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- HWULA
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Offline - Registered: 3/24/2020
- Posts: 169
Re: Good If It Goes: The Story of the OBA
1990 Semifinals
#1 Simeka Sleuths 96, #5 Irving Crows 75
If the first round wasn't enough for basketball fans to swoon over, the Sleuths' semifinal performance against the Crows certainly proved that Simeka could be consistently dominant. They took a 10-point lead to halftime and never looked back. Brody Rizzo slammed Irving for 48 points and 12 assists. Malachi Lewis looked great on the offensive end for the Crows (28 points, 10 assists) but clearly couldn't contain the league MVP. Sol Renfro played a solid second fiddle for the Sleuths, contributing 22 points and six rebounds of his own. For the second time in four seasons, the city of Simeka will send their team to the OCS Finals!!
#2 Soup 82, #3 Gin City Porkers 88
This game had everything - the drama, the almost-fights, the tension, the fireworks... it crushed the television ratings record for a non-OCS Finals game in the history of the league. Soup's Clarence Poole and Gin City's Ibrahim Mohammed got tangled up underneath the basket before being separated. In a different moment in the first half, Porker PG Otis Carter took offense to a hard foul by Soup's Horace Suggs, leading eventually to bench warnings being issued by officials to both teams. From there, the game was defined by physicality. Players on both sides were going to see bumps and bruises pop up the next day. The first half was tightly contested, with Soup leading by a point. At the half, Carter and Suggs exchanged words near halfcourt, with Carter ending the conversation with "Call me in 20 minutes." Prophetically, Otis Carter put the team on his back, scoring 23 of his 28 points in the second half, including 12 in the last five minutes. While Suggs and Poole kept up the pace, it was the Porkers' three-headed monster of Carter, Mohammed, and Byron No that dominated the end of the game. Carter could not miss and No played lockdown defense on Soup's role players. Mohammed excelled in a defensive role, racking up another double-double in the victory. Soup fans were once again left disappointed and in shock at the end of the game. Gin City's repeat hopes remain alive!
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#1 Simeka Sleuths vs. #3 Gin City Porkers
Legacies are on the line in this edition of the OCS Finals. The Sleuth Squad is looking to avenge their previous disappointments by bringing home their first championship. Clearly, this year's team has the best chance at ending the streak of postseason woes. They have been one of the most fun teams to watch in the league's history. Standing in their way is a Gin City team poised to take home its second consecutive championship. Both franchises feature a core of superstars and strong supporting casts. Will the Sleuths finally make it over the hump? Can Gin City keep the Sleuths in check and upset them on their way to their own historic rise?
Sleuths. Porkers. The 1990 OCS Finals is upon us!!!
- HWULA
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- Registered: 3/24/2020
- Posts: 169
Re: Good If It Goes: The Story of the OBA
1990 OCS Finals
#1 Simeka Sleuths 90, #3 Gin City Porkers 83
It took consecutive eight trips to the postseason; three #1 seedings; seven heartbreaks. Finally - Simeka emerges victorious in clinching their first OCS Finals!!!! This Simeka group had been together since the franchise's inaugural season in 1982 and after all the shortcomings... they came through and achieved what they set out to achieve all those years ago. Here's how they did it:
The Danny Trotter Complex of Simeka sold out tickets almost as soon as they were available. The energy in the building was contagious from the jump. However, Gin City wasn't going to go away quietly - in fact, they controlled a good chunk of the first half and Simeka had to keep it close. Byron No led the way for the Porkers by pouring in 18 points by halftime. Brody Rizzo paced the Sleuths patiently as he dished out five of his nine assists in the first half. With 4:00 to go, Gin City held an eight point lead before Simeka's Sol Renfro hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Rizzo scored an and-one to take the lead. After a few more possessions, some back-and-forths, the Porkers led at the buzzer 55-53. Both teams went into their respective locker rooms knowing they needed to lock down defensively.
Sol Renfro took to that task and succeeded - Byron No only scored four more points in the second half for the Porkers. With Renfro taking away the Porkers' hottest option thus far, Gin City's Otis Carter and Ibrahim Mohammend had to step up on the offensive end. Mohammed, more known for defense than scoring, started the half off decently but went cold towards the tail end. Carter put forth a valiant effort (29 points, six assists), but because most of his energy was expended trying to spark the offense, he struggled to keep up with the dazzling Rizzo. Simeka's MVP scored 32 points in total and tallied three steals and a block on the other end of the floor. While Gin City hung in there, they ultimately ran out of time to trade blows with the Sleuths. With 25 seconds to go, Carter launched a last-ditch 3-pointer that front-ironed and fell into the hands of Renfro, who passed it to Rizzo to dribble out the clock. Confetti launched from the roof with a bang and Rizzo collapsed to the floor in celebratory tears. The rest of the team piled onto him in excitement, basking in the moment of their first championship.
Afterwards, fans wanted to hear from Rizzo as he was awarded the OCS Finals MVP.
OTV: "Brody... of all the hundreds of players who have played in this league... you have just become the seventh to win both a regular season MVP and an OCS Finals MVP. You are also the fourth to win both in the same season. Tell me what's going through your mind."
Rizzo: "Ahh... can I guess who they are?"
OTV: (puzzled) "Uh... sure?"
Rizzo: "Dre [Oz], Brian Williams, and Hitts?"
OTV: "Yes."
Rizzo: "Man... only reason why I want to do that is... man... those guys... kids call them old geezers and dusty and all that... man... those guys carried the league through its inception and its ups and its downs and... those guys deserve all the credit in the world for... for our beautiful league and game being in the place it is today. I don't ever want those guys to not get their flowers for putting the game in the place it is today and some of them still working for the league. To uh... to be in mention with those guys... and the other guys too who came before us... I'm being honest... I feel like a kid amongst giants still, you know? But uh... I'm grateful."
OTV: "What do you say to those who thought you guys could never do it?"
Rizzo: "Me? I don't say anything to them. They said nothing of value to us or about us. But that's not their fault - they never knew... they never knew the resilience this group has. They never saw the hours we put into this thing. They don't see... they don't see dudes like Sol raising a family in-between training sessions. They don't see a guy like Alex [Zaragoza] caring for his moms and basically living in a nursing home with her. They don't see a guy like Esteban [Grover] calling us each individually to make sure we were good in the middle of our hardships. So I can't fault them because all they saw was the on-court stuff. But everyone here... everyone in this arena... every one of these greatest fans in the world..."
(The crowd roared)
Rizzo: "They knew. Through every one of those heartbreaks... they stuck with us. We saw it in the fan caravans we went on in the off-season throughout the city. They told their stories to us... we shared vulnerabilities. That's why this is bigger than just... a team who lost a lot when it mattered most finally putting it together. We put the city on our back because that's what the people who live in this city do. They go out... they go to work every day... they put on for their families... put on for the city... put on for the country... they go and do it for the bigger picture."
OTV: "Anything else you want to say, Brody?"
Rizzo: "SIMEKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE DID IIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!!!!!"
Congratulations to the Simeka Sleuths for winning their first OCS Finals!!!!
Last edited by HWULA (Today 7:27 pm)
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