5v5 Draft West

Commentary by HARRY & CUNDALL...

Block Party 58  Glynn Reapers 38

We opened the season up with my broadcast partner and local scouting legend, Ian Cundall, taking on Jamil’s Block Party. Cundall’s team, was considered a top contender going into this game, while Jamil’s team was on the fringe. Boy, do we have a developing situation, TO THE ACTION!

Block Party was missing their second round pick Leblanc, for this game, but that didn’t seem matter right off the bat. Jamil, welcomed himself to the league by banging home three first half trey balls and was a wrecking ball himself driving down the lane. The captain was looking fresh as hell leading his team to a big lead to start the game. Dan “let me show some more leg” O. was contributing with some jump shots of his own, leaving captain Cundall a bit confused. Robel, was throwing a black party defensively and his buddy Motha, was eating down low, scoring 6 first half buckets. These guys were looking very impressive in the first half, meanwhile……….

Cundall’s squad, newly named Glynn Reapers, looked absolutely awful. The reigning MVP played as bad as I’ve probably ever seen him play. Pollock, at one point had 5 turnovers to his 0 points and finished the game without an assist. Stop laughing Joel! It was downright awful for Pollock and his team, which you can all freely assume will go as Pollock goes. I wish I could provide any highlights for this team in the half or game, besides Alex’s new haircut, but I just don’t have any. Alex and Scott Glynn led the team with 4 points a piece in the first half.

Block Party went into the half up 35-17. Jamil had one less point than the entire Reapers squad in the first half. I was thinking things could get better in the second half, but that was, because how could they get worse?

The second half would be the Calvin Stahl, who probably realized “these guys suck, I’m better than them” and started to ball all over the court. He had 5 second half assists, to go along with 10 points and 8 rebounds. Block Party, was playing in a zone and did a good job of trapping the ball handler up top. The Reapers did a terrible job of adjusting to this and were beaten badly, due to that. 

Cavano was the lone bright spot for the Reapers in this half. Cavano, did a good job of finding the guy who can score on this team, aka Pollock for some assist. He would also have 4 blocks and a nice little double-double for the game. He did have two of his patented dribble and bad pass turnovers, but considering the way the rest of his team handled the ball, it was a good Cavano game. 

Once the Reapers were victimized by the Stahl stretch, this game was over. A pretty big opening night win for the Block Party, minus a key player. A terrible, embarrassing loss for the Reapers on opening night. 58-38 Final.

Grades

Jeff Motha B: If this guy is going to be close to double-doubles every week off the bench, that would be clutch for his team.

Jamil A: Big day for the captain, carried the offense to a lead they wouldn’t lose and played great D up top to put the nail in the coffin. 

Matt A. C-: I liked the energy he brought, but he needs to make a free throw. 0 for 7? No bueno.

Robel B: The big wasn’t too bad. He made a good impact on defense blocking shots, but the shot was off. One too many three balls.

Big Game James Lindsay B+; I liked the energy I saw out of him.

Daniel “Long Legs” O. B+: Showed good confidence with his jumper and knocked them down when they counted.

Calvi Stahl A-: Impressive performance, but gets a minus for doing squat in the first half.

Reapers:

Pollock D-: Worst I’ve ever seen Pollock game, 7 turnovers and no assists?!?!? WOOF!

Cavano B+: This was a good Cavano game, missed threes notwithstanding.

Alex C+: Three steals and 10 boards is good, but what happened to his shot? The Civale/Koller/Leblanc curse?

Ian D+: Ian can’t no show a half on this team, reminds me of Frongi and his team last season.

R. Glynn C: Going to need more from him too.

S. Glynn C-: 0 for 5 from 3 won’t cut it. 

Ames C: Ames had some good energy, just need to convert that to some points or rebounds. 

Taha and the Sexy Bunch 44  Amir Coincidence 62

The second game of the night featured Harry/Joel’s Amir Coincidence with Joel absent against Civale’s Taha and the Sexy Bunch minus their last two picks. On paper the absence of Joel should have given Civale’s team an advantage given their size, but that isn’t how it played out at all.

In the first half, both teams struggled out of the gate save for Casey and Lerner who carried their respective offenses early. Harry’s team had a slight lead halfway through the first half at 11-5, but there was a lot of bad basketball being played. Things would start to pick up for the rest of the half as Amir knocked down a three and true CAC rookie Iniobongo Udofia was extremely active on both ends with a couple blocks. Casey was doing what he did to carry the offense with some nice contributions from Harry and Weinstein. For the Sexy Bunch, Chas’s energy led to some easy buckets for him and they were able to close what was once a 13 point deficit to three at halftime, thanks to a 10-0 run.

Halftime score: 25-22 Amir Coincidence

Into the second half and Amir Coincidence started to pull away again with some nice basketball being played between Udofia and Kevin Liao. Both had some great passes on drive and kicks to get their teammates wide-open looks. Casey also continued to do what he does with several big offensive rebounds and three to open things back up to a 13 point lead for Amir Coincidence. Civale’s team hasn’t really been mentioned in the write up to this point and that is because they really struggled. Fraher was missing his usual automatic shots, Kodra was clanking threes (he wasn’t the only one) and even Chas looked a little lost out there (I’m chalking that one up to rust). Thankfully Lerner and Calderan were there, otherwise this would have been even more of a blowout as the two of them tried to will Sexy Bunch back into the game with several key threes and buckets. After a Paul three, it was suddenly a six pint game with 13 minutes left and it looked like we were in for a good finish. Unfortunately, Sexy Bunch would only score eight points over the rest of the game and Amir Coincidence would pull away for a 62-44 win.

Taha and the Sexy Bunch:

Civale D+: Rough game for the captain as he failed to score and went 0-5 from three. Better days ahead, but he looked like someone who hadn’t picked up a basketball in a year plus (that’s my excuse for getting a D+ in my game)

Chas C+: Ok first half, but really struggled as the game went on. Also went 0-5 from three and added three turnovers. Better days ahead, but first half run and defense on Weinstein saves his grade.

Lerner B: 20 points is good for most, but I’ve seen Lerner take over games which his team badly needed and he didn’t. He also wasn’t as active as usual on the glas realing in only four rebounds.

Kodra C-: Rough game for Evan with only 2 points, but did grab 12 rebounds and chip in a few assists.

Fraher D+: Rough game from Ghost who couldn’t get his usual jump shot to fall.

Calderan A: 14 and 11 off the bench and kept his team in it in the second half. Great start for Paul.

Amir Coincidence:

Amir C: Three pointers were right on-line but all long save for one. Seems Amir was hitting the weight room hard in the offseason and will have to adjust to his new found strength.

Casey A-: 21/18/5 is a heck of a start, but five turnovers knocks the grade down one.

Harry B+: Great start to the year for Harry with 8 points and 4 rebounds. Grade drops a bit because he didn’t take context into consideration with my grade.

Iniobong A+: Very impressive CAC debut with a double-double and multiple assists, steals and blocks. Extremely active and clearly knows how to play the game. Looks like a steal where Harry drafted him and makes an already dangerous team even better.

Kevin B: Nice start for Kevin with a bucket, good defense and some nice passes. Played his role really well and looked active.

Liam C+: Played really good defense, but didn’t have his shot, going 1-7 from three.

Weinstein B: Played his role to perfection and passed really well, tying with Casey for the team lead with five assists.  

SHEFFIELD 51  Run N Gun 61

The newest rookie captain Arnar and company, opened up their season against Sheff and the number 1 pick, Greg Eusden. Sheff, was hoping to recapture the magic from last season and taking the best big man in the league first, is always a good option. The league was eagerly awaiting the debut of Ari Hannson. I was joined by my assistant, Dan Clasby. TO THE ACTION!

The game started on a sad note, with captain Arnar, destroying his ankle going for a rebound. Brutal way for him to start the season, we wish him the best in recovery. Lucky for him, he drafted a savvy CAC veteran in Vladi, who came out hot right away. Vladi, would nail three first half treys and did a good job of getting the ball moving on offense. Every team needs a floor general and Vladi is going to be that for this team. 

On the other end of the floor, it was the Eusden and Lagno show, a recurring theme for their team this game and probably every game after this. Eusden, did his thing, dominating the boards and getting buckets inside. Lagno, did his thing on the outside, chucking three balls. Lagno, was able to to hit three of them in the first half. Rookie Robby Ficker, who looks familiar to me, contributed 6 points to the cause as well. Those were the only three scorers of the half for Sheff’s squad.

It was a close game going into the half, with Sheff’s team leading 29-28. The other Ari, as he called himself, had to go to the bench with 3 quick fouls in the first half. With the other Ari on the bench and the first Ari laying on the baseline with his ankle up, Run N’ Gun was short handed in the first half. BACK TO ACTION!

Rookie John Harding, continued to make an impression in this game. He accurately put that he “sometimes tries to shoot his way out of slumps”, was getting buckets for his team in this game. John, would record a nice 22 points in this game, but I wondered how many shoots it took him to get there. Every time he touched it, I knew that rock was going up. That may or may not be a bad thing for this team. I didn’t see any patented Vladi stares his way, so maybe it’s a good thing? Speaking of Vladi, he continued to put in work on the offensive end. He would hit three more treys in this half, to go along with a couple more dimes. Thanks to the John and Vladi duo, Run N’ Gun started to build a lead against Sheff’s squad. 

Eusden, continued to dominate down low, but he wasn’t getting much help else where. Lagno, started to slow down significantly, once Run N’ Gun realized all he wanted to do was shoot threes. Eusden, had 11 second half points and the rest of the team had, yep, 11 second half points. Not a great sign for these guys if they can’t win Eusden’s monster games. Ficker, Sheff and Lagno combined to go 2 for 14 from 3 in the second half. Yuck, someone has to help out the big man.

Once Run N’ Gun got the lead up to two possessions, this one was over. The Vladi-John combo matched Lagno-Eusden combo point by point and then some.  Sheff’s team just didn’t have the bullets to keep up. 61-51 Final Run N’ Gun.

Grades

Ari C+: I don’t know how to grade him. We thought he was a sandbag, but he didn’t look one, which isn’t his fault, so this grade feels safe. 

Aswad C+: Aswad, was an interesting watch. One second he was shooting the ball 10 feet deep, then the next play he pulled a pass right out of his ass to his teammate for 2.

Harding A-: I thought he took A LOT of shots, but since no one else on his team besides Vladi was scoring, I can get with it.

Kevin D. B: I like how he took the challenge of Eusden, I’d like to see more offensive aggression.

Vladi A: Score it good, passed it well, but didn’t wear a suit to game. No plus.

Johnson B-: Johnson had some good finishes inside the paint, couldn’t connect from deep though.

Tom aka the electric one B-: Two assists and somehow got to 8 boards. I don’t like the turnovers though, 4 is too much Thomas.

Arnar A+: Get better soon.

Sheff

Robby B-: Not a bad debut, but I feel like he has a lot more in him.

Owen D+: I need some hustle plays here, can’t have just missed threes on the stat sheet.

Sheff C-: 5 assists are good, but he can’t have a goose egg scoring. Not on this team. 

Eusden A: I mean, what more can he do? Maybe assists, but that would assume his team could make a shot.

Joey Buckets B: I liked what I saw from Buckets in his limited playing time.

Butter C+: Good work on the boards, but he needs to try and get at least one hoop. 

Lagno B-: I can’t knock him for shooting too much, I can however say he needs to start driving more and creating for his teammates. 

Luca Conconi All Stars 65  The Delta Variants 50

The West Coast game of the evening was between Raphael’s Luca Conconi All-Stars and Pranam’s Delta Variant. The world was awaiting the debut of Jungle Jack Fay as well as rookie Gus King and to a smaller scale Alex Linskey. We would not be disappointed by the rookies in this one. Raphael’s team had their best 5 guys, while Pranam was missing Djordje. TO THE ACTION!

Instantly, I recognized Jack Fay, from Hub Boston Sports League. He looked like a player when we played against him there, when his team wasn’t holding back. Luckily for them, his current team was going to give him the rock every time, so he could shot. Unluckily for them, that means the other guys won’t be scoring much and that’s what happened in this game. Jack, came out hot in this game, hitting three first half treys, to go along with a couple buckets inside and two free throws. He would have 15 first points as he attempted to keep his team within striking distance. 

Rookie Alex Linskey, was able to match Fay’s scoring, putting together almost the exact same first half line, minus the free throws. Linskey, looked like a player out there, which is a huge pick-up for this team, that might struggle with depth. Dwyer and Raphael, also had themselves a very good first half. The latter recording 10 rebounds, to go along with 2 blocks, 2 assists and 4 points. The usual all around effort I expect from Old Man Raphael. Dwyer, would have three assists, 7 rebounds and 7 first half points himself. Lots of things to like about this team in the first half.

The Delta Variant was around to hang around in the first half, despite some big numbers the other way. Cantoni, hit a couple treys to help Fay, but someone else was going to need to score in these guys wanted to win the game. The All-Stars went into the half up 34-31.

Things would slow a bit in the second half for both teams. Linskey, was appearing to get gassed a bit, as he had trouble connecting from deep in this half. To be fair, he started taking some long threes, thinking he was Dame Lillard or something. Lucky for them, Dwyer and Raphael would keep up with their scoring pace. Both men combined for 17 points in the second half and a whole lot of rebounds. LC All-stars did a great job of cleaning up the boards on the defensive end and limiting second half chances.

The Delta Variant tried to keep things close in the second half, but they just couldn’t get any scoring from their supporting cast. Cantoni, went real cold in the second half, shooting 1 for 5 from deep. He and Muccio, would be the only two other players to register a point in the second half. Fay, is going to need some more help if these guys want to compete in this league. You can’t have multiple players, including your starters, having scoreless halves. Someone is going to need to step it up.

Eventually, LC All-stars would pull away with this game and take the win 65-50. An impressive start to the season for Raphael’s team. They looked like a team that could compete for the title.

Grades

Muccio C+: Led the team in assists, but couldn’t hit a three. His team needs buckets.

Pranam D+: They need Pranam 3s to fall badly. He couldn’t give any this game.

Cantoni C-: Had a decent first half, but disappeared completely in the second half. Can’t have that on this team.

Mackay B-: Had some nice energy plays and scored twice, which they’ll need.

Jungle Jack Fay A-: Good debut, he might need to do more though.

Ottomatic C+: He gets the plus for taking the charge!

Steve B: Good work on the boards, but they need hoops from him too. It’s a common theme here.

LC All-Stars

Raphael A: I don’t have many complaints here. Good all-around effort to lead his team.

Dwyer A+: Big man’s double-double, along with 4 assists, feels like the best we can get.

Dan B: Almost got a double-double despite his shot being off and did a fair job on Fay.

Gus C: His shot was off this game and that’s what he’s being judged on, until further notice.

Linskey A-: Very good debut, was a little shot happy, but still good work.