We had a solid team. balanced. Every teammate could fill a role you would need for success in hoops. After the cardio came back (~week 5-ish), there were some growing pains in learning to play with new teammates. Some weeks, we were missing a player or 2, and had to adjust, which wasn't always easy. In a six team league, we finished the regular season 3rd. Playing each team twice, the 2 top teams beat us both times, and we finished 6-4. All 6 teams make the playoffs. Top 2 with a bye, 3 v. 6 & 4 v. 5 etc. With the goal of getting 3 wins for the title, we summarily dispatched the Defeated (0-10) 6th seed in round 1. Our next foe was the 2 seed, who in the regular season beat us twice with buzzer beaters. We won, but the victory was bittersweet. There star player, a 6'8" Mehmet Okur wanna be, jumped ship & took a job back east the week before... it made a difference. We were feeling a bit empty sneaking into the finals, beating one of our 2 nemeses at less than full strength. To win it all though, we were to face a NY Giants v. NE Pats situation, and have to defeat the 11-0, 1 seed. This team had destroyed us by ~ 30 pts. in our first meeting, when we were at far less than full strength. In our 2nd encounter, we were still short a critical player in our rotation, but fared much better. We were able to hold there star player (6'4" , 220 Deron Williams prototype) in check. And... we now felt we had a recipe for success, if there was to be a 3rd match up in "The Finals". Our date with destiny materialized, and this time, our gun was fully loaded. We had no excuses to fall back on. We got off to a quick start, matching them point for point, while keeping their D-Will stud quiet. I'll take a bow for hitting several big shots early, keeping the margin close and team confidence high. A miracle bank 3 pointer at the half buzzer by our 5 man, put us up 5 pts. I think they were stunned, and their frustration level was approaching a red line. They came out of the 2nd half gates quickly, and managed to tie the game, but our defensive intensity was stifling. Our lead quickly grew to 10 pts. and held them off for most of the second half. Some shaky freethrow shooting late (I'll bow here too), let them creep back in and get a sniff of a possible OT, but like Shaq says (not this year), we made the one's we needed to and held on for the victory. And victory was sweet. We kept with team tradition and had a beer at Trophy's after the game, trading a few war stories. I'm glad I got the chance to revive the sleeping baller in me, and look forward to keeping the train rolling into the next season.
