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Last Update:
Thursday July 24, 2008 12:00
Spring Playoffs - 2005
COMMENTARY BY THE WOLVERINE
Finals - Sunday July 10th
| AYTD 62 COBRA KAI 58 |
| Young Guns: AYTD Outlasts Cobra Kai in Finals Thriller |
| In a fight to the finish yesterday, AYTD quashed any hopes of back to back titles for Cobra Kai and completed an amazing playoff run with a Finals win in a game that rivaled last season’s B1 Final. AYTD jumped out to an early 8 point lead and looked as if they were going to blow out yet another CRFC team. Lil O’Cal Dan Lenihan brought his protractor to the game as he scored from just about every angle on the court, pouring in 14 first half points. Cobra Kai mounted a comeback behind the ridiculously hot three point shooting of the Reverend Jeff Coburn (19 points, three 1st half threes) and The Perfect Storm Scott Sonia (17 points), whose mid-range jumper was deadly in this game. The game was tight at the half and the CRFC fans knew they were in for a treat. In the 2nd half, Cobra Kai jumped all over AYTD behind the outside shooting of DJ Jazzy Jeff Hall (10 points, 6 assists) and big man Jeff Doane (9 points, 4 steals). AYTD found themselves down 8 with less than 7 minutes to go and a bit frantic. How would the kids respond to this unusual situation of playing from behind? Very well, thank you as they decided to go man to man in a very smart defensive move that I think was the key to the game. The aggressive man to man defense held the Rev to just 3 second half points. Finals MVP Spike Santo (21 points, 15 in 2nd half) picked up his scoring and lead a power surge on the offensive end to get the game back to even. Doane managed to continue scoring on the inside and back and forth they went. After a huge three pointer and mid-range jumper by Matt Kaplan (20 points), AYTD was up three with 30 seconds to play. Cobra Kai comes down on the ensuing possession and the Perfect Storm let a three fly from the top of they key that I thought was going in for sure, but it was just long. AYTD recovered the rebound and hit their free throws down the stretch to hang on for the title. Cobra Kai falls just short of a title but should be proud of a fine season after yours truly picked them 6th in my pre-season power rankings. AYTD surged in the playoffs despite a .500 regular season and helped prove that youth is certainly not wasted on the young. Congrats to the new champs – a great group of young men who won it with class and poise! The CRFC records will officially reflect that even though Bill Santo signed up his team as ATYD (All The Young Kids), the name has gradually evolved to AYTD via typos by the league offices (typos can cause evolution?). We also think it flows off the tongue much more smoothly.
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Semifinals Video - Wednesday July 6th
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QuickTime Player is required to view the video
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Semifinals - Wednesday July 6th
| AYTD 72 RED BULL ADDICTS 54 |
| AYTD Rolls Into Finals |
| Is there anyone who can stop these guys? For the third straight game, AYTD manhandled another very tough opponent – this time the victim was the talented Red Bull Addicts. They jumped out to an early 18-4 lead and never looked back – not even once to be polite like cyclists do just to say “sorry, but I am blowing right by you.” Lil O’Cal Dan Lenihan has really picked up his game in these playoffs as he was stellar in this one with 29 points, 7 assists. Ditto fro Matt Kaplan who has emerged as a very dangerous scoring threat in this league with 24 points 8 assists. Tom Heffernan had another monster game down low with 12 rebounds and 4 blocks while Spike Santo poured in 15 points and 15 rebounds. In the 2nd half, the Red Bull Addicts managed to make a comeback behind the most dangerous brother combination since the Menendez Brothers. First it was Richard (14 points, 10 rebounds) who nailed three straight three pointers to cut the lead to under 10. Then it was Keith (27 points, 9rebounds, 7 assists) driving to the bucket cutting the lead to just 6. But AYTD answered any and all runs made by the RBA and cruised into the Finals where they will face Cobra Kai. A fine season by the Red Bull Addicts as they just ran into a buzz saw that doesn’t seem to want to stop running.
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| COBRA KAI 79 GDI 73 |
| Cobra Kai Advances In Overtime Despite Novak’s Heroics |
| The men of Cobra Kai have proven the Wolverine wrong. Well, not wrong necessarily, maybe just an error in judgment. The pre-season #6 seeded returning champs took down GDI in an instant classic overtime thriller last night to advance to the Finals for the 2nd straight season. It didn’t look good early on as they simply had no answer for GDI’s Mark Novak in the paint. Novak (30 points, 15 rebounds) was absolutely dominating once again in the paint and GDI had an 8 point lead at the half. It looked as The Novak express was not going to make anymore stops until it reached the finals. But Cobra Kai, like the true champions they are, fought back in the 2nd half behind the Reverend Jeff Coburn’s (25 points, 12 rebounds) three straight bombs from behind he arc. DJ Jazzy Jeff (20 points), The Perfect Storm Scott Sonia (14 points) and the inside play of Jeff Doane (13 points, 8 rebounds) also lead the charge. There were tons of big shots back and forth between Novak, the Reverend, Bob Corning (21 points, 13 rebounds), Jazz, Doane but I can’t possibly recall them all. I do remember a big block and very solid defense on Novak by Rob Jenson. I also seem to recall that the referee was letting them play as he’d hate to be the one to decide this physical yet fantastically played game. Anyway, with 6 seconds to play and Cobra Kai up three, GDI had one last chance to save their season. They got the ball to Novak and he launched a three from well behind the arc and nails it at the buzzer. Overtime. In the extra session, Cobra Kai took over behind Jazz’s 6 points and GDI couldn’t seem to score. Cobra Kai survives a thriller and will play AYTD in the B1 Finals. GDI ends a great season with a very tough and hard fought loss.
Wolverine Note: While drowning my sorrows from my very own playoff loss at the buzzer last night at the Sports Grille, DJ Jazzy Jeff Hall showed me a text from Duncan Primetime. The text said something about him having a girlfriend and buying a house. Now I don’t know who it was Primetime, but I promise to search the swamps of Jersey and find the guy who is sending obviously fabricated texts from your phone!
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Quarterfinanls - June 29th & 30th
| GDI 70 COED NAKED 62 |
| GDI Exposes #1 Coed Naked |
| The #9 seed is a force to be reckoned with. Mark Novak is a force to be reckoned with. In a game that saw 5 players foul out of the game, GDI hung on to move into the semifinals. The game started very physical as both teams kept up an intense pace early. Jason Provencher lead Coed Naked early on with 17 points. But GDI managed a small 1st half lead behind Novak, Bob Corning, and a costly technical foul on Coed Naked that resulted in a 6 point trip for GDI. In the second half, GDI made a big run behind Novak (30 points, 11 rebounds) and Bob Corning (12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks). Coed had no answer inside for either of these guys. But #1 Coed Naked had one run left in them as The Young Republican John Edwards (19 points) scored 8 straight points and Eric Hinton (19 points, 10 rebounds) nailed two consecutive three pointers to bring their team within 2. But the game came down to free throws and GDI hit them while Coed naked could not. Surprising GDI moves on to the semifinals where they will face Cobra Kai tomorrow night. And like so many #1 seeds before them here at CRFC, Coed Naked ends a fine regular season without a title.
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| COBRA KAI 45 MATT TURNER EXPERIENCE 35 |
| Cobra Kai Continues Quest for 2nd Title |
| The way I see it, Jeff Doane is essentially is a replacement for the lost (but certainly not forgotten) Duncan PrimeTime. With his consistent solid low post play, Doane has helped keep Cobra Kai in the title hunt all season. But the obvious question remains – is Cobra Kai a better team now with Doane than with Primetime? Before this question can be answered (and before Primetime begins writing an angry diatribe on the boards defending himself), we will have to see how well Doane performs in the big games, because we all know how well Primetime played in the big ones throughout his CRFC career. But Doane started off well as he lead the way with 17 points to help topple MTE in a very hotly contested game may as well have been played in the steam-room downstairs. It was clear Cobra Kai’s mission was to focus on stopping MTE’s Matt Delpercio and they did a fine job at that, holding him to just 10 points. Justin Sawicki picked up the scoring slack for MTE with 17 points, 13 rebounds to keep the game close throughout the 1st half. I don’t remember the 1st half score (I blame the heat), but I think MTE may have been up 2 points. But in the 2nd half, Cobra Kai went on a very nice run behind Doan and DJ Jazzy Jeff Hall (11 points). MTE just couldn’t score on the other end as Cobra Kai continued to swarm Delpercio like a pack of teenage girls at an Enrique Iglesias concert. Cobra Kai wins going away as they keep their back to back championship hopes alive and will face GDI in tomorrow night’s semifinals. Matt Turner ends a fine season without a title and without ever telling me who in the world Matt Turner is.
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| AYTD 56 FIRE HYDRANTS 34 |
| AYTD Continues To Roll, Eliminates #2 Hydrants |
| Something has gotten into the young me of AYTD. Maybe it is summer euphoria. Maybe it is testosterone. Or maybe it is just the fact that being young men, they are actually getting better with the passage of time, while the rest of us are getting, well, worse. For the 2nd straight night, AYTD steamrolled over their opponent – this time the #2 seeded Fire Hydrants. It wasn’t the 94 point performance of the night before, but it was a very balanced attack. Tom Heffernan continues to exhibit the most improvement of them all with 17 points and 16 rebounds. Lil O’Cal Dan Lenihan had 17 points, Spike Santo had 14 points and Matt Kaplan chipped in with 12 points. The lone bright spot for the Fire Hydrants was Ben Szekely who had 13 points and 16 rebounds in a losing effort. AYTD cruises into the semifinals where they will play a very tough Red Bull Addicts team. The Fire Hydrants end the season on a losing note, but did play well throughout the year, especially given the fact that a lot of these guys have never played together before.
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| RED BULL ADDICTS 55 D’S NUTZ 47 |
| Manning’s 35 Leads Addicts Over Nutz |
| Keith Manning is a superstar. We all know that. But he may just be the best player in the league, but he has no title. Now, I know it’s only his second season here at CRFC, but it’s good to get these things out of the way early so he is not hounded by the media for the rest of his career. Just ask LeBron. Last night he began his quest for a title by leading his team to a solid victory over the very up and down D’s Nutz squad. RBA dominated the 1st half as Keith (35 points, 18 in the 1st half) and adopted Manning Tim Brady (12 points) propelled their team to an 18 point 1st half lead. But D’s Nutz came alive in the 2nd half and managed to cut the lead to a deuce with a few minutes to play, but they ran out of gas as RBA hit their free throws to hang on for the win. D’s Nutz ends a very confusing season as they showed both brilliance and not so brilliance. And I end the season still trying to figure out who “D” is. But a fun season nonetheless. The Addicts will face the winner of the Fire Hydrants/AYTD game next week in the semifinals. "I was proud of the way the team executed the game plan especially in the first half,” said team Captain the Professor Jon Mozenter after the game. “We beat a tough team tonight. We are happy, but not satisfied till we win two more!" Stay tuned.
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Play-in Round
Wednesday June 29th
| AYTD 93 ASIAN INVASION 43 |
| Romper Room: AYTD Steamrolls Over Invasion |
| I know that you have probably asked yourself this question before, but where is Talia Shire when you need her? Somebody should have screamed to stop this one a lot earlier that it ended as AYTD put an old fashioned pasting on the short-handed Invasion. In a game that featured 20 minute halves (in the spirit of JayPro, shouldn’t I get paid extra for this?), AYTD put up 93 points and may have been able to grab 100 if they had not shown great class and pulled up for the last minute. But if there were free Taco Bell or something on the line, I would have started calling fouls just so they could have gotten to the line to break the 100 point barrier. Too bad Steve Spurrier wasn’t coaching this team. AYTD was hitting on all cylinders last night with Lil O’Cal Dan Lenihan leading the way 20 points, 5 assists and 5 steals as big O’Cal watched with admiration. Matt Kaplan had a great night as well with 22 points and 10 assists, including a few Eva Longoria (jaw dropping) moves to the hoop. Spike Santo nailed 23 points in a fine 2nd half and Tom Heffernan, fresh from his 27 rebound performance, rounded out the scoring with 18 points, 20 rebounds. Can you “round out” the scoring with 18 points? For the Invasion, well, since I know that many family members and friends read these write-ups (and are big fans of the Wolverine), I won’t list any stats here because maybe nobody on this team will to admit that they actually were at this game. However, the Invasion’s experiment was fun to watch all season long, so congratulations to them. AYTD moves on tonight to play the #2 seeded Fire Hydrants. Anyone think these guys will be tired from last night’s game? Doubtful. The only thing that may need some rest is big O’Cal’s hands from ringing up all those points on the scoreboard.
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| GDI 63 KERDAN 37 |
| GDI Gets Its Revenge; Ousts Kerdan |
| What started out as a very competitive game in the 1st half ended in a blowout as GDI managed to put together a great 2nd half run to put away the pesky Kerdan team. Super-stud Mark Novak was a beast down low, abusing Kerdan for 24 points, 11 rebounds while Bob Corning managed 19 points and 8 rebounds. Kerdan-lite had no answer for these guys on the inside, but did manage to keep it close early on the outside shooting of Mike Levinson (15 points) and the Man Only Known As Renat (13 points). The second half however was all GDI as they continued to pound the ball inside and took over the game. Kerdan’s season is finished in what was another experiment adjusting to losing Jiggy and transforming themselves into a run n gun type of team. Well, at least gun. Congrats on a fine season. GDI will play #1 seeded Coed Naked team tonight in what should be a barn burner. We should start selling tickets to these games!
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