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SEASON 42, WEEK4
RECAPS
By: League Analyst
Contributing Writer
Bullets vs. We Tried
Bronze Division
2 p.m.
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Bullets are looking like a low tier Gold Division team
after their blowout win against We Tried. |
If
there were any questions that Bullets should be in Gold, the
return of Eric Valentine answered that as Bullets win big
against We Tried, 87-50.
We
Tried hasn't complained and they aren't the type to complain.
Bullets aren't the type to sandbag to win Championships and in
their defense, they were/are a Bronze Division team. Bullets
intent to join Bronze wasn't to win 1 sided games against their
competition and since we're being real, they're 2 players away
from competing against the elite teams in Gold Division. Once
again, no teams have complained about the competition but for
the sake of complaining ... well, their peers just want to see
We Tried compete against the competition.
GM
Anthony Meltcher finished with a team-high, 16 points and he
added 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals. Cody Rote added 12
points, while Will Marion finished with 6 boards.
Marion's bigger defenders made it tough for Will to score but
there was no question he had to will to win (drumroll).
Newcomer, John Paul, finished with 8 points, 7 rebounds.
Bullets had 3 players score 20 plus points as Eric Valentine
returned to his team with 26 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals.
Rookie dunker Marcus Eggum led Bullets with 27 points, 2
steals while All Star Jorge Parrales added 42 points, 3
assists. Rookie dunker, Marcus Eggum, has been invited to
participate in the All Star Dunk Contest to be held at Staples
Center.
Hoopers vs. IHOB
Bronze Division
2:50 p.m.
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Once a hooper, always a Hooper. NBA is back, along with
Gary Beaird's heroics... |
Hoopers moved up to #4 in the standings after former MVP Gary
Beaird hit a buzzer beater as Hoopers avenge a Week 3 defeat
against IHOB, 67-66.
It was
a buzzer beater where Gary got fouled on the way up as time
expired and Gary was able to hit the shot despite contact.
Beiard led Hoopers with 24 points, 4 three-pointers and 3
assists. Beiard shot 57% from 3-point range and shot a
team-high, 71.4% from the floor against IHOB. Uzoma Kalu
returned after being on hiatus and he finished with 9 points, 6
rebounds, 3 assists. Jason Fielder has been a menace on
the defensive end for Hoopers and he finished with 4 rebounds, 2
blocks. Shadon Knight, officially quit being a
referee on Saturday night, made his Bronze Division appearance
scoring 16 points, 12 rebounds, 4 steals. There was a lot of
confusion from IHOB on why a referee was playing against them
and the League Commissioner explained what transpired over the
weekend.
"To make a long story short, he ended up not wanting to
officiate any longer after word got out that we were bringing in
a new crew to officiate," said the League Commish. "I was
surprised just as IHOB was when Shadon came out to play because
he made no mention of playing in the league after he retired
from officiating. The new refs don't know him, so it's not
biased at all and he won't be allowed to officiate the rest of
the season."
Alex Thomas finished with a team-high, 22 points, 8 rebounds
while GM Arvin Delapaz led the team with 3 assists, 3
points. Adrian Lecesne, last season's Rookie of the
Season, finished with 19 points, 6 rebounds while Justin
Lecense finished with 10 points. Last season's Defensive
Player of the Season, Jason Shorts, checked in via social media
in the 3rd quarter and has a message for his former teammates.
"Please tell my teammates to play defense as if I were there!" -
Jason Shorts, Instagram
Chicle vs. Fire Squad
Bronze Division
3:40 p.m.
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Chicle's 12 game winning streak comes to an end as Otto
Guillermo led Fire Squad with 30 points, 7 three's. |
"Does
he usually hit those shots?" - Chicle GM, Chris Duran.
Last
week must have been warm up as Player of the Week, Otto
Guillermo, got hot from 3-point range as Fire Squad upset
the Reigning Champions, 57-53. Chicle had a chance to win the
game but a shot from Mike Trout rimmed out as Fire Squad
remained undefeated.
Otto
was automatic from beyond the arch knocking down 7
three-pointers en route to a career-high, 30 points on 41.7%
shooting. Erick Aroche and Deshay Garrison both
scored 12 apiece as Garrison led the team with 3 assists. The
team is disciplined on defense only allowing Chicle to shoot
from the charity stripe 4 times.
Chicle's 2 week layoff may have contributed to their rustiness
as the team shot "just" 41.2% from the field. While any other
team would take that 41%, it is below Chicle's standards as
CJ "Nitro" Pang and Danny Villalobos scored 17 apiece
to lead Chicle. Louie Venegas added 6 points while Damien
Reyes finished with 9 points. During their 12 game winning
streak, GM Chris Duran was overlooked by opponents
because he spent most of the time running the team from the
sidelines but he's a big part of their success... especially
when he's hitting shots. Those unforeseen 3-pointers were
non-existent as Chicle suffered their first loss since Season
40.
The Rock vs. Prodigy Plug
Gold Division
4:30 p.m.
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Shadon Knight got the best of The Rock as Shadon Knight
officially resigned as a league official to play in the
league. |
This
game was intense and the trash talking between former official,
Shadon Knight, and The Rock, started early. Shadon,
playing for his new Gold Division team, Prodigy Plug, tied a
team-high, 5 assists as Prodigy Plug defeat The Rock, 59-39.
"Ya'll are BUMS!" taunted former official, Shadon Knight.
"If you played as good as you officiated, we wouldn't be in this
situation," replied GM Ben Sin.
Isaiah Watson led Prodigy with 20 points, 2 rebounds while
new Center Marcus led the team with 12 rebounds, 10
points. "Poobey" Westbrook was a Player of the Week
nominee as he tied a team-high, 5 assists and he led
Prodigy Plug with 5 steals.
Kassah Kantiok led The Rock with 12 points, 9 rebounds while
Glenn Payne finished with 8 points, 7 rebounds. The team
struggled on the offensive end, combining for just 39 points and
shot 17.4% from 3-point range while attempting 23 shots. The
team is struggling with a playmaker who can set up their bigs
and out of nowhere...a former player from The Rock... "Action
Jackson" has reached out to play in Superstar Basketball.
"Trying to play, know any teams?" asked Action Jackson, via
Instagram.
"Your former team needs you, you might wanna hit up Ben,"
assisted the League Commish.
NOTE FROM SUPERSTAR BASKETBALL REGARDING SHADON KNIGHT'S STATUS
AS AN OFFICIAL:
"To make a long story short, he ended up not wanting to
officiate any longer after word got out that we were bringing in
a new crew to officiate," said the League Commish. "I was
surprised just as ya'll were was when Shadon came out to play because
he made no mention of playing in the league after he retired
from officiating. The new refs don't know him, so it's not
biased at all and he won't be allowed to officiate the rest of
the season."
Renegades vs. Try Hards
Gold Division
5:20 p.m.
It was
the biggest win of Try Hard's rookie campaign as Try Hards upset
Renegades, 65-56.
The
emphasis was ball movement and league analysts felt the team
that moved that ball around would get the W. Try Hard's were
missing rookie phenom, Ryan Carter, and Try Hards did
their thing and...tried hard. lol
It's
been a rough 2 weeks for GM Rudy Hernandez who had to
guard two of the league's biggest players in the last 2 weeks.
Last week it was Monstars Center Gus Vasquez and this
week it was Renegades Center, Justian Hamilton, who
tallied 12 points and a team-high, 11 rebounds. Rudy's box score
totals (2 points, 2 rebounds) doesn't show the dirty work Rudy
had to do - box out against bigs, fight for position, and
contest all the guards who penetrated the lane. While the All
Stars are trying to outcompete each other to play at Staples
Center, don't forget it's the blue collared players who do all
the dirty work just so the All Stars get their shine on. (We see
you, Rudy!)
Fernando Ramos finished with 17 points, 3 rebounds while
Brandon Rojas was on fire with 25 points, 9 rebounds, 2
steals. Rojas was clutch in the 2nd half and had answers for
Renegades when they tried to make a comeback in the game's
closing minutes.
Renegades tried to foul with 52 seconds left and the new
officials swallowed their whistle with GM Aaron Mancell's
foul attempt. Renegades were penalized with a tech and 2 free
throws for the opposition and luckily for Renegades, Try Hards
missed both of their free throws.
Kris Dick finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds while Mike
Ratliff led Renegades with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists.
Asher Avinger added 9 points while Adrian finished
with 4 points, 2 assists. Renegades are tied for #8 and have a
tough match-up with undefeated Killmonger on Week 4.
Chicle vs. Foundation
Bronze Division
6:10 p.m.
Chicle
quickly got back to their winning ways as Reigning Champions,
Chicle, defeat Foundation, 75-53.
"Oh wow, that's the 2nd guy," pointed out Chicle GM, Chris
Duran.
Foundation added 2 players who can arguably help the dinosaurs
as Foundation added Kassah Kantiok (11 points, 11
rebounds) and Asher Avinger (15 points, 3 assists) to the
line-up. Adrian Eddington finished with 11 points, 3
rebounds while All Star GM Jonathan Wynn added 7 points,
6 rebounds, 3 assists. Foundation shot 6.3% from 3-point range
as Chicle out-assisted Foundation, 18-5.
"If my team is gonna shoot 6% from 3-point range, I might as
well shoot that 6% myself," joked Hanz Jimenez, League
Commissioner. "Stupid Chicle always motivating me to play..."
CJ
"Nitro" Pang finished with 14 points and the Reigning MVP
filled up the box score with 2 steals, 3 assists. Jay Tapang
tied a team-high with 8 rebounds and also tied a Chicle-high, 15
points. Center Danny Villalobos scored 15 points while
Louie Venegas finished with 8 points, 3 dimes. Chicle has a
highly anticipated match-up with Bullets and league admin is
looking to get Bullets to play a later time for Chicle.
Relics vs. Entourage
Gold Division
7 p.m.
After
suffering their first loss of the season last week, All Star and
Finals MVP, Cisco Acevedo, was hot in the 1st quarter. On
a mission not to lose again this season, Relics stopped
Entourage's 2 game winning streak with a 90-75 victory.
Cisco
Acevedo aka Hall of Famer, aka Steph Curry before Steph Curry
aka C Note, aka "First 100 point scorer" aka Will C Yoo at
Staples Center aka has as many nicknames as he has on different
ways to score... displayed a glimpse of his offensive
arsenal as he put on a clinic on Entourage's backcourt. Acevedo
finished with a game-high, 30 points, 7 three-pointers and was
52.4% from the field. Cisco finished with 6 three-pointers in
the 1st quarter and when Entourage started to close out, he
showed he can also score from INSIDE the 3-point line (lol).
Lasalle Thomas has been on fire this season and he finished
with 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists. Yoseph "Yayo"
Yaisreal, a leading candidate for Rookie of the Season,
finished with 28 points, 5 assists while new crowd favorite,
Adrian Hargrove lit it up for 4 three-pointers, 12 points on
66.7% shooting.
The
win over East LA Dream Team last week might have lowered the
intensity level of Entourage as the team struggled on the
defensive end against Relics. Kevin "The Weeknd" Levingston
scored 21 points on 42% shooting while Korey Levingston
added 22 points, 2 steals. Joey Cejudo added 16 points
while Ryan Miller led Entourage on the glass with 12
rebounds, 9 points.
Entourage has lost to 2 of the top teams in Gold - Killmonger
and Relics - and if they are going to be crowned Champions, they
need to focus on defense. The team puts up numbers on offense
but you know what they say - Defense wins Championship.
NOTE:
Shout
out to the 2 injured Relics players, Bobby Kovach and
Andrew Knox who came out to support their family. Huge shout
out to Andrew getting Relics highlights which were posted on
Monday.
Sick Pick Ups vs. Killmonger
Gold Division
8 p.m.
It was
the Battle of the Undefeated Gold Division teams as Killmonger
puts an end to Sick Pick Up's undefeated season in a 84-77
victory.
Former
MVP, Mike Peters, had 3 different chances to narrow the
lead in the game's closing minutes but his 3-point attempts
would roll out as Mike finished with 13 points, 3 three-pointers
on 27% shooting (3-pt. Chad Dennis and Dell Well
led Sick Pick Ups with 24 points apiece while Chris Fowler
added 12 points, 4 assists for Sick Pick Ups.
Sick
Pick Ups led 24-14 after 1st and 44-32 at the half as Sick Pick
Ups offense were running in full gear. Once Killmonger settled
down and their defense clamped down, Killmonger rallied using a
52-33 run in the 2nd half.
Sean Harris, MVP from Fall 2008 season, finished with 22
points, 7 rebounds and was 52.9% from the field. The MVP
front-runner has his eyes in the rear view mirror and the
motivation to stop ALL opponents has Killmonger at the #1
position for the first time since Season 40. Benjamin Jay was
the second leading scorer with 19 points and was perfect from
the field converting all 7 shot attempts. Johnny Blaze
finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds while Shad Earby
filled up the stats sheet with 12 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists.
Veteran player Uzoma Kalu, changing his role for the
benefit of the team, tallied 11 points, 3 three-pointers.
"He ain't throwing those no look passes on this team," joked a
league analyst. "Sean is gonna have him looking at the bench if
he throws those no look dimes."
East LA Dream Team vs. Monstars
Gold Division
9 p.m.
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Andrew Martinez is following up his rookie campaign with
huge numbers in his Sophomore season. Would be nice to
see him at the All Star Game... |
Monstars are looking solid after winning their second straight
game, beating former 3x Champions East LA Dream Team, 77-72.
Andrew Martinez is knocking on MVP doors as he led Monstars
with 27 points, 5 three-pointers, 7 rebounds. Andrew's game is
starting to open up as newcomer, Alex Mendiola, is
finding him for easy spot up jumpers. Mendiola tallied 5 assists
in his debut while finishing with 14 points, 4 three-pointers.
Xavier Morelos finished with 6 rebounds, 6 points while
Danny Lopez continues to be a huge contributor for his
new team, finishing with 11 points, 2 boards. The team's defense
tightened up in the 2nd half as they stopped Monstars' perimeter
shooters from heating up in the critical 2nd half.
EAST
LA DREAM TEAM STATS - PENDING
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