B Draft Week 2 Write-Ups
by Jason on
WEEK 2 WRITEUPS
Humpty Cundall has fallen down and no Kollers can put him together again!
BY HARRY
Gray Matters had a very disappointing opening night, falling to a Lynch-less Young Bucks squad. Now they face a bigger challenge against Mountains out of Mulvehills, who is earning there number 3 preseason power ranking so far. Ian's team was missing Lamaar, Civale had everyone. TO THE ACTION!
Gray Matters offense really looked bad in week 1, especially during the second half and that continued in the first half of this game. They combined to go 0-8 from 3 in the opening frame, but they did get to the line 12 times, which is pretty impressive. They went 9-12 at the line, which is also pretty good. Koller, led the way with 11 first half points, but that's where the good news ended for these guys. Despite going to the line 12 times, they only managed 23 points, which is GASTLY! Issac, did hit a jumper and a lay-up early on, so maybe he was starting to figure it out?
On the other side of the ball MOOM continued their torrid start. 5 of their 6 guys scored multiple baskets in the first half, with James leading the way with 12 points. MacDonald, continued to spray the ball around and get everyone involved. Ian's team as well as many others do a bad job of noticing when MacDonald is just hunting shooters to dribble screen hand-off to. Everyone seems very confident in their roles on this team and it shows in the movement.
MOOM had firm control of this game as we went into the half, leading 37-23. A 14 point lead on Gray Matters might as well be a 100 at this point. BACK TO THE ACTION!
Apparently, MOOM got concerned about making it home to the Celtics on time and took the second half off. Their offense hit the skids, which was the second week in a row that this happened without any real explanation. I will say, outside of OTTOMATIC, they do have a bunch of guys are capable of missing a whole lot in a row. AKA a bunch of hot and cold players, which is something to monitor.
Lucky for them, both of their games this season have been against the new 7th and 8th ranked teams in my mind. MacDonald led the team with 8 second half points and James had 6. Gross!
Of course that didn't matter, because somehow Gray Matters offense just keeps getting worse as time goes on. Issac, hit some shots early, but couldn't get on the board in the second half. Gray, went 0-7 from three in the game. Ian, would end up leading the team with 9 second half points. Simply put, there's just way too much pressure on guys to do things they probably aren't capable of. Ian and Gray are good open shot shooters, but now they're expected to score enough to open up the floor and be 2nd/3rd options. That won't cut it. Koller isn't a 1 option either. His offensive game is way too limited without someone there to open the floor up. Every game is tough for a top option, but you still have to score.
MOOM cruised to an easy win against the helpless Gray Matter. MOOM continues their rise as contenders, while Gray Matters searches for Cancun vacation spots.
Gray Matters:
Koller B-: Koller's defense was "adequate" against MacDonald, but again you can't have 6 point halves as 1 option.
Ian B: 12 points from Ian is normally quite good, but not on this team. He struggled from deep, 1-6.
Gray D+: Good game on the boards, but 0-7 won't get it done.
Issac C-: Got it going a little, but 1 board? I need more boards with the height.
Tahahaha C-; Where's my electricity?
MOOM:
Ben B: Similar to last week, filled it up, but was on cruise control for 40 minutes.
James B+: Good shooting game by James, but I feel like he could have played a lot better.
Civale C+: Another block?!?! Lordy, but his shot was off in this one. I guess he's just a defensive player now.
Hanks D: Hanks sucked.
Lucas C+: I liked the hustle, but will this kid ever make a free throw?
OTTOMATIC A+: 6 points, 2 steals, 1 block, 7 rebounds. OTTOMATIC is a 10 on the erection scale right now.
Angry Ian Hulks up on 5 weeks and counting
By HARRY
The Great Clasby welcomed back their namesake last week after a tough 1-point loss to my team the week before. A good week for them to build chemistry, because they were facing the short handed 5WNC squad missing Jamil and obviously Nair too. Robel was out for the Great Clasby. TO THE ACTION!
5WNC did welcome back AAAAAAAOOOOOOOO, who was sporting some kind of weird haircut. KD and I were trying to figure it out, but couldn't come up with anything. It looked like a pony tail, but not at the same time. AO was in a foreign country the week before, so maybe that explains it? Anyhow, the weird haircut AO was balling out early in this game, scoring 10 first half points, along with three steals and 5 boards, plus an assist. Lots of good energy from AO in this one.
Maneval looked a lot better to with a fellow SDL guy back on his team, scoring 10 first half points. He did take 7 threes though to get there, although he was the only to make any. The rest of his team went 0-7 from deep, not great. On the other end, the Great Clasby held an early lead, but Scroggins was held without a made FG in the first half. He went 0-5 from deep, perhaps he was too concerned with the Celtics game going on at the time.
Thankfully for the Great Clasby, Angry Ian was on fire, scoring 12 first half points, adding 4 boards and 2 assists. He did get angry at one point too and tossed his headband away. All in all, angry Ian was giving us everything! A true man of the people. Clasby, also looked pretty good himself, scoring 9 first half points, with 2 steals, 4 boards and 2 assists. The Great Clasby was doing a real good job of moving the rock around the court. Great Clasby went into the half with an oddly small, 34-28 lead. Of course when you get nothing from the 1 pick in a half and you go in ahead, then that's a good sign and I'm not just saying that, because I know it's true. BACK TO THE ACTION!
Scroggins awoke from his first half slumber, scoring 21 first half points. He got his jumper going and continued his excellence from the line, going 7-7 for the game. However, the real story was his teammates passing. Clasby/Angry-Ian/Silva/Great One all combined for 12 second half assists. This team was crying about the lack of ball movement last game and really stepped it up here. I love it when a good plan comes together. Let us see if they can continue to do this against better competition.
5WNC put forth an admirable effort, but they were just out gunned in this game (no pun intended). They just couldn't connect from deep either, after a tough first half they matched it in the second half, shooting 2-14 from 3 again. 4-28 from 3 won't do the trick in any game, especially this one. Troy, would be the only one on his team to reach double digits, scoring 11 in the second half. These guys are a long way from getting Nair back. They've also had a tough schedule to be fair as well. The Great Clasby ran away with this game late, only a Big Guns three at the buzzer salvaged pride. 79-56 Final.
5WNC
Troy C+: He did a good job on defense or as well as you can on Scroggins, but his shot was off from 3.
Maneval C: Promising first half, but his shot from 3 was also quite off, going 2-11 won't cut it.
AAAAAAOOOOOO B: AO looked good on the court, except from.....you guessed it, 3. Is 6 steals a career high?
Big Guns B+: Got himself to double-digits which I love, but he missed some easy looks too.
The Great Clasby
Scroggins C: No first half FGs? Gotta call that out, finished with decent stats though.
Great One A-: Very nice, well rounded Great One game.
Angry Ian A+: Doesn't get much better from Angry Ian. He did go 0-3 from line, but had a near triple-double.
Clasby B: Played nicely to start his season, could have been "A" if he wore the right championship gear.
Silva B: Nice Silva game here as well, got his team moving the ball.
Free throws are hard
BY CUNDALL
Apologies for the late writeup, but after what I witnessed last Thursday, I needed a few days to process it. Let’s be honest this game should have been good, but it really wasn’t and whoever the equivalent of Tom Emanski (look it up if you don’t know who that is) is for basketball would have been appalled with what they just watched. With that lead in I know you all can’t wait for the write-up so to the action we go! The big news at tip off was Jack was out for The Counselors. Even though he was the 27th pick Jack showed his far better than that dropping 23/14 the first week, so his absence was the first warning sign for Noah’s squad. Harry’s squad was fully staffed with Pollock finally returning from his cross-country tour celebrating last seasons B Draft championship. Both teams struggled out the gate with points at a premium. Eventually Pollock remembered how to make a layup and got Harry’s team on the board, but other than him they didn’t have much going as six minutes into the game the score was 8-4. As we expected it was the Pollock vs. AJ show to this point as AJ was literally the only person who could hit the rim, let alone make a shot, on Noah’s team. He had the first six points for The Counselors as Harry’s team jumped out to an early 9-6 lead.
The energy started to shift when Karim entered off the bench and he immediately made an impact on both ends. He got on the board quickly and made a couple other nice plays. With 10 minutes left in the first half Harry’s team led 11-6 and things didn’t get any better over the next few minutes, save for AJ knocking down his first three of the half after several misses. It was 16-9 with seven minutes left and if Harry’s team could make a free throw it would have been far worse. Weinstein knocked down both his free throws, but the rest of the team went 1-9 from the line in the first half. The inability to make free throws was jarring, as was Stat’s inability to make a field goal. After going scoreless last week with only three minutes left in the half, he still had a blank 2PM field on the stat sheet. Finally, after 58 minutes of action to start the B Draft season and numerous layups thrown off the backboard, Harry’s nightmare ended and Stat made a layup! That layup propelled Harry’s lead to double digits and was soon followed by Harry making a very impressive layup on the fast break after an outlet pass from Sam. We don’t get to see Harry as the first man out on the break often, so all I can think of was the new haircut he was sporting made all the difference. That was the last notable play of the half as Harry’s team led 26-15 in an absolute brick fest. Pollock led the way for Harry’s team with eight points, but everyone else chipped in between two and five points. For Noah’s team, AJ had nine, Joel had four and David was the only other person to score.
The second half started with Karim again getting to the hoop and exposing the lack of rim protection for The Counselors. AJ finally started to wake up, however knocking down another three to keep it within striking distance. Unfortunately, for the Counselors that layup in the first half seemed to wake up Stat as he also realized their was nobody who could slow him down at the rim and he started to go down there whenever he wanted. He was very active on the offensive glass and when he got to the bucket finished, scoring eight second half points. Meanwhile, after Harry’s team shot 3-11 from the line in the first half, Noah’s team sought to top it. They missed all eight of their free throw attempts in the second half, which really limited their comeback chances. They did, however wake up from three as AJ made a couple more, but each time Trick or Treat had an answer. It was 43-28 Harry’s team with 10 minutes left and over the next few minutes Harry knocked down a big three, showing off again that his new haircut was a game changer and so did Weinstein which kept the lead at a comfortable 16 points, 51-35. With four minutes left Harry’s team led 57-41 and it seemed like all they had to do was run out the clock. Unfortunately Pollock had other plans and started turning the ball over, while Joel knocked down two threes and we had a 10 point game. That was as close as it would get, however as Harry’s team would tack on a couple late buckets to come away with a 63-49 win. More important than the final score, however was that both teams combined to go 5-25 from the free throw line, including 0-10 in the second half. Both teams also shot better from three than the free throw line.
Trick or Treat
Pollock C-: Ok first half, but was very quiet for the majority of the second half and didn’t hit a single three.
Weinstein B: Didn’t have as big an impact with the shots spread around more, but did hit both his free throws which was an accomplishment for this game.
Stat B-: Rough first half, but picked it up in the second half big time. No made free throws dings the grade.
Harry B+: Really solid game with a three, athletic layup and good captain decisions.
Karim B+: Active on both ends and at least made one free throw.
Kenny B+: Nice game on both ends and chipped in double digit points.
The Counselors
AJ B: Led his team in scoring and defended Pollock well, but struggled with his shot.
Joel C+: Awful first half, but much better in the second half and even knocked down a few threes.
Noah D: Didn’t have it at all today.
David B: Solid debut, very active on the glass and chipped in eight points.
Brett C: Worked hard and got into good positions, but need to see him knock down a few more shots.
Throw in the white flag
By HARRY
Danner 18 came into this game suffering a pretty emphatic week 1 loss and Casey responded by ditching his team in week 2. They did welcome Danner and Glynn though. Meanwhile, Cam welcomed his second round pick, Nick Lynch to the team and everyone else was there. TO THE ACTION!
It was a tight back and forth affair in the first half. Matthew Miller came out strong though. He's really good at getting to the line, going 4-4 from the charity stripe in the opening frame. His shot was also falling too, mid-range, inside the paint and he added a 3. He doesn't seem to get tired or take any plays off, especially on offense.
Danner 18 tried to fight back though, with Marcellus coming through big, scoring 8 first half points. Danner 18's offense was pretty pathetic, but Marcellus big buckets kept it close for them. He really struggled badly in week 1, but I'll just blame Casey's bad passes on that. They need him to convert down low on high percentages opportunities.
Despite Marcellus and his efforts, Miller had built such a big lead on Danner 18 that it didn't seem they could crawl out of it. Calderan hit an early 3, but Cavano couldn't find the hoop. He was true to his word in taking a bunch of shots and naturally, he missed all of them. Cavano went 0-7 from deep in the first half and you aren't going to beat Matthew Miller that way.
Glynn and Danner hit a bucket apiece late, but a late Marcellus heave at the buzzer went wide. Danner 18 officially lost the first half to Matthew Miller 17-15. Oh ya and a bunch of other guys scored a whole lot of points on Danner 18 too. DTO had 15 1h points and the Young Bucks went into the half up 44-15.
Despite the embarrassment of losing to one guy in a half, Danner 18 still took the floor in the second half. There is no level of embarrassment to keep Chris Cavano from continuing to play and chuck. Cavano, scored 21 second half points, including hitting four threes. Calderan, also awoke from his first half coma and scored 9 second half points. Danner chipped in with a couple of threes too and Danner 18 was showing signs of life or maybe the Young Bucks just couldn't believe these guys would keep playing and stop us from watching the Celtics.
The lead would actually get down to single digits for one possession in the second half until Miller got a couple buckets to push the lead back. Nick Lynch was quiet until he started trying to dunk and failed twice. SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! Cam led his team with 10 second half points and a bunch of missed lay-ups and bad passes. Lucky for the Young Bucks that Danner 18 decided not to play the first half, because they sucked in the second half.
Young Bucks hold on to win 75-57
Danner 18
Cavano D: I don't care what Cavano's final line is, you can put a giant F next to them for FLUFF, because that's what they are, fluff stats.
Danner D+; Somehow Danner is known a 3-point shooter, but he doesn't shoot many anymore. Why?
Glynn D: Glynn was taking pregame shots and I don't know why, because he didn't take any game shots.
Calderan D: Calderan is the 3rd option on this team, so he needs to score consistently.
Marcellus B-: Marcellus was the only one showed up in the first half.
Young Bucks:
Miller A: Another impressive performance, I want to see him against a good team though.
Lynch D+: Filled it up, but missed two dunks, which brings shame upon all us bigs.
DTO A+: DTO looks pretty good when I'm not throwing his shit on Saturdays.
Cam A-: Lots of good defense, but refuses to make his free throws still.
Landy C-: Did he even play?
Bauman B: Very good first half, which for a role player is all you can ask of.