The 2011 NRF season is almost a wrap with only the championship game left to be decided. We’ve had an interesting season with loads of drama, upsets and exciting game play the whole year. Now we’re down to just two teams. Air Force 1 and Huarache.

These two squads have taken very different paths to get there but are now set to fight for the NRF championship title at Madison Square Garden this Monday. On one side you have Huarache. They were supposed to be here the whole time. Since week one it was apparent that even though they got to the Garden last year, this was a whole new team. Playing with passion, intelligence and a seemingly endless supply of energy, Huarache convincingly handled every opponent they faced all year long. For their final game Huarache will be matched up against Air Force 1. AF1’s road to MSG has had a few more twists and turns in it than their Uptown opponents.  While the talent on AF1’s roster has always been apparent it wasn’t until the end of the season that they began to figure out how to get effective use out of it.  Coming into the playoffs as a two seed AF1 knocked Dunk out of contention in the first round with an absurd shooting display by Brandon Smith and the next week the Purps usurped the defending champs in a thorough fashion. Now they face their toughest task yet as underdogs against the all-mighty Huarache.

By now everyone knows what Huarache does and how they get points yet still no one has been able to stop them. With their all star backcourt leading the charge Huarache plays with a high level of intensity that has been impossible for opponents to keep up with. With the frequent subbing being manned by Eric “Aron Philips, I Am Your Father” Newman Huarache always makes sure they have some combination of Billy Dobson, Terrance Takyi, Fred Whit and Jamaal Lesane in to pester any ball handler thinking of bringing the ball across the half court. LeKeith Taylor and Roscoe Gibson have done a sensational job of cleaning up the boards all year long which has lead to easy transition buckets going the other way. The burden of containing that attack now falls on Air Force 1’s hands.

If their was any team that had a backcourt that actually had a chance of going toe to toe with Huarache it might be AF1. While Terrance and Billy might get most of the love for their work for Huarache Ryan Fisher and Bang Takenouchi have been more than effective in holding things down for AF1. The hypnotizing play from Bang has kept his team in contention. Whether it be a no-look between the legs pass to Jason Burke in the post or D’ing up Scott Williams in the semi-finals Bang has gladly risen to every challenge. He’s had help from rookie all-star Ryan Fisher who has brought his sharp shooting and sharper passes into the already deadly combination of Burke and Smith. Jason Burke who is having another MVP caliber year has anchored his team all season with dominating performance week after week. He has been a huge weapon on the court and is now taking the charge in the huddle as he leads his team to the Garden.

The true deciding factor for this game will be the Garden itself and which team is truly ready to play in it. Running back and forth for 40 minutes can be tiring just in the normal NRF gym, doing the same on a regulation NBA court is a  other monster. Besides the cardiovascular adjustment there is also the mental component that comes with playing on such a big stage. Sure the place will be largely unoccupied but it’s still THE GARDEN! There’s a lot of pressure playing in the world’s most famous arena. Usually teams come out a little rusty while they adjust to shooting at a backboard with 5,000 empty seats behind it. The large scale of the court also changes the strategy. Can Huarache effectively pressure the ball on such a larger court?  Can Jason Burke be a presence on D if he has to exert so much energy running to establish position in the post? Will the pressure of staying undefeated finally crack Huarache? Is an NBA 3point line too close for Brandon Smith? All valid questions but the real one is who wants it more? We’ll have to wait until Monday to find out.