Week #3 (Long Awaited) Game Recap

GAME 1:  ADAM LEMPKA REAL ESTATE (44) TIED JOSEPH PITIRRI REAL ESTATE (44)

A fight nearly broke out before last Friday's first tip-off.  Adam Lempka and Joe Pitirri were standing at center court.  They were having a normal conversation among professional realtors.  After several minutes, you could see their bodies tensing, their fists clenching, and their pleasant demeanours turning aggressive.  Nobody, including this writer, could understand what happened.  What could have been said to make each other so angry?  League sources report that the disagreement started when Adam Lempka found one of his For Sale signs vandalized by his competitor at one of Adam's listings.  

Each captain went to their bench and gave spirited pre-game pep talks to their foot soldiers.  

JPRE's top draft pick Chris Keith was absent for the third consecutive week.  JPRE's team-leading scorer Kris Ceelen also didn't attend.  There were some rumblings in the gym about them flying to the Bahamas for some alone time.  This has not been confirmed.  Also missing the game was ALRE's captain Ryan French who is still nursing a sore Achilles. 

This was a very close game in the first half.  JPRE's Jordan Johnston was very effective battling down low with Dave Holloway, and ALRE led 23-22 at the half.  It's been four days since this writer watched the game, so aside from some pictures, there's not much to 'report'.

Second Half

The second half story was dominated by free-safety Marc Champagnie (strutting his stuff below).  Marc attacked the basket for some easy buckets and drilled two second-half three-pointers.  JPRE lead the game 41-40 with 4:11 remaining.  It seemed that momentum was swinging JPRE's way, and their guard play was putting a lot of pressure on ALRE's defence.

This was when things got interesting.  JPRE was doing an excellent job on defence, getting multiple stops.  On offence, Marc Champagnie relentlessly attacked the hoop, drawing fouls from the slower ALRE big men.  Instead of pushing their lead, JPRE was 1-6 from the free-throw line in the final four minutes of the ballgame.  With two minutes remaining, JPRE was up 44-42.

Instead of writing a long-winded explanation about why this game ended in a tie, watch the videos below (sorry Marc):

For the second time in three weeks, the ball was in Jon Kryzanowski's hands...

The game ends in an anti-climatic tie.  Commissioner Brandon considered having a free throw competition between teams to decide a winner but ultimately decided against it because watching two teams miss free throws for 15-minutes would exceed permit limits.

Game Notes: ALRE continues to struggle on the perimeter.  Some very talented big men, but Jon Kryzanowski takes on most ball-handling duties.  The league has added several new guards this season.  Is captain Ryan French looking to make a mid-season trade to flip size with speed?  To read more about this rumour, go to www.hoopshype.com.  Romeo Pino's daughter was in the stands.  She said she was back home from school and lost a bet to her dad, so she had to come and watch his game.

GAME 2: NEW START KITCHEN (66) defeats OVERHEAD DOORs (56)

Rookie Keith Blair ran 25 km to the game this week.  League officials asked if Keith could adhere to the strict league rules regarding league colour schemes/branding.  

The first half was a scoring clinic by Overhead Door team captain Curtis Seely.  Curtis had 20 pts and four three-pointers in the first half.  League legend Kevin St. Kitts is still showing the effects of last season's shoulder injury by only challenging Curtis' groin area instead of the preferred 'hand in the face' defence taught by so many coaches across the world (see below).

Four-time champion Doug Grittani kept New Start Kitchens in the game with three consecutive three-point bombs, including a four-point play.

Overhead Doors began to wear down in the second half without team hustle monster Andrew Ferris (serving a one-game suspension for a temper tantrum in the previous week).  Shots stopped falling for Curtis, and the team ball movement began to stop.  Not even self-proclaimed MVP Dustin MacTaggart could stop the bleeding in the second half.  New Start Kitchen's rookie of the year candidate Daniel Planckaert showed his offensive tools with several drives the hole, including one very nice spin move on the baseline that impressed the 11 people in the stands.

New Start Kitchen improved its record to 2-1 by defeating Overhead Doors 66-56.

Game Notes: JP is growing a creepy moustache (artist rendering below).  Several veterans missed the game due to early season injuries (Craig Emuss, Nelson Martins and Nigel Rawlins)

GAME 3: GOLDFISH SWIM SCHOOL (66) defeats MY INSURANCE DEPARTMENT (54)

Goldfish Swim School had only five players (albeit probably their top five) for their contest against My Insurance Department, who were without big man Larry Jusdanis, whose girlfriend told Larry he wasn't allowed out to play on Wednesday night.  League rules say that if a team shows up with only five players, they can play zone defence for the entire game.  

The first 15 minutes of the first half was a back-and-forth contest.  Goldfish Swim School's Cody Matthew's continued his strong start to the season by hitting a couple of threes and providing some tough defence.  Goldfish had a very effective five-man unit, where each player on the court could get their shot and score.  In the final 10-minutes of the first half, My Insurance Department (MID) started hitting their long-distance shots.  With a squad dominated by guards and big dudes that can shoot (Boris and Tony), MID started drilling several long-range shots going into halftime.  Beto Gerones, Boris Zadkovic and Paul Ricciuti each hit a few threes and pushed MID to a 37-28 halftime lead.

The second half was a completely different story.  Captain Dave McKay was heard giving his team a "William Wallace" intensity halftime speech.  He inspired his team with stories of strength and perseverance from his four-year-old swim students who "never gave up!" and are determined to "will themselves to swim/win!".   MID's team captain spoke Spanish, and nobody knew what he was saying.  

It was a very frustrating second half for MID.  Aside from Paul Ricciuti (who nailed four threes in the second half), MID couldn't hit any shots and couldn't stop Goldfish Swim School.   Goldfish continued their diverse offensive attack, sharing the ball and not turning it over.  Goldfish outscored MID 38-17 in the second half and cruised to victory.  Goldfish improved its record to 3-0; MID dropped to 2-1.

Game Notes:  The annual discussion about the zone rule was discussed after the game.  Should teams with five guys be forced to play man-to-man defence (not zone)?