VBL Week 8
A few teams punched their ticket into the VBL playoffs this week; we were at a different venue because of rain but still delivered that authentic VBL brand of basketball.
Sunday, August 3rd Oakwood Rec Center / VBL indoor facility
White Collars 82, Swagg Media 72
Sunday’s 1st matchup between the White Collars and Swagg Media was a closer game than expected. Swagg Media was without the services of Chris Staples and Mani Love. The coach was forced to put on some shorts and a jersey. “The Intern” even made his VBL debut. With all these question marks in terms of the roster, the game was decided by only a 10 point differential.
White Collars got one of their best performances out of Mighty Mouse, who tallied 23 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. He was like a blur on offense and defense, whirring around the court making plays happen no matter who the opposition was. Most of his shots were heavily contested, but he brought his A-game when it mattered most for his team.
Equinox was no slouch, dropping 28 points and 7 rebounds. 70s show chipped in with 12 rebound
Swagg Media tried to do all they could with the players they had but ultimately couldn’t get it done, effectively ending their season. Scipio ended up with 19 points but took 21 shots to get there. Don Don aka Young Trickery had some nice drives and finishes at the rim. He tried to do all he could to inspire a major comeback but it was all to no avail.
White Collars advance.
Player of the Game: Equinox
NCAA Boys 74, Mean Ones 61
The Energizer tried to set the tone for this one, diving for loose balls, playing intense-D, and playing with reckless abandon. Exactly how you’re supposed to compete with playoff implications on the line. However, the Mean Ones needed more offense than energy and came up short against the NCAA Boyz.
Chosen played his role perfectly, orchestrating the offense from a pure point stance. He ended the game with only 4 points but had 8 assists which helped spark the offense of his teammates. Evolution was the real showstopper of the game, with 26 exciting points that featured plenty of dunks for the fans.
The Grinch played with heart and passion but unfortunately it wasn’t enough for the Mean Ones. Their season ends at the fate of the NCAA Boys; let’s see what they can do in the next round.
Player of the Game: Evolution
Pro Shot West 116, SPL 93
Continuing the theme of star players being missing, PSW was without Brokenbrough and Meezy in this contest, forcing their coach to suit up as well. Speaking of the Coach, he actually dropped 21 points, connecting on 5 shots from long range. Jersey Shore tried to pick up the rest of the slack for his missing teammates (connecting for 25 points) but there wasn’t much else he could do. The defense (and ultimately offense) played by SPL in the second half was spirited by a verbal feud with commentator DB. SPL felt they weren’t getting enough credit and decided to take matters into their own hands.
This charge was led by Bodysnatcher, who had another dominating performance against some inferior defense. He got his first 40 and 10 performance on the season and made it look easy while doing it. Like stated before, the verbal spat with DB had a lot to do with this scoring outburst as the game was close with a 47-44 score at the half. The third quarter was when Bodysnatcher decided to catch some bodies, converting on multiple and-ones.
A surprise appearance from Robbie R. also helped cement this victory as he played the role of Bodysnatcher’s running mate, notching 24 points and 6 rebounds. He was set up on plenty of alley-oops from Bodysnatcher, adding insult to injury in the 23 point victory.
Player of the Game: Bodysnatcher
Court Side 105, Sun Block 89
Mr. Metta World Peace was a lot more peaceful this Sunday afternoon, and that translated over to an outstanding 44 point/11 rebound performance. With that point total, he surpassed Chris Staples’ 2014 VBL season record total of 43 points. World Peace was able to achieve this feat after connecting on 7 threes.
This rematch contest from Week 7 wasn’t as heated of a matchup as before, but there were still a couple of those World Peace and Donald Lee wrestling matches down on the block. Ultimately Court Side wrestled their way to another victory with some solid contributions from Pop Champagne (21 points) and Big Baby (18 points).
Sun Block competed really hard on both ends of the floor but just ran out of steam at the end. The score is less indicative of the actual contest, and Sunblock should be proud of their performance although they were without one of their best players, Mute. A subpar performance from Air Gordon certainly didn’t help their case as he ended the game with 13 points, (most came in moments that didn’t really matter). If there was ever a time to step up and deliver for a missing teammate, this would have been the game.
Court Side seems to be gelling at the right time and looks to improve their championship aspirations in the next round of the playoffs.
Player of the Game: Metta World Peace