New OU

Reading, MA - A new season is here, and with it comes a slightly new look from the old OU bunch. Gone for the moment is the middle-eating court presence of big man Dan Rasanen, and inserted into the line-up in his place is sniper Paul "Z" Zermani. So, while OU now goes to battle with no one over 6'3", we also have the team speed to make games uncomfortable for certain opponents, as we usher in a new Loyola Marymount 1990-style run-and-gun offense.

The team's guidelines are simple:

1. The first 5 minutes of the game don't matter. There is a good chance we'll be down early as the other team pounds the ball into the post, and we take off our warm-ups and loosen up the old bones.
2. We don't care if the opponents score.... well, we do care, but it won't deter us from the way we want to play. It doesn't matter if the ball goes in, because our goal is to collect the ball after a make or on a rebound, and push it back up the court in almost every situation. At the end of most games, we'll hit more threes, and get more fast breaks than our opponents - which should make up for any defensive lapses.
3. There are no bad open shots. If you have a look, and you're in range - you have the green light (Who's got two thumbs and the green light to shoot when they cross half court?? THIS GUY! And YOU TOO!) That being said, with a team that can shoot and slash and score like this, the extra pass will usually lead to an even MORE open shot for someone else.

In OU's first game back for the session - Z, Cap'n Mike, Shuter Patel, Danger Dan Fisher and Jonesy took on a new Ravens team, which was put together with a 6'5" big, very large man, a decent 6'4" wing player and 3 competent guards. OU was tested early as the Ravens jumped out to an early lead behind strong post-play and some cold OU shooting. But, in the blink of an eye - and about 12 threes later - OU was in control and the new run-and-gun strategy was on full display. Each OU member made it difficult for their Ravens counterpart to guard them effectively and OU ended up cruising to their first win of the year, 93-77.

Next week, OU will take on the Warriors in their second test of the session.