Shea Anderson took a lob pass from Ben Lev. He dribbled twice,
and with nothing but 10 feet between him and the rim, leapt into
the air. Anderson double-pumped and slammed the ball home with such
authority that the basket was still shaking a minute afterward.
The problem with the emphatic dunk ““ the problem that the
Altoids A-League Intermural basketball team faced all night ““
was that the ball would not stay home. The dunk, like so many other
Altoids shots, rimmed out.
“It is like a fast-food restaurant out there,” guard
Asion Jackson said. “In-N-Out.”
Jackson was extremely vocal throughout his team’s first
victory of the Spring IM Basketball season. The Wednesday night
match-up pitted the Altoids against the Warriors.
It was clear that the Altoids were the dominant team from the
tip-off, which was caught by Lev, who then dished an ally-oop layup
to Anderson for the first points of the game.
The defending champs were sloppy early on, but the Warriors
refused to take advantage of their opponents’ subpar play. As
many shots as the Altoids airballed, the Warriors missed more. Each
time the Altoids fought each other for a rebound, the Warriors were
not around to capitalize on the mistake. For every bad pass the
Altoids made resulting in a turnover, the Warriors handled the ball
like they were distributing flyers on Bruin Walk, begging for it to
be taken by an Altoid.
Things turned around for the Altoids midway through the first
half when Eric Flegal gave Aaron Moore a breather. Flegal drained
his first jumper and then proceeded to snatch two boards and a pair
of steals, sparking a 6-0 Altoid run in his first few minutes on
the floor.
Moore then took the important role of coach, pacing the sideline
with his team, adding vocal support.
“C’mon boys, we gotta eat those boards,” the
forward yelled. Moore’s new vantage point also helped him
with offensive strategy. “Slow it down,” he barked from
the sideline. “Slow the ball down.”
The Altoids, though leading by nine as the first half clock
ticked down, had not yet hit their stride. As the referee counted
off the remaining seconds, a Warrior sank a free throw. The
Altoids, far from satisfied with an eight point lead at the half,
rapidly in-bounded the ball to Lev.
“Three!” the referee counted as Lev began dribbling
down the court, pushing the ball far in front of him to utilize his
speed.
“Two!” she said as Lev launched a prayer from half
court.
“One!” she said as the ball banked off the
backboard.
“Zero!” the referee said as she put both hands in
the air, signaling that the three counted.
Lev’s highlight toss put the Altoids up by 11, leading the
gassing Warriors 28-17. That was not nearly enough for Yussuf
Haid.
“We should be killing these guys,” Haid said,
obviously dejected at halftime. “We are playing pretty bad so
far. We are not helping on defense, we are just sloppy.”
The second half was the same story. The Altoids continued to
play sloppy defense and the rims continued to torture the Altoid
shooters.
The Altoids’ uncharacteristically shoddy play drew notice
from players warming up for the next game.
“Where’s the D?” one player jeered after a
Warrior drained a three.
“We don’t need defense,” Haid joked.
“Yeah, we will just trade twos all day!” Moore
agreed.
“Well you just gave up a three,” the heckler
said.
“We will just have to trade those too,” Moore
replied.
Shots finally began falling for the Altoids late in the second
half, with Anderson sinking a three before slamming home a dunk
(that counted) in the final seconds of the game.
The Altoids evened their record to 1-1 with the 62-41 wallop of
the Warriors. Sixty-two points, however, was not enough to satisfy
Haid.
“We were just not shooting well tonight,” the
team’s captain said. “We should be scoring up in the
80s.”
The Altoids’ fame, which apparently extends beyond their
spectatorless games at Pauley Pavilion, scored the team a gig this
weekend.
“On Saturday, we are going to be participating in the UCLA
High School Conference,” Jackson said after the game.
“We are going to put on a demonstration for inner city kids.
It should be fun.”
Maybe the rims will be a little more charitable this
weekend.