Winter 2016 Tuesday Recreational Basketball @ DU

Welcome back to another Sports Monster basketball league! The winter league is by far the most competitive and robust league throughout the year. This season we have 14 men’s teams that will all be playing on Tuesday nights, 10 teams will make playoffs. Since we have 14 teams and limited amount of playing space, we will also be playing at the Hamilton courts in Gates Fieldhouse as well as the Denver Jewish Day School (2450 South Wabash Street). For the next two weeks, there will be two courts going at Denver University. If you are scheduled to play at Hamilton, you will have to take the elevator on the northern end of the building to the 2nd Floor. Exit the elevator and turn left. Take another left and you’ll see the propped open door. Make sure to check for double headers on the schedule!

In the first game of the new season, The Abusement Park took down the Tarantulas. The Tarantulas played a pretty good game, despite the fact that it was their first game together as free agents. The Abusement Park have been playing with Sports Monster for awhile now.

In the second game, Half Court Trap beat Coyote by five points. This was a tight game, but Coyote just couldn’t overcome.

Game three belonged to Hung Like Manute. HLM is back for another season. They are a perennial powerhouse that will be upset with anything besides a championship. Taylor P. led the way for HLM while getting player of the game honors. The Bank Shots couldn’t find a way to keep up with HLM, losing their first game of the season.

Agent 0 led Charles Oakley’s Flat Top to their opening day victory. Flat Tops are a formidable team that wants to get back into the championship. They haven’t been there since the Spring of 2015. They defeated Jackon 8-Lob City by 14 points.

In the final game of the night, Red Rocks Car Wash dominated the Most Interesting Men In the World. Brian P, the newcomer, was player of the game and helped his team to a 28 point victory. Their big win puts them on top of the standings.

Next week we’ll see four more teams debut.
Also, the Pioneer Bar is this league’s sponsor bar. Make sure to go there after the games to get Sports Monster specials!

We had six more games played yesterday. With the snow storm a couple of weeks ago, the playoffs have had to be altered. Only the top 9 teams will qualify for the playoffs. With both teams on the bubble, the Bank Shots and I’m Talking About Practice squared off in a competitive contest. Practice had the lead at halftime 22-20, but the Bank Shots came back in the second half. The Shots were able to take the lead and win the game by one point to improve to (3-2). Practice dropped to (2-2-1) and sits in 10th place.

The other big matchup was the undefeated Charles Oakley’s Flat Top against the (4-1) Red Rocks Car Wash. With four minutes left in the game, Car Wash found themselves down by eight points. But that’s when Kashner caught fire and drained a couple three pointers to bring them back. Kashner finished with 6 three-pointers and scored 21 points. Car Wash was able to hit their free throws down the stretch to win the game 50-47. They now have sole possession of first place. Flat Top drops to third.

Congratulations to the Red Rocks Car Wash for winning the regular season. They ended up having the same record as Hung Like Manute (6-1), but all tie breakers revert to point differential. Red Rocks Car Wash will play the winner of #8 Remix Ignition and #9 Lob City. Ironically, Remix Ignition and Lob City just played yesterday- Remix won by 14.

#2 Hung Like Manute will play #7 G-Dub again. These two teams just played last night as well! Manute won the game by 14.

#4 Denver’s Finest will take on #5 Bank Shots. These two teams have never played each other. So it should be a good contest.

#3 Charles Oakley’s Flat Top plays #6 Half Court Trap Game. This is the first time these two teams have played as well, so it we don’t know what to expect.
Good luck!

Can you believe it? A nine seed won the whole thing. Congratulations to the Jackson 8 – Lob City team for bringing home the hardware. They had to win two games last week, and then two games yesterday. They first took down the Bank Shots in a very well played game. Jason F. was player of the game, helping lead his team to the nine point victory.

In the other semifinal, Half Court Trap game won by two points in overtime against Hung Like Manute. Ryan H. was player of the game. Manute held the ball for the last 30 seconds for a do or die situation. Unfortunately, the shot was long which sent the game into overtime. In the last seconds of overtime, Manute drove to the rim to tie the game, but missed.

Playing with only six guys, Half Court Trap game was a little outnumbered. Jackson 8 played all eight players and rotated pretty well-keeping the legs fresh. Jackson went into halftime with a five point lead, but it was in the second half when they took off. Jackson 8 scored twelve unanswered points to build a 20 point lead. From then on out, it was only a matter of time.

Thanks for a great season. The Spring league is currently sold out. I will be working on extra gym space.