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Subscribe to our NewsletterWeek 8 was a wild week with lots of intriguing storylines to discuss. There was a Micahel Jordan-esque flu (walking pneumonia) game, an epic collapse, a Justin Chodos three-pointer and a mysterious v-neck undershirt from decades ago. But the biggest story of the week had to be Orange winning two tough games and re-establishing themselves as serious contenders as the second half of the season kicked off. So rather than tease everyone any longer, let's get to the game action:
Orange 59 - Green 55: Orange came into this game having lost their prior two contests and was desperate to get back in the win column. Green played this game without Dan Amsellem who was serving a suspension. Captain Pete Strauss, playing the role of defiant owner, ignored the decision of the other captains and decided that he would go with Kabbendik, I guess justifying it by saying he didn't have Dan. However, Pete has again been told that only one of Kabba or Adam Bendik can play on any given week regardless of whether another player might be missing for that game. Every team deals with absences and as has been clearly stated to Pete, Kabba can play any time Bendik does not (an accommodation that is not offered to any other team if they happen to be missing their star player). Hopefully this is the last time we talk about this because while I don't think having both is inherently unfair competitively, there are rules for replacement players (or adding players) and Green is not the only team that feels like their roster should be improved. This now leads me to the game and the surprising result. Orange was playing with just 5 players and were missing leading scorer Michael Gerstein, team Captain Jake Lillie and big man Matt Birnbach. Green had everyone other than Dan including both Kabba and Bendik. The secret weapon that people weren't expecting for Orange was Graham Haskell's great-great grandfather's yellowing v-neck undershirt in place of an actual jersey.
Green should've known they were in trouble based on this alone but after the first 15 minutes of action, it seemed like Green would be cruising to an easy victory. Green was getting contribtions from everyone in the first half including three-pointers by Pete Strauss (3 in the game for 9 points), the aforementioned three-pointer by Justin Chodos (see below) as well as a first half buzzer beater by Andrew Merel bringing the halftime score to 39-27 in favor of Green.
Orange struggled to get anything going in the first half including zero points from Rory Schulman who was feeling the effects of walking pneumonia. But the second half was a completely different story. Orange came out with a different energy and began chipping away at the lead thanks to 22 second half points from Rory. Green maintained a 10-point lead (51-41) with 6:00 remaining and that is when it all went to shit for Green. Over the next 5+ minutes Orange scored 16 consecutive points, turning around what was a 51-41 deficit to a 57-51 lead. And while Rory did have a huge second half, he was not alone. Graham (doing his great-great grandfather proud by wearing his old shirt - okay fine it was just Graham's undershirt) contributed 16 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists while Mr. Consistent, Ben Huber, added 18 points and an incredible 7 steals. And even though Alex Schosheim and David Laub only had 3 points combined, both played the entire game and contributed defensively and on the glass (not to mention a huge 3-pointer by Alex late in the second half). This game was tied at 51 with 1:50 left and Orange eventually won thanks in part by making FTs and even when they missed their FTs they got the offensive rebound on three straight trips to the line. I know this one stung for Green because they had this game and were just out-hustled over the final minutes by a shorthanded team. Green was led offensively by Kabba who scored 14 points, followed by 10 from Jordan Perlmutter. The win moved Orange to 5-3 and the loss dropped Green to 2-7.
Orange vs Green Highlights 1/20/2025
Grey 60 -Gold 51: Grey was missing Mike Hughes, leaving a big void in the middle, while Gold was at full strength. The first 5 minutes of this game, Gold showed how dangerous they can be offensively when they are moving the ball and hitting from long range. Gold got out to a 12-2 lead thanks to the hot shooting of Steve Bachman (12 points including 4 threes) and Jake Granoff (12 points on only 5 shots). But unfortunately for Gold, they were unable to sustain that momentum and Grey responded with a 11-0 run of their own to make the score 13-12 Grey a few minutes later. Shamar Mason did what he does in the first half, scoring 16 of his 18 points before the intermission. Shamar slithered his way into the lane and consistently finished tough shots utilizing his patented spin move. Grey finished the half with a 31-26 lead. The second half was more of the Ed Seiden show (yeah it's weird talking about myself but my teammates insisted I do so) fueled by Jason Narod repeatedly calling me old. Well quoting an old nursery rhyme:
This old man he shoots threes
hitting 5 of 8 like Steph Curry
Ed Seiden (me) scored 17 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, a feat last acheived by me in my early 40s (and yes I am an old 50). Matt Ceccarelli rounded out the scoring for Grey with 16 points as well as 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Gold kept the game close in the second half and managed to cut the lead to 4 but that was as close as they would get in this game. Bryan Minasian continued his dominance on the boards (adding 12 in this game) and also scored 8 points. Andre Lewis added 8 points but continues to struggle from the FT line (going 0/5 and now at 2/19 on the season). Ben Simmons has gotten his FT % up to 70 percent this season so there's hope. The win keeps Grey in second place at 6-2 while the loss drops Gold to 2-7 and a tie for last place.
Grey vs Gold Highlights 1/20/2025
Black 62 - Blue 50: Blue was missing Jon Ackerman and David Kobiashvili (who will hopefully return soon from his hamstring injury). Black was playing at full strength. Siri got out to a fast start in this game driving to the hoop as well as hitting his walk up threes from the left wing that he loves so much. Siri finished the game with 22 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks (a typical dominant Siri performance and keeping him as the only player in the league averaging over 20 points). The only way to stop Siri apparently is for a teammate to get him with an inadvertent elbow to the eye, as happened yesterday in the Peak League. Hopefully Siri is feeling better despite the stitches and black eye. Black controlled this game throughout maintaining a 6-12 point lead for most of the game. This was a standout performance for Adam Driansky who scored 24 points and also added 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Adam's quick first step repeatedly got him open in the lane and he finished strong. Turning back the clock for Blue was Erez Liebermann, who scored 9 points on 4/5 shooting and reminded those in attendance of another UVA legend, Bryant Stith (at least Erez and the older guys in the league will know the reference - you young whippersnappers can look him up on the interwebs). Damian Jackson had a double-double which he can pretty much do in his sleep (10 points and 10 rebounds). Black also got solid offensvie contributions from Shane Calendar, Drew Mandelbaum and David Steinbruck. TJ Farrell had his second game of the season without making a three pointer which means I'm guessing a three-point barrage is coming soon. If there was one stat to point to for this game, it was that Blue shot just 2/18 from three-point range (.111). Black moved to 6-3 with the win while Blue now sits at 2-7 and in a three-way tie with Gold and Green in the basement.
Black vs Blue Highlights 1/22/2025
Orange 60 - Red 57: This was the game of the week. Orange was coming off their big short-handed win from two nights earlier while Red entered this game having won their last 8 contests. Orange was missing David Laub, probably recovering from the full 48 minutes he had to play on Monday night. Red was at full strength. Red got out to a quick start, as they often do, behind the assassin-like shooting of Adam Hynes (20 points on 9/16 shooting to go along with 7 rebounds and 5 assists). Red built their early lead to 9 points but Orange came storming back with a vengeance and finished the first half with a 35-29 lead. Adam was clearly frustrated by the team's effort late in hte first half and got the troops fired up during the break. Red opened the second half with an 8-0 run to recapture the lead and the two teams battled throughout the remainder of the second half. I'm not sure if it was the defense being played by Graham Haskell (properly attired for this game) but the Red team seemed to surprisingly go away from Adam in the second half. Gabe Berkowitz had his second straight strong performance for Red notching 11 points and was on the receiving end of two straight Adam Hynes assists thanks to his strong cuts down the lane. It was a quiet game offensively for Eric Sass (4 points on 2/8) but he contributed 8 rebounds and an impressive 5 blocked shots. Colin Neff had his normal efficient 11 points and 7 rebounds and strong effort on the defensive end. Having watched every game played this season, I think I enjoy watching the film of Orange's games more than any other team. I feel like I'm watching a Gene Hackman coached Hoosiers squad where the ball is contantly moving, guys are cutting and giving 100% effort for loose balls. The difference is there's no Jimmy Chitwood doing all the scoring. You never know who will lead this team in scoring, in fact 5 different guys have led them in scoring in past weeks. This week was no different with 5 guys scoring between 7 and 15 points and each contributing at crucial moments. Jake Lillie led the way with 15 points followed by Graham Haskell (14), Ben Huber (10), Rory Schulman (9) and Michael Gerstein (7). Okay enough singing the praises of the Orange team and back to the game. This was a 1-point game (58-57 Orange lead) with less than 2:00 remaining and here is the sequence of events:
- Adam missed a runner in the lane and Rory grabbed the rebound and was fouled
- Rory missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and red grabbed the rebound.
- Ben Carr drove and missed a layup (looked like the ref missed a foul call) but Ben gathered his miss but also missed the put back and Graham grabbed the ensuing rebound.
- Graham made the front end (59-57 Orange) but missed the second FT, however, much like in the Orange game on Monday night, Graham managed to get his own rebound and was fouled again.
- This time Graham missed both FTs and Sass grabbed the rebound and called timeout. Red drew up a play for Adam during the timeout.
- Ben inbounded the ball to Adam, who got bumped and thought a foul would be called and wound up being called for a traveling violation
- 3.8 seconds left and again Graham got fouled (this time double-bonus). Graham missed the first but made the second FT (60-57 Orange lead)
- Ensuing in bound pass went to Ben, who looked like he had a clean look from three, but I guess forgot his team was down 3 and instead passed the ball ahead to Sass running down the lane. Ben Huber fouled Sass hard on the drive (to make sure there would be no chance for an and-1) but there was only 0.2 seconds remaining and Red trailed by 3. After Sass missed the first FT any hope of a dramatic tip-in for the win went away and Orange won 60-57
Orange vs Red Highlights 1/22/2025
Upcoming games:
Green vs Grey (1/27)
Gold vs Black (1/27)
Blue vs Red (1/29)
Orange vs Black (1/29)
Stat leaders (though we are still missing the stats for Orange vs Gold on 1/6 and Orange vs Red on 1/8 - slacker Matt):
Points:
Siri Carpien 22.1 ppg
Adam Hynes 19.3 ppg
Eric Sass 17.5 ppg
Rebounds:
Dan Amsellem 15.6 rpg
Eric Sass 11.5 rpg
Colin Neff 11.1 rpg
Assists:
Ben Carr 3.9 apg
Jason Narod 3.7 apg
Phil Romero/Jon Ackerman 3.4 apg
Blocks: (total)
Eric Sass 16
Phil Romero 10
Damian Jackson/Siri Carpien 8
Steals:
David Kobiashvili 2.6 spg
Andre Lewis 2.57 spg
Colin Neff/Ben Huber 2.37 spg
Three pointers made:
TJ Farrell 25
Michael Gerstein 22
Michael Huberman/Siri Carpien 21
Good luck everyone this week
