X-Blades find a new way to lose, fall to 0-4
January 24, 2007
Unlike in their first three contests, the X-Blades played with intensity from the opening tip and managed to jump out to an early lead. They had the upper hand in a first half marked by tenacious defense on both ends of the floor. Ducks’ point guard and leading scorer Jake Espenlaub could not buy a bucket in the opening frame, as the few shots that the X-Blades allowed him to get off all went in and out. Espenlaub’s teammates could not pick up the slack, and the Ducks’ offense sputtered throughout the period.
The X-Blades did not fare much better on the other end of the floor, but what little offense they did manage came from Parker Bradway. The star point guard was most effective with his patented driving floater. The Mighty Ducks were soon forced to collapse on Bradway whenever he drove the lane, and that allowed passing lanes to open up. He kicked the ball out to wingmen Jarrett Stieber and Charlie Ogburn, both of whom hit jumpers to give the X-Blades an early cushion.
The half was punctuated by a SportsCenter moment courtesy of X-Blades’ reserve guard Ed Moak. Moak picked up a loose ball near the baseline and with the clock winding down, his angle at the basket was one that most mere mortals would not even attempt. But Moak let fly with a shot that somehow avoided the side of the backboard and swished gracefully through the net. With that, the X-Blades sprinted into the locker room leading the Mighty Ducks 11-6.
With momentum clearly on their side, it looked as if this would finally be the X-Blades night. Espenlaub, however, had other ideas. He came out for the second half determined to put his first-half misfortunate behind him. The man-to-man defense that worked for the X-Blades earlier in the contest completely backfired throughout the second twenty minutes of basketball, as Espenlaub consistently slashed his way to the basket at the expense of whoever was attempting to guard him. A few easy layups seemed to get him going, as Espenlaub soon began to connect on his jump shots.
“They couldn’t stop me in the second half,” Espenlaub said. “I just got that kind of feeling that Tiger Woods gets on the back 9 on Sundays. I wasn’t going to be denied.”
With the X-Blades forced to focus on Espenlaub, the Ducks’ big men began to get a few open looks. Forward Crawford Long was kept in check most on the game, but the former Westminster Sports Camp standout managed to knock down a few shots in the second half. It was Jack Murphy, however, who did most of the damage for the Mighty Ducks down low. Murphy hit some critical shots and was clutch from the FT line down the stretch.
The X-Blades, however, kept pace with the Ducks, as their own big men responded. Power forwards Bill Nigut and Grant Bailey chipped in buckets to regain the lead for the X-Blades every time the Ducks pulled ahead.
After the Mighty Ducks took a 21-20 lead with just over a minute left, however, it was Stieber who responded. Bradway drove to the basket and when the entire Duck defense collapsed to block the lane, he kicked the ball out to a wide open Stieber on the wing. When Stieber’s triple swished through the net with 48 seconds remaining, the X-Blades had a 23-21 lead and seemed poised to pick up their first victory of the season.
With a steal on the Ducks’ ensuing possession, it looked like the X-Blades had the game in hand. But everyone knows that a lot can happen in the last 40 seconds of the basketball game. To say a lot happened in the last 40 seconds of this contest would be a gross understatement.
Faced with a tenacious full-court press, the X-Blades promptly turned the ball right back over to the Ducks, as Bradway threw an ill-advised, desperate pass out of a trap. That led to a crazy, off-balanced layup by Russell Hardin to tie the score at 23. Before the ensuing inbounds pass, the entire X-Blades roster screamed frantically for a timeout to set up the potential game-winning shot.
Little did anyone know that the X-Blades had already used up both of their second half timeouts. The result? An automatic technical foul.
Yes, this was perhaps the greatest basketball travesty since
the 1993 National Championship, when
While this blunder didn’t quite ensure an X-Blades defeat, it demoralized the team to a point from which it could not recover. Because of the automatic technical foul that comes with an excessive timeout, the Ducks were awarded two shots and the ball. Murphy hit three of four free throws (the second two came after an X-Blades foul) to take a 26-23 lead.
Still reeling from the sudden turn of events and literally not knowing what had just hit them, the X-Blades looked lost on their final offensive possession and only managed to get off a wild three-point attempt. After the tying shot went harmlessly astray, the Ducks hit two more free throws to provide the final 28-23 margin.
“I just don’t understand how we didn’t have any timeouts left,” lamented guard Michael Saadine after the loss. “I mean the refs should have made a point of telling us we had no timeouts left after we called our last one.”
“I don’t think we had even used two timeouts at that point,” added coach Ricky Dimon. “And even if we had, they need to allow more than two stinking timeouts per half."
Whatever the overriding reason for the latest in a series of crushing defeats for the X-Blades, the team now finds itself at 0-4 with just three games remaining in the regular season.
“We could just as easily be 3-1,” Stieber pointed out. “It’s not panic time just yet. This team will be peaking for the playoffs.”
Same old story as Smurfz drop X-Blades to 0-3
by Ricky Dimon
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Smurfz' guard Hart Willoughby came out firing from downtown and his barrage of three-pointers thoroughly demoralized the opposition, ensuring the X-Blades would once again get off to an embarrassingly woeful start. Seemingly energized by watching his brother pour in bucket after bucket, less-heralded forward Forest Willoughby joined the party with several jumpers from the top of the key and a three-pointer that banked in off the glass.
The X-Blades still found themselves within striking distance heading into the half, down just 23-12. They had only Bill Nigut to thank for that. The power forward, whose absence from the previous game had not sat well with teammates, did all he could to make it up to the squad on this night. Right from the get-go, it was clear that Nigut was playing with a different kind of attitude than he did in the season-opening loss to the Ninja Turtles. This time, Nigut was all over the court, scoring at will from the low post and also forcing the Smurfz' post players to guard him away from the basket by consistently knocking down 12-foot jumpers.
Nigut's teammates apparently took notes and began to chip in as the X-Blades came out of locker room not with ideas of making this game close, but with ideas of putting this game in the win column.
X-Blades designated fouler Jamie "The Pain Train" Heller led the fiery charge. The Smurfz were quickly overcome by his unparalleled intensity and physical play. And so were the referees. Heller picked up his fifth foul just minutes into the second half and had to sit the rest of this one out on the bench.
"In the first half, I thought I was playing with the same kind of passion, intensity, and reckless abandon that I usually play with," said Heller. "I should have been tossed well before halftime. I guess the refs were just weren't calling this one as tight as they usually do."
Heller was gone with about 17 minutes left in the game, but his attitude was not. Fueled by their designated fouler, the X-Blades began yet another patented surge from behind. Nigut continued to demoralize the opponents and dominate anyone who stood between him and the basket. The zenith of his highlight-filled night came when Nigut grabbed a defense rebound and raced coast-to-coast with defenders all over him before finishing with an off-balanced layup.
The key to the comeback, however, was some timely three-point shooting by the X-Blades. Point guard Parker Bradway, shooting guard Jarrett Stieber, reserve guard Ed Moak, and forward Charlie Ogburn all delivered from downtown during the second half. Ogburn's three-pointer cut the deficit from six to three with just eight seconds remaining in the contest.
On the ensuing inbounds pass, the X-Blades played phenomenal defense and prevented lights-out free-throw shooter Hart Willoughby from receiving the pass. As such, the Smurfz were forced to inbound it to guard Petter Bauer. To say Bauer is better suited for cheering from the sidelines than playing on the court would be an understatement. So this was a prime opportunity for the X-Blades to put a poor free-throw shooter on the line and get the ball back with a chance to win or tie.
The refs, however, had their own agenda. Apparently having somewhere to be after the game, the referees did not want to risk this game going into overtime. As Bauer raced wildly around with the ball, three X-Blades constantly swarmed him and hacked him to the extent that he could have sued them for battery. But the refs simply refused to call a foul and send Bauer to the line. Instead, Bauer dribbled out the remaining seconds on the clock and even knocked in a layup just before the buzzer sounded. The refs sprinted off the court before the X-Blades could protest and also before the X-Blades� supporters could shower them with popcorn and beverages. All that was left for the X-Blades to do was to bemoan the fact that the pre-season #1-ranked team had just fallen to 0-3 after the crushing 38-34 loss.
Woodticks overpower confused, frustrated X-Blades
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
ATLANTA- Taking full advantage of their vastly superior inside muscle, the #2 Woodticks humbled the #4 X-Blades 38-20 on Wednesday night. From the opening tip, it was readily apparent that the Woodticks were the more focused and more driven squad on the court, as they entered the game looking to avenge last year's 34-31 X-Blades victory. Led by dominant performances on the offensive and defensive glass by forwards David Moore and Drake Ayres, the Woodticks (3-0) jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, building a 19-7 advantage by halfitme. Meanwhile, for the second straight game, the X-Blades (0-2) could not find any semblance of an offensive rhythm on the court, as the Woodticks' aggressive full-court trap forced several turnovers.
A brief spurt to start the second half brought the X-Blades to within 21-14, but the Woodticks quickly reasserted control on shocking back-to-back baskets from little-used guard Andrew McGhee. From this point forward, the X-Blades appeared to give up on the game, becoming careless with their ballhandling and shot selection. Though highlights for the X-Blades were few and far between, F Grant Bailey bounced back decisively from his atrocious outing against the Ninja Turtles, finishing with 8 points and 8 blocks.
Once again, the X-Blades played with an incomplete lineup, as starting F Bill Nigut and reserve G Ed Moak both missed the game due to college applications and illness, respectively. Next week, the X-Blades look to stop the bleeding against the overconfident but surprisingly good Smurfz, who moved to 2-1 with a nail-biting upset victory over the Ninja Turtles.
Woeful first half dooms X-Blades in season opener
Thursday, December 14, 2006
ATLANTA- Before the 2006-07 PRUMC season, the revered and renowned PRUMC Power Rankings poll bestowed its coveted #1 spot on the X-Blades, a team that appeared simply unstoppable after a Final Four run last season. On Thursday, an atrocious first-half shooting performance made sure that the X-Blades' reign at #1 lasted just one night.
Led by the inspired play of guards Kerem Eroglu and Jamal Gordon, the upstart Ninja Turtles dethroned the X-Blades 32-23 on Thursday night. After suffering through 20 minutes of a truly frightening case of opening-game jitters, the X-Blades found themselves trailing 18-3 at halftime and never fully recovered, despite a valiant charge that brought them within six of the Ninja Turtles with just a few minutes remaining in the contest. Though highlights for the Blades were few and far between, G Michael Saadine turned in his best career performance in an X-Blades uniform, leading the team with nine points and several steals that resulted from the X-Blades' menacing full-court trap.
Minutes prior to game time, the X-Blades learned that they would be without both of their superstar swingmen, F Glenn Alby and F Charlie Ogburn. While Alby was locked in his house to study for exams, Ogburn missed the game due to a vicious week-long bout with the flu. Their absences placed the X-Blades at a disadvantage from the opening tip, and the two were truly missed as the first half unwound. On trip after trip down the court, the X-Blades either committed turnovers or missed wild shots, not managing to score until Saadine's bucket with about eight minutes left in the first half. Meanwhile, Eroglu proved to be a worthy Fenton Award candidate, seeming to penetrate the X-Blades' man-to-man defense at will on his way to several uncontested layups. The Turtles also benefited from some unexpected sources of offensive production, most notably Stuart Seiler, who banked home two threes to send the substantial number of juniors in attendance into a frenzy. When F Bill Nigut was inexplicably called for a phantom intentional foul late in the half, the X-Blades' mounting frustration seemed to have reached a boiling point.
As the second half opened, the X-Blades began to clamp down on defense, employing a merciless full-court trap that victimized the Ninja Turtles and led to several turnovers and easy baskets. As the Turtles' lead slowly dwindled, the vast crowd of seniors became more and more energized, showing their unabashed love for the X-Blades with raucous cheering. After G Parker Bradway, held in check most of the game due to tenacious defense from Eroglu and Gordon, missed two free throws with approximately two minutes to go, Saadine grabbed the rebound and tossed in a 12-foot jumper to bring the X-Blades within six. Unfortunately, the miracle comeback fell short, and as the buzzer sounded, the X-Blades were saddled with their second straight season-opening loss.
"We needed a wake-up call," said G Jarrett Stieber. "I think we might have bought into all the preseason hype just a little bit. We just need to focus and play basketball."
Following a three-week holiday layoff, the X-Blades next take the hardwood on Wednesday, January 8 at 8:00 PM vs. the #2 Woodticks in a rematch of one of the 2006 season's most thrilling contests. Down 24-9 with 18 minutes to go, the X-Blades mounted a furious rally, finishing the game on a 25-7 run to claim a 34-31 victory. After Thursday night's miserable first half, look for the X-Blades to assert themselves early in order to reaffirm to any doubters that they are in fact legitimate contenders at PRUMC.
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