Divisions/Teams

Check the Rumor Mill table to see who’s coming back this season…

Height guidelines

The Divisional breakdown below might be a little outdated. Or at least it needs to be refreshed so that everybody follows these general guidelines for fairness…

• AL/NL: Scroll down to the 4th section of this page below, to see how we ended up using Major League Baseball’s overall terminology. In the AL or the NL (or if it is combined), everyone must be no taller than 6’4″ without shoes. HOWEVER…
• Sometimes we may deviate from this if the player in question is taller than 6’4″ but actually is not as talented or skilled. Even if your 6’5″ player is talented/skilled, we can at worst refer you to our sister leagues that accommodate such height.
• Sometimes the top-tier squads in AAA really belong in AL but don’t have the height. This means they are extremely talented/skilled and have excellent team chemistry. Therefore, just because you don’t have a player over 6’2″ and under 6’4″ (without shoes), doesn’t mean you are automatically put in AAA. It is a case-by-case basis.
• AAA: One player out of five on the court (or four if there are only 4 present) can be 6’3″ without shoes. A second player can be 6’2″ without shoes. Everyone else should be 6’0″ without shoes. HOWEVER, sometimes the line between AAA and AAA-REC can be really thin, in terms of team talent makeup. We have seen teams in AAA-REC that seem to be too strong, such that the mention of the nomenclature “REC” seems kind of ridiculous for such teams. In these instances, we could split AAA up further, using soccer division terminology (for 2011 Fall we did this due to the number of teams that appeared to be “sandbagging” it in AAA-REC)…
• AAA-Elite: Same guidelines as mentioned above for AAA overall.
• AAA-Premier: Essentially the same height guidelines as AAA-REC below, but a cut above AAA-REC, as if this were the “upper division” of what would otherwise be construed as a true AAA-REC (remember what the “REC” part stands for).
• AAA-REC: One player out of five on the court (or four if there are only 4 present) can be 6’2″ without shoes. Everyone else should be 6’0″ without shoes. Exceptions can be made for teams that struggled in AAA.
• REC: One player out of five on the court (or four if there are only 4 present) can be 6’2″ without shoes. Everyone else should be 6’0″ without shoes. Most, if not all, of these players should have close to zero high school or otherwise organized basketball experience, but read more about this below.See below for more restrictions on REC…

THERE ARE EVEN MORE NON-HEIGHT-RELATED GUIDELINES BELOW, SO KEEP READING (AND SCROLL PAST THE REC DIVISION IF NECESSARY)…

Curbing the sand-bagging in REC

Often times we get teams that sandbag in the REC, which means they bring ringers who should not be playing in the REC. In short, they defy the “recreational” aspect of REC and bring in players who can flip a switch and have the skill or talent that would be better categorized as “competitive”. To curb this problem, we will institute the following and split our REC…

• REC-Upper: Teams may have no more than two (2) players who are playing in a higher division, or who have been “impact” players in a higher division presently or in the past.
• REC-Lower: Absolutely no one here may be playing in a higher division, or have been an “impact” player in a higher division in the past. In short: PLEASE KEEP REC-LOWER “PURE”!!!
• NOTES:
• Dream League reserves the right to determine the exact parameters of an “impact” player, although this roughly means a player who contributes to a team in the first 6- or 7-man rotation.
• Dream League reserves the right to limit players to 10 points and 10 rebounds, if we find it necessary to implement some sort of solution for a complication situation.
• Captains are EXPECTED to inform us of any player they pickup who could cause some sort of related controversy.
• Any other issue with REC not address here will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
• Dream League reserves the right to ban any player at any time for any reason. We will uphold the game of basketball, fairness, and playing on a level field as much as we humanly can.

Merging Asians with non-Asians

We have not made a major update to the divisions below for at least a year now. During this time, we have experimented with allowing non-Asians to play in various divisions by creating specifically “open” divisions. If we didn’t have enough open teams, we merged them with the next highest Asian-American level (e.g., “AL-Open” with “NL” and “AAA-Open” with “AL”, see nomenclature below), perhaps resulting in a slight disadvantage for the non-Asian team.

Starting Summer 2010, we will be rid of the “open” tags and invite non-Asians to all divisions with the exception of AAA-Premier and AAA-REC, which will be restricted to two non-Asians. However we expect that, in time, AAA-Premier and AAA-REC will also become completely “open”.

The idea is that Dream League was borne out of the Asian-American community’s strong penchant for having very organized and well-structured leagues. We are now sharing this phenomenon with the rest of the world. However, as we have witnessed with the ebb and flow of our community, someday we may have enough teams such that we can have both open and Asian-only divisions. Imagine an expanded and fully integrated Major League Baseball allowing its players to form its own teams. Maybe one year they would form them by nationality, such as with the World Baseball Classic.

Divisions

Dream League started as an Asian-American League and did not want its terminology to be confused with other leagues out there, particularly other Asian leagues. We found it most convenient to adopt Major League Baseball’s traditional terminology, with its designation of “AAA” as the minor leagues. Today, we have the following divisions, with each division having subtle differences than the next. The following is merely a “table of contents”. The detail is further below, as you click onward…

• N.L. — The National League. This is our highest division. We borrow from baseball’s oldest terminology when the NL was referred to as the “senior” circuit, suggesting a more seasoned or experienced group. Ironically, in today’s MLB, the American League is now recognized as the stronger league, and the senior/junior nicknames have become irrelevant. Not so in Dream League.
• A.L. — The American League. Referred as the “junior circuit” in the MLB of eons ago, this league was suggested a bit more youth, inexperience, yet perhaps flair than the NL. It is basically a cut below the NL, but not by much.
• AAA — Where there may be overlaps between the worst of the NL and the best of the AL, typically there is a clear delineation between the NL and AL with that of the “minor league” AAA. The AAA in baseball is the farm system, where talent is still unmolded and prospects abound. As you will see below, sometimes we cut AAA into further divisions. We do not call the next level down “AA” as baseball does, because of the Japanese Leagues’ 80+ year tradition of calling its highest level of recreational basketball by the same name: “AA”. To avoid the confusion, we may subdivide the AAA into an “Elite” and a “Premier” division, which borrows from soccer.
• 6FT — We’ve stashed the 6-foot-and-under division in the AAA, with a division all unto its own, since no one can be taller than 6’0″ without shoes.
• REC — This is the lowest rung. Here, you are supposed to be playing basketball for fun, but within the friendly confines of Dream League’s NBA format, rules, and sportsmanship. You will see that, to avoid sandbagging, we’ve created a level in between the lowest AAA rung and REC. Also, to avoid said sandbagging, we often do not give out championship awards in this division (but sometimes we do).

Sometimes we must sub-divide each division based on geography…

• With SF and OAK, especially in the higher divisions sometimes there are not enough teams competitive enough to form one division in either SF or OAK, therefore we merge them and have the teams travel to each others’ homecourts when needed.
• In SJ, we have traditionally had an influx of 6FT teams, which may lead to a subdivision of 6FT-Elite and 6FT-Premier.
• In SJ, due to the large number of 6FT teams, the AAA-Premier divisions and above have all merged to simply have a AAA-SJ, which is probably the equivaletn of AAA-Elite, as will be described below. Teams that have players over 6’0″ and not as competitive as the top teams in 6FT have moved to the AAA-REC.

Read on as we peel the onion…

For Asian-American divisions, this is the top level in terms of speed, talent, experience (hence the reference to the baseball terminology for the National League’s “Senior Circuit” as compared to the American League’s “Junior Circuit” — monikers which ironically no longer apply to today’s MLB), and teamwork. There are no height restrictions if the players are Asian-American. Each team typically has at least two players 6’2″ or taller, but teamwork, chemistry and talent play a bigger role than height.

For the 2010 Summer season, we will offer non-Asians an opportunity to play in the NL division. As such, the previously named “AL-Open” will no longer exist. In doing so, the tallest non-Asian player may not exceed 6’4″ in height, and the 2nd-tallest non-Asian player may not exceed 6’2″, on the court at any one time.

No “impact” player in N.L. may play in AAA-REC or REC.

Typically there are not enough teams to form one division in this high a caliber of division, so we merge SF and OAK. For SJ, see AAA-Elite.

Almost as fast and talented as NL, but generally smaller players and not as refined experience and teamwork. Usually AL teams have two players on the court that can post up. Most players are 6’2″ or under and typically if the team is a bit smaller, it has extraordinary chemistry to compensate for the lack of height.

No more than two players between 6’0″ and 6’2″ are allowed on the floor at anytime, otherwise you’d probably be a better fit in NL.

No more than 3 NL players that are in the top 7 in scoring on any NL team (“impact players”) are allowed on the same team, otherwise it would just be a remix of an existing NL team.

No “impact” player in A.L. may play in AAA-REC or REC.

The biggest difference between AAA-Elite and AAA-Premier is that at least two of the starters in AAA-Elite probably did or could have played on their high school varsity team, or at least most of the players have experience playing in organized leagues. AAA restricts players to one on the court over 6’2″ at anytime. Teams usually have one or two post up players who could even be 6’0″ or shorter. Please note that AAA-Premier — the one below this — is the lowest competitive division (REC is not considered competitive) that allows players over 6’0″, therefore AAA-Elite is one cut above that.

No impact player in AAA-Elite may play in the AAA-REC or REC.

Note for 2010 Summer: During 2010 Winter-Spring, the caliber of AAA-E approached that of AL. Depending on which teams return and which new teams enter, we may need to re-stratify the AL and AAA-E. In fact, I can remember when teams in our now-defunct AL-Premier were exactly that of (or worse than) today’s AAA-Elite.

AAA-30+ (formerly AAA-Veterans or AAA-V)

I’ve renamed this division to AAA-30+ to imply that all players must be 30 years old or older have the average on-the-court age must be 30 years or older. This allows teams that have a bunch of guys over 30 to pickup at least one guy under 30, depending on how the numbers average out. This might be hard to police, but I think we’re just encouraging the spirit of the rule. If there is a team that brings two or more really young guys, we could literally stop play and force certain guys not to play on the court at the same time, depending on their drivers licenses. If any team is going to be borderline over an average age of 30, it’s best that the team take care of the math once on the court, have the scorekeeper check id’s and write ages down on the scoresheet, and we’ll know for future reference.

We have renamed this division because even when we changed the name from AAA-Slowbreak, a moniker most dreamleaguers didn’t like because it sounded like the division was inferior, to AAA-Veterans, we didn’t get a rush of registrations. Whether or not we need to resort to checking people’s drivers licenses to see if they are really over 30, remains to be seen. Here are some intended characteristics of AAA-30+:

1. In theory, the AAA-P has younger (albeit less disciplined) ballhandlers that go coast-to-coast faster than in the AAA-30+. However, AAA-30+ teams tend to commit fewer turnovers than AAA-P.
2. This division is the anti-thesis of the AAA-P and AAA-6FT divisions. AAA-6FT is guard-heavy, younger, in-your-face. AAA-30+ is more halfcourt, grind ‘em, inside-out.
3. AAA-30+ teams typically would probably be forced to play a lot of zone defense if they were to remain in AAA-P or AAA-6FT.

If you can think of a better name than “AAA-30+”, by all means suggest it to us!

No “impact” player in AAA-30+ may play in AAA-REC or REC.

Note for 2010 Summer: In the past, we didn’t have enough AAA-30+ teams to form their own division, so these teams merged with other divisions such as AAA-Elite, AAA-Premier, or even AAA-REC.

Only one or two starters on a AAA-Premier team did or could have played high school varsity. Lowest level for teams with at least one player over 6’0″, otherwise you’d probably play in the AAA-6FT unless you really wanted a challenge. AAA-P teams, in general, have only one player over 6’0″, as well as one bonafide post player, unless the team has particularly strong teamwork or chemistry. Basically, AAA-P is like AAA-6 except one guy is over 6’0″.

Geographically, our goal is to be at a critical mass where we can split up the AAA-P by geographies. In other words, the competitive level of the division higher, AAA-Elite (it’s hard to classify the level of AAA-30+) usually results in teams based in multiple geographies, whereas the competitive level of AAA-P should yield enough teams separately in each geography.

Because of this, typically you will see us shorten the AAA-P SF/Peninsula, AAA-P Oakland, or AAA-P San Jose to just “AAA-city name” such as “AAA-SFP”, “AAA-OAK”, or “AAA-SJ”. For 2010 Summer, we are eliminating the Peninsula gyms, so “AAA-SFP” may very well become just “AAA-SF”.

No “Big Three” player in the AAA may play in AAA-REC or REC.

“Import” rule for AAA-P: Because in the past we have had enough Asian AAA-P teams to fill an entire division, we will open this division to a maximum of two non-Asian players. This is similar to the pro leagues in Asia that limit rosters to two so-called “imports”. Remember, as explained above, all other divisions except for AAA-REC are completely open to non-Asians.

Obviously, no one on the floor can be over 6’0″ (without shoes) and the assumption is that all of the teams are guard-oriented (no impact players down low). We are going to be strict about the height requirement. If you have any players questionably above 6’0″, then your team should play in any of the AAA divisions other than 6FT. Just because this is 6FT does not mean this is an inferior AAA division. This is not the same as the REC level. This is still a competitive division.

Remember, any number of non-Asians are allowed to play in 6FT. Because this is a universal height requirement, we feel that this division probably has the least impact as far as non-Asian vs Asian goes.

No “Big Three” player in 6FT may play in AAA-REC or REC.

If there are not enough teams, we may merge the SF with the OAK. In SJ, sometimes we get too many teams and in those cases we will either split the division further into 6FT-Elite and 6FT-Premier (as we do in the AAA), or we may split by desired tipoff timeframe.

Sometimes we will drop the “AAA” from the name of the division, so that we have 6FT-Oakland or “6FT-OAK” instead of “AAA-6FT-Oakland”.

To be clear, AAA-REC is by invitation only. It is for teams that played last season and either struggled through the AAA-Premier division or waltzed through the REC division. It is designed for teams that have already “paid their dues”. Unlike REC, there will indeed be championship t-shirts here in AAA-REC. The establishment of AAA-REC also further discourages sandbagging in the REC (be it on purpose or not). As such, new teams that have signed up for AAA-REC will be placed in the AAA-P. The champion of the previous AAA-REC will be asked to move back up to AAA-P the next time they signup.

In short, the league office has the right to put in or take out any teams from AAA-REC as it so chooses, in the spirit of fair competition.

In SJ, we only have AAA, 6FT, and AAA-REC thus far, so a new team does not necessarily have to enter at the AAA level.

Sometimes we may abbreviate AAA-REC to “A/R”, such that we have “A/R-SF”, for example.

In 2009 Summer-Fall, we saw at least one player from NL be the star for a team in the AAA-REC. This was not the intention of this division, as explained above. Therefore, no “impact” player playing in AAA-Elite or higher is allowed to step foot in a AAA-REC (or REC) game. It follows that no “Big Three” player, which means in the top three in scoring, from any higher division including AAA-Premier and 6FT, is allowed to play in AAA-REC (or REC). Any team in violation of this rule will be fined $25.

Likewise, it is expected that no team in AAA-REC should be consistently scoring over 60 points, and no individual player should be consistently scoring over 20 points. We will not be aggressively policing this, but reserve the right to do so, however. We say this just to drive home the point that “real” AAA-P teams ought to be signing up for AAA-P.

For whatever reason, every season in Oakland, we experience a lot of teams sandbagging in this division, to the tune of 25+ teams. Please read the following paragraphs carefully, so you can understand that it is not fair to the teams that have signed up for REC knowing that it is just for fun and really have no intention of winning a championship.

This division is strictly for fun only; to avoid sandbaggers, no awards will be given to the championship team here. Teams should be groups of friends or random rec-level free agents. Picking up players specifically to help win the championship is discouraged. Players are mostly under 6-foot, but exemptions will be made for teams that have struggled in the AAA or AAA-REC.

If your team wants an award for a championship, it is by definition a “competitive” team, and should petition for AAA-REC or signup for AAA-P.

In 2009 Summer-Fall, we saw at least one player from NL be the star for a team in the REC. This was not the intention of this division, as explained above. Therefore, no “impact” player playing in AAA-Elite/Open or higher is allowed to step foot in a AAA-REC (or REC) game. It follows that no “Big Three” player, which means in the top three in scoring, from any higher division including AAA-Premier and 6FT, is allowed to play in AAA-REC (or REC). Any team in violation of this rule will be fined $25.

In 2010 Winter-Spring, we experienced a lot of registrations in Oakland for REC, despite declaring that no championship awards would be given out. As a result, we split the division into morning and afternoon sessions.

Also, if we don’t have enough teams signed up for REC, as we saw in SJ in the past, we merge with the AAA-REC. As such, there was no REC division in SJ last season, but we hope to achieve critical mass there soon.

Last note on sand-bagging

Sand-bagging can occur even if you formed a team of “friends”. This can happen when your team is clearly stronger than a majority of other teams signed up for the same division — and you have signed up for this, such as with previous records.

In 2010 Fall, we were able to stratify the 32 REC teams into four separate playoff brackets. The worst 8 REC teams got to play against each other. At the end of it, I, the Commissioner, felt that clearly none of those 8 worst teams were sandbagging, and gave the champion of that worst playoff bracket of 8 teams, championship t-shirts.

Naturally, one of the championship teams in one of the other three REC splits decided that doing so was unfair and got angry at me. Well, here is where you either say “po-tay-to” or “po-tah-to”. If it means that much to you that you would be upset by another team getting championship t-shirts in REC, then REC is not for you.

Simple, easy barometer to go by.

Again, I reserve the right to give championship t-shirts to any team in REC that I choose. This is my league. These are my ideals of sportsmanship and fairness to the teams that are TRULY of the REC level, and who get dismayed year after year when other teams stack their rosters. I hope you will honor these ideals.

Remember, if we get a ton of teams signed up for AAA-REC, we simply split up the AAA-REC playoffs into championship-t-shirt-eligible brackets. So, you may very well still have an equal shot at winning a championship (with a t-shirt) than you would have signing up for REC.

It’s simple: PLEASE DO NOT MESS UP THE SANCTITY OF REC.

Sure, we can implement safe guards such as point differential (e.g., if a team starts having a lot of blowout victories, then they need to be moved), but do you realize how much time and energy it would take to constantly monitor that? What happens if we identify such a team? It is literally impossible to move teams to a different division once the structure is set up. It’d be like adding an NBA expansion franchise in the middle of a season: preposterous!

Do you think constantly monitoring the REC division should be a higher priority than other tasks that eat up our time, such as posting stats and simply scheduling the league?

I think it is better if everyone just did what was honorable.

Sure, there are some ‘tweener teams. In that case, if you’re going to get all sour about not getting championship t-shirts, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, then you have your answer as to which division to play in.