Mike Park agrees to sign on. Mike Pao agrees as well. Brandon is bringing in his friend Scott Thi. So I have a big front line, including Billy Min, Jason Chen and Kelvin Zee. Brandon, Johnny, Pat, Keith and I will play the guards. Brandon invites Tan Ha to join us as well. So I am expecting to go undefeated.
But wow, we lose our first game! We are totally out of synch, throwing away passes and missing outside shots and inside shots. We had too many guys and could not get a rhythm. I didn't think Brandon, Tan and Scott were coming so I had called Nick to come and even had to cancel out Benson and Andrew at the last minute. But we tie the game at the end, after trailing by 7-10 the entire game, with two of their guys fouling out. Brandon brings us back, but they make the buzzer beater, banging it off the front of the rim. I have a decidedly lower winning percentage when we have a lady ref. Credit must be given to the other team, they are pretty good and must somehow intimidate my guys. Later, I find out that this UFO team has four A players (North Stars). So other teams complain, and Phil Chien has to correct it all, and we have to ask Tan to drop out. Too bad, I like his defense. We lose to them 49-47. I would guess Brandon had 10, Johnny had 4, Tan had 6, Billy had 6, Mike Park had 6, Mike Pao had 6, Scott had 9. They were probably led by their superstar, Robert Ma. They also had a nifty little point guard that stole a ball from each of our point guards. Boy, I would like to get revenge on them. I can't believe they beat us.
Our second game, I can't get any players. Brandon is in from day one. Mike Pao finally gives me the ok Friday night. So we have three Saturday morning. Kelvin finally says yes at 1:00, when his attempt to get Angel tickets falls through. At 3:00 Mike Park says yes, but within the hour has to cancel out as traffic has trapped him. So I am able to get Andrew Lee to help. I think we have a good team, but this team Row takes it to us and leads the entire game by 7-12 points. They are on fire from the three and must have made a dozen of them. Some of the them were well beyond the arc and some from the base line as well. I can't believe them, and it looks like we are going to lose, and my dream to take the CAAA going up in smoke. But we stay cool. With three minutes to go, things turn around. We are down by about 6. They still drain the treys, but somehow we are gaining on them. I remember Andrew making a three point play. I remember Kelvin going one on three on a fast break and making the deuce. I remember Brandon making some big treys and then at the end six straight free throws. Then Kelvin fouled on the rebound and icing the game when he makes a free throw after missing the first (we are now in double bonus). We had never led until the last minute. That team had thought the game was in the bag, and to be truthful I think both Brandon and I thought the same too. Brandon said we needed one more player (probably instead of me). But we win, and I take pride that I was part of it. I had some good assists and a few rebounds, one an offensive one which I got to Kelvin for a trey. I would say Brandon scored 22, Kelvin 14, Mike 14, Andrew 6. Final score 56-52. It was probably a 16-6 run at the end. They had three outside shooters, some nice high post shots, and nothing inside. Their threes finally failed them at the end. But they had won their first game last week, so they must be pretty good. Anyway we are back in the running to take this thing. If I could just get the guys to show up...
Oct 22, 2005. Walnut JL vs Overland. This week I go ahead and secure Andrew and Benson early. I even ask Jason Lee to come at the last moment. I only know Brandon is coming, everyone else either cannot make it or don't tell me anything.. I finally confirm with Kelvin Saturday afternoon. I find out Mike Park is sick. But we still only have four to start as both Jason and Kelvin are late. Jason shows up a few minutes into the game, and Kelvin shows up after about 7-8 minutes. The score is 10-9 when he shows, but Kelvin takes three straight treys and misses while the other team makes their shots so we are down 20-11. Fortunately, Mike Pao walks in, but we still are down at the half something like 29-19. One reason is that Brandon is playing his third game and is drained from his OT win in the Mofufus playoffs. A couple of times, after he feels the ref doesn't call a foul, he just doesn't come back on D and they score. But Kelvin starts with a trey to open the second half and we catch on, and finally get within three, though we just can't seem to catch them. Andrew makes a nice layup after a nice long pass from Brandon. Kelvin hits another trey (he would have 4 in the second half, two in the last minute). Mike gets going with 10 in the second half. But with 35 seconds to go, they are in the lead with two and are at the line. But they miss. We come down and somehow Kelvin gets his defender up in the air and throws up a trey that banks in, and bam we take our first lead of the game. He makes the free throw for a four point play, and more importantly, we are up by two. I call time out and we switch to man, as they can still score since there are eleven seconds to go. They throw the mid court pass and Benson fouls the guy?!! But the guy misses the one plus one, and Jason comes down to score a meaningless layup for our four point win. Those guys are not happy, they don't even want to shake our hands as they go to their bench and we have to go all the way over there. They were quiet during the game, though somewhat rough. They had a point guard who kept penetrating and passing to some guys who could hit the outside shots. Again, a team who could hit the treys. We make some good adjustments at the half defensively (center takes on penetrator, forwards watch for the dish, plus we know who the shooters are), so they score very little, but of course with Kelvin and Mike scoring, we make up for the awful first half. Brandon is holding back for the second half run, and says we should catch them the first five minutes of the second half, but we don't. At the 30 second mark, I thought we were going to lose, and though Andrew had faith, I thought it was over. But the guys came through with good D at the end, good passing to get the ball to Kelvin for the big shot. Hooray, we are 2-1 and in the drivers seat for this league. I saw the other four teams and I think they are not as good as the first three teams we played. So I think we should make the playoff and if our big guns show up, we should take this thing. I get the stats from the scorekeeper, I notice the big second half, and the low number of free throws (4/7): .
Brandon 3,2 + 3,2 = 10
Mike 2,2 + 2,2,2,2,1,1 = 14
Kelvin 2 + 3,3,3,3,1 = 15
Benson 2,2,2,2,0,0 + 1,0 = 9
Andrew + 2,2 = 4
Jason + 2 = 2
Totals 19 + 35 = 54
Opponent 29 + 20 = 49
October 29, 2005
Today we play D12 at 6:00. We do have the Mofufus tournament in the morning, but I am not worried at all because I know this team is 0-3 and had lost their last game by the score of 17-97!! I figure any five we bring will easily win. Just don't forfeit, so I make sure we have 6. We end up with 7 because Mike shows up though he had told me he was not coming. These guys are high schoolers or collegians and though they can play have no experience and concept of the team game. So we run out to a 32-12 first half lead. The guys lose interest and don't want to get hurt. I tell them to let them shoot. And then we come out and play the worse display of basketball I have ever seen. D12 actually outscores us in the second half. But its not our fault, D12 is just so terrible that we cannot focus. Benson especially is fooling around, throwing passes off the backboard. That team really belongs in the D division. So the game finally ends and we win 52-37. Too bad this was the game I video taped, but at least I scored six on cherry picking. Here is the breakdown on scoring.
Jimmy 2,2 + 2 = 6
Benson 2,2,0,0,2,2 + 2,2 = 12
Kelvin 3,3,3 + 0,0 = 9
Bob 2,2,2 + 0,1,2 = 9
Brandon 2 + 3 = 5
Jason Chen = 0
Mike Pao 0,1,2 + 1,1,2,1,0,2,1,0 = 11
We are now 3-1, and behind the first place team Chi Tzu who are 4-0. We play them next week. We have to beat them to secure a spot in the playoffs, otherwise the chances are slim. We will have to win our next four straight games which include the playoffs to win this C Division. We should be good with Johnny and Brandon finishing their mofufus league. Hopefully we can get Mike or Billy to show. Hopefully, my only problem will be figuring out who to start and how to divide up the playing time.
Nov 6, 2005. Today is the showdown with the number one 4-0 Chi-Tzu. I thought I would have a lot of guys coming but as the week progresses, I see I have no one again. Only Brandon and Jason confirm early. Saturday morning I am able to get Edgar, so I am relieved and feel we should win. But I cannot get a 5th player. Finally, Jason Lee is able to come and we have five, with no subs. I decide I will play the whole the game so I am not looking anymore after we secure the five. So those guys are fast and attack us, reaching in and stealing passes and dribbles. We are down 21-14 at the half, pretty lucky to be down only 7, because we suck, especially at the charity line. We had gone to the line 12 times and come out with 4 points. Edgar was the main culprit, and it would only get worse for him in the second half. Luckily, it didn't matter, cause Brandon finally gets going. He comes out and hits two quick treys and its a game, we are down only 21-20. All of a sudden, ChiTzu can't shoot and can't stop us. Their defense disappears. Maybe it was because they switched to man defense? Jason drives and takes them apart, making shots, drawing fouls, and getting assists. But its Brandon who gets them into depression. He would hit five treys in the second half (two of them on banks), and end up with 24 points, 22 of them in the second half. Chi Tzu would only score 12 points in the second half. Jason and I put the clamps on their outside shooter. I also got three points on freethrows when they began fouling. So we should be number one in our division, and qualified for the playoffs starting next week.
Here is the breakdown on shooting for us:
Jimmy + 1101 = 3
Jason Chen 001022 + 22 = 9
Jason Lee 2 + 2210 =7
Edgar Ho 0021020 + 0020000 = 7
Brandon 101 + 33323311102 = 24
Half time score: 14-21
Final Score: 50-33
Nov 8, 2005. Ok, the CAAA has announced the playoff matchups for our C division. As expected, we are top dog in our division and are in the playoffs. The C Diviison has 34 teams, and the top eight qualify. Here is what it looks like:
Price Power (4-1)37 vs Reigning Rhinos (3-2)28 Winner: Price Power (33)
Walnut JL (4-1)51 vs Jumpman (4-1)65 Winner: Jumpman (46) Winner: Jumpman (40)
Machines (5-0)42 vs White Fungus (4-1)48 Winner: White Fungus (39) Winner: Ninjas (47)
Ninjas (5-0)52 vs Chi Tzu (4-1)35 Winner: Ninjas (53)
The Jumpman look to be easy pickings for us as they have averaged mid 40s, scoring 58, 45, 49, 33 points. The next matchup with either Price Power or R Rhinos also looks to be easy as these two teams also have low 40 scoring. The other three teams are much better, and have mid to high 50 point averages. So we definitely have a very favorable schedule. I am predicting a final wiith the Ninjas. First game is this saturday at 7:00, second game sunday at 7:00, and final on the next saturday at 7:00. I have never seen any of these teams, maybe I will scout them out this saturday.
Nov 12, 2005. Well, I have to eat humble pie. We lost to the Jumpman. A bunch of college and high school kids, one crazy kid even tried to start a fight with Johnny. Very quick and very skilled. We were slow and did not show any energy. They killed us outside and they killed us inside, and shredded our zone defense. They were quick on the transition and our one or two guys back could not contain their athleticism. They had one tall center, and a sub both about 6-1, both could dunk, but the rest were actually quite short. I didn't think they were going to be good, so I didn't try hard to bring in a good team. I thought with Johnny and Brandon, any front line would do. Boy, was I wrong. Mike Pao, Kelvin and Bob just could not match them. We also missed so many free throws. Kelvin was extremely bad, having a sore back. They just started hot and ran out to something like a 32-14 lead. The closest we got was ten points with two minutes to go. Only Brandon was effective maybe scoring 16 points, but everyone else was just subpar. They won something like 65-52. Our second half was better, but we could not make up for the awful start. They probably have never shot so well. Anything can happen in a one game series, and sometimes the best team does not win. I learned somethings today. Speed and hustle is a big part of the game. The chemistry of our team today was just terrible. I was not unhappy with my game though. I got a few offensive rebounds, some steals, and assists. But I am unhappy that we don't win the championship, the losses at ABA and Mofufus (and a bit from Walnut) has frustrated me, and it seems like only a championship will fix that empty feeling. I got to remember that its just a game and lucky that I just get to play.
Nov 13, 2005. So today I get to play a lot. Only Jason, Mike Pao, Nick, Benson and me were signed on. With Mike coming late, we recruited at the last minute Jason's friend Leo. We played the Rhinos who I kind of knew would be easy as I saw them play yesterday. No outside shooters, in fact no shooters period. I just thought they would be rough on the boards, so I especially wanted Nick to show up. We were not great, but good enough to win. I was a little worried that we had no outside shooters coming in, but our inside attack was enough to take care of this rather weak team. I was also worried that I had to play point, but they didn't press at all. Jason almost get into a fight, arguing with some guy. So the ref thought he had to take control of the game and just called fouls for every little thing, and even later gave Mike Pao a technical for really nothing. But it worked as the teams settled down and got back to playing. I think the ref should have let us know what he was going to do, and I was kind of ticked at him, but looking back now, I guess he had to do what he had to do. Leo missed all his shots, maybe 6 shots, but he played good defense even stripping two people. So I gave him good playing time. And I rested somewhat, but I also took out Nick because Nick tends to not hustle, and stand out by the three point line on offense. But Nick suprised me and scored some good points, and I hope that he could continue that. Jason drives well and dishes out if there is someone down low to pass to. I toke one shot on a driving short hook but missed. Otherwise, I had a decent game. So we get to the consolation game, I wonder if there are any awards there?
Benson 2200 + 1120110 = 10
Nick 222 + 1022 = 11
Jason 212222 + 32 = 16
Mike Pao 210 + 2110 = 7
Half Time 24-19 Final Score 44-37
Nov 20, 2005. Its Walnut JL vs Chi Tzu for the consolation championship. I am able to bring in Brandon, Johnny, Melvin, Nick, Edgar and myself, and am pretty sure we should win. The plan is just to keep their point guard, #23 from shooting. They however must have plans too, since we both know each other, and it appears they start with a box and one. But they didn't know about Johnny. Anyway, they jump out to a 10-0 lead, two from a T that Brandon has pushing a guy away from him. So we sub Melvin for Nick and all of a sudden, we jump out to a 18-10 lead, wow, 18 unanswered points so they call time out. I sub out for Nick and again they kind of get a little closer, but we still have the lead at the half. We start with Brandon on the bench, and a few minutes later, he subs in for Melvin. We pretty much own them, as Edgar has some good points, and Johnny is having a huge game. The stupid ref calls a Technical on me because I guess he doesn't like the way I am yelling at the refs to watch the hand checking. Anyway, we own them and up 12 or so with two minutes to go, they again have to foul at the end, and I get 5/6 free throws and the other guys hit theirs as well. We win 56-44. I have to run out of the gym to get back to Walnut so I don't look at the stats. I would guess 10 for Edgar, 4 for Melvin, 2 for Nick, 15 for Brandon, and 18 for Johnny. But I really don't know. We get t shirts and they post our name up, so I feel better.
The Ninjas win C, very easily. White Fungus gets third, with a 56-41 win over price power.
We will have another opportunity coming soon.
