first half of the season ends tuesday
The first half of the 2021-22 regular season will come to a conclusion on Tuesday night before the Gr3g League takes nearly a month off for the holidays.
7pm game: Championship rematch, part 2
CREW LOOKS TO STAY UNDEFEATED
The Creston Rock Crew will be looking to stay undefeated as they take the home end of the floor playing host to the Red Hawks of Force in the opening game (7pm). Both teams have a different look since the season opener where the Crew defeated the Hawks, 47-38.
Newcomers Ricky Bobby (left) and Proto have led the way for the Crew, according to the MVP Race, but it’s been a collective effort across the board for the Purple. Boog and Jimmy G are playing some of their best basketball to date while the new additions of Gavin and Asian Spice (right) have increased tempo and opened up wide-open pockets to shoot from.
The Crew hasn’t felt the need to take their game outside the 3G line, as they’e attempted the least of any team.
For the Hawks, this season has been the perfect storm
Coming off last season’s Championship victory, the team found itself in disarray. Multiple players had secretly positioned themselves to leave the squad for other teams over the summer creating a whirlwind of drama which was at the time only known to league personnel.
During the offseason recruiting process, multiple players had again made it “very clear” they did not want to return to the Hawks. One was even bold enough to tell the league they’d, “found another league to play in and I’m taking some players with me.” (That player no longer plays in the Gr3g League and did not respond to inquiries for a comment.)
The league made the choice to fill the team with incoming players in a huge trade after Week 1 “once the Nines decided how to fill their roster” AND “none of the other Hawks being available or having reached out to the league yet“.
In that trade, the Hawks secured the services of a “team of 4 that will start their own expansion team next season in Orange & Black” consisting of The Juice, AG, ****Mike & Coach Drew to go with I’ll Will, (pictured below) Cake and newcomer Daniel Bk.
With Bandit‘s sudden return in Week 4, the Red now have a returning squad of four plus the Orange 4 and part-time available services of Big Baby.
A.G. has lead the way in the scoring department so far this season, only giving way to Bandit this past week against the Buzz. ****Mike is a dominant force on the boards both offensively and defensively. After an injury to his shooting hand, Coach Drew has taken a prominent role on the sidelines as the “voice of the Force” and, not surprisingly, The Juice just keeps finding himself in open space to fire three-pointers in long-sleeves.
This team has taken the most 3G’s this season, a deep contrast to their upcoming opponent.
7:40pm GAme: Summer league, Volume 2
City of Bridges, Seasons of change
Coming off a rough up-and-down season in 2020-21, the City of Bridges Basketball Club had to do a bit of soul-searching after losing half the squad to retirement.
Ell and Leland abruptly retired days after their Play-In Game loss last postseason, Money found his way to the Greyline and the potential returns D Nags and Shippy were an anxious trip across a rope bridge during the early weeks of this current season.
After a 23-point outing in Week 2, D Nags (far left) has been “lost in translation?”, maybe. Shippy has been out since Week 3.
In this near-complete turnover of the team, one player has been the linchpin holding it all together. Kid A (middle) is the City. He is the Bridges. He is their logo. Buy him a beer with that green star on it. (Hint: City B…) #BallDontLie
Adding a trio familiar with one another, the summer leaguers (left to right) Trav Waylaa, Cope Creatif and Jose XIX, has kept them just above the high water levels currently running through the league. Once Weston finally gets healthy, they’ll have a much-needed ball-handling guard with speed back in the lineup.
The Blues are 3-1 overall against their next opponent, the Ligers.
Ligers on the prowl for victories
If you know how this team was put together before the league started two years ago, you’ll understand the slow start to the season over the last 2 months. After how all (Gr3g Leaguers) played at the Ruckus, this was foreseeable.
Sam Awry, who created the Greater Grand Rapids Ligers,
has taken the season off to care for his family amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Key contributors Frain Wreck (coaching) and Dr. Weed (counseling) are currently focused on other projects. B Stacks has not returned.
That left returning stars $ilky, Moten, and B. Buckets with the task of mixing returner Scotty J into the flow and find a way to get newly acquired DJ SevenEightz (he should return in January) feeling comfortable.
Once the dust settled on the early season trade market, Perfecto was also wearing the dark green.
It will take some time to find a new rhythm, but it’ll play soon, even if it’s just a growl.
8:20pm Game: Last Call to Catch a Buzz?
Nines still on the Greyline, albeit a different route
Retired: Wasabi, Goolay, KP3, Hot Shot, Howard Beach, J Barnes, Red Leif
Out: MJ (knee), Boston (kids hoops), Gr3g (age)
Lost: Ricky Bobby (Crew)
In: Los
New: Money(City), Mr94Feet(Hawks)
Player availability tells the whole story.
This Greyline Nines team hasn’t had a full squad on the court yet this season. Let’s hope they can fill the bus soon.
it’s closing time at the lumberyard for the buzz
There’s no recollection of anything that happened prior to the Broad Leaf Buzz joining the league this year.
After dissolving the roster after Week 1 last season amid the pandemic, the team needed a brand new start.
During the late weeks of Summer League the league received an inquiry from Underdog (middle) about adding another squad to the calendar. The league gladly obliged, if they’d be willing to take on the yellow Buzz logo. They agreed and here we are, although they’re donning more of a mint color jersey than the original Golds imagined. LeBronner, Water, Dark Gold, Dunford and Point Break (not pictured, but think of Broadie) joined this season.
While the Buzz hasn’t pulled out a victory yet, they’ve been saddled with tough matchups, new rules and rookie mistakes.