Recap

6:30 Team OMJ 43 vs Team E 40
Both teams were missing pieces of their teams and both teams needed a sub. This seemed to be a theme of week 1. One of the barguements (patent pending term) was who got lucky and “subbed up”. Pauly “MV” P was selected to be the replacement for Lanzot and OMJ. Peyton was chosen to sub for Zach and “his highness” Michael Francis Ford Coppola VII. Would the subs determine the outcome?

The game started off slowly with respect to scoring. It seemed like each team was having a hard time figuring out their roles and where the shots were going to come from. If Eldridge needed a driveway built, these 2 squads would have gladly paved a brick one for them.

As the game settled in, Team E looked to run the offense through “Tall for Nothing” Justin, getting touches in the paint. The OMJ defense responded by swarming him when he got the ball. Justin was mildly effective in the first half, but faded in the second, finishing with a 13/8 stat line on 33% from the field. That percentage seemed to be the going rate for E squad as Ben “MIA” Sears “and RoebucK” went 4 of 12 to go along with 9 rebounds. Sub Peyton fared a little better shooting 5 of 13 to go along with 4 blocks (one of them he blocked with the crook of his elbow…..damn). Captain E must have been saving it for later cause his shooting was dreadful in this game. E got his looks (some forced) but they just didn’t go down (3 of 12, 6 assists). Sometimes teams just have off shooting nights. I think this was one of those, and not a precursor for the rest of the season.

One guy who doesn’t have a problem taking (and sometimes making) shots is Curtis “insert foreign nickname that we can’t pronounce” Maisch. Curtis led his offensively deficient team (and the game) with 25 points to go along with 17 rebounds and 4 assists. Big Curty dominated the action at both ends, controlling the pace. Mike “Soft off the Glass?” Boccio continued to try his best and finished with a 4/4/3/1 stat line, and was able to effect the game with his hustle. ‘Lil Josh has one of his better games in recent memory contributing 8 points on 9 shots (including an “And 1”) on Tall Justin. Josh spent most of the second half dropping his nuts on Justin’s chin like a cop dunks a donut in coffee. To be honest, his buckets were big momentum grabbers in the second half, and helped the Old Men keep their slim lead. When Curt got cold, sub “MV” Palombo contributed some extra possessions (13 rebounds) as well as executing some screens to get the chucking AD some easier looks.

The game came down to the last minute where the new foul shot rule came into effect. Curt stepped up and drilled his first 2 which seemed to ice the game. Team E came down and hit a big bucket to cut the lead. Curt again stepped to the line with a chance to ice it. He missed BOTH free throws giving the E squad a chance to force OT. As E set to launch the tying 3, Curt redeemed himself with a big block, and the shot never got off. Some in the crowd say ‘Lil Josh threw the body and a foul should have occurred, but oh well. Game over.

Fun facts from the game:
1. We saw the first free throws in Grinders history: Curtis Maisch 2/4. The AD will always be the answer to a Grinders trivia question.
2. The “barguement” over which team subbed up I feel is a little null and void. Both Pauly P. and Peyton did a little something better than the other throughout the stat sheet. Pauly had more rebounds, assists, and steals. Peyton had more points and blocks.
3. Team OMJ is merely 1 win away from the over/under set by Vegas at the beginning of the year. How many of you had money on the under?