Game 4 | The Spice Channel: 78 - The Corporation: 86

Corp Bests SC in Hohrath-Harding Duel

In the write-up, I predicted that the Mazz-Hohrath combo would be too much for Harding alone, but I also predicted that if Harding went nuclear and Chas annoyed Mazz enough defensively, SC could keep the game close and try to let Harding close things out. To my credit, these predictions were spot on, but the one thing I did not predict was just how good Hohrath would be. An athletic, strong wing with good size, I could tell early on that he would cause SC lots of problems, but he just kept going. He got to his spots well, but showed a beautiful skillset with middies, floaters, layups and hook shots, and a reliable three ball that made him far too polished for SC to win this game. To SC’s credit, they kept this game close until the final possessions, even leading 43-40 at the half. Harding was masterful despite already playing a full game, hitting a flurry of threes down the stretch to keep the game in reach and cutting it to single digits until the final buzzer.

The first half duel between the two starts was a sight to behold. Hohrath finished with 23 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 1 block, while Harding put up 23 of his own, plus 5 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block on five of ten from three. Hohrath was frying inside with layups, floaters, and a few threes as well. As mentioned, his combination of size, athleticism, and skill was truly impressive, as I had never seen him play before and he essentially was perfect. I don’t track missed twos, but he didn’t miss many shots at all throughout this game, a truly dominant all-around game. Harding was more or less the same, but with more jumpers. He hit five threes and a few middies, but also dished out all 6 of his assists in this half, finding Ghost for a bunch of jumpers and Djordje for some lays. He pushed the pace and forced Corp to play at his speed, doing a nice job to control the game even with his team at a disadvantage. The secondary matchup turned into Ghost vs. Mazz, which Ghost won in the first half. Without Harry gameplanning him to death, Ghost was able to find his spots and get open at will, hitting five jumpers for 10 points and 5 boards at the half, leaving Corp frustrated and confused as to why he was constantly open. Credit to his excellent conditioning and strong mental for bouncing back after the earlier game. Mazz finished with 10 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal at the half, but he was struggling. His three-point percentage was abysmal, he couldn’t get to spots inside, and he had several bad turnovers, all while his frustration was evident. Still, he had 4 assists and a few makes, but it was clear that Chas was in his grill and making things difficult. Chas had 6 first half points, but it was his defensive intensity that made the major difference, including well into the second half. To Mazz’s credit, he took on the challenge of guarding Harding for most of the first half before switching with Skates. Regardless, SC took a 43-40 lead into the half to my surprise, and the fans were in for the best game of the night.

The second half was honestly more of the same, as Hohrath and Harding duked it out with ridiculous shot making and each imposing their will on the game. Hohrath finished with a monster line of 45 points, 17 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks, and it really felt like he didn’t miss a single shot. He ended up five for eight from three, a perfect six of six from the line, and never stopped applying pressure. He was relentless till the end, and with Mazz stepping up in the second half, the Corp proved too much. Mazz finished with 26 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, and 1 steal, hitting two threes in the second half, doing a better job at getting to the rim for finishes, and canning all six of his free-throw attempts to seal the game. Even with the double-double and clutch scoring, I thought this was a relatively poor performance from Mazz. He shot four of fourteen from deep, missing some pretty open looks, and had far too many turnovers. His 10 assists are also a bit misleading, as he’s usually excellent at setting guys up for open looks out of pick and roll, but most of his dimes in this game were just him dumping the ball to Hohrath and Hohrath rising up for a jumper. Still, Mazz is probably the most dangerous player in this tournament, and it’s hard to deny 26 and 10. Luigi had a solid game with 8 points and 12 boards, finishing efficiently inside and holding down the glass as usual. He did struggle with his jumper, missing his only three-point attempt and several middies that he’s capable of hitting. At one point late in the second half, he took a shot from the baseline and KD yelled out “YA RIGHT” as soon as he rose up. Luigi immediately airballed the shot, but KD is honestly reckless for saying that while standing directly in front of Luigi’s girl. Harry was cracking up on the sidelines, KD let out a chuckle, and the fans were enjoying the excellent game. To Luigi’s credit, he fought for the rebound and the ball went out of bounds, so he got his team possession and like I said, he played a nice game. Tommy Skates finished with 7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block, struggling to finish some of his takes but also getting some key buckets late in the game. The main thing was his defensive effort on Harding, who torched him, but had to hit tough shots and expend tons of energy to get going. It wasn’t the best defensive performance I’ve seen, but it was gritty and enough to get the win for the Corp.

For SC, it was the Harding show, as he finished with an astounding 48 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block. SC scored 35 points in the second half, and Harding scored 25 of them on his own. He finished the game a perfect seven for seven from the foul line and nine of eighteen from three, pulling up wherever and whenever he wanted. His team did well to find him on some catch-and-shoots, but it was mostly individual brilliance. At one point, he missed a few threes in the second half and the Corp lead got to double digits, and I thought he had run out of gas from playing two games and his insanely high usage rate in each game. He quickly proved me wrong, hitting three of his last four three point attempts to finish at 50% on nearly twenty attempts. Truly a stellar performance from Harding, who almost single-handedly won this game for his team. Chas finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal, finishing with a team best 5 second half points and busting his ass to guard Mazz. I always admire Chas’ intensity, motor, and courage to consistently face better players and never back down, regardless of if he’s playing well or getting torched. Ghost added only 1 rebound in the second half, as the Corp adjusted with a DBS-like coverage, essentially denying him the ball by switching Hohrath onto him and moving Luigi to patrol the paint. Still, I think Ghost did his job with his hot start in the first half and then taking Hohrath away from the main action, thus freeing up his team. Djordje finished with 6 points, 11 rebounds (5 offensive), 4 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks, fighting through calf cramps in the second half. He could have finished a few more looks at the rim on passes from Harding and Chas and off of rebounds, and perhaps the outcome would have been different. However, he was a beast on the glass and defensively, finishing with 3 stocks and deterring many more shots from everyone except Hohrath, who was just unstoppable in this game. His 4 assists were huge, as he found Harding for rare open threes on kick-outs that took some pressure off of Harding to hit contested threes off the dribble. Not Djordje’s best performance, but other than some missed shots he played well on both ends. Big Guns had a similar game, doing a lot of good things but struggling a bit with his shot. He hit a huge three in the second half, but finished one for six from deep. That said, he grabbed 2 rebounds and picked up 1 steal, and took good shots. Of his 5 misses, 4 were close, just barely missing, and all were good looks that he can make. I also thought his defense was excellent, as he got some nice contests and forced his guy into Djordje who blocked or deterred shots at the rim. I think Tommy was way too harsh on himself, as sometimes you can’t get your shot to fall. Results aside, he did everything he could in his role to help his team win, providing great minutes when called upon. Difficult loss for SC, who battled hard to keep this one close for Harding’s late game heroics, but even with that, it wasn’t enough to overcome Corp’s better team.

Game 3 | The Redeem Team: 66 - The New Hotness: 49

Redeem Team Handle Shorthanded New Hotness in Old Battle

RT were missing Mulholland and Lindsay, but Hotness were down Brett, Roberts, and Ben Butterworth, leaving Jamil to fill in. I love Jamil’s game and he has proven that he’s a nightmare to guard, but filling in leaves a void in chemistry and I don’t think he has the same impact as Brett, shifting the odds in favor of RT. Ultimately, this proved correct, as RT jumped out to a solid 36-28 halftime lead and never looked back.

RT’s ball movement and interior presence won them this game, as they totalled 14 assists as a team compared to 8 for NH, while outsourcing them inside the arc with 20 made twos to only 6 for NH, and they won the rebounding battle 38 to 33. The difference in made twos is staggering when you look at it. Civale led the scoring with 24 points, 10 boards, and 4 assists, a self-proclaimed career high for the versatile big man. Civale’s shot was actually off in this game, as he went six of seventeen (35.3%) from range and a measly one of four from the line, but he’s near afraid to pull the trigger, still knocking down 6 total threes in this game. He also set the tone early, going for 16, 4, and 3 assists in the first half to get his team out in front. Jet also had a big first half with 9 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. He was disruptive and physical defensively with 5 early stocks, and he was aggressive getting to the rim for some nice buckets, including a tough and-one. He finished with 20 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals, and 2 blocks, making his presence felt on both ends throughout the entire game. He and Civale finished with 4 assists each, while Skelley and Jeffries added 3 each for a well-balanced attack that involved everyone taking on some playmaking duties. I was definitely impressed with the chemistry here, especially in contrast with NH (in fairness they were missing three players). Speaking of Skelley and Jeffries, both played well, especially Skelley, who finished with 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists in the first half and 14 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block in total. Excellent physicality on the boards, and he showed off some nimble footwork inside, making some impressive catches into quick finishes on passes from Jet and Jeffries. Awesome big man performance from Skelley. Jeffries continued his struggles from three in this game, going one for five on the game, but he had plenty of positives as well. He finished with 7 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals, doing well to keep Jamil mostly in check, adding some solid rebounding chops, and steadying his team out as the lead guard for big portions of the game. I do think he could hunt his shot more, but it wasn’t needed in this game, as RT pull out the convincing 66-49 win.

Difficult game for NH without Brett and Roberts, but they fought hard. Liam came out of the gate firing, finishing with 17 first half points on five made threes on only seven attempts. With Armstrong out, Liam really stepped up in this game in terms of carrying the offensive load. He finished the game with 31 points and 3 rebounds only a blistering seven of twelve from deep. As I said in the DBS write-up, Liam is more than capable of scoring, and I would love to see him be more aggressive. With guys out, he did just that and ended up scoring 63% of his team’s points. With 18 in the first game and 31 in this game, I’m curious to see how Liam carries this scoring momentum into Monday’s game with his DBS squad to complement the rest of his game. Jamil added 9 points, 9 rebounds (4 offensive), 1 assist, and 4 steals. He couldn’t quite get his three going (one of six), but hit four of his six free-throw attempts and was solid on both ends in the win. Mike Ethridge had the strangest game I’ve ever seen in my entire life, as he did a bunch of good things but could not make a single layup throughout the game. With a final statline of 5 points, 24 rebounds (10 offensive), 5 assists, and 1 block, Mike probably smoked 15+ open layups/floaters, frequently getting his own rebound, only to go up again and miss an open shot. It was just strange to watch, as he showed that he could get to spots and generate good looks, but he literally just couldn’t make a layup. To his credit, he led the game in assists and defensive rebounds, plus he got a bunch of offensive rebounds off of missed shots from teammates, not just stat padding his own misses. Still, even with all the positives, this game could have had a vastly different result if Mike had even made half of his layups/floaters, a tough game for him and his team. Harry added 4 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists, hitting a three and asserting himself defensively, but it wasn’t enough. He made some great passes to Ethridge as well, but that was null and void. Ultimately NH didn’t have enough firepower to match RT, who were firing on all cylinders to finish with a decisive 66-49 win.