JCC of Central New Jersey Men's Basketball

Week 8 featured two games which came right down to the final seconds (both of which ended in similar fashion) and two games which were not so close.  With the school year having come to a close and the summer truly beginning, key players missing games will become more of an issue and that certainly played a part this past week.  We are getting to the home stretch of the regular season with only 4 games remaining until the playoffs begin.  Teams will be jockeying for playoff seeding over the coming weeks so let's take a look at how the game action from last week helped shaped the current standings.

Greatest Show on Courts 57 - JCC You in the Finals 55 (OT): This was the first game all season to go to overtime.  JCC You was playing without Jim Korn while Greatest Show was missing Mike Borik.  Despite having given up 101 points the first time these two teams met, JCC You is giving up the second fewest points of any team in the league.  That is how this team has won games because they also possess the lowest scoring offense in the league and this week were playing without their leading scorer.  Greatest Show got out to an early lead doing what they do best...getting steals and converting them into fast break points.  Greatest Show led 12-3 with 12:00 remaining in the first half.  Greatest Show was led by the matching double-doubles from Will Howarth (17 pts/10 rebs) and Eric Sass (10 pts/10 rebs) while also getting double digit scoring from captain Matt Ceccarelli (10 pts) and Mike "Flex" Huberman (10 pts/8 rebs).  JCC You fought back thanks in large part to the efforts of Damien Jackson (19 pts/7 rebs on 8/12 shooting), who seemed to come through with clutch baskets every time one was needed, and cut the lead to 24-22 at the half.  The second half went back and forth with each team taking small leads (the largest being 6 points by Greatest Show).  A big part of this game came down to FT shooting. Damien was a very uncharacteristic 2/9 from the FT line for the game. Meanwhile, Greatest Show seemed to be hitting all their FTs until late in the game when they could've put the game away.  The late missed FTs gave JCC You life which they took advantage of when Jason Narod scored the tying basket with 7 seconds remaining.  Narod finished the game with 12 pts/8 rebs and Steve Bachman was the only other player to reach double figures for JCC You (11 pts).  After Narod hit the game-tying fg, Flex Huberman quickly dribbled the ball down the court and took a potential game-winning three-pointer but there would be no flexing after this shot as it caromed off the rim.  And so that meant 4 additional minutes of game action to decide the winner.  Flex opened the scoring in overtime and Damien tied it up at 55.  Here's how the rest of the overtime played out:

• Hogwarts got fouled with 1:30 left and made both FTs (57-55 Greatest Show)
• Back court violation called on JCC You (1:22 left)
• Hogwarts missed a shot in the lane and ball went out of bounds to JCC You
• Damien missed midrange jumper but Narod grabbed offensive rebound. Damien got fouled driving to the hoop with 40 seconds remaining. Missed both FTs. Ball went out of bounds to Greatest Show
• Sass got fouled and went to the line with 32.4 seconds left. Missed both FTs thanks in large part to the heckling by the Narod children (apple doesn't fall far from the tree)
• Damien drove to the hoop and lost the ball out of bounds but JCC You retained possession with 7.2 seconds left. And then this happened...

Game over and a well fought 2-point victory for Greatest Show.  David "It ain't so easy against 5 players" Steinbruck scored 16 points fewer than the 16 he scored in the first matchup between these teams.  Pete Strauss hit two very clutch threes in the game en route to 6 points.  The win kept Greatest Show in sole possession of first place at 7-1 while the loss dropped JCC You to 4-4 on the season.

99 Problems (But a Swish Ain't One) 67 - The Silent Killers 54: Both teams entered this game with identical 4-3 records with each team hoping to get two games over .500.  The Silent Killers were missing newcomer Eddie Ford as well as Doc Livingston.  The Silent Killers led for most of the first half, having built the lead up to 9 points at one point.  But 99 Problems went on a run to close out the half, trailing by just one point (31-30).  The Silent Killers were paced, as usual, by captain Siri Carpien (21 pts/9 rebs/4 assists) and Jason Pompeo (13 pts/8 rebs).  99 Problems carried the momentum over to the second half completing a 24-3 run which took the score from a 31-26 Silent Killers lead to a 50-34 lead for 99 Problems.  The second half began with The Silent Killers becoming very sloppy with the ball and commiting multiple turnovers and not so silently killing their chances at winning the game.  99 Problems thrive off of causing turnovers and converting them into easy fast break layups.  Jorge Mangui, the league leader in steals, was at his best in the second half harassing his opponent and converting on the offensive end.  Jorge scored 23 points to go along with 10 rebounds and 3 steals.  Jason Lorenzo added 14 points while Bryan Minasian did what he always does, scoring an efficient 8 points to go along with 11 rebounds.  Seth Niessen had a solid 7 pts/8 rebs for The Silent Killers while Alex Fisher continues to hit three-pointers at a 40% clip for the season.  Once 99 Problems opened up the 50-34 lead, they never looked back, with The Silent Killers never cutting the lead to fewer than 9 points the rest of the way.  Rick Auyeung and Dave Laub each added 6 points off the bench to round out the scoring for 99 Problems.  Both teams struggled from three-point range in this game, combining to shoot just 13/60 from deep.  99 Problems had a significant advantage from the FT line, hitting 14/22 FTs while The Silent Killers were a mere 2/10 from the line. The win vaulted 99 Problems to 5-3 and in sole possession of third place in the standings while the loss dropped The Silent Killers to 4-4 and in a 4th place tie with JCC You.

Bagels & Blox 66 - The Pipe Layers 48:  This was the battle for last place with Bagels & Blox having beaten The Pipe Layers the first time these two teams squared off.  In that first matchup, Jamal Berry scored 40 points en route to a 3-point victory.  However, that was the last time Bagels & Blox enjoyed the sweet taste of victory.   Rumor has it captain Jonathan Kanarek drew up an elaborate game plan for this contest which consisted of "Jamal, remember what you did the first time we faced these guys, do that again!!!" Well it worked because Jamal followed his captain's guidance and scored 31 points...in the first half.  The Pipe Layers were missing several players including Ben Carr, Erez Liebermann and Josh Goodhart (and Jordan Perlmutter left at halftime with a rib injury) while Bagels & Blox were without Ben Huber. Thanks to Mike Pollack for filling in for The Pipe Layers.  While captain Kanarek's game plan worked well, the same cannot be said for The Pipe Layers.  Unlike most teams who have opted to double team Jamal on most possessions, The Pipe Layers went with straight man defense and Jamal made them pay with an impressive combination of fantastic finishes in the lane as well as hitting 5/9 from deep.  This game was never close as Bagels & Blox got out to a very early 18-3 lead and never were challenged the rest of the way. Jamal finished with 38 points (15/27 shooting) and also found the time to collect 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 6 steals.  He was a one-man wrecking crew though he did get solid contributions from teammates Brian Schiller (8 pts/9 rebs), Matt Birnbach (6 pts/7 rebs) and the rest off the supporting cast.  Shout out to Dave Kobi for hitting his first shot of the season, the first basket of the game.  Kobi was just trying to get a sense of the other teams the first time through the schedule but wasted no time on this evening.  For The Pipe Layers, this was a game to forget but they were led by captain Adam Hynes (17 pts) and Mike Korn (10 pts/8 rebs).  Andrew Merel had another solid all around performance with 9 pts/10 rebs/4 assists.  The win moved Bagels & Blox solidly into 7th place (holding the season sweep over The Pipe Layers) while the loss dropped The Pipe Layers into the standings cellar at 1-7.

Splash 65 -Team Psycho 63:  The week was bookended by nail biter games.  Team Psycho was missing Dan Amsellem (nearing his return from a calf injury) as well as defensive dynamo Gary Levine.  The outlook for Team Psycho didn't look great without two of their best defensive players considering they were playing a Splash squad that has been consistently putting up big points.  As has been discussed many times, Team Psycho has struggled on the offensive end and they were going to need to score some points this week. The question was where were the points going to come from.  Well the answer came from Ben Gerstein - sometimes big things come in small packages.  Prior to this game, Gerstein had failed to score more than 6 points or hit more than two shots in a game.  It's clear captain Colin Neff had been hiding Ben on the bench and waiting for the perfect moment to unleash his talents.  Well that moment came this past week as Ben scored 19 points (including 5/7 from three-point range).  Early on the scoring came from surprising sources for both teams, as Brandon Wendel provided most of the early scoring for Splash.  Brandon finished with 17 points (including 5/9 from deep) as the Team Psycho strategy of letting Brandon shoot did not work out.  If only Colin had looked at the stats for the season he would've noticed that Brandon is leading the league in 3-point percentage.  Speaking of Colin, his shots weren't really falling in this contest (9 points on 4/13) but he always finds ways to contibute (18 rebounds/5 assists and 2 steals).  TJ Farrell added 15 points on an ineffficeint 4/16 shooting though he did hit all 5 of his FTs.  A week after this writer gushed about captain Jon Ackerman's MVP-level season, he had his quietest offensive game of the season (5 points) but he did contribute 12 rebounds.  Shamar Mason was consistently dicing up Team Psycho's defense and hitting his patented pull-up jumpers and spin moves in the lane.  This was also the best offensive performance for Mike Glanzman, who took advantage of the void in the middle without big Dan and consistently hit his left hand baby hook shot (17 pts/11 rebs).  This game came down to the final seconds with Team Psycho having multiple opportunities to potentially steal the victory.  However, in much the same way as the Greatest Show/JCC You game ended...  

This game ended with Colin Neff throwing an errant pass, down two with 5 seconds remaining.  The win kept Splash in second place overall at 6-2 while the loss moved Team Psycho into 6th place at 3-5 but with the return of Dan Amsellem on the horizon.

Power Rankings:

1. Splash - I had them in first last week and nothing has changed. If they can get the type of offensive contributions they got from Brandon Wendel and Mike Glanzman going forward, they might be the team to beat
2. Greatest Show - Another week and another win.  But they really got tested against a team missing one of their top two weapons.  I still think this is the most complete overall roster
3. 99 Problems - Might be the best offensive team in the league and they have a very deep roster.  Jorge Mangui is playing like an MVP
4. JCC You - They beat The Silent Killers head-to-head so they get the edge.  For this team it's all about consistency offensively.  Their defense has been really tough to score against but if they can get to 55-60 points, they will win most of the time
5. The Silent Killers - They were missing Eddie Ford this past week and his absence was felt.  This team can compete with and beat any team.
6. Team Psycho - Has this team just entered the Ben Gerstein Era (it's like Jeremy Lin but it's Bensanity).  Seriously though, this is a different team with Dan Amsellem in the lineup and he is expected back this week.  Much like JCC You, if they can consistently score 55-60 points, they'll usually win.
7. Bagels & Blox - Jamal is a beast
8. The Pipe Layers - At least the season is 2/3 complete

New segment starting this week:

What were they thinking? - The debut award goes to The Pipe Layers and captain Adam Hynes...What were you thinking trying to play man defense against Jamal Berry, after he scorched you for 40 points the first time.  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome

Stats:

Points:

Jamal Berry - 27.5 ppg

Jorge Mangui - 20.5 ppg

Jon Ackerman - 18.4 ppg

Rebounds:

Bryan Minasian - 13.5 rpg

Eric Sass - 12.1 rpg

Colin Neff - 11.9 rpg

Assists:

Jordan Perlmutter - 3.7 apg

Andrew Merel - 3.6 apg

Will Howarth - 3.4 apg

Steals:

Jorge Mangui- 3.9 spg

Mike Huberman - 3.4 spg

Jamal Berry - 3.3 spg

Blocks (total):

Mike Korn - 10

Damien Jackson - 9

Siri Carpien/Eric Sass - 8

Three-pointers made:

Jamal Berry - 20

Siri Carpien/TJ Farrell - 19

Good luck to all this week