Spring 2008: B1 League Champs: The Firm

Commentary by Gripp...

Dynasty Heat 75  Sullivan's Tap 61

Sully's Tap get's Forfiet Win

Dynasty Heat only showed up with 2 guys, but a couple of the PGB guys from A2 stayed on and filled in for the Sunday nightcap.  Heck, Brandon Dorey has filled in so many times he can almost be considered part of Dynasty's club.  But that's not how we roll, and Dynasty Heat has got to get their attendance together or they're going to miss the playoffs.  As it is, they're sitting in the 9th spot and will need a major late season charge to sneak into the top 8.  Where has everyone been Damien?? D has been a beast this season, and last night he scored 28 points and grabbed 10 boards.  If only he and V (15 points) got some help from the rest of the roster. 

Sullivan's Tap caught a break last night, as they only had 4 guys to start with.  CSweens (11 points, 7 boards) was playing some of the best ball I've seen from him, and then went and sprained his ankle late in the first half.  Figures, as he was on pace for an absolutely monster night.  It's not often that Chris gets to lead his team in scoring, and with the matchups in this one, it looked like he was finally going to do it.  Damn it all!  They'll need Chris' ankle to heal fast if they want to challenge in the B1 East playoffs.  Look at all that positive press, and you can thank O'Cal, Chris, I never thought I'd see him forgive you...

Sweens shot his way to a team high 22 points while Reills added 12 points and Orange Slices had 9.  That is all

The Firm 72  Bone Crushers 79

The Firm Folds

They were due for a loss and perhaps now is better than later.  Don't wanna go undefeated like the Patriots and then blow it when it matters so perhaps this reality check was just in time for The Firm.  They have a tendency to play a little casual when up against some of the teams in the league and the Crushers took advantage of their timid play.  Though it was their first loss of the season it wasn't the first time the Firm trailed significantly in the first half.  Just last week they were down by as much as 15 only to come back and beat the Ax Men and truth be told, I thought that would happen again and it looked like they did too as they never panicked.  Early on, the Cadman got things going with 12 of the Crushers 19 points as they led 19-15.  Moments later as Marvin broke out a whole new weapon with his 3 point shooting, they pulled ahead by 12 after he went for a trifecta of treys.  I'm tweaking, to a whole new era...Andrew, the Regulator was like a completely different player, I mean he's had his moments in games before but tonight he was ridiculous.  With 15 first half points, he was holding his homies at a 38-43 deficit going in to the 2nd half.

Just as I had thought, they were far from out of this one either as they pulled in to their first lead of the game at the 9 minute mark.  It was seriously becoming like a repeat performance of last week.  But there are only so many times you can come back from behind to win as our beloved Celtics taught us this season.  Bruno fell way short of his average with only 13 points and only 3 in the 2nd half.  The Regulator continued to score at will and Manny was the Dennis Rodman of the game grabbing loose balls and boards on his way to 14.  Bobby C and Money Train combined for 24 second half points and 7-14 from the arc. They gave the Firm a dose of their own medicine dominating from the arc in what is usually the Firm's drug of choice.  All tied up 68-68 at the 2 minute mark, that was the last the Firm scored as Bobby hit a 3 and and the Cadman hit some foul shots down the stretch to pull off a big upset.  Sometimes even the underdog pulls off a big victory, Just ask Donna Martin.

Woodside 37  Half Fast 58

We Parking Lot Pimping in My Dock

Half Fast is on the up and up, if I haven't already said that, and this time it was a surprising 20 point win over Woodside.  To be honest, had I done the lines, not only would no one have read them, but I certainly wouldn't have predicted this.  Who knew Lappy could up numbers like he did, certainly not this gal, but it was nice to see as Half Fast held Woodside to their lowest point total of the game.  It hurt Woodside to be without Chris Brown, not the pop star and Rihanna's boyfriend, but CAC's very own Chris Brown.  He has risen to second in command and his presence was missed as they struggled to put up points.  Mario led the way for Half Fast in the first half with 10 points but it was the Lappy brothers controlling the tempo of the game from the get go.  The duo dished out 14 assists and Lappy Lite played stifling defense contributing to Woodside scoring only 19 by the break.

Up by 13 going in to the second half, that means it was 32-19, they didn't let up.  Doyley was held to his lowest production perhaps so far this season though he has continued to put up a fight for Defensive POY with his 5 thefts and 3 blocks.  But we saw even less offense out of them though Chris Weimerainer(i'm sure he's never heard that one before) did reach double digits on some inside action.  But Lappy really pulled it all out in the second half, i think i THINK he went 3-3 from the arc, that or I stopped making check marks in the miss column  We'll go with the former and nearly the entire team reach double digits except big guy Davis who is usually more focused on talking than scoring.  Lil Lappy continued to stop Woodside from setting up their offense as Half Fast improves to 3-5.  Big win as they move in to a 3 way.  And not the good kind, the 6th place kind.

Gym Shoes & Jersey 59  The Ax Men 54

Mmm Drunk Writeups Almost as Good as Drunk Dials

The future isn't looking hopeful for the Ax(e) Men, except of course if they have landed an endorsement deal with the makers of the Ax cologne and body sprays, they might not win a big trophy but I imagine they'd be in for quite the paycheck.  You never know what could happen especially now if you search Ax Men, these lovely CAC writeups could come up numero uno on the google site.  And sometimes I get sidetracked and start thinking about unrelated things, like the time I was at an interview a few weeks ago and realized I had a big bball game that week and started thinking about the game plan and had no idea what I was being asked.  Right, that is not important.  What is important is that Matt scored 0 points in the second half.  Oh wait, I mean that this was actually a nailbiter of a game.  A gum shoe is a sneaker or rubber overshoe or a detective.  A gym shoe and jersey is these guys.  At this point its clear I've had one too many to drink and have a lack of focus going on here.  Either way, one thing is evident, they did their homework.  Billy was only 2-4 from the arc in the first half and that is practically unheard of.  They guarded him from the second he stepped over half court and his 6 points in the game was definitely his lowest yet. 

Holding on to a 37-25 lead at the break due to Albert holding it down inside.  But he had some competition.  The Fidler played a sweet little tune, might as well call him Neil Young, on his way to a game high 26 points as his game has really elevated(definitely an MIP candidate).  I think I need a little bit of drums.  I need just a little bit of mandolin.  The Boom King is definitely back.  In a near double double he followed up Fidler with a little ditty of his own.  They kept it close until the 6 minute mark as Tim hit his teams only trey of the game on his way to 18.  But Sean and O'Neil fired right back with one apiece to get back in the game.  GSJ up 3 with 45 seconds and Fidler broke a string as he missed a foul shot with just seconds to go as GSJ sealed the deal.  I'm pretty sure none of this writeup made much sense but basically it was close but GSJ won and moves in to first by .5 as The Firm lost their first of the night while the Ax Men are holding things down in last, someones gotta do it.

The Squad 36  SOMF 46

Some Offense Much Favored

I was poised and ready for what I thought surely to be an entertaining nightcap and it fell short of my expectations.  Only 1 technical in the last 30 seconds of the game! I was shocked, though in all honesty should not be promoting that behavior just after a long night, I thought for sure I was in for a little entertainment.  Turns out my boy Tical is somewhat of a softie on the court I guess cuz' no one was giving Brian crap tonight.  Not much to say about the first half seeing as the score was a whopping 22-21 in favor of SOMF.  Greg was taking a beating inside but holding his ground on the way to 11 first half points, which if you do the math was half the teams points, which is okay since his height is about half the team combined.  JK.  That would make him some sort of giant people and George Muresan does not play CAC basketball and neither do his giant friends.  For the Squad, the Canary was rather quiet but not on the board.  He put up 13 of his teams 21 first half points with a few steals on the side.  Despite the score only being 14-12 by the 8 minute mark, it was actually rather nice as every single player had scored by then, talk about team basketball on both sides. 

The Squad was the first to step up to the gates and make a run for it as they pulled ahead by 6 at the 10 minute mark.  They still held on to the lead 36-33 by the 6 minute mark as JDow was droppin some buckets but was Sammy Struggles from the line.  Ben and Rosenthal took over backcourt duties and dished out the rock but did little scoring wise and before you knew it, SOMF pulled ahead at the 4 minute mark.  Not only that but they held the Squad from scoring for the last 6 minutes of the game.  Greg had an even bigger second half as he put up 29 in the game.  Doby the Defender had a few steals and a bajillion rebounds as he really has become the fire under SOMF.  Greg's 4 point play put them up 8 with just a minute to go and just after I was about to praise the Canary for coming a long way and just playing the game, he got himself T'd up with just seconds to go as SOMF gets the win.  We're still pulling for you buddy, you could be a really good player, but relapses are to be expected on the road to recovery, lets just hope you are no Britney Spears.