The Octane Offseason

The Octane Infinity will be taking a season off from the Portland Basketball league. But this doesn’t mean that their shenanigans will be taking a break too…

The Crunch title is always on the line as well as the many adventures they will partake in during the break. Street ball in the deep South? High roller pickup game in Vegas? Charity game for the people of Tibet? H.O.R.S.E. with Greg Oden? One-on-one with Keira Knightley? You never know.

And then soon enough, the Octane Infinity will be back playing league ball to once again entertain your socks off.

Stay tuned.

Credits

Writer: Jonas Reyes
Photographer: Amy Reyes

Fantasy League Stat Report (Finals)

And your new NBA Fantasy Basketball Champion for 2008 is Rene’s HoopKings.

Rene defeated Edwin’s Ultimate Crunch Champs over 10 days of action and posted a 6-3 final. The score was closer than indicated, as Rene outpointed Edwin’s squad by only 12 points, had 7 more blocks, and had a .36 edge in FG%. The real story for the championship however, was Rene easily winning the rebounds, steals and assist categories. HoopKings had an impressive record of 19-5 in assists and 14-8-2 in steals during the regular season. But the UCC also made a strong stretch run in these categories, besting Game Day Blizzard by one steal to advance to the semi-final round. HoopKings capatalized in these two important categories, finding production from Monta Ellis (31 assists, 15 steals), Andre Miller (35 assists, 7 steals), and Hedo Turkoglu (33 assists, 5 steals) to capture the two categories that were really up for grabs. Edwin’s squad was short handed due to the loss of Caron Butler, Gerald Wallace and Kevin Martin, not to mention regular season studs Andrew Bogut and Pau Gasol. Rene picked up Edwin’s Bogut, and found a scintillating stat line: .535 FG%, 95 points, 61 rebounds, 8 steals and 8 blocked shots. Rene also managed to find other winning gems for this final championship: Ramon Sessions (27 assists, only 5 turnovers) and TJ Ford (49 points, 27 assists, only 5 turnovers). And when the smoke finally cleared, Rene is your new, undisputed NBA Fantasy Hoops Champ. After a 112-73-4 regular season record, gaining the 1st round bye, spanking Bad Boy Phenomenon in the semi-finals, and getting by Ultimate Crunch Champs in the final, he has nothing more to prove and now has bragging rights for being the best of the best. Well, until October anyways.

In the consolation game, Adam’s Jobbers lost a close contest to John’s Bad Boy Phenomenon. The score was actually tied 4-4, but due to John’s higher scoring category (1088 vs 1084, only FOUR points!), John wins a very very close 3rd place as he scored .493 FG% vs Adam’s .485 FG%, .802 FT% vs. Adam’s .785 FT%, and winning the turnovers 113 vs. 118. This was so close and such a toss up, credit goes to both general managers for pulling out all the stops, while adding and dropping players almost every day to gain a statistical edge (see John’s final roster to see how many players he had). In short, this was the best edge of your seat match-up as any, and both general managers get a round of applause for their efforts.

Finally, Mike’s War Flag captures 7th place over Weakly Man of War Flag by a final of 7-2. Hooray for Mike! Only Rene has won 7-2 over the Weakly Man of War, whereas everyone else has won 8-1. 5th place goes to Jonas’ Game Day Blizzard, and 6th goes to Scott’s Playing Under Protest (aka Monster), who lost both play off games by tie breaker and is looking to exact revenge for next season.

Great job everyone to a great and fun campaign! NBA action is FANTASTIC….but Fantasy Hoops is even better cause it’s REAL Basketball!!

Credits

Writer: Edwin Tanedo

Confessions of a 3-Point Junkie

I told Chris that 3’s were like crack, you just wanted one more.

I tried to focus on assists more. Luckily I found the streaking Jonas for two assists in a row. Later I got him another one that may or may not have counted depending on the statisticians. But then I shot a 3 and it didn’t go. I thought well I was just a little off, maybe another. What an addict. I still purposely tried to pass but my shot was off shooting a horrible 20% for the game.

The next game I still tried to focus on assists but my addiction got my elbow itching. My personal highlight of the second game was driving in, jumping to shoot while time almost froze. I saw David under the basket, seeing the future in a blink and I popped it to him under the basket where he took one step and turned to give me an assist and a memory. I have only had that stop motion, see everything moment a few times on the court and that was awesome.

My addiction fed me for a change and I shot 4-for-7 behind the line as if the basketball gods were rewarding me for trying to focus on more assists.

Credits

Writer: Mike R.
Photographer: Amy Reyes

SABAS 86, Octane Infinity 58

After a decisive victory in their first game of a double-header last Monday, April 14, 2008, at the Beaverton Hoop in Beaverton, OR, the Octane Infinity struggled defensively against SABAS, who also just played their first game of their double-header.

SABAS pounded their way inside and took a 12-point lead in the first half. Unfortunately, the Octane Infinity wasn’t able to contain SABAS’s attack in the second half as SABAS pulled away to victory 86-58.

“We gave up a season-high 86 points, but everything those guys threw up went in, and I still think we competed and gave our best efforts,” commented Edwin Tanedo.

Mike R. led the Octane Infinity with 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the 3-point range.

Adam Crane contributed 15 points, and Chris Turman added 10 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks.

Despite the loss, the Octane Infinity finished the season with their best record yet of 3-7. This season’s record shows great improvement from their previous season and is a sign that more good things are coming. But for now, the Octane Infinity will be taking next season off.

“We’re taking the next season off to re-energize, recoup, and rejuvenate,” said Tanedo, “so thanks everyone for a fun season, I always look forward to Mondays cause it’s Octane Infinity time.”

Boxscore

No.	Pos	Player	2PT	3PT	FT	REB	AST	TO	STL	BLK	PF	PTS
13	PG/SG	Adam Crane	5-11	1-1	2-3	5	0	0	1	0		15
21	PG/SG	Jonas Reyes	1-5	1-7	0-0	3	2	1	1	0		5
22	SF/PF	John Le	1-2	0-3	0-0	0	0	0	0	0		2
26	PG/SG	Edwin Tanedo	3-7	0-3	0-0	3	1	5	2	0		6
30	PF/C	Chris Turman	5-19	0-2	0-0	13	0	3	1	4		10
40	PF	Marcus Berger	0-2	0-0	0-0	3	0	0	0	0		0
44	SF	Scott Nelson	0-3	0-0	0-0	1	1	1	1	0		0
51	PF/C	David Camp	2-5	0-0	0-0	3	0	0	1	0		4
74	SG/SF	Mike R.	2-5	4-7	0-0	3	2	1	0	0		16
Totals			19-59	6-23	2-3	34	6	11	7	4		58

Credits

Statistician: Lisa Sander
Photographer: Amy Reyes
Writer: Jonas Reyes

Octane Infinity 57, Team Bradshaw 40

Defense. Defense. Defense. That’s what the Octane Infinity can attribute to holding Team Bradshaw to a single-digit score in the first half of the game last Monday, April 14, 2008 at The Beaverton Hoop in Beaverton, OR.

Team Bradshaw lacked a ball handler on their team and the Octane Infinity guards made them pay for it. The tenacious defense of Adam Crane and Edwin Tanedo wreaked so much havoc on Team Bradshaw’s offense that Team Bradshaw ended up either settling for a poor shot or committing a turnover.

Team Bradshaw adjusted their play to make a competitive second half but was never able to recover from their 17 point deficit. The Octane Infinity defeated Team Bradshaw 57-40.

Chris Turman led the Octane Infinity with 13 points, nine rebounds, five blocks, and three steals.

Jonas Reyes contributed 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting, and Adam Crane added 11 points and three steals.

“This was a really fun game to play, and it was great to see our defense come together in the first half,” expressed Reyes. “I hope we carry the momentum to the second game of our double-header.”

The win gives the Octane Infinity their third win of the season, their best season yet.

Boxscore

No.	Pos	Player	2PT	3PT	FT	REB	AST	TO	STL	BLK	PF	PTS
13	PG/SG	Adam Crane	5-8	0-1	1-2	6	0	3	3	0		11
21	PG/SG	Jonas Reyes	3-4	2-5	0-0	1	0	1	1	0		12
22	SF/PF	John Le	0-1	1-5	0-0	2	1	1	0	0		3
26	PG/SG	Edwin Tanedo	0-2	2-4	0-0	2	0	5	0	0		6
30	PF/C	Chris Turman	5-14	1-2	0-0	9	0	3	3	5		13
40	PF	Marcus Berger	0-2	0-0	0-0	2	1	1	0	0		0
44	SF	Scott Nelson	0-2	0-0	0-0	1	0	1	2	0		0
51	PF/C	David Camp	2-4	0-0	2-2	5	1	0	2	0		6
74	SG/SF	Mike R.	0-3	2-7	0-0	3	3	0	0	0		6
Totals			15-40	8-24	3-4	31	6	15	11	5		57

Credits

Statistician: Lisa Sander
Photographer: Amy Reyes
Writer: Jonas Reyes

Tanedo Repeats

This is not a repost. Edwin Tanedo is the Crunch champ. Again.

Tanedo must have felt really good after he sunk the final free throw to seal his victory last Saturday, April 12, 2008, at the Cedar Mill Ballys in Portland, OR. He is the first to win back-to-back titles and managed to win it in a decisive manner.

Despite the efforts of Rene Barzaga, Marcus Berger, Mike R., and Jonas Reyes, Tanedo battled his way to retain his title. He will hang on to the title for the next two weeks since there will be no Crunch games on Saturday, April 19, 2008.

Credits

Writer: Jonas Reyes
Photographer: Jonas Reyes

Doubleheader Monday

The Octane Infinity will have two opportunities on Monday, April 14, 2008, at the Beaverton Hoop in Beaverton, OR, to close out the season with an improved record compared to the previous seasons. The Octane Infinity will first play Team Bradshaw at 8:30pm, followed by a game against SABAS at 9:20pm.

Both Team Bradshaw and SABAS hold a season record of 1-4. SABAS will also be playing a doubleheader on Monday, with the Octane Infinity being their second game. Neither teams have ever faced the Octane Infinity.

Credits

Writer: Jonas Reyes

First Tech Credits 69, Octane Infinity 53

It’s a good thing the Octane Infinity consist of a team of nice guys. Otherwise, their game against the First Tech Credits would’ve ended in a brawl at Life Christian School in Hillsboro, OR, last Monday, April 7, 2008. The referees swallowed their whistles when it came to the First Tech Credits’ aggressive, physical play against the Octane Infinity. Yet, on the other end, the referees were quick to blow the whistle against the Octane Infinity, including the phantom foul called on Jonas Reyes in the first half.

The non-calls caused frustration in the normally patient Octane Infinity team, affecting their offense and their defense, and even resulting in a technical foul being called against their center David Camp during the final minute of the game. Compounded by a team field goal percentage of 29%, the Octane Infinity lost 69-53.

“There is a kind of honor in receiving a technical from refs so inconsistent and lousy,” remarked Adam Crane.

Jonas Reyes led the Octane Infinity in scoring with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting and snatched three steals.

“The effort was there as it always is, and we were only down by five at halftime. But something about tonight just left a bad taste in my mouth—I think this is the first time where I really felt like the refs did a poor job officiating,” stated Edwin Tanedo. “I give the other team credit for making those open threes and for getting to those rebounds, but still… do they have to push and go over the back multiple times with no whistle?”

Tanedo contributed 11 points and seven rebounds while Chris Turman had nine points, seven rebounds, and three blocks.

Tanedo added, “I was talking to Jonas after the game, and usually I’ll say something like ‘I would like to play that team again’ or ‘I wish we could have kept playing.’ But on this night, I didn’t want to have anything to do with them and hope we never play them again.”

Boxscore

No.	Pos	Player	2PT	3PT	FT	REB	AST	TO	STL	BLK	PF	PTS
13	PG/SG	Adam Crane	1-3	1-3	0-0	4	1	0	2	0		5
21	PG/SG	Jonas Reyes	2-2	5-11	0-2	4	0	3	3	0		19
22	SF/PF	John Le	0-1	1-6	0-2	3	1	1	0	0		3
26	PG/SG	Edwin Tanedo	2-5	2-11	1-1	7	2	5	1	0		11
30	PF/C	Chris Turman	3-10	1-7	0-0	7	0	2	0	3		9
44	SF	Scott Nelson	0-2	0-0	0-0	2	0	1	0	0		0
51	PF/C	David Camp	3-11	0-0	0-2	11	0	0	1	0		6
40	PF	Marcus Berger	DNP
Totals			11-34	10-38	1-7	38	4	12	7	3		53

Credits

Statistician: Lisa Sander
Photographer: Amy Reyes
Writer: Jonas Reyes

Fantasy League Stat Report (Semi-Finals)

Team of the Week: HoopKings, leaders of FIVE categories, destroying John’s BBP 7-2

FG%: HoopKings, .494
FT%: Boy Band Phenom, .804
3PT: Ultimate Crunch Champs, 72
Points: HoopKings, 896
Rebounds: HoopKings, 357
Assists: GameDay Drizzle, 230
Steals: Tie, HoopKings & Playin’ Under Protest, 59
Blocks: HoopKings, 46
Turnovers: Ultimate Crunch Champs, 86

And presenting your final two teams duking it out for the championship! Rene’s HoopKings and Edwin’s UltimateCrunchChampions!

HoopKings vs. Bad Boy Phenomenon. John has been on a tear of late, upsetting Scott’s Monster in the first round of the playoffs by winning the FG%, FT% and points scored. However, this week John was stymied by HoopKings, as Rene racked up an impressive 896 points and totally outrebounded everybody with 357. Rene is definitely peaking at the right time, and his FG%, points, rebounds and blocks seem to be his ironclad strengths for the final championship.

Adam and Edwin played the other half of the semi-final, and this one was close! Going into the last day, the score was 4-4 with only .003% separating the overall winner in FT%. With six players on Sunday, Edwin decided to play only his strongest three free throw players, and that made the difference, as Edwin squeaked out a .011 advantage on FT%. With less players, Edwin also made less turnovers and stole that category from Adam as well.

For the 5th and 6th place game, Scott’s Play’n under Protest was once again tied up, but lost the tie-breaker for points scored against Jonas’s Game Day Drizzle. Two weeks in a row to lose the tie-breaker! And just like that, one of the strongest teams in our fantasy league is relegated to a 6th place finish. Scott is already salivating and strategizing for next year, while Jonas wonders how things could have been had he had two more steals against Edwin last week.

So there you have it. Our final championship series will be over two weeks, with HoopKings taking on the UltimateCrunchChamps. Rene has been at the top of the league for most of the season, with only two true all-stars in his lineup. Edwin made a series of late season moves to part away with LeBron James and garner some 2nd tier players that have given him some momentum. On paper, the edge goes to Rene on the strength of five categories vs. four for Edwin. What will each General Manager do for Add/Drops and who will each play when there are 13 players available? Who will end up scoring more points? What individual player will blow up? Whoa boy, this is gonna be a slobber knocker and may the best GM and team win!!

Boxscore

Team	FG%	FT%	3PT	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	Score
Play’n under Protest (Scott)	.448	.787	53	699	344	206	59	44	92	4
Game Day Drizzle (Jonas)	.482	.791	53	822	243	230	52	22	97	4
HoopKings (Rene)	.494	.731	40	896	357	192	59	46	116	7
Boy Band Phenomenon (John)	.472	.804	29	841	289	155	48	31	105	2
UltimateCrunchChamps (Edwin)	.465	.786	72	835	215	158	57	21	86	6
Jobbers (Adam)	.488	.775	49	750	267	143	48	37	99	3

Credits

Writer: Edwin Tanedo

Tanedo Trumps Teammates

From 1980 through 1988, the NBA Champions were either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Boston Celtics, except for 1983, which was won by the Philadelphia 76ers. So far, the battle for the Crunch title is shaping up into a similar pattern. Every week, the Crunch Champ is either Edwin Tanedo or John Le, except for the one week that Mike R. won.

So this week, the title once again belongs to Tanedo. And it definitely was quite a battle. Tanedo had to beat out his Octane Infinity teammates: the defending champion John Le, Adam Crane, Jonas Reyes, David Camp, Scott Nelson, Chris Turman, and Mike R. And it was no walk in the park. The defense was fierce and often a double-team or more, and the rebounding was brutal with Turman and Camp outsizing the competition.

The first game belonged to Crane. His jumpers were falling and his free throws were flawless. The second game was won by Tanedo, who made a barrage of long bombs downtown and shot well from the free throw line. On the third game, Camp joined midway through the game and managed to pull off a victory, making mid-range jumpers and nailing his free throws. The fourth game really should’ve been Crane, but unfortunately, he was unable to close out the game as he missed the free throw when he had 20 points… twice. So Edwin Tanedo stole the game and secured the title once again.

Credits

Writer: Jonas Reyes
Photographer: Jonas Reyes