Can I get a hell yeah?!??!?!!!

[Vince]

My intramural basketball team made it to the playoffs this year for the first time in our 4 year college career. We had a game tonight at 6, and if we won that, we got the honor of playing a top seeded team who had a bye later on at 10.

Well, in the first game, we absolutely blew the other team out of the water, 59-32. We were feeling good, so we went home and let ourselves cool off for an hour or two, hydrated, then went back to the gym. We realized that the team we were to play second was The Deceptikons, a team we had played in many an Intramural game before. The problem was, we usually were on the losing end of the game. They have a few shooters who are really lights out, and one big guy who is pretty damn good from anywhere on the floor. We started out in our backup plan (for a shooting team) defense, the 3-2. I run in the middle up top, as I am the quickest on the team, and can force many turnovers. We came out full of energy...we were going to lay it all out there on the court.

We took them wire-to-wire...we jumped out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back. I stole the ball many a time up top, and our defense was amazing, stifling their outside shooting. J.J., a big guy who isn't usually a star, played absolutely outstanding defense against their big man, who didn't have more than 7 points. We ended up winning by 13, 43-30. I haven't felt this good in a long time :)

As for the future...we play tomorrow night at 6 for the Semifinals, and if we win there, we get to play Thursday night on the same court my very own Gauchos play on, with the scoreboard lit up and everything :D But we have to win tomorrow first, and we're out JJ, who has a final...it'll be tough, but we aren't going to give them an inch!

Woo-hoo!!!!!

[JeeberD]

Man, I miss playing basketball so much. Nothing better than being on a team...

[3ric]

Hell Yeah! Wait, do I have to read your post first?

*reading*

Oh, congratulations!

[Kodos]

You da man! I'm still going to beat you on Thursday night in the FML though. :)

[ACStrider]

Intramurals, now that's something that I really miss now that I'm out of college. It's a great feeling to get the W, especially in the playoffs against a higher ranked team. Last year my hall team played in the lowest level division but was bumped up a level for the playoffs (yeah, our players were ticked). We played the game of our lives, though, in the first round and upset a very good team. We lost in the second round, but it was great that we even got past the first. At least I have two championships in other sports to hang onto for bragging rights (flag football and coed volleyball) Long live Frijoles Guapos and The Harrisees!!!

[Ksyrup]

I became a great ping-pong player with all of my free time during my freshman year. Those skills have come in handy at my job, though, so I can't say it was a complete waste of time.

[Craptacular]

Pocket ping-pong?? I'm more of a pocket pool man myself.

[Vince]

And the most recent update today:

Against a team who's average age was at least 35 if not 40, we were looking to run the floor hard, and run them out of the gym. Knowing they probably had really good fundamentals, and would probably hit any open shot we gave them, we intended to play solid d, to stay home and not go for any fakes. The game starts, and we win the tip, the ball comes to me. I take it down court, and we find that they are running a zone...they are the second team all year we have played that ran a zone, and the other game was one of our two losses on the year. Well, their top right man in their 2-3 zone comes out to cover me, and I dish it to my friend John on the right, and immediately cut to the left of my defender. John completes the give and go, and I hit the layup and take the foul. Quickly we're up 3-0 after my made free throw.

We drop back into our characteristic 1-2-2 zone, with myself at the top. I engage the ballhandler, and press him hard...he forces a pass to the left and my roommate Ashwin darts in for the steal. He presses it up, but they have numbers, so he slows it up. I spot up behind the three point line, Ashwin passes it to me and I pull the trigger...swish! 6-0 good guys.

Another possesion to them, and they are getting pressed hard by all of us. They are forced to take a bad shot, and our big man Simon comes down with the rebound. We go upcourt again, and their zone is working a little better. We work it around to my roommate John S. in the right corner, but the low defender goes out to cover him. He quickly swings it to Simon, and the top defender guards him. Simon passes to Ashwin at the top of the key, and Simon's guy and the other top defender rush to trap, but Ash quickly hits me on his left, and I nail the wide open trey. 9-0 for 8 North (our team), and we haven't even broken a sweat yet.

The game progressed much like that...our defense was amazing for a second night in a row, and they didn't shoot a single uncontested shot. Our entire team was absolutely lights out from three-point range as well; I ended up 5-6, my roommate Ashwin was 2-3, my buddy John H. was 4-5 and finally Josh was 2-2. Our big man and most dominant scorer Simon had only 4 points, but our team still managed to put up 62, our highest point total to date. We won easily, 62-47.

Playoff recap:

Round 1-
8 North 59
Fountainballas 32

Quarterfinals-
8 North 43
The Deceptikons 30

Semifinals-
8 North 62
Curiously Strong 47

Finals-
3/13/2003 @ 10 PM PST, UCSB Events Center (Thunderdome)
8 North vs.
The Janitors

We are all totally pumped...we've never made the playoffs before, let alone played this well. The Janitors beat The Bay Windows (what the hell kind of name is that?) by one point tonight, and from the looks of it, tomorrow night's game is going to be a good one. We're psyched, and it's going to be awesome. For the first time, we get to play on the same court as the UCSB Men's Basketball team does, and they are going to turn on the scoreboard and everything...it's going to be amazing.

[JeeberD]

Congrats and good luck tomorrow. Just remember that scene in Hoosiers. Just because you're in a big arena doesn't mean that the deminsions of the court are any different. Don't let the bright lights spook ya, keep playing the game that you've been playing...

[Blackadar]

hell yea!

[Vince]

Well, thanks guys...I can't concentrate on anything, I feel retarded because this is 'only' intramurals, but still...

JeeberD - Actually the court's dimensions are bigger. We play on courts that are about 3 feet shorter length and width wise, so there's more room out there. The courts we normally play on are in the same building, but running perpendicular to the main court. I don't think this will make that much of a difference...we might get a little more tired than normal, but I think it's going to be a blast no matter what :)

[Vince]

Well, here's how it went down...

We line up, on the big court, scoreboard on and everything. We play a hard fought game, and we're down 18-17 at the half. They've got a couple of big guys who are good, and our zone just isn't working very well. We organize ourselves at halftime, vow to get more boards and box out better.

Half two starts, and it's much the same as the first. Both teams are fighting tooth and claw, but to no avail...it's still a tight game. With under a minute to play, I have the ball and the lane is open, I drive, but get fouled on the ground. We're in bonus, so it's one-and-one. Score is 38-36 them. No pressure, Vince :)

I line up at the line, their fans are screaming, John my roommate in the background "Take your time Vince," Don't Choke! running through my head. I take a deep breath, bounce the ball twice, look up at the rim...bounce the ball two more times...look up, and shoot...the big guys crash in to get the board...swish! Nothing but net, 38-37 and I get another free throw. Our fans are going nuts...I step up to the line to take my second free throw. Repeat the motions...and clang it off the rim! They get the rebound. I immediately foul, as we have four to give. They inbound again, and I foul again, giving me my fourth foul; one more and I'm out. They inbound a third time, and we foul them. Now it's down to 15 seconds left, we're down by 1. They inbound it to my guy, and I dart in from the right to knock it away...and it starts bouncing out of bounds! I dive, knock it back in...and John grabs it! Timeout!

12.6 seconds left in the game. Our ball. No timeouts. Double bonus. Again...no pressure. John inbounds the ball to me, and my guy tries to steal it, but I let him run himself out of the play...I take it upcourt quickly and get it to John H., who has been lights out...but he's covered. He dishes it back to John, who hits our big man Simon. He's got room in the lane, but he pulls up for an 8 footer...off the front of the rim! Time winding down, he manages to get his own rebound!!! Tries to put it back up and does, but the whistle blows...the shot drops!!! But the @#$%^$%^$# refs wave the shot off. 3 seconds on the clock, 38-37 bad guys, Simon at the line shooting 2.

Simon lines up, goes through his motions...and nails the first one!!! Tie ballgame! He lines up again...for the win...but no!!! They rebound and call timeout. 1.5 seconds left on the clock...they inbound it and throw it the length of the court immediately, and get air. We're going into overtime.

38-38...rejump for a two minute overtime period. Simon outjumps his man, and Ashwin gets the ball. They keep the same fouls, so we have double bonus. John takes the pass, and drives the lane, where four guys converge on him. John hits the ground, the ball pops out, but there is no foul called ( :mad: ). They take it back and hit a three. We take it up and John H. hits a three. They take it back and manage a layin off an offensive board. We go back down and miss our shot, which they rebound...they come inand hit another tough shot, and we're down 45-41. We inbound it, and John loses the ball on a double team. They run the 2 on 1 and get the layin, all of a sudden we're down 47-41 with under a minute to go in OT. We call our only timeout.

Obviously needing a three, we inbound it and look to John H, our shooter for the night. He gets covered, so he swings it to John, who swings it to Ash, who gives it to me underneath. I, in a brilliant move, go up with the ball, and proceed to get fouled with no whistle...the ball is moving around, we kick it out, and hit a meaningless three as time expires. Final score Janitors 47, 8 North 44.

Can't say we didn't try :(

[JeeberD]

Sorry ya'll didn't win. At least you made it as far as you did and had fun doing it...

[Kodos]

You guys made it a long way. Good job! Sorry you couldn't get that final win.... :(

[Vince]

Yeah...it's kind of frustrating. When you send a game to overtime, only to lose, you question every single play you did wrong. "Well, if I made that free throw..." it's killing me...I did just about everything I could to keep my team in the game, and it was to no avail. Anyhow, we played one hell of a game, and entertained the fans that did show up. And it was fun to romp through the playoffs. The win would have been sweet...but I'll live without it. Thanks for your support guys :)