AND then there were two:
As predicted immediately after the draft, Team O’Malley would be playing the Championship and it would only be a matter of who they are opponent would be. Through some luck and favorable match-ups and having a deep team that plays great defense Team Statham has put itself in a position to win the rare back to back Championships.
O’Malley v. Statham -5- (upset special)Team O’Malley who has the best player in the league and finished with the Number 1 seed should be favored to win this game. Unfortunately, for Team O’Malley they will be missing a major contributor with Dave “Doug” Granville missing the game because he is on vacation. He just became captain of the all-vacation team. It will take a team effort to replace a 15-20 point scorer and a lock down defender and this will put a lot more pressure on McCann,O’Malley, Tyler and Petrak to pick up the slack.- Team O’Malley will need some offense from its bench which may be tough since they have not be called upon all year to do so. Will they be up to the task? Team Statham will also have a short bench with Lewandowski missing the game and Statham the Elder unlikely to suit up.
Individual match-ups:
McCann v. Cosme-the top two draft picks going head to head- it does not get much better than this. Assuming Team Statham decides not play zone, it will be up to Cosme to contain McCann with some help from his friends. Cosme will be forced to expend a lot of energy on the defensive end so Team Statham will not expect to get much out of his of him on the offensive end-anything they get from him will be a bonus. EDGE McCann.
Statham v. O’Malley- both players will rely almost exclusively on their outside shooting as O’Malley will not be able to post-up Statham. Statham has a little more help on offense so he will not be relied on as much. Edge Statham but it will come down to who wants it more.
Tyler v. Greene/Nolan/Shrader– without Granville, Tyler is going to have to score in double-digits and he will have his hands full with Statham’s 3-headed monster. With Greeno’s(who has been the offensive MVP in the play-offs for Team Orange) ability to take Tyler outside and knock down shots, this could be a big advantage for Team Statham. Sharade and Nolan will have to hold their own on the boards and then get out and run the floor and try and get some easy baskets. Edge Statham
Petrak/Egan/DeCarlo v. Spain/Alvosky- Petrak, Egan and DeCarlo are very under-rated and all three could be x-factors in this game. On the defensive end, both DeCarlo and Egan can be a problem but Spain and Alvosky have the edge on the offensive end. If Alvosky can knock a few 3s he could be the X in the game but even with out his outside shooting he is great moving without the ball and getting some easy hoops going to the basket. Spain runs the show for Team Statham-is rock solid on defense and always finds a way to make a clutch baskets and hit clutch FTs. Edge Statham
Bench- edge Team Statham
Coaching-big edge to O’Malley
INTANGIBLES- will the absence of Granville create more offensive opportunities for O’Malley and Petrak? Will Team Statham’s team approach to try and slow down McCann work? Will they be forced to play zone? Will Team Statham continue to show the great defensive effort that has carried them though the play-offs so far. Will Team Statham’s 3 point shooting return to rescue them? Will Team Statham’s depth be too much for Team O’Malley to overcome? Team O’Malley will lean on McCann but will he try to do too much without Granville and will he be able to trust his team mates in crunch time. If Petrak, Egan and DeCarlo can score 20 points between them Team O’Malley will win going away. Team Statham actually has a slight size advantage but will it be enough to give them the edge? I anticipate a close game that will decided by FTS at the end of the game and it will be interesting to see which team goes into a stall first and how much time will be left when they do so. Team O’Malley is completely capable of winning this game without Granville- Team Statham has yet to play to the level that won them the Championship last year. This should be a well-played game that will represent the league well.
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