BASIC BALL 2011 OPENING NIGHT
Game 1 -Red vs Purple
The 1st game of the 2011 Basic Ball inaugural season featured the Red team vs the Purple team. Purple had a solid effort from Neil Armstrong who scored 16 points and pulled down 17 boards and Raymond Edwards who scored a game high 23 points on his way to a double-double adding 11 rebounds. Rodney Norris also made a solid effort with an impressive 7 points and 4 blocks.
Despite their solid effort, purple came up short, losing 55-48 in their season opener. In order for purple to better compete, they will need a better effort from the rest of the team who was held to just 9 points.
Despite their solid effort, purple came up short, losing 55-48 in their season opener. In order for purple to better compete, they will need a better effort from the rest of the team who was held to just 9 points.
Red was lead by the superb play of both Maurice Wood who scored 20 points and had 5 steals and Nicholas King, who scored 14 points and pulled down 7 boards and 2 blocks. They combined for 34 of Red’s 55 points. Darrell Butler also played a good game adding 8 points 5 boards and a game high 5 blocks!
Game 2 -Black vs Yellow
In the 2nd game of the night, the wide bodies of the Black team took on the speed of the Yellow team. Black and yellow reminds you of a bumble bee, but in the end, the Yellow Team were the one’s who ended up getting stung as they dropped their season opener 61-59. Black broke out to a early 13 point lead largely due to Marcus Spence who controlled the ball well as the Black team’s floor general and Kenneth Orange who did everything else- and I do mean everything with a game high 20 points 11 boards 3 steals and 3 blocks on his way to a double double.
Yellow was plagued by poor shooting . Phil Robinson, the yellow’s team speedy point guard, took and missed shot after shot, after shot leading to a 33-24 deficit at the half.
When asked, “what do you guys need to do to get back in this game” Darrell Reed of the Yellow team said, “We need to move the ball around and play better D “. Apparently Phil didn’t get the memo as he continued to hoist ill-advised bricks throughout the 2nd half occasionally sinking a basket or two.
By the end of the 1st half fatigue began to rear its ugly head as the Black team looked like they needed a team size oxygen mask. Black started to turn the ball over and miss a lot of shots. The Black team poor 2nd half performance allowed the Yellow team to get back in the game, even bringing the game within 2 pts (59-57) at 31 seconds left. However the Yellow team could not shake the “ghost of Poor Shooting Past” and could not take advantage of the winded Black team, falling in their season opener, 61-59.The Yellow team was lead by Phil Robinson with 18 points and 5 boards.
Despite losing their season opener, Yellow has a pretty good team. Phil is a speedy point guard that can carry the team if he gets hot but with Jermaine Higgins who scored 14 points and grabbed an impressive 11 boards, yellow would fare better if they slow the tempo down a bit and get him and their other “bigs” more involved in the offense.
This game was a nail bitter as it came down to the….(just kidding). The Teal team jumped out front early with a 7-0 run and never looked back. By the end of the 1st half, Teal lead 35-14. Teal looked like a veteran team who had been playing together for some time. They played great help defense and communicated well. On the other side of the ball, they made good passes and even better shots which lead to an impressive 24 assists as a team. The entire team were in double digits except for Rodreen Howell who was 2 points shy with 8. Ron Magee lead the assist train with 6 and added 11 points.
Before this game started, I predicted the Grey team would win, they were taller, they looked more athletic and could jump. I was more wrong than Monique in Spandex. Why didn’t it come together for the Grey team? For starters, they never used their height to their advantage by establishing an inside presence, too many jump shots, and not aggressive enough on “D”. Add those elements with the Teal’s team ability to consistently knock down shots, and it makes for a long night for the Grey- well actually a short night as the game was called at the 2 min mark (mercy rule).
Grey had a game that they would like to soon forget. With Grey’s athleticism, and height, if they can learn to play together, they can be a good team in this league. I don’t see them repeating this 1st performance again.
Teal, put their stamp on this league and quickly established themselves as one of the best teams. I know it is still early but from where I am sitting, Teal will be hard to beat.
That’s all for now- Deuces
We Got, Now, Next and Forever!
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