Busy week…let’s get right down to the nitty gritty Round 4 action. Comments and feedback on the recaps and Kronum related subjects are welcome for discussion below. Say something, then get checked. 

Round 4/Game 1: Nimble Jacks vs. Work Horses 
Good things happen when you shoot 58 percent as a team from the field. Not so good things happen when your opponent doubles your total in saves AND assists. Such is the case between the Jacks and Horses. True to form, the Jacks started hot, stayed hot, and finished hot. Sounds like a regular Friday night for Yours Truly. Rather than play down to inferior opponents,  Scott Kennedy  used this match-up as routine maintenance to keep the machine oiled for the next race. The Jacks’ captain hit his first 8 point Crown Ring on the season and finished with 18 points.  Shaun “of the dead” Stevens came back to life with a season-high 18 points from the Ranger position. On the contrary, the leader-less Horses had a tough time putting the ball in the goal. Mike Small took charge and banged home 2 point throws from the Flex to finish with a team-high 16 points. Ray Hunter (12 points, 9 assists) played a solid game all around and distributed the ball as best he could against the Jacks pressure defense. Wedgeback Bob Zane (10 points) chipped in on the offensive end while brother Bill (9 saves) anchored the Horses in goal. The Player of the Game, and possibly of the week, was Jacks’ WB Sean Kennedy. Tell me nobody saw this coming in the off-season while he honed his game in the K-REC League. As if stuffing opposing shooters wasn’t enough, this guy feels the need to start scoring in bunches. Knock it off already. 20 points, 12 saves, and 4 assists later it appears the Rec league play paid off. Dustin Gebhard finished strong in net with 10 saves, Ben Hutchison dished out 5 assists (weird?) and rookie WB Pete Weiss, not to be outdone in net, turned away a game-high 17 shots. The team that was supposed to win in convincing fashion, did. Any questions? 


Round 4/Game 3: Night Owls vs. Throwbacks
Joe Ferrigno probably wants this game back. As good of a job he did putting together a defensive scheme to subdue the League’s highest-scoring team, the offensive plan was equally as bad and may have a case in court on the grounds of negligence. The Owls came in boating point totals of 135, 146, and 110 while the defense held its own each week against 3 high-power offenses. The T-Backs did everything needed in order to win as they guarded the big shooters closely, created turnovers, got in the passing lane, and made acrobatic saves in goal resulting in a season low 102 points for the Owls. The defensive effort, however, took  a toll on the T-Backs’ scorers. Runs at each quadrant appeared slow and telegraphed, passes were not crisp, and the ball just wasn’t finding the net. A 27% shooting rate resulted and the Owls capitalized. Wing Flappin’ Kyle McGrath led all scorers with 26 points to go along with 6 assists. WB Greg Ashton (16 points, 9 saves) broke out offensively and ripped 2-points throws throughout the game. Chris Von Tanhausen, or CVT, delivered a game-high 11 assists. The Night Owl defense, not to be overshadowed, was highlighted by stellar Wedgeback efforts from Derek Clouser (8 saves) and Matt Sola (9 saves, 10 points). The T-Backs’ Steve Botta stayed true to form with a 12 point, 11 save double-double. This guy is the new Tim Duncan. Ferrigno ran the middle trying to get the ball to anyone who could score and had 4 assists while Ryan Hoff made 8 saves in goal. Just a hunch, but the next game might be a tiny bit different. 

Round 4/Game 3: Jet Sets vs. Urban Legends 
 Ok, we get it. The Jet Sets like to dunk. They probably get together and have NBA Jam marathons while congratulating each other on being masters of the Crown Ring Slam. “Your dunk was awesome, bro”! “No, your dunk was awesome, brah”! “It was pretty awesome, wasn’t it breh”? I know, it starting to grind a little bit but it’s an attractive new aspect of the game, and it works. The Urban Legends were the latest team to experience Phi Slamma Jamma. Wedgebacks have so much focus on the Flex Zone throw, near-post specifically, that opposite Rangers are wheeling in un-checked, receive a nice bounce pass, and throw it down with authority. The main culprits of the self-proclaimed “Greatest Show on Turf”, ranger Nick DeLuca, wedgeback Jim Andorko, and wedgeback Vinny Greco, provide a three-way compliment to the strong arms of Kronum League leading scorer Jeff Regensberg and rookie crosser Steve Vandeberg. It’s an alternate offensive style being adopted by other team in the Kronum League as wedgebacks are getting better and defenses tighter. It worked again in this match-up.  DeLuca tallied the first 30 and 10 game of the 2011 season, with exactly that, 30 points and 10 assists. Andorko, KL Crown Ring points leader with 36 on the season, dunked his way to 24 points along with 9 saves. J-Regz (25 points) and Ant Barbera (10 points) rounded out the Sets’ offense on the afternoon while saves leader Greco stonewalled 17 Legends’ shots.  The Legends were paced by crosser Kevin Clark (26 points, 4 assists), Kevin Glover’s 17 point, 10 save double-double, and Brian Sperling’s 14 points from the Flex. Jordan Welles held down his quadrant with 13 saves to limit the high-powered Jets. The rest of the league is catching on Sets. The next time it won’t be easy. 

All the live action can be watched this Sunday starting at 1pm, only at kronum.com 
1pm: Work Horses (0-4) vs. Night Owls (3-1)
2:30 pm: Urban Legends (2-2) vs. Nimble Jacks (4-0)
4pm: Jet Sets (2-2) vs. Throwbacks (1-3)

Kronum League 2011. Live it. We do.

Join the Revolution at www.kronum.com

Peace and Kronum,

Phil Cavalcante
Night Owls #17