The playoffs are among us! Quarterfinal action tips off this Sunday at the Waterfront Neighbourhood Centre. The one seed, Myodetox, play against the eight seed, Practice?!, to open up the evening at 7:00 PM. Practice?! sneaked into the playoffs with the tie-breaker over LMPC, however, it will be tough for them to sneak away with a win against Myodetox. At 8:00 PM we have the two seed, Superclub, taking on the seven seed, Rise Tribe. Rise Tribe had a tough start to the season, but the addition of Joel Reinders has been huge. However, they take on a huge challenge in Andrew Motta (this season’s scoring champ) and Superclub. At 9:00 PM the third seeded Vipers take on the sixth seeded Nick Young & The Restless. The Vipers have performed extremely well when Jerome Brown is in attendance, but poorly when he is not in the lineup. If his services are unavailable in this game, Nick Young can steal a win and walk away feeling swaggy. Our last game of the night features Eye Studio taking on the Trojans at 10:00 PM. Eye Studio have lost a key player in Kadeem Scott, so it will be interesting to see how they redistribute his touches when facing a defensive-minded Trojans squad.
Game of the Night:
This weeks GOTN features Eye Studio going up the Trojans. Last time these two teams met, it was the Trojans who walked away with the 14-point victory, although without looking at the score it seemed much closer than that. Eye Studio found themselves in a hole early and could not dig themselves out, although they valiantly tried. Harry Ezenibe and Miguel Pink combined to score 34 of Eye Studio’s 53 points, albeit on not the greatest shooting percentages. It will be interesting to see how Eye Studio will be able to handle the adversity of losing Kadeem Scott and getting Zach Bendahan back in the mix. The Trojans have found their identity and are peaking at the right time. Is this their season?
Players to Watch:
Andrew Motta (Superclub): Motta claimed the regular season scoring title by a mile. He averaged 26.3 points per game on amazing shooting percentages of 54% from the field, 81% from the charity stripe, and 53% from distance. Can he continue his scoring rampage in the post-season?
Darius Simic (Nick Young & The Restless): Simic finished third in scoring and second in rebounding for the regular season. He stretches the floor with a smooth jump shot and is physical enough to bang down low. This guy serves up double-doubles on the regular, and I’m not talking about coffee.
Devo Brown and Jano Badovinac (Practice?!): This lesser talked about tandem finished the regular season at #8 (Devo) and #9 (Jano), respectively. This duo has put their team on their backs all season and have made their teammates better as a result. They both need big games to advance to the next round.
Ancil Martin (Trojans): Martin has found his fit in the Trojans’ system and is thriving in it. He draws a tough matchup in Harry Ezenibe, who will undoubtedly be giving him a hard time on both ends of the floor. How will he respond?
