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Subscribe to our NewsletterWe have made it through the first five weeks of the season, meaning after this coming week we will be at the midway point of the season. Matt Ceccarelli's Greatest Show on Courts continue to ace every test put in front of them (though managing to beat a team with 4 players in week one was not such a feat - okay got that reference out of the way early) and no team has really even given them much of a challenge yet. This past week they didn't even need the services of Mike Huberman, who added a new member to his family, Hallie Huberman. The delivery was made more difficult because Hallie was apparently flexing in the womb but baby and mom are both home and doing well. This was a fairly uneventful week in JCC hoops so let's just get right into the recaps:
The Silent Killers 59 - Bagels & Blox 55: Bagels & Blox came into this game in the midst of a 3-game slide and desperate to get back in the win column. Rumor has it that captain Jonathan Kanarek has been sending lengthy weekly emails extolling the value of showing up for pickup to improve on-court performace as well as general tips on how to help turnaround the current team slump. The message was definitely received by Ben Huber this week, who apparently missed the praise from this writer that he so often received last season. Ben was hitting shots early and often (7/10 for the game for a total of 16 points), providing much needed support to Jamal Berry. Jamal again put up big numbers in this game, scoring a team-leading 23 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. However, nobody else on the team scored more that 6 points in the contest. The Silent Killers were again playing shorthanded, this time missing Seth Niessen and Alex Fisher, but captain Siri Carpien and second round pick Jason Pompeo were both in the lineup and doing damage. Siri was coming off a game where he failed to hit a 3-point shot, something that doesn't happen very often. In this game, Siri made 5 of 8 three-point attempts, including a couple of his walk-up threes, which I've warned about many times. So here we go again with the PSA - if you see this man causally walking toward the three-point line, looking like he's not interested in taking a shot, don't be fooled.
Siri finished with a team-high 21 points to go with 9 rebounds. Jason Pompeo, coming off a game which he fouled out early, was determined to make up for last week's performance, and again logged a double-double to the tune of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Eric Lai and Rory Schulman each contibuted 7 points in the winning effort. As has often been the case for Bagels & Blox, they fell behind only to launch a furious comeback but again came up short. They will look to get their first win since week 1 against Splash later in the week while The Silent Killers will attempt to give Greatest Show their first defeat of the season.
Splash 58 - JCC You in the Finals 51: The big story for this game was the debut of Mike Glanzman, who was attempting to make up for the massive loss of first-round pick Phil Romero for the season. Both teams came into this game with identical 2-2 records so this game was a good test between two teams with opposing styles. Splash is powered by the 3-man guard rotation of Shamar Mason, captain Jon Ackerman and Adam Driansky while JCC You runs their offense through their two big men, Damien Jackson and Jim Korn. Just before gametime, Splash learned that they would have to make do without Mike Smulewitz, which absent a dental emergency seemed like an obstacle that could be overcome. Meanwhile, JCC You learned that Jim Korn was running late and wound up missing the first 15 minutes of game action. (Advantage Splash). Splash jumped out to a quick lead as JCC You opened the game in zone defense and gave up layups on the first three possessions of the game. By the time Jim checked in to the game, JCC You had managed to tie up the game which seemed to bode well for them. However, that is why they play the games. Splash captain Jon Ackerman had yet another big game, leading the team with 19 points and also adding 6 rebounds. Ackerman had it working both outside (2/3 from deep) as well as driving to the hole. His partner in crime, Adam Driansky, added 16 points and 6 rebounds to help pace Splash. Mike Glanzman made his presence felt on both ends of the floor. Despite being undersized compared to Damien and Jim, Glanzman had 3 blocked shots, 10 rebounds and definitely provided hope for Splash that they can possibly overcome the loss of Phil. The game remained close through most of the second half until Splash had three straight possessions where they nailed three-pointers by Shamar, Ackerman and Alex Schosheim to build a double-digit lead. JCC You made a late run thanks in large part to the big man duo (Damien had 19 pts/11 rebs while Korn had 12 pts/12 rebs) but were never able to overcome the 10-point lead. It was a very poor shooting night for JCC You and they are yet to score 60 points in a game this season. Shoutout to Adam Driansky for making my 4/10 FT shooting performance last week not seem so bad - he was 3/11 on the night. However, he did have this move late in the game which left Steve Bachman watching from the ground.
JCC You will look to get back to .500 against The Pipe Layers while Spalsh face Bagels & Blox (two teams headed in opposite directions).
Greatest Show on Courts 64 - 99 Problems (But a Swish Ain't One) 57: This was the marquee matchup of the week and a real chance for 99 Problems to potentially establish themselves as the team to beat in the league. As mentioned earlier, Greatest Show was missing Flex Huberman while 99 Problems had their full squad. The Boston Celtics this season established the record for most three-pointers attempted in an NBA season, averaging 48.2 attempts per game. While it has proven to be a winning formula most of the time for the Celtics, it does make them very vulnerable when the team has off-shooting nights. I mention this because 99 Problems leads the JCC in 3-pointers attempted per game by a wide margin (averaging 38.2 attempts per game with Team Psycho a distant 25.4 attempts per game) and on this night attempted a whopping 50 three-pointers and made only 7 of those attempts (yes that is 14%).
I've used it before but always a good gif
Greatest Show got out to a quick start thanks to 4 players scoring in double digits. It was a very balanced scoring effort with Matt Ceccarelli leading the way with 19 points and 12 rebounds, followed by 15 apiece by big men Eric Sass (17 rebounds) and Will Howarth (8 rebs and 4 assists) and 11 points by Justin Dank. 99 Problems managed to tie the game up heading into halftime thanks in large part to Jorge Mangui, who scored 23 points and added 10 rebounds. Jason Lorenzo scored 12 points (on 5/16 shooting) and Mike Gerstein scored 10 points. The second half was all Greatest Show - they went on a 20-5 run to stretch the lead to 48-33. On this night, Swishes were definitely amongst the 99 Problems (especially the 43 missed threes). Greatest Show now have a 2-game lead over everyone at 5-0 while 99 Problems now sits at 3-2 with Team Psycho next up on the schedule.
The Pipe Layers 53 - Team Psycho 51: As a contrast to 99 Problems who took 50 three-pointers this week, The Pipe Layers have taken only 57 three-pointers all season, including this week. The Pipe Layers came into this contest as the lone remaining winless team though they have been very close on more than one occassion. Captains Adam Hynes and Colin Neff were long time teammates and both came in with a game plan for stopping the other. Team Psycho has consistently shown that they are one of the best defensive teams in the league but have struggled on the offensive side of the ball. The Pipe Layers have also struggled offensively because they have been unable to establish a post presence and also are attempting and making the fewest number of threes in the league. This game was a back and forth battle throughout with each team going on a run followed by the other team answering that run. Adam Hynes led the way for The Pipe Layers with 16 points and 8 rebounds, Jordan Perlmutter had 13 points and Ben Carr scored 10 points. For Team Psycho, Colin Neff and Dan Amsellem each scored 17 points though Dan did it on 8/12 shooting while Colin was less efficient at 7/23 shooting (Colin added 16 rebounds while Dan tallied 10). The score was 49-47 with 1:55 remaining and here is how those last 2:00 played out:
- Jake Granoff got fouled on a layup with 1:39 left (made 1/2 fts) - 50-47 (Team Psycho)
- Jordan Perlmutter went coast-to-coast and made a layup and was fouled (missed the FT) 50-49 (Psycho)
- Colin fouled with 1:10 left (made 1/2) 51-49 (Psycho)
- Jordan got fouled with 54.7 left (Made 1/2 fts) 51-50 (Psycho)
- Gary attempted a reverse layup with time running out on the shot clock but the shot was blocked by Andrew Merel
- Ensuing possession, the ball ended up in Adam's hands, missed a runner but tipped in his miss (52-51 Pipe Layers) - :20 left
- Dan Amsellem got fouled with 12.1 seconds left (airballed the first and missed the second)
- Andrew Merel got fouled with 8.5 seconds left (made 1/2 FTS) 53-51 Pipe Layers
- Team Psycho called timeout. Ensuing play went to Colin who missed a potential game-tying shot, rebounded by Jake, who also missed the follow up. Game over - The Pipe Layers won 53-51 and then the world ended.
Okay the world didn't end and The Pipe Layers now sit at 1-4 while Team Psycho is 2-3.
Power Rankings:
1) Greatest Show on Courts (5-0) - This is the easiest team to rank. Undefeated and unchallenged. Justin Dank is dealing with a hand injury and perhaps the lack of sleep will impact Flex.
2) Splash (3-2) - Splash did lose their top draft pick but Mike Glanzman filled in well in his absence. The three guard rotation of Shamar, Ackerman and Driansky will be tough for teams to match up against.
3) The Silent Killers (3-2) - Their big 3 of Siri Carpien, Jason Pompeo and Orlando Jean-Charles is as good as any top three. If they can get consistent production out of Rory Schulman, Seth Niessen and Eric Lai - they will be a tough team to beat. Lack of height is this team's biggest weakness
4) 99 Problems (3-2) - This team is very deep and when they are hitting their shots they are as dangerous as anoyne. However, 53.5% of their shots on the season have come from three-point range and I'm not sure that is a recipe for long term success.
5) JCC You (2-3) - This team will go as far as Jim Korn and Damien Jackson take them. If Ed Seiden, Jason Narod and Steve Bachman can consistently hit shots, that will just further open things up for the big fellas
6) Team Psycho (2-3) - Great defense but the offense is yet to click consistently
7) The Pipe Layers (1-4) - They won their last game so that's a start. This is still a roster with talent and I believe they'll win some games before all is said and done
8) Bagels & Blox (1-4) - They've lost 4 staright. Maybe Ben Huber having his breakout game can get them headed in the right direction. Jamal continues to do his thing but they will need at least two other guys to contribute offensively on a weekly basis to help lighten the load - whether it's Ben, Jake or Schiller
Stats Leaders:
Points:
Jamal Berry - 26.8 ppg
Flex Huberman - 19.2 ppg
Siri Carpien - 19.2 ppg
Rebounds:
Bryan Minasian - 13.0 rpg
Eric Sass - 12.4 rpg
Dan Amsellem - 12.0 rpg
Assists:
Jordan Perlmutter - 4.0 apg
Mike Huberman - 3.4 apg
Justin Dank - 3.2 apg
Steals:
Jorge Mangui - 3.8 spg
Jamal Berry - 3.2 spg
Colin Neff - 3.0 spg
Blocks (Total):
Mike Korn - 6
Damien Jackson - 6
Dan Amsellem - 5
Eric Sass - 5
Jamal Berry - 5
Three-pointers Made:
Siri Carpien - 12
Jason Lorenzo - 11
TJ Farrell - 11
Good luck everyone this week
