“For the second year in a row, Hoop & Hang was a resounding success and our personal highlight for SXSW. Yes, watching people rock on stage is a delight, but hanging out with genuinely cool people for a few hours away from the festival’s hustle and bustle is easily the most fun we can think of having.
This year, teams got more competitive and trash talk was tossed around like jumpshots, but when the final whistle was blown, everybody was able to just relax, dap each other up, laugh and take in the atmosphere. Our friends also came through even stronger this year by going the extra mile to whip up jerseys for the event. Just a few days removed from Hoop & Hang, we’re already counting down the days to year three.
The GM Of The Year: Hustle Simmons
The beauty of Hoop & Hang is how, somewhere towards the end of last year’s tournament, people started to really take the games seriously and competitive-yet-fun energy started to really pick up. Hustle clearly took the game seriously and went out and recruited for his squad. He came back with 2011 MVP PUSH! and Kid Named Breezy who’s easily 6’7″ and was throwing down two-hand alley-oops in layup lines. Don’t be surprised if you see Hustle in the news for costing some poor college kid a scholarship by offering him money to join the squad next year.
Surprise Hooper Of The Year: Young Roddy
We should have learned last year not to underestimate the Smoker’s Club, but we still gave Young Rod a curious look when he donned his jersey. But he’s good. Not just “good for a celebrity game” good, but he’s a legit hooper that was out there putting defenders on skates and looking every bit like Allen Iverson. Between the Smoker’s Club and Michael Phelps, I’m considering getting high in order to become a better athlete.
The Champions: Team HardKnock
Last year, Smoker’s Club took the chip and held Twitter bragging rights plus the right to talk smack at every music festival for 365 days. That may seem small in words but trust that everybody was gunning for them coming into this year’s competition and each squad was staking their claim. The championship game came down to the defending champs versus Team HardKnock. Now, the whole day – from the lacing up of shoes until the last shot – cash sh*t was talked between these two squads before Nick, DJ Hyphen and Cary Chery from XXL dropped in the final bucket to walk away with the crown…and a year’s worth of argument ending point of “yeah, but we won.”
Recap by David D, The Smoking Section