OVERTIME WEEK 1 RECAPS by MR.SQUIRREL

Week 1 Recaps

Can Hot Brothers stay cramp-free in Week 2 ? Be prepared fellas !!!

Well everyone week 1 of the new OT season is in the books and it was a hell of a week 1.  The competition has definitely jumped up to another level from last season, everyone has stacked up looking to be better and it shows.  

No team won by more than double digits; 6, 2, 5, 8 the margin of victory for all 4 games.  Stepping into that gym felt like week 1 of the playoffs and not week 1 of the regular season.  It could be teams just trying to build chemistry but I doubt it, no freebies this season, anyone can be beat.  

No games this week, enjoy your Easter and get ready for action next week. Check the recaps.

Semi-Pro vs United Nations(UN 54 – SMP 48)

This was a matchup of two new teams to OT league with United Nations being a free agent team but don’t let that fool you, just cause they’re free agents doesn’t mean they don’t have talent.  Semi-Pro is a somewhat unknown team trying to make a name for themselves and coming out with something to prove.

United Nations had a very solid team effort as they had everyone contribute in their own way but Mike Song beasted with a double-double 16 pts 15 reb and 3 blks on the side.  Vick Manocha also had a near double-double with 11 pts and 7 reb.  Christian Asuncion chipped in 15 pts while Joe Won dished out 7 ast.  

Semi Pro received an all-around game from Mike Kim with 17 pts 5 reb 3 ast.  Andrew Park also going up against a couple of the league’s premier big men racking up a double-double with 11 pts and 11 reb.

In what was a closely contested game easy buckets were the difference as the UN shot a ridiculous 53.3% from the field for the game as they were able to find themselves out in transition and for easy layups.  SMP will need to tighten up there defense and take care of the ball if they want to rack up wins, they got the talent to be competitive just need to make a few adjustments.  Be on the lookout for UN, they seemed to gel pretty quickly but if their chemistry improves each week, they could become one of the most dangerous teams in the league.

Other Key Contributions:  UN: Mike Lee(7stl)

Elite 8 vs Royal Flush(EL8 51 – RF 49)

Royal Flush and its’ revamped roster started its’ title defense against an Elite 8 team which may be one of the deepest teams in the league featuring an almost full roster.  After winning the chip last season Royal Flush made a lot of changes to the roster, if they’re better still remains to be seen.

Royal Flush received a boost from Danny Lee with a 16 pts 5 reb effort in his debut while Mark Lee chipped in 13 pts making a living on a FT line as he shot a abysmal 6.7% from the field.  Kwon Lim was the 3rd player in double figure scoring with 10 pts. Elite 8 were kept alive by Jake Choi’s 22 pts 4 ast 4 stl as no other player scored in double digits.  Steve Hong fell a point shy of a double-double with 9 pts and 10 reb.

From the start of the game you could tell both teams were in the process of trying to build their chemistry but EL8 had an early advantage a built a quick lead but RF would eventually fight back in the second half to bring the game close with both teams answering back and forth.  RF would end up with the ball down 2 and 5 seconds left.  Danny Lee would get the ball off the inbound and found a lane to the basket for a tough layup that would rim out to end the ball game.  In a game that had a playoff intensity about it EL8 would come through in the clutch by hitting big 3s in the second half as they shot 54.5% from beyond the arc compared to RF’s 16.7%.  It’s tough to get wins shooting 28.6% from the field.  It’s simple, need to make shots to win.

Other Key Contributions: RF: Raymond Lee 14 reb, Bada Hong 3 blk 3 stl

Hot Brothers vs DB Isonation(ISO 54 – HTB 49)

DB Isonation returns to make another run to the chip and avenge a loss in the finals last season with a couple of key additions and losses to their roster.  Hot Brothers is a team formed by Dave Ri the main scorer for the now defunct Strong Island looking to showcase what they can do in this league.

ISO signed a little more offensive firepower this season picking up James Choi who gave ISO immediate help with 18 pts.  They received their usual Chris Youn game with a double-double 15 pts 16 reb.

HTB was lead in the scoring column by no surprise, Dave Ri with 17 pts to go with his 8 reb.  Peter Song also gave them a second scorer with 16 pts and 3 ast.

HTB would almost pull out the upset against ISO but would fall short in a few areas of the game that are needed when trying to pull an upset. Turnovers, HTB had 16 compared to ISO’s 9, those extra possessions in a 5 point game are absolutely crucial.  Free Throws Free Throws Free Throws, you’ve heard it before and it never rang truer in this game.  ISO would go 9-11 from the charity stripe while HTB would go 2-10.  Free points left off the board are never a good thing.  HTB knows they can hang with any team in the league just need to clean it up.  ISO will be a high powered team that just needs a little time to mesh and then watch out OT.

Other Key Contributions: ISO: Rommel Dolar 7pts 4 ast 4 reb 7 stl, HTB: Moon-Hwan Yun 6 pts 13 reb

Hung Lo vs Nyce(NYCE 59 – HLO 51)

Team Nyce enters this season with Bayside’s version of the Big 3 and with high expectations after a tough season last year, a season to forget, some new signings and some wins will quickly erase that.  Hung Lo is a new team but with some familiar names and some big bodies.  This team may be the x-factor of the league and be able to change the standings.

NYCE’s new additions quickly delivered and showed that this team isn’t going to take as long as the Miami Heat did to build chemistry.  Eddie Wang had 25 pts to go along with his 6 reb and 3 ast while Mike Kim had an all-around game with 8 pts 4 reb 3 ast.  Instant contributions.

HLO features Lil James Choi who can be a 1 man offensive clinic at times put in 15 pts along with Kevin Chin 13 pts 7 reb.  They also received a solid contribution from big man Mike Wong with 8 pts 5 reb 2 blk.

Statistically speaking this was one of the closer games on the night.  NYCE just happened to make a few more buckets then HLO with a slight edge in shooting percentage and a couple of more 3s made.  NYCE was looking to make a splash in their debut and while it wasn’t exactly a dominant performance we may not have seen the ceiling for them yet.  HLO was a question mark coming into the season but after this performance they’ll be in contention for sure.  They hung with NYCE without a couple of key components George Chan and Chris Choi whom will both help this team when they play.

Other Key Contributions: NYCE: Ace Wan 12 pts Elitar Kim 10 pts 4 reb

Mr. SQUIRREL - FIRE !