Incarnation Hoops Update - 4 January 2010

Welcome to the new year, everyone. The "aughts" are over and we're into the teens. For many of us, 2009 was a year to forget. Here's to a fresh start in 2010.

We had 18 players on hand for the weekly Incarnation run tonight, a run marked not so much by savvy cuts, sharp shooting and solid defense as by whining, aggressive play and uncharacteristic barking amongst friends. I could go on about the hows and whys, but suffice it to say that we're all culpable of acting like buffoons, and let's agree that it's now out of our system and we're moving on.

To the recap...

The best pass of the night may have been a lob pass on a break from Jesse Glover to newcomer Jim Kelly in the low, low post. Jim caught the pass and looked to pass it back out, but flipped in a reverse layup through a double team. Jesse had several passes like this during the session, with lookaways, fakes and misdirection baffling the defenders who aren't used to a true point guard's moves. Jesse also dropped some sweet outside shots when his defender overplayed the passing lanes. Big Jim joins us from PEAC where he dominates the paint with savvy post play, and tonight he showed us what he's got with a variety of clever drives in traffic. Kevin Drulis joined us after a few weeks away tending to his Notre Dame freshmen hoops team, and as usual had his way in the post despite clawing, biting, scratching and IEDs on every move. But he started the night with two 3-pointers over surprised defenders. Lawson McElroy contributed to the crowd in the paint with some aggressive moves to the left and the right, and also spent some time distributing the ball on the break.

There was a bevvy of ball handlers on hand tonight, making for some interesting switches on the perimeter. Rich McLaughlin didn't have a lot of room to get off his shot, but he was able to find his post players in the half-court sets. John Stracquatanio spent more time at the top of the key directing traffic and less time making his usual left-side drives, but his rainbow jumper was on display all night, particularly when trailing fast breaks led by lesser-skilled players looking for a bailout when encountering a triple team at the rim. Aaron Burnett handled the rock for his squad all night and came out of his shell to drop in numerous outside shots and make some clever passes into the paint for easy assists. He's got a sweet combination of outside shooting, finesse drives and an unselfish streak... when he comes to play. Today he was all in.

John DeVaney had several uncharacteristic misses from 3-point land, some wide open. His hook shots in the post were also off the mark, indicating that perhaps playing four days in a row has an impact on his legs! Pete Reynolds used his blazing speed to work the break and the passing lanes, so on both ends of the court he was a force to be reckoned with. Bill Riordan brought his own blasing speed, stealing something like 9 or 10 passes as idiotic opponents (ahem, primarily this reporter) failed to adjust to his speed and positioning time and again. Joe Yehl delivered his usual clever passes into the post as he unfailingly finds the cutter who just hit him on the wing. When guarded closely he used his pump fake and baseline drive to get to the rim.

Caitlin Grant continued her aggressive play, making several outside shots and some drives in traffic. She missed a wide-open layup in transition from the right side, but hopefully she shook it off and will remain aggressive, because with her shooting ability and court awareness she's an asset you can't ignore. Brian DeVaney joined us for about half the night and did his thang, putting in outside shots and drives when the spirit moved him. Rumor has it he pulled a 14-hour day today at work so we cut him a break when he doesn't dominate as he usually does. Mike Seipp put in quite a work day on the court, running the floor and using his strong, strong moves in the paint to get his shots off. He had a few misses from close in which drove him crazy -- reminiscing of the days when he was unstoppable on the drive -- but he compensates with a deadly midrange jumper when he shoots rather than dishes.

Lou Perrochino had his usual touches tonight, though the crowded lane posed some challenges for his dribble drives into the post. A few of his hard bank shots caromed off in the wrong direction as he was pushed out of his comfort zone. Hank Van Slooten also had some trouble getting his shots off in the early going, but as the night wore on he got some touches and scored with the hook shot and short-range jumper. Chris Zelechowski joined us again after an excellent outing at the recent HAngover Run, and as he gets his sea legs back he had some nice passes and some nice cuts, on one occasion he was robbed as his shot spun out.

As for this reporter, I came in feeling good but left disgruntled. I don't mind physical play but unequal calls at different ends of the court left a bad taste. I had my share of being abused by smarter, faster players, and while I had a handful of open jumpers and finishes and assist on the fast breaks, I had more turnovers on both the breaks and in the half court sets to more than override my offensive contribution. After playing 3 of the past 4 days, I'm looking forward to a rest as I'll be traveling for the next couple weeks and won't get many chances to play. But stay tuned for a recap of my upcoming London run where we play on our court where the walls along the baseline are in play, like wallyball with a basket!

I'll be away next week, but we're on at 7 PM as usual. If you haven't given your Spring donation of $20, please bring it next week and deliver to John D.