So yesterday was awesome! I headed over to Virrick Park for the Miami regional of the BK B-BALL BATTLE, and the competition was fierce. From the moment I got there, you could tell that it was going to come down to the last shot. So let me set the stage…

The gym was sick. It was a hot day outside in MIA, but inside the gym was fine. With the legendary Horse on the mic and a DJ on the stage, it was as if you were at Rucker Park. The team to watch was Final Destination, a group of guys from Philly that had travelled to a couple of stops on the tour trying to secure their trip to the Finals.

So here are the rules: First to 15 or highest score after 12 minutes (whichever comes first), 1s and 2s, losers out, pass in and no check. (Note: This rule is often forgotten as teams will try and check the ball and the other team will take it straight to the basket for the bucket, so be careful.) There is also eight team fouls until you shoot one free throw, so the Hack-a-Shaq method definitely makes sense if you’re about to give up a layup.

Some observations and highlights from the day…

- Jarron Jones (who is Eddie Jones‘ cousin) was probably the best player in the building. After playing at Lynn University and for a squad in Mexico, he just got a new agent is trying to get some NBA looks. Back in 2004, he played for the Timberwolves Summer League squad. In one game with his team down, he rose baseline and flushed on some dude’s head. Ridiculous!
- Some of the player lookalikes were spot on and included Luis Scola, Kevin Durant, Vince Young, Kurt Warner and Kendrick Perkins
- After talking to a bunch of the local kids, it’s pretty clear who the best players in Florida are. While we already knew about Kenny Boynton and Brandon Knight, apparently Angel Rodriguez (a PG at Dr. Krop High School from the Class of 2011) could be the Next Big Thing.
- I got to be one of the three judges for the Dunk Contest. While there wasn’t anything spectacular, my boy Antoniel Fortunato from Broward College pulled off the Kenny Smith through the legs from the free throw line for the win.
- Another prospect to watch is Robert Martina from Miami Dade College. This rising sophomore is 6-9 and should be able to transfer to a D-1 school after another solid season.
- Jean shorts are HUGE in the 305! The bigger the better.

The finals to make it to the national championship was between Final Destination and the Dynasty II. Final Destination had been waiting for this chance the whole tour, basically making the investment to travel to Miami in hopes that their trip would pay some dividends. But the scrappy Dynasty II squad had other ideas.

After starting the game 2-2, Dynasty II rattled off back-to-back-to-back threes to make it 8-2 in under a minute. But the veteran PG from Final Destination wasn’t ready to go home, and made back-to-back threes of his own to make it 9-7 with four minutes left. From there, things got interesting.

With the score tied 10-10 with just over 50 seconds left, it was down to defense to see who was going to prevail. Taking it to the hoop as time wound down, Dynasty II was able to get to the line with 2.2 seconds left and knock it down. 11-10. Game. Set. Match. Check back in tomorrow to see who wins the whole things and takes home $20,000.