- WEEK 1 AND 2 RECAP -
WRITTEN BY: PROFESSOR X
Wow. Competitive Season 1 is going to be incredible. If the first round of games is any indication we are in for so much drama, excitement, and competition. The only thing that is going to make it even more beautiful is when the jerseys come in. The Commish says it will be arriving for game 3 hence the staggered games in the first few weeks. Listen, I hate giving the Commish any credit at all (mostly cuz he doesn't really pay me enough for this shit and still wants everything so fast) but he really did a solid job putting some of these teams together. Not everyone is going to have a solid team but man I can think of at least 7 teams that I have no problem saying they can possibly win the title. And then a handful of others that have a chance to go deep if they get the right breaks. Top 12 get in and it is going to be a dog fight. I am going to be pretty blunt but if you wanna take it personal go ahead. Show me on the court what you can do and I may change my tune about your team. This is just for entertainment purposes and so don't get into your feelings too much fam. Let's get it poppin son.
NUGGETS vs LAKERS: Two teams went blow for blow. Punch for punch...and I mean that literally. Not sure if the Commish wanted me to discuss it but we had 2 ejections and a player banned from the league this season. That is right. If you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. No punches were landed but that don't matter to Kisho as he has always stated that there is a zero tolerance policy for any acts of violence towards officials or players. I guess that is how you start off the season with a bang...I know it is the 'Competitive' Division but let's all settle down and respect the game and each other (talkin to the entire league here). After the square dancing took place in the first half we had a nice competitive 2nd half and the Nuggets were led by JOE DELA ROSAAAAAAAAAA. Might be my favourite name in the league for real. JDR was incredible in transition and from long range and just flat out disrupted the flow for the Lakers. Great win by the Nuggets as they dealt with some early season adversity. The Lakers looked a little out of sorts on offence and GM Christian is going to have to do a better job getting everyone organized. He was careless with the ball but you can clearly tell the kid has talent. He is going to have to shoulder the load and really play well on both ends plus playmake to give their team a good shot at winning each week. Jonathan will also have to give them a defensive presence and contribute on offence. Nice second half 'swing' by the Nuggets in this one.
Final Score: Nuggets 51 - 46 Lakers Player of the Game: JOE DELA ROSA 20pts/2rebs/1ast/4stls/1to - 57% Shooting - 3 Triples
BLAZERS vs RAPTORS: Blazers start the year off with a dub and it was against a pretty decent squad. Not sure what to make of the Raptors but they got some capable players including Mithun who is a dynamic scoring guard that will help them get buckets. The rest of the guys are apparently supposed to have good chemistry and guys like Sobi and Thibishan have played solid previously in the league. So let's see if they can put it together next game. Duzan was everywhere and really tried to carry the load in this one as he finished with a near triple double but didn't shoot it that well and had some careless turnovers. His side-kicks helped out big time tho in Ahaash and Anson and that was a big reason why the Blazers pulled away in this one. Let's see what the rest of the role players can do in the next one before deciding how good this team is.
Final Score: Blazers 68 - 59 Raptors Player of the Game: ANSON ANTON-PHILIP 13pts/7rebs/1ast/1stl/3blks/0to - 71% Shooting
MAGIC vs CAVALIERS: GM Randy with a new team...the Orlando Magic. New team but a lot of familiar faces including former ETBL MVP Kris. Plus his buddy Javed and Lamont also makes an appearance from the Tier 1 Clippers team. Sprinkle some other solid new teammates and this team looks unified and diversified. Not only by ethnicity but by skillset. They got shooters, rebounders, passers, and scorers. The defence is the only question and we shall see if they can dig in on that side of the ball when it matters but they made quick work of the Cavaliers in this one. Life is going to be different for these Cavs in Competitive Division as they cannot lean on Michael Mines, Abeku or Rose to bail them out of situations. Can they step up to the challenge? Let's find out how much time it takes them to develop a winning formula. GM Bavi has his work cut out for himself.
Final Score: Magic 64 - 40 Cavaliers Player of the Game: KRISOTH GNANENTHRA 17pts/9rebs/5asts/1stl/1to - 2 Triples
CLIPPERS vs WOLVES: GM Sajeethan? Don't know who the heck that is but welcome to the show kid. As a first time GM, this man came through and put together a very solid team that looks like they could be even better down the stretch of the season when everyone is in full game shape. The man who really impressed was Mr. Malcolm London who might have the line of the year already...Jesus!!! The preseason hype was all about Avery Campbell and I am sure he is hella nice too but Malcolm had everyone mesmerized. And he did it in like bandana shorts to boot lol. Wolves had a great showing from Jamshed who dropped a team high 19 and really played well but the rest of the team looked out of rhythm. They did go zone and gave the Clippers issues in the 2nd half but it was too little too late by then after a dizastrous first half. Some positives to take away and build upon for next game.
Final Score: Clippers 55 - 39 Wolves Player of the Game: MALCOLM LONDON 28pts/10rebs/5asts/3stls/5blks - 3 Triples
KINGS vs HORNETS: GM Lloyd has brought back his squad but this time in the Comp Division which is surely the right spot for them. They have a deep team and with the right lineups and situations, I think they can be really solid this season. Also, if Frank the Tank can drop a 25 piece like he did in this one then they are going to be really fine. Heck of a game for Frankie and they had 3 other guys in double digits which is exactly what the doctor ordered. The Hornets had their opportunities and Abdullahi Hersi went crazy in this one but they ended up just short. GM Sugee with a nifty 8/12/10 line but he will have to be a little more aggressive looking for his offence in order to really give this team more options. Two teams battled it out all the way to the end and Hersi hit a clutch three to tie it but the Kings managed to make one more play than them. Let's see if they can bounce back in the next one.
Final Score: Kings 67 - 65 Hornets Player of the Game: FRANCISCO ANSALDO 25pts/6rebs/1to - 61.5% Shooting
GRIZZLIES vs HEAT: Grizzlies smothered the Heat in the first half before letting up in the 2nd half. They have good size (well basically if you have Sabit, you will always have good size) and solid defenders and shooters. This team is going to be a problem once they figure out their chemistry. They don't have a real point guard it seems but that might be their only flaw. GM Gogs has brought back some guys from his division one team and they will certainly do well in this division. Easy win for the Grizz but let's see how they do when they face a true contender. New GM Shay has joined the league and it did not start the way he wanted. Although, he has plenty of time to figure out rotations and schemes to help this team compete. Malcolm King can really help this team and he certainly played his ass off in this one. Rigekes and Cory combined for 19 points and it looks like they will have to give Malcolm continued support throughout the season if this team wants to make a run. Let's see if they can do better next time.
Final Score: Grizzlies 57 - 40 Heat Player of the Game: SABIT AGOK 15pts/14rebs/3asts/1stl - 58% Shooting
NETS vs SUNS: Well, the Suns got smacked around in this one by the New Nets. GM Kapi was not there for his team in this one and they certainly missed his shot creation and shooting. We won't read too much into it but I am not sure even Kapi will be able to get this team up to contender status. They played very poorly and got exposed in too many areas. Let's see how they do next time with Kapi. Nets played well and really shared the ball and got everyone involved. I love seeing that but with that being said...they played poorly in the 2nd half and could not muster much offence. Trey came off the bench and hit 3 triples to really push this game out of reach and he could be an x-factor for this team this season. GM Lewmar has pieces around him and it will be up to him to figure out the best lineups for his team. Deep squad with guys that can all do something and so he will have to really put his coaching hat on to get the best out of everyone.
Final Score: Nets 50 - 32 Suns Player of the Game: TREY JOHN 13pts/2rebs/3stls - 55.5% Shooting - 3 triples
BULLS vs WARRIORS: This was the game of the night and the two heavyweights went blow for blow...this time not literally. Bulls are fun to watch as they got speed, athleticism and chemistry. Guys seem like they are all friends on the team and that could make a big difference especially when adversity hits. They were able to summon whatever they needed down the stretch. Defence? Call up GM Brett aka Clamps from Season 6 of ETBL. Post scoring? Call up Robert Scott to do damage on the interior. Passing? Lawrence Tappin was calm and precise on offence getting his guys in rhythm. Transition offence? Lord have Merci. Mr. Yuma outran the slowfooted Warriors like it was a trackmeet and absolutely killed them with easy buckets. Great win for Chi Town. Warriors were missing a key player but still had their top guys and just fell apart down the stretch. Guys were gassed and you do not want to play a deep team when that is the case. They will bounce back as they just have a lot of talent on the squad so I am not too worried about them.
Final Score: Bulls 56 - 50 Warriors Player of the Game: MERCI YUMA 16pts/4rebs/5asts/1stl - 100% Shooting