Recap

This game had all the makings of a classic semi-final grudge match. You had Curt vs Richie, a rematch of Shoulder Joe vs Freight Train Wayne, Cole vs Boccio (apparently they played football together or something), ‘Lil Hack…..I mean Josh vs Tirado, Chuck’s D vs Curt’s soft puss, Ben’s stiff arm vs Cole’s muffin top. Clearly this was going to be a clash for the ages………..

Someone forgot to tell these people that you need to score in order to win. I gotta tell ya, from my view from the cafeteria TV in San Quentin, it was awful. I’d rather have been the back pace car for a marathon for 90 year olds. Good lord this was boring to watch. He shoots. Clang. He shoots. Clank. He shoots. Air. How the hell did these 10 people sign up to play in a basketball league? Ugh.

Anyway, it seemed Team Curt was really only playing with Curt and a bunch of guys who were shooting with their eyes closed. Ben “Sears and Roebuck”, ‘Lil Josh, and Mike “Ball So Hard” Boccio all ended up on the Guys Who Tried Their Best list. There’s only 3 spots awarded and all 3 were taken up by 3 guys on the same team…..in the same game. Ouch. While Curt may have been wondering why his teammates were playing so badly, he has only himself to blame. He’s the one who arrogantly undervalued Richie and low-balled his bid for him, allowing Cole to swoop in at the last second and outbid him for his services. The rest of these guys – he drafted them of his own volition.

Early in the game Curt was employing the same strategy that led them to victory only a few weeks earlier. He played more of a facilitator role looking to get easy buckets for his teammates. This strategy worked, except the buckets weren’t going in. Boccio missed some early layups and Ben missed a few shots from close range. Curt turned to Joe to answer the call like he did earlier in the season vs Wayne. This time the well came up dry. Joe, Boccio, Ben, and “Lil Josh shot a combined 7/30 for the game.

The 3-seed Chuckers were also scoring deprived. Wayne (1/10) was having a hard time getting the ball to go in, as was Chucky T. (2/8). The score was 19-15 Chuck You at the half, after a small 4-0 run.

The second half started much better for Go Chuck Yourself. Richie “Always Take the Over” Creamer got it going driving past Ben and Boccio. Creamer (14/4 on 50% FG) led an early run to extend the lead to double digits. Jon “Bang Bang” Tirado continued his selfless team play. He constantly harassed the opposing ball handlers and took premium opportunities to score (9/5/2/1 on 67%FG). His scoring furthered the lead which never again got below double digits. Curt tried to get his team back in the game with his shooting, but to no avail. Curty finished with 17 points on 8/25 shooting. The Chuck’ets team harassed Curt the entire game, often picking him up full-court. As a team the Cowering Curts shot 27%. That won’t get it done in the playoffs.

PS: Cole continued to ride playoff coattails.

Ramifications of the outcome:
– Curt again comes up short in the playoffs. Should he be allowed to captain again?
– Richie advances to a championship game. Could he win his first big boy ring?
– Joe went 4/15. Will he concede that Wayne’s his daddy?