Recap

Another star-studded matchup of Grinders greats. This game should have been a good one and it was. Team Curt was looking to avenge its” earlier defeat and got started off on the right foot. Team Curt decided to take a different approach on offense. They put Curt on one side of the court and played a 3-man game on the other. The other players looked like a well oiled machine getting whatever shot they wanted using ball movement to rip apart the weak Grey”s Anatomy zone. Mike “I don”t silence crowds I silence myself” G. had his GAPE blown wide-open again (another 36) with a ridiculous 20/14/7/1/1 line on 67% shooting. He also deterred the weak-ass trips through the lane when Team Timmy dared to enter. Eric “E” Boerdner had another solid game with 17 points and Justin “Helmet” Girardi was on the war-path with 8 pts. Curt finally had an efficient game shooting going 10/22 for 21 points and added a career-high 14 boards.

Team Timmy should have had an easier go of it than they did. Team Curt was playing them in the second leg of the back-to-back and looked like they had never seen a treadmill before. This led to a poorly run 2-2 zone that reminded me more of swiss cheese than a wall. Team Timmy got every look they wanted but just couldn”t consistently make anything……..except for Jon “The Asterisk” Witt. This Grinders OG dropped 31 on Team Curt and looked like he turned back the clock. The vertically challenged Witt even had 3 BLOCKS!!!!! Pauly J. may have had his best game as a Grinder scoring 12 points with 9 boards and 8 assists. Jeff “My neck AND my back” May continued his Eldridge Club struggles shooting 4 of 20. Timmy “You can”t spin the ball off the backboard” Hughes continued to underwhelm with a modest 14/13/8 stat line. This line is not bad mind you, but a FAAAAAAAAAR cry from what he used to be able to do.

The game came down to the final couple of possessions. Team Curt had control of the game towards the end but gave Team Timmy multiple chances to win it with their poor offensive execution at the end. Pauly J. got the ball on the baseline with time winding down for a wide-open 2 to win it. The crowd rose to its feet. Pauly J, a Cinderella boy with tears in his eyes, let loose the shot that could have changed the world and cemented him a Grinders legend. It arched elegantly through the musty Eldridge air, soaring to the basket. But much like Webber when looking for a timeout (screw you Curt and “F” Michigan), found nothing but air. Game over. Curt wins. Timmy loses.