Indifferent Victory

Victories can come in many different forms, and inspire many different emotions. For example, you have the famous Duke vs. Kentucky game in 1992 when Christian Laettner hit “the shot”.

That was certainly a locker room full of joy afterwards. But, you might also have a victory like the one Origins Unknown experienced last night at the Burbank YMCA, when they defeated NuImage 66-52. A victory that feels like a loss. A victory that can only leave a team saying, “We can only get better, right?”

NuImage showed up with only four players, of which two can be seen on their company Website (www.nuimagedj.com). OU, meanwhile, had the full compliment of six players for the first time in a while. The first several minutes of the game seemed to foreshadow a blow out, as OU jumped out to a quick 14-4 lead.

But, just as quickly as the lead was built, NuImage came right back and took the lead halfway through the first half. Completely overmatched on paper, NI scrapped their way through sheer will, and too many open shots. OU was struggling mightily to find a flow, and much of the offense seemed to be stagnant, with too much one on one and not enough passing. No one on the OU team seemed to have their typical sure hands, or springy legs. Frustrated and unable to put any run together, OU limped into halftime losing by 3, in what was one of the ugliest halves in recent memory.

OU knew that they would eventually get their game together enough to win, but it took longer than expected. The teams played even for the first six minutes of the second half as OU continued to look dysfunctional. But, NI finally ran out of luck with twelve minutes left as one of their players fouled out of the game, leaving only three left to try to hang on to a two point lead. The three NI players left dropped into a zone, but were quickly overtaken by the OU crew offensively. Finally hitting open shots, in open space, OU immediately scored 15 points to take back the lead and cement it for good. With just under three minutes left, and the game clearly out of hand, NI waved the white flag and the final whistle blew.

Though the victory was at times ugly, OU knows that the best is yet to come – and will certainly be sharper when they face next week’s opponent Howse Corp.