4 Straight & 5 Out of 6!!

As I sit here contemplating our roster for next season and our highly anticipated jump to the highest level of competition I wince ever so slightly each time I move my right knee. You see, at my age there is always going to be bumps and bruises after each game I play. Today is no different except for the fact that I can celebrate a 4th straight championship with my team. Once again we were up against the odds having to play 2 games within the matter of 2 hours with only a 15 minute break in between the two games. Once again, we faced a roster that lacked the talent of seasons past. But in the end we managed to find a way to get it done and win it all one more time which is a testament of how good the Clip Joint really is.

Game 1 had us against our rivals "Dynasty" who looked the part of spoiler for most of the first half as we struggled to get anything consistent going on offense. Without their team leader "Peja" they were forced to rely heavily on two players, one of which always gives us trouble and the other a talented leaper who likes to drive to the hoop. We had the game in the bag for the most part except we like to keep it close and nearly blew a late 9 point lead by missing something like 6 out of our last 8 free throws and they managed to cut it to 3 points after draining a three ball at the buzzer. make no mistake about it though, we got lucky that "Peja" was unavailable, because if he had been there I am not so sure we would have had enough to get it done. My prediction was pretty close as I had guessed a 4 point win , not too bad missing by 1 point!!

Game 2 saw "Awards Limo" and their entourage show up to the arena on an 8 game winning streak and hungry for their first title. Another slow start saw us trail early by 6 or 7 points before we got into our game and settled down. Clearly we all were very tired and worn out already from playing in such a physical first game but we battled through the first half and only trailed by 3. Throughout the night we struggled to get good looks and when we did we were missing a lot of shots we usually make. We really are not a half court team though so we had to get opportunities off the break which came few and far between. In the second half we willed our way to the lead and never turned back. As the final couple of minutes ticked off the clock it became clear that we were headed to yet another title. It is always a great feeling knowing that you are the best team in the league despite having a few hiccups during the season.

Having to deal with A.H. and his constant injury problems preventing him from appearing in any games except 1 at the very beginning of the year to J.M. who missed 6 straight games before showing up last night to provide us some extra height and depth. Most every game we played with only 7 players and that means the stars of the team had to carry us from week to week playing heavy minutes. They deserve a whole lot of credit for this season, without a doubt and i think towards the end of the championship game you could clearly see some tired bodies. I think the low point of the season was obviously the loss to "O'Donnel" to complete the regular season at 6-2. After that game I think we all felt embarassed and never wanted to share that feeling ever again.

Looking ahead we get a well deserved day off today and tomorrow before going back at it in practice on Wednesday. Expectations are high for us around the league since everyone knows what we have accomplished heading into this next season. I think reality might see things a bit differently though because we have so many question marks before the first game. We really need a couple of big men in the worst ay otherwise we will be forced to rely on our transition game to score most of our buckets. An update will be made before the middle of the week...