LEGENDS

 

Ourso (49) – Valenti (29)

 

Team Ourso – President Ourso continues to struggle to get his players to show up. I think they are holding out for more NIL money. But those that do show up are ready to play.

We were able to get the win with good defense and rebounding for the second week in a row. We were led on the offensive end by Lane Pitre who scored from as far out as 5 feet behind the 3 point line and as close as 5 inches from the basket. Rookie Ryan Guzzardo had a good game on both the offense and defense ends of the court.

In closing, all I want for Christmas is for my team to have at least 5 players at all games in 2025.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of the BRAAS members and their families.

 

Valenti – It was not a good game for Team Valenti.  We had a lot of shoots go in & out and a lot is an understatement, we thought that it was the off center rim but we proved in the 2nd half that it was us and not the equipment.  Team Valenti keep it close in the 1st half only being down 7 pts at half.  Half time adjustments and the good rim we came out the 2nd half and fell apart as Lane could not miss and Team Valenti could not rebound when he did.  Team Ourso played well and Team Valenti did NOT.  We will enjoy the break and come back ready to make a run to at least make the playoffs.

Merry Christmas everyone and God Bless

 

Goscha (45) – Lambert (22)

 

Goscha – Calling all big men from Team Lambert. This game was about missing pieces for Lambert. Neither one of his big guys played and team Goscha used the game as an opportunity to work on our Man-to-Man defense from the second quarter on. We would typically play this Lambert in a 2-3 with our Bigs staying inside to match up with theirs. Team Goscha flew out to a 17-5 lead in the first quarter with the highlight being the overall play of LeDoux. BRAAS, if you haven’t had the opportunity to see Shane this season you’re missing out. He’s looking for the best shot, offensive rebounding, blocking shots and playing defense at an absolutely superb level. My favorite possession of the night from Team Goscha: Lato fed LeDoux the ball in the mid-post left side. LeDoux then fires it to Fruge on the wing who fires it to Boyce who has slipped into the space behind LeDoux that he created by going up to the high post. Layup Boyce adding to his team high (16) points. LeDoux, being a solid teammate, came early to run the clock, played the first half and then went to work (4) points. Lato and Fruge both added (3) points while Babin added (2) points. Goscha chipped in (9) but missed around 10 layups. Dean played multiple games on the night, added (8) points and controlled the pace of the game. Landry showcased his ability to pass and rebound. Clearly team Lambert had read about Babin-Landry and spent a great deal of energy holding the two of them down.

The scare of the night came when Mulkey hit the floor and required 8 staples to close up the gash. We are all very happy that he was cleared from the hospital and was able to drive home. Tough man and a great human to know and hang out with.

Walk-ons chatter:

Team Haf update: Joshua Robinson is the key to this team making a deep run. At 6’8 300 pounds this former guard needs to be fed. One of my favorite parts of the night was chatting with Josh and his two boys. Little Lane milked a $20 bill out of Uncle Joey and was heard saying on the arcade basketball game, I want to shoot more shots than the guy with the beard on daddy’s team (Haf). Haf, Varnado, and Ferrara please give up a few shots to the big man Josh. For crying out loud his kids were at game two and he didn’t get a single shot nor a single point. This breaks almost every BRAAS decency rule…..

Lane Pitre confirmed what I have been thinking for years. Sex is the key to a happy marriage and will be happy to provide lessons. It’s unfortunate that more open league guys are not there to soak up this wisdom. One last time, SEX is the key…..Let your wives read this and possibly you will get a little extra Christmas cheer.

Ryan Mockler is a hugger of the men who Drink Bud Heavy (Diesel). As a rookie this young man is making quiet the impression and comes to the after party each week and provides Diesel with a hug upon leaving. I have a vote for BRAAS rookie of the year that is the most pleasant to be around according to Diesel. Josh or Ryan could win the Diesel award….

Jimmy Sandridge is apparently a talker according to the players from Team Smith and the other three teams he’s played against. I will miss getting to hear the chatter in person as the Diesel will be in Las Vegas. However, I have given my team permission to take receipts on any comments to use as ammunition in the playoffs. Ryan and Talley this is an early Christmas present from the Diesel to the two of you. I will not be at the battle of the undefeated teams. Fruge will be team captain and is a highly trained Lawyer. Anything y’all say can and will be used against you in the playoffs.

The Babin Effect

Babin continues to add new excuses to his resume of not being able to have a beer with his buddies. In a very strange turn of events Babin told the team that he doesn’t go to Woodville to do Christmas lights regardless of the amount per strand. Confessing that he doesn’t like people North of St. Francisville. This is creating tension inside the team Goscha huddles as two of our teammates are now excluded. Hopefully, “This Little Light of Mine” doesn’t find a competitor next year called “Shitty Little Lights of Mine”. Jason Landry has become my favorite teammate and is the BRAAS Club subject matter expert with regards to Christmas lighting until Diesel gets a per strand price from Babin.

 

 

Lambert – Yikes! Braveheart award goes to Mulkey who sacrificed blood to compete for the team. In Q3 after going for a rebound he gashed his head on the ground after being knocked around! (Special thanks to Dominic for bringing Maddie to the doctor). After a concussion and 8 staples later, he was driving and back at the gym to recreate the events. Everyone did a great job helping Maddie out. Before those events, Team Goscha dominated Team 911! I arrived 5 minutes before game time and the score was my already 9-0 (the game started early). Goscha dominated the boards by rebounding his own multiple misses to pad his stats. We were just spectators to his dominance. Boyce, leading their team in scoring, was all over the place and Esposito ran the show to perfection. They did not even need Ledoux, so he left at halftime after a strong first quarter. For Team 911 we had moments of good play, but in the end missed way too many open shots. We will play better in the future and regroup after a much need break!

 

Smith (22) – Dornier (63)

 

Smith –  Another struggle week for team smith. The injury bug has bitten us early and often. The much needed break will help us tremendously. When the time comes, we will be primed and ready for a run. Merry Christmas and happy new year brothers!

 

Dornier –   Team Dornier had a full 8 show and Team Smith was missing key components to their team and only had 5 make it — this made things difficult for TS as TD had already planned to run the whole game with the estra subs — Things started off close as Team Smith had Patrick Thompson hit two 3-pointers from near mid court while TD pushed the ball inside to Jacob Talley who led all scores with 22 of his own — the first quarter ended with a 14-8 lead for TD — the second quarter TD pulled away with lost of fast breaks and great team scoring as everyone scored —  the double digit scorers were Jimmy Sandridege  11, Kevin Boyd  10,  — defensively we were very stout with great effort — TS ran out of gas in the 3rd quarter — had they had a full squad it would’ve been a much different game – Not having Roussel, Bueche or Parrot killed them

Looking forward to Christmas and the break to get ready for our Match up with Goscha and THE BABIN EFFECT team that looks unstoppable!

Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all, Stay safe!

 

 

Warde (23) – Tate (39)

 

 

Warde – [No write up from Captain Warde – Substitute write up from Commissioner Dornier]

–  With the last game of the night, Team Warde faced off ve Team Tate for was considered the PRIME TIME GAME OF THE WEEK — There was much trash talking from both sides, but the most controversial comments came from team Tate’s Hood saying ‘I don’t even play basketball and I could beat their team 1 on 5, then go to their houses and beat that a$$ too!”  So goes without saying the refs were alerted by this and called a close game to make sure it didn’t get out of hand. Team Warde started off the first half decently by keeping the score close, down only 19-12.  Then the second half started, and Because of Tate’s fiery speech and getting in Steve Davis’ grill, Steve Davis starting ripping 3s like he rips farts!  Once Davis gets hot he’s like a Mexican Can-can dancer with shit flying everywhere, but in this case he didn’t hit much, but former president Neal ‘THE GLIDE’ Fortenberry came out of nowhere scoring baskets like his life depended on it — The 14 point Fortenberry lead scoring attack along with 9 points from tate, 8 points for Tejas, and 5 from Macha helped keep TW from winning on this night — All in all the refs kept the players from getting too out of hand and ended up being the best game of the night!!!

 

Tate – It wasn’t pretty, but Team Tate secured a decisive 39-23 victory over Team Warde in Legends League Basketball action.  Defense was the name of the game as Team Tate’s effort on that end stymied Team Warde, holding them to single-digit scoring in every quarter.  No player from Team Warde reached double figures, a testament to Teams Tate’s relentless pressure and communication on the court.  On the offensive side, Team Tate showcased a balanced attack led by Neal with 14 points, Kevin with 9, and Tejas adding 8.  Macha also knocked down some open jumpers, and Hood was active on the boards all night.

Team Warde  struggled to find rhythm on the offensive side.  Crick & Guitrau led Team Warde in scoring with 6 points each.

Team Tate had an impressive showing at Walk-ons as well with 5 out of 7 attending.

 

OPEN

 

Coogan (46) – Sumner (57)

 

Coogan – The aurthor of this write up knew there could be trouble in this game as in the hours leading up to tip off it seemed that Captain Coogan was developing a soft spot for Danny.  Naturally instead of scheming an offensive gameplan knowing we would not have our point guard we were talking about which basketball team had the better volleyball team and the conversation ended with Coogan saying “Danny has a decent volleyball team too.”  What?  Is this the same Coogan that once evicerated Danny in his volleyball season ending manifesto a few years ago?  Seems like the days of seeing Danny “walk off the court like a beaten mule” are over – at least Sunday night they were.

I digress.

Team Coogan struggled to find an offensive rhythm and really struggled to get some shots to drop wen they needed them to and a close game ended up with a double digit win for Team Sumner.  Coogan and Faircloth played their @sses off battling Cal all afternoon but there was a stretch in the second half where Cal knocked some big shots down and we didn’t.  It was another decent defensive effort from Team Coogan especially with Alex playing Danny tough all game.

Hopefully the new game balls are adequately broken in by January 5th cause that was obviously the issue. Merry christmas and Happy New Year from Team Coogan.

 

Sumner – Team Sumner got a solid win over Team Coogan after moving the game up for Coogan’s convenience. We moved the ball well and got some great looks. Cal shot well early picking up my slack. I’m considering moving my drinking day up to Friday since playing hungover is a little rougher these days. 2-2 heading into the break…

 

 

W Arcement (42) – P Arcement (44)

 

 

W Arcement – The first annual team Arcement battle ended in thrilling fashion. It was a slow start for both teams offensively, but TPA held a steady lead throughout the first half. Their 2-3 zone anchored by Victor Wembe… Korey Salmon proved to be effective. It did not hurt that TWA missed every open 3 in the 1H. TWA battled back in the 2H, and eventually found themselves in a back n forth late in the 4th. TWA was down 2 with 4 seconds thanks to some free throw misses from TPA. TWA drew up a beautiful play to send it to OT. Unfortunately, the captain decided to miss the easiest layup of his life so the game ended in a 2 point loss. TPA’s defensive gameplan of leaving everyone wide open on their shot attempts proved to be a winning strategy.

 

P Arcement – Team PA got their hobbled captain back for the first time this season just in time to square off against little bro with family bragging rights on the line.Team PA was in control most of the game. Wemby Salmon patrolled the paint making it difficult for any of Team WA’s players to score in the lane. We held them to just 13 first half points leading 24-13 at the half. Team WA picked it up as they scored a few fast break layups and hit some outside shots making it close late. In an effort to increase the late game drama, team PA missed multiple FTs (4/10 on the game) that could have iced it – Clinging to a 2 point lead with only 4 seconds left. Captain Will broke free off the inbound pass into the paint where only his big brother was standing between him and what should have been an easy layup for OT. All those years of one on one in the driveway must’ve brought back some bad PTSD as the ball lipped out and off the front of the rim as time expired. Team PA holds on for the 2 point win. Instant classic that definitely will not be brought up numerous times at family Christmas next week.

 

 

Alexander (66) – Tuqan (64)

 

 

No recap from either!  Legends Commissioner Dornier to the rescue:

It was a ‘weird day’ for Captain Alexander as he sits there wondering how the Gumps didn’t get into the first ever 12 team play-off – wearing his wife beater shirt, he left the house kicking his dog first and printing some flyers saying ‘Fire Keln DeBoer and bring back Satan’ an obvious misspelling that most Bama alums commonly do!  On to the actual game where Team Haf started the first quarter shaky holding Haf to 0 points, but Team Haf with the likes of Varnado (7), Robinson (9). Ferrara (15), John Snow GOT (2) and MEnter (6) lead after the 2nd and 3rd quarters where Haf did most of his scoring damage (20 out of 25 points) – TA was lead in scoring by Allen with 22, Butcher (15), Eans (10) and CT (4) —- Alexander was seen talking to himself throughout the game and noone could understand what he has saying, but the ref said he heard something about ‘Greenbow Alabama’ whatever that means — in the 4th quarter something overtook Alexander — as he had been held to just 4 points thus far, he all of the sudden ripped out of his wife beater shirt (like a seen out of the 80’s Huld TV series) and starting saying Scott Smash!! — and smash he did as he scored 11 points in the 4th quarter — the only thing keeping team Haf close was the continuous missed FT’s down the stretch, but eventuallu the smash brothers (name given to them by Capt Alex) hit for a combined 8 3-pointers in the game — afterwards you could hear Haf talking about his dream of holding Alexander down and shaving his head bald — Haf was also quoted after saying “you can’t keep a good team down, I just don’t know if we are that team!”

then adding “PLAYOFFS?? I

 

 

Davenport (51) – Mahtook (44)

 

 

Davenport – Team Mahtook was heard after the game discussing if they had just played a Legends game. Team Davenport has the search and destroy mentality of the 89-90 Pistons, which left Team Mahtook scratching their heads and icing their bodies. Team Davenport created a force field around the paint and made Team Mahtook pay for trying to step foot in it. Albin did his best pleading to the refs about how unfair it was that they couldn’t get close to the goal for easy shots.  Bickham & Davenport had to provide the muscle since the enforcer (Big Mac) missed his first ever BRAAS basketball game….what was that about priorities, Big Mac? In addition to abandoning his team for the actual game, Big Mac also foisted the write up back on Captain Davenport (Rookie Harvey missed game as well, otherwise he would have been tasked with write up)

Pecue transformed himself into glue and shut down reigning MVP Albin. Blakeman channeled his inner Reggie Miller and hit a couple clutch 3 pointers to put the game out of reach for Team Mahtook. Mossholder stepped up and filled the GIANT hole that our “Round Mound of Rebound” typically fills.

“Rebounds are much easier without Caleb trying to rip my head off for the ball”  -Mossholder

Mahtook was able to shake off the rust from last week’s game and got hot in the second qtr, but in the end Team Davenport wore down Team Mahtook and was able to grind out the W.

 

Mahtook – Team Davenport remains undefeated in a very physical game against Team Mahtook. It was a defensive battle the entire way, with Team Davenport extending the lead late in the 4th quarter.

 

 

Wall (83) – Brantley (54)

 

 

Wall – This 30-point win was over before it started as Team Brantley replaced their missing captain with part-time Atlantan Jordan Faircloth, inspiring a revenge game (well, a revenge 1st quarter, before his legs gave out) from 5th-round draft pick Mike Sumner, AKA The Good Sumner. The Good Sumner put up 11 points in the first five minutes of the game, which was 11 points and five minutes more than he played in the semi-finals and finals for Faircloth last year. Faircloth, realizing the error of his ways, subbed himself out and spent the rest of the game reflecting on what might have been if his starters didn’t play 80 minutes each.

In a move of dubious legality, he was replaced by a different first round draft pick in Trey Albin, but the damage had already been done. The rest of the game belonged to Wall-2-Wall Employees of the Night, Josh Wall and rookie Chase Richard, who combined for 40 points over the final three quarters. Richard scored 20 of his game-leading 26 points in the paint while Team Brantley employed an interesting zone defense that somehow gave up wide open layups. In the end, Team Wall ended up with three 20+ point scorers, while Team Brantley left the court early to hold a Players Only meeting.

No word yet on how The Good Sumner outscoring The Good at Sports Sumner will impact Big Ted’s Favorite Child rankings, as they only get updated on Fridays.

Oh, there was also a five-minute cameo by a shirtless Deaton that might become my new sleep paralysis demon. I’m not ready to relive it right now but I’m pretty sure he was like a +7.

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

 

Aillet (63) – Hebert (53)

 

 

Aillet:  Christmas came early this year for Team Aillet (down all their bigs for the game), Team Hebert gave Josh Wilson the night off. TA got off to a hot start with a big lead but was still challenged by TH available size throughout the game. TH was able to take a 1 point lead late in the 3rd qt, but ultimately TA guards and team defense prevailed to pull away in the 4th. TA is looking forward to not having to go back to the legends gym in 2025.

 

Hebert – No write up.  This is becoming a thing!  Get Kokesh to do it!

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