| 2001 RECAP REPORT |
| DRINI CLASSIC |
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| 9 |
| MAY 20, 2001 - DRINI CLASSIC 2001 SETS NEW STANDARD The third annual Drini Classic went off without a hitch and all the pieces seemed to fall right into place. Despite forecasts of clouds and rain all week, the weather was perfect on the day of the Classic. And although there were several last minute scratches from the tournament during the preceeding week, two brothers and young Drini showed up to fill the final roster spots and ensure that we had the 18 teams as expected. All totaled 54 players, and more than 80 guests in general, turned out for the annual event. For a change everyone even arrived on time. From the start the top favorites got off to a good start. Baby Ara & The Sugar Plums consisting of Ara Betchakdjian, Adam Castro and Len Parisi, shut out Freeballin' in its first game, while Apocalypse, (Andrew Taft, Mark Pereira and Amory Cockrell) also kept their opponents from scoring. Top favorites M&M and Dr. Drini, made up off Steve "Drini" Alessandrini, Mike Kneller and Mike Rodrigues, also started out tough holding Team Fitness to a single point. The Plums used a combo of outside scoring, driving and defense, Apocalypse overpowered teams early to put games out of reach and M&M and Dr. Drini displayed impressive ball movement to catch teams off guard. All three teams continued to coast through the regular season, letting up 7 points total or less in their 5 games to win their divisions and earn a playoff berth. As expected, the other top teams also faired well. Freeballin' (Jim Opitz, Paul Brost and Jim McCormick), Team V-Gina (Matt Spinella, James "Boner" Prior and Rob DiTondo) and Destruction! Doom! (Casey Mathews, Jay Cerisini, Brian "Cuda" Addvensky) all rolled to 4-1 records, losing only to the top seeds in their divisions, and earning playoff spots. After missing the playoffs the first two years, the Sacketts, along with John Santos, made true on their prediction to reach the playoffs by finishing 3-2. Team Fitness (Lou Marchitto, Jeff Thompson and Neil Militar) also had a solid regular season finishing 3-2 and earning a playoff bid. Old Guys, featuring May Patel , Doug "Bert" Ebert and newcomber Keith Cassucio were also impressive going 3-2. But unfortunately a low point total forced them to be the only team with a winning record to miss the playoffs. A few teams fell short of expectations. Freak Fingers, consisting of Drew Miller, Alvin Huang and Keith Gilman, didn't live up to their playoff hopes and finished 2-3 in the regular season. With talented newcomer Jim Alessandrini joining Eugene Jun and Shaggy, Scooby Snacks was the most feared 2-3 team in the Classic. They were able to put up points but they had no height and couldn't stop anyone on defense. First time undergrad players Chris Birckhead, Steve Baik and Mike Fonseca had nice debuts for team New and the Nu but they didn't have quite enough to advance to the playoffs and finished 2-3. Ara Has Too Much Hair (Noah Heck, Kelly Gallagher and Greg Baxter) was only able to win 1 game in part because Noah played half the day dehydrated and suffering from nausea. Despite the presence of shot blocker Mark Howell and Andrew Rogin and Jonald Reyes, JAHHH! couldn't find a way to stop most teams and wound up with a disappointing 1-4 record. Monster Booty (Dave Mory, Kris "Spud" Rojack and Dave "Dog" Mehler) also went 1-4 and may have been the biggest disappointment and fell well short of their playoff aspirations. The final three teams, Eight Ball, Foosball's Hemroid Gravyand Good, Bad and Thugly all ended the day without a win. They couldn't get a victory but they did all seem to have a good time. While Foosball (Mike Fusco, Charlie Pax, James Stefanelli) and Eight Ball (Ed "Slam" Rana, Erick Flock and Gerry Geronimo) were expected to do poorly, it was a shock that Good, Bad & Thugly (John Morytko, Mitch Matias and Jim Cermak) was not able to get into the win column. Eight Ball newcomer Eric Flock looked solid but he ws unable to get his team a victory, especially after they lost there big man Gerry Geronimo who was replaced by Ben Dominquez after an injury. But the team seemed able to keep the defeats in perspective and have fun. Foosball's Hemroid Gravy also showed good spirits while lacking on-the-court skills. In the first round of the playoffs, things continued as expected. The # 1 seed Sugar Plums rolled to a 22-2 victory over Thug Life, while # 2 seed M&M and Dr. Drini struggled early but rallied behind a 9-0 run by Drini to put away Team Fitness 21-11. Number 3 seed Apocalypse handily beat Freeballin' 21-8 behind key shooting from Pereira and Amory and Team V-Gina used a balanced attack to get past Destruction! Doom! 21-14. Surprisingly, in the semifinals the games between the top 4 contenders weren't even close. Amory and Apocalypse bull-rushed Kneller and M&M and Dr. Drini by scoring 13 quick points to take a quick lead. Amory added three 3-pointers along the way to dispose of the # 2 seed in quick fashion 21-2. For Drini & Rodrigues it was the third straight year in a row they lost in the semifinals. For Apocalypse it was there second Finals trip in 3 years. In the other bracket, the Plums also rolled over Team V-Gina 21-10 behind a great defensive performance from Parisi and a great 1-2 scoring punch from Ara and Castro. Despite bringing a 15-0 career record into the Finals, Apocalypse got into early trouble after Castro went on a scoring spree that he capped off with a shot from downtown to make the score 14-0. After Apocalypse got on the board, Parisi ended any comeback attempts by stripping Amory down low and the Plums went on to finish the game with a 7-0 run for an impressive and lopsided 21-2 win. Disecting the Finals game, the biggest factor that contributed to the lose for Apocalypse had to be the decision to guard Castro with Amory. Taft is known as a Castro stopper and he often forces the 3-time MVP out of his offense. While Amory is likely the most powerful player in the Classic, he didn't have the speed to keep up with Castro and as a result he allowed Adam to get open for jumpers all day. For his impressive performance, Castro was named Classic MVP for the 3rd straight time. After the awards presentation the fans were invited to vote for their All-Drini team and awards selections. These choices are posted within this site. The day then concluded with the three point competition. This year a record 26 players participated. After the first round, young Drini, Castro, Ara, Opitz, Amory, Bert, Santos and Parisi all advanced to the semifinals. From there Jim Alessandrini's Classic record 16 points and Castro's solid 11 point scores moved them into the final round for a long-range shootout. Castro looked to make it a clean sweep of trophies while Jim aimed to keep a trophy within the Drini residence. In the end, Jim beat out the MVP 11-8 to win the 3-point championship. The Drini Classic would like to thank those that helped make this year's event a huge success. The following people need to be recognized for their help: Adam Sackett, Jim Opitz, Paul Brost, Adam Castro, Bill Faucett, Ara Betchakdjian, Lou Marchitto, Mike Fusco, Seth Levin, Mike Kneller, Eugene Jun our perennial chef, Larry and Jeanne Alessandrini, Jim Alessandrini and of course my fiance and our wonderful cameraperson/hostess Stefani Milne. I would also like to thank all those that donated money to this great cause. Your efforts helped us raise $1300 for the AKL Gamma Gamma chapter. Thanks to everyone and we hope to see you all again next year. |
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