JCC of Central New Jersey Men's Basketball

Three weeks are now in the books and the team hierarchy is starting to take shape. The big story this week was the unfortunate reality in sports - injuries.  Two first round picks suffered injuries this week and will be on the shelf for a few weeks, but we are all hoping that Andi Hasaj and Dave Moreno will be back and healthy soon. Now I'd like to get one thing out of the way right away and that relates to on court conduct.  We are all here to have fun and get some exercise and we are not looking to get anyone hurt. As the commish, I should be especially aware of this, but I lost my cool in this week's game and tripped Jason Narod. There is no justification for it and frankly I was pretty embarrassed after it happened that I acted in a way that is very out of character for me.  The discipline czar has been in touch with me and fortunately I've only been given a warning and a promise from me that it will certainly not happen again. I hold myself to an even higher standard as commish and I'm relieved that Jason did not get hurt as a result (and can we all agree that Narod is quite skilled at getting under an opponent's skin as a trash talker - very different being on the receiving end instead of his teammate).

Last week I discussed how competitive all the games had been, with all games decided by fewer than 10 points. And while 3 out of 5 games this past week were close games, the two Monday night games were not close contests.  Let's move onto the recaps:

Household Hoopers 57 - Shortland Blazers 37: Both teams came into this game having lost their previous contests and were eager to get back into the win column.  These two teams are two of the shortest teams in the league and Shortland was playing without their tallest player, Drew Mandelbaum. The Blazers got out to a very quick 6-0 lead but Household Hoopers kept their composure (aside from the aforementioned tripping incident) and found their groove, especially on the defensive end.  Defense has been the m.o. for Household Hoopers this season - they have yet to eclipse the 60 point mark but are holding opponents to a mere 46 ppg.  After scoring 6 early points, Shortland managed to score just 16 total points in the first half.  The defensive intensity starts from captain Colin Neff, who took it upon himself to try and contain first round pick, Jakub Zabek.  Jakub did finish with 15 points but made only 1/14 shots from deep.  The three-pointers were just not falling for the Blazers, as they shot 1/29 collectively as a team. Shamar Mason had a quiet first half but came alive after the intermission with his patented spin moves and tough finishes in the lane. Shamar finished with 12 points/5 rebs/4 steals but was also 0/9 from three. While it took a little while for Household Hoopers to get their offense going (only 21 points in the first half), it was a collective team effort with 4 playrs scoring in double digits. Colin led the way with a very efficient 19 pts/12 rebs, followed by Jonathan Roy's 14 pts/7 rebs, Jason Pompeo's 10 pts/12 rebs and Ed Seiden's 10 points.  The score was 21-16 at halftime but Household Hoopers opened a 20-point lead in the second half (scoring 36 second half points) and never looked back. The win moved Household Hoopers to 2-1 while the loss dropped Shortland Blazers to 0-2.  I think it's just a matter of time before Jakub emerges from his 3-point shooting funk and this team rights the ship.

Fast Break 85 - Big Ballers 62: Big Ballers were playing without the injured Dave Moreno as well as Alex Stone and Andrew Merel.  Sub extraordinaire Mike Ruccio and Graham Haskell filled in for captain Bryan Minasian's squad.  Ever since Fast Break lost their opening game, Jorge Mangui has looked like a guy who will not be denied a second straight MVP and JCC championship. Fast break captain, Gary Levine, has his team playing to their strength, and that is creating havoc.  Jorge and co have been full court pressing teams and creating turnovers which inevitably lead to easy fast break layups.  Bryan Minasian and his Big Baller teammates are surely seeing plays like this in their nightmares.

Fast Break had an incredible 17 steals (including 4 different players with at least 3 steals) which led to dozens of easy points.  This game was never really close and Gary seemed to have no interest in calling off the troops.  Jorge had his second straight 30+ point game (34 points of 13/19 shooting/6 rebs/6 assists/4 steals).  Mike Glanzman continued his all-star level play and had another double-double with 12 pts/10 rebs.  Gary Levine added 16 points. TJ Farrell, amazingly playing in his second game of the night, summoned up enough energy to add 9 points.  Pete Strauss hit both of his three-point attempts and Dave Kobi played too. For Big Ballers, the loss of Dave Moreno will be tough to overcome. In his absence, James Floyd led the way with 24 points (including an impressive 6/14 from deep) to go along with 7 rebs/4 assists.  Bryan Minasian has quietly put together another great season thus far, adding another double-double with 11 pts/16 rebs. Shane Calendar added 10 points and 8 rebs in the losing effort.  The win moved Fast Break to 2-1 while the loss left Big Ballers reeling at 0-3 and without their first round pick for the forseeable future.

Going Buck 58 - Money Ball 49: Last season concluded with Team Splash losing a heartbreaking championship game. One side effect of that loss was the break up of Jon Ackerman and Adam Driansky.  Knowing they would be unable to team up to try and win another championship, Adam Driansky accepted the invite to become captain of his own team. Both of these teams came into this game with 2-0 records but unfortunately for Money Ball, they were without two of their best players, Andi Hasaj and Herb Smith.  Andi injured his ankle playing pickup and will miss a few games while Herb suffered a scratched cornea in their previous game. Graham Haskell filled in for Money Ball. For Going Buck, captain Jon Ackerman was excited to welcome back, well Jon Ackerman, into the fold. Jon had missed the first two games of the season and he seemed determined to make up for lost time. Money Ball got out to an early lead but seemed to run out of gas as the game went on.  Money Ball was led offensively by captain Driansky (18 pts/7 rebs), who seems able to get to the rim regardless of who is defending him. Justin Dank added an inefficient 11 points but also contributed 6 rebounds and 4 steals. Steve Bachman had an equally inefficient 10 points to go with 8 rebounds and Graham Haskell had 7 pts/7 rebs filling in.  Jon Ackerman was the story of this game, his first league game since Team Splash let the championship slip away last season, and if the way he played in his return is any indication, he has his sights set on a championship return.  Ackerman scored 23 points (9/17 shooting) and added 8 rebounds - and he did his boy dirty here:

Will Howarth added a double-double for Going Buck with 13 pts/13 rebs and Jake Granoff put up 10 points in the winning effort. Brian Maier added 6 points of his own. The win moved Going Buck to 3-0 and in sole possession of first place in the standings.  The loss dropped Money Ball to 2-1 but still feeling confident knowing their injured stars will return in the coming weeks.

We Got Game 59 vs Laub & Order 52: As mentioned in a prior recap, Matt Ceccarelli assembled a loaded roster last season, including 4 players drafted in the first two rounds. This week, Matt's We Got Game was taking on a Laub & Order team featuring two of his teammates from last season, Eric Sass and Mike Huberman (the team's two leading scorers).  This was the first really close game this week, with neither team ever really building a big lead.  It was a back and forth battle and it really just came down to late game execution.  Matt Ceccarelli and We Got Game made plays down the stretch while Mike Gerstein's Laub & Order committed bad turnovers and missed shots late.  Second-round pick Omer Nimrodi made his long-awaited JCC debut and he did not disaapoint.  Omer led We Got Game with 19 points and 5 assists and was the floor general Matt envisioned when selecting him in the second round. Now this came as no surprise to two of his opponents, Mike Gerstein and Jason Stern, who are Omer's teammates in another league, though his 3/5 shooting from three-point range might have surprised them.  Ben Huber did his thing, scoring 14 points/6 rebs while showing off his impressive post moves. Matt scored only 10 points but that can be largely explained by Eric Sass making him really work for every shot.  Matt did hit a huge three-pointer late in the game which was the back-breaker for Laub & Order.  Steve Shelton added 9 points in the victory.  Laub & Order were led by Eric Sass and his 20 pts/7 rebs.  This team looks their best when the offense runs through Sass, who has been one of the most impressive players on film this season.  Jason Stern continues to show off an improved offensive game (11 pts) while also consistently playing outstanding defense.  It was a mixed bag for Mike "Flex" Huberman in this contest. Neighbor had 14 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals and even when his shots aren't falling, he finds a way to contribute elsewhere. However, he scored only 7 points on this night on 3/15 shooting (including 0/8 from deep) and had a costly late turnover.  It was a very quiet night for captain Mike Gerstein, who scored only 5 points on 2/8 shooting.  The win moved We Got Game to 2-0 and one of only two undefeated teams while the loss dropped Laub & Order to 1-2.

Billy Hoyle 61 vs Ball Don't Lie 58: We saved the best for last this week as this game was the most exciting and competitive game of the week.  Ball Don't Lie was missing AJS for this game and his absence was defintely felt. There's been lots of talk the past two seasons about Jorge and Andi (and last season Jamal) when talking about the best players in the league. And I feel like it's made us all overlook just how good Siri Carpien is (if I had to guess the all-time leading scorer in JCC history). After this week's game, I'm pretty sure Ball Don't Lie won't be questioning Siri's place amongst the elite players in the league. Siri seemed to get whatever shot he wanted all night and most of it involved blowing by a defender and making a layup.  Siri scored 28 points including every big shot down the stretch for Billy Hoyle. Ball Don't Lie played a great game and led for most of the contest. But much like Laub & Order in the earlier game, it all came down to execution down the stretch and that is what did Ball Don't Lie in.  Captain Adam Hynes had his best game of the season, pouring in 23 points and consistently hitting tough shots.  Ben Carr added 19 points/6 rebs/4 assists/3 steals while Brandon Wendel contributed 12 points in the defeat. Dan Amsellem had a quiet night for him (4 pts/13 rebs/3 blocks) but that can be largely attributed to facing another beast in the paint, Pat O'Donnell. Pat had 11 points and 9 rebounds and has been a huge part of the recent success for Billy Hoyle.  Zach Sicherman, coming off his 20 point effort last week, came back to earth offensively (2 pts) but found ways to contibute defensively and on the glass.  Eric Lai, Eddie Ford and Dave Steinbruck all played big parts as the supporting cast in securing the victory.  Here's how the final 2:30 of this game played out:

• Ben Carr hit 2 fts with 2:20 left to make it a 55-50 score (Ball Don't Lie)
• Siri drove for a layup 55-52 (BDL)
• Eric Lai stole the ball with 1:41 remaining
• Ben Carr stole the ball with 1:21 remaining
• Ben Carr converted layup with 1:00 left (57-52 BDL lead)
• Ensuing play Ball Don't Lie decided to have nobody guard Siri and he hit one of his patented walk up threes with 48 seconds left (57-55 BDL)
• Ben Carr fouled after inbound pass. Made 1/2 fts (58-55 BDL lead)
• Siri split two defenders on drive and hit layup with 28.6 seconds left(58-57 BDL lead)
• Ensuing inbound to Jon Kanarek, who is fouled and misses both FTs
• Siri fouled by Ben Carr with 8.2 seconds left. Siri hit both FTs (59-58 Billy Hoyle lead)
• Inbound pass went to Adam Hynes who committed a turnover. Eric LAi was fouled and hits both FTS (61-58 Billy Hoyle lead)
• Adam Hynes missed last second three to tie the game

The win moved Billy Hoyle to 2-1 while the loss dropped Ball Don't Lie to 0-3 and desperately seeking their first win of the season. 

Power Rankings: 

1) Going Buck (3-0): The only 3-0 team in the league finally welcomed their captain into the fold. Ackerman looked great in his return and along with Will Howarth, Jake Granoff, Rory Schulman and company will be tough for all teams to match up with

2) Money Ball (2-1): The big question here is how long Andi Hasaj will be out because with he and Herb Smith back in the fold, I think this is the most talented roster overall

3) Fast Break (2-1): They lost their first game to Money Ball but have dominated ever since.  Jorge is a one-man wrecking crew but fortunately for him he has others to help him with the wrecking including one of the most underrated players in the league Mike Glanzman, Gary Levine's intensity on both ends, TJs three-point shooting and Dave Kobi's energy

4) We Got Game (2-0): Matt Ceccarelli's squad is still undefeated and won a close on in Omer Nimrodi's first JCC action. If he can continue to play like he did this week, this team is very deep

5/6) Household Hoopers (2-1): Defense wins championships or at least that is what captain Colin Neff is hoping for. Colin has been great on both ends of the floor as have the father/son duo of Jason Pompeo and Jonathan Roy. if the rest of the reoster can contribute on a weekly basis, this is a team others won't want to face

5/6) Billy Hoyle (2-1): Siri Carpien is as dominant as ever and Pat O'Donnell has been a great addition to the league. If the supporting cast continues to play as well as they have the last two weeks, watch out

7) Laub & Order (1-2):  Mike Gerstein's squad has lost two straight but this is a very talented roster led by big man Eric Sass as well as Mike Huberman and Jason Stern

8) Ball Don't Lie (0-3); Adam Hynes' team is off to a slow start but they have been in postition to win all three games this season. If they can just figure out the end of game execution then I think wins will follow shortly

9) Shortland Blazers (0-2): Shamar Mason has gotten off to a great start. I feel bad for whichever team faces Jakub Zabek when he breaks out of his three-point shooting slump because I'm expecting a huge offensive game soon from him.  Size will likely continue to be a problem for this squad - ironic that Narod went from the biggest team to the smallest team in consecutive seasons

10) Big Ballers (0-3): With Dave Moreno out for the next few weeks, it's going to be tough for them to get wins. But with captain Bryan Minasian and James Floyd leading the way, beating this team will not come easy

Stat leaders will be posted here beginning next week