Welcome to Day 122 in Season 2
Today is ANZAC day across Australia and New Zealand so my first shout out obviously goes to those who fought and mostly died to protect the two greatest nations in the Southern Hemisphere. As someone who served 12 years in the military I have plenty of respect for anyone who ever dons a uniform, let alone those who pay the ultimate sacrifice; lest we forget..
My kids had to observe ANZAC day today with a minute of silence before their pancakes! On to the games..
Injuries
Today the injuries strike 3 top guys to take into battle, led by a general in Oscar (you can work the
other two out) - 3 players from one team!!
Today the injuries strike 3 top guys to take into battle, led by a general in Oscar (you can work the
other two out) - 3 players from one team!!
Oscar Robertson 1 (Neck Ligament Sprain)
Dutch Dehnert 6 (Shoulder Ligament Sprain)
Dan Issel 1 (Elbow Inflammation)
Dominique Wilkins 1 (Flu Like Symptoms)
(15-47) Atlanta Hawks 24 27 27 19 - 97 (Dirk Nowitzki 24)
(22-41) Denver Rockets 30 35 26 30 - 121 (Michael Jordan 33)
Jordan was supposed to consider the armed forces as a career. May have been a bit gangly but you can't deny his will to win would have made the difference in a battle. Today his Rockets gunned down the Hawks with only the slightest of resistance. This happened regularly in the world wars, Gallipoli is a great example you should read up on if you've never given it a seconds thought.
Jordan was supposed to consider the armed forces as a career. May have been a bit gangly but you can't deny his will to win would have made the difference in a battle. Today his Rockets gunned down the Hawks with only the slightest of resistance. This happened regularly in the world wars, Gallipoli is a great example you should read up on if you've never given it a seconds thought.
(29-32) Charlotte Bobca 32 23 29 24 - 108 (Billy Knight 32)
(37-27) Boston Celtics 31 29 27 24 - 111 (Bob Lanier 21)
Boston shows that its not ready to drop out of the playoff picture yet in the oh so competitive NBA conference as they hold off a determined Bobcats team (and Mr Jordan, we can't say that in the real NBA can we? Proof is Jordan makes an excellent Captain and a lousy General). Billy Knight and Bob Lanier had their own personal battle going on today, particularly with Lanier only hitting the floor for 21 minutes, but swinging the game Boston's way. Like them or hate them, Boston always seem to fight.
(39-23) San Diego Sails 36 30 29 28 - 123 (Marques Johnson 26)
(21-42) Washington Gene 35 29 30 38 - 132 (Dan Issel 31)
Issel and Nique are hit with the game winner injury curse as they lead the aptly named Generals over the Sails in the upset of the day. Wilkins was 3rd on the POD honours and Issel was stellar but Issel shot so much his elbow caught fire at one point and needs to rest a game. Wilkins apparently caught flu during the game - now that's lock-down defense! The sails were in the game until the last few minutes when they cooled down enough on offense and since neither team bothered with the notion of defense (both over 50% from the field) that was the difference. Marques and McGrady deserve mentions for shooting a combined 19 out of 25 in the losing effort.
Issel and Nique are hit with the game winner injury curse as they lead the aptly named Generals over the Sails in the upset of the day. Wilkins was 3rd on the POD honours and Issel was stellar but Issel shot so much his elbow caught fire at one point and needs to rest a game. Wilkins apparently caught flu during the game - now that's lock-down defense! The sails were in the game until the last few minutes when they cooled down enough on offense and since neither team bothered with the notion of defense (both over 50% from the field) that was the difference. Marques and McGrady deserve mentions for shooting a combined 19 out of 25 in the losing effort.
(34-28) New Orleans Hor 25 29 30 28 9 - 121 (Chris Bosh 21)
(12-50) Original Celtic 24 34 29 25 7 - 119 (Carmelo Anthony 26)
A game that on the cards was a one-sided affair was made interesting by the sometimes hot sometimes not Melo and the Celts as they battle to send the game to overtime! I'm not sold on Chris Bosh or Melo, but hey, they can play on any given day. Melo can go for 30 plus on any given night, but he doesn't seem to give enough night in night out. Good to see one of the favourites of that old writer BBJ Latrell Sprewell with a tough showing scoring 14 points in just 11 minutes. None of the three players I've mentioned I'd like to go into battle with, you kind of need to know what you're going to get before the fight. Now Scottie Pippen, yeah, I'll take him and his great sidekick ability.
(32-33) New York Rens 25 33 22 23 - 103 (Charles Barkley 21)
(30-32) Kansas City Ste 29 20 27 38 - 114 (Reggie Theus 32)
Both teams fight hard in the search for parity (.500) but NY loses the chance to get a positive record against the battling Steers. Chuck battled (and talked) but Theus was the cream of the crop today with a great all round game including 32 points and 5 trifectas. The game was decided on the boards in the fourth with the Steers controlling the paint over the final 6 minutes and outrebounding NY 7-1 over that stretch - three players hit the boards hard for the Steers led by Elvin and his 15.
Both teams fight hard in the search for parity (.500) but NY loses the chance to get a positive record against the battling Steers. Chuck battled (and talked) but Theus was the cream of the crop today with a great all round game including 32 points and 5 trifectas. The game was decided on the boards in the fourth with the Steers controlling the paint over the final 6 minutes and outrebounding NY 7-1 over that stretch - three players hit the boards hard for the Steers led by Elvin and his 15.
(42-20) Akron Firestone 32 35 39 31 - 137 (Shawn Marion 30)
(40-22) Fort Wayne Pist 31 27 32 9 - 99 (Bob McAdoo 28)
Statement game by Akron who lays a claim to being the best in the UBAS with this monster away win. The Pistons were struggling to stay with the hot Firestones all through the contest, but surrendered at the start of the fourth much to the displeasure of coach Stein. McAdoo and his legendary pride fought on, but the triple threat of Logo, Matrix and MR Richardson (all 29+ ratings wow!) was just overwhelming. Strategy or tactics (the number of times I've had to explain this one); in this case probably a tactical slaughter rather than a pre-meditated dismantling of the Pistons. The Pistons have shown this year, they may not win each fight but they're in for the long haul and will bite back.
Statement game by Akron who lays a claim to being the best in the UBAS with this monster away win. The Pistons were struggling to stay with the hot Firestones all through the contest, but surrendered at the start of the fourth much to the displeasure of coach Stein. McAdoo and his legendary pride fought on, but the triple threat of Logo, Matrix and MR Richardson (all 29+ ratings wow!) was just overwhelming. Strategy or tactics (the number of times I've had to explain this one); in this case probably a tactical slaughter rather than a pre-meditated dismantling of the Pistons. The Pistons have shown this year, they may not win each fight but they're in for the long haul and will bite back.
(38-26) Texas Chaparral 21 28 26 36 - 111 (Ray Felix 23)
(16-50) Carolina Cougar 22 35 33 26 - 116 (Benny Borgmann 19)
The second upset of the day belongs to the unheralded Carolina Cougars at the expense of our esteemed champion Texas Chaps. Texas didn't find their stride all game and their last minute flurry still left them ultimately displeased. Carolina used the most balanced attack of the day with a 9 man rotation that saw all of them get into double figures give or take a point, and seven with a UBAS rating in double figures. This is a team game, as is war, one man (Rambo included) doesn't win the battle and the Cougars are testament to that today. For Texas the bigs of Felix and Bellamy provided plenty of punch, but where was the wing and point play?
(33-30) Chicago Crusade 13 28 32 19 - 92 (Ed Sadowski 25)
(35-30) Indianapolis Ka 21 30 26 24 - 101 (Russell Westbrook 21)
Two teams with winning records go head to head and the home team Indianapolis comes out on top. Russell Westbrook led the Ks with a solid 21 but it was Groza again who was the difference maker. Nice effort by Sadowski but the contest ended when he fouled out early in the fourth.
Two teams with winning records go head to head and the home team Indianapolis comes out on top. Russell Westbrook led the Ks with a solid 21 but it was Groza again who was the difference maker. Nice effort by Sadowski but the contest ended when he fouled out early in the fourth.
(26-38) St Louis Spirit 23 26 37 35 - 121 (Allen Iverson 27)
(28-36) Scranton Miners 26 42 29 25 - 122 (Julius Erving 25)
The Spirits lose a heartbraker on a last second shot by the Doctor after AI thought he'd won the game from behind the line to put the Spirits up by one with 4 ticks on the clock. Long inbound pass from Arenas fired right to the Doctor who drilled it from 15 feet for the final outcome. Arenas would go into war tomorrow, but friendly fire may be a real danger with this loose cannon! Tony's Spirits have been an enigma all year and AI is the biggest one of all, sometimes awesome, sometimes he shoots you out the game..
And finally of course another ANZAC battle. This one between the Perth Wildcats of Australia and the New Zealand Breakers in the deciding NBL final championship match. Great win by our Breakers to be back to back champions in the Aussie led league :)
The Spirits lose a heartbraker on a last second shot by the Doctor after AI thought he'd won the game from behind the line to put the Spirits up by one with 4 ticks on the clock. Long inbound pass from Arenas fired right to the Doctor who drilled it from 15 feet for the final outcome. Arenas would go into war tomorrow, but friendly fire may be a real danger with this loose cannon! Tony's Spirits have been an enigma all year and AI is the biggest one of all, sometimes awesome, sometimes he shoots you out the game..
And finally of course another ANZAC battle. This one between the Perth Wildcats of Australia and the New Zealand Breakers in the deciding NBL final championship match. Great win by our Breakers to be back to back champions in the Aussie led league :)
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