PCTI 2, Game 5 Review

This is episode 5 of a 7 part series of PCTI 2 game reviews.

Team Eskildsen lives to fight another day, bounces Team BC 73-64.

Fresh off a disastrous and confidence-sapping Game 4 last-second loss, Team Eskildsen faced an elimination game on Saturday afternoon. From the outset, it appeared that Team BC already had plans to hunt barflys later that night as their energy and effort were lacking early in the first half. Team Eskildsen jumped on the opportunity, sensing weakness and lack of focus from BC's overconfident unit and jumped out to a blitzkrieg 29-12 advantage behind a series of coast-to-coast layups from Ben Wilson and a few triples by Chase Hardin. Down 17 points and on the verge of a blowout loss, Team BC called timeout to rally the troops and make an effort to close out the series. With renewed energy and commitment to the defensive end, Team BC scratched and clawed its way back to a 39-30 halftime deficit.

In the second half, Team BC continued to close the gap as it got the ball to BC for some nice open court opportunities and awkward post-ups. Using a 19-10 run in the middle of the second half helped Team BC close to within 59-56 and fueled their confidence that this might be the moment of championship destiny. But successive 3 balls by Hardin and Wilson slammed the door shut on Team BC's chances and they faded quietly into the late Saturday-setting sun. Team Eskildsen had earned itself a 73-64 victory and the right to compete on Sunday in Game 6. Although Team Eskildsen remained down in the series 3-2, it owned a renewed sense of optimism and confidence that it could come back from the brink and pull off the championship in 7 games.

This game will come to be known in the histories as the BC-BW Shootout. Before I proceed, let me say that in 1987, Dominique Wilkins and Larry Bird put on one of the greatest shootouts in NBA history as each player made improbable shot after improbable shot, refusing to let his team lose and putting all 4 teammates on their respective backs. Ultimately, Dominique and Larry went down to the wire with neither one blinking until the very end when 'Nique cooled off and Bird hit some late, clutch shots, sealing the win for his team. It went down as the greatest Shootout in modern NBA history. The BC-BW Shootout was nothing like that. But it was impressive that each player put up huge numbers for his team, standing in stark contrast to the relatively pedestrian outputs of his teammates. BC slapped up a 24-7 while Wilson matched him with a salty 21-11.

One thing that really stands out from this game is the fact that on Team BC, BC went 11-18 FGAs, while the rest of his team went 13-54. For those of you scoring at home, that's 24%. Even BC's incredibly broad shoulders were not able to overcome his team's deplorable FG%. On the other team, BW went 8-16 from the field with 3 triples, but was able to receive modest support from teammates Hardin (5-10 FGAs with 4 triples), Bruise (5-8 FGAs), and Sabin (3-6 FGAs with 1 triple). The only analysis from this game that matters is the fact that Team BC shot identical 12-36 FGAs each half, for a total of 24-72 FGAs, 33%. Yikes! Team Eskildsen was modestly better, shooting 28-70 FGAs for 40% but adding 11 triples to help its cause. Again, you could argue that Team BC had already planned its evening before Game 5 because it appears to have left its best effort in the locker room. Team Eskildsen did not play great, but simply did enough to win.

Outstanding players:
BC: 11-18 FGAs, 1 triple, 24 points, 7 boards in just 23 minutes of action. The model of efficiency.
BW: 8-16 FGAs, 3 triples, 2-7 FTAs (WTF?), 21 points, 11 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 0 turnovers, and lots of sexy headband.
Hardin: 14 points, 6 boards, 5 assists
Bruise: 10 points, 4 boards

Great Plays:
Ben makes a nice coast-to-coast effort and finishes an and-one on Donley. In a related story, Donley had 4 fouls in this game. All of them were used on Wilson. #foreshadowing

BC makes a nice putback in the air of a missed shot from Hite. Because it is so rarely seen in PCTI, the in-the-air putback seemed so athletic and awesome that it caused the gym to stop. These are the kinds of things that happen when 16 unathletic white guys play basketball.

JT goes coast-to-coast and finishes with a nifty lefty reverse layup. It was noted that this was the first left-hand make of his career.

Sabin grabs an offensive board and immediately finds BW for a layup. Pitto was heard from the sideline saying "I still hate that guy." Pitto was later told that Sabin was his teammate. It did not change the outcome.

Sights and Sounds:
Before the game, BC looks into the camera and says "I'm ready, so f*ucking ready". On a related note, nobody on Team Eskildsen was intimidated.

Sabin and Joe inexplicably engage in a dance-off before the game. Although neither was that great, Sabin was the clear winner as Joe seems to have a rhythm deficiency. At least he tried.

Pitto's mating call seems to be "No numbers!" to his teammates even when there are fast break opportunities. It was later determined that he only makes this call when he does not have the ball.

Hops laments his FG accuracy by stating "After 23 points in Game 2, my FG% is plummeting, and not even slowly." #humblebrag

DK misses a wide open 16 footer by 3 feet to the right and 3 feet short. Not sure what happened here, but he could've been blinded by his sun-bright shoes or his Justin-Bieber haircut.

JT gets called for a charge when he chicken wings Pitto, immediately turns to the ref and says "You've got to be f*cking kidding me!". In a related story, Joe's relationship with referees is inexplicably still poor.

DK and Chase engage in a post-game recap discussing their favorite air balls of the session. DK mentions that he has no leg strength while Chase mentions that he cannot punt the ball to the rim. Ironically, they are both right.

Observations:
Generally speaking, for a group of self-professed fundamental white players who can shoot, defend, and play hard, it certainly seems like there are a lot missed shots, poor defensive plays, and lukewarm physical effort. Our stereotype seems to be based on, well, nothing.

BC may look like Bambi on the ice once in a while, but I'll be damned if that guy doesn't produce. He averaged a double-double in PCTI I and added to his collection of huge PCTI games with this masterpiece. What will he follow up with in III?

Not sure who had the worse look between Danny's hair, Pitto's shoes, or Hops' yellowed wife beater from 1999. In a related story, the best look belonged to Donley and Bruise. UnderArmour and Mike-Tyson tough.

Parting comment:
After the game, BC walks over to Team Eskildsen and says "I really wanted to play tomorrow, so I'm glad you guys won. We get to play tomorrow and I padded my stats as well. Yet again proving my reputation in PCTI of when my team wins, I'm a 4 point, 5 board guy. When we lose, 21 and 10. I'm my mind, it couldn't have worked out better." No comment from his teammates if this style of leadership was effective or not.

Sabin