Hustlers Get Hustled By OU Veterans

Reading, MA – Origins Unknown used the energy from their largest home crowd this session (two) to dismantle and destroy the shiny-jersey wearin’, Barry Bonds-esque Hustlers, last night at the Y.

Looking confident and juiced up, the Hustlers swaggered out of the huddle as the two teams met at center court. That swagger lasted right up until the ball went in the air as the OU offense was hitting on all cylinders from the moment Stretch Hogan won the tip. Controlling the tempo and knocking down EVERYTHING, OU built a commanding 10-0 lead on the dumbstruck Hustlers.

At the 14-minute mark, OU got a boost from the arrival of Lil’ Cap’n Max and Mom, Deanna. Play stopped for a moment when Mom started to walk the stroller across the court because she thought we “were doing that thingy” (shooting a free throw). The referees halted the game briefly to allow the young lad and his Mom to cross as there were smiles all around from the proud pops and his teammates. Eager to show off for the newest member of his family, Cap’n Mike went on a bit of an offensive rampage, with the help of his selfless and generous teammates.



Cap’n Mike was helped by the strong inside play of Stretch Hogan, and the excellent ball movement and defense by Pete Martin, Shu Patel, and Greg Robinson. Robinson and Hogan chipped in with a nice baseline up-and-under drives, and Cap’n Mike was able to take advantage of turnovers forced by Patel and Martin, to get fast break lay-ups.



With eight players present, the Hustlers used a hockey-shift type of substitution pattern, which seemed to hurt their offensive continuity. Almost as puzzling, the Hustlers never had their two or three best players on the court at the same time together. Of course, none of this mattered much, as OU used a varying barrage of three-pointers, fast-breaks, drives, and back-cuts to open up a can of Chuck Norris on the unprepared Hustlers. At the half, the five-man OU squad had built a 50-30 lead and Cap’n Mike had already (gulp) scored (gulp) 34 points.

Halftime gave OU a chance to catch their breath and introduce themselves to the new “MJ”, Max Joseph. Max was awake and content, gazing intently at Stretch’s red hair, Dad’s sweaty face, the lights, and the hoop.


After the quick break, OU went into arse-wuppin maintenance mode, keeping up decent intensity and still shooting a high field-goal percentage. In similar fashion to the first half, OU fast-breaked the Hustlers to death, while still knocking down the occasional three-ball. The lead ballooned to 30 at one point, but with the outcome already decided, OU cruised down the stretch. Much to the chagrin of his teammates, Cap’n Mike missed the 50 point-mark, but had a semi-respectable 47 in the win. Hogan contributed with another strong double-double, scoring 13 and snatching nearly every loose ball off the rim. He also punched one kid’s attempted lay-up out of bounds, nearly denting the wall under the hoop.

The victory gives OU a regular season record of 5-4, with an upcoming bye before the first week of the playoffs. Most likely, OU will be a three or four seed, and will have a first round game to prepare for in two weeks.

Post game fun was had by all at Chili’s, where Max was able to get his first glimpse at the life of a professional middle-aged men’s league basketball team…