LegalZoom 67, Milwaukee's Best 61.
Our semi-final game was a tight one from the get-go. Neither team was up by more than 6 points. We only had five guys present at the start of the game and I was a little worried for our rebounding and interior defense because they have this one big beast black guy named Preston. The starting five was me, Killer Kev, Big Money Frank, the Michigan Man, and Mikey Miles.
I really don't remember much about this game (which is pretty sad considering it happened just last night hah) except for the fact that Big John showed up around the 10 minute-mark in the first half (we now have a bench) and Larry (the 7th guy for us) coming to the rescue by showing up with 9 minutes left in the game in the 2nd half.
We trailed by two points after Ryan Lagod hit a 3 three pointer in the corner with about 5 minutes left but then we just locked down and took the game over from there. We won by 6.
December 3rd, 2008, 9:00 PM PST @ LA Fitness Hollywood
Now this game I do remember. I didn't think our last championship (4-peat) game would ever be matched as far as craziness goes. I was wrong.
Let's fastforward to the last three minutes of the game because everything else isn't note-worthy. We're in a timeout in which Mikey Miles alerty and smartly called to stop the clock because of the upcoming free throws.
Score with 3:02 remaining: Trojans 60, LegalZoom 54. Situation: Marlon just chucked up a three pointer and missed but he was foul. He hits the first free throw, misses the second, and hits the third. Score: Trojans 60, LegalZoom 56. Let's see, we're down by four points with under three minutes left in the game. This sounds like Larry Time. No not the white Larry Bird but the black Larry Dillingham. On our next possession, Big L takes it to the rack with two power dribbles, a spin, and some more power dribbling for a layup off glass. Money. Two point game, Trojans 60, LegalZoom 58. Back on defense, they get a penetration in the paint but Big John comes over on help defense and beats the hell out of this black dude's (probably a bad term here because there were a lot of black dudes on the court at this juncture in the game hah) layup attempt AND controls the rebound/steal. Of course, he hands the ball off to Larry right away and Larry brings it up court. Larry finds a seam between two defenders and drives again, this time, dishing off to a cutting John for a easy layup and we're all knotted up at 60 a piece with about 1:50 left in the game.
After a couple of wasted possessions, one in which Larry got into the paint and fell down and was granted a timeout, another in which a Kev-wide-open tying three missed and a John gimme left-handed scoop layup clanked long, we found ourselves with possession with thirty seconds left and time-out us. We discuss a play to get the ball inbounded (this was our main concern with 30 seconds left because we were gonna hold on to it and take the last shot). Well, we were able to inbound the ball successfully (great news considering what happened in our last game down the stretch). Larry holds the ball up top and the clock ticks down to 10 seconds. He gets a quick double and gives it to Marlon. Marlon drives inside the paint and is quickly trapped by two Trojans with five seconds left. He jumps backward and throws up a prayer that bricks badly. Rebound Trojans with 2.1 seconds left on the clock. Timeout Trojans.
Out of the timeout, one of the Trojans launched the ball fullcourt and it's deflected by Miles but is chased down by their point guard (let's call him Cornrolls cause he plays @ lunchtime and he used to have corn rolls). Anyway, Cornrolls grabs the rebound and shoots a fadeaway jumper (that would of counted and put the 5-peat into its death bed) that was on-line but just long. Overtime.
The tip: the Trojans big man got the tipped easily over John but he swatted it so hard that it went straight out of bounds right in the middle of the sideline at mid-court. LegalZoom's ball. Right off the back, Larry pulls up for a 20-footer on the top right elbow and drains it. LegalZoom 62, Trojans 60. However, we went cold for the next three minutes and after a couple of lackluster plays on defense, found ourselves down 66-62. Four point deficit in crunchtime. That definitely sounds like Larry Time.
I forget who scored the next two points but when the score was 66-64, Larry got fouled on a drive and had a chance to tie the game with two free throws with about 20 seconds left. He gets the first freebie and missed the second (pretty badly hah). Rebound Trojans. Fortunately for us, it was the big guy (who also plays @ lunch, let's call him Frenzy) who makes every single layup but can't shoot if his life depended on it. Right when I saw him grab the rebound, I ran straight to him and grabbed his jersey. He actually got the pass off to the front court but I held on to his jersey and we all stopped playing so the ref had to call the foul. Exactly who we wanted to foul! So Big Frenzy walks up to the line for a one-and-one and misses! John snatches the rebound and here we go.
Let's refresh: LegalZoom 65, Trojans 66. LegalZoom possession with about 14 seconds left. Marlon brings the ball down and drives in for the game-winner but gets cut off, stutters, stops and looks to pass. But before he can make the pass, he gets hammered big-time and hits the deck. Foul. One-and-one with two point six seconds left. Marlon steps up to the line, needing just one to tie and two to win. The release is good but it's long. Big Game Frank jumps up and grabs the rebound and throws up a right-handed hook, it falls halfway down, rattles both ends of the rim (if you're a Laker-fan, same as the Troy Murphy's tip but the ball didn't dance twice, just once) and comes out with about point nine seconds remaining. The rebound came off towards the right end where Mr. John was waiting for the quick put-back as time expires. Trojans 66, LegalZoom 67.
We go crazy and title five-peat is set in stone. Good job fellas. Job well-done.
Here is the email I received this morning...
WOW, WHAT A FINISH! LEGAL ZOOMS FRANK EMISKO HIT THE GAME WINNING BASKET ALA INDIANA PACERS AS TIME EXPIRED AND HELP LEGAL ZOOM WIN ITS 5TH SRTAIGHT TITLE 67-66 OVER THE TROJANS! WITH 2.6 SECONDS LEFT MARLON MCNAIR WENT TO THE LINE TO SHOOT 1 AND 1. HIS SHOT HIT THE TOP OF THE RIM AND BOUNCED UP HI, EMISKO CAME IN WITH THE TIP OFF THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BOARDS AND WON THE GAME! IT WAS A CLOSE BATTLE ALL GAME, GOING INTO 1 OVERTIME PERIOD. TROJANS LED MOST OF THE GAME AND PLAYED TOUGH, BUT COULDN’T FINISH.
FIRST SEMIS SAW THE TROJANS CONTROL THE LA SUNS AND WON BY 5. LA SUNS PLAYED STRONG TILL THE END AND DIDN’T LET THE TROJANS TAKE AN EASY VICTORY.
2ND SEMI SAW ZOOM AND MILWAUKEES BEST. ZOOM CAPITILIZED ON THE OFF SHOOTING NIGHT OF RYAN LOGAD AND TRAVIS PROFFIT AND TOOK THE GAME 67-51. I GUESS YOU CAN SAY 67 WAS THE LUCKY NUMBER FOR ZOOM!
No comments:
Post a Comment