*The photo in the “header” is one I took from my car (driving a 100 mph) when we were in Portland, OR doing a Never Too Late Basketball Weekend Camp there in the spring of 2007.
Week Four, November 19, 2011
Game One / St Louis Hawks (4-0) 49 – Rochester Royals (1-3) 44
I think I’m not the only one believing Lou Wang is good and gotten a whole lot better the last year or two. Hawks are soaring on many wings though; Alex Doerr is playing like the second coming of Bob Pettit. (That, by the way, is a HUGE compliment.) Royals meanwhile were doing their William and Kate imitation for far too long (standing around waving as the Hawks flew by) while they had a 20-2 run tossed their way (like so many bouquets). Andrew Varley showed up. Roxy Pirnia and Jean Millette combined for 32 minutes with zero turnovers. Maybe they should handle the ball more.
Game Two / Providence Steamrollers (1-3) 50 – Minneapolis Lakers (2-2) 42
Two weeks ago, we said the problem with the Steamrollers was they didn’t have a “go-to” guy. Turns out we were correct: they have two go-to guys! Last week it was Barry “Fast Don’t” Lai and his 21 points; this week Andy “General” Lee tossed in 22. Maybe we should say two go-to guys and counting. Lakers meanwhile were awash in bad shots, bad assist-to-turnovers, lackluster help “d”. Can Coach Chris “Farewell Tour” McIntyre get Raemin Wang Centered enough to get his FG% above 30%? They need his scoring. (Face in the crowd: Nick “I’m Slick and I’m Quick” Williams.)
Game Three / Fort Wayne Pistons (3-1) 42 – New York Nets (0-4) 39 (OT)
The Pistons shot 26.7% from the field and 38.5% from the line. And won. In overtime. You gotta love PFL. Of course, they were playing the Nets, the Nets who have now lost all 4 of their games, each in heartbreaking, wrong-side of buzzer-beating fashion. Scott Lieber did them in with his three-pointer in OT and his game leading 15 points. Finishing the game with 3 players (2 of their 5 fouled out in OT) didn’t help the Nets either. I would not take the scissors out of the team gym bag yet, Nets; it’s a long season. And it’s PFL, where anything can happen, and does.
Game Four / Syracuse Nationals (4-0) 35 – Buffalo Braves (1-3) 33
The big news: Nick Le (Nick L’étoile) won the game at the buzzer. Nice. More big news: Bill Carruthers did not score. Bad news: what’s in store for the (undefeated) St. Louis Hawks, the Nationals (and Carruthers) next opponent. Tim Fredette is sort of relentless, isn’t he? And I mean in a good way. There’s a 20/10 in him. The Braves distributed more (but I still say they miss Marcia), Eamon dished, but check out MG’s line. Courtside wags were saying this is the MG we last saw in PFL Summer 2010. Nice to see the “Chief” (#28, Tim Francis-Wright) drop the ball in the hoop, too. (The link is to the greatest basketball sequence on film ever.)
Game Five / Kansas City Kings (1-3) 52 – Philadelphia Warriors (3-1) 38
The KIngs had not previously won. The Warriors had not previously lost. The Kings shot 48% from the field and 67% on 3s. They won. The Warriors shot 29% from the field and 14% on 3s and lost. So it goes. Ché Silva ( 5 assists) played like a revolutionary. Patrick Geraghty dusted off his jumper and went 2/2; we’d like to see more of that! The Warriors seemed non-plussed by the loss, not a feather ruffled as they walked off the court saying “Dan wasn’t here”.
Early overeager comment on Week 5, first two games. Both went down to the wire, all four teams good but flawed, no way to tell who’s going to win the league. Good to see TWall cheering on his team (that nose is gaining more character by the season). Good to see Carruthers find the basket again. Good to hear Patrick Geraghty tell me how to stop David Duane (after the game, David, he didn’t tell me to hack away at you, that was my idea). What a tip-in on a missed free throw to seal the early game by Marty Bitner!