WEEK 3 WRITE-UPS
Frongi dives in right away to kick us off, and Oully followed his lead $ a 3, Rosi TD ass to Frongi after steal, then Frongi another lay up sheesh it was an ugly 11-0.Ini goes 1-2 to finanly get them on the board. Mulv goes 2-2 to keep the pressure 13-1. Matty gets a 3 to go thank god! Ini scoop shot, Mazone drives in , Ini 1-2 again, but Oully 3 brakes the run 16-9. Amazon filthy lefty drive, but Oully going step for step wih and 1 19-11. Ini bank shot.19-13. Kap hustle elads to Mulv lay in, then Mulv in the right place at the right time for 2 23-13. Stull 3 ball splash alert, than Keith Obrd put in 26-18. Kap zooms in, but Mazone Trey makes it 28-21. Amazon $ another trey, and another 28-27 we got ball game baby! Frongi calms things with cut, but Ini hook keeps pace. Oily feeling it gets a 3, but Mazone in his bag gets the lefty lay in. Rosi finally in on the act with a J, Frongi running well gets another deuce, but that Ini hook was falling, Frongi just gashing them with another running hoop, then a Kapadon steal 3 ball magic it was a crazy 42-33 at the break.
Ini grown man lay in, Keith grown man lay in it was 42-37. Mulv brakes mini run with lay in. Mazone sneaky down the base line. Mulv, and smooth Matty J trade 3’s, but Keith gets floater 47-44. Puller big 3 to stretch the lead 50-44. Stull crafty to the line gets 1-2, Mulv would get a J, but Keith sees a 3 go through 52-50. Kap strong righty drive, but Stull not taking no shit $ 3 54-53 what a game! Kap answers with veteran 3 , but Mazone obrd converts, then Matty nice cut we were knotted at 57 all! Mulv obrd leads to big Rosi 3, than Rosi 3 again , after some fts Matty would get a 3 to go making it 64-61. Poor had good 1 n 1 ft chances but kept missing them, and that was huge as Rosi really got going down te stretch, Pulley would add a 3 and that was good night Irene. 77-69 Super stays unbeaten
Super
Rosi-B-) Took him way to long to get going, and it almost cost them. As alway he knew when to turn it on and and got out of there with the W.
Oully-A- Vintage Oully here, he was the efficient assassin we all love.
Frongi-B+- Run , run, run he knows how to keep pressure on the D, and it gave great results.
Mulv-B- Solid day, hustled hard , and made an 2nd half impact
Kap-B+-He’ssssssss back. Much more impactul, getting swipes/3’s,and dimes.
Poor
Matty-B-) Dude can shoot it, and its beatuful. But needs to get out on shooters more.
Stull-A-) Really likes his fight/actvity out there.
Ini-B+- Scored the rock well, still not the most efficient from the line.
Mazone-A-Holy moly this kid is a baller, would have got the A+ with a win. Left drives, just filthy
Keith-B- Came late but still filled up the stat sheet, rebound excellently maybe one to many 3 down the stretch.
We had a good one in game 2, featuring Mulholland Drive taking on FTR. Houston was out for MD, missing his second straight game, while FTR was fully staffed with Dru making his season debut. It was tight to start, with both teams exchanging baskets. Chas was looking to be more assertive, hitting an early 3 and delivering a number of bellowing screams that hurt my ears. JDM and Harding were exchanging blows as expected and DP delivered a nasty patented drive and spin on LeBlanc. Welcome to the spin cycle LeBlowby! FTR led 15-13 after the first 10 minutes of play.
That’s when it got ugly for FTR. MD ripped off a 22-6 run to close out the final 10 minutes of the first half. Their offense looked much improved, with JMul providing a nice facilitator role. He was moving the ball well and while he didn’t rack up a lot of assists, he did provide a number of “hockey” assists. The assault resulted in a 35-21 MD halftime lead.
FTR has a bunch of guys that can play though, and Harry’s halftime speech must have done something to inspire his team. FTR opened the second half with a 13-4 run to cut the deficit to 5. Harding led the charge as usual with some long balls and nice drives to the cup. He looked to be more assertive out of the intermission and it paid dividends. Vladi got in the act as well after a quiet first half and just like that we had a ball game on our hands!
After a timeout, Chas would calm the troops though MD was able to weather the storm. A LeBlanc 3 would push the lead back to 9 and MD remained pretty much in control for the rest of the game. FTR battled their asses off but every time they seemed to get closer, MD had an answer. I am not going to speak on the “self-pass” play by JDM because it was the right call, but I know FTR will be pointing to that play as a pivotal moment late in the game.
Down the stretch JDM and LeBlanc were lethal from the free throw line combining to go 15/16 in the game. Not too shabby! These two would end up combining for 50 points and ultimately it was too much for FTR to overcome. MD comes away with a very solid win, 70-61.
Grades:
JDM (A): JDM was fantastic in this one. He posted a strong 30 point, 10 rebound double double. No offensive rebounds is kinda shocking but he still balled out and made a number of “OMG” shots.
LeBlanc (A-): LeBlanc is still trying to figure out the long ball this season, but he was excellent everywhere else. Floor generaled the game well and made all of his free throws.
JMul (B+): He didn’t take a single 3! He did however, play a really good game despite scoring only 2 points. He was basically the Draymond Green of this team. I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not. He did all the little things in this one really well.
Chas (B+): Pretty solid Chas game here. He was much more assertive on offense as Vladi was giving him ZERO respect on his shot. He ended up going 2/7 from deep but they were all good looks. A solid effort here.
Craig (A-): Craig didn’t get mentioned above, but he did play a really solid game. He went 1/2 from deep and had some nice 2-point buckets. This was definitely one of Craig’s best efforts of the season.
Vladi (C+): Kind of a mixed bag for Vladi. He didn’t shoot that well from deep, but he did make some timely ones. The 3 steals were nice. I am used to more dimes from Vladi but maybe we can blame his teammates for missing shots?
Harding (B): Expectations are high for this guy so I am going with an EH game here. I will cut Harding some slack because MD has a very good defense. Pretty much a run of the mill game here. I did like seeing the 3/5 from deep though.
DP (D+): You might be thinking a D here is harsh, but expectations have gone up! I don’t think DP necessarily played terribly, he was just kind of a non-factor. I feel like DP passed up some open threes as well, and he has been shooting the long ball well this season. Let’s fly homie!
Harry (C): See DP. Not much of a factor, outside of a couple nice mid-range jumpers early (and they were sexy). He missed some easy ones in the second half which hurt. Harry did make a nice play saving one of those misses from gong out of bounds though.
Liam (C+): A tough wide open missed layup late in the second half hurts Liam’s grade but I thought he played fine. He was kind of a non-factor outside his usual stellar defense, but when your team loses the grade suffers.
Dru (D): Would have been an F but it was his first game of the season. That said, woof, rough debut. Played about 5 minutes, had 3 rebounds, 2 ghastly turnovers, and a wild missed drive to the rim. Yuck.
I looked to my left while scoring the previous game and who’s ugly ass do I see walk in…SAMUEL POLLOCK! I guess he got the Tibbs “don’t tell anyone else” approval. I thought this was kind of unfair at first, but after this game I was dead wrong. KMAR was fully staffed while ALNG was without John Reilly. I expected a pretty good game. Woops!
KMAR jumped ALL over ALNG right away behind a masterclass in shooting by the legend Tommy aka RoY Kahana. Holy moly what a show he put on, absolutely dusting Ruiz over and over again. Tommy was absolutely scorching to start the game and in the first half he pretty much hit every single shot he took. He dropped a cool 19 in the first half. Beast!
The Tommy surge really set the tone for the first half and this game overall. ALNG really struggled on offense, especially in the first half. Pollock had trouble fitting in with his new teammates, Ruiz was still looking for answers from deep and Joel couldn’t get much going. KMAR led 39-22 at the break.
The second half was a mere formality. KMAR was not fucking around, maintaining a double-digit lead throughout the half. Tommy cooled off, but his teammates had his back to keep the onslaught going. Koller got going, converting some tough drives at the rim. He was putting all that Djordje MVP buzz to bed. LaPorte continued his torrid three-point shooting and Ben Mac was working in the paint. He had a nice drive in the second half right into Djordje’s grill followed by a Mutombo finger wave. You ain’t stopping this train big fella! KMAR cruises to the 66-50 win with little resistance.
Grades:
Koller (A): Koller had an all-around very good game. 19 points on very efficient shooting. He didn’t miss a 3 or free throw and stuffed the stat sheet.
Ben Mac (A-): Very solid game for Ben Mac. Got the assists back up after last week and was a beast driving the ball to the rack.
Cavano (C+): Cavano wasn’t a huge factor in this game, but he did what his team needed to get the dub. Had a few buckets and hustle plays but otherwise was pretty quiet.
Tommy (A): Quiet second half, but he basically won his team the game in the first. What a showing by the vet. Loved to see it. Tommy is the frontrunner for steal of the draft right now.
LaPorte (A): Speaking of frontrunners, LaPorte is the clear frontrunner at this time for 5th man of the year. He has been stellar off the bench this season and tonight was no different. He is now 6/9 from deep on the season. Bang!
JJ (B): Quiet game for JJ, but he played his role. Didn’t do anything stupid and made a few plays. Can’t ask for much more from a bench guy.
Joel (D): Not a good game for Joel. No dimes, 2 TOs and 10 points. I expect more from a guy of his caliber.
Djordje (C): This was Djordje’s worst game of the season, but it was kind of expected with Koller on the other end. His line was actually pretty decent at face value, but his rebounding was way down. MVP stock…down!
Ruiz (D): Really rough game for Ruiz. Got abused by Tommy, had 4 TOs and went 1/9 from deep. The talent is there but I think he is trying to figure it all out.
Bakolas (B-): Shot well from deep to save his grade, but nothing special here. I like this guy’s game though and I think he has been a good piece for this team.
Pollock (D): Rough debut for Sammy boy. New league, new team so I won’t be too harsh, but he started the game with 3 TOs. Unacceptable.
In the late game we had HOLLAND taking on The Corporation and this one stank of blowout city. Both teams were fully staffed so no excuses! I was looking forward to Devin taking on his idol in Mazz so that was a fun matchup to see.
We had a pretty good on our hands to start. HOLLAND looked a lot better this week, playing like an actual team and giving Corp all they could handle. Devin had an early beautiful high off the glass drive that impressed me. Mazz answered though as these two were exchanging blows. Corp led 17-14 and I thought maybe this could be a game?
Big Lou would spark a little Corp run, doing WORK in the paint. He was converting his little baby hook and when this shot is dropping you ain’t stopping it. He would end up with a solid double double in the game. Corp would push the lead to 11 behind Big Lou’s strong play but enter Civale. Oh baby what a shooting display. Civale nailed his first two treys and you could feel that this was going to be a Civale game. He was COOKIN’ in the first half, keeping HOLLAND within striking distance. Corp would lead by “only” 8 at the break.
Out of the break though, Corp would really start to exert their will. HOLLAND started to resort back to old habits, with a lot of 1:1 play that would result in empty possessions. Corp would capitalize, scoring on a couple Mazz-Walker pick and rolls. All of a sudden, I looked up and Civale was 6/6 from deep and HOLLAND was down 18. How is that possible!?
HOLLAND played hard and looked much better this week, but they couldn’t overcome the early second half run by Corp. The defense by Corp was too much and HOLLAND couldn’t manufacture consistent offense. Despite Mazz and Syd’s horrific three-point shooting, Corp comes away with the expected win 74-57.
Grades:
STAT (B): STAT played a solid game despite only scoring 8 points. He snagged 15 rebounds and only had 1 TO. I need to see more leadership from him though. This team needs some direction!
Devin (D): Devin was pretty quiet after a solid start. Only scored 12 and his team really needs him to get 20+. He will have better days ahead.
King (D): King was more or less a non-factor. He spent too much time complaining about the ref than actually playing ball. We have all been there though, god knows I have.
Bonvie (C): Went 0/5 from deep but part of that is because his team doesn’t really put him in positions to score. Bonvie can stroke with the best of them, and this team needs to figure out how to get him open looks.
Civale (A-): If you go 7/10 from deep, I don’t care if your team loses, that is impressive. Civale added 4 blocks too which was nice to see. Need more defensive rebounds though. One rebound?!
Robel (D): Not a good Robel game. His outside shot was way off tonight, and he just looked rusty overall. I need more!
Mazz (A-): Poor from deep but dominated the game. Dropped 20, had 8 dimes and 1 TO. I feel like he could have done anything he wanted against HOLLAND’s defense.
Cawley (B): Regular Cawley game. Some points, some rebounds, a nice block. The usual shit. Fuck him.
Syd (C): Rough shooting from deep. I liked how Corp’s offense became “feed Syd until he makes one” to keep his confidence up. Did other stuff though to contribute to the win.
Walker (A-): Walker was very good in this game. Made some nice shots around the rim and hit a middy. Also set some good illegal screens one that sent DQ into space.
Big Lou (A): Big Lou! Kid balled out tonight. Double double and a block. Love when he plays well.
EJ (A-): Nice game off the bench for EJ. Made 2 of his 4 from deep and played his role nicely. Two TOs hurt his grade a little.