Friday, December 23, 2016

Week 2 In the Books!

FanCam!



Top Scorers with 20 or more!


At the top, we know why Dave Tyson is in the Legends Hall of Fame!

Undefeateds! 

After only two weeks, just a handful of teams undefeated!

Elite:           Adept and Mighty Men
30+ A/B:     Squires, Woodchippers, and Uncle Ji
30+ B/C:     Chicken Express, Cordia Heat, and HAVOC
40+ A/B:     Z2, HoundDogs
40+ B/C:     Blue Chips

Upset Special!

Adept (30+ A Defending Champs) step up to take down Repeat Offenders (Elite Defending Champs) 47-40!  Adept MVP Lampros Tsontzos scored at will with game-high 20 points!  "We'll have to go to the drawing board to come up with a different D, for next time"  stated Repeat Offenders coach John Windt.

Flying through the D!

"This is not our game!"

"Hit the open man!"


First Win!

New to Legends, the Achievers shook off a week-opening double-header disaster to gain their first win!

"I will take you down!

"Stealing is against the law!"

Splitting the D!

For all the pics, see this link:

https://legends.smugmug.com/Legends-Basketball/Pre-Finals-Games

Monday, December 12, 2016

2016/17 Winter Season Kicks Off with a blast!



Week 1 Action with Fan Cam and Top Scorers!




See all the pictures of the 3 games (Winter 16/17 folder) at Thoreau MS here:




"I'm gonna take it to the hoop!"

"I got this!"


Who's the fan with the blue hair?



"2!"


Cool uniforms!

We have lift-off!
"I got it!"
 


Losing is a lonely place!





Sunday, December 4, 2016

Fall 2016 Season Wrap-up - Championship Games and League Top Scorers!


Elite/A Division


Repeat Offenders took down the Mighty Men in a thriller game that was closer than the final score suggests! Tim Stanos hit the early 3's to set the tone, and Jamal (League MVP) took it from there with 14 big points!



MVP Jamal!

Top 5 season scorers for the division:


30+ B


Adept over Squires!

The season was a bit of a roller-coaster, as competing leagues and priorities caused our numbers to vacillate between 5-12 people per game. All season, though, we were anchored by the outstanding play of Pan Wang and Lampros Tsontzos, both former college basketball players and current beasts. 
The finals mirrored the ups and down of the season in a way - we were down nine at half and couldn't seem to buy a bucket on offense.  But when we needed them, Pan and Lampros came up big and scored nearly all of our late second-half points together.  Kevin Wang and Daniel Cooper were outstanding all game, and Tim Chang came up with a big block to seal the game in the last few seconds.  
While there were ups and downs all season, we were fortunate to end on a high point this season.

MVP Albert!
 

Top 5 season scorers for the division:

 

30+ C

Baskethounds avenged last season’s Finals loss, defeating HAVOC by the slimmest of margins, 47-46! Raj powered in 17, and Kirill garnered the league MVP honors!
 

MVP Kirill!

Top 5 season scorers for the division:

 

40+ A

Renegades defeated a tough HD Chasers team, with a balanced attack from the top 3 Renegade scorers, Enga, Erickson, and Kelley!
 

MVP Enga!

Top 5 season scorers for the division:



40+ B



Freemen outscores Team Glauser, as Henderson and Baez carry the load, scoring 19 and 18 respectively!









MVP Chuck!

Top 5 season scorers for the division:
 

40+ C

Squirrely Flyers put together a strong second season in the league.  Backed by a rapid-fire offense and consistent defense, the eight returning Flyers ended up with an eerily similar road to the finals as they followed during their inaugural season.  Finishing with a 6-1 regular season, with the only loss coming during inter-divisional play, they secured the top seed and a first round bye.  
 The semi-final game proved once again to challenge Squirrely Flyers' resolve.  Facing a surging Dealers team, the Flyers found themselves trailing early and down by 15 at the half.  The second half brought little relief for the Flyers, as the Dealers held ground and led by 10 points with 2 minutes remaining.  Squirrely Flyers began intentionally fouling to extend the game.  Dealers hit most of their free throws, but the Flyers, anchored by five 3-pointers by Gene, started chipping away at the lead.  Trailing by one point with 0.6 seconds remaining, Rob was able to get a quick shot off from the corner ahead of the buzzer for the improbable comeback and a 1-point Squirrely Flyers win.
 During a rematch of the spring season finals, Squirrely Flyers and Bucket List once again faced off.  In a hard fought game by both teams, Squirrely Flyers led most of the way and closed out the season with a solid win.  Congratulations to Gene for his selection as MVP based on his consistent outside shooting threat and clutch scoring in the playoffs.  Squirrely Flyers look forward to the winter season and continued play against quality opponents.
 

MVP Eugene!

Top 5 season scorers for the division:
 

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Week 6 Key Matchups!

As the Fall Season rages, two key matchups are in store for Week 6! 

  • The undefeated Blue Chips in 40+ A face off with the powerhouse HD Chasers, who are 4-1.  Playoff seedings are at stake!
  • The 40+ C Squirrely Flyers, who are dominating the division, are playing the 40+ A/B Renegades who are 3-2.  Will the Flyers take them down, and make their case as a B team vs. C?  We will see!

Some pictures from the archives!







Friday, July 8, 2016

Spring Season 2016 - Finals Report!



Fan Cam!
Friends and family at the 2016 Legends Basketball Finals this spring.

Game Summaries


Elite Division

Ninja Win Spring Championship - their 6th!
Congratulations to Ninja on their Spring 2016 Tournament win in the Legends Elite Division. D'Angelo (far right) was voted Elite league MVP!
Waiting on team report by Ninja Management!

30+A Division

Colonial's Revenge Pull off the Upset - take Championship!
Congratulations to Colonial's Revenge on their Spring 2016 Tournament win in the Legends 30+A Division. Dave McNally (far right) was voted league MVP!
by Reid Sassman
We switched to the team name Colonial's Revenge this season after accomplishing our prior goal and team name from last season: the Quest for a .500 (won/loss record). This was our 3rd consecutive season in Legends, and as we've gained in experience playing together, we've improved our ball movement on offense and our defensive rotations each season.

During this spring season our improved play resulted in a 5-2 regular season record with our 2 losses being closely contested battles with #1 seed Expansionites and multiple-winning Woodchippers.

We picked up our game a notch in the playoffs, benefitting from a few opponent players absences more than we suffered from missing some of our own guys, and were indeed able to get Colonial's Revenge on the Expansionites and Woodchippers in our playoff rematches! 

Our squad looks forward to defending the title next season and will try our best to do what the Golden State Warriors could not by repeating.


30+B Division

Crocodiles win First Championship!
Congratulations to the Crocodiles on their Spring 2016 Tournament win in the Legends 30+B Division. Zach (far right) was voted league MVP!
What a season! Our team, the Crocodiles, has played in the Legends League in each of the last four years and we have been chasing a championship each year. This year half of our players returned and we added some new players who contributed strongly to our season. Over the years, we have faced injuries and a few players missing various games due to traveling. It is satisfying for us to persevere through those challenges this year.

We stared this season slowly with a record of 1-3. As the season progressed, we began to create spacing on offense, develop patterns for moving the ball, and build a sound defensive strategy. The championship game may have been the best game that we played all year. All of our players played to their strengths. Throughout the game we had good communication on defense and it helped everyone stay focused on their roles in our team defense.

Two of our shooters got hot and made key baskets in critical situations when the game seemed to be slipping away from us. Our MVP made timely defensive stops that kept our energy and momentum at a high level throughout the game.

We are excited to return next year and hopefully compete for another championship.

30+C Division

HAVOC Finish Perfect Season!
Congratulations to HAVOC on their Spring 2016 Tournament win in the Legends 30+C Division. Tony (far right) was voted league MVP!
by Tre Johnson
The Spring 2016 season for HAVOC brought  a returning team to Legends with some new faces. This mixture of both returning veterans and new players brought a perfect balance on the floor and had an immediate impact.

Everyone who watched this group play agreed about one thing: The team's chemistry was something to envy. HAVOC had one vision: Play as a team, improve in every game, and let our game do the talking. All members quickly adapted to their roles on the team and filled those roles perfectly. To that end, HAVOC pulled off the perfect 10-0 season and all teammates agreed, this was one of the most fun teams any of us had ever been a part of in our basketball careers.

The championship game brought us face to face with an old rival: Baskethounds. We knew we would need to bring our "A" game as these guys had been in championship games before and would be ready to play.

For this game, we called upon each other to play to our strengths and do our jobs. Whether it took a key block, steal, pass, or shot we seemed to have someone step up and deliver at those critical junctions. Big men dominated the glass and pushed the ball, while our guards ran the floor really well.

After we jumped out to an early double-digit lead, Baskethounds fought back and cut the lead to single digits. We prided ourselves on playing solid defense all season, and this game was no exception. We stepped up the intensity on defense; ran the floor and executed on offense; brought the lead back to double digits and never looked back.

A shout-out to our MVP Tony, who brought his entire repertoire to this game. He played stellar defense, ran the floor incredibly well, and attacked the basket at critical junctures to ensure our team the victory. 

We look forward to the Fall Season, moving up a Division, and bringing HAVOC back to the Legends League for another run!

40+A Division

Elders Clinch Again - Most Ever (12) in Legends!
Congratulations to the Elders on their Spring 2016 Tournament win in the Legends 40+A Division. Joe (far right) was voted league MVP!
by Kyle Rice
It was rivalry week as the Elders met their greatest foes the HD Chasers in the finals. As we've come to expect from these two teams it was a well played, closely contested game throughout. The Elders hit a few more shots at the end and came away with the victory.

MVP Moe Fay led all scorers with a 30-point game, supported on this night by Steve Dixon bombing from long and John Windt displaying nifty left handed moves.

Matt Anderson continued to add to his league-leading career assists totals to a streaking Bill Webb. Roger Waldron provided much needed muscle in the middle, while coach Kyle Rice focused on putting together a good halftime speech.

40+B Division

Hound Dogs Win Yet Another Championship (10)!
Congratulations to the Hound Dogs on their Spring 2016 Tournament win in the Legends 40+B Division. Dave (far right) was voted league MVP!
by John Boneta
The Hound Dogs hung in there against some pretty good (and younger) teams. What can I say? Everybody contributed to all the victories. Just a very tough and resilient bunch of guys. This was probably our most difficult postseason, especially since Len went down at the beginning of the last game. Very proud of Dave, Jeff, Len, Chris, Fred, and George.

40+C Division

Squirrely Flyers Win Championship in First Season!
Congratulations to the Squirrely Flyers on their Spring 2016 Tournament win in the Legends 40+C Division. Rob (far right) was voted league MVP!
by Sean McDonald
An amazing and unexpected inaugural season for Squirrely Flyers. The team of four Legends veterans and four new players came out on top behind balanced offense and timely defensive stops. They were able to win several close games early in the season while developing some team cohesion and learning to play together. Those early wins would prove crucial to the playoff seeding. After starting the season 4-0, the Squirrely Flyers struggled during inter-division play, losing two games in a row as the playoffs approached. A solid final game of the regular season secured the top seed and a first round bye with a 5-2 record.


The semi-final game tested the Squirrely Flyers' mettle. Facing a red-hot Wolftrapper's offense, emotionally fueled by the early loss of a key player to injury, they found themselves trailing by 9 at the half. Two quick scores in the second half had Squirrely Flyers down by 15. Utilizing a critical second-half time out with over 18 minutes left in the game, coach Sean adjusted the defensive strategy. The focus on defense by the entire team, and in particular Gene's quick hands, created a number of turnovers and fast break opportunities. Outside shooters Bill and Rob drained key 3-pointers. Mick completed the comeback when he sunk three free throws after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt. A couple of quick baskets at the end of regulation resulted in a final score that doesn't reflect how close the game ended.
During the finals, the Squirrely Flyers were determined to focus on defense from the opening tip. Their opponent, Bucket List, apparently had the same plan. The result was a low scoring first half for both sides, with just enough offense for Squirrely Flyers to lead by six at the half. The pace picked up in the second half, and Squirrely Flyers never relinquished the lead and closed out the season with a solid win. 

Congratulations to Rob for his selection as MVP based on consistent performance throughout the season and clutch scoring in the playoffs.

We enjoyed playing against great opponents and look forward to the fall season, with the full knowledge that we will get everyone's best game!

Check out the Season High Scorers!