Hoopa Loompas Locks In 3 Seed With Upset

With both teams having clinched playoff berths there wasn't much to play for here. Although the way Hoopa Loompas was crashing the offensive glass early you'd think otheriwse. Chris Whitney, Aiden Enright and Daniel Hasegawa were ripping down offensive rebounds early. BALL couldn't match the size or the effort. Despite that, BALL still did enough on offense to build out a 19-11 lead after a Drew Debari bucket in the post. The scoring was spread evenly for BALL with five players making at least two shots in the first half. For HL they were winning the "hustle" battle but they just struggled to make shots. They went 1-11 from three with the only make being a Hasegawa bank shot (rumor is he called it, I'm not convinced). At the half BALL was up 29-18.

The second half was all about Whitney being an absolute problem at the right. Just scooping up offensive rebounds putting the back up for two over and over again. Christian Brooks also made an appearance, hitting three 3s in the second half. The spread out scoring that helped BALL in the first half ceased. Only two guys made 2+ buckets (Debari and Jonah Feldman). A Whitney and-1 gave HL a 45-42 late. After a REALLY incredible drive and finish by Carlos Carmona, Feldman hit a couple of free throws and it was 47-44. A Davidson bucket pushed the lead out to 49-44 but Lonny Laureano made his only FG of the second half to bring BALL within 2 with less than 30 seconds left. However some Enright free throws helped close things out and HL walked away with a nice 53-47 confidence boosting win right before the playoffs.

HL has a strong team and the problems we saw them give BALL tonight will likley continue into next week. Even if Jamil Ball plays, he won't help with rebounding issue. Also, Laureano got hurt at the end of the game and didn't return. His status will go a long way in that game. HL should feel good they got this win without Brooks playing that well and with no Kevin Ryff. Dark Horse team in the playoffs.

For BALL they just didn't play well in the second half. They got stagnant on offense and defense. This is the kind of stuff Jamil Ball normally helps a team overcome. He was missed tonight. 

Dribble Handoff Survives

Dribble Handoff and Hoopa Loompas got together to battle in our second game of the night. Hoopa Loompas secured their playoff spot last week but if things broke their way the last two weeks they could move as high as the one seed. First they had to beat the league favorite right now, Dribble Handoff.

First Half Highlights

• Kevin Ryff opened the scoring with a smooth jumper
• Alex Gatter had a fouled called on him early that looked like it should have been Rich Disola, Gatter was very confused about the call.
• Thomas Skates had a nice bounce pass through traffic to Kevin Ryff
• There was a stretch early where both teams were playing kind of sloppy with some bad turnovers
• Michael Fraher showed off his patented 18 footer. It's just so money, especially off of feeds from Emmanuel Okharedia.
• Hoopa Loompas had a BUNCH of shots go in and out specifically Christian Brooks layups
• Carlos Carmona finally made an open fast break layup!
• A Skates bank three pointer tied us up at 20 with 8 minutes left
• Chris Whitney hit a "three". It looked pretty clear he was on the line but the ref called a three so we score it a 3. That gave Hoopa Loompas a 29-23 lead.
• Dribble Handoff closed on a 9-2 run. Two Disola FTs, a Gatter layup, another Gatter three and a Disola layup with 3 seconds left.
• Dribble Handoff went into the half up 32-21

The first half was really close both ways. Each team had their runs. I think Hoopa Loompas looked like the better team except for the last two minutes. They could have been been up more going into those last two minutes if more of their shots hadn't rimmed out. Neither team crashed the offensive glass well. 

Second Half Highlights

• Dribble Handoff started to extend their lead early behind a Disola three, an Okharedia runner and some Disola FTs going up 47-40 and forcing an early Hoopa Loompas timeout.
• The lead continued to grow out to 60-48 after a Gatter three pointer and a Disola layup off a Fraher steal
• The lead got as high as 63-50 after an Okharedia and-1. 
• Disola showed his defensive ability with a block on a Brooks shot "get out of here with that soft sh*t"
• He may have spoke too soon because Brooks got hot after that.
• A three to bring the lead down to 67-62 late.
• Okharedia went 1 of 2 from the line. 68-62 DH.
• ANOTHER THREE FROM BROOKS 68-65
• Disola missed the front end of a one and one
• BROOKS HITS ANOTHER THREE TO TIE THE GAME!! 68-68 with maybe 17 seconds left.

This is where it got interesting. Dribble Handoff inbounded the ball to Okharedia who Aidan Enright intentionally fouled. Everyone was confused. Enright thought his team was still down. Okharedia went to the line and nailed both free throws. 70-68 DH.

A poor pass from Brooks to Skates led to a Loompas turnover. On the inbounds Disola got the ball and was intentionally fouled. He yelled "THANK YOU" and went to the line to close out the game. HE MISSED BOTH FREE THROWS. The Loompas secured the rebound and called timeout with three second left.

The inbounds pass found its way to Enright who found Kevin Ryff who got up a contest three that fell short at the buzzer. Dribble Handoff held on to win.

This was an impressive game by both teams. 

Dribble Handoff played with only 5 guys for the second week in a row but the five play well together. They really could used Derek Erion's size because they really have no offensive rebounding prescence without him. Still the favorites even if it's just this 5.

Hoopa Loompas might see Dribble Handoff again in round one and they have to feel like they aren't that far off from an upset. Brooks didn't played well in the first half. Carmona didn't play that well all game and they were without their best perimete defender St Ulme. And they still had a shot to win at the buzzer. Given they already have their playoff spot secure, this is a "good loss".

Hoopa Loompas Gets A Sloppy Win, Nightmare Season is Almost (Bet the) Over

Hoopa Loompas and Bet The Over got us rolling in game two. Well maybe not exactly rolling. HL won the tip and then passed it into the backcourt for a violation. Whomp whomp. BTO took advantage of the mishap when Brady Myatt found Charlie Magiera for an easy two. Scoring was limited after that with the score only being 3-2 following Ben Brown making one of two free throws around the 16 minute mark. Myatt pushed the lead out to 5-2 after a putback. HL finally got engaged on their next possession crashing the glass for multiple offensive rebounds, but they still couldn’t score. Paul Orlinsky had seen enough of the rebounding and just stole the ball. Orlinsky got another steal on the next HL possession. The comedy of errors continued as on a BTO shot the ball bounced over the hoop and got stuck in the bars holding the hoop. Chris Whitney had to retrieve it combining his length with a skateboard to poke the ball out. Christian Brooks finally got on the board after missing a lot of early threes, hitting a nice fadeaway to bring his team within … 5-4 with 11 minutes left in the half. Brown got fouled shooting a 3 and made … 1 of 3 free throws. 6-4. BTO was using a 2-3 zone on defense and that seemed to be giving HL a lot of problems. With the score 6-5, Brian Horton tried to break the game open with a deep 3. When he airballed it Brown asked why he shot it. Horton shrugged his shoulders “I was open”. HL’s started to score, mostly led by Brooks and Aidan Enright. They had a 13-8 lead with 6 minutes left prompting our ref to comment “alright guys, I’m going to need some scoring”. One team got the message with HL going on a 8-3 run to close the half.

It was sloppy first half. Not one team made a 3, BTO only had one assist and the teams were combined 4-14 from the foul line. Yikes.

We didn’t get a bucket in the second half until Brooks made a jumper at the 16 minute mark. Carlos Carmona blessed up with his weekly blown wide open layup a couple minutes later (although he did convert the next one). It was 25-13 halfway through the second half. Yes, that’s right. The second half score was 4-2 after 10 minutes. We FINALLY got our first three of the game from Daniel Hasegawa shortly thereafter, breaking a combined 0-28 slump between the two teams. Brown finally got a three for BTO when the score was 43-17. We played out the game from there with the final score benign 53-23 Loompas.

A sloppy game on against any other team HL would have lost, and lost badly. However, this win brings them to 5-3 and a two game playoff cushion with two games left. They’ll need it, they play each of the top two teams the next two weeks. In order to miss the playoffs they would need all of the following to happen

1. Lose both of those games
2. Corporate Startup beat BALL and B2Dropouts
3. B2 Dropouts win against Bet The Over next week

This would put all three of HL, B2D and CS at 5-5. We’d then go to H2H record. In common games these would be their records (assuming CS beats B2D in the last week)

HL 2-2

B2D 2-2

CS 2-2

So we’d go to the next tiebreaker, point differential in H2H games. The point differential in common games

HL +22

BD -5

CS -17

So that would leave the final playoff spot to BD and CS which would be dependent on how much CS beats BD in the final week.

That’s a lot to take in and I think I did the math right, so I BELIEVE HL has clinched but maybe just win one more so we don’t have to worry about it.

For BTO, it’s been a long season. 0-8 with two games left. They could play a HUGE spoiler next week if they beat B2D and force them into a game for their playoffs lives in Week 10. Upside is the play the first game in Week 10 so their season will be over quick.

Tempers Flare In Double OT Thriller

The last game of the night was the best one with Hoopa Loompas facing off against B2 Dropouts.

In the early going Carlos Carmona was putting in work for HL scoring their first 6 points, one basket on a drive to the hoop, one nice pull up, and the last two points on a couple of free throws. For B2D Schyler Oliveira was focused on distributing the ball more than shooting and twice had nice passes to Zach Davidson for easy finishes. Davidson was seemingly involved in every play early, especially on the offensive glass. He looked like triple double Westbrook out there skying in from nowhere for offensive rebounds, grabbing three pretty early. Oliveira had a nice drive at the 13 minute mark to tie the game at 6 before Othniel St-Ulme hit a 3 to give the lead back to HL. During a couple of free throw attempts by HL, Oliveira chatted up our referee, Mark, about a missed call from the week before. Oliveira still thinks Mark missed the call and they discussed the video he had of the play. Anyway Ulme continued to make his mark on the game with a beautiful tip pass to Chris Whitney and then big man nailed a rare three pointer. To cap an 8-0 run by HL, grabbing a 14-6 lead. Sam Johnson hit a three off a feed from Oliveira to cut the lead to five and then Oliveria got a bucket of his own to trim the lead to 14-11 before Carmona hit a three to push the lead back out. This three by Carmona started an HL 13-4 run with the two highlights being a no look pass from Ulme to Whitney for two and Carmona hanging in mid air, seemingly defying gravity and altering his layup release for two. A deep Oliveira three and two Oliveira free throws got the lead down to 28-20 and started a 9-0 run by B2D to finish the half that included a three by Remy Baudet and a three by Davidson. Oliveira missed a putback at the buzzer that would have tied the game. 

The teams looked pretty evenly matched through one half. Carlos Carmona played well but had THREE separate fast break layups he couldn’t convert including one that Davidson nearly blocked through the wall. HL was also getting essentially NO second chance shot opportunities. Whereas B2D had 11 offensive rebounds in the first half, HL only had one. Kevin Ryff had two first half three pointers as well as two steals showing off his well-rounded game early. In fact both teams were good at forcing turnovers in the first half with four separate guys having recording two steals. Carmona, Ryff, and Aidan Enright for HL as well as Johnson for B2D.

Manish Chalwa and Enright traded 3s to open the second half. That made three juiced up Enright’s energy levels as he attacked the offensive glass on the next possession and converted the putback. Jackson Cote showed off his nifty passing skills for big man when he found a cutting Davidson for two. Carmona then FINALLY converted a fastbreak layup. 35-31 HL. Enright continued to make his mark on the game with a 3 to make it 38-31 which Oliveira responded to with a three of his own 38-34. A Carmond drive through three dudes, a Carmona three, a missed dunk by Oliveira (which prompted a “delete that clip to his lady friend in the attendance”) and another Enright three highlighted the next couple of minutes. Enright was seriously taking over the game. Two early threes, crashing the offensive glass. After doing basically nothing in the first half he looked like the best player on the floor. It was 46-38 HL at this point and they had all the momentum. Joe Martin got B2D within 6 after a puback and then Davidson got it to four with a putback of his own. This all happened while HL’s big man Whitney was on the bench. Without him HL really had no protection against the intensity with which B2D was crashing the glass. Davidson and Enright traded buckets to make the score 48-44 before Baudet hit a transition pull up three to cut the lead to 1. Oliveria then drove to the basket to take the lead, although, he argued he was fouled as well and should have had an and-1 opportunity. Despite that missed call, B2D had all the momentum now and only further solidified it when Baudet took a charge. When HL finally got the ball back, Davidson picked Ryff’s pocket and got fouled on the other end. He converted one of two free throws to take a two point lead. Ryff got his revenge with a nice pull up jumper to tie the game at 50 with 4 minutes left. Ryff then hit a HUGE three on HL’s next possession. 53-50 HL. Oliveira responded with a 3 of his own. TIED AGAIN! WHAT A GAME! Baudet hit one of two free throws when he was fouled but Ulme hit a three to take a two point lead!!! At this point I was so locked into the score and time I don’t have a note on who tied the game at 56 (terrible job by me) but B2D did tie the game (I think it was Oliveira but could have been Davidson). And we went to overtime after Carmona missed a desperation three at the buzzer!!!

The first overtime didn’t have much action except Oliveira shouting that the refs missed another time he was fouled. Carmona had two free throw attempts he missed. Literally zero points in the first overtime. So we went to overtime #2!!!

Baudet FINALLY broke the overtime scoring drought with a great drive to the hoop. 58-56 B2D.

Now the rest of the game, I got kind of lost in. Because it was a bit chaotic. Oliveira had the ball with his team up two. He there was a missed foul on him but Baudet was fouled shorty thereafter. But this missed call was the last straw for Oliveira. And he let Mark know he was not happy with the lack of call there and all of the previous ones. Some version of “get your head in the game”. May have been more explicitis, but I don’t know if anyone’s kids reads these so I’ll let you imagination run wild on the language used. Mark yelled back at Oliveira that all he does is complain every week to which Oliveira responded it’s because Mark wasn’t doing his job, he needs to make the calls. Mark told him he talks too much and the yelling escalated from there. Both parties assured the other they weren’t scared of them. They emphasized that point consistently over the next 2 minutes. Mind you, this was a two point game with maybe 20 seconds left when this started. Marlon (our other ref) had seen enough and called a tech on Oliveira. Carmona got two free throws to tie, he only made one of two. While he was shooting the yelling continued and the two parties got increasingly closer to each other, needing to be physically restrained by other players. Oliveira was kicked out of the game but that didn’t stop him from continuing to voice his frustrations. There was a lot of “if you want to do something do something” banter. Meanwhile Baudet was stepping to the line to shoot his free throws. Somehow he managed to compose himself enough to knock both down and give B2D a three point lead. We finally got the game going again which whimpered out with a missed three from HL and B2D walked away with a double OT 60-57 win.

Whew. Okay, let’s reset a bit.

HL played extremely well given they were without their best player (Christian Brooks). Carmona was aggresive all night and they got timely bursts from Enright and Ryff. They really should have closed the game out when they were up 46-38 but they just kept getting smashed on the offensive glass whenever Whitney was out of the game. This loss does tighten up the standings with 3 weeks left but HL gets a game against Bet The Over next week before closing with games against the top 2 seeds. They can’t mess around next week and likely have to split the last two to secure their playoff spot. 

For B2D put aside the way the game ended, they fought hard to claw back into this game multiple times. Baudet, Oliveira and Davidson give them a great scoring trio and they compliment each other well. They can also get big Sam Johnson games when necessary (it wasn’t tonight) and Cote allows them to matchup with bigs. This is a very strong team but they’re definitely missing Corey Fein who gave them so many high energy plays when he was healthy. We’ll see if the way the game ended impacts their team morale or chemistry moving forward but for now they’ll take the win. They also get a game against Bet The Over in the next 3 weeks, as well as a tough game against BALL before closing with a game against Corporate Startup that MIGHT be a play-in game. 

Should be an intense 3 week finish for both teams.