On Cloud 9(again)
Posted by TTHS on December 3rd, 2006
Wow. That was easily the best Tribe game I’ve ever seen. Here is a quick recap of the last few minutes.
5:00-Cornell hits a 3 to take a 13 point lead.
And then it began.
4:45-Laimis hits a 2, down by 11.
3:44-Trum hits 2 foul shots, down by 9.
3:28-AP steals the inbound pass, makes a layup. Down by 7.
2:54-AP gets another steal.
2:45-Laimis gets fouled, hits both free throws. Down by 5.
2:04-Mann misses a 3. AP gets the board and fouled. Hit both. Down by 3.
1:15-Laimis hits a duece, down by 1. Yes, they still haven’t scored.
:44-Trum fouls, Jason battle hits both shots. Down by 3.
:28-Trum fouls again, one missed one good. Down by 4.
:23-Mann hits a 3 with 2 hands in his face. Huge shot. Down by 1.
:14-AP steals the inbounds. AGAIN. Fouled. Makes one shot. Tie game.
:2-Mann takes a charge. Shot not good. Time to go to OT.
4:40-Mann hits a shot, up by 2.
3:35-Cornell answers. Tie game.
3:12-Peter Stein gets a lay-up. Up by 2.
2:55-Cornell answers again, and we are tied up.
1:42-Laimis gets another bucket, giving us a 2 point lead.
1:24-Cornell misses, Pete Stein tips it out of bounds.
1:23-Offensive foul. Tribe ball.
:15-After several misses, AP gets fouled. He stays cool and hits them both. Up by 4.
:9-Jason Battle lay-up. 2 points lead.
:6-AP fouled, hits one of 2. Up by 3.
:1-Missed shot, Laimis fouled, hits both, and that’s all she wrote.
What a comeback. When we were down 13 I thought we were finished, but the guys hung in there and we pulled out a huge W without our point guard. I’ll admit I was the first one on the court after the game, and it was great to have the whole team come over. I got to talk to Trum after the game, and he told me games like this build confidence, and this could be the turning point of the season.
The Hall was PUMPED tonight. The Kaplan Krazies always jump, but tonight we were joined by the entire student section, and it was the best atmosphere in a long time. The Hall will be rocking against Towson.
Speaking of Towson, David Schneider told me he would play. That could be huge for us.
Wow, I’m still shocked. What a great game!
RIP EM UP TEAR EM UP GIVE EM HELL TRIBE!!!!!!!!!
December 5th, 2006 at 3:18 am
You are right.
It was a fabulous championship game. Congratulations to all the coaches and every single member of the team. This was a full team effort, a gutty win, and a real opportunity to permanantly move to a new level of effort and performance. Adam Payton’s MVP award was well deserved. His steals, heart, and effort were incredible.
It took genuine courage and leadership of the juniors and seniors to make the win happen. This tournament may be the awakening at last of the juniors and seniors in general and in particular the awakening of Laimis. Laimis has raised his average from 14 to 20. Now he needs to take the next step and go to 25ppg. He can do it. He is shooting better than 50%. When you have someone like that there is only one thing to say, “shoot more!” Trum — who is playing very well — has played in high school with one genuine superstar; maybe he is playing with another one now.
Coach Shaver’s experiment with platooning seems to be working. With David back soon, Shaver could have two units with 6 members each. Great opportunity for some friendly competion between the two units. Each unit should compete to see how much they can extend the lead when they come in.
Payton and Mann were modestly successful from the field shooting a combined 10 for 29. Everyone has been looking for Nathan to hit some shots and he picked a good time to hit a big one from the right baseline. It was a thing of beauty. Congrats Nathan!
With the exception of Liamis, there are not a lot of consistently accurate shooters on the team. In fact some people say the best three point shooter on the team is the would-be walkon serving as the team manager. Supposedly this 6′2″ guard has NBA range. He is a real life Rudy figure who plays in practice but never gets to dress for games. On the other hand, when Adam Payton applies his max defense the other team simply can’t score, so who needs shooters!!
In the Championship game, the Tribe showed-off a new approach that will work in every game: on defense attack the ball, on offense attack the basket.
When in doubt, get the ball to Liamis. Liamis, you know what to do.
Go Tribe!!