Ball Fever Falls to Fast Don't Lie

Again, this is about my IM basketball team.  You probably won't be interested.

Ball Fever took the court Thursday for the second game of the season.  At first it appeared as if they may win by forfeit, but members of Fast Don’t Lie made their way onto the court about five minutes after the scheduled start time of 8:45.  Immediately the odds seemed stacked against Ball Fever.  Fast Don’t Lie looked to be a more athletic team, and was most definitely a bigger and taller team.

No matter, though.  Ball Fever proved they were not intimidated, jumping out to a 6-0 lead with field goals from Rorogomono, M.A. Clay, and Bernstein Bear.  They smothered Fast Don’t Lie on the defensive end with their patented 2-3 zone, holding them scoreless for over nine minutes to start the game.  Thanks to that defense, Ball Fever managed to lead 4-0 at one point despite being out-shot 9-3.

Though they missed their first 11 shots, and 14 of their first 15, Fast Don’t Lie would soon show itself to be a competent team, as they scored 9 consecutive points to lead 9-6.  Egri immediately responded with a basket—his only one of the game, despite 13 shots—and Rorogomono followed with a trey, his first of the season.

Among other events, JY Jelly added a three-pointer and Clay continued his perfect season at the free-throw line before halftime was reached.  Thanks to a slew of steals from Jelly, LexDak, and Egri, some gritty rebounding against a much more sizeable team, and just enough shooting, Ball Fever led 18-11.  The attendance tripled at that point when Buzz B and Au Brie showed up, joining Clay’s friend and Egri’s spurned lover, Danielle.

The favorable crowd on the road did not turn out to be a good omen.  Fast Don’t Lie opened the second half quickly, hitting a three immediately, with another two-point basket coming shortly thereafter.  From there, the teams traded punches until the score was knotted at 22.  All of a sudden, Fast Don’t Lie rattled off 7 quick points, pushing the game into dangerous territory with five minutes remaining.

The Ball Fever players became increasingly annoyed as fouls were not called and obvious double dribbles were ignored.  Jelly and Rorogomono were each visibly frustrated when they thought they were fouled on shot attempts but didn’t get the call.  Things escalated further when a Fast Don't Lie player was called for a foul wherein he stuck his knee and arm out to prevent Jelly from driving.  Twin #1 yelled at him for doing that continuously throughout the game, and he retorted, “Have you ever played basketball?!”

While that exchange had no clear winner, Fast Don’t Lie would get the last laugh in the game.  Jelly would hit another three and Egri would hit a free throw to put get Ball Fever within a possession at 31-28, but Fast Don't Lie banked in a back-breaking three-pointer in response.  After another 2 points in Fast Don't Lie's favor, Clay nailed a trifecta of his own on a perfect dish from Egri.  But it was too little too late, as the deficit was five with less than 20 seconds left.  Fast Don’t Lie went on to win 37-31.

In the end, rebounding wasn’t the problem, nor were turnovers, but simply an inability to put the ball in the basket.  While Ball Fever continued to languish, shooting a mere 21% for the game, Fast Don’t Lie shot exactly 50% in the second half.  It was just too many off-nights from various players, both from the field and at the line, for them to overcome against a much bigger team.

BOX SCORE