Pride wins out again in 3-on-3 tourney

"There should be a Hall of Fame for 3-on-3 basketball. And weshould be the first ones in it." - Paul Sidney, co-founder of the Four Players

The Four Players take a lot of pride in the way they playbasketball.

The Chicago foursome of Sidney, Aaron Harris, Bill Rapier andDon Johnson won the Shoot-The-Bull 3-on-3 Classic for the second timein three years, whipping the Lake Front Regulars 20-10 in thechampionship game Sunday at Grant Park.

And according to Sidney, whose team won the inaugural tournamentin 1989 before placing second last year, they're taking home a lotmore than trophies.

"We wanted to prove that players who don't get a lot ofpublicity, who didn't play for major colleges, who didn't playprofessionally can come out here and compete," said Sidney, 34, amarket planner for AT&T. "We wanted to destroy the stereotypeassociated with basketball players. We all work in credibleprofessions and we all conduct ourselves professionally.

"People may feel that's lip service, but we have the proof."

They also had the hot shooting of Harris, who hit sevenlong-range jumpers (worth two points) against a Michigan contingentin the semifinals. They had the size of 7-0, 275-pound Johnson, whohelped the Four Players reach the Final Four with a victory overdefending champion Pump It Up (formerly the Arkansas Democrats).

"Last year we lost to Arkansas in the championship game and wedidn't think that was right," said Harris, 31, a teacher andbasketball coach at Morgan Park Academy. "The tournament is inChicago and the championship should stay in the city. We redeemedourselves."

Despite their record in the last two years, the Four Playerswere seeded fourth in their division - which came as an insult toSidney and his teammates.

They eliminated the top-seeded team (led by former Bull MickeyJohnson).

"The first year, people felt we came out of a weak division,"Sidney said. "Then last year we lost to Arkansas in a rain-shortenedgame. This was our day to dispel any of those notions."

"People think we were lucky," Harris said. "We've won thistwice in three years so we must be very lucky. The big names mayhave been here, but it doesn't matter what your name is. You have toget it done on the court - and that's just what we did."