Recap

6:30 – Mayday, Mayday vs. Max Gersitzappen: 46-49

With Captain Jeff May sidelined again, the Budget Beasts needed to really step up against the top team. And in the first half, they did exactly that – Todd and Pauly P were looking like MJ and Kobe out there with some of the shots they were hitting. Bryant was finishing strong inside, and had 3 three’s. Salvati displayed his trademarked hustle, grabbing rebounds he had no business getting to and exploited the weak parts of the defense for some easy finishes. It looked like an upset was brewing early in the evening, but alas, the first half gameplan went out the window. Bryant went full takeover mode, as he ended the game with 31 attempts and raised his season WAP to 40%! For reference, that’s higher than Curtis this session. Everyone else for May’s team shot 50% from the field – Salvati went 6/10, Pauly had 8/15/5, and Nixon contributed 13 points and had a three pointer. Perhaps they would have liked to see more of the rock in the second half, but they’ll look to carry over some of their positive momentum against Curt’s team.

Team Gersitz came out of the gates looking lackadaisical – it looked like they were just trying to get in and up on out of there. But some second half adjustments, mainly on the defensive side showed why they are sitting at 5-1. They just have 5 solid guys, one of whom happens to be a 5 time MVP. “Crazy” Al had an off night, shooting just 3/15, but played an otherwise all-around game with 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block. Garrett shot 3/9, but played an otherwise all-around game with 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block. No, I did not copy and paste the same thing twice. Their stats were just identical. The Old Polack Jon continued his magical stretch, as he took advantage of being left constantly open on the wing as he went 6/12 for 12 points, and nothing else. That’s a guy who plays his role to perfection. Gersitz somehow only took 9 shots, but ended with 11 points, 8 rebounds and a bunch of other stuff. Peyton led the way in scoring with 14 points, and chipped in 3 steals and a block on defense. The defensive switch to put him on Bryant was perhaps the defining move of the night, and who would have ever thought that making the young guy guard the other young guy would work so well?