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Update of Interconference Play 4

Saturday's games saw the conferences split games for the first time this season. The series now stands at 20-12 in favor of the Great 8.

Top Three in Big 8 Defend Home Court
The L.A. Killa Beez had a dominating night, winning every statistical category (except offensive rebounds), knocking down shots at twice the rate of COR, and shooting an amazing 55% from downtown.

Murfreesboro bested a strong Winter Haven team. The story in each half was Murfreesboro goes up and Velvets come back, but not quite enough. Stradiotto, Godherdzeshvilli, and Hardy led the Mules with double-doubles.

Ulderico Jazz staved off a late surge from the Drunken Clams to win at home. The game was decided on the play of the Jazz’s Lapidot and the Clams’ Campioni. DCA took an early lead in the first and held on until the third, when the Jazz went on a 17-4 run in the first 6 1/2 of the third. During the run, Lapidot lit it up going 5 of 7 with 2 assists, 2 free throws and a rebound. ULD continued to build the spread until with 9 minutes left they led by 11. But the Clams battled back and, with the help of a pair of threes from Christiansson and some Jazz fouls, tied the game with 26 seconds on the clock. But a pair of fouls from Wright and a botched rebound by Stratzalis gave the Jazz a 3 point lead with 10 seconds to go. After a time out, the Clams’ set play gave Campioni a chance for the tying three. But he missed with 4 seconds left. A Lüüs board necessitated yet another Wright foul to stop the clock. But Lapidot sank his two shots to crush any Clams’ hopes of sending it to overtime.

Illiniwek Breaks 3-Game Losing Streak
With strong all-around play, Illiniwek broke their streak and made themselves a team to watch as they vaulted from 6th in the Big 8 to playoff contention. Although NEV took an early lead in the 1st, ILL took a 4-pt lead into the half and never looked back. Three double-doubles and a career-high 34-pt game from JC Duggan were the highlights of a beautiful stat sheet for ILL.

Supermen Are Alive and Kicking
Despite being out-rebounded by 14 and giving up an incredible 34 personal fouls (translating into 48 GRE shots from the line), SUP walked out of the UPS Arena with a slim victory. The outcome of the game was based on the teams’ relative depth. The SUP bench combined for 37 pts, 10 reb, 6 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk. But the GRE bench played a mere 19 minutes in total, leaving their starters gassed and unable to defend the fresh legs facing them. And at the end, when SUP fouls put GRE in a position to force overtime, Mozzarelli’s 3-pt attempt wouldn’t fall.

KNP Still Lagging After Recess
Although they posted their best score since their return, KNP has yet to put together a win. The Marin Magic conjured a 20-pt lead in the first and hung on for the rest by putting up 12 blocks and shooting 51% from the field as a team.

Valhalla and Practice Makes Perfect advance to 10-1
Valhalla! put their winning streak into double digits by coasting over the St. Louis Shock. A 34-pt lead in the third let VAL rest their starters for the whole fourth quarter, which allowed the Shock a modest 9-pt comeback before hitting the showers.

Led by strong play from Andric, who put up 43 points (1 shy of his career high), PRA dominated every statistical category (except steals) in their demolishing of NYC.

New logo, huh? Did you make it?

Yup. I was tired of the Family Guy still with a couple clip-art basketballs stuck on it and a terribly pixelated banner. So I switched it up.

I made it with two photos I found on the interwebs and some Pages/Preview magic. I consider it an upgrade, but we'll see how it fares over time. Whaddya think?

I like it. Has a vintage feel to it. very nice!

Update of Interconference Play 5

Tuesday saw the Great 8 go 5-3 against Big 8 teams to expand its series lead to 25-15.

Illiniwek and the Shock Win on the Road
League-leading scorer, Vasily Kosyakov, put up 43 points and 7 assists in 40 minutes as the Shock rode his performance over the Rocks on the road. St. Loius's forwards, Herman Herring and Corey Gee, also combined for 49 points, 30 rebounds and 10 assists to help in the effort. The Shock opened up a stunning 15-pt lead in the first quarter and never looked back.

Illiniwek edged out the Marin Magic to win their first road game of the season. The Illiniwek starters all scored 16 or more, and Bass, Golek and Legorreta all put up double-doubles. The Magic bench combined for 31 points in an heroic bid to overcome the Illiniwek, who seemed to be on fire all night. But it was Loren Cherry who brought the team back by scoring 16 in the 4th, including a three to create a 105-105 tie with less than a minute left. But the rest of the game was played by the men in stripes. Refs called charging on Toro, which gave Illiniwek possession with 14 seconds left, and a shooting foul on Camacho, which gave Bass two chances to sink the game winning free-throw. And although he only made one, Illiniwek held on and went home with a victory.

Tondeur Scores 55 in Jazz's Road Loss
In a feat he hasn't accomplished since season 11 in Argentina's D4, 34-year-old Fabian Tondeur proved he still has what it takes and passed a half-century at the right hand side of the stat sheet. But his performance was not enough to negate the 28 opportunities the Jazz gave their opponents at the free-throw line. Valhalla! continued its trademark strong team play, with the team's starters all putting up 14+ while the bench added 14 more and 12 rebounds.

New Liberty Star Misses Game
After the mid-season signing of Swiss Shooting Guard, Frédéric Grivot, fans and analysts alike were excited to see how the Liberty performed with his help. But they were disappointed when he did not dress for Tuesday's game. Liberty management has yet to comment on the matter. The Liberty fared poorly without him, shooting only 33% from the field and falling to Supermen Are Alive at Metropolis.

Last edited by rhyminsimon at 6/29/2012 4:52:13 PM

Update of Interconference Play 6

Last Saturday, the Great 8 took five of eight contests and extended its interconference record to 30-18.

Mostof the games were pretty predictable, but there was excitement at the Staples Center and at Liberty Arena.

Top Seed Showdown
All eyes were focused on the Staples Center last Tuesday night as Valhalla! rolled in to face the Killa Beez. The hometown crowd was shocked when midway through the first quarter Ramón Vivaldo appeared to dive at the knees of starting PG Jessie McBride as he went for a driving layup. Although he threw up his hands in an effort to argue his innocence, Vivaldo was assessed a flagrant foul and McBride was finished for the game. X-rays revealed no permanent damage. But when McBride came out for the second half, he was wearing street clothes instead of his #1 jersey. The Beez just couldn't quite get into the game after the injury and ended up losing a tough one at home.

Cornballers Lock Up Liberty
Led by up-and-coming star, Anthony Lucas, the Cornballers won on the road for the first time this season. Although they were beaten on the boards, their ability to force turnovers and make free throws gave them the advantage they needed to disappoint the home team. Although NYC hung onto an early lead all the way into halftime, COR came out strong after an inspiring half-time speech. And Lucas led the team making 3 jumpers in a 3-minute, 10-2 run that made the difference in the game. The Liberty now face the ignominy of going into their next contest without having won a league game in the last month.

I just want to tell you how freaking awesome all of these write ups are.

I have been away from the forums for a month and just saw these, but you are killing it man!

VERY enjoyable read!

CW

Last edited by CW47 at 7/14/2012 10:42:07 PM

After a while I wasn't sure if anybody was reading these since I stopped getting +1's. And so, I left off a little bit. But with CW47's encouragement, I figured I'd at least do a recap post of interconference play:

Great 8 Dominate Inter-Conference Play

As the teams of League IV.30 return to conference match-ups and began the final leg of the season, it's time for a look back at inter-conference play. By posting a combined record of 40-24, the Great 8 proved that they were the superior league this season. Even if Kung Fu Ninja Pirates had somehow managed to win all their games with 2 star guards and 5 scrubs, it would have merely brought the series even. Here is a recap of some of the important games from down the stretch.

Close, But No Cornballer Cigar
Cornballers took Murfreesboro into overtime on 7/7. The Cornballers guards went 9-24 from downtown, but the 71 Murfreesboro rebounds weighted the game too far in their favor. The Cornballers took a 6-pt lead into the 4th, and looked poised to pull off the upset. But a three minute 11-4 run put Murfreesboro up by 2 with two minutes left. Missed shots from both teams left the same picture when COR took a timeout with 28 seconds to go. The set play led to a layup from Graf to tie the game. Two misses from Butkowski sent the game to overtime. Murfreesboro came out shooting and went up 4 before COR scored on a Lucas free-throw. Graf tied it again with a three with 25 seconds left in OT. Eleven seconds later, an exhausted Booth was assessed a flagrant foul while trying to defend a Hardy jump shot. And when possession reverted to MM, COR had to keep fouling. Free throws added three more to the Murfreesboro total. And when three point attempts from Metcalf and Graf failed, the game was over.

Crestfallen Jazz Lose on the Road
On 7/7, Marin Magic added insult to injury when they successfully defended their home court against a Jazz team still reeling from their national tournament elimination. And although Lapidot scored a career-high 48 points it was not enough to carry the day. The Magic jumped to an early lead and managed to hang on until the final buzzer. Fueled by threes from Charry, London and Dobinas, the Magic took a 13-pt lead into the first quarter break. And the Jazz looked stunned sitting on the bench while their coach exhorted them to do more than just hand the ball to Lapidot (who was a miserable 2-10 at the time). The Jazz came back and slowly narrowed the lead to 4 with less than a minute. But the team was left with no option but to foul. And although Lapidot fouled out, the team kept trying - even getting a good look for Yip Ao Zong who made his 3-pointer. But 8 made free-throws put the nail in the Jazz coffin.

Jazz Edge Out Velvet
The Jazz got their feet under them the following game against Winter Haven back home at the Ulderico Arena. They were able to spread the ball around, especially to forwards, McKinnon and Podolinciak. And their defense stayed strong until the 4th quarter, when the Velvets made a late push led by Taffe and Zanesi. But the hole the Velvet dug themselves in the 2nd and 3rd was too big to escape. And they left the arena with a disappointing 2-pt loss.