Week 3 Recap - Neal Cohen

Once i start writing i can't stop...so if its a bit long let me know.

Wednesday's run set a few marks that have not been matched yet this season, as far as I'm aware:
1) We had the longest game of the year, lasting close to 25 minutes as Neal, Dorf, Joe and Josh (game winning shot) defeated Dave, Sam, Goff and Jay in what those playing called an defensive battle while Crane and Smitty felt it was a painful display of offense to sit and watch for almost a half hour.
2) Biggest age difference between two players guarding each other as smitty attempted to guard the shifty 22 year old Sam for a game, but he did a better job than Jason Kidd would do on Derrick Rose.
3) The sign of a good night of Wednesday hoops is when we had another record... most players who have the court after us watching the Gatorade blog game, as there had to be at least 5 guys waiting for us to finish.

Some fashion awards from Wednesday include Josh converting from the suit, which he hangs from a side hoop in a garment bag into the Charlotte Hornets #2 LJ jersey he got for a birthday gift in high school. Goff losing the high socks for the week, and then randomly throwing on the head band for the 2nd to last game only which he won, to then take it off for the Gatorade game, which he lost. Crane going with the funeral outfit sporting black from top to bottom.
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Dorfs high school buddy Joe made his season debut. Joe suffered some early jitters, with a few turnovers, air balls, which I can sympathize with, as he struggled to find his rhythm, but he picked the right game to find his game, as he could be considered the MVP of the Gatorade game.

As i can't remember each game and the details the way smitty somehow can, one note was that a team with two of the offensively inept players, Neal and Goff, along with Josh and Sam defeated crane, Dave, smitty and jay in the nights 2nd to last game (maybe it was the head band), but I credit the coaching move by Sam to switch a few defensive matchups in this game to the victory.

Gatorade game match up- Neal, Goff, Josh, and Sam vs. Dorf, Joe, Smitty & Jay. Sam came out firing from the outside, but the shot wasn't falling the way it was for most of the evening, so he started taking the ball to the hoop but had trouble finishing with all traffic in the paint. Josh started taking his game outside away from the Post where he struggled to the top of the key where he found his stroke carrying his team in this game getting help from the role players Goff and Neal who were active on the offensive boards, as their team was up early and feeling comfortable, with the score 5-2(give or take a point or two). At that point Joey B woke up and began knocking down shots that he was struggling to hit all night, Jay started hitting jumpers, Dorf making acrobatic lay-ups and smitty hitting his signature right side, short range bank shot, helping lead their team back to a 7-7 tie. The game was closed out by the staple reverse lay-up by Jay who, while I never saw his game pre-injury, has been more and more of a force on both ends of the court each week this season.

Individual reviews:
Dorf- he won the Gatorade game and that's all that matters to him. Although his FGs made on pull-ups at the top of the key was down considerably from recent weeks. While he had plenty of highlights his 20 foot jumper on 'point game' is one Jon knows was out of the schweid school of shot selection.

DL- a late night out Monday, a late hoops game Tuesday = Dave's performance Wed night. Will he be back in game shape before baby Lewis arrives?

Smitty- Solid performance, only complained once during the "marathon game", and depending on his age guarded a kid who may not have been born when smitty had his bar mitzvah (assuming he's Jewish)

Crane- that "crane" game where he carries his team never happened, but did have a great block on Josh in the post

Jay- continued improvement, getting more aggressive at both ends of the court, only yelling "oh JAY!" twice, well below his avg

Joe - slow start in his debut but a strong finish and a good win/ loss record. Potential to be a physical presence in this game among guys who don't lift weights

Josh- the baseline jumper attempts weren't as frequent, nor were the baskets in the paint yet was still among the top performers on court knocking down a few game winner and countless mid range jumpers. He must make the LJ 'L' arm signal going forward on every hoop if he wears that jersey again

Sam- came out on fire, couldn't miss from the outside, actually shooting a better fg % from outside the paint than in the paint. a few incredible dribble moves though some didn't result in a hoop. When he starts dishing off his dribble penetration more, it'll be tough to get his team off the court

Goff- you really have to box him out, if not he'll make you pay, grabbing countless offensive rebounds. a few flashes in the paint on offense as well, still not looking for the mid-range jump shot. a see lots of Joakim Noah in his game.

Neal- played every game, as his FTs made to keep playing was close to his baskets made in actual game play. Good bounce back after last week's disaster of a performance, after only 1 made hoop and struggling to guard anyone.

a week where no team was ever able to establish any sort of dominance.

see you after memorial day

4-22 Run - Authored by Smitty

The evening started off with some major question marks on a night when our fearless leader (Dorfman) was in Canada entertaining clients, and one of our players just returned from Canada after partying all night with clients (name omitted for legal reasons). Schweid pulled out without officially pulling out (thanks for the non-commit commit) and Joe Barile texted a last minute cancellation to Dorfman. At approximately 6:10pm there were six (Braunstein, Goffin, Deutsch, Ron, Neil Cohen, Zornow) people looking at me wondering who the final player was. There were a few nervous moments as people checked blackberries trying to remember whom (and more importantly if) the eighth and final player was. Then through the door walked in Doug Crane and all was right at Allen Stephenson Middle School. The questions soon turned into one of the better runs of the year in a best of 5 series.

Good Guys – Deutsch, Ron, Smitty, Braunstein

Bad Guys – Zornow, Goffin, Crane, Cohen

The series went the distance with the final game going to 11. I think it’s safe to say that the offensive/defensive match-up of Deutsch and Zornow was possibly the best in the history of the game. Both players are relentless on the defensive end and Zornow’s ability to hit the 15-footer consistently throughout the night changed the complexion of the game. I don’t remember a full breakdown of every game so I will provide some clear thoughts and snippets.

Game 1 was the Doug Crane show as he lit up Smitty for five points, despite solid defense (F-you Dorf and Schweid – ask Doug, I played good defense), and Deutsch got used to Zornow’s first step.

Game 2 Crane went cold, Ron hit three jumpers from the corner and Braunstein and Smitty hit the short jumpers off terrific ball movement to provide the only blowout of the evening.

Games 3 and 4 went to 7-7 and were probably the most solid all around games of the night. Everyone seemed to have their wind (other then Neil who was clearly feeling the effects of his travels as he threw up three air balls and scored zero pts.) and the defensive intensity picked up dramatically. Zornow and Deutsch were battling every trip down the court, Smitty and Crane were exchanging baskets after running through multiple picks, Braunstein had the baseline reverse working (quick tangent – game 4 Braunstein driving in almost the same exact spot as his Achilles injury stumbled and almost fell as Doug and I watched in horror waiting for the scream – thankfully it was a stumble and all was well), Goffin was all over the offensive boards and was having trouble with his put backs, and Ron was starting to hit his shots from deep.

It was agreed that the final game of the night would be to 11 and for more then a few possessions we all regretted it. Missed shots, errant passes and a few “my bads” had us all looking at each other and questioning our decision. However, the game quickly picked up in intensity as the Bad Guys jumped out to the lead and Neil hit his first and most important shot of the evening. With the score 9-6 the Good Guys scored two quick baskets and had a stop on the defensive end leaving them with the ball and a chance at a tie. The next sequence of plays is the reason for my writing the blog. A backdoor cut left me with a wide open lay-up that would have tied the game and shifted the momentum fully to the Good Guys - of course it rolled out and led to an easy basket for the Bad Guys. Good Guys scored on the next possession, but were left staring at me as I let Crane get around a pick and score the final bucket of the evening.

All and all a great run that had great match-ups and intensity – great job everyone

Week 1 Dominance!!!

Greetings all, this is the first installment of the Gatorade Blog for the April Run.

I’d like to welcome the new guys Margo, Josh, Neal & Joey Barile to the game…

Last night can be summed up in one word Dominance!!!!

Before I get to that I want to focus on the growing Manship, Bromance, whatever you’d like to call it of Smitty and Schweid. First I find it a little convenient that Smitty was “running late” and showed up at the exact same time as Schweid. They were parked behind one and other on the street, c’mon this is New York that doesn’t happen without some planning.

Here is my theory Schweid has secretly always wished he attended Camp WahNee and finds comfort in an old schooler like Smitty. Smitty loves to win and figures attaching himself to last seasons MVP Schweid will allow him to do so…I’m going to be keeping a close eye on this moving forward!!!

Despite Smittys auspicious start…(Goff tracked him at a RECORD BREAKING pace of 1 turnover / 2 dribbles…This type of ratio hasn’t been seen since Efrem Kamen in the 1991 D Intercamp Game vs. Camp Scatico with 4 turnovers / 1 dribble…) Smitty closed the night by lighting me up in the final game with slashing moves and jumpers.

Now to the dominance….The team of Schweid, C. Sale, new comer Josh Deutsche and Smitty rolled off 7 straight, causing the crowd to call for an unprecedented reshuffling of the teams…I was staunchly against this (call me stubborn) but maybe I was wrong, this team couldn’t be stopped.

Schweid continued his torrid shooting pace with a 95% shot ratio, however to his credit he shot a solid 72.3% from the field going 81 of 112.

C Sale continues to refuse to lose continuing his dominance…One thought though, Chris you are a guest now, quit making proclamations and calling for rule changes!!!!!

Rookie Josh Deutsche filled a role, shooting corner jumper and rebounding…However, he was LIT UP by a # of people including Sub Ron Dugan (5pts in one game on him) and yours truly in game 1 and anytime he switched onto me…Deutsche normally a good defender was left with only this to say “Hey we won, what does it matter.” Truer words have never been spoken.

Smitty, I have already spoken about, he improved as the night went on, but man that start was UGLY!!! Like Deutchse he would simply say “We won…I love Gatorade”

Closing Thoughts…

Jay Braunstein good to have you back!!! A little turnover heavy last night, but had some nice swooping moves to the hoop.

Margo…showed ‘flashes’ of his former self, he needs to find his confidence and his wind though…I see good things out of this guy in the future.

Neal…Well Neal you looked good in the head band, you were VERY VERY quiet last night and started game one with two UGLY airballs…You did however play hard!!!!

Goff…I love the new aggressiveness on the offensive end…He was playing last night a little hampered and nervous about the bandage on his back, still he has no problem guarding anyone on the court!!! Once the back is set LOOK out!!!

Dorfman…Came out gunning, went 1-9 though last night and wins / losses are all that matter!!

Matt Usedin…you had me fooled last night, I REALLY thought you were going to show.

Dave Lewis…Way to gut it out my man, you’re still better then Jay on one leg!!!

Mandell / Cuso….You are both missed, Cuso heal up, Mandell get on line to get your baby a green card ASAP!!!!

Joey Barile…Expecting BIG things out of you!!!

I am out next week, Smitty will be heading up the game…Have a great week.

JD

End of Year Report

Ok guys, so this session is done and to say the least it has been an event filled season...Before I get to the end of the year report let me first talk about Week 12.

First off, the attendance was at best awful. In a season low only 6 regulars showed, with subs we only had 8 total which meant the first Gatorade Series of the season. The series was won by the team composed of Lou "the tank" Forte who spent all 6 games lighting up Dorfman....Lou's Boy "the wife beater" who is an assistant coach for Hofstra who although couldn't guard Sam the DJ still lit it up from the top of the key...John "tank ass" Ostrow who played solid on both ends and in my opinion was a wash with Neal "I have grown up" Cohen...and finally the man of the night Barry "energizer bunny" Herman who also showed shades of his Jack Gordon days by outplaying Smitty and by landing what is now being called THE SHOT (I'll get to that later).

Now to the Season Grades in no particular order...Feel free to comment...Also a sneak peak into the players who will be joining next run.

It's been a pleasure fellas!!!

Dorf

Josh "wahhh the train is so long" Mandell (Grade B-)...Joshy love to see you at the game and you will be missed in the April. Tough competitor his head just wasn't in it years end, still one of the most complete players at the game, see you in September.

Chris "I think I'll leave my ball in the car tonight" Smith (Grade B-)...Smitty, just wasn't all there at years end...Shot wasn't falling, he was hesitating. He has room for improvement on both the offensive and defensive ends, see you in two weeks.

Mike "I'm training for a triathlon so I don't respond to emails anymore" Lee (Grade C-) Started off strong but went the way of Newman and Dailey by not responding to any emails for the last 3 weeks...This is a no-no, he had potential it's a shame.

Doug "New Shoees" Crane (Grade B+) Best teammate to have on your team because he hits shots plays D and NEVER complains...Missed a bit too much of the action at years end, even with that though he has matching shoes and shorts now, he may just be unstoppable.

Jon "peaked too soon" Dorfman (Grade C) Lazy D toward the end of the year offensively focusing on the jumper...Not going to say too much here, I am just plain dissapointed in my play. Schweid you had it right just wasn't going to get any better then that one week.

Jared "smooth" Mancuso (Grade A-) Played with intensity at years end showing that he really can dominate whenever he wants...Unfortunately a late season ankle roll prevented him from playing the last week...Wish him a quick recovery.

Dave Lewis (Grade B)...Not much to say here, played solid all season...Looking to come back from a ankle injury for April

John Ostrow (Grade B-) Could have had a B but has decided to leave us for the April Session...Played well I think with more games under his belt he could have been a contender.

Barry "the shot" Herman (Grade B)...Like I said Barry that last shot gained you a full GRADE...swooping to his left in game six game tied 7-7 Barry gets hammered in the lane, yelps, floater is up and BAM!!! series is over Barry is the hero...Shot hear around the well, it was just in the Allen Stephensen gym but still rivoting!!

Brett Goffin (Grade B-) Battier could have been in the A's but a shoulder injury left him on the IR for the last few weeks...With that said he is the first guy you want on your team!!!

Jamie Schweid (Grade A)...Despite the fact that he has been called a chucker and even despite the fact that he missed a bunch of weeks, I am giving this man MVP...Here is the reason, regardless his teams win, they just win...He may shoot 99% of the time he touches the ball but hey something is working!!!

Sam Zornow (Grade B+) last night showed glimpses of a jumper, if that holds he may be the best player in the game, he just may be.

New Guys (and old)

Jay Braunstein...the original commish, plays with heart, plays with soul, he just competes!!!

Joey Barile...Kid is more built then Rusty in his prime, he will be on my team

Josh Deutsche...A Goffin type player in that he can guard big and small...has a jumper to boot

Neal Cohen...potential, he is a gritty player, loves to compete, happy to be in the game!!! Love to have you Neal.