Season 5 Start-Mid Week Wrap Up

Albany – As expected the Albany Hawkeyes have already begun their rampage through Aussie 1 and clearly are the team to beat.  Despite significant league issues in the opening days including not being able to rotate players, set tactics, know whether the games even count the Hawks beat all opposition. 

In the opening Exhibition game the Hawks crushed the up and coming Kentucky Wildcats on the strength of another outstanding Qinglai Huang performance.  Veteran Q, who has long been a Hawkeye campaigner was an absolute terror recording 37 points, 15 assists and 14 rebounds in only 36 minutes.  He added 2 steals and 5 blocks.  Melivmbe Otumbabababawon was also a significant contributor with 22 points and Jay Wright was his usual fantastic self with 28 points  and 3 steals. 

Although Q was the MOM, deservedly two other players deserved recognition.  Cvetelin Kalinski rebounded from a rough season 4 with a great opener.  4 steals, 21 points and 5 threes.  Nearly as outstanding was Alex Petkov who continued the fine form he showed last season with a perfect 10 for 10 from the field.

Suffering in this contest were the Whalemeat twins.  Normally stalwarts on offense and defense respectively Elli Skotgladi and Kutur Skyhook both fouled out early in what was undoubtedly their worst games ever in Hawk Uniforms.  After the game when Elli was asked about Q’s performance Elli said Q who?” before sticking his head back into the ice chest and burying it beneath 30 kg’s of caribou carcass (a well known Icelandic hangover cure).  Look for both to rebound as the season goes forward.

 

Game 2 – Cambridge – The Game of 5

In what will undoubtedly be another exhibition contest the Hawks took it easy on the Cambridge Cangaroo’s despite abhorrence at the pathetic palindrome.  Q again put on a display hitting all 4 of his shots from the field, three triples and grabbing 3 steals.  But the performance of the night came from Elli Skotgladi, bouncing back after one of his worst efforts Elli hit all 11 of his shots, had a massive 7 steals and 10 assists.  Jay Wright was again a steady performer with 19 points and stellar free throw shooting.  Melivmbe Otumbabababawon had the most interesting performance.  Mel shot poorly but had 3 steals, 5 blocks, 5 assists, 5 offensive rebounds, 5 defensive rebounds for a game of 5 in perfect symmetry.  When asked about Mel’s performance Elli said “Mel Who?” before sticking his head back int the ice chest and burying it beneath 30 kg’s of caribou carcass.  The team continues to play Greg Butler in limited minutes as he recovers from food poisoning obtained from eating bad caribou, Greg managed 3 blocks despite only 12 minutes and looks to have a strong Season 5.

Game 3 – Melbourne

Despite not knowing if the game meant anything the Hawkeyes disposed of the Melbourne Tigers as confusion reigns in Cyberdunk.  Qinglai Huang continued his hot start hitting all 7 of his shots including 2 3′s and stealing 3 balls.  Passing seems more significant this season as turnovers mount, undoubtedly there has been some change to the algorithm.  Star of the match was Jay Wright who looked the true point guard and did his best Steve Nash impersonation with 28 points, 13 assists and 5 steals.  Also dominating were the two towers, Melivmbe Otumbabababawon and Kutur Skyhook with 7 blocks a piece.  Cvetelin and Alex had hot hands with 7 three pointers between them. 

There remains doubt whether these games will count but the Hawkeyes continue to perform well despite the lack of clarity in the league.  Greg Butler seems fully recovered from his caribou poisoning and the new rule that all ice chests be locked when not in use should keep this from happening again.  When asked about the incident Kutur Skyhook recommended “he should have had the seal”.

What, Clifton Again?

Albany, Hawkeye Pavilion – Gone from the locker room were the pre-game jokes, the casual banter and the laughter from the usual 3 pranksters Melivmbe Otumbabababawon, Humongous George and Timmy Turdburgle.  Jack “the Knife” Carter stood off to one side talking strategy with Alex Petkov and Elli.  In this place seriousness and ominous looks from Jay Wright and Elli Skotgladi if anyone got out of hand.  Needless to say there were no bars of soap filling anyone’s lockers.  Only Qinglai Huang had the temerity to crack a one-liner about George’s fuchsia colored suit, plum was George’s response to stifled giggles.  Jay sat alone at his locker as the team waited for him to say something.  When he finally did it was a simple, quiet but inspiring let’s go and you knew before hand he would not let this team lose.  The Hawks were facing a re-tooled Clifton team, one that they had beaten 3 times last season but resiliently kept coming back for more.  One that had already dispatched all comers and that the Hawks knew would bring all they had to the game.

It started ugly as both teams came out tense.  Elli Skotgladi (26 pts, 5 assists, 3 boards and a block) lost the ball out of bounds when Clifton trapped and both team missed a combined 20 shot attempts from the floor before Julia Suzenna hit a jump shot at the 8:35 mark.  At that point the Hawks were trailing 9-0 when the Hawk Coach called a much needed time out. After the break the Hawks promptly came out and Kutur Skyhook threw up a prayer 3 pointer and was bailed out by a foul on Michael Tonkin.  Kutur calmly sank all three and Albany was back within 6 and best of all, on the score board.  Mel got a rebound on a missed Kutur free throw and fed Qinglai (17pts, 8 boards, 5 assist and a steal) for a breakaway 3 pointer.  As the home crowd held it’s breath the fans, eager for any positive sign of life from the team, exploded.  Unfortunately it was not the start of a comeback.  After the game Mel said “In the first we just couldn’t buy a basket, they just kept coming at us from everywhere.  Toughest D we have ever faced”.  Finally down 19 – 15 Jay Wright took over.  Kutur picked up a block by Eddy Curry on Mel and dished to an open Jay for a jumper.  Then Jay hit another jumper on a pass from Kutur to even the score at 19.  Eddy Curry split his free throws at the other end and Kutur did the same.  With the score knotted at 20 Mel would not be denied, rebound, Kutur missed shot, Mel rebound, Mel missed shot and fouled.  A couple of clutch free throws and the Hawks escaped the first with a 22-20 lead.  The war was on.  In the first Albany had missed an incredible 29 shots and Clifton 22.  Most amazing was the Hawks failed to record a block to Clifton’s 5.

The second saw both teams spring to life.  The Hawks were boosted by the presence of Jack “the Knife” Carter (6/7 from the field) who scored 12 points and Qinglai Huang finding his range with the 3 ball.  By the 4:08 mark the Hawks had opened a 45 – 33 lead and the fans drew a sigh of relief.  Then after a block by Mel (first of the game for Albany) the Hillbillies seemed to wake up as a combination of free throws and missed shots by the Hawks brought the lead down to 9 then 7 and with 6 seconds left a wild three pointer by Julia Suzenna narrowed the margin to 4.  At Halftime it was Hawks 50 – Clifton 46.  Albany still missed 17 shots and recorded only 2 blocks while Clifton missed only 10 but lived off the boards gathering in 10 to the Hillbillies 6.

In the third it was as if two different teams took the court.  With Jay Wright on the bench the visitors took advantage and Gregor Pavlovic scored 13.  More importantly Elli Skotgladi seemed to find new life off Alex Petkov’s passes and Timmy Turdburgle loosened things up with 10 on 4 of 6.  With Elli scoring 17 and Humongous George dominating the basket and making key passes the teams battled back an forth until another Suzenna 3 pointer put the Hillbillies up by 2. After a missed counter by Qinglai Huang the Hillbillies battled back and took the lead in the game for the first time at the 6:05 mark when their SG hit a jumper over the tight defense of Cvetelin Kalinski.   With Clifton clinging to a one point lead Timmy T. found an open Elli for a jumper and the Hawks moved back in front.  The visitors made one more run to tie the game at 76 before Timmy and Cvetelin both pushed the Hawks back in front by four.  The quarter ended in a tight 82-78 score as neither team gave ground.

The Hawks again raced out to a 10 point lead on the efforts of Jay Wright and Humongous George.  Clifton narrowed it to 6 and Timmy T. dropped 4 more on them to build it back to 10.  Slowly Clifton crept back and with 4:27 left tied the game again before Elli and Q hit back to back three pointers to make it 105 – 99 as the crowd roared to life.  “I really thought that was it” said Q, “man they had more lives than a cat”.  Again Clifton came back.  Scoring the next 8 to take a two point lead with 2 minutes left.  When the Hawks used their last time out no one in the building seemed to be moving or even breathing.  “It was pretty quiet, I thought maybe they had heard Humongous George’s latest rap album” joked a relieved Timmy Turdburgle.  After the time out Jay hit two clutch free throws to tie and then a jumper.  Elli fired a pass to Q who “willed” a 3 pointer off the glass with 16 seconds left to boost the Hawks up by 6 and finally drive a stake through the collective Clifton heart.  “Man that was clutch, these guys are warriors in my book.  I would go into battle with any of them any time” said Jay.  After the game in the locker room Timmy and Mel were plotting their next prank on George and Jay Wright again sat alone at his locker.  “Tomorrow night the Tassie Devils.  Welcome to Aussie 1″ he sighed.

Hawks Beat Cangaroos

Cangaroos Stadium – Rather than post a blog in its traditional forum I will just post a screen shot of the game since I was only able to get in for about 30 seconds.  Lineups of course were completely wrong and many apologies to those who did not play or only played limited minutes not according to the schedule.  I was worried this would happen.  I attempted to set lineups all night with no success as it kept timing out.  Tonight we have a very tough game so let’s hope for the best.

 

Hawks Win Wright Way

Albany – It’s a good thing the Albany Police did not attend last night’s home opener, good for the Hawks anyway because they would have had no choice but to arrest Point Guard Jay Wright.  Jumpin’ Jay did everything but crawl in the Melbourne Sharks window at midnight and steal their jewelry with 5 steals in 36 minutes to set a new season mark.  “He was taking candy from babies and then giving them a beat down.  Almost cruel to watch” said partner in crime Alex Petkov.  The home crowd had no such compunction as they chanted off each steal, booing when Jay left the game prior to start of the fourth quarter and chanting 6, 6, 6, for most of the fourth.

This game left its mark on the Hawkeye Record books as well with the team posting several new season individual and team marks from team points (162) through to individual offensive rebounds (Elli Skotgladi).  “We have been together for a long time, we understand where people are on the court and what they will do next.  Other teams are still learning each other at this stage of the season and that creates an advantage for us. Our guys did a great job of exploiting this advantage,” said the coach.

The game turned at the 9:42 mark in the first when Oscar Ruiz (SG - 12 pts on 2 for 13) attempted a 3 pointer, Qinglai Huang blocked it (his second block of the period) and as it bounced away Edu Bayon (4 pts) attempted another 3 pointer which was sent back by Elli Skotgladi.  Quikez Lacadena (6 pts on 2 for 20) then threw up a prayer that missed everything.  As Elli Skotgladi recovered the errant shot he was blatantly fouled on a no call. As the Sharks relaxed expecting a call Elli smartly tossed the ball to Humongous George (20 pts, 7 Rebounds) who dumped it off to a streaking Jay Wright for a lay up making it 6 – 1.  At that point Elli exploded for 17 points in the quarter a feat that becomes more impressive when you note that the Melbourne team only scored 12 in the period.  Besides his two blocks in the period Qinglai scored seven and Jay got his first steal.  “We were a step behind all night long” said opposing Public Relations Manager Anucha Browne Sanders. “You getting in the car or not” added Stephon Marbury.  Although were not sure who he was talking to.

Mad Melivmbe Otumbabababawon the Nigerian Bomber opened the 2nd with a three point attempt from just past half court.  He regretted it soon after when Jay Wright threw a pass off the back of his head for a turnover.  The point was made and on the next trip down the court Mel passed the ball to Jay for a short jumper.  Jay (who had 12 points in the second) and Mel (a perfect 3/3 in the period) were defensive terrors in the 2nd.  Jay had 3 steals and Mel 2 blocks as the team held the Sharks to 6 points total in the period.  The game was turning into a laugher, consummate team player Q Huang didn’t attempt a shot in the period despite grabbing 6 boards.  Jack Carter nailed a jumper, Kutur added 5 and Timmy Turdburgle 10.  Concern regarding Turdburgle continues in the Albany locker room as he again left the floor limping after playing only 6:13 in the period.  This marks the second straight game Timmy T. has not gone the distance.  Team trainer Jessica Alba “I massaged all 3 legs last night and  maybe I over did it, he definitely needs rest and I will be rooming with him on the next road game to make sure he gets it”.  Everyone seems willing to take one for the team.

In his first extended Aussie 1 action Jack Carter came alive.  Scoring 14 points in the third “the Knife” carved up the Melbourne defense with a devastating array of shots.  MelO was right behind him with 10 and more stellar defense with 2 steals and a block in the period.  Jay Wright added 9 on 4 for 5 and in what the teams hope is an encouraging sign Timmy Turdburgle returned after spending halftime in the training room with Jessica to pump in 6 on 3 for 3.  Q also had 9 hitting 2 of 3 3point shots as the Hawks scored a devastating 48 points hitting on all cylinders.  Leading 122 to 28 the Hawks rotated everyone for the final quarter.

After watching Jay for 3/4′s Alex Petkov knew exactly what to do, he came in and quickly stole 2 and added a block plus 6 rebounds for a solid 12 minutes.  The Hawks continued to dominate as Cvetelin Kalinski started the period off by feeding Kutur for a jumper and then Humongous George for another.  Sharp Shooter Elli “IceMan” Skotgladi continued his hot hand scoring 13 while George was nearly as effective dropping 11.  Kutur Skyhook is quickly developing into a reliable go to guy late in games and had 9 of his own.  As the Hawks reeled off another 40 points to close the game out at 162 to 41.  The Hawks hit the road for a tough contest against the Cambridge Cangaroos tomorrow night in what should be an interesting match up.  We expect the Cambridge coach will be dialing 911 in advance of Jay Wright’s appearance.

 

The Hawks released their new logo as previously announced and buying was brisk at the Hawk Shop.  New uniforms are hoped to be released before season’s end.

 

Hawks Take Opener

Suzhou – With high expectations and wary of the new level of competition they will be facing the new look Albany Hawkeye’s squared off against the Suzhou Tigers in game one of season 4.  Suzhou is a well rounded team with strong fundamentals that finished a respectable sixth last season in Aussie 1st and won the country cup in season 2. 

In an act of defiance the Hawks opened the game with Big Dave at center giving up over 10 skill points at the center position.  Dave handled himself courageously holding his opponent to four points and a rebound while outscoring him by one point.  Jay Wright and Elli Skotgladi led the team with 10 and 9 points respectively as the Hawks built a 20 point lead primarily on floor shooting.

In the second the Tigers bounced back mainly from the work of their guard court and poor shooting from Albany.  The normally dynamic Bulgarian duo of Cvetelin Kalinski and Alex Petkov struggled to get on track while newcomer Humongous George missed an equally humongous 6 of 6 free throws.  The Hawks lost the quarter by two but maintained an overall 18 point lead.  Most noticeable in the period was Timmy Turdburgle’s snappy defense grabbing two steals and sending two shots back.  Overall a rather un-hawkish period overall though.  At halftime the tilt was 49-31 Hawks.

The third saw a return to the team of old by the Hawkeye’s as Melivmbe Otumbabababawon and Qinglai Huang came on the floor.  Actually Q was present but unaccounted for in the first while Mel had the legitimate excuse of not being on the floor.  Elli and Q combined for 17 in the quarter and Kutur Skyhook added another 9.  Interestingly Albany struggled nearly the whole game for rebounds but in the third Elli grabbed 6 out rebounding the rest of the team combined.  By the end of the third the Hawks had doubled their lead and then some making the score Albany 86-34.

The 4th quarter was fairly evenly played, the Hawks suffered a loss when Timmy T. left the game after only 1:39 of the quarter had been played.  Jack Carter and Kutur picked up the slack followed by strong contributions from Qinglai Huang, Alex Petkov and Cvetelin Kalinski.  After four quarters the Hawks triumphed 113-66.  A solid and satisfying effort.  Kutur Skyhook was man of the match and the Hawks look to continue their winning ways tomorrow night against the Melbourne Sharks in front of an appreciative home crowd.  For the home opener the Hawkeye’s will be introducing a new team logo so enthusiasm should be high.

Hawks Trump Bogans

Hawkeye Pavillion – Behind the hot hands of Jack Carter and Fede Cresci the Hawkeyes defeated the Broady Bogans at home last night.  The Hawkeyes played without defensive anchor Shooter Chitwood who was sent to Okinawa for the Sapporo Daggers game.  Valdas Adamkus and Max Tacticus filled in well in his place and the Hawks easily won the game.

From the beginning it was clear that Fede and Jack were going to take charge in this one.  Fede shot 3 for 3 in the opening period and Jack had 9 points and 3 assists.  Qinglai Huang was on target as well hitting a jumper and 2 threes without a miss.  Big Dave struggled a bit missing all his shots in the first but did manage 5 big rebounds when it counted.  Valdas scored 7 and the Hawks ran off to a 30 to 15 lead after one.

In the second Cvetelin Kalinski picked up where Q left off and added a little more as The Bulgarian Brotherhood took it to the Bogans.  Alex Petkov threw in seven with 5 boards and Cvetelin scored nine on 4 for 4 while adding 5 assists.  Jack added 6 more as did Fede while center Melivmbe Otumbabababawon practically reduced their center to tears blanking him to 0 for 10 after he had led them in scoring in the first.  In an act of kindness Mel allowed him 2 rebounds but hit both his shots while blocking one and stealing one.  In an overall strong defensive second the Hawkeyes allowed less than half the points they had in the first climbing on top 67-22.

Period 3 found the team again looking to Carter.  The Knife diced his way to 8 points and 2 boards on 4/5 as his field goal percentage continues to climb.  Valdas served them up getting 4 assists and Big Dave got on track scoring 8.  Alex Petkov again nailed a 3 for 7 total.  With Mel on the bench they were again able to get some points inside and they brought in a fresh SF who had a little more in his legs than Carter who scored 11.  The Hawkeyes maintained and even increased their lead 29-20 making the overall score through three Hawks 96 – Bogans 42. 

Mel returned in the fourth and sent a message pretty quickly, defense was to be the focus in the fourth.  Mel scored 7 but his two blocks in the period gave notice that the points inside would not be easy.  The Bogans responded by running two different centers at him both of whom he held scoreless over the final 12 minutes.  Max Tacticus picked up the lead and had a block himself to go with 4 points.  Elli Skotgladi totally dominated their SF who had scored well in the third, Elli had 4 steals and five rebounds in the period and did not allow a basket by the opposing SF while Jack took a much needed breather.  Fede Cresci returned to the game and hit both his field goals but missed on a couple of threes.    Still with 7 for 11 for the game and 17 total points to go with 6 boards his effort was solid if not spectacular.  Mel really was a defensive standout finishing with 3 blocks and 2 steals and Q, Cvet and Alex all had solid games scoring and dishing.  Jack Carter easily won Man of the Match  (his first as a Hawkeye).  Congrats Jack.

After the game Jack was asked about his performance and award “It does make you feel better indeed.   And there, my first MoM title this season, and only second overall but most importantly we won the game and can continue our streak.”  With the 124 t o44 victory the Hawkeyes move to 22 – 0 for the season in league games and 52 – 0 over the last 52 games.

Albany Owns Panorama

Hawkeye Pavillion - Four minutes into the first quarter the Panorama Snow Leopards were lost.  It was clear their game plan was to go inside and they missed five of their first six shots, missed two free throws, turned the ball over twice and had two more shots blocked.   In the interim Alex Petkov (13 points, 8 assists) had hit a three and a jumper, Elli had stroked a mid-range shot and Q had hit another Jumper for a 9-2 lead.  Throughout the quarter the Hawks hounded them to distraction, in what was an impressive effort Panorama managed to stay within 6 by the quarters end.  Q led the way in the first with 8 points, Shooter played return to sender sending 3 shots back to their power forward in the period.  Both Alex and Mel added 5 to the total 24-18 lead.

Big Dave Pours It On

In the second Big Dave took advantage of the destruction Mel had done to the Snow Leopard center and worked him for 14 points, Fede was right behind him shooting extremely well and getting 12 on his own while not even allowing the Panorama PG to get a shot off.  Cvetelin Kalinski continued to display his passing prowess as he tallied 5 assists in just 12 minutes.  Completely unselfish he only took one shot and that was after Q forced him to, intentionally passing him the ball back as the shot clock wound down.  His team mates threw out a mock cheer when he shot the three ball, it didn’t go in but goes to show how in control the Hawks were at all times in this one.  Albany out rebounded 8-2 and out scored the Snow Leopards beating them off the ball and to the ball in every minute.  The quarter and the half ended with the Hawks adding 23 points to their lead and finishing right were the DHawks had left off the night before.  It is pretty clear that the Leopards will not look forward to facing another Albany team in a while.  Halftime Hawks 58 – Panorama 29.

Up By 30, Better Up By 40

When you are up by 30 on the third place team in the division at home and it is the beginning of the third quarter what do you do?  If you are Elli Skotgladi you shoot 5/5 if your are Alex Petkov you shoot 3/3, if you are Max Tacticus you hand out 5 assists, if you are Melivmbe Otumbabababawon you grab 6 boards and if you Qinglai Huang you score 12 will holding your opponent to 4.  If you are the Albany Hawkeye team you go on a 37 to 13 run and drive the next nail in your opponents coffin.  Q and Elli matched each other almost shot for shot throughout the quarter only 3 points scored in the final 36 seconds kept this from being a complete collapse on Panorama’s part.

Qinglai Wears Down

By the fourth quarter it was obvious that Qinglai Huang was tired, after playing them twice in 24 hours.  The crowd was shouting encouragement as he gamely stayed on the floor with 4 fouls.  He opened the final stanza with a 3 and in fact hit all 4 of his 3 pointers and ended the game with 25 points, but his final 3 to start the fourth took what remaining energy he had out of him and he went to the bench.  Jack Carter came on for him and played exceptionally well, hitting his only shot and handing out 3 assists.   Elli lit it up in the 4th with 15 points against what at times seemed like token defense.  Big Dave added another 7 and ended the game with 21 points despite having only 2 rebounds.  Everyone on the team had at least 3 assists with Alex leading the way dishing 8.  The opposing team leading scorer did manage 26 points but it is worth noting that 10 of these came on free throws from missed 3 pointers.  Doing his best Manu Ginobili it seemed every time he missed a foul was called on the Hawks.  Even though Shooter had 5 blocks the Man of the Match offensively and defensively was Elli Skotgladi, scoring at team high 29 he also kept his man from getting any points from the field.  It was clear from the beginning in this one that the Hawks had Panorama out manned and out gunned as the Hawks run their league record to 20-0.  Final Hawks 124 – Panorama 56.

Coaches Notes:

Thanks for everyone giving Q extra time against these guys, also thanks for playing hard I actually enjoy beating this team more than most as I think you know.  I mentioned in a post that lineups were a little off again tonight I will be checking on this to try and find out why.  Mel and Dave both solid games.  Dave did the scoring and Mel the boarding (8).  Fede again had the shooters touch from the field hopefully soon we will play someone where I can extend your minutes for a little MOM glory.  I have lost track of how many this is in a row but let’s keep it up.  Go Hawks!

Clif(ton) Hanger

Clifton – Before one of the biggest crowds of the season the Hawkeyes faced the Clifton Hillbillies in a rematch of Day 10 and the Hawkeyes 54 game winning streak on the line.  Clifton, who is second to only the Hawks in Aussie 2 presented a formidable challenge.  They are well coached and have a big front line along with strength at the SG and SF spots.  If they have a weakness it is not apparent as their only loss came at the hands of these very same Hawkeyes.  This was shaping up to be a contest of wills, two evenly matched teams with the loser going home early from the Aussie Cup.

A Tight Opener

The Hillbillies drew first blood with a put back by Eddy Curry off a rebound, the game held at 2-0 until Shooter blocked a shot and was fouled on a three point attempt, making all three he put the Hawks up for the first time.  The teams battled back and forth until John Starks made an inside shot to tie the game at 14.  As if on cue, there was Shooter again, this time hitting a jumper to put the Hawks back on top.  Back Clifton went to John Starks who again hit an inside shot to tie the game.  Again Cvetelin Kalinski found Shooter for a jump shot to break the tie.  This time before their power forward could pass the ball to Starks, Shooter stole it and fed Elli for an 8 footer to push the lead to four.  Mel Otumbabababawon then clamped down on Eddy Curry forcing him to miss 3 shots and turn the ball over in the final minute but the Hawks could only counter with a jumper by Elli again on a feed by Cvetelin Kalinski.  Shooter led all scorers with 9 while Cvetelin handed out 3 assists and Mel dominated with 5 rebounds and 2 blocks.  Still despite these efforts the Hawks were only up 6 at the quarter break.

Cvetelin 15, Starks 13

The second played out as a battle between Cvetelin and John Starks but there was a lot of drama in between.  The quarter was tied at 3-3 in the first two minutes before the Hillbillies went ahead on a jumper by their SF, Cvetelin then hit 2 free throws to tie it.  On the next play John Starks broke free from Cvetelin to hit a three pointer and gain back the quarter lead as the Hawks were only up in the game by three.  Cvetelin then pushed it back to five on a layup fed by his buddy Alex Petkov.  Then Cvetelin returned the favor and fed Petkov for a layup to make it a 7 point Hawkeye advantage.  Starks squeezed off two jumpers before Mel and Jack Carter came up with answers.  Mel and Jack teamed up for 6 points to regain the quarter lead at 15-14.  With 6 minutes left the Hawks were only up in the game by 7.  Now Shooter went to work, blocking a shot, feeding Jack for another basket, feeding Cvetelin for two hoops and the Hawks had increased the gap to 12.  At this point the Hawks seemed to refocus, Alex, Shooter, Cvetelin combined to put the Hawks up by 20 and it looked like they were going to return to the Hawks of old and run away with it.  They held this lead the remainder of the quarter until John Starks hit a 3 with time winding down and at halftime the score was 58-39.  Cvetelin hit 15 points in the quarter, had 4 rebounds and 2 steals while Shooter added 5 assists.  What was most important in the period was what didn’t happen, by halftime Eddy Curry had only 6 points, their power forward had only 4 and their SF had only 4.  Of their 39 points their shooting guard had 20.  The key to victory would be in adding him to the shutdown list for the second half despite the 19 point deficit they still had life.

Shooter Fouls Out

In the third the Hawks were forced to play without Shooter as he fouled out with 6 minutes to go this combined with Mel being on the sidelines taking a breather created opportunity for Clifton.   Shooter and Mel were forced to watch in frustration as the Hillbillies repeatedly went inside to score.  With Big Dave severely overmatched by Eddy Curry there was little or nothing the Hawkeyes could do to stop the onslaught.  As in the first match, sharpshooting by Fede Cresci and Elli Skotgladi kept the game level before Cvetelin hit a three to bring it back in favor of the Hawkeyes.  Maximus Tacticus did an excellent job on their PF in Shooter’s place, even going 2 for 2 from the field.  with 5 minutes left in the quarter the Hawks were again down for the period when Cvetelin hit a 3 pointer and Clifton foolishly took a crazy 3 pointer from their center.  Fede grabbed the rebound and fed Max for a dunk and the run began.    Albany then scored the next 9 points to close out the quarter in style and build a 28 point lead.

Strange But True Lineups

With one player fouled out, another (Cvetelin Kalinski) worn out, the Hawks were somewhat disorganized.  Simon Polarius was supposed to play PG, Alex SG, Elli SF, Valdas PF and Mel Center. It didn’t work that way.  Simon was given the responsibility of guarding one of the highest ranked players in Aussie 2 and put on their power forward.  He did admirably well.  Despite the height disadvantage and the skills disadvantage the Estonian stepped up his game and held him to 5 points while shooting  2 for 3 himself and getting a very unlikely block on an inside shot.  Alex Petkov was nearly perfect hitting 5 for 5 from the field and only missing on a three and a free throw.  Mel came up with two big blocks and held Eddy Curry to two points.  Again only John Starks was able to get anything going and given all the assignment confusion that is understandable.  Elli was clutch again, coming up with 9 points, a block and a steal to finish the game with 27 and a Man of the Match.   Mel had 13 rebounds and played well but where the Hillbillies did well was at shooting guard and on getting offensive rebounds and this will have to be fixed by the time we face them again.  Final 114 to 78 but it was a lot closer than that.

Coaches Notes:

Happy with the win but it is not fair to the team to have these horrible mismatches and we will probably have to make some moves to correct that.  Overall everyone who was put in this position did well.  Particular standouts:  Simon, what a job given the situation. Alex and Cvetelin are going to be a great combo and really helped out.  Fede, nice shooting just enough to keep pace.  Max did a fine job while he was out there, no offense to Simon but probably would have been better to have Valdas come in like he was supposed to.  Can never say enough about that Elli character.  When the chips are down he is always there, great job.

Hawkeyes Win, Magic Hear Boos

Melbourne – In a game that should have been close, it wasn’t.  In a game where you want your center inside and banging, he steps out and hits 3′s.  In a game where you need to shut down their PG to win he scores 30 and you still win big.  In a game where you expect your starting five to be serious and focused they are relaxed and joking.  And in a game where you expect your top five to deliver, they do.  They did more than deliver Mel Otumbabababawon (37 points, 2 blocks, 5 assists, 5 boards), Shooter Chitwood (33 points, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 7 assists and 11 rebounds), Elli Skotgladi (21 points, 1 steal, 8 assists, 4 boards), Fede Cresci (10 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds) would have been enough alone to win the game.  But that was not enough for the Hawkeyes as Qinglai Huang had a triple double with 31 points, 11 boards and 14 assists.  Meanwhile Maximus, Valdas and Dave came in and did there jobs to perfection.  Limiting scoring opportunities and playing solid basketball for 12 key minutes each. 

In the opening period all roads led to Mel as he hit 7 of 8 to open the game and help guide the Hawkeyes to the opening lead.  The critical factor was Fede Cresci’s fine defense on the Magic point guards that limited them to 7 points and helped the Hawks to a lead.  Q stuffed the opposing shooting guard as well allowing him no points on 6 shots.  Mel also wore out their first center in 8 1/2 minutes as Albany went on a 14 – 2 run to open up the game.  Although later in the period things evened out the Hawkeyes still led 37 – 19 at the end of the first.

As the second opened both teams battled back and forth in the opening minutes before Mel again took control on a dunk from Maximus Tacticus.  Max scored six of his own in the period and Qinglai Huang repeatedly drove the lane making inside shot after inside shot for 9 points.  Fede Cresci handed out four assists all to Mel who had 18 in the period.  Defensively again it was MelO with two blocks but the team did not do well on the boards getting only two rebounds for a high.  After Q sunk a three on a set up by Elli the big man decided it was his turn and drifted out to the line.  The defense, understandably, was no where near him when Mel calmly sank a three pointer putting the Hawks up 12 in the period.  “Sure I have seen him hit them in practice, but I really thought he was setting up a screen and roll.  I was rolling to the basket and the ball flew over my head.  I felt like an idiot jumping for it as it went in” said SF Elli Skotgladi.  When confronted with this Mel only laughed.  At Halftime Albany led the Magic 76-41 and the disappointed crowd let the Magic know it.

The third quarter was one of the strangest yet for Albany.  Only 3 players scored for the team yet they managed to expand on their lead.  Primarily due to the defense played by the guys on the floor.  Despite giving up 10 points to the point guard the Hawks held the line with the other players and kept control of the game.  Big Dave had 5 points despite hitting 1 for 5 but Fede nor Valdas could get a hoop.  Shooter led the team with 13 but struggled from the line.  The good news is that the Hawkeyes managed 26 points to Melbourne’s 19 and the team gained some breathing space and again the boos rained down on the Magic as they left the court.

In the fourth things came back together.  Qinglai was on fire hitting 8 of 9 and getting 4 assists as he and Elli fed off each other.  Elli came up big with 13 and Shooter had eleven on perfect shooting from the field.  Fede and Mel took in the rest with 4 and 5 respectively.  Again the defense was the difference as despite Albany getting a massive 49 points in the period they allowed on 14 and cruised to an easy victory.  Of course with time winding down Fede passed the ball to Mel at the top of the key for a screen and roll.  Mel turned and shot.  This time he missed but this time no one was surprised.

Polarius Pulls Plug On Whitely Power

Whitely – The hours of looking at tape, the days of practice getting the plays down perfectly, the strategy sessions, tactics, rotations, etc. come together every night for 48 minutes.  In theory, if you have done your job as a coach and as players the game, if not the outcome is predictable.  Last night against Whitely, the outcome was predictable but most of what happened in the game was not.

The first quarter started off the surprises as Elli Skotgladi and Simon Polarius switched roles.  Simon is the point guard, adept at passing, strong defender but never much of a scorer.  Elli is one of the teams best shooters, also a solid defender but not a passer, a scorer.  In the first Elli had 6 assists and most of them were to the diminutive point guard who poured in 14 points.  Simon hit 4 of 5 field goals and both threes to run the Hawkeyes out in front of Whitely 31 to 12.  Shooter Chitwood was a defensive nightmare recording 4 blocks in the first period and creating havoc for the Power.  Valdas added a block and center Melvimbe Ottumbabababawon added two steals.  Elli added a three but it is his 6 assists that stand out.

In the next period the team was clicking on all cylinders as they only missed two shots.  Simon was again spectacular going 7 for 7 while Elli added 4 more assists and 6 rebounds.  Shooter threw a change up changing from blocks to steals and adding two.  The Power front court only managed one made basket as they were dominated on both sides of the ball.  Mel and Valdas Adamkus combined for 11 and the team that had made 3 for 3 from 3 point land didn’t take a shot out side the arc but still managed a half time lead of 40 points.

In the third bizarro world continued as Qinglai Huang and Max Tacticus both scored 7 in extremely unusual ways.  Q, the best 3 point shooter on the team went 0 for 3 from outside and got all his points from the floor.  Meanwhile Max, normally a dead-eye from the floor went 1 for 7 getting the bulk of his points from the line.  Perhaps the only normal thing was Big Dave grabbing 5 boards but he too missed from the field as only Mark Bradtke hit both his shots.  Defensively the squad stepped up allowing only 1 field goal, 1 three pointer and one free throw for 6 points in the quarter.  The Hawks crushed them in the third 28 to 6.

In the fourth with virtually the same team on the floor the Hawkeyes gave up 17.  Max went 0 for 3 but handed out 6 assists and Elli and Q did the scoring.  Fede Cresci was typically accurate with both his shots and Mel was 3 for 3 as the team added another 20 to their margin in an easy victory number 12 for season 2 and another Man of the Match for Elli.

Coaches Notes

Max’s shooting was rather crazy, he normally takes about 10 shots and hits about 80 percent in this game he hit almost nothing.  Big Dave was unusually quiet and Mel shot poorly against the guy early in the game and then shot great against the same guy late.  Hard to figure the assists out either as Fede ended up with his usual total but Simon was down.  Chalk it up to one of those statistical anamolies we always hear about.  12 – 0 in season 3.  Great job guys.