Uptempo 65, Terminator 53

Before the game, you could tell that the anticipation for this matchup was rising. After Terminator knocked off the defending champs just two weeks prior, there was still a lot to prove for both teams. On the sidelines, deep in the world of iPod, Treasure Kyn Neal was doing pushups. When Coach Tony Chan rolled into the gym, he immediately found me to make sure that I knew his team was “worried about the standings” and that they “get no respect.” When I told this to my colleague Gerald Narciso, he wasn’t impressed. “No respect? I’ve done everything short of kissing Omar [Grant]’s ass!” I agreed. It was time for the insecure Terminator squad to man up and play ball.

The matchup of Terminator and Uptempo meant that we were in for a treat: rookie Grant (a.k.a. Chris Paul) vs. veteran Mike Won (a.k.a. Steve Nash). But as we’ve seen in the past couple weeks, it was rookie Nick Blatchford making noise early and often, knocking down a three for the first bucket of the game. It was looking like he was still unconscious from last week.

As if he’d been playing NBA Live 10 or NBA 2K10 all week, Kyn Neal was in full video game mode in the early going. With his finger holding down the right trigger button, his turbo was on, while his left finger was messing with the joystick for the NBA signature finishers. With lots of silly mistakes for Uptempo early, it appeared that Terminator was just simply more prepared. Enter Scott Williams.

As the reigning Co-Rookie of the Year from last season, the league knows what they’re going to see from Williams every night. And if we kept the stat, I guarantee that Williams would lead the league in “tough” baskets – meaning leaners, floaters and any other way he manages to put the ball in the hoop. With 5:00 minutes remaining, he tied the game 17-17. [Ed. Note: Scott, while we know that you get hit on lots of plays, the more that you complain about every missed layup, the less likely you are to get those calls. Just a thought…]

But while Grant (a.k.a. The Blue Mamba) was pacing Terminator with a nice backdoor feed to Kyn Neal, his counterpart Won (who Steve Halo thinks would be great for the next season of Jersey Shore) came out gunnin’ tonight. I don’t know if he had a point to prove, or if he’s on PEDs, but he was amazing. By halftime, Uptempo went into the break with a 27-23 lead.

In the second half, when they were still very in this game, somebody forgot to guard Blatchford. Proving that 40 is the new 30, the rookie decided to go on his own 8-0 run, pushing the lead to 40-27, followed by a Williams bank three to pour some salt in the wound. With sloppy play coming from both sides, Kynl Neal (still in video game mode) was doing everything he could to keep Terminator in it.

During their furious comeback, Kyn Neal, Grant and Dan Gladstone paced their squad as they creeped back. But it was big man Al Reyes, who has been the unsung hero for weeks, that cut the lead to 54-51, making it a one possession game. But rather than trying to hold the ball, the man without regard for human life (Williams) hit a dagger trey, followed by a Terrence Chin steal for a Won layup. Game over.

Final score: Uptempo wins, 65-53.

	1	2		T
Uptempo	27	38	-	65
Terminator	23	30	-	53

Box Scores

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