ABL Playoffs - 1st Round

It's the playoffs! Players run faster, jump higher and the pressure's always on. For players like me, it means I get to ride the bench even more which is somewhat expected. I could have arrived in the court with bunny slippers on and it wouldn't have made any difference. I know this was winning time and I know my role - I have no intentions of playing, I'll keep shooting video clips of the game and I make fun everything on my blog the next day.

With so many players confirmed to play (14), I know I'll only get a small window of playing time and I know I have to make it count. For someone with a big belly, my gas tank is awfully small but I think I can manage to go all out for 5 minutes.

To my surprise, I entered the game in the middle of the second quarter with us leading by 2 points. I didn't touch the basketball on offense the whole game but I managed to make myself useful. I set low post screens for Rex so he can drive freely to the basket. Low post screens are perfect for me. All you need to do is stand in the low post position and stay fat.

Also, I saw the advantage of having me set up screens. Since I'm short, the tall guys I screen out can't see me in their peripheral vision which means they need to constantly turn their heads to see where I go. Since I'm short and when I position my arms to do a screen, my elbow lines up perfectly with the yagbadoodles and they know if they knee me on my back, I can do a little Bruce Lee elbow strike. I also found out how annoying I can be when I set screens. It's like running on a field that's covered with cow dung. You can run fast but it messes up your form because you need to constantly look down or you else you step on one.

(Wait, did I just compare my basketball abilities to cow dung?)

On defense, I managed to tip away a drop pass that would have been an easy shot. That play was big for me since the one thing you can't count on me is be athletic and for me to jump and tip away a pass on my right side (note, I can't jump off my left leg) is surprising.

I was also all over the floor, literally. I hit the floor hard twice. One was on a loose ball skirmish where I got the ball and I had to throw an off balance pass that led to a fast break. On this play I realized that even when falling I'm so slow. By the time I hit the floor they were already past half court. The other time was when I tried to draw a charge and ended up splattered below the basket. No call. I don't think I'll ever get that call.

By this time, I was spent. I sprinted in all plays except for one. I poked away loose balls and rebounds. It feels good to know you played your heart out. I had myself yanked out after four minutes. I was lightheaded and I had nothing on the tank anymore.

The game was close for most of the way before they managed to build a four point lead and clung to it before we answered with a three and an open shot. They had a chance to win it with two free throws in the end but they missed both. They also missed the last shot at the buzzer which sealed our win and breaking our first round curse from last year.

By the way, during the game I went to the front desk to buy some Gatorade. While waiting for the cashier to ring me up, I overheard this kid with his mom near the badminton area who was observing our game:

Kid: "Bakit ang gagaling nila mag-basketball?"
Mom: "Game yan sa office nila. May mga mabilis tumakbo, may matatangkad, at may magaling mag shoot"
Kid: "E yung matabang yun, bakit siya naglalaro?" (while pointing at me)
Mom: "Ah, manager nila yan. Siya nagbibigay ng pera sa mga workers nya."

Hmmm, other than the "nagbibigay ng pera" part, that's almost spot on. :-/



and here's my statline... 1 steal?!?