PCTI 2, Game 6 Review

This is episode 6 of a 7 part review of games played during PCTI 2:

Fresh off a Game 5 win and Saturday night celebratory dinner, Team Eskildsen came into Game 6 and Sunday morning with renewed confidence and enthusiasm. It was clear that Team Eskildsen had seized the chemistry momentum as Brian Eskildsen and his group were rallying together as Team BC continued to fracture within. This trend continued in Game 6 as Team Eskildsen jumped out to an early 6 point lead in the first few minutes after tip. Bruise owned the lane early on, Sabin and Pitto hit some shots from the perimeter, and Ben and Eskildsen were creating sufficient offense in the first half. Meanwhile, Team BC struggled to take the lid off the basket in the first half as it limped to just 28 points in the first half and an 8 point deficit.

However, the second half produced new momentum and energy for Team BC as it quickly closed the deficit behind the strength of a 17-8 run. Quickly seizing the lead, Team BC was able to generate offense behind Abe and JT. But with 8 minutes to go, Team Eskildsen got multiple stops in a row, and had 4 consecutive possessions of points, including 3s by Wes, Sabin, and Esk. That run essentially slammed the door on Team BC's comeback attempt and Team Esk cruised to an 11 point victory, 73-62, as well as a series-tying 3-3 tally.

Like most of the games in PCTI, this game is explained by the FG% numbers. Team Esk shot 29 of 65 for 45% including 9 3 balls. Team BC shot 25 of 72 for 35% with just 5 3 balls. Although team BC won the offensive rebounding battle and the turnover battle, their poor shooting percentage ultimately spelled doom for their team. Abe and JT showed well in the game, producing a combined 16 of 31 from the field, but the rest of team BC shot just 9 of 41. For those scoring at home, that is just above 20%. Team Esk got more balance from its ranks with 17 from Sabin, 12 from Pitto, 11 from Big Ben, and 9 from both Bruise and Esk. At the end of the day, team Esk simply played better in the last 10 minutes of the game and ultimately produced a victory because of it.

Top Players:
Abe: 20 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, 9-17 FGAs with 2 triples
Sabin: 17 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, 6-10 FGAs, 2 triples
JT: 16 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, 7-14 FGAs, 2-2 FTAs
Bruise: 9 points, 17 boards, 5 offensive, 4-9 FGAs

Sights and Sounds:
Donley sticks around the whole first half debating whether to play or begin his drive back to Canada. He is truly torn, but decides to leave, much to the appreciation of his wife and much to the future ridicule of PCTI players.

Bruise versus Smo on the jump ball: All I could think was Clash of the Titans as these 2 forces of nature went after it. Smo won the tip by a half-inch.

DK somehow confiscated Hite's roller for the purposes of massaging out muscle cramps. In a related story, Hite never did get his roller back. In another related story, it was weird watching Krow work over his hammies as he is believed not to have any leg muscles.

Let me just say that Bruise went straight monster in this game as he grabbed 17 boards. He not only grabbed the boards in his lane, but also had multiple boards where he went and got it in somebody else's lane. Truly a memorable rebounding performance.

DK has found Joe for a number of cutting layups in PCTI 2. They seem to have a chemistry on the court that exceeds their awkward chemistry as friends off the court.

Both Pitto and Ben make jackknife dipsy-do layups. Ben must have seen Pitto do it first and thought to himself "he thinks that jackknife was nice? Wait til he gets a load of me..."

BC banks in a FT. I'm sure we've all done it, but nothing says you're off like banking in a FT. And having it caught on film for time in memorial is simply priceless.

Pitto and Sabin show nice chemistry on a few drive and kick jumpers, each way. Probably foreshadowing for PCTI 8 when he and I are best buddies in PCTI.

Esk drives hard left and finishes with his left hand over Smo in an impressive drive. The only thing I can think of to describe it is that it is the exact opposite result of when Hops drives against Smo to the basket. Let's call it the anti-Hops.

Hops cuts off Abe on the baseline and lets out a "yeah boy!" as he got hyped. In a related story, Abe continued to move without the ball and got a tip in over Hops in the same possession. #prematurecelebration

BC, JT, and Hite have a conversation at halftime and they say the following: "we don't guard anybody. We don't help on defense either. And we don't fucking share the ball." Ironically, all 3 of them are spot on.

Also at halftime, Wes is reviewing the stats and says "Sabin, 11 and 6, nice half!". Ben interpreted the utterance as "Sabin, 11 assists, nice half!" and responds with "damn!". Wes then corrects him and says we didn't have 11 assists as an entire team. Classic confusing exchange.

Hite pulls of the dreaded double blocked shot on Sabin on consecutive possessions. A fine display of athleticism on each possession by Hite.

JT makes a really nice put back tip in of a teammate's missed 3 ball. It is rumored that this was the first offensive rebound of his career. So congratulations.

Esk makes a nice reverse layup in transition on a hit ahead pass from Pitto. Inexplicably, these two wanted to walk it up the rest of the half. #philosophy

Joe believes he gets fouled on a layup attempt, misses, yells "and one!" to no avail at the referee, then mutters "god dammit" a few times as he runs back down the floor. This strained relationship with referees continues to be an evolving storyline in PCTI.

Hops hits a 3 and makes the "eyeball" hand sign with Ben as they run back down the floor. This comedic chemistry continues to produce laughs that can only be explained by years of playing together without hitting many 3 balls.

Wes at the end of the game states: "Turn the camera to the other team. They are yelling at each other while we are encouraging each other. They thought it was over at 3-1. But there is no quit on this team, we have too much fight". Well said Wes.

Ben takes his shirt off at the conclusion of the game and Hops remarks that his full bearded chest was freshly waxed 8 hours ago. I gotta say, these 2 continue to produce straight comedy and are the leader in the clubhouse in terms of laughs from Sabin. Well done gents.

Conclusion:
Clearly the momentum, chemistry, and enthusiasm has swung from BC's team to Esk's team. BC's group is starting to fracture while Esk's is gelling and feeling confident. Game 6 was won more from the locker room than the court, which makes it puzzling to me how we didn't close out game 7. This game should be remembered for Bruise's monstrous effort on the boards as well as for the turning of the tide in terms of momentum between the teams.

Sabin