Pre-Game:

Lining up for a 9:20 game at the Port against the Spanish West Adelaide Team (Juan Carlos, Juan Pablo, Cheeko and Julio all present), and looking to bounce back after last weeks drubbing to “the other” Griffin squad, the Grrrifs were prepping for a scrappy up-and-down affair. Well, everyone was but Wens, who was doing his best to have a nap at centre court. The previous time these two teams met, it was the infamous “that’s it, we’re leaving” game when the West coach threatened to forfeit the match to remove his players from the dangerous psychopaths that wore the black, white and blue. This was despite Iain being horse-collared on a fast break and Juan Pablo punting the ball into the Hillcrest roof causing dust and asbestos to shower the floor. Moreover, this was the match of “the dunk”, where Johnny T finally popped that cherry and threw one down on the fast break. Those were my memories. Back to future, MJ Fox style, the Grrrifs were down two men; Toby ‘Tasty Toobs’ Johnson was off fulfilling his requirements for the Mile High Club and Brian ‘Young B’ Ho was somewhere tearing along Grand Junction Road at 90 kmph. The Phantom was roaming the sidelines with his Coach Krzwzewski constipated face set to a tee, while on court Robbo and Jay were doing their best to maximise their hops by throwing down some nice one-handers during warm-ups. The afore-mentioned Jay Johnson (JJ), Wens, Mockford, Buckets and Kel hit the court while Robbo hit the pine. Game on!

 First Quarter:

Whether it was the cold, whether it was the short bench rotation, or whether it was the fear of getting stabbed in the car park before entering the stadium, but the Grrrifs started slow. Wens decided to employ the ‘I won’t box out if you don’t rebound’ strategy on his opposite number who clearly didn’t get that memo and put up six quick points on offensive boards. On the other end, the Grrrifs were embarrassing West on inbounds plays, running game like the Blue Devils and catching uncontested layups off back screens, slip screens and curls. Jay had his Altair game working smoothly, quietly and subtly going about his business assassinating West’s front line to the tune of 8 points in the first. If Jay’s game was all silk and smooth, Wens was on some UFC shit doing his best to hammer dudes in the post, spinning left and right, ducking the shoulder and doing his best Tractor Traylor impersonation. Chris Mockford (who desperately needs a nickname that isn’t ‘Mocky-wocky’, as Danielle suggested on the way home) had his Bob Lee Swagger game working tight, nailing a triple and pumping up the crowd. Scotty Buckets finally got a shot to go to close the quarter but West’s ran it back the other way under 3 seconds and hit a lucky floater, so the Grifs trailed 18-15 at the first break.

Second Quarter:

Brian pulled an offense straight from the Tom Frogley playbook and rocked up to the wrong stadium. Shmooving up to the Port at quarter time, ‘B’ immediately made his impression felt in the second, grabbing two easy steals, initiating transition and flying all over the court at warp speed. And while B’s form on court looked nice, his form on the bench was all-star to say the least. Let’s just say the secretaries at my work are all 60+ and built like Mack trucks, so it’s good if you can get it. Jay picked up right where he left off and scored on two straight possessions bringing his tally to 12 for the half. Coach Phil shifted the defence from a man to a wide 3-2 zone to shut down West’s pesky shooters and dribble penetration. Some of West’s heaves would’ve made C-Money and his rainbow shot blush: three-pointers released one-handed that damn near touched the ceiling. Manute Bol was obviously in charge of the Bearcat’s shooting drills. Offensively the Griffins were getting no love from the boys in black and grey; hacks, slaps and holds were going unnoticed and were clearly frustrating Jay and Wens, who were held scoreless for the second-half of the quarter. Robbo stepped up and hit a three from straightaway, Kel split pair from the line and Mockford adjusted the sight on his sniper scope and nailed another triple. The Grifs took the low scoring quarter 11-9 but trailed at the major break 27-26. Jay led the Grifs with 12 and Mockford had 6.

Third Quarter:

 Switching from a 3-2 to a 2-3 zone, the Grifs looked to wrest back momentum from the Bearcats. Wens hit a jumper, but West rallied and stretched the lead to 9. Robbo sparked the comeback, hitting two straight ‘float-like-a-butterfly-sting-like-a-bee’ jumpers where I swear he released the ball on the descent of his leap. JJ flexed the extender-claws and crashed the boards like Wolverine for a big follow bucket and the Grifs were back in striking distance. Mockford nailed his third triple for the game and narrowly missed his fourth on the buzzer. Westies took another low-scoring quarter 15-14 and the Grifs trailed 42-40 at the final change.

Fourth Quarter:

 The table had been set, entree had come and gone, the main course had been cleared and it was time for dessert and Kel was doling out big spoonfuls of buckets-pudding to any West player who wanted a serve. A pair of threes, pulls ups, step backs and finger rolls had the Griffins snatch the lead early in the Fourth and they didn’t look back. JJ got in the lane for a quick-fire four points, Mockford wheeled and dealed in the post for two more and the Grifs rocked the Bearcats to sleep, taking the quarter 17-5 and the match 57-47.

 FINAL SCORE:

 Adelaide Uni Griffins 2 def West Adelaide 57-47 (Jay 19, Kel 14, Chris Mockford 11, Robbo 7, Wens 4, Buckets 2, Brian 0)

Notes:

Good grind-it-out win, we stuck with them through three quarters, then strapped on the afterburners in the fourth. Massive game from Jay, providing consistent offence in brutal offensive conditions.

The Grifs went 5/9 at the Charity Stripe (56%)