B Draft League

Commentary by HARRY & CUNDALL...

AMIR Guys 60  Above the Rankings 59

Amir Guys topple Above the Rankings on a Joel buzzer beater

Coming into this game, Amir Guys looked in big trouble. They only had four players and their two highest scorers in week one, Boghosian and Maz, were out. Above the Rankings were also missing two players as well, Robel and Martins, but they did have a replacement player in Andre Jones as a sub. To the action!

Since he was understaffed, Harry came out in a zone in order to conserve some energy. The first few minutes were a feeling out period as both teams struggled on offense. Amir Guys, eventually struck first with Kap knocking down a few shots and Harry taking advantage in the post with some good finishes. For Above the Rankings, they had Harding and Xavier leading the way. Xavier was able to get to the rim whenever he wanted, while Harding was showing off his all-around game. Those two scoring wasn’t enough, however, as Amir Guys consistently took advantage of the lack of size for Above the Rankings. As a result, Above the Rankings found themselves down 5-8 points for the majority of the half.

Amir Guys were playing really hard and really moving the ball on offense, a drastic shift from what we saw last week. At halftime, Amir Guys found themselves up 33-27. That scoring output was one point less than they scored all last week, so to say their offense looked better is an understatement. Both Joel and Kap had 13 points at half to lead the way, while Harding led the way for Above the Rankings with 13.

The second half got started with Above the Rankings coming out with significantly more energy. Harding clearly decided he had had enough and after a few minutes had cut the lead to 1 after an and one. Amir Guys wouldn’t let the lead slip away yet, however, as Kap would have a nice finish at the rim and Amir would hit a three to push the lead back to nine at 45-36 with just under ten minutes left. You could tell Amir Guys was getting tired though and no possession exemplified it more than when they allowed Xavier to get three offensive rebounds on the same possession before scoring on a put back. Their pace was slowing and the ball wasn’t moving as crisply as the first half. Kap would hit a big three to slow down an Above the Rankings run, but Harding was taking over and things were getting dicey.

A double-digit lead was quickly down to four at 50-46 after a great pass from Jamil to Xavier and after a pair of free throws from Harding and after a big block from Andre on an Amir three, Harding got out and scored in transition to tie things up at 50. Amir Guys were reeling at this point and Harding would knock down a three on the next possession giving Above the Rankings their first lead since the early part of the game. Harding made another shot after that to push the lead to five, capping off a personal 9-0 run for him.

At this point, I thought Amir Guys had put up a valiant effort, but were paying the price for having only four players. Joel and Kap had other ideas, however, and after a Joel three and a pair of Kap free throws we were tied again at 55 with under two minutes left. Xavier., who played a great all around game scoring 18 points with eight rebounds and three assists, would give Above the Rankings the lead again, but big shot Joel had an answer tying things up at 57. With Amir Guys now playing a triangle and one on Harding, he was able to get some room and made a great cut to the hoop making the basket and getting fouled pushing the score to 59-57 with less than 30 seconds left. He would miss the free throw, however, giving Amir Guys a chance to tie.

On the rebound, Kap pushed the ball up the floor and looked to drive, but Jamil got a hand in, knocking the ball to Xavier for a steal. Amir Guys would commit a foul with 20 seconds left so we went to shoot one and one. That first free throw was never attempted, however, as Andre committed a violation giving the ball back to Amir Guys with another chance to tie or take the lead. Kap brought the ball up and after some good defense passed it to Joel who pump faked his defender. Amir was wide open to his left and for a second I thought we might get an Amir game winner, but Joel liked has chances and took a three of his own, knocking it down with 1.6 seconds left. Amir Guys somehow were now winning again 60-59! Above the Rankings had time for one last shot and Harding did get off a good look from three but he just missed it and Amir Guys pulled out the win in a thrilling game!

Amir Guys

Team Grade A: After last weeks effort resulted in a team F, I have to give them all A’s for this week. To win that game with only four players is very impressive and Kap and Joel both put up the type of performances we came to expect from them several years ago with Joel going for 27 and Kap 21/7/7.

Above the Rankings

Harding A-: Great game from Harding who led his team on offense, but missed a key free throw down the stretch and I thought he got a little passive at times that caused the offense to stagnate.

Xavier A: Can’t ask for much more from your fifth pick who put up 18/8/3 steals and was the clear second scoring option after Harding.

Jamil C: Rough game from Jamil on offense when his team needed to him score. Didn’t have his three point shot working and struggled to finish at the rim also. Good defense and five assists kept this grade from being even lower.

Marlier C: Hit the glass hard and had a nice bucket, but could have used a little more given the lack of size on the court for his team.

Sam-I-Am 3  ETHERIDGE 2

CIVALE 3  Motha Lovers 2

Rare Form 2  NOAH 3