Streetball makes first stop in Canada

Hot sauce! hot moves thrill crowd

SHARLYN NIVERA

On Wednesday, Nov. 29, thousands of basketball fans filed into the MTS Centre for their very first taste of streetball basketball, as the And1 streetball team took their world-famous Killa Krossover exhibition tour to Canada for the very first time. The And1 “Legends” team, as their blue jerseys implied, defeated the Winnipeg All- Stars team, made up of local basketball players, 152-102.

The sport of streetball is a much different style of basketball then what most casual basketball fans are accustomed to seeing in the NBA or in CIS basketball. With fewer rules enforced and with the players given the freedom to display unique street techniques, streetball is one of the fastest growing sports in the world today. The sport is predicated on fancy dribbling, intricate passing, and highflying dunks in an effort to humiliate your opponents in the worst way possible. It’s kind of like a freestyle battle on the basketball court.

As one would expect, streetball is less of a competition, and more of a show for the fans. And The Killa Krossover tour definitely lived up to that billing. The tour featured some of the world most renowned streetballers, including “Hot Sauce,” “Springs,” “Violater,” “JFK,” “Highriser” and “I’ll Be Right Back.” In addition to their entertaining aliases, the team managed to wow the crowd with alleyoop slams and between-the-leg dunks that are usually reserved for the NBA Slam Dunk competition.

The Winnipeg team managed to stay close during the first half, but still found themselves behind heading into halftime.

The second half brought the crowd to their feet as the And1 Legends turned up the heat and took control of the game. Leading the way for the Legends was Philip Champion, better known as Hot Sauce. With his sick handles and quick feet, Hot Sauce’s performance included a dizzying array of moves that left those in attendance cheering for more. In one of the more memorable sequences of the night, Hot Sauce was able to bounce the basketball off of a defender’s head, leading to an easy score, and leaving those in attendance laughing in delight.

With the Legends having pulled away during the second half, And1 stars used the final two minutes of the game to put on their own personal slam dunk exhibition. Each player took their turn rocking the rim with their own significant style, much to the delight of the audience.

Entertainment was also provided during the halftime intermission. Define Movement, a local dance group, entertained the fans with an unbelievable break-dancing performance. Killa Kela, the No. 1 human beat-boxer in the world, also kept the crowd pumped up with his halftime performance. The show even called for some audience participation, as four lucky audience members were invited to participate in a half-court shoot-out contest. Each participant was given the opportunity to take a shot from half court, which if they successfully made, would pocket the contestant a cool $1,000 in cash. Unfortunately, neither of the four participants were able to make the shot.