La Familia hopes to take down their biggest rival en route to their first TBT championship
La Familia enters year three of their time in TBT. In year one, they made it all the way to the semifinals before losing to the eventual champion, Carmen’s Crew. Last year, it was a bit of a shock when they lost by one to Eberlein Drive in the third round despite being one of the favorites to win the whole tournament.
La Familia beat their rivals, “The ‘Ville” in year one, and are hoping to keep that streak alive this year in a best two out of three. They return several players from the past two years, but are hoping the all-around team is good enough to bring Big Blue Nation their first championship since 2012.
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Roster:
- DeAndre Liggins
- Sean McNeil
- Reid Travis
- Chris Coffey
- Willie Cauley-Stein
- Andrew Harrison
- Kahlil Whitney
- Archie Goodwin
- Darryl Morsell
- James Mainor-Bell
- Quade Green
Coaching Staff:
- Twany Beckham (GM, Owner)
- Terrence Commodore (GM)
- Jon Hood (Head Coach)
- Jazz Ferguson (Asst. Coach)
- Ethan Coury (Asst. Coach)
- Gavin Root (Asst. Coach)
All-time Record: 6-2
First Matchup: vs. The Ville (July 18 at 12 p.m. EST)
Team MVP: Archie Goodwin
Goodwin, who played at Kentucky in 2012-2013, showed no signs of slowing down last year, leading the team in points and assists, while finishing second in rebounds. He went for 19 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 blocks in their dominant game one win, and led the team in scoring in the loss with 19. He’s smart with the ball, and plays at his own pace.
Having a ball handler and an on-the-court coach is important, especially considering they’ll have to play in a hostile environment when they go to Louisville, so having him on the team is going to be so important. He’ll need to be more efficient, shooting just 30.8% from three and 33.3% from the line, but if he can do that, then he might end up being the best player in this entire tournament.
Make-or-break Player: Darryl Morsell
Morsell is one of the few non-Wildcats on the team, but he is a tremendous player. He played for Shell Shock last year, the Maryland Alumni team, and averaged 12.5 PPG, 5 RPG, and 4.5 APG. Outside of Goodwin and Khalil Whitney last year, La Familia really struggled to find a consistent scoring option, and Morsell should fit that role, making them even more dangerous. This Kentucky team has a lot of guards, though looking for minutes, and if he can’t show right away his value, then La Familia might run into the same problems they saw in the past.
Team Outlook
While the names on the roster aren’t going to be the first you think of when it comes to Kentucky basketball, there’s still a ton of talent on the team. Andrew Harrison is back, but not with his brother, Aaron, for the first time in TBT. He’ll be joined by the longtime NBA player Willie Cauley-Stein, who announced he’s retiring from professional basketball after this tournament.
Chris Coffey scored 48 points in last year’s tournament for Sideline Cancer, and Sean McNeil is a high-volume three-point shooter, something they’ll need after shooting just 32% from deep last year. They’ll have to play game one at Louisville, but if they can win that one, then they’ll have two chances to put The Ville away at Freedom Hall. This is a team certainly capable of winning a championship; the question will just be if they can get the consistency without a star TBT player like Kerem Kanter or Eric Bledsoe.
[…] alumni team, looked like title contenders in 2024, breezing through their regional before losing to La Familia, the Kentucky alumni team, in the quarterfinals. Last year, they seemed prime to go to at least the […]