2023 Vegas National Tournament Recap

Ball So Hard captures record 10th National Title.

I would be lying if I didn’t say this was one of the more impressive title runs from Ball So Hard. They were with out two key players in Darrin Dorsey and Andrew Kelly. Let’s also add in the fact that half their roster is now 35+ in age and still managed to win every game by double digits including the Sunday playoff games which is truly remarkable.

I thought Final Chapter (GA) and Baseline (TX) would have put up more of a fight on Sunday. Baseline had the younger and deeper roster based on what I saw. But that just shows you how deep and talented Ball So Hard is. They are truly the GOAT of Ultimate Hoops and we can never discount the heart of a champion. Their reign lives on for another year.

Ball So Hard - 2023 Vegas National Tournament Champions

Jaron Hopkins was named National Tournament MVP after a solid all around performance averaging 11.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals for the tournament.

Most Disappointing Team of the Tournament:

Before I name my most disappointed team. I just wanted to let everyone know all 8 of my picks for Sunday made it to Sunday. Thank you :)

There were a few teams I was pretty disappointed with but the Boca Bombers (FL) have to be the most disappointing team of the tournament. Granted they lost on a controversial 4-point play which we may never see again in tournament history. But after securing a top 2 seed going into Sunday and had already beaten Impact by nearly 30 points on Saturday, I thought for sure they would be advancing to the Final 4. It would have been nice to see NBA Center Johan Petro suit up to see how this team would have done with him in the line up but unfortunately we will never know.

Honorable mention: CTE (MD), Nor Cal Buckets (CA), and PTB (TX).

Drake Patterson from team Impact hits insane 4 point play for the win over the Boca Bombers.

Breakout Star of the Tournament:

Marcus Hall from PTB (TX) was definitely the breakout star of the tournament after averaging for 29ppg and 10rb for the tournament. It’s unfortunate PTB did not make it to Sunday as it would have been nice to see him against the big boys. PTB has already confirmed they will be looking to come out to NYC so hopefully we’ll get another look at Marcus’s game.

Honorable Mention: Marcus Allen (Boca Bombers), Matt Thomas (Sky),

Biggest Surprise Team of the Tournament:

The Rudedogs started the tournament 2-0 and just barely missed the cut for Sunday by point differential. Tayvin Cartier is a star in the making after draining this game winning floater to upset heavily favorited Nor Cal Buckets. He was definitely one of the most entertaining players to watch this weekend and the future looks bright for these Vegas teams.

Honorable Mention: Da Guys (MO)

Biggest Shot of the Tournament:

Lamarquis Thompson hits the biggest shot in Baseline history. The shot literally ended CTE (MD) chances of any shot to make it to Sunday.

Special thank you to Dan Orozco, Chris Mitchell, Mo Shah, Chris Fulce and the rest of the Vegas team for helping put together another amazing experience.

Thank you again to all the teams that made it out to Vegas for this years National Tournament! Hope you all enjoyed the Ultimate Hoops experience with us. See you in New York!