BALL Closes Strong to Make the Finals

Playoff time. It only comes once (okay, twice…well actually three times) a year. We started with six teams and coming in to tonight were down to four. Our first matchup featured Hoopa Loompas and BALL. It was clear from the start that BALL had an advantage due to the Loompas missing Thomas Skates and Othniel St-Ulme, two of their best defenders. Also, Aidan Enright didn’t even have his jersey reversed to the correct color until Jamil Ball made him aware of it. 

BUT - the game started off with a different vibe. Christian Brooks opened the game with a blocked shot that turned into him making a three on the other end to push the Loompas out to 3-0 lead. The teams traded baskets for a bit after that and the Loompas made it seem like it was going to be a game, pushing the lead out to 12-6 after Carlos Carmona made two free throws following a foul on Jonah Feldman. BALL finally locked in after that and went on a 7-0 sparked by relentlessly attacking the basket. Ball drove to the hoop and got fouled, converting two free throws. Lonny Laureano did the same and then Drew Debari splashed a 3. 13-12 BALL. A nice pass through traffic from Kevin Ryff to Chris Whitney finally stopped the bleeding and the Loompas took the lead back. After Chris Brooks drew a charge on Jonah Feldman, Carlos Carmona found Aidan Enright for an easy layup. Carmona was doing that a lot in the first half, finding teammates all over the floor for easy buckets. After Brooks nailed a fadeaway jumper to give the Loompas a 18-13 lead, BALL called a timeout. 

The timeout was much needed as BALL just wasn’t locked in defensively and was settling for less than ideal shots. That changed coming out of the timeout. Ball drove right to the basket on this first possession and made a tough layup over two defenders. BALL then forced a turnover and Feldman launched an on target half court pass to a streaking (no - not that kind of streaking) Dan Buckley for an easy layup. After the Loompas came up empty on their next possession, Laureano scored by pump faking a 3 and working his way to the basket. Just like that BALL took the lead back 19-18. Daniel Hasegawa made corner three to put the Loompas back up and the Laureano hit a mid range jumper to tie us up at 21. Both teams were going on nice runs and seemed evenly matched early on. Neither teams were allowing too many offensive rebounds, both teams were spreading the scoring responsibility and both teams took decent care of the ball with only three TOTAL steals between both teams in the first half. This pattern of runs continued to close the half with BALL going on a 6-0 run with the game tied at 21 (Ball 3, two Debari free throws and Ball makes one of two free throws) immediately followed by a 5-0 run by the Loompas. The half finished with some intensity with Ball called for a charge (and his 3rd foul) with only 1.7 seconds left. This gave Ryff a halfcourt heave at the buzzer that he missed but the Loompas had to feel good to only be down one as the underdog in this matchup, 27-26.

The key things heading into the second half were going to be

1. Ball with three fouls. Given his aggressive man on man defense and desire to drive to the hoop this could become 4 fast.
2. Can Chris Whitney get involved on the offensive glass? One of the best offensive rebounders we have in the league had ZERO in the first half. Huge for BALL who lack real size
3. Three point shooter. BALL was only 2-12 in the first half and the Loompas were 4-13. Neither team shooting that well and if either team could ratchet up the threes in the second half that would go a long way to determining the winner.

Ball made his mark immediately in the second half hitting a 3 on the first BALL possession. The action moved fast after that with Feldman forcing a turnover (a theme in the second half), then Brooks with a nasty chase down black that led to an Enright three off of a Chris Whitney assist. Enright then scored again on the Loompas next possession. I knew I should have put Enright on my All 5v5 Draft Spring 3rd Team. A Feldman put back, a Ryff put back and a Laureano mid range two had BALL up 34-33. Feldman pushed the lead out to 36-33 after generating another steal and finishing the layup on the other end. Feldman was a mad man on defense. His hands hadn’t been this active since hooking up with his high school girlfriend. Despite his defensive prowess and BALL getting good shots on offense, they found themselves tied at 37 after Hasegawa hit a jumper from the free throw line and then they found themselves down 41-40 after a Ryff layup off a great feed from Carmona. 

But BALL has proven time and time again they respond well in these situations and tonight was no different. Debari splashed a three, Feldman hit a pull up mid range jumper and then they combined on the next possession where Debari found Feldman for two. In an instant BALL was up 47-41. BALL extended the lead to 53-43 after Feldman fed Laureano for a Layup. The momentum was entirely with BALL at this point. The Loompas needed to score. Their best player of the night, Aidan Enright, hit a HUGE three at that point to keep the Loompas in striking distance and Brooks ripped through the defense to hit a layup. The Loompas were only down five with about 5 minutes less. We have a ball game! 

Well, no one told Jonah Feldman we had a game…Because he hit back to back 3s and then a layup. What the fuck just happened? Feldman single handedly put the game out of reach now at 61-49. BALL added some more points (Another Feldman bucket, a Laureano jumper, Buckley hit a free throw and Buckley score another bucket). 68-49 was our final.

The game was MUCH closer than the final score would suggest. But Feldman was just a monster tonight. 23 points and SEVEN steals. Those turnovers just crushed the Loompas chances. Shoutout to Aidan Enright for a great game and was easily the Loompas best player on the night. 

BALL moves onto the finals where they have to feel really good about their chances. 

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. 

BALL Has Major Second Half Comeback

Corporate Startup was playing for their season in the last game and they looked like it early. Elliott Sackman hit an early three, although Maurice Klaehne responded with one of his own. Sackman hit another early three and then Dainis Klavins got hot from three, hitting FIVE in the first half. It was a three point barrage from Corporate Startup. Nick Mazzeo, Klavins, Sackman, Kunal Chawla. They were up 32-17 midway through the first half. CS was only playing with five guys in this game so they had a call a timeout around the 5 minute mark to keep their lungs fresh. BALL did get the game down to 34-24 after a Debari 3 but CS slowly built the lead back out and capped the end of the half with a Klavins three at the buzzer to go up 47-31.

BALL looked out of sync and not engaged. Jamil Ball got into a slight verbal altercation with Disola who was hanging out from the game before. Disola claimed Ball was mad because he was getting smoked. Ball wasn't in the mood to engage in the conversation.

But boy did we get a different BALL team in the second half.

The very first possesion Ball stole the ball and that led to a Debari 3. Jonah Feldman hit a 3. Klaehne got a two threes early. Just like that we had a 14-2 run from BALL and were only down four VERY qucikly. The defensive intensity was staggering. Mazzeo pushed the CS lead out to 7 after an and-1 when he was fouled by Lonny Laureano. Laureano was adamant he didn't touch him. 52-45 CS. Then BALL really went bonkers. 

• Feldman two pointer
• Ball FTs
• Another Feldman two
• Ball with a three
• Ball with ANOTHER three
• Debari with a three

A 15-0 run and BALL was now up 60-52. CS never recovered from that run. They were out of gas and out of threes, making zero in the second half. They never got closer than 8 the rest of the way and eventually lost 81-63.

Coroprate Startup watched their season end in a way that's all too familiar. All season they would play one great half and one bad half. Usually it's the second half when they play well, today it was the first. You can MAYBE beat the bad to average teams like that, but you can't beat the good teams and tonight they ran up against a good team. It's disapointing because there are individual talents that could have made noise in the playoffs. Mazzeo is a bucket getter, Klavins can be one of the league's most dangerous shooters, Sackman is someone who I was really impressed with and he does everything well and everything under control. He would have shone bright in a playoff game. They just couldn't consistently put it together and that's why there will be no playoffs for this team.

BALL played awful in the first half. Just really bad. I don't think they did anything well. But that second half is what they're capable of. Tough defense, limit second chance opportunities. Get Debari open looks from three, let Ball and Laureano break down the defense, Feldman go to work in the post. Buckley and Klaehne could be a top 4 player on any other team in this league. It's really just such good team and they play well together and they complement each other well. We look like we're on a crash course for a BALL / Dribble Handoff finals. It will be fun to see Disola and Jamil Ball matchup. 

BALL Rides Aggressive Defense to a Big Win

We kicked off the evening with BALL vs B2 Dropouts. Drew Debari hit two early threes in front of his biggest fan (his son was in attendance) to help BALL jump out to a 6-2 lead. A few minutes later Schyler Oliveria and Lonny Laureano traded 3s to tie the game at 11. Then BALL went on a nice 9-0 run that included a 3 by Jonah Feldman and capped by a 3 from Jamil Ball after Ball stole the rock from Remy Baudet. Remy got a piece of revenge on the next play when he had a nice assist to Joe Martin. Jamil Ball gave us the highlight of the first half when Dan Buckley grabbed a defensive rebound and kicked it out to Ball. Buckley sprinted down the court in time for Ball to feed him a slick behind the back pass for two. Great pass by Ball and great effort from Buckley. It was 22-15 BALL after that but Baudet hit a 3 to cut the lead to 4. Ball pushed the lead out again from there. Ball went on a 5-0 by himself with a couple of FTs, then a steal that he converted into a 3. Then Laureano had a bucket to make it 32-19. A couple of Oliveria 3s, including one with only a second left in the half. BALL called timeout with one second left but the inbounds bounced off of Debari’s hands and hit him in the head as time expired. BALL went into the half 35-27. 

Turnovers were the story of the first half. BALL had 9 steals, B2D just had 1. The teams shot about the same, rebounded about the same. The only difference was that BALL created extra possessions for themselves.

Laureano found Feldman for an easy two coming out of the half as B2D was confused which way they were starting the half. But Zach Davis got B2D locked in with back to back 3s both off of feeds from Oliveira. A three pointer from Baudet got the lead down to 38-36. It looked like B2D had all the momentum. Then, they lost it. Laureano had back to back buckets and then Feldman converted a three point play and just like that it was 45-36. A Jackson Cote pass to Davidson for three got the lead down to 6 with 13 minutes left. The lead stayed around 6 or 7 until Baudet hit a three, then had a steal that led to a Jackson Cote bucket and made the score 51-47. A Jamil Ball circus shot over Davidson made the score 55-49 a few minutes later but Martin responded with a two FTs to cut the lead down to 55-51 with 6 minutes left. B2D would not score again after this. Feldman hit a two off a pass from Maurice Klaehne. Debari hit a 3. Debari stole the ball and found Laureano for an easy 2. We closed with a couple of Laureano jumpers and BALL walked away with a 66-51 victory.

BALL got contributions from everyone. Laureano continues to be a real problem for opposing teams to contain. He gets to his spot so smoothly and is great and using pump fakes and hesitations to create space for jumpers. Debari and Ball continue to make the right play, switch on the team pace when appropriate. They’re both great shooters (six combined threes tonight) willinga and able passers (7 combined assists) and make an impact on defense (6 combined steals). Feldman gave them a great post scoring presence tonight and even stepped out a hit a three. Buckley and Klaehne give them consistent high energy plays. Buckley doing most of his work near the basket scoring and rebound while Klaehne is more of a connecting passer and defensive menace (3 steals tonight). They felt in control of this game all night and look ready for the playoffs. BALL would love to stay as a top 2 seed to avoid Dribble Handoff in round one of the playoffs and that won’t be easy given they play the 3 and 4 seeds the next two weeks. 

B2D sits as the 4th seed after this loss with Corporate Start Up right behind them. They do a nice job splitting the scoring between Baudet, Oliveira and Davidson. I continue to be impressed by Cote’s passing as a big and think they could run the offense through him in the high post a little more. You can tell they’re missing Corey Fein who they’ve lost to a finger injury, that extra hustle play to keep their run going or stop a run by the other time was something he was great at. They also missed Sam Johnson tonight who gives them another ball handler and that could have limited the amount of steals BALL ended up with tonight. As they’re trying to clinch they’re playoff spot they get a soft matchup next week against Bet The Over before closing with a matchup against Corporate Startup that might be for a playoff spot.