March 15th Recap

Tuesday, 17 March 2009

Dynasty v Titans #3 v #3 led off the morning and Titans actually had their 1/2 punch of Tom and Lejoe to matchup with Tim and Sejdo. As anticipated though, Titans still had a short roster of 6 having to fend with a deeper Dynasty team. Early on Titans stayed stride for stride with Dynasty and there was even a Darius John sighting on the inside with some strong moves against Tim Crane. All 4 stars produced as we have become used to, but Dynasty got great production from role players Sonu(10) and Oliver allowing them to pull away in the last 10 minutes to lock the game. Another Dynasty game where Dynasty and their opponent break the 100 point barrier. Desert Eagles v Assassins Maybe the Assassins captains didn't get the memo and felt the season was not over as only 2 players showed up and couldn't get in touch with anyone else on the team. Desert Eagles get their first win and participated in some good pickup games against the 2 Assassins and other league players willing to participate. There is a chance these two meet again next week so lets see if Desert Eagles get another shot at winning one on the court. Hitmen vs Strong Island Strong Island seeming to be back on a skid came in with only 5 players to a game that would seal a playoff birth with a win. They were missing Neil, Lamba, and Shaun while team Hitmen, needing to ensure they stay one game ahead of MKA for the 4th playoff spot, came in with all hands on deck. There was a Raman "Bollywood" Kohli sighting in this game and he did everything he could to keep SI in the game but with only 5 players it simply wasn't enough to contain the Hitmen firepower. Sinu has established himself as the #3 threat behind Triggy and Maaz as the Hitmen seem to be hitting stride at the right time. They control their destiny. Next week, they win and they are in. HUMANS v Panthers This was the #1 vs #1 game and on the message boards at least, Panthers were given a slight edge due to their more consistent play while HUMANS entered struggling on the offensive end. Either way, this had the potential to be a statement game for one of these two top teams. Early on it was a story of good defense combined with a lot of foul calls that prevented either team from hitting their stride. Late in the first half though, Mohamed was able to penetrate the Panthers defense, finish at the basket and/or draw fouls to capture all the momentum in the HUMANS favor and close out the half with a 20+ point lead. As the second half started though, Panthers made a run and several minutes in, they cut the lead down to 13 with the help of some timely shots from Jagdeep. Panthers continued to execute well but were caught on an off night where only Jagdeep was able to find his range from 3 point land. 13 points was the closest they would get as the usual hot hands of Jasjit and Ditar couldn't find the bottom of the net at their typically blistering pace and that allowed the HUMANS, with another great half from Mohamed, to pull away again and maintain a 22 point win. MKA v Ravens With SI losing earlier in the day, this was the chance Ravens needed to keep their playoff hopes alive. But they were to face an MKA team themselves poised to stay on the Hitmen's heals looking for that last playoff spot. The playoff atmosphere was on but sadly, due to a very quick start, or rather slow start by the Ravens, the potential for a great game never materialized. In the first 7 minutes, MKA made most of their open looks while Ravens struggled to square up to the basket on open looks and shot a very low percentage leading to a 23-6 lead for MKA. Ravens seemed to be lacking composure and energy which probably had a lot to do with the fact that they were missing Joe and Justus. Khurram as usual found his shooters when they were open for another 7+ assist night and Rahul, although started slow, really got going midway through the game and put up another 30+ point performance. A good late run in the season for Ravens keeping their hopes alive but sadly their dream of making it in the final 4 ended this past Sunday. SWAT v Basketballers. The 1st half was pretty ugly with both teams missing quite a few open opportunities and not many fast breaks going on. The 'Ballers did a good job of containing the SWAT front line in that 1st half and managed to get an 11 point lead early in the 2nd looking to be well on their way to a win against SWAT who couldn't find much energy on offense. But SWAT did have the best scorer on the floor who found his stroke just when his team needed it the most. Tarek rained down 4 LONG threes in a row and followed up with a rebound and putback that erased the Baller lead in a matter of minutes. SWAT got their groove back, tightened up the defense and Steve Thomas provided the most energy continuing to get offense rebounds and putbacks which broke the Baller's backs. Arif got involved in the scoring from long range and SWAT managed to go up by 8 with two minutes left. A barrage of late three's by 'Ballers kept them alive (4 three's in a row!) but SWAT was able to knock down their free throws and hold on with poise.

 

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