Members of the TBT squad and head coach Reece Gaines took stage for questions about the upcoming tournament, where an open practice to the media ensued thereafter.
“This is an opportunity for guys to show their young son or daughter, this is who I grew up playing for and to share that experience with their loved ones will be great.” Gaines said.
Montrezl Harrell also took the podium and made it known how fired up and ready he is to play in TBT.
The 9 year NBA vet has been out of action for the past year and a half recovering from a torn ACL.
“Healthwise I feel great, man. I just came off a workout in Vegas in front of teams and NBA organizations so I feel great…” said Trez.
One player who wasn’t present at the press conference but I was able to grab a word with before practice started was the substitution for Kyle Kuric and part of last year’s squad, Chris Dowe.
Kuric is unable to play in this year’s TBT due to personal reasons.
Though he wasn’t part of the initial roster, Dowe is very excited to be joining The Ville once again.
“I’m excited to be back with everyone, they’ve welcomed me with open arms… it was kind of an obvious choice to be back with the guys and representing the city, but playing against my old team makes it that much more fun…” Dowe said.
“It’ll be exciting. A lot of familiar faces and it’ll be interesting to see how it turns out but it’ll be a lot of fun, for sure.”
When it comes to on court play, The Ville should be a very exciting team to watch. If both David Johnson and Montrezl Harrell are at or near their full health, they’re top 10 talents in the entire tournament.
If a team catches The Ville on a good shooting day, good luck. This team has the potential to rack up big points on the offensive end with numerous bucket-getters.
Look out for Montrezl Harrell to take the ball up the floor from time-to-time and isolate someone for an easy bucket, especially come time for Elam Ending.
The Ville opens up play against Bellarmine’s alumni team, UKnighted this Saturday, July 20th at 1:00 PM. EST. on Fox.
UPDATE
Cards are now 3-0! Here’s some video! Cards will face the blue alumni team Monday at 9pm.
https://x.com/BlakeMcCauley_/status/1815572065182761281?t=T_v9fzE5faJkMfjZSX3tkQ&s=19
https://x.com/BlakeMcCauley_/status/1816276101804769651?t=GxQDPSLcRKoJFg5buuXW4w&s=19
