KBA Champions League!!!

July 23, 2013 marked the oft-rumored and long-awaited inaugural KBA Champions League!  FC VH had qualified on the strength of last season's performance, but entered tournament play just 7-8 in the new KBA season.  Nevertheless, FC VH remained confident that the first month of the season would be salvaged with a strong showing. The rules were simple: 1) game to 14, 2) winner stays on, and 3) first team to 3 wins takes home the title!

The increased focus was evident early on, as BSR and Ricky F chose to forgo their customary weekly Taco 'n Burrito Review in lieu of an early shootaround.  As per the usual late-arriving KBA crowd, the festivities kicked off with some light 4-on-4, featuring NVE, BSR, Wah-Qaeda and Andytollah vs The Jedi-Master, Ricky F, It's Pat, and RG4.  The quorum was reached shortly thereafter when It's Matt and RG8 strolled in. Despite FC VH having 99 out of the available 100 Ping-Pong balls in the lottery, Ricky F casually scooped up It's Matt, leaving FC VH with 9 time defending Sports Illustrated Shietsman of the Year RG8.

It was a classically predictable move out of the Ricky F playbook - though not quite as obvious as "bulldoze left, fake with flailing right arm, go up and get stuffed".  As an aside, the KBA fans demand more comically ridiculous signature moves...how can we be expected to subsist merely on the occasional breakaway 10-foot fadeaway layup by The Jedi-Master or any shot attempt by Andytollah? One can only hope that Ricky F continues to "develop" his low post game.  But I digress.

As round-robin action got underway, undermanned FC VH was immediately installed as 200-1 underdogs by Vegas to win the title.  For every whirling dervish layup by Wah-Qaeda, there was Andytollah recoiling from the ball like a live grenade.  For every BSR dagger from downtown, there was RG8 fumbling away an uncontested pass.  But despite the onerous deadweight (pun intended? Yeah, we're looking at you Andytollah), FC VH somehow rode crisp ball movement and alert defensive rotations to a surprisingly easy victory in game 1, then held the court against EKE, Small Game James, RG3, RG6 and It's Matt.        

After the inevitable letdown in Game 3, NVE and BSR huddled up on the sideline to draw up some needlessly complicated plays that look great on paper, and only on paper.  Let's go to the TNT in-game microphone and take a look at their stratagem:

 

In the rematch against Team Ricky F, newly acquired Turbinator took the place of It's Matt.  Despite his 5 inch height disadvantage (7.5 inches sans turban), Turbinator called for the defensive assignment against BSR.  With the Hack-a-BSR in full effect and failing miserably, FC VH sprinted out to a 13-6 lead and seemed poised for another easy victory.

Then The Andytollah Show began.  First with this highlight:

Then this gem:

With the lead sliced to 13-12, NVE managed to remove his hands from around his neck to brick two straight jumpers.  Momentum had clearly switched jerseys; on the verge of a winless night, Ricky F dug deep and got into his defensive crouch:

With the game hanging in the balance, BSR eschewed the above constructed game plan, and called his own number from the Mamba playbook:

And with that glorious finish, FC VH capped off the 2nd most improbable run in KBA history (see: Coppin State) and hoisted the 1st ever KBA Champions League title!!!

The Comeback That Was

November 27th was a typical Wednesday in 1996: as typical as any day-before-Thanksgiving could be in the NBA.  The recipient of what was about to be the greatest gift in the NBA [in terms of comeback from the largest deficit] was a cast of part-time-Mormon characters led by Johnny Stockton, Jeff Hornacek, Karlicious Malone, and KBA-favorite Greg Ostertag.

After building a 36-point lead just before the halftime buzzer, the Bryant Stith-led Denver Nuggets and their new coach (Dick Motta; who had just replaced future Lakers coaching legend Bernie Bickerstaff after a mid-season firing) must have felt on top of the world, looking down on future Ajax FCVH coach, Jerry Sloan.

But, nay!  For what unfolded was the greatest comeback in NBA history: the Jazz erased a 36-point lead and won 107-103.

Fast forward to July 9th, 2013: a typical Tuesday at the KBA.  After some entertaining, yet grueling, games NVE and BSR were teamed up in a pivotal 5th match-up vs. Ricky F having split their first four games, 2-2.

After what was mostly a dominant 4-2 performance on the night, NVE and BSR's brigade had stumbled to a 2-2 draw against Ricky F.

This critical 5th game would decide more than just the outcome of a single game.

Ricky F's energized bunch jumped out to a commanding 18-10 lead.

Here is where the math comes in....

Say the typical NBA team scores 100 points per game.
Hence, in the KBA that night, the 21 point decision would equate to approximately 4.76 NBA points per KBA point.
Thus, an 18-10 lead would be pro-rated to an approximate 86 - 48 NBA lead.

The difference: 38 points.

That is what stood between NVE, BSR, Wah-Qaeda, Vujacician, Small Game James and the record books.

And with the sweet, swift strike of their proverbial big sticks, the underdogs turned the tide.  Defensive stop after defensive stop.  Rebound after rebound.  "No Threes!" cries after "No Threes!" cries carved out a spot in not only the KBA record books.... but July 9th, 2013 supplanted November 27th, 1996 as the night that witnessed the greatest comeback in NBA* history, capped by a 52-0 run, winning 100-86!

*Definition of "NBA" may vary depending on reader.