Spring 2012: SML League Champs: All Grit & Balls

Mo and B Lead G B Past Big Nice In Thrilling SML Finals
Big Nice 67 All Grit & Balls 69

Kap here covering the title game for the Sunday Morning League and I am pleased to be here. The SML was hotly contested this season with great talent and competition across the board. Only two teams could vie for the lucrative banner however, and it did not surprise me one bit to see Big Nice and Grit and Balls as the two teams left standing.

Unfortunately for G & B though, PStone was nowhere to be seen to start the game. I know he was out drinking the night before but that’s no excuse considering it is the finals! I thought there would be no way G & B would win this one without PStone clogging up the middle and lucky for them he showed a few minutes into the game. At this point Big Nice had jumped to the early 10-7 lead so the game was still in the balance. 

Overall the first half belonged to Big Nice. Big Nice looked like a team that had been there before as well as looking like the more “in sync” team. O’Cal did a nice job of directing traffic while Mazz and CPW took care of the scoring load. Defensive assignments were missed left and right by G & B and the veteran Big Nice squad made them pay. If not for Mo, this game could have been over early, but Mo’s prolific offense kept G & B in the game in the first half

Both teams were pretty content launching from deep and this quickly became a game of threes. Big Nice was able to hit a few more in the first half than G & B as they grabbed a 13-point half time lead. 

For the first part of the second half Big Nice was able to maintain a healthy lead. Midway through the half though G & B chipped away as Big Nice got away from what was working the entire game: team chemistry and ball movement. Mazz really fell in love with the three ball and I felt like he settled too much in the second half for low percentage shots. On the other end, G & B took advantage of wasted possessions by Big Nice. Bernard found the stroke at the right time as he became an integral force in G & B’s comeback. After a couple huge threes from Bernard and some tough shots in traffic by Mo, G & B found themselves down 3 with 8 minutes to go. We had a great game on our hands.

Down the stretch G & B continued to ride the momentum as Bernard and Mo put the team on their backs. G & B grabbed their first lead of the game with 4 minutes to go as they took a 2-point lead. I was shocked to see Big Nice give up this kind of a lead (13 at half) in a title game and I got the feeling they felt the same sentiment. Regardless, Big Nice didn’t fold. Press hit a huge three to stop the bleeding only to be answered on the very next possession by Bernard.

In the waning minutes and seconds we had a frantic, physical contest. Points were tough to come by as the 2 refs really let both teams play. Finally, in a tie game, PStone went to the line with 5 seconds left with a chance to give G & B a lead and potentially the win. He proved to be clutch hitting both FTs. O’Cal called timeout for Big Nice and with one last chance drew up a pretty good play. O’Cal drove the lane and kicked out to a wide open Press who came up just short on a championship winning three. Congrats to Grit and Balls on a good comeback and a hard earned title. 

Finals MVP: Mo – Mo was amazing in this game. He scored an extremely efficient 27 points and it felt like he never missed. G & B really should have found him more throughout the game but when you play for a team with THAT many egos I guess you can’t complain. Nice game Mo and congrats!

Quick Hits:

1. Bernard was flat out heroic in this game. B his some epic shots and really played a great game on offense. He shot an efficient 4/9 from deep and hit a few at clutch times.

2. Ruff was a COMPLETE non factor in the finals, scoring just 3 points and fouling out with 18 minutes to go in the 2^nd half.

3. I would have like to see Big Nice go inside more. CPW was dominant in the paint but I felt like Big Nice was content launching from deep instead of feeding him.

Scores, Box Scores & Write-Ups

Playoff: week 11

Click For Previous Weeks: 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Sunday AM S12 Basketball League