Winter 2014: B1 5v5 League Champs: Lotion In the Basket
Woodworth LITB complete the second half comeback in OT
GTL 62 Lotion in the Basket 69
The B1 5v5 West’s stellar season wrapped up last night with a matchup between the two teams everyone expected to be here come seasons end. Although these teams have been around for years in the B1 league, there are definitely some new faces on both sides and those new faces would have huge impacts on the outcome of this game. This is also a battle of two of the best GM’s at CAC: Cheese and Jon Berman. At this stage of their careers Barman is the more effective player on the court (Cheese didn’t play a single second of this game) but tonight would determine who still has that Midas touch when it comes to assembling talent.
The key matchup for LITB was going to be Birrell guarding Manchester. If he could stay in front of Jeff and make him take tough 3’s off the dribble (which he is more than willing to take/make) instead of taking it hard to the basket that would really improve their chances of winning the game. They also absolutely had to limit the number of offensive rebounds that GTL got off of all those deep 3’s they would inevitably take.
Meanwhile on offense Birrell was leading the troops with deadly efficiency early in the game. Crisp passing and ball movement got good looks for guys like Wolf and Woodworth early in the game and they led 17-10 with 13 minutes to go in the first half. Then Jeff Manchester took center stage.
Jeff sliced his way through the defense and finished a hard take and-1! After that he drilled 2 straight threes off of his favorite hesitation pull up move to give GTL their first real lead. Although undersized, Clem, Lima and McAndrew all did superb jobs keeping the Lotion’s bigs in check. Anytime you hold Colon, Kerr, Ollila and Krause to just 10 points COMBINED you have to feel good about your chances of winning the game. Lotion kept it close though and the score was 34-29 at the half.
GTL came out scorching to start the second half, while Lotion looked flat. Jeff managed to hit 2 more 3’s within the first 5 minutes of the half, and Berman added a couple as well. Suddenly GTL led by as many as 13 with still over 15 minutes left in the game. Lotion had a rough stretch offensively where they were turning it over a lot and also missing most of their open looks. Colon just couldn’t get going at all against the quicker and just as strong Lima defending him.
Lotion would turn this game around starting with 12 minutes to play. Jeff Manchester had gone quiet with Woodworth now guarding him. He kept running over to the bench to get a drink during every stop in the action so it seemed as if he was gassed out. Just as he was about to sub out Jeff Clem fouled Wolf on a 3, which happened to be his 4th foul. With only 6 guys GTL had to send Clem to the bench, keeping Jeff on the floor. Lotion’s offense came alive after that, Woodworth hit a 3, then Wolf, then Woodworth again! The GTL lead was down to 1 and Clem had to come back in the game because Lima got hurt.
The teams traded key buckets down the stretch and Wolf tied the game at 59 at the FT line with a minute to go. GTL tried to hold for the last shot but couldn’t, and Lotion had a great look from Colon in the corner to win it but it went long and we headed to OT.
The team that scores first almost always wins in Overtime. Justin Woodworth was the man all game for Lotion and he continued carrying them in the extra period. He had a quick 3 which immediately seemed to put GTL in panic mode. I don’t know how Wood kept getting so wide open. Lotion was screening very well for him and he has the size to shoot over people, but I think GTL could have keyed in on him more and made some adjustments like, you know.. switch on a screen? After a GTL miss Woodworth got free again and splashed another 3 home, this effectively ended the game. Manchester took a couple wild, deep 3’s which missed and Lotion hit enough free throws to seal the win.
Excellent game all around but I know Berman feels like they blew it. Woodworth is the hero as Lotion moves on the face (my team) the Dad’s in the B1 Unification game Thursday night at 8PM. These few weeks of scoring the West have given me all the info I need to build a fool-proof gameplan which will not be shared with the public (sorry Wolf).
Scores, Box Scores & Write-Ups
Playoff: week 12
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B1 5v5 West W14 Basketball League
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Commentary by ANANTH + MAZZ... GTL 62 Lotion in the Basket 69 Woodworth, LITB complete the second half comeback in OT The B1 5v5 West’s stellar season wrapped up last night with a matchup between the two teams everyone expected to be here come seasons end. Although these teams have been around for years in the B1 league, there are definitely some new faces on both sides and those new faces would have huge impacts on the outcome of this game. This is also a battle of two of the best GM’s at CAC: Cheese and Jon Berman. At this stage of their careers Barman is the more effective player on the court (Cheese didn’t play a single second of this game) but tonight would determine who still has that Midas touch when it comes to assembling talent. The key matchup for LITB was going to be Birrell guarding Manchester. If he could stay in front of Jeff and make him take tough 3’s off the dribble (which he is more than willing to take/make) instead of taking it hard to the basket that would really improve their chances of winning the game. They also absolutely had to limit the number of offensive rebounds that GTL got off of all those deep 3’s they would inevitably take. Meanwhile on offense Birrell was leading the troops with deadly efficiency early in the game. Crisp passing and ball movement got good looks for guys like Wolf and Woodworth early in the game and they led 17-10 with 13 minutes to go in the first half. Then Jeff Manchester took center stage. Jeff sliced his way through the defense and finished a hard take and-1! After that he drilled 2 straight threes off of his favorite hesitation pull up move to give GTL their first real lead. Although undersized, Clem, Lima and McAndrew all did superb jobs keeping the Lotion’s bigs in check. Anytime you hold Colon, Kerr, Ollila and Krause to just 10 points COMBINED you have to feel good about your chances of winning the game. Lotion kept it close though and the score was 34-29 at the half. GTL came out scorching to start the second half, while Lotion looked flat. Jeff managed to hit 2 more 3’s within the first 5 minutes of the half, and Berman added a couple as well. Suddenly GTL led by as many as 13 with still over 15 minutes left in the game. Lotion had a rough stretch offensively where they were turning it over a lot and also missing most of their open looks. Colon just couldn’t get going at all against the quicker and just as strong Lima defending him. Lotion would turn this game around starting with 12 minutes to play. Jeff Manchester had gone quiet with Woodworth now guarding him. He kept running over to the bench to get a drink during every stop in the action so it seemed as if he was gassed out. Just as he was about to sub out Jeff Clem fouled Wolf on a 3, which happened to be his 4th foul. With only 6 guys GTL had to send Clem to the bench, keeping Jeff on the floor. Lotion’s offense came alive after that, Woodworth hit a 3, then Wolf, then Woodworth again! The GTL lead was down to 1 and Clem had to come back in the game because Lima got hurt. The teams traded key buckets down the stretch and Wolf tied the game at 59 at the FT line with a minute to go. GTL tried to hold for the last shot but couldn’t, and Lotion had a great look from Colon in the corner to win it but it went long and we headed to OT. The team that scores first almost always wins in Overtime. Justin Woodworth was the man all game for Lotion and he continued carrying them in the extra period. He had a quick 3 which immediately seemed to put GTL in panic mode. I don’t know how Wood kept getting so wide open. Lotion was screening very well for him and he has the size to shoot over people, but I think GTL could have keyed in on him more and made some adjustments like, you know.. switch on a screen? After a GTL miss Woodworth got free again and splashed another 3 home, this effectively ended the game. Manchester took a couple wild, deep 3’s which missed and Lotion hit enough free throws to seal the win. Excellent game all around but I know Berman feels like they blew it. Woodworth is the hero as Lotion moves on the face (my team) the Dad’s in the B1 Unification game Thursday night at 8PM. These few weeks of scoring the West have given me all the info I need to build a fool-proof gameplan which will not be shared with the public (sorry Wolf).
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| Standings B1 5v5 West W14 Thru Week | |||||||
| P | Team | Record | % | Streak | GB | PF | PA |
| Lotion in the Basket | 8-1 | 0.889 | W2 | 0 | 63.33 | 54.00 | |
| Graveyard | 7-2 | 0.778 | W1 | 1 | 62.33 | 56.11 | |
| GTL | 5-4 | 0.556 | W5 | 3 | 67.00 | 63.33 | |
| JV All-Stars | 4-5 | 0.444 | L3 | 4 | 66.00 | 65.44 | |
| Basketballs Deep 3.0 | 4-5 | 0.444 | W1 | 4 | 58.33 | 65.44 | |
| Dunk City | 3-6 | 0.333 | L1 | 5 | 70.89 | 73.67 | |
| Team Mids | 3-6 | 0.333 | L1 | 5 | 64.56 | 66.67 | |
| Get Wet Stay Wet | 2-7 | 0.222 | L5 | 6 | 65.78 | 73.56 | |
| Points Per Game | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeff Manchester GTL | 26.56 | |||
| 2 | Mike Russell Dunk City | 22.40 | |||
| 3 | Ryan Fischer Basketballs Deep 3.0 | 22.13 | |||
| 4 | Matt McDonough Get Wet Stay Wet | 20.00 | |||
| 5 | Chris Hurley Dunk City | 19.67 | |||
| 6 | Eric Fleming GTL | 17.50 | |||
| 7 | Michael Jordan Team Mids | 16.90 | |||
| Player Rater | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Russell Dunk City | 52.25 | 10 | ||
| 2 | Jeff Manchester GTL | 46.22 | 9 | ||
| 3 | Will Dickson Graveyard | 46.00 | 9 | ||
| 4 | Chris Hurley Dunk City | 45.00 | 6 | ||
| 5 | Mike Lamb JV All-Stars | 44.50 | 11 | ||
| 6 | Ryan Birrell Lotion in the Basket | 41.06 | 8 | ||
| 7 | Ryan Fischer Basketballs Deep 3.0 | 40.31 | 8 | ||
| 8 | Wolfman Lotion in the Basket | 37.41 | 11 | ||
| 9 | Eric Fleming GTL | 37.08 | 6 | ||
| 10 | Mike Gore Team Mids | 36.56 | 9 | ||
| Rebounds Per Game | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Russell Dunk City | 14.70 | |||
| 2 | Mike Lamb JV All-Stars | 11.00 | |||
| 3 | Will Dickson Graveyard | 10.89 | |||
| 4 | Max Cassidy Basketballs Deep 3.0 | 7.89 | |||
| 5 | Phil Lima GTL | 7.88 | |||
| 6 | Wolfman Lotion in the Basket | 7.73 | |||
| 7 | Elijah Heckstall Basketballs Deep 3.0 | 7.38 | |||
| 3s Per Game | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Fischer Basketballs Deep 3.0 | 4.38 | 45% | ||
| 2 | Andrew Lutz Get Wet Stay Wet | 4.00 | 45% | ||
| 3 | Jeff Manchester GTL | 3.44 | 46% | ||
| 4 | Jake Eddy JV All-Stars | 3.18 | 42% | ||
| 5 | Gabe Balzano-Brookes Get Wet Stay Wet | 3.11 | 42% | ||
| 6 | Gil Haylon Dunk City | 3.00 | 43% | ||
| 7 | Eric Fleming GTL | 2.67 | 48% | ||
| Assists Per Game | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Birrell Lotion in the Basket | 5.50 | |||
| 2 | Chris Hurley Dunk City | 4.67 | |||
| 3 | Ryan Fischer Basketballs Deep 3.0 | 4.13 | |||
| 4 | James Oberg GTL | 4.00 | |||
| 5 | Eric Fleming GTL | 3.50 | |||
| 6 | Will Dickson Graveyard | 3.33 | |||
| 7 | Mike Lamb JV All-Stars | 3.18 | |||
