B Draft Week 1 Write-Ups
by Jason on
WEEK 1 WRITE-UPS
By Ian Cundall
Robel gets the last laugh in OT win over Harry
Kicking off the Winter 2023 B Draft season we had a matchup between Harry and Robel’s teams. As you’d expect, Harry had his team at the top of his preseason power rankings, while he had Robel’s near the bottom. With tip off seconds away Robel had not arrived so my hope for a competitive game was waning quickly. The start of the game did nothing to change my opinion as while both teams struggled, Harry’s team was struggling less mainly because of Ghost. He was on fire to start the game knocking down short jumpers and hook shots with ease as Robel’s team had no one to guard him (as predicted by me in the preview). Vladi was facilitating things well, aka getting the ball to Ghost and even though Tucker was struggling, he still commanded a lot of attention which gave Ghost that 1v1 matchup. It was 17-7 after another Ghost jump shot, but MacDonald finally got things going with a pair of drives to the rim. He was really the only offense for Robel’s team as he still hadn’t arrived and Joel, Costa and the Great One were off.
With 10 minutes left in the first half, it was 20-15 Harry’s team, but suddenly, the lights dimmed and ominous music started playing. Smoke started pouring in the doors and some cheap pyrotechnics went off. Out of the smoke a large figure emerged, Robel had arrived. You could see the fear come over Harry at this moment and I knew we were in for a game. Robel entered and immediately made an impact on defense grabbing a steal and blocking a shot which led to a Joel and-one to make it a two-point game. After another miss from Vladi, Ben got to the rim to tie it at 20-20, making it a 9-0 run for Robel’s team. Tucker finally stopped the bleeding with his first points of the game and Ghost knocked down a couple more shots giving Harry’s team some life. Robel would score four points in the last few of the half, so we went into halftime with Harry’s team holding a slim lead at 30-26. Ghost led the way for Harry’s team with 16 and Vladi had five points and seven assists. Meanwhile, for Robel’s team, Ben had 12 and every other player had 2-5 points.
Both teams came out sluggish, but after a Joel three, Robel’s team grabbed their first lead since the early stages of the game. The offensive lull continued for the next few minutes as though both teams were getting good looks, nothing was falling. Eventually, after seven or so minutes of the second half had gone by, the lid over the basket came off and Vladi and the Great One exchanged threes. That really opened things up and both teams started to get going and went back and forth within a one basket window. A steal and basket by Ben gave Robel the lead at 41-40, but Gilles answered with a huge three to give Harry the lead back at 43-41. Costa answered with a nice drive to the basket, but then Tucker knocked down his only three to make it 46-43. Some good defense from Post Harry stymied Robel, but he was unable to stop Ben in transition, committing a Harry foul, as Ben threw up a ridiculous floater from the foul line that somehow went in. Ben missed the free throw, but that circus shot made it 48-47. Harry made up for his foul with a clutch jumper to make it 50-47, but a MacDonald layup and Joel steal and layup grabbed them the lead back at 51-50. There were only four minutes left at this point and it seemed clear this one was headed down to the wire.
With two minutes left, Costa knocked down a mid-range jumper to give Robel a three-point lead, but Vladi, who had struggled throughout from deep, knocked down a three to tie it up. Ben carried the ball up the court on the next possession and tried to get to the hoop, but was blocked off and kicked it out to the Great One who knocked down a three to give Robel the lead back. Harry decided not to call a timeout and let things play out and Vladi got a good look to tie it with just over 30 seconds left, but he missed. The rebound somehow made its way out to Ghost who found himself far enough behind the three-point that there was no doubt it was a three when it hit nothing but the net to tie things up at 58. With just over 20 seconds left, Robel decided to hold for the last shot, but the play was not going well and the best they could do was a contested baseline fade away from Joel which rimmed out, sending us to overtime at 58-58!
Overtime started with Harry missing two shots with a Costa miss in between. It was at this moment Joel took over. First, he hit a jumper to give his team a two-point lead. He then stole a bad pass to push the lead to four and made one of two free throws after another miss from Harry’s team, to make it a five-point game at 63-58. Harry’s team had fully fallen apart at this point, and after another Vladi miss, Joel would make one of two free throws again. As Harry’s team pushed looking for any sort of bucket to get them back in the game, Ben got a steal and passed it to Joel who was fouled and made one of two again. Things continued like this for the rest of the game with Harry’s team missing and Joel making one free throw before the game was called. Final 65-58 Robel.
Robel’s team
Joel A-: Quiet first half, but came alive in the second half and overtime, including scoring all seven points in the extra frame.
MacDonald A: Really impressive game with 25/18/6 and played excellent defense as well.
Robel B: Quiet game on offense, but his rim protection and activity on the defensive end really bothered Harry’s teams.
Great One B: Only knocked down two threes, but both came at key points and chipped in with nine rebounds.
Costa C+: Quiet debut, but had a couple nice moves to the hoop and a huge bucket late in regulation.
Harry’s team
Ghost A: Only consistent scorer throughout, knocked down the game tying three at the end of regulation and did a nice job on the boards.
Vladi B-: Did a good job setting up the offense, but struggled with his shot.
Tucker D-: Have to get more than nine points from the first overall pick even on an off-night. Just didn’t seem to be looking for the ball and struggled to find his role around Vladi and Ghost.
Harry C-: Solid defense, but was off with his shot and had some strange decisions which cost his team.
Kenny C+: Typical trick or treat game with some good moments and some bad ones.
Gilles B: Knocked down a huge three in the second half and added solid defense.
By HARRY DEMAKES
Noah Peeks in week 1
I thought this had all the makings of a great week 1 game. Two veteran teams mixing in two rookies to their lineups. Etheridge’s team started their season off differently, by having everyone show up. Ian’s team has everyone too. TO THE ACTION! The biggest storyline coming into this game was the Pollock vs. Weinstein rivalry. Similar to the hammer and nail rivalry, this one was quite one sided throughout the years. This game was no different in the first half as Weinstein struggled to get anything going and Pollock did his thing. Couple this with Lagno being cold and everyone else on Etheridges squad being bad at shooting, led Ian’s team to pick up a decent sized lead. Pollock and Koller were doing most of the heavy lifting combining for 17 of Ian’s 32 points in the first half. Rookie Lucas wasn’t shy in his debut, scoring 7 of his own in the first half. He did lead the team with 4 attempts from deep in the first half. That’s something to keep an eye on as is Noah coming off the bench and shooting it every time he touches it. Ian’s team went into the half up 32-23. This game looked to be heading one way and it was, but the route wasn’t expected. BACK TO THE ACTION! Ian’s team really started to open up the game thanks to….Noah’s hot shooting, as all the shots he was taking finally started to go in. He hit 6 second half treys to break the spirit of his opponents in this half. Couple this with everyone else chipping in here and there, Etheridges team just didn’t have the firepower to stay close. Weinstein and Lagno did finally get things going in this half, but it was a lot of garbage time makes. Not to mention the lack of help else where and the poor defensive effort as a team. I think these guys will be good, but they need some time to jell or a Time Machine for Baxter. 73-54 Final for Ian
Grades: Pollock C+: Pretty pedestrian game for Samuel after starting strong.
Koller B: Solid game outplaying the ghost of Baxter.
Ian B+: Leading this team in assists with all the glory hounds is impressive.
Noah A+: Great game from 3, the best game he’ll have all year and possibly ever again.
Clarke B+: I like Clarkes effort and hustle out there.
Lucas B-: Not a bad debut. I see room for improvement.
Etheridges team:
Lagno C+: Show up in the first half before the game is over.
Weinstein C: Ditto and times 2 here.
Baxter C-: Did he play in the second half? Need more than nothing in a half.
Etheridge B-: Solid game from Mike.
Grinnell C+: Not bad, but I think he can do better.
Glynn C-: I KNOW he can do better.
Civale’s darkest days
Coming into this game I knew exactly what to expect, but Civales team demanded respect. They came into this game with full attendance, while Stairway to Deven was missing Marlier. TO THE ACTION! Stairway to Deven started off a bit slowly in this game, with everyone on their team wanting to touch the ball every chance they got. Everyone on this team outside of maybe Johnson thinks they’re Lebron out there with playmaking and only one of them might be right. AJ, new to this league, started slowly going 2 for 10 from 3. They weren’t really bad looks, but Masone was doing a decent job defensively. The captain Johnson, would pick up the slack though going 3 for 6 from deep in the first half. Everyone else contributed with multiple buckets inside. It was a good balanced effort for Stairway to Deven in the first half. On the other side of the ball, Masone and Cavano did their part as duel first round picks. They combined to score 22 of their teams 34 points. Good thing too, because Civale continued to assault the rim with brick after brick from deep. I’d say something clever about Civale’s talent here, but I need him on Wednesday. Break this slump! Stairway to Deven felt like they were in good control here, but they only went into the half up 36-34. Cavano, led all scorers with 13. BACK TO THE ACTION!
The second half continued the brick fest from deep for Civale’s team. Hanks went 0-4 from deep, 0-7 for the game, which should never happen. Civale and Masone combined to go 0-5. Cavano, didn’t even attempt one out of pure shame. Tommy BIG GUNS hit 2 of 3 to match everyone else’s total in the second half. BIG GUNS also led the team in second half scoring total. These guys offense went to die in the second half and as you could guess this didn’t lead to success. Meanwhile, young AJ found his groove in the latter frame going 3-5 from deep and scoring 19 points. Calvin added 14 of his own. They combined to outscore Civales team in the second half. Obviously, the led to a huge lead and we went into pickup mode for the rest of the evening. Johnson’s team is off and running, while Civale’s team is searching for answers.
Grades:
Civale F-: 0 offensive rebounds?ZERO?!?! This might have been Civale’s worse game ever.
Masone C+: Not his best game, had a tough assignment, but you got picked in the first round too.
Cavano C: 0 offensive rebounds?!?! Attempted only 3 treys? What is this?
Jeffries C: I hope he can give more than this. For his teams sake.
Hanks D: Once you miss the first 3 threes, you stop.
BIG GUNS A: Did all he could out there.
Stairway to Deven:
Calvin B+: Good game here, didn’t dribble across the court looking for drives.
Motha B: Not a bad day. Johnson claims he loves Motha 3s, something I’ll keep an eye on. J
ohnson A-: A Johnson double-double? I like it.
AJ A-: Three ball was off, but otherwise did what was expected.
Deven A: Can’t hate on anything here, very good game 1.
Cam flashes win with his lady in attendance The two newest captains took center stage in the prime time game of the week, with Cam taking on Silva. James was out for Silva’s team, even though he had the balls to show up the night before. Cams team had everyone.
TO THE ACTION!
CACs newest sharpshooter STAT, finally hit a 3 against someone other than me in the first half of this game. He also added 15 more points to tie Casey for the leading first half scorer. In other news, STAT will be drug tested before next weeks games. As I mentioned above, Casey would equal STATs hot start with 18 of his own. The ghost of Nestler, wasn’t doing much to slow him down. The leagues other Ian, was the next leading scorer in the game at 6 points. Nice production from him off the bench, The score was 18–18 Casey and STAT at the half. Everyone else combined for 20 points.
WOOF.
BACK TO THE ACTION!
The slogfest continued in the second half as both teams continued to drive into the big bodies in the post. Manny, finally joined the party, scoring 11 second half points, while Cam added 8. Casey, went invisible in this half, going an ugly 1-5 from the line. The greatest trick Casey ever pulled was fooling you into thinking he was a good free throw shooter. The electric one had a spark in the second half. Taha would score 6 points and had an assist. The ghost of Nestler even added 9. STAT continued is good play though 11 more, including another 3. Admittedly I missed the stretch run to hunt down my food, but it appears Cam iced this game from the line with his girl watching. Therefore he shall be known as Cam Big Dick Letalien. 60-52 Final.
Grades:
Casey C: Did he play in the second half? Someone teach him how to make a free throw too.
Manny C: Reverse Casey’s line, didn’t have a good first half, but my assistant loved his second half.
Cam A: Big Dick iced this one like a good first time captain.
X D+: These guys outdid all my hard work in one game. What happened?
Other Ian B: Did good off the bench. I liked what I saw.
Tom C: Use to be electric, then he betrayed me. Now look at him.
Silva’s team:
Nestler C-; Pretty pedestrian effort in this one. Didn’t even attempt a 3 in the first half.
STAT A: Another good STAT game. Is he back to an elite level?
Silva D: Not the way to start one’s captaincy.
Grey C: Had a couple buckets, but couldn’t convert the good looks
Tahaha C+: Came on strong late, but couldn’t hit a 3.