Season 2, Game 1 Recap

6/23/08

Zuricalaw.com vs. MPI

Game Present & Member Grades

Zeke (A-) – played the point well and didn’t force the issue. Also showed his offensive game and attacked the basket.

Mike B (B+) – made his shots and limited his turnover plague.

Anicito (B-) – missed a few easy ones.

Ahmed (C+) – attacked the basket but there were too many turnovers and one-on-fours for the teams liking.

Zosh (A) – played big defensively. Also finished the offensive glass and even made free throws down the stretch.

Noey (B) – had a nice game from beyond the arch.

Joe H (DNP) – sunbathing on the Tijuana coast with his new Mexican mail order bride.

“Young boys take no care, and never finish off their things with shadows” – Leonardo DaVinci

Zuricalaw.com started the new season against the one and only foe from last year’s division, MPI. Team captain and acting sponsor of the league in 2022, Ant set out a lofty goal for the team, to go 8-0 and win the championship. No member disagrees with the possibility of this happening, especially since the team upgraded the roster. Noey was resurrected like a cast member from Michael Jackson’s Thriller video to join the club after Jeremy’s abrupt departure. Noey gives the team another three-point threat, which alleviated Anicito from his delusions of developing that part of his game. MPI had also upgraded their team significantly and got out on zuricalaw real quick. MPI opened an 8-1 lead in the opening five minutes. Ant’s dreams were slipping away like the Ohio River Valley. The conditions of the game were however a major part of the reason for the team’s struggles. Item number one, the game ball: usually the team is without a quality basketball. And last week Ant went out and used some of the company’s petty cash to purchase one of the best balls available, the TF-1000. The ball was brand new leather and was slippery at the start. Item number two, the heat: The gym was literally a sauna. Anicito admits to sweating more than any human being should sweat, but last night he could have watered an acre of central park if he rung out his shirt. It was bad, even Anthony had sweat marks, and he never plays hard enough to sweat. So, between the moisture in the gym and the new leather, the ball was slick. So slick that it was hard to handle, slipped off the backboard, and felt really nice when rubbed gently on your inner thigh, well that’s what Anicito said.

Zuricalaw.com gained ground on MPI and eventually traded baskets for much of the first half with MPI. Both Anicito and Zosh missed some wide-open layups. At one point Anicito made a nice move to the baseline, beating his man but completely blew the layup. Zosh cleaned up an offensive rebound but the ball slipped right off the glass. Ahmed’s dilemmas came more on the handling end as he tried his kamikaze drives that usually get him to the line but last night the pokes were getting the ball away from him. The first half ended on a big three point shot by Noel as he slid into the offense like sybian.

The second half opened with zuricalaw.com dominating. Mike B turned on his offensive spout. Zosh was huge, literally and figuratively, on the defensive end. Ant attacked the basket with no fear and more astonishing, finished. Noey punished the defense with his three. Things looked like smooth sailing as zuricalaw had an 8-point lead with ten minutes to play. That was when the cards started to fall. A couple of lackadaisical defensive stands let MPI’s most ugly shooter knock down open threes and we were forcing too many passes that turned into turnovers. It was all of a sudden a two-point game with less than a minute to play. An inbound on the sideline was guarded intensely by MPI and Ahmed made a quick move to get open, only he forgot that you cant go behind the half court line, its called a BACKCOURT violation. So with twenty seconds left, MPI had the ball down by two. MPI did a nice job holding the ball to kill some clock. A three point shot went up that would have given MPI the lead but was missed and Zosh grabbed the board and was fouled with six seconds left. With ice water in his veins, Zosh made both free throws securing the win for zuricalaw.com. These free throws may seem understated, but readers should note that Zosh is 8 for his last 46 from the line.

Zuricalaw.com got their first win. Hopefully we can continue and not let Anthony down. He said that if we go undefeated and win the championship he would take the team out to dinner at Tao. Ask Noey, he said that!