NT Post-Game Report: Bahamas 8/22
Arriving at Reaper Arena here in the country of Mexico, I noticed the team was a lot happier and relaxed this week. When I went over to Matt Hurst to ask him what was up with the upbeat mood among the team he responded with "It's Bahamas's Week". It may have not have been the most daunting task but team USA was set to take on the Bahama's NT here in the America's Tournament!
Starting Line-Up:
PG: Dexter "Dimes" Dennison
SG: Martin "Money" Medrano
SF: Irwin "The American Army Knife" Velasco
PF: Lorenzo "The Big Nasty" Bland
C: Jairo Alejandro Renteria aka "The Beast"
Both teams offensively decided to go with a motion offense, defensively Bahamas 3-2'd the USA while the USA used a man to man to counter the Bahama's Motion. It was a quick start for the US NT as they started the game hot and took a 16-0 lead before the Bahama's got their first bucket from downtown. At the end of the first quarter, Irwin Velasco with the ball, time winding down, rose with a hand in his face to drop the shot and end the first quarter on a high note for America as he hit the Buzzerbeater! The crowd was going crazy except for Jelme in the front row who seemed to be cringing. At the end of the first the USA led 27-6. The second quarter was much of the same story as the United States continued to fire on all cylinders! At the end of the second buzzer, the USA led by 40!
Halftime was pretty laid back for the most part. Assistant NT Head Coach Brian tried to get everybody's attention but Jairo was speaking obnoxiously loud about how he bought the entire team Justin Bieber tickets for when the Bieber Fever tour comes to Mexico City. Frustrated Brian climbed to the top of a locker and began a speech..
"Gentlemen.. Working hard to get my fill, everybody wants a thrill, payin' anything to roll the dice, just one more time some will win, some will lose, some were born to sing the blues, Oh, the movie never ends, It goes on and on and on and on, Don't stop believin' Hold on to the feelin' Streetlights peopleee!! Don'.....
Jairo: *Interrupting Brian* " And I was like... Baby, baby, baby oooh, like baby, baby, baby nooo, like baby, baby, baby oooh, I thought you'd always be mine *Whispers* mine.."
After our Karaoke halftime, the NT was ready for the second half!
Following suit with the first two quarters, the United States outscored Bahamas 29-7 in the third quarter. Everything was going the United States way and as the 4th quarter started 3 USA players got to shine in the fourth and get some playing time they hadn't got to see much the first three quarters. These players were Joe "The Show" Bronson, Ricky "Logdog" Logsdon and Matt "Big Time" Hurst. Feeling left out, Joe-Bro attempted as many shots as he could possibly in his 16 minutes of play and was 1 shot attempt away from tieing Dexter Dennison for most FGA. With 17 points in 16 minutes Joe-Bro was prolific with points for when he was in. Both Hurst and Logsdon played well in their 13 minutes as well, Logsdon shooting 2-5 from deep (including 1-2 from the 4 point shot area), After each made longball would go over and point to his owner Jfarb who would stare and whisper under his breath, "Ricky, you Douchebag".
Defensively in the 4th quarter, the US NT took it easy on defense and were surprised by the Bahaman firepower as the Bahamas scored more than twice as much in that single quarter than the previous 3 combined with 26 points!
In the end however the USA NT took the 69 point victory, to take another step closer on our path to gold here in the Season 17 America's tournament!
Stay tuned tomorrow as NT Interviews and Coach GM-Jason's statement are released!