Playing Below the Rim

Don Burrows and Scott Danberg attacked each other Saturday like a couple of NBA centers: banging, bumping and bellowing.

Never mind that Burrows is 4 feet 8 and 180 pounds, and that Danberg is 4-8 and 130 pounds. In the world of dwarf basketball, these rough-and-tumble guys are the equivalent of Shaquille O’Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon.

“We’ve been going at it for six, seven years,” said Burrows, 29, of Simi Valley. “It’s a constant battle.”

But a friendly one.

Burrows and Danberg are members of the successful Los Angeles Breakers, a close-knit team of dwarfs who formed three three-man squads this weekend to compete in the Hoop-It-Up street tournament at North Campus at Cal State Northridge.

The NBA-sanctioned event, expected to draw 2,200 participants, concludes today with games in nearly 60 divisions to be played from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturday’s opening day was marred by strong winds that wreaked havoc on players’ jump shots and made it impossible for organizers to assemble tents that were to house members of various groups and sponsors.

Still, it was a good day for Burrows and his Low Profile teammates, who defeated Danberg’s Stallions, 15-13, in a hard-fought game.

The contest was punctuated by Danberg’s primal roars when he battled for inside position, as well as Burrows’ hot temper. After he was called for an offensive foul by a Stallion player, Burrows punched the ball out of bounds and yelled, “Foul, my ass!”

“Yeah, but it’s all between friends,” said Danberg, 33, of Sylmar. “We’ll be laughing about it later over sodas.”

Said Burrows: “After the game, we’re back to normal.”

The Breakers take their basketball seriously. Founded in 1986, the team practices regularly at the Burbank YMCA and has won five Dwarf Athletic Assn. of America titles and one World Games championship, in 1993.

“We’re kind of a dynasty,” Danberg said.

Although he will never be confused with Michael Blanks, a Sherman Oaks resident who won the Hoop-It-Up dunk contest by jumping over three standing friends before slamming the ball, Danberg is considered tall among dwarf athletes.

His teammates on the Stallions are 4-3 Joseph Griffo, 43, of Burbank and 3-11 Zack Bankowsky, 14, of Moorpark. Bankowsky, an eighth-grader at Chaparral Middle School, is the Breakers’ youngest player.

“I stand 4-8 and my position is generally power forward or center,” Danberg said. “I feel I’m playing a big-man’s game because I’m a big man in my own little world.”

Despite the strong inside play of Danberg and Burrows, it was a long-range shot that decided Saturday’s big game in the Dwarf Division. David Guzman, who organized the Breakers’ participation in Hoop-It-Up, hit a two-point shot from behind what is normally the three-point line--all other baskets count as one point--to cap Low Profile’s scoring and quash a Stallions’ rally.

“That was the turning point,” Danberg conceded.

With that, Danberg left to bandage the bridge of his nose, which had been bloodied by having his prescription goggles rammed into his face one too many times.

Injuries are common at Hoop-It-Up. The first-aid tent, manned by a group of athletic trainers from Cal State Northridge, treated a steady line of weekend warriors.

“Most of the injuries are abrasions caused by falling on the asphalt,” said trainer Rebecca Zemla, a Northridge junior. “We see a lot of cuts and scrapes, sprained ankles and some wrist [injuries].”

There was nothing wrong with William Savala’s right wrist, the one he uses to launch his jump shot. After missing his first three attempts, the determined 13-year-old from El Sereno sank a three-point basket during the Hoop-It-Up Shootout contest to win the NBA video “Dazzling Dunks and Basketball Bloopers.”

“That’s my boy!” squealed Savala’s mother, Patricia Harvey of Tarzana. “I’m so proud of him.”

Less enthusiastic were a group of young men from the Valley who complained about the conditions at Saturday’s event. The wind, they said, made it nearly impossible to get off a straight jump shot.

“This is the worst Hoop-It-Up I’ve ever been at,” said Michael French, 25, of Van Nuys. “I played in the one in Seattle last November and it was drizzling, but it was better than this.”

French’s teammate, Brian Bartholomew, 26, of North Hollywood, said he had to alter his shot during the team’s victory in the early morning, when the wind was the strongest.

“We shot directly into the wind, so you had to put an extra couple of feet on your shot,” Bartholomew said. “In our next game, we’re shooting sideways into the wind, so that will be a different experience.”

Event manager Chuck Price was well aware of the windy conditions. When he arrived at Northridge’s parking lots Saturday morning, he discovered that three tents had been destroyed. Twelve other tents were taken down before they met a similar fate, he said.

“The tents just kept blowing and blowing,” Price said. “But I think we still have a pretty good crowd for it being so windy.”