No Growing Pangs for No Diddy in upset victory
As the number one overall seed, Robel had his pick of any team for the round one and went with Harry even though they had two more wins than Locked and Loaded. These two teams met a few weeks back with Growing Pangs winning by 12 so this should have been a pretty straightforward game. As we’ve learned though, anything can happen in the playoffs so to the action we go!

In my preview I mentioned about how the game was being refed having a major impact on this one and we had our answer quickly as KD called four fouls in the first three minutes. Scott picked up two of them for Growing Pangs which limited him in the first half and Lucas had a pair also meaning he couldn’t be as aggressive as normal. Harry’s team jumped out to a quick lead as Pollock and KG hit some early jump shots. Surprisingly for Growing Pangs, their offense was struggling outside of Pang. Gordon hit a three to kick off the game, but after that it was all Pang for the next few minutes. 

With the score 10-9, Harry took his first timeout and whatever the said worked as out of it his team went on a run. In a matter of minutes they built an eight point lead as Harry knocked down a pair of threes and Pollock continued to cook. That lead was short lived, however, as Taha continued his stellar play with a trio of buckets and Gordon hit another three to make it a two point game with a minute left. These points for Growing Pangs largely came off turnovers as Pollock had a lot of trouble holding onto the ball with six first-half turnovers. Pang hit a pair of free throws to tie the game with 30 seconds left, but Pollock would match those with two as well meaning No Diddy went into halftime with a two point lead at 33-31. 

Pollock led the way for No Diddy with 17 points while KG chipped in eight. Pang led the way for Growing Pangs with 15 while Gordon and Taha each had eight. Interestingly for Growing Pangs neither Scott coming off a 31 point game or Robel had scored as Harry and co had done a great job defending the paint. 

The second half got started with Robel’s team looking like the top seed as they jumped out to a lead at 42-39. Harry’s team was able to hang in, however, and remain within striking distance. Every possession felt vital in this one as scoring started to slow down as the pressure mounted. KG didn’t seem impacted by it though as he knocked down two threes to give Harry a six point lead, but Robel immediately answered with back to back threes to tie it back up. Robel showing up was a welcome development for Growing Pangs as Pang was struggling from the field now and he was the majority of their offense in the first half.

With the game tied at 50 and nine minutes remaining, things opened up over the next few minutes as both teams made two baskets, but then Sam hit a three to give his team a 57-54 lead with seven minutes left. Robel called a timeout here to get things organized and a bucket from Scott followed by an and one from Gordon gave them the lead back at 59-57 with five minutes left. The score didn’t change over the next few minutes as after some brutal possessions, where everyone looked exhausted.

Harry called a timeout with 2:56 left. KG would renter the game here after sitting for an extended period for some reason. His return was very needed as he had a nice drive to tie things up for Harry’s first points in over five minutes. With things tied and 2:45 left, you would have thought we’d get more points, but both defenses locked in and with seconds left Pollock was called for an offensive foul. This gave Growing Pangs one more chance, but Pang had a layup blocked by Lucas and then on the ensuing inbounds got a good look from three at the top of the key but it rimmed out sending us to overtime. 

Growing Pangs won the tip, but things got started like regulation ended with Pang missing a three, this time because of great block by KG. This gave No Diddy a chance for a lead and they capitalized with Pollock hitting a three from the left wing. Gordon would miss a three to tie on the next possession, but Lucas would miss a jumper with a chance to extend the lead. Growing Pangs finally got on the board with a Pang jumper to make it a one point game. The score stayed that way until there was 30 seconds left and Growing Pangs got the ball back after a Pollock violation on a free throw. Pang got fouled and made a pair to give No Diddy a one point lead, but Pollock made up for his mistake with an aggressive drive and finish on which he got fouled. He made the free throw to give Harry a two-point lead with 10 seconds left. Pang brought the ball up and got the switch he wanted onto Harry. He drove baseline, but Harry stayed with him until the end. He eventually let Harry fly by and got a great look, but seemed unable to get his feet under him and the shot rimmed out meaning No Diddy walked away with the upset 65-63 win.

No Diddy
Pollock A+: Dominant effort on both ends
KG A: Hit four massive threes and had a great block on Pang to start OT
Lucas B: Great defensive game, but added nothing on offense
Harry A: Two clutch threes and great defense down low and on the final shot
Weaver C: Brought good energy, but would have liked to see a shot go down

Growing Pangs
Pang B+: Kept his team in it offensively, but missed some good looks to seal it and then win or tie the game
Gordon C+: I forgot he was out there at times which isn’t good for someone averaging almost 20 points a game
Scott C-: Need more than six points, but was solid defensively 
Robel D: Would have been an F if not for the two threes
Taha B: Great first half, but quiet after
Kenny C: Brought good energy, but where’d his three point shot go

No Diddy wins rock fight over Brotherly Love

This game started on a tough note as it was revealed that Isaac is out for the season with a back injury, He’d been a revelation for Cam’s team even as Cam did his best to sabotage his push for post season honors. Harry’s team meanwhile, was only without Weaver meaning each team had one sub in a game that meant nothing for either team. Both were locked in at their current spot, so to the action we go!

To say the start of this game sucked would be an understatement. Neither team could score and there were a lot of bricks being thrown up. After 12 minutes, the score was 15-14 and Harry mercifully called a timeout so we had a break from the action. Following the timeout, we had our first fun play of the day as Cam swatted Harry into the wall. I hoped that would wake things up, but it didn’t. Lucas did hit a three on the ensuing possession to put No Diddy up 17-15, but Bobby answered with a couple of post ups. With 230 left, Cam’s team was up 20-19 and things stayed that way until the last minute, With 45 seconds left, Joe had a tough o-board and kicked it to Sam who made his shot to regain the lead at 21-20. Bobby answered with an and-one to grab the lead back right before halftime, giving Cam the lead at 23-21. Pollock led the way with nine points for No Diddy, while Bobby had ten and George had nine for Brotherly Love. 

The second half got started with Harry’s team on a 7-0 run. Pollock and Lucas had buckets, while KG had a three. Meanwhile, for Brotherly Love, Bobby was their only source of offense. He had a couple buckets, as did David, but things stayed tight. With 10 minutes left, a David put back made it a 32-30 game. By this time everyone with the over knew their ticket was drawing dead and was just hoping we’d get a competitive finish. Over the next few minutes Bobby continued to dominate on D protecting the paint, so Harry’s team decided to start making threes. KG hit one to make it 39-37 and then Joe hit one to give them their biggest lead of the day at 42-37 with five minutes left. 

Harry would make two free throws after a timeout to push the lead to seven which in this game was like a 20 point lead. Cam’s team was bricking every shot as George was cold and Cam had still set to hit a jumper. With a minute left, the foul game started. Lucas missed two free throws and Bobby made a bucket to make it a five point game. Sam followed with two and George answered with a bucket. Lucas then made two and Cam finally made a three to make it a four point game. After KG made two free throws, George hit his first three of the half to make it a three point game with 20 seconds left. After Lucas missed the first, he calmly hit the second to make it a four point game and Cam’s team fittingly threw it away, meaning No Diddy walked away with a 51-47 win.

No Diddy
Sam B+: Didn’t score at his normal levels, but did a bit of everything.
Lucas B: Clutch free throws late and solid defense all around.
KG B: Hit two big threes in the second half to help them gain some separation.
Harry B+: Great gameplay against Cam and had a couple of huge plays.
Joe B+: Clutch rebound in the first half and three in the second half.

Brotherly Love
Bobby B: Best player on the court for Cam’s team
George C+: Solid first half, but couldn’t hit anything in the second.
Cam C-: Solid defense and rebounding, but rough offensive game.
Colin C: Made a three when he shot it confidently.
David B-: Couple of nice buckets and rebounds. 

Understaffed No Diddy stuns Blood and Cerbone

Coming into this one, both teams needed the win and had major absences. Blood and Cerbone was without Angelo, but they have plenty of depth with 5 players averaging double-figures and the great one not far behind, while No Diddy was missing KG and Lucas who were 2/3 players on the team averaging more than six points per game. On paper this was a massive mismatch, but we don’t play the games on paper. To the action!

Things got started as expected with Blood and Cerbone getting easy looks and No Diddy struggling to get anything going on offense. After eight minutes it was 22-12 AO after a couple of France buckets and we looked headed for a blowout. Hanks was cooking Harry from the perimeter and France was getting easy layup after easy layup. Harry had seen enough at this point and called a timeout to stop the bleeding and whatever he said worked as coming out of the timeout Sam started to make shots for the first time in a few weeks. He had eleven quick points and all of sudden it was a two point game at 29-27. This culminated a 12-2 run for No Diddy and we had a ball game on our hands. Sam tied the game soon there after at 29, but France came back in and AO’s squad regained control to push the lead back to five at half time, 39-34. Pollock led the way for No Diddy with 18, while Weaver had six and Joe eight. For Blood and Cerbone, Hanks had 16 and France had 13, but nobody else had more than four. 

The second half got started with Harry’s team turning into the 2024 Celtics as they were bombing threes and hitting them. Joe and Weaver each hit one and all of a sudden, Harry had his first lead of the game at 40-39. The Great One had a nice bucket to regain the lead, but then Harry decided to take matters into his own hands and hit back-to-back threes to grab the lead back and create some separation. Given how prevalent scoring was in the first half and Harry only having four players in a extremely hot and humid gym, I figured it was only a matter of time before Blood and Cerbone regained control. That didn’t happen though as the clock kept ticking away and Harry’s team held a lead.

They weren’t scoring much, but AO’s team wasn’t even getting shots up so that didn’t matter. They had 15 turnovers overall, including nine in the second half and I might have missed a few. To illustrate how inept the offenses were, at the 14 minute mark it was 50-47 Harry. Fast forward ten minutes to the four minutes left in the game and Joel hit a 2 to bring AO’s team within two at 56-54. With things tight and both teams struggling on offense, every bucket was going to matter, so naturally the teams decided to settle it at the foul line. 

After Pollock hit a few free throws, AO hit two to make it a one point game at 59-58 with two minutes left. Sam missed on the ensuing possession and Joel got fouled. He went 1/2 at the line to tie things up with 90 seconds left. Harry answered with a smooth baseline jumper to regain the lead at 61-59 with just over a minute left, but then Joel got fouled again and split his free throws to make it a one point game. Harry’s team ran 30 seconds off the clock before Sam got fouled. He made 1/2 to give them a two-point lead at 62-60 with 26 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Hanks threw a brutal pass, which Harry intercepted. He got the ball to Sam who got fouled, but he missed the first giving Blood and Cerbone a chance. In a fitting ending to the game, France slipped and turned the ball over again, so they didn’t even get a shot off and No Diddy walked away with a 62-60 win. 

No Diddy
Sam A-: Great game overall, but missed a bunch of free throws late that could have sealed it. 
Harry A-: Got dominated by Hanks earlier on, but flipped the script in the second half and hit the game winning shot and got a key steal.
Weaver B+: Carried the offense at times in the first half and played solid defense throughout.
Joe A: Really nice game from Joe who hit shots and kept the ball moving.

Blood and Cerbone
Hanks B: Great first half, but really tailed off and had a brutal late turnover.
France C: Weird game as he came out of the gate quick, but then sat out for long stretches and had zero points in the second half.
Joel D-: Joel was bad.
Great One B: Had a couple nice buckets, but missed a few open threes which his team badly needed.
AO D: Weird substitution patterns and didn’t change anything up when they couldn’t score at all for long periods of time. 

Silva regains captaincy with dominating win over Harry

Coming into this one, the most interesting storyline was the blood feud between Silva and Harry. I said if these captains cared about narrative they would play one on one the entire game, but was afraid that they would be cowards and not give the people what they wanted. Unfortunately, my concerns were correct and we got a normal game, but one that turned out a lot closer than I expected given the performance of some players.

The start of this game was rough and made the crowd yearn for a one-on-one Harry Silva matchup. Neither team could score and turnovers were a plenty. After five minutes, Silva held a narrow 7-2 lead as Martin was exploiting the lack of size for No Diddy and over the next few minutes the lead continued to expand as Fraher made a couple shots also. Eight minutes into the game Harry’s team only had one basket, but then super sub Weaver came in and brought the energy. He got on the board quickly with a bucket and that seemed to wake Harry’s team up as they started trading baskets. 

That offensive improvement didn’t last long as after five quick points to make it 19-9, they’d only score five more points over the next five minutes. The good news for No Diddy was that No-Look Passes offense wasn’t much better as they only scored six points in that stretch. Gillooly finally hit the first three of the game for Harry’s squad which I thought might open things up, but Pollock was struggling mightily and without his scoring their offense was a mess. Moving back to the battle of the captains, Silva was up 6-0 after his second three of the half gave his team a 30-17 lead and more importantly he held the lead in the game as they entered halftime with a 33-21 lead. Martin led the way for No-Look Pass with seventeen, while Lucas led the way with seven for No Diddy.

If you were hoping for No Diddy comeback the start of the second half was not what you were looking for. Sam continued to struggle with turnovers leading to Harry yelling at him to “stop f***ing around.” Like the first half, the good news for No Diddy was Martin was cold and as a result the offense for Silva was rough. After five minutes it was 37-23, but No Diddy showed some urgency and had a brief 6-2 run to make it a ten point game. Harry hit a three soon there after to make it an eight point game and then he assaulted Silva while giving a foul. This was the most intensity we’d seen from Harry all game and clearly Silva didn’t appreciate it as he banked in a three on the ensuing possession. 

As badly as No Diddy was playing, they still were somehow in the game with eight minutes left and they started to make a run. Sam hit one of his three shots in the game and Lucas had a bucket also to make it a seven point game at 45-38. This was the closest the game had been since the early stages, but No-Look Pass quickly answered with a Bauman bucket and Martin three. Bauman was dominating the offensive boards in this half and giving up second chance opportunities were killing any chance of a No Diddy comeback. With 3:30 left, Gillooly hit a three to make it a seven point game, but Martin answered immediately. On the next possession, Harry had his best moment of the game blowing right past Martin’s matador defense and getting to the rim for an easy layup. After that, Lucas hit a jumper and Gillooly had a steal, leading to a three which made it a six point game with 1:30 left. That was as close as No Diddy would get, however, as No-Look Pass hit their free throws and ended the game on a 7-0 run to walk away with a 68-55 victory.

No-Look Pass
Martin B+: 30/12/6 is a great line overall, but was quiet for large portions of the second half, before some key late shots.
Fraher A-: Solid game all-round with a double-double.
Bauman A: 19 rebounds for the people’s player gets you an A even if the first half was slow. 
Silva A+: Emerged victorious against his rival Harry.
Ott B-: Active on both ends and had a couple nice passes.

No Diddy
Pollock D-: Sam was bad as he had almost as many turnovers as points. 
Lucas A-: 16/13 and was the only reason his team was even the game for large portions.
Gillooly B: Scored well, but would like to see a little more on the defensive end.
Weaver B: Provided a spark off the bench, but would like to see a little more efficiency.
Harry F: Outscored by Silva and lost a blood feud game. Tough day at the office.
Joe C: Active on the boards, but would like to see a few more shot attempts.