Franchise League Week 2 Write-Ups
by Jason on
WEEK 2 WRITE-UPS
Game 1:
Kawhi Me A River vs. Mulholland Drive
ReKAP
Week 2 kicked off with a solid matchup in Kawhi Me A River vs. Mulholland Drive and this game was expected to be backyard brawl. KMAR was fully staffed while MD was missing Houston, which I thought would be a mild factor in the result. JDM, coming off a rough week 1 showing, looked like a completely different player right out of the gates. He was looking spry, crushing KMAR on the offensive glass and providing MD with a nice early game jolt. He had 3 offensive rebounds and a couple putbacks within the first 3 minutes as MD jumped out to the early lead.
MD would maintain control for most of the first half, until the Tommy-Cavano-LaPorte show kicked off. These guys led KMAR to a quick 9-0 run to take 3-point lead late in the half. These guys were excellent in this game combining to go 10/15 from deep! However, the first half would end up with a MD 32-31 lead, but KMAR had to be happy with that considering the Bens were kind of non-factors.
In the second half the game kind of got away from MD. The shots weren’t falling, especially for LeBlanc who struggled to shoot the rock. Meanwhile, on the other end, Tommy went nuts. Old man Kahana turned back the clock going 5/8 from deep and really providing KMAR with a much-needed spark.
This was a really good game down the stretch. MD would claw back and the cut the deficit to 1 after a JDM three. The balanced KMAR attack would end up being too much though. Amazing three-point shooting and some late free throws would propel KMAR to the win.
KMAR wins 65-59.
Grades:
Koller (C): The points weren’t there, but everything else was. Normally a guy with 11 rebounds, 4 blocks and 6 dimes would get a strong grade, but the bar is high for Koller.
Ben Mac (B): Not too much to say here. Solid game for Ben Mac, but nothing special. He did hit half his threes which is a big for this guy so I will credit him there.
Cavano (A-): Really nice bounce back game for Cavano. He was very good in this game, hitting 3/5 from deep on his way to 11 points, 10 rebounds and 4 dimes. He had his fingerprints all over this game.
Tommy (A): Tommy was the MVP of the game. 19 points on 5/8 from deep. Not much else in the stats department but it doesn’t matter if he is shooting like this. Great game from the seasoned vet!
LaPorte (A): LaPorte just continues to roll off the bench. This guy is making an early case for 5th man of the year. He knocked down 2 treys in this one and made all the right plays.
JJ (B): JJ did his thing again off the bench, doing all the little things and giving his team a nice boost. Not much in counting stats, but he did have 8 points on efficient shooting.
JDM (A): It’s amazing what a week can do. JDM was a completely different player this week, going nuts for 25 points, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 13 rebounds and 7 dimes. Didn’t get the win, but he still played his ass off.
LeBlanc (C): Not a great game for LeBlanc, despite scoring 19. It was an inefficient 19. The 3 ball just wasn’t there for him tonight. You don’t see many nights like this from LeBlanc so we will chalk this up to an off week.
JMul (C+): JMul’s grade was salvaged because he did a nice job on Koller, but on offense he was non-existent. Collected 4 offensive rebounds though which is solid.
Craig (D): Not a good Craig game. Took some sketchy shots and fouled a lot. Credit him for snagging 8 rebounds though and preventing the “F” grade!
Chas (C-): A game to forget for Chas. He wasn’t completely awful, but he wasn’t good. Contributed 6 points, but played too tentative at times, especially when shooting the long ball. Let it fly with confidence my guy!
Week 2 Game 2 Super VS Corp
BY CHAS
Mulv got us started with a cutting hoop, and then Oully added a transition lay in 4-0. Mazz walk up 3 , yup that good 4-3, then Walker 1-2 to tie things at 4 16min. Rosi strong to the cup, but Mazz responds with 3. Rosi nailed a 3 bomb of his own, and he liked that so much he $ another 12-7. Big Lu got busy in the post, but Rosi was busy from deeep cannes another 3. Jakobson addes runner 17-9. EJ gets a 3 to go , they needed that, but Jakobson sticks J 19-12. Mazz dives in, but Oully keep pace with middy 21-14. Mulv gets 2 down low, Rosi 2-2 25-14. Mazz Jimmy, but Oully 3, followed by Sydorko tech (hand slaps forehead emoji).
31-16 after a Frongi lay in, Super pouring it on as Jaksbosn finishes , Rosi off window 35-16. Mazz stops bleeding with drive, but Rosi 6 th dime to Jakobsn was pure 37-18 at the break. Mulv Obrd put in and this one was getting ugly, after some action and another Rosi 3 it was 43-26, and I was about to stop taking notes. Mazz would not go down without a fight as he would follow a Sydorko spin shot with a three, then Mazz steos through double, then Mazz trey, and how about another trey suddenly it was 43-34. Rosi continued his stellar night with a J, Walker tries to keep pace with post, but Rosi splashes 3 48-36. Mazz deep 3 swishhhhhhhh, hes locked in now, as he lines up another, nothing but the buttom of the net 48-42. Rosi huge response 3 ball, but Mazz just wont stop hittign 3’s, the score go to 54-50, looking like the Corp had super on their heals, but Oully with the big balls 3 ball, Rosi would add a dagger 3 and Super escapes the Mazzalanch 62-53.
Super Rosi-A+- Walking fireball, and did it in big moments as well. Dude is a savage.
Kap-C- 5 dimes is good, 3 points is not. Also had 3 turnovers, I always expect more impact from Kapadon.
Oulley-B- Solid game, nothing crazy just did his job. F
rongi-C- One of the lowest ive seen him score in a awile. Kept the positivity , passed well though.
Mulv-B-) Not a tone of buckets but liked his activity on theboards and on D.
Jakobson-B-Strong 1st half, didnt do much in the 2nd, but when hes hitting that middy it makes this team very tough.
Corp
Mazz-A+- Loved how things were going so bad, but his mental toughness was really on display. Never quit, nearly pulled off, and epic comeback. I loved it!
Sydorko-D- I dont want to be a preacher here, which ive def been guilty of letting my emotions get to me, but man, you are only hurting youre team by flipping out. Jokes on me though because they won the ship anyways with this similar problem so who says i’m right? I was impressed that he calmed down ,and didnt pick up his 5th foul though.
Walker-D+- Very quiet game from one on my favorites.
Big Lu-C-) Rebounding was very good, but again let the ref in his head, and showed have been t’ed up himself. Mental toughnes baby !!
EJ-C+- Hit a 3 , thought he fought hard on the boards, and played some good D on frongi
Game 3
Poor House vs. Holland
ReKAP
HOLLAND took the court with 3 this week with Mulvehill filling in against a fully staffed Poor House team. Would Keith finally get a win, his first one in 85 years? My guess pregame was that he would, and you could tell his team wanted this one too. Onto the action! T
he story early on was the play of Tyler Masone. HOLLAND had absolutely no answer for this guy. Mazz sitting next to me at the scorer’s table said, “Masone is gonna have a huge game tonight” and he was right. Masone was a beast from inside and out. He stroked his first three ball of the game, an excellent sign after last week’s trash. He scored at will at the rim and really looked good out there. HOLLAND had no answer for Masone.
Despite being undermanned, STAT, King, Bonvie and Mulvehill fill in battled in the first half. They hung around and kept this game within reach. STAT was doing a nice job getting his teammates open shots, as King and Bonvie knocked down early triples. Offense was flowing nicely for HOLLAND, in fact, for both teams, as defense was optional. This was a very high scoring game in the first half, and I wondered if HOLLAND could sustain this for a full 40. PH led 48-38 at the break.
Poor House would “pour” it on in the second half. Keith got going, knocking down a couple treys and providing elite energy that sub-less HOLLAND couldn’t match. Ghost started to find the range and Masone continued to destroy anyone who tried to cover him. Matty J made sure to get in the act as well, connecting on a couple long balls. Just like that we had a good old-fashioned blowout! Credit to HOLLAND for playing hard and competing for a half. It’s hard to win when you are missing half your team especially in a league of this quality. Most of the second half ended up being a fun stat-padding affair for both teams, with PH coming away with the 102-79 win.
Congrats Keith!
Grades
Masone (A+): The RARE A+! Masone played a perfect game. He went nuclear, dropping a game high 37 points to go with 9 rebounds, 7 dimes and 0 turnovers. Monster bounce back from week 1.
Keith (A): Not much mention of Keith above, but he really did play an excellent game. This is the first time in a WHILE I have seen him make some outside shots. He was straight up cookin’ in this one, stuffing the shit out of the stat sheet on his way to his first win in many moons.
Ghost (B+): Strong game for Ghost, who chipped in 10 points and a few rebounds. Played his role just fine and did what his team needed to secure the dub.
Johnson (B): Not a great percentage from deep, but Johnson was able to connect on a trio of triples nonetheless. Above average game for him but nothing to rant and rave about.
Ini (B): Ini made his season debut and struggled offensively but stuffed the stat sheet otherwise. He played strong D as usual and had a couple of nice blocks. The 4 dimes was nice too.
Stull (C): Didn’t do much, but his team came away with the easy dub. He was active on the glass, collecting 6 boards, which was good to see.
STAT (B): Despite the blowout, I thought STAT played a very solid game. He had some strong finishes around the rim and moved the ball well. He gets docked because his team got smoked but he did have a good individual game. 8 dimes and only 2 TOs too.
King (C): Not a great game for King. The stats look ok, but I thought he struggled to get into the flow of the game. Not great from deep and had tunnel vision at times. I think he will improve as his team continues to figure out how to gel.
Bonvie (C): Tough game for Bonvie who was forced into 40 minutes of action. I will give him credit for knocking down 5 treys, albeit on 15 attempts. He held his own out there in a difficult situation and should see better days going forward.
Game 4:
All Length, No Girth vs. FTR
ReKAP
There was a lot of buzz heading into the nighcap, with ALNG welcoming their newest addition in Jovan Ruiz. I was intrigued to see how this guy would mesh with his new teammates. ALNG would roll with 5 for this one while FTR would be fully staffed. This was a damn good game for the most part, especially in the first half. Bakolas for ALNG came out swinging, draining 4 of 5 threes in the first half and really setting the tone for ALNG. He really had it going early and often. Joel would contribute a vicious block on Vladi that sent the ball straight to hell, in a half that ended up being a nightmare for Vladi. He was NOT good in the first half.
Lucky for him, Harding was back in action, and he looked like a guy who had been practicing in Italy. His middy was on point, and he did his usual thing getting to the rim against hapless defenders. Harding had some help from DP as well, who has looked sensational through two weeks. We had a tightly contested first half, that ended with a spectacular play from Bakolas to Reilly for a deep 3, giving ALNG a slim 2 point lead the break.
Most of the second half was hotly contested with the two teams exchanging blows in what was a close game. Eventually Vladi decided to show up and take matters into his own hands. After being a complete non-factor for 30 minutes Vladi found the stroke, knocking down 3 late triples to give FTR some breathing room. His surge really ended up being the difference down the stretch. ALNG was not able to recover, as FTR escapes with their first win, 73-62.
Grades:
Joel (B+): Very solid game for Joel. Had a double-double and shot well from deep. Needed more dimes to get into the “A” range but he had a nice game regardless.
Djordje (A): Another incredible game by Djordje. This guy is on a tear! 14 points and 20 rebounds!? Where did this guy come from!? If his team had a win he might be a legit MVP candidate.
Reilly (D): Aside from his end of the half three, this was a game to forget for Reilly. He got blocked by Vladi TWICE and his shot looked horrendous. This one was a far cry from his week 1 success.
Bakolas (A-): Bakolas was awesome in the first half from deep really pacing his team on offense. He disappeared in the second half offensively, but he did enough overall to warrant a strong grade.
Ruiz (C): Expectations were high coming in for Ruiz and I would say it was a mixed bag. He was way off from deep, but he had some grown man finishes at the rim. He also had a couple clutch buckets late to try and keep ALNG in the game. Looking forward to seeing how he responds next game.
Vladi (C): The tale of two halves. F in the first, A in the second. Made the clutch threes when it mattered most. Overall a shit Vladi game but he was instrumental in helping his team get the win.
Liam (B): Liam had a nice game, playing his role well. Knocked down a trey and rebounded the ball well. Added a couple blocks and looks to be fitting in nicely with his new squad.
DP (A): DP came through with another excellent game. Anytime DP is making 2 of 3 from deep the opposing team is in trouble. He looks extra spry this season, especially on the glass. I might have to actually start respecting his game.
Harry (B+): Pretty good Harry game here. Stuffed the stat sheet with 7 boards, 2 dimes, a vicious block, and a bucket. Did his best to limit Djordje but this has proven to be a tall task this season.
Harding (A): Harding returned to action with a purpose, dropping a cool 30 to go with 9 boards. He picked up right where he left off and should be putting up numbers like this all season. That is, if Vladi gets out of his way.
KapVP
It’s only two weeks I know but here is your early MVP ladder!
1. @e_rosie1
2.@Mr 63
3. @dp
4. @djvlajkovic
5. @bkoller297