Warriors Knocked Off By OU

Reading, MA - Origins Unknown and The Warriors, led by a fiery point guard who plays like a cross between Chauncey Billups and Chris Paul, played for what felt like the 23rd time in the league's history this week at the Burbank Coliseum.

The teams haven't changed much in the past several years. OU still has the core of James "Stretch" Hogan IV, Danger Dan Fisher, Shu-ter Patel and Cap'n Mike. The Warriors still have the feisty point gaurd, the mid-range specialist, the long-range lefty, and at least one of the big guys from the original team is still patrolling the paint.

As any faithful Bloggin' and Ballin' reader knows, OU has also added Brian Buzz Jones and Doubleteam Dan Rasanen to the mix, and the sum of the OU parts proved to be too much for the veteran Warriors bunch, as they fell 66-55.

Both teams are near the bottom of the standings this session, but each plays hard every game - as was the case this night. OU came out cold as ice - correction, Cap'n Mike came out as cold as ice - and their slow start allowed the Warriors to jump out to a quick lead. After Cap'n missed his 4th or 5th straight shot to start the game, he dragged his butt to the bench for a sub and hung (or is it 'hanged') his head in disgust. If you're following this session, you're aware that this has been a 'tough' shooting session for Cap'n - and this game was no different.

Of course, while the Cap'n struggles - everyone else picks up his slack. Patel played great defense on the perimeter and down low, while spreading the court offensively. Hogan was his usual two-way self shutting down their mid-range specialist. And, Fisher and Jones were all over the court with defensive and offensive pressure. Meanwhile, Rasanen was expertly trailing the transition offense and knocking down three-pointers where needed to build the lead.

After their early issues, OU played a strong second 10 minutes in the first half, and started to pull away a bit. The second half was similar to the first, and OU kept a 10 point cushion throughout most of the game. The Warriors kept it close, as their lefty gunner made several contested hands-in-yo-face three pointers, but it never got much closer than 6.

OU moves to a paltry 3-5 with the win, with two games remaining.