Spring 2017: Over-30 Legends Draft Champs: Country of Old Men

Commentary by MENDES & RUFF...

Port Huron Statement 60  Mystery Men Unite 54

What a difference a week makes…

Pre-Game:

Coming into this game I actually saw Port Huron Statement (PHS) as the favorites. Just thinking that a Rudy led team ended an 11 game losing streak for him and now he could be on a 2 game winning streak is pretty crazy. Although I think Mystery Men Unite (MMU) is a top team in this league, bye weeks are killer especially in this league.

First Half:

PHS controlled the half and game. Probably what hurt MMU most is Shawn Thornton went down early with a non-contact injury. If you look at his debut this is certainly not good for MMU. Hopefully it’s not too serious and he is able to come back this season. Anyway, Nate Mendes definitely made the score more respectable with a buzzer beater score but PHS was up 33-26 at the half.

Player of the Half:

Seyi Tayo 14 pts, 2-2 from the free throw line, 2 stls, 2 orebs, 5 drebs and 1 ast

Second Half:

Nate was carrying the load offensively for MMU and Ron Kindle despite being outsized by Jeff Moccia was holding things down on the defensive side of the court. To my surprise MMU actually was up 54-51 with about the 3 minutes left in the game. Combined with scoring and free throws PHS went on a 9-0 run and won this game 60-54.

Player of the Game:

Jeff Moccia the big fella broke the rebound record for this league snatching 32 and just was too much for MMU to handle as I expected.

Grades:

Brett Cooley C- if he didn’t stuff the stat sheet I would’ve gone lower. This is the worst game he has ever played in this league without question. I know he will bounce back though.

Chao Quan B- was thrust into action after an unfortunate injury but I think he actually played decent.

Nate Mendes A gets a + added to his grade if his team wins. It’s really a shame that such a great game by Nate goes in the loss column.

Ron Kindle C based on debut performance and the fact that he went 0-6 from three going higher on a grade can’t be justified.

Shawn Thornton INC went down with an injury early. Although he did get an oreb I’m not one to ruin someone’s overall stats especially when they get injured. Get well soon man.

Andrew Cheever C decent game but has played better this season so I can’t really go higher.

Dustin Armstrong C just an ok game but did lead his team in his assists despite going 0-3 from three.

Jeff Moccia A in a win he broke the rebounding record for this league.

RoShawn Green B- the 0fer from the free throw line can’t be ignored but still shot well from three and had some other good stats.

Seyi Tayo A- docking his grade slightly for his free-throw shooting. Overall had another solid game.

Takeaways:

I guess my biggest worry for MMU is the Shawn injury. Coming off a bye week I knew they’d struggle a bit. Going forward, if they have to roll with 4 guys this could end up being a very bad thing for this team. Only time will tell.

That makes 2 straight for PHS. Of course Rudy missed this game so it’s only one for him hahaha, just kidding. This team is coming together nicely. I’m interested to see if this play continues.

To see this entire game click on this link https://youtu.be/B6YKjlhCSpM

Uncle Drew 42  Country of Old Men 98

Aidan vs Uncle Drew (the team)

c

I think this was team Reeves first official game after a week 1 forfeit win and it got ugly fast. Missing in action 1st round pick Jason Tibbs would of needed a super game to even keep up with the pounding his team received. Uncle Drew needs more time playing with each other and everyone needs to find a role and stick to it if they want to make the playoffs.

Leading in the MVP race so far in this early season Aidan O'Kennedy came out hungry getting to the rim at will with some smooth acrobatic moves.
Aidan actually broke the scoring record for our league with 51 points passing Mike Fraher's 46.
I have a feeling those 51 points are not safe mark my words.
Speaking about the number 51 Aidan scored more than the entire Uncle Drew team which only mustered up a sad 42. Aidan put up 39 in the 1st half along with 8 rebounds and 3 assist.

Ruff on Country of old men collected a easy 20 points this game getting wide open shots and when he drove he had the mismatch he wanted and took full advantage of it. Ruff picked up his assist numbers in the 2nd half.

Lee Eudy went to work on the glass and got a chance to showcase some of the offense he can provide for the team because they will need it if others ever go cold. This team is tough on the glass and Lee will lead in that category.

Krishna did the little things this week and he had no reason to play hard because the score was 62-18 for the 1st half. Easy game easy win.

Reeves was upset with the lack of calls and checked out early to avoid wear and let certain players adjust to the wall ball and hopefully see the direction that the team needs to go. The 1st foul committed by Country of old men was in the 2nd half with 12 minutes to go so i guess he did the right thing checking out.

James Hanks was frustrated early on probably from work and lack of calls which missed his game up early as they needed some type of offense.

Rory Stein showed signs of being an impact player for the team. Rory can rebound and looks like he has a jump shot in his bag of tricks.

Glenroy Anthony did good on the glass but took a bunch of tough shots. Glenroy is possibly still adjusting to the gym but only time will tell if he can really help the team with solid play so they can make the playoffs.

The bright side of things for Uncle Drew was Jeff Etiene who had a really slow start but came alive in the 2nd . Jeff needs to really help on the glass and just eat all day in the paint if his team stands a chance moving on.

This game was ugly for sure. The score was 76-30 with 11:16 left in the game woooow.
Country of old Men look like the team to beat at this point. Aidan has not slowed down and is looking better each game that's the scary part.
No games next week so who knows how that will play factor in any momentum that was building.

Priorities People 61  Leaving on a Jet plane 58

The race

Officially the second game for Priorities People since the team decided to forfeit week 2 for the Celtics game or maybe they had a secret practice which is why they came out victorious versus Leaving on a jet plane.

PP looked totally different from when i saw them week 1
1. Mike McCauley showcased some flashes of 2011
2. Rookie Chris Hanks is adjusting well in this early season
3. Brian Geary has fit in perfectly being that 2nd/3rd guy to handle the ball

LOAJP looked the same but jet lagged
1. Jeff Arinella did his thing by looking at the stats but was not fully charged up because of the amount of layups that he missed
2. Ryan Shaffer was off but was best when attacking the rim.
3.Mike Fraher killed it on the glass but struggled a tad from the defense of Brett Royer.

MC1 will always come to play when called out and that's what he did.
Setting the tone early this game wasnt really a score fest but both teams filled the stat sheets. Mike got called out for his defense but somehow came up with a block and 2 steals in the 1st half.

Royer the top pick struggled a little to get around the body of Fraher but capitalized in the 2nd once the Ghost disappeared from the result of 18 rebounds 10 in the 1st.

Mike Fraher was that guy holding it down in the 1st along with the Jet. Mike had 7 points and 10 rebounds trying to keep up with Priorities People down 21-27 at the half.

The second half both teams found a groove and we had a good game.
PP still had control but Leaving on a Jet was the goal at hand. Jeff Arinella was in charge of getting this flight in position for take off. Some rain came down from Mike and Brian who hit a combined 4 threes in the second half.
The Jet, Ghost and the Sniper saw the clock ticking away being down 47-52 with 4:23 left in the game the time to score was making its way in.
Ryan hit a his 1st and only 3 of the game after some good ball movement but ultimately left that part of his game alone and decided to take it to the rim which he converted for some big plays while they chipped away at the score.
Brett Royer had some half time space jam juice and came out looking primed. Brett's defense and aggression towards the rim was sooooo needed for his team to pull off the win and it came at the perfect time. Cheese finally made it two big plays 1 being a block/foul and a nice post up hook when they made a run.
MC1 and the Jet had a back and forth in the final 2 minutes.
A few steals and a big Jet 3 to make things tight. I felt like this game was heading to overtime with the amount of clutch shots going in from both sides. No leaving before you have your priorities in order was the case.

23-7-4-5 was the stat line on a off night for the jet? ...
20-7-4-3-1 from MC1 with the win.
Can both guys keep the momentum going if this production is needed every week?
Ill be watching this trend because i feel as both teams have multiple MVP candidates but the question is which formula will translate into wins to make a playoff push