Folks this was an INSTANT CLASSIC!!! Nevermind that Otherland fell 115-96 on the road to the Thunderstorms, lets focus on the positive.
Otherland Champions lead when Julio "Jesus" Falcao was injured. AT the time, 13 minutes into the game. Falcao was playing phenomenal defense, and had scored 10 points on 4-9 shooting, 1-3 from downtown, and 1-2 at the line, he had 3 rebounds (2 on offense) 1 assists 1 steal 1 block, and 1 turnover.
This is ultimately what lead to Otherland falling short. But there were plenty of things to look forward to.
Paul Salas put on a CLINIC tonight folks! He dominated Thunderstorm inside and outside on both sides of the floor, all game! Aside from the 4 prayer 3s Salas shot towards the end. Salas recorded 23 points on 10-27 shooting, going 3-6 at the charity stripe, Aside from the 23 points what's really impressive is Paul Salas recorded 22 rebounds (12 on OFFENSE) to go with 1 assists 2 steals 1 block and 4 turnovers. Salas missed 10 of his last 11 FG in the game. Getting all those rebounds is hard work. It was especially hard tonight considering....
Belkhaouas had a MONSTER game as well. Belkhaouas lead the team with 24 points on 10-20 shooting and 4-5 at the free throw line, Belkhaouas also recorded 19 rebounds (9 on offense) 2 assists 1 steal 5 blocks and 1 turnover.
Quigley didn't play much with these 2 having MVP performances but in Quigley's 9 minutes of action he scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting, 0-1 from deep, with 6 rebounds (4 on offense) and 2 blocks.
Even Zwirski got in on the stat stuffing show! Zwirski scored 17 points shooting 7-28, 1-9 from downtown, draining 2-2 at the line, Zwirski added 8 rebounds (4 on offense) 7 assists 5 steals and 1 turnover. The outside shooting been a bit better in Otherland Zwirski possibly could have had a triple double! and on a night when 2 players on his team were grabbing every rebound in sight!
Singer, subbing in for the injured Falcao gave a less than stellar defensive performance allowing David Tan to have his way shooting 11-6 with 6-7 deep shots finding the bucket and recording 28 points in 24 minutes of sub work.
Singer also shot a miserable 4-16 which started out as a 1-11 stretch. hitting 1-5 from deep, and going 6-7 at the line. All in all Singer had 15 points 2 rebounds 3 assists 3 steals 1 block and 0 turnovers in his 35 minutes. He was effective, but he is by no means a Julio Falcao.
Stuart Watt, the non-offensive PG a la Eric Snow...
Watt had a night worth forgetting... Taking mit upon himself, for some reason, to pick up the slack of Falcao's missed scoring. It didn't work. Watt started 0-8 shooting, 0-7 from 3, before finally connecting. Watt ended the night with 5 points going 2-2 at the line, and shooting 1-12, 1-9 from deep, to go along with 4 rebounds 6 assists 4 steals 1 block and 1 turnover.
Otherland played harder. Played smarter committing 8 turnovers to Thunderstorm's 18. Outrebounded the Thunderstorm 64-55. Get this, Otherland had 32 of their 64 rebounds on OFFENSE!!! The Thunderstorm had only 7 offensive rebounds. 48 defensive rebounds... Otherland 32 offensive rebounds... that is 80. I repeat 80 missed shots as a team for Otherland that were rebounded!!!
Otherland shot a miserable HORRID, absolutely disgusting, 37-120, including 4-31 from downtown, and 18-24 at the line. Thunderstorm shot a respectable 48-92, 14-25 from 3pt land, and 5-7 at the line.
Words can't describe the excitement watching the game (until the last 4 minutes) Otherland trailed late by 8, but failed to capitalize, falling back to a 19 point loss. Julio Falcao, get well soon, as the Champiuons need their Knight, to pull them through! Ravenswood up next is a wash game. tune in next week when the last 3 games decide the playoffs as Otherland plays both the #4 seed, and #5 seed, being only 1 GB for a playoff spot.