As we’ve told you before, the mainstream streetball summer scene — previously dominated by AND 1 in recent years — has a new player in the Ball 4 Real tour. Made up of some of AND 1’s original (Main Event, AO) and newer (Spyda, Circus) members, the upstart B4R tour is a natural rival for the established AND 1 squad. Of course, the question we’ve been getting a lot is, which team is better? In a five-on-five game of real ball, we broke down the matchups:
POINT GUARD: Circus (B4R) vs. Bad Santa (AND 1)
If you didn’t already know, Bad Santa is Kenny Brunner, the former high school All-American and Georgetown point guard. Santa gets the scoring edge here, but Circus is a better passer. And with the weapons Circus has around him, he can rack up 20 assists … in the first half. Still, Santa is a problem trying to keep out of the lane and has a lot more experience from playing everywhere from the Big East to NBA summer leagues to pro leagues in a variety of countries.
Edge: AND 1
SHOOTING GUARD: AO (B4R) vs. Springs (AND 1)
Not taking anything away from Springs — who can definitely ball — but AO is that deal; he’s been doing it since Springs was a snot-nose. The only thing Springs has over him is athleticism.
Edge: Ball 4 Real
WING: Mr. 720 (B4R) vs. Baby Shack (AND 1)
Mr. 720 (formerly “Air Up There”) may be the better dunker, but Baby Shack does just about everything else better. And he can throw it down himself.
Edge: AND 1
FORWARD: Main Event (B4R) vs. The Assassin (AND 1)
After watching Assassin destroy 7-foot soon-to-be NBA Draft pick Spencer Hawes at Rucker Park last summer, he should be able to take the aging, 6-4 Main Event on the block and work him out.
Edge: AND 1
BIG MAN: Special FX (B4R) vs. Go Get It (AND 1)
This one’s easy. Go Get It dunks. Special FX dunks better. Go Get It rebounds. Special FX rebounds better. The St. John’s product has the upper hand here.
Edge: Ball 4 Real
BENCH
Ball 4 Real has a plethora of guards — Shane the Dribbling Machine, Spyda, I’ll Be Right Back, Killa Kirb and Pharmacist. AND 1’s backup backcourt consists of The Professor, Hot Sauce and Silk. If this were a showmanship contest, AND 1 would have the big edge, but in a real game, B4R’s guards come out on top. In the frontcourt, B4R has Half-Man Half-Amazing, High Octane and 50. For AND 1, it’s Helicopter, 8th Wonder and Escalade. In other words, B4R’s guys run up and down the court while Escalade slows it down tremendously.
Edge: Ball 4 Real
INTANGIBLES
Both teams have a good mix of youth and experience, but one thing that tilts this category in B4R’s favor is that their core group (Main, AO, Shane, Half-Man) has played together for so long. It’s the same reason why teams like the Spurs and Pistons are continually at the top of the League.
Edge: Ball 4 Real
THE WINNER: 4-3, Ball 4 Real
June 7th, 2007 at 11:15 am
The Nugg Doctor says:
Nice article. AO is my main man! What about Alimoe? Where does he factor in?
June 7th, 2007 at 11:18 am
Celts34 says:
good article Kyle - way to step up, rookie.
June 7th, 2007 at 11:46 am
White Bob says:
AO is sick, as is bad santa, id love to see them go head to head and see who comes out on top.
June 7th, 2007 at 11:49 am
Austin Burton says:
I don’t know, man … I wanna go with my West Coast dudes Bad Santa and Assassin on the AND 1 team, but you do make a good point about B4R having that chemistry. But is Shane really nice, or is he just gonna dance with the rock? The X-factors in this game: Silk and I’ll Be Right Back. Both of them are very underrated.
June 7th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Buck says:
Why did the Ball 4 Real tour start? Was there some type of chemistry issue or contractual beef with And1? It wld seems the B4R guys left money on the table, unless they have a tv deal like And1.
June 7th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Kyle says:
Thanks for the love fellas. And to answer your question Nugg Doctor, Alimoe isn’t ballin’ with either team right now.
June 7th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
JG says:
Good article. They need to do an Annual Game at the garden or somethin, forreal.
June 7th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
TheJed says:
Okay Rookie!
June 19th, 2007 at 11:04 am
Ms. Amazin' says:
Nice article Kyle, but I would have to disagree with some of it. You see my husband and the rest of guys are the best streetballers ever. I’ve lost count with the amount of NBA players my husband have handed their asses to them in Rucker. I think everyone has forgotten this is STREETBALL, and you shouldn’t need a television deal to validate yourself. My husband(1/2Man), Main, and Shane all gained there reputations by actions, noy media hype. So, to answer the question of who’s the best team I’ll give you facts!!!!
B4R is undeafeated since their start up tour!
AND 1 is defeated since their tour started, and it’s all on being caught on ESPN 2 live.
So, all you poor souls who are worried about these guys, don’t be, they have all the talent while AND1 main star attractions aka “Professor” and “Hot Sauce” couldn’t beat Main’s baby boy in a one on one game.
Loyalty, and your balls is all a man has to sustain his word and worth. AND1 has no loyalty, and their word is not their bond… so this group of guys put self repect above a paycheck, and decided to reclaim their original street fame without all the hoop la!!! To shut up hater and nasayers, and truly give back to the people. So if you want to see a real street ball game get your selves out there and catch a game and then we’ll see whose whose and what what!
One Love, Mrs. Amazin’
June 19th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Rick Ferrell says:
Where have I been! Thanx for the article it caught me up w/ everything before I made a mistake and bought these AND 1 tickets before they come to Dallas. I agree overall that B4R would win hands down but it would still be nice to see both teams go head to head at the end of the summer. As for the tours, I thought that it was strange that And1 was not making as many appearances as in previous years. I see that the B4R players have taken Moutain Dew, ESPN2 with them as well as the $100,000 contract so hopefully now these players will really be able to receive the monetary incentives that they truly deserve. THEY DESERVE EVERY PENNY!
June 24th, 2007 at 11:49 am
Scott says:
After personally attending the B4R tour last night in Oklahoma City, I would have to say other than the rain, and the half time performance by the Shop Boyz that was cancelled, The game was actually pretty impresive. Compared to the And 1 event that was hosted here in the summer of 05′ I would say the overall production was better with the B4R Guys. But like Buck said, I don’t really understand why the B4R guys split from And 1. Something must of went down.
June 29th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
anklebreaker07 says:
I think that it is quality not quantity yes some of the front runners of and1 have sold out and left but lets not forget no one begged any of these guys to play for them they all were desperate for stardom since none of them were talented enough to make the league. When and1 came out it was something different and exciting but the last 2 years have been boring and dreadful with the constant “i play real ball i dont care about the fans who support us attitude” quite frankly alot of the players that left needed to leave because they ruined what and1 was meant to be by letting critics change how they played their games lets face it main, shane, and half didnt and still dont care about the fans all they care about is someone saying they should be in the league but lets face the fact they all are aged or aging right before our very eyes and it just seems that even the new guys that are on the tour arent happy with what they do all they care about is that they might get that lucky break but the real truth is that none of them are on that level because if they were they would be thier with skip i applaud all the guys who opted to stay with and1 because at least they showed loyalty in tough times and as far as the whole professor and hot sauce deal about them not being able to guard mains baby boy when has main, shane, or half had the fan base of those 2 thats why i say quality not quantity yes and1 may be losin right now but at least they are loyal to their fans and loyal to who gave all them a break unlike the rest just remember who would any of them be without and1 answer is nobody
August 31st, 2007 at 7:52 pm
dave says:
to those who read this i just witnessed a classic ball game between ball4real and the tri state all stars in harlem i don’t care what anyone says man ball4real hands down are better than and1 since the vets left it’ll never be the same again check out youtube and see for yourself type ball4real vs tscallstars and you’ll be surprised how quality that game was classic
March 17th, 2008 at 1:34 am
Chanteil says:
Of course B4R is a better team. I’ve to their games when they come to the D every summer since the 11th grade in high school and now I’ve graduated from college. I seen Skip To My Lou go from playing with AND 1 to the Nba helping houston make history. Now And 1 was left with the scraps. Ball $ Real is the real deal. And 1 didn’t even have a real game last summer, so that already tells you its the beginning of the end. And didn’t Mountain Dew go from sponsoring And 1 to Ball 4 Real. I think the money says it all