Spring 2008: B1 League Champs: The Firm

Commentary by Gripp...

Half Fast 50  The Firm 75

Ohhhhhh we're Halfway There

Lappy drained a 3 before I even arrived last night and it set the tempo for a good first half matchup.  When he wasn't hitting he was finding Mario down the court for a layup on his way to 5 assists as Mario was easily getting inside against The Firm.  Lil Lappy, whom I'm sure doesn't really approve of the nickname, was also weaving through the defense and able to score inside at will.  With Serge filling in though, it was only a matter of time for their quick offensive spurt to wind down.  JK Serge. 

Something happened during my flu induced daze, I blinked, and The Firm was leading by 20.  After a solid first half and holding The Firm within their reach, Bruno just started to hit too many 3s and you couldn't even stop him.  It really doesn't matter how closely you guard him, he'll get a 3 off, in this case 19 of them as he drained 7.  As soon as they built up this lead they never looked back for the rest of the game as Manny put up 20 plus inside the paint and Andrew had some crazy ass shots on his way to a 20 point night.  They are the offensive team that no one seems to be able to compete with as they improve to 6-0.

Woodside 58  The Ax Men 48

A Pat on the Back is Only a Few Centimeters From a Slap on the Ass

This was perhaps the most even matchup of the night and it was n ice to see some players really step it up.  They were most likely all riled up for the upcoming 3 day weekend or really just excited to see me and wanted to impress and no one did more than Mr. Mike O'Neil.  The Ax Men had an early lead through the duo of O'Neil and Billy the Kid.  O'Neil had 6 points in the first few minutes and has developed a runner jumpshot that us common folk can only dream about.  Billy was hot as he hit a trio of treys in the opening quarter and continued to shoot 5/5 from 3 point land by the half.  Though they trailed by 5, 30-31 at the break, this was the first game that the missing Boom King wasn't really a factor.  Woodside displayed a well rounded night as three players had 9 points by the half. 

Ax Men shot such a high percentage in the first and I don't know what happened or maybe they just got worn down but their offense trailed off early in the 2nd half.  Paul W., what is it with Pauls in the CAC, they are always good(of course I mean no offense if your name is Paul and you suck) but anyways he was absolute monster on the offensive glass wiping it so clean you'd scare yourself if you looked in to it.  He scored the majority of his points this way and ended up with a game high 18.  Doyley, when he wasn't slippin n slidin' around the court(buy yourself some new shoes big guy!) put up 15 points and worked his butt off on the defensive end.  Fidler did his best to try and get the Men back in the game but Woodside used their bench and endurance to finish this one off.

Sullivan's Tap 51  Gym Shoes & Jersey 60

I'm Drinking so that You're More Fun to be Around

Supporting the new apparel that was weeks in the making, I thought the new found fashion sense would prove my lines wrong and inspire Sullivan's Tap to perform as well on the court as they do in the fashion world.  Unfortunately, NO ONE wanted to score tonight as we had a whopping 22-18 game at the break with Gym Shoes up 4.  Slices traded in his jump shot for a new shirt and Sweeney left his layup at the bar.  And for Gym Shoes, Big Mean Matt had to go and stir up trouble on the court as he and Polcari's little incident charged them a couple Ts each.  Usually consistent Not Fat Albert had an impressive 3 points by the break to go along with 9 boards and Tim followed suit with 3 of his own.  It's cool guys, I wasn't bored, at least Matt and Polcari kept me entertained, glad to see who cares.

Things started to heat up in the 2nd half, Slices nailed his only 2 field goals of the night at the 17:30 mark and the 17 mark and I thought he was going to get going.  The only place he got going was with his mouth as he made enemies with the Ref last night.  He took Chris's job and Chris in turn put up some numbers and dished out the rock to his teammates but by the 12 minute mark, ST was trailing 40-29.  Scott had his invisible suit on as he was at the end of the fast break time and time again and Max was deadly from the mid range.  Tim started to pick it up as well and either hit or got to the line on his way to a team high 17 points.  Sweeney still managed to put up a game high 26 points to go along with his game high 5 fouls and was also 3/4 from the line, sure sign of improvement! I was pretty darn accurate on this one....

Bone Crushers 69  SOMF 63

All Aboard the Money Train

I know you are all eagerly sitting there pressing the refresh button to read about your games and you know I am proud of myself I've gotten 4 writeups done and it's only 11:30.  My job should feel so lucky and honored to have me a dedicated employee working for them because I certainly never use my computer for 'personal use'.  Anyways, the night cap game was probably the most thrilling of them all which is good because its about this time that my mind is wandering to my pillow and my big comfy bed.  The Crushers came out a little timid and SOMF was completely controlling the tempo of the game.  Greg P. is the bomb diggity and had more than half his teams points by the break, he just couldn't be stopped!  The Cadman dropped 10 by the half on a nice display of spin moves and hooky shots.  A 13-1 run at the end of the half gave the Crushers the lead 31-27 despite trailing for much of the opening half.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Rugga hitting field goals! I think just before the game he claimed he had yet to hit a field goal this season and he plays in 2 leagues!! Well he didn't hit just one he hit 3 2 pointers and 1 trey to go along with his game high 6 assists.  Greg continued to back down his opponents like he was the star in the not so hit teen movie 'Never Back Down', imdb it if you haven't already.  Bobby C got going but the Crushers simply rode the Money Train to victory.  Kevin hit 3 consecutive shots from beyond the arc around the 12 minute mark in the half and just like that the Crushers were up 59-47.  But we had yet to hear it all from SOMF as they put the hammer down on Kevin and Bobby and got themselves to the line.  They hit their foul shots and Sean hit a couple big 3s and they were right back in it.  A few more minutes and this one could have gone the other way but as it is, the Crushers improve to 3rd place at 4-2 while SOMF drops to 2-4.