Rocky IV

I won't even attempt to match Goldy's latest post. From perfectly describing the tension between not wanting to offend your host and actually wanting to enjoy eating to his alter ego bursting out in all its glory, his last entry is...I can't resist...pure Gold.

Much like the battle Mateo described ( of which I am anxiously awaiting the video ), my last game could bore many similarities to a Rocky movie. We weren't the underdog, really, but there was enough punching and blood to make a watchable movie.

I don't think I've gotten a technical foul in my career, and I still haven't, but I did manage to get a warning. This probably wouldn't surprise my former roommates because they think I'm a little crazy, but I assure you I am not. I am typically very patient, but I must admit I don't have much tolerance for disrespect.

All I know, is that guy guarding me decided it was a good idea to try to sterilize me. After he realized his first attempt was unsuccessful, he tried again. The choice between children and the offensive rebound is a no-brainer, obviously, so I continued to maneuver past him. He didn't like that very much so he elbowed me in the neck and tripped me.

I got up barking at him to never, ever, do that again, but the officials stopped before I could finish the ultimatum.

Anyway the game was close the entire contest. In a crucial possession where I was not-at-all fouled ( just randomly started bleeding and lost the ball ) on an offensive rebound, there was a tussle for possession on the ground. Not only didn't the official call a jump ball, he watched as I took a left hook to the chin from the same guy who had hit me earlier. Did the official blow his whistle? Yes! But to call a travel on me. That was cool.

Anywho, to make a long story short, I hit a step back, banked, three (would you believe me if I said it was on purpose?) to twist a dagger in their chests late in the game.

Twasn't my best scoring output ( 14 ) but I rebounded well ( 12ish) and we clinched 2nd place and kept out championships hope alive.

Pop Quiz: What's my favorite letter?

...think about it...think about it.

While you cogitate on that, let me update you on this past weekend.

Numero Uno: Congratulations to the 'Herst boys on another successful season. Truth be told, only two teams that make the tournament can end on a win and only one of them is happy. I know the season didn't end as you would have hoped but you still have a lot of things of which to be proud. Special Congratulations to the '09's for being the third winningest class in the Amherst history. Even special-er congratulations to Brian Baskauskas for making the 1st-Team all 'CAC .

T.I. (Terras Irradient)

Zwei: We had a game on Saturday. We won by about 20. I was pretty bad. I think the highlight of my badness was missing a jumper that barely skimmed the backboard, getting the offensive rebound, passing it out, getting it back at the high post, hearing "SHOOOT" from my coach (who obviously thought I shot an airball), and pulling a 360 degree-in-the-air-jumpshot. The best part was that the shot just lipped out- story of the first half. The second half was better, I decided that since I wasn't really getting quality jumpshot looks against their zone, I would try dunk everything I could. That method worked decently. I got a few trips to the line out of it along with a pretty ugly posterization of a defender who tried to block my dunk. Ultimately, I was able to crawl into the double digit point plateau (11 points). I was a little embarrassed about my personal performance, but I was happy that we won (what's my favorite letter again?) and that some younger guys played the best they had played all year.

Three: We thought we would have a tougher game on Sunday, but that turned out to be false. We only scored 86 points, but we had 38 in the first quarter and just under 60 at the half. This team also played a zone, so I decided to stick with the strategy from the previous game. That worked out well. I only ended up with 15 points, but I played much less than usual and 6 of those points were dunks. Never have I ever had more than 2 dunks in a game until yesterday. The "best" part came in the fourth quarter when I got a steal and outran my opponents for a break-away finish. Can you guess what happened? Yes, I flubbed it straight off the back rim. Not that it matters or that anyone cares, but I was trying to figure out which dunk I wanted to do and paid for my indecision. When I told my dad, he responded, "You have to plan ahead for these kinds of things." I think he's right.

Immediately after the game, all of my teammates and the fans chanted for me to do pushups for missing an open dunk. I've never done them in front of a crowd before, that was an experience. C'est le vie.

The one thing I did well in both games was rebound. I think had 40 rebounds this weekend. That's another first.

Could you think of my favorite letter?

Tschuss, Adios, Ciao, Bye, Aloha, and Fair thee well.

... another update

Last week we grabbed another victory. We played Aschersleben; a team that beat us earlier in the year (yeah up 11 with 2:30 to go).

Neither team played great defense to begin the game and as a result I had 9 points by the end of the first frame. That would be the end of that, though. For the rest of the game I saw waves of double teams (even the occasional triple team) when ever I got the ball. Naturally, I was frustrated, but I don't think I've been more proud of my teammates this year.

Our starting point guard was out with the flu and a few other reserves were injured, so we went in a bit thinner than we usually do. I was worried that Nick and I would have to put up surreal numbers; but thankfully, that wasn't the case.

Our back up shooting guard, who averages around 6 points/game, had a season best 22 points. He was really efficient and took what was given to him. The starting shooting guard, who got moved to point guard because of injury, had 19, and Nick had 18. Our "utility" player had his season best of 10 points also. All around it was great stuff.

I finished with my second worst point output of the season with 9 points (14 rebounds); but I'll take that every time if we get the same result.

This coming weekend, we have a NESCAC-esque situation because we play back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday.

Speaking of which, Amherst plays Gwenydd-Mercy tonight in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Let's Go Jeffs! Terras Irradient!

Oh yeah. Current Amherst Senior, Ben Kaplan, is going to chronicle this year's quest for the Walnut and Bronze. Give it a gander!