Divisional Playoff Recap
#1 Cali Raisins vs. #4 Dino’s Finest
In what was anticipated as the battle off the point guards (Ramos vs. Dew) turned into a coming out party for the former division champions two seasons removed from their inaugural championship campaign. The #4 seed Dino’s Finest pulled an upset as they defeated the regular season champs and #1 Overall seed Cali Raisins in the final game of night this past Sunday.
A few weeks back, Dino’s Finest PG Larry Dew and big man David Layne (Big City) took to the cameras once again to proclaim that Dino was making a run to their second championship. Now this may be strictly a coincidence but every season that I pull Dew aside for an in-depth interview; he guarantees that his team will win the championship. After witnessing what they did in Season 7, I had no choice but to believe what he said due to circumstances. Dino made little work of and eliminated the #5 seeded Dynasty in the first round to have a date with the Raisins who had defeated them in the final regular season game by 1 point after two missed free throws by John Shields. Dino had revenge on their mind and avenged their lost with Larry Dew and Paul Miller leading the way with (16 points) apiece. Dew wreaked havoc on the defensive end recording 7 steals and pulling in 8 rebounds. He was no slouch on the offensive end either dishing out assists (4). John Shields was the team’s third leading scorer with an 11 point performance.
The Raisins just seemed to have been outplayed for the first time this season. Boasting a 7-1 record entering the game, many of the leagues analysts projected them as a sleeper pick entering the playoffs to win it all based on their regular season performance. The Raisins were led by Alan Husted who poured in a game high 23 points to go along with 8 rebounds on 8-12 shooting from the field. A.J. Baylon backed Husted in the scoring column and was the only other Raisin player in double figures with 10 points. Kwasi Mensah and Daniel Torres rounded out the scoring quartet with 9 points apiece. The X-Factor for the Raisin was supposed to be the play of PG Jordan Ramos who just seemed to have an off day. Ramos ended with a stat line of 6 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Now to the average eye, that may seem like a well-rounded game. However Ramos finished with 8 turnovers, in large part to the defense of Dino’s Finest, which was stifling. The end result from a lack luster performance from the Raisins and a very well executed defensive game plan from Dino, is a 65-53 win for the #4 seed who now advance to the championship to take on the #3 seed Knicee.
Final Word:
Larry Dew and his teammates are well on their way to making their promise of another division championship become a reality. As I predicted in last week’s notes, the return of Paul Miller to the lineup was huge as he gave the team solid minutes and logged a double double to help his squad come away with the win and clinch a finals berth.
#3 Knicee vs. #7 The Pack
In what was a low scoring affair, the #3 seed Knicee did what many analysts predicted and moved on to the Championship round by defeating the #7 seed The Pack 48-37 in the division 1 semi final round. Entering the game, The Pack was coming off a huge confidence building win over the #2 seed Washed Up. The Pack wasn’t favored to get out of that game, but did so in stunning fashion by knocking off the higher seeded team.
The key to the game was to contain Kenneth Ubom, The Pack did well as Ubom finished with 4 points on 1-10 shooting, the other key was win the rebounding battle. Again The Pack did just that winning the rebounding battle 42-34. Now with the opposing teams most potent offensive threat shut down and the rebounding battle in their favor, I’d like to think The Pack would have made this game interesting. Truth be told, both these teams just had a “tough day at the office”. They just couldn’t score, as a team The Pack shot 15-52 (29%) from the field while Knicee a team that has a plethora of offensive options to get easy shots, shot 17-48 (35%). Now this game was just flat-out ugly with a first quarter score of 7-6 in favor of the Pack, but Knicee pulled though after a big second quarter and never looked back. Reggie Smith led the way for Knicee with 20 points, however it was an inefficient 20 points as he took 23 shots to get to 23 points. Dewayne O’Neal really ended up being the teams X-Factor his shimmy move in the post was really what allowed him to score an efficient 12 points on 3/5 shooting from the field and 6/8 shooting from the line. The Pack’s perimeter based offense was led by sharpshooter Luke Finalet (13 points, 5 rebounds) and CJ Srader (10 points). They just couldn’t get shots to fall, shooting a combined 9/24 from the field.
Final Word:
We will now see a #3 vs. #4 championship match-up with the #4 seed being heavily favored. Knicee has a very potent offense and defense but they’ve slipped up in both games this post season, their performance in both of their games doesn’t warrant their #3 seed, hopefully they are on top of their game when they face off against the Finest from the land of Dino if not they may be in for a very long night.
#1 UNDFTD vs. #4 Quiksilver
Defending champions UNDFTD’s season came to a screeching halt after falling to the #4 seed Quiksilver in the Division Semi’s this past Sunday. UNDFTD seemed to be in the driver’s seat until the finals minutes of the first half where Quiksilver made their run cutting a 13 point UNDFTD lead to 6 and building on that momentum in the 2nd half to come away with the 76-71 win after a strong performance from Johnny Earl, Richard Combs and in particular a very strong second half performance by Jaime Villalobos.
Quiksilver advanced to the semi final round after a 67-65 win over the #5 seed Primetime. UNDFTD opened their post season by putting the Top Dawgz to sleep late in the second half to come away with a 64-48 win.
Now granted that UNDFTD was without the services of wingmen, Buai Tut and Max Barkeley; Quiksilver captured this win with pure grit. Richard Coombs (17 points, 3 rebounds) carried the team in the first half knocking down, mid-range jumper after mid-range jumper. The play of Coombs and Johnny Earl (25 points, 11 assists & 7 rebounds) kept Quiksilver afloat after the strong play of Gary McNellys (20 points, 8 rebounds) and Diahnte Pickett (18 points) of UNDFTD tried to sink the Quiksilver fleet. The play of Jaime Villalobos solidified the wing play of Quik as he poured in (15 points and 8 rebounds) in just 20 mins of play. Quiksilver took the lead late in the second half and would not relinquish it. The game was still attainable for UNDFTD in the final minutes after clutch 3 point shots by Tray Caples ( 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists), but Quik put the game out of reach at the free throw line.
Final Word:
UNDFTD fell in what was a shocker to everyone but the players on the team. Early in the season, you could see the lack of chemistry would be detrimental to the team and it showed in this game, the team’s leading scorer from last season Derrick Pickett (9 points, 10 rebounds) took a backseat in the scoring trying to get everyone involved (7 assists) but that proved to be detrimental to the team’s success in the long run. Now with UNDFTD’s championship reign coming to an end, we have Quiksilver looking to place their name in the IBL’s pantheon of greatness as they square off with the #7 seed HighLife next week in the championship game.
#3 Special Delivery vs. #7 High Life
Heading into the game, Special Delivery had just come off a 102-70 rout of Team 2k and were oozing confidence. On the other hand you had HighLife who won their first round match-up due to forfeit over the #2 seed Wonton Soup.
So the stage was set, #7 vs. #3. Special Delivery got out to the early lead in large part to the play of Sammeon Waller ( 18 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals), Waller dictated the pace of play for the majority of the first half that is until HighLife’s Sango Niang (32 points, 12-21) decided to put himself in the skillet and started cooking, he got hot in a matter of seconds. By nailing four consecutive 3-pointers to give his team lead, and they would not look back. Alwyn Jordan ( 10 points, 7 rebounds, David S. (12 points) and Lester Cole (18 points, 7 rebounds) tried their best to counter the momentum that High Life had gotten, in large part to consecutive successful offensive possessions. Niang didn’t single handedly win this game, the play of his teammate and backcourt counterpart Chris Fowler (20 points) was huge. Special Delivery has many chances to tie the game in the final minute but just could capitalize on opportunities.
Final Word:
I find it amusing, how many teams discredit HighLife saying they are a bunch of kids, but these “kids” can and will compete with the best of them. They advance to the championship round after a predicted first round exit by many analysts, this team is the real deal when their backcourt is fully engaged and I think their time is now.
#6 Undrafted vs. #7 Burger Kings
Heading into the game, the younger top seeded Undrafted was the favorite to make a run at the divisions championship, however they hit a brick wall of the Burger Kings and their season came to a halt after a 57-49 loss.
The Burger Kings entered this game after pulling a shocking upset over the #2 seed the Raisins. They handled business executing the perfect game plan, staying attack on the offensive glass and opportunistic fast break opportunities as well as clutch shots down the stretch by Tony Banta (13 points). Early in the game David Aguilera was the teams bread and butter and he finished with a team high (15 points). Domo Criss was the teams X-Factor with 7 points off the bench, which in large part were wide open layups. Early in the game, Undrafted managed to get the Burger Kings out of their zone defense by either penetrating the defense or hitting 3 point shots. Jaden Radcliffe (12 points, 12 rebounds) was the team’s most viable 3 point threat early in the game as he hit two early jumpers but went cold and missed his next 6. Wes Draffen and Brandon Kinard (16 points apiece) tried their best to keep their team in the game, but defensive lapses and failing to communicate cause their team the game.
The team’s regular season leading scorer Charles Grays goes around bragging about how many points he averages, yet in this game he was a non factor (2 points) and a defensive liability. You can credit that to his injury or whatever you like, but that was indeed the case. If you want to win or put your team in the best position to win, you leave the floor if you’re hurt, you don’t go around stating how hurt you are, you just play the game. The same goes for Daimon Fleming, heading into the game, rumors were that he wouldn’t play as he said he quit the team, for whatever reason. So none of his teammates expected him to play. So he shows up to the game, stating that he was injured, that he can’t go and the next thing you know he’s dressed and expecting playing time, and when it wasn’t granted he took offense and started whining and bitching as always, soon after putting the blame on his GM for putting the best 5 on the court. After such a promising 9 weeks of play, it’s shame to see their season end this way, and bridges burned but oh well. Life goes on.
Final Word:
Lack of Chemistry and lapses on the defensive end is what lost the #6 seeded Undrafted this game. Now with their offseason starting earlier than expected, faced with many questions, holes in the roster and just uncertainty. The Burger Kings move on to face an even younger team who’s backcourt tandem will be a major issue to contain.
#4 A$AP vs. #8 HiiiPower
The highest seed left standing #4 A$AP’s season came to an end this past Sunday after falling to the defending champs #8 HiiiPower .
This was predicted by many analysts to be a win by HiiiPower and they did just that, although A$AP may dispute they had a chance to win the game, let’s be honest with ourselves, in a game that seen Sango Niang score 38 points, and his backcourt counterpart Chris Fowler score 23 points while dishing out 7 assists. The dynamic duo was clicking on all cylinders, and even a balanced attack from A$AP couldn’t stop them.
A$AP was without the services of 3 point Marksman Robel Kevorkian, and hustle guy Matt Achucarro. However they still managed to put in a valiant effort, with balanced scoring from their entire team. Jesse Jimenez and Jesus “Chuy” Contreras led the way for A$AP with 17 points apiece. Contreras pulled in 10 rebounds as well, to record a double-double. While Jimenez pulled in 5 rebounds and dished out 6 assists. Jimmy Huynh assumed the role as the teams go to three-point threat shooting 5-17 from beyond the arc for 15 points. Ashwin Sharma poured in 13 points to go along with his 10 rebounds. Richard Hak rounded out the scoring load with 11 points. Now looking at the box score, you see a team with 5 players in double figures you’d think they would be the eventual victor, however Niang and Fowler combined for 61 of the teams 84 points.
Final Word
If A$AP did have the services of Kevorkian and Achucarro things may have been different however, we head into the championship round next week with a 7 vs. 8 finals matchup. It goes to show, anything is possible and seeding is no issue.
Note from Author:
First things first, I do not “steal formats” of writing and eliminate “substance/opinions”. I write in a format that allows me to make factual statements. I could sit here and give you my opinion(s) weekly but what purpose would that serve. You read to be informed, you’re informed with facts, and my opinion is just as good as the next guys. SO let’s not write an entire “article” bashing my name for being a productive part of the league. Now I was regulated to writing “box scores”, but the notes were in publication (Season 3) with gritty, in-depth stories way before you came into fold, so what you’ve seen in not necessarily all I’ve done, so before you speak, research.
Another thing, we make teams to compete, I just so happened to have a talented team on paper of proven guys that have played in this league for many seasons. As a GM, I surround myself with guys who want to win, after all, we don’t play for fun now, do we. I don’t “stack” my teams, I understand a rule was being thought up to prevent the “stacking” team rule in Division 2, however with UNDFTD’s loss, I assume that rule will be thrown out, because well it’s not needed. A “stacked” team fell to a team who complains about other teams having immense talent, yet their team is “stacked” in its own right.
-Nathan Apolonio
IBL Full Court Press 