MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Young and old alike “oohed” and “ahed” as the Serving Knowledge to Youth StreetBall Syndicate basketball team put on an impressive demonstration of basketball prowess in the Matthew C. Perry gymnasium here Saturday.
One of the major highlights was seeing Dennis “Spyda” Chism dunk the ball and turn upside down while clinging to the rim, clearly demonstrating his namesake.
“I thought it was really good,” Tchaikawsky E. Samuels said, mentioning Chism’s dunk specifically. “I'm really happy I came.”
S.K.y. played a team composed of station residents, and even though the team representing the station was outclassed, the point wasn’t to embarrass anyone.
“A lot of these guys are original members of And1 on ESPN, and when And1 became a little too commercialized and it got away from the market that they (wanted) to approach, which are kids, they wanted to come back to their roots,” William Younce, S.K.y.’s tour manager, said.
The players on the S.K.y. team don’t just talk the talk, and if their departure from And1 due to its commercialization doesn’t speak volumes, hearing one of S.K.y.’s guards Chris “Rain Man” Crumpler describe his motivations can be moving.
“We have to make sure that we tell the kids the right messages because sometimes through entertainment and sports we let athletes compromise what's important,” said Crumpler. “So with S.K.y., Serving Knowledge to Youth, the knowledge that we're serving is all about a positive base, all about education and respecting your parents and following the rules.”
“We try and get a lot of guys that are on the team with college degrees giving back to the communities and showing the kids that we don't just talk about it, but we do it,” he added.
To show their good sportsmanship, and perhaps to truly highlight their talent, at half-time the S.K.y. basketball team made the score even and gave the home team of station residents a 10-point lead.
Despite their gesture of goodwill, the S.K.y. team was still able to retake the lead with an impressive demonstration of basketball acrobatics.
In defense of the Iwakuni team, they came together at literally last-minute and had no strategy going into the game said Jason Scott, the Iwakuni team’s coach.
After all, the S.K.y. team couldn’t play itself.
“I think everybody enjoyed themselves,” said Scott. “The crowd seemed to enjoy themselves, so that was the most important thing; that the families and everybody else in the stands were having a good time.”
The S.K.y. team’s approach may seem harsh to the poor Washington Generalesque-team, the long-time whipping boys of the Harlem Globetrotters, they face at the locations they go to, but the game only serves to garner the attention of the youth while still managing to impress the old.
“The game is the delivery mechanism, but the message is stay off the streets, get an education and serving knowledge to the kids so they can grow up to be responsible, successful adults,” said Younce.
“The game of ball can be played anywhere,” added Younce. “Basketball is a universal sport, and all these guys have played basketball and they can relate to the kids, and it's all about education; it's a natural tie-in because all these guys have played college ball.”
After the game the players made themselves available for nearly an hour to give autographs and be in photographs with the electric crowd.
“The fans brought it out of us,” said Crumpler. “They had a great crowd here today. We feed off the crowd's energy.”
Iwakuni was just one of 14 stops for the S.K.y. StreetBall Syndicate basketball team’s tour.
To view player profiles, see them in action or just for more information about the S.K.y. basketball team, check out their Web site at http://www.skynolimit.net/.