchups were revealed on Friday.

We have the pairings below with some brief backgrounds on each team. For more info, check out CoBL’s Northeast Region breakdown from last month.

Northeast Bracket

9:00 a.m.
(1) City of Gods
The DMV-based team, named after a popular Baltimore apparel store, remains one of the favorites to advance to New York once again. With a deep roster headlined by two former lottery picks in Cincinnati’s DeMarr Johnson and Georgetown’s Michael Sweetney, as well as former NBA players James White (Cincinnati), Pops Mensah-Bonsu (George Washington) and Xavier Silas (Northern Illinois), City of Gods is looking to capture the prize that eluded them last summer. Ex-Temple star guard David Hawkins, who missed most of the 2015 tournament with hamstring issues, will provide scoring and strong defense if he is healthy.

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(16) Dubois Dream
This group of former Division II stars is stacked at the guard position (Gustin Conde - Penn State DuBois, Nick Novak - University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, André Anthony - Clarion University (PA), Corey Schontz - John Carroll University, Dom Varacallo - Duquesne University), but lacks a true center. With this “small lineup,” look for the Dubois Dream to be firing from the perimeter, and making a high percentage of its shot attempts. At the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown, Novak shot over 50 percent from the field during his tenure with the school. The team also carries two past Washington and Jefferson College players: team GM Albert Varacallo and Josip Lucic.

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10:45 a.m.
(8) Talladega Knights
Unlike some school-specific teams, this squad has plucked players from a variety of schools. That being said, it does possess two former University of Massachusetts players (Gary Forbes, Danté Milligan) and two former Fighting Irish (Tyrone Nash, Carleton Scott). Boone, a TBT finalist in 2014 with Barstool Sports and a National Champion at University of Connecticut, will look to help lead the Knights to victory in the east.

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(9) Team Fancy
Led by NBA 7-footer JaVale McGee, Fancy has a roster loaded with former D-I players. The squad has some Big 5 flavor, featuring former Villanova players Corey Stokes and Dominic Cheek. Team Fancy also boosts former Arizona Wildcat Kevin Parrom and West Virginia alum Darryl Bryant. One of Fancy’s boosters is Jayceon Taylor, better known as The Game.

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7:15 p.m.
(2) Boeheim’s Army
Boeheim’s Army is led by Eric Devendorf, who played in the 2009 Big East Quarterfinal, six-overtime classic versus University of Connecticut, as well as C.J. Fair. Last year, this team was the only number one seed in the tournament to make it to the Round of 16. This week, Boeheim's Army added a big piece to the roster in Philly native and Friends' Central grad Hakim Warrick, a 6-10 forward who enjoyed a nine-year NBA career and still plays professionally overseas.

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(15) Basketball City
This Manhattan-based team has some height, including former Nuggets draft pick, Chukwudiebere Maduabum, who stands at 6-10. The team also has two 7-footers in A.J. Matthews and Abdoulaye Ndoye, and 6-10 Christopher Pelcher will join all of them in the front court.

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9:00 p.m.
(7) Broad St. Bullies
A team whose name derives from the one given to the Flyers Stanley Cup teams of the 70’s, the North Broad Street Bullies are made up of almost exclusively former Temple players. The perimeter attack is strong, as Khalif Wyatt, Juan Fernandez and Ramone Moore, the core of the Owls teams from a few seasons ago, have the ability and chemistry to score in bunches. Forwards Scootie Randall and Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson provide strong defense in complementary roles, while Dalton Pepper can stretch out defenses with his range.

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(10) 20th & Olney
The Cinderella team that made a Sweet 16 run in the 2013 NCAA Tournament is making its second consecutive TBT appearance after failing to make it out of the Philly regional last year. Back is the three-headed nightmare in the backcourt of Duren, Galloway and Garland, with 7-footer Steve Zack (perhaps the most-improved of the bunch over the last three years) and 6-8 Jerrell Wright up front. Add in a few more veteran La Salle players in Rodney Green and Steven Smith, and the pieces are there for the Blue and Gold to make some noise in Philly once again.

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4:00 p.m.
(3) Untouchables
(Ed. Note: In the spirit of full disclosure, we do have to mention that The Untouchables’ GM is CoBL writer Aron Minkoff.)
A University of Pittsburgh heavy team (Gilbert Brown, Jermaine Dixon, Antonio Graves, Gary McGhee, Brad Wanamaker, Talib Zanna) also recently added former Panther point guard LeVance Fields. Zanna, a former short-term player for the Oklahoma City Thunder, will work well with his fellow Panther alum, McGhee, in the frontcourt. This past year, McGhee averaged 6.1 ppg and 4.0 rpg for Kolossos Rodou of the Greek League. And Zanna averaged 14.1 ppg and 10.1 rpg for the OKC’s D-League team - the Oklahoma City Blue - during the 2015-16 season.

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(14) Sideline Cancer
Sideline Cancer yields a mixture of Division I and II athletes and coaches. Guards Tre Bowman (Iona - averaged 11.1 ppg) and Anthony Clemmons (Iowa - averaged 5.1 ppg) will look to control the backcourt. Daniel Santiago, who played at Saint Vincent, will play the center position at the height of 7-1, along with former NBA center Ousmane Cisse. With talent sprinkled from all around the country, this group looks to make its own run at the TBT.

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5:45 p.m.
(6) Supernova
No longer the best team in Villanova’s recent basketball history, a group that went to the 2009 Final Four has reunited to take another run at TBT’s big-money prize. Leading scorer Dante Cunningham is absent, but the team’s playoff hero is back in Reynolds, along with his backcourt mates Fisher and Redding as well as Antonio Pena, a sophomore that team who really exploded the following year. All have enjoyed excellent pro careers in Europe, and they’ve got some help as well. More recent ‘Nova grads James Bell, Mouphtaou Yarou and Maurice Sutton are on the roster, as is Isaiah Armwood, who began his career at VU before transferring to George Washington.

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(11) PA Roadwarriors
Composed of Bucknell alumi, this squad has a bunch of players that fans may remember from the Bison’s upset of Kansa in the NCAA Tournament 11 years ago. Among players from that team are big man Chris McNaughton and guard Charles Lee, who also helped Bucknell upend No. 10 Pittsburgh that season. The Roadwarriors also have some more recent Bucknell players including Chris Hass.

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12:30 p.m.
(4) Team Maryland
Talk about size. Team Maryland has four players on its roster who are 6-foot-9 or taller: Jerelle Benimon (6-9), Jeff Allen (6-9), Danny Agbelese (6-10), Quincy Miller (6-11). Benimon, who starred at Towson after beginning his career at Georgetown, had a brief stint in the NBA with the Utah Jazz. Look for this group to be strong on the interior, as they are loaded at the center and power forward positions. The coaching staff is composed of two University of Maryland alums, Muhammad Smith and John Auslander. Auslander played for the Terps from 2011-14.

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(13) Big Apple Basketball
Big Apple Basketball, whose roster consists almost entirely of NYC natives, most notably features of past Long Island University star Mike Campbell, ex-UMass guard Anthony Gurley, and former Vanderbilt players Lance Goulbourne and Rod Odom. This city-bred team has size, as every player on the roster stands taller than six feet, most by a significant margin - former University of Connecticut center Ater Majok is listed at 6-foot-11.

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2:15 p.m.
(5)Team FOE
This is a group with some serious potential. Philadelphia natives Markus and Markieff Morris lead the way for a team with a heavy Kansas influence: Mario Little and Tyshawn Taylor are also on the roster, as are Maalik Wayns (Villanova), Dionte Christmas (Temple), Mychel Thompson (Pepperdine) and Scott Rodgers (Drexel).

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(12) Liberty Ballers
Back for another go after last year’s run into the Sweet 16 is this group of Philly-area natives, playing under the banner of SB Nation’s Philadelphia 76ers site (www.LibertyBallers.com). There are a few who played college ball locally, including St. Joe’s C.J. Aiken and Garrett Williamson plus Temple’s Ryan Brooks; Ronald Moore, who played at Siena, brings Anosike with him, and former Butler point guard Michael Green completes the backcourt. The coach is former Seton Hall/Vanderbilt guard and current Coatesville coach Chuck Moore.