Fire & Ice: Speed Y4 1-1

[Oznogrd]

Speed Slow Down Pistons
St. Louis 93 - Detroit 81

Despite their best players missing 28 shots combined, the Speed managed to hold on to their lead to outlast the Pistons 93-81 tonight.

The secret according to the team? Defense and sharing the ball. With 5 steals, 7 blocks, and 30 assists as a team, the Speed had an answer for everything Detroit had tonight.

"Well we always play with tenacity and some nights it works out better than others. As evidenced by that play where Ricky got 2 blocks? We just wanted this more" said team scoring leader Carlos Boozer. "Also, when his shot was off and he fed me the ball and my shot was off, we spread the ball to Kevin, Surge, and Chris and kept Detroit from being able to focus on any one of us. It was the gameplan and it worked. Coach is happy with us I know that."

Rubio this week hasnt been scoring like he was earlier in the season but has had an NBA record, almost broken his own record the very next night, and had 20+ assists in his weakest game of the week. "I'm ecstatic as long as I can contribute to winning" said Rubio "Scoring was nice but as long it's a W at the end of the night I don't care if i do that by setting other guys up or sinking those 3 balls."

For his efforts this week, Rubio was named Player of the Week for the third time this year.

Player of the Game
Ricky Rubio
3 pts 3 reb 22 ast 1 stl 2 blk
Despite shooting like shit, Rubio had a crazy game defensively and kept his excellence of the week dishing it. Both blocks came on the same play, one which can be seen in the screenshot below.

Notable Speed Performances
Carlos Boozer 32 pts 7 reb 1 ast 2 blk
Kevin Love 18 pts 4 reb 2 blk
Stomile Swift 18 pts 3 reb 1 ast 1 stl 1 blk
Chris Mihm 10 pts 2 stl


Notable Pistons Performances
Charlie Villanueva 22 pts 7 reb 1 ast 4 blk
Luol Deng 19 pts 3 reb 1 ast 1 blk
Stephen Jackson 10 pts 3 reb 1 ast

Screenshots or It Didn't Happen Images of the Game

Rubio's fingertips are strong enough to tell Charlie V to get that weak shit out of here

Up Next: Can Rubio and the Speed keep up their hot play against the Kings on their purple turf?

[megarover]

Damn Rubio swatted Charlie..........When did he become a lock down defender

[Oznogrd]

Damn Rubio swatted Charlie..........When did he become a lock down defender

when the past couple years i worked on his D while i was getting burned by PGs. Updates of Kings and Nuggets coming

[Oznogrd]

Speed outlast Kings in OT Thriller
St. Louis 107 - Sacramento 102

The Speed came into Sacramento on a hot streak. Reports had come in all week of Kevin Martin, Andres Nocioni, and Tyreke Evans vowing that the Speed would fall in Sac Town

Martin's quote "We've beat them before, we can do it again."
Evans quote "Im as good as Rubio."
Nocioni "They're not tough enough to beat us."

Were the 3 right? Almost. The Speed and Kings traded buckets and leads the entire game, leading into the most exciting final minute in the St. Louis Speed's season. As time ticked away in the 4th and the score tied, the Kings had decided to double team Ricky Rubio due to his hot shooting from outside. This double team brought David Lee over from guarding Kevin Love. Calmly, Rubio bounced it to Love cutting to the basket. As Love slammed it down, a grunt of victory was heard throughout the arena. The Kings used their final timeout to bring the ball to half court and then quickly threw the ball into Kevin Martin. Despite pressure Martin with his unorthodox shot got the ball into the hoop as time expired leading to an overtime period. However the Kings couldn't stay with the Speed in the OT period, having used all their luck they only scored 11 points in the extra time while the Speed scored 16 and held on for the win.

Rubio had this to say "When Kevin made that shot, I felt like we were done. He's really hard to guard because his shot style doesnt really look traditional. But before the OT Coach Duke hyped us up, as did Carlos and Kevin. We managed to hold for the win. We were just better in the final minutes. No disrespect to the Kings though, I thought they had us."

Player of the Game
Ricky Rubio
26 Pts 2 reb 22 ast 1 stl
Rubio was a key part in holding off the Kings, shooting 5-8 from 3 pt land and leading the team throughout thorugh his passing

Notable Speed Performances
Carlos Boozer 38 pts 8 reb 4 ast 1 stl 2 blk
Kevin Love 22 pts 5 reb 1 ast 1 stl 1 blk
Chris Mihm 6 pts 7 reb 1 ast

Notable Kings Performances
Kevin Martin 31 pts 2 reb 5 ast 1 stl
Tyreke Evans 16 pts 12 ast 1 stl
Andres Nocioni 16 pts 4 reb 8 ast 1 stl
Jason Thompson 15 pts 5 reb 2 ast 8 blk
David Lee 10 pts 8 reb 3 ast 2 stl 2 blk

Screenshots or It Didn't Happen Images of the Game


Kevin Love dunks home what he thought was the game winning shot leaving 4 seconds on the clock. He should've waited longer.

Up Next: Can the Speed hold on to their hot streak against the Carmelo and the Nuggets who absolutely decimated the St. Louis team the last time they met?

[Oznogrd]

Speed keep streak alive against 'Melo and co.
St. Louis 97 - Denver 89

Trevor Ariza didn't want to talk about last year's game against the Nuggets. Why is that you may ask? Well, Carmelo Anthony put up 50 points. Most of which were in his eye.

"That was my worst game I've ever played defensively, I don't even like thinking about it" said Ariza

His teammates however gave him something to cheer about this season by beating the Nuggets rather easily and limiting Anthony to only 23 points.

"They weren't better than us last year, they just made every single shot they put up" said Coach Duke. "They just sunk absolutely everything they took. This year, it was our turn."

The Speed are now riding high on an 8 game winning streak and many media outlets are talking about the remarkable turnaround, or saying this is a fluke and they'll eventually fall back to mediocrity. Team captain Ricky Rubio responded.

"Look, we started out with only free agents and rookies. I've gotten loads better, we've picked up Booz and Kevin, Rashad and Trevor have been working hard. And our bench is deeper than its ever been. Are we not elite yet? Are you not entertained?" Rubio apparently had watched Gladiator for the first time the night before.


Player of the Game
Carlos Boozer
34 pts 8 reb 3 ast 1 stl
While not his best game Boozer was the leading scorer for the Speed and kept the shots falling when ever the Nuggets tried to mount a comeback

Notable Speed Performances
Kevin Love 28 pts 5 reb 1 blk
RIcky Rubio 14 pts 2 reb 18 ast 2 stl


Notable Nuggets Performances
Carmelo Anthony 23 pts 2 reb 1 ast
Nene 16 pts 6 reb 3 ast 5 blk
Chauncey Billups 13 pts 1 reb 8 ast 2 stl
Tony Allen 12 pts 3 reb 1 ast
Zach Randolph 10 pts 3 reb 4 ast 2 stl 2 blk

Screenshots or it Didnt happen Images of the Game

Kevin Love tries to keep this game from going to OT like the last one


Up Next: Lebron and Co. host the red hot Speed. Will the Cavs be their first loss and will the Speed continue to beat the top teams in the NBA?

[megarover]

A game against the Cavs looks good and the 26/22 game by Rubio. Those are mini-Nash numbers man

[Oznogrd]

A game against the Cavs looks good and the 26/22 game by Rubio. Those are mini-Nash numbers man

most of those came in the 4th too. Rubio hit about 4 3's...only reason i stayed in that game lol.

[Oznogrd]

Speed knock the King off his Throne
St. Louis 95 - Cleveland 85

Lebron sulked sullenly on the bench and then let out a yell as teammate Rajon Rondo was fouled, hard. As Rondo gripped his leg under the basket, thats when King James knew he and his Cavs might be in trouble tonight.

"Well, I already had two fouls and was on the bench...then Rajon went down. All in the first 5 minutes of the game. You never want to start a game like that. I tried to everything I could to watch my fouls and try to win it for Rajon, but it just didn't happen tonight" said James

Why didn't it happen? The St. Louis Speed team refused to give up. Despite being outscored by 7 in the 1st quarter, the Speed constantly attacked the Cavs in the paint, at the line, and in transition. Eventually, the onslaught was too much for the Cavs as they were outscored 26-12 in the 4th quarter.

"We didn't really intend to hurt Rajon, but we did intend to draw fouls" said Coach Raoul Duke "We knew the longer Lebron and Rajon were in the game, the less chance we stood. Luckily, they ended up fouling us alot and we ended up making our buckets coming out on top for the win."

The Speed players are also optimistic about tonights succes by the lack of offense out of team scoring leader Carlos Boozer. Despite only having 18, the Speed easily generated offense through their roleplayers and picked up the slack.

"Its great that you can have an off night and not blame yourself for a loss." said Boozer "Outlaw had be pretty well covered and I was having trouble. But Kevin, Trevor, and Strom stepped up when we needed them and we still got the win. It was a good game"

The Speed increase their winning streak to 9 (the longest in team history and hope to keep up the success even further into the season.

Player of the Game
Carlos Boozer
18 pts 10 reb 5 ast 3 stl
While not his usual crazy offensive numbers, he contributed with his passing and rebounds most of the night. Not to mention 3 steals

Notable Speed Performances
Kevin Love 25 pts 2 reb 3 ast 3 stl
Trevor Ariza 16 pts 2 reb 1 ast
Stromile Swift 12 pts 1 reb 1 ast
Ricky Rubio 10 pts 3 reb 16 ast 3 stl

Notable Cavaliers Performances
Travis Outlaw 30 pts 6 reb 1 ast 1 stl 4 blk
Lebron James 16 pts 5 reb 7 ast 1 stl
Mo williams 11 pts 1 reb 5 ast
Anthony Parker 10 pts 1 reb 5 ast 1 stl

Screenshots or It Didn't Happen Images of the Game

One of three ridiculous fast breaks in a row by Ariza

Up Next: Can the Speed start 10-0 against the 76ers?

[kibaxx7]

Good luck getting the 10th win man!

[Oznogrd]

Sixers fight back, Boozer singlehandedly holds them off
St. Louis 91 - Philadelphia 89

Late in the 4th, the Speed looked gassed. Running with the Sixers all game had seem to have taken its toll as between plays, sweat dripped off of Ricky Rubio and he hunched over betweeen plays. The Speed dominated the first half, but somehow the Sixers had scraped back into it. Scoring no more than 19 in a quarter in the second half, the Sixers managed to tie the game with 6 seconds left. Swearing, Coach Duke called a timeout. The team huddled planning to put the ball either in Ricky's or Carlos' hands. Boozer smiled and nodded as he retook the court. After inbounding the ball to Rubio, Boozer went to set the high screen, only to find Philly already double teaming Ricky. Boozer called for the ball, caught the pass and had to quickly shoot a jumper over Mareese Speights. With .1 seconds left, the ball left his fingertips, and swished home. The home crowd rushed the court as Carlos did his trademark yell (as seen in every "fired up" picture of him ever)

"They say basketball is a game of halves. Wait..they' don't? Football's a game of inches, what the hell is basketball then? Well..nevermind. Tonight was a game of halves and we almost lost it due to a crappy 2nd half" said Speed Coach Raoul Duke "Luckily, Carlos came through for us. It was an amazing shot and a great feeling to get this win. We're gonna have to play more consistently though if we want to keep our record as good as it is."

As the 2nd half kept going, few could score but Boozer. Team captain Ricky Rubio said "Man, nothing was falling for us. Kevin was missing his layups, my jumpers were rimming out, even Surge wasnt getting his usual power off the pick. But luckily Carlos was there to sink buckets and eventually the gamewinner. He is the sole reason we won this game"

Boozer was all smiles after the game joking with reporters "Yeah I knew it was going in when I shot it." then re-enacting the shot on the podium "In all seriousness, it's a team game and every play matters. I was just lucky and came through towards the end of the game. Everyone deserves credit for this win and Philly's a tough team man. I thought they had us in the 4th when they took the lead."

Player of the Game
Carlos boozer
42 pts 1 reb 1 ast 2 stl 1 blk
Despite poor other stats, high scoring and a game winning shot get Carlos the nod for Player of the Game

Notable Speed Performances
Kevin Love 17 pts 6 reb 1 stl 1 blk
Ricky Rubio 12 pts 19 ast 2 stl 2 blk
Stromile Swift 10 pts 5 reb 1 stl 1 blk

Notable 76ers Performances
Louis Williams 24 pts 1 reb 5 ast
Thaddeus Young 15 pts 3 reb 5 ast 2 blk
Elton Brand 14 pts 6 reb 4 ast 6 blk
Andre Iguodala 12 pts 2 reb 4 ast 1 stl

Screenshots or It Didn't Happen Images of the Game

It had to be the gamewinner...no other image would do this game justice


Up Next: The Speed try to go for their 11th straight win against te 4-6 Hornets in New Orleans. Can the Speed keep the strong play going or will their luck run out? stay tuned.

[megarover]

Boozer hitting the game winner when did he get clutch. I remember last season when u are on the 11 game losing streak. Nice to see stuff turned around this time

[Oznogrd]

Hornets make it 11 straight Wins for St. Louis
St. Louis 92 - New Orleans 84
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Speed 23 25 26 18
Hornets 26 23 11 24

(To tell you the truth i played this game like over a week ago and remember nothing than them trying to come back in the fourth: Quarter Breakdowns above)

Player of the Game
Carlos Boozer
45 pts 10 reb 3 ast 1 blk
If 45 and 10 isnt enough to get you the PotG nod..nothing is

Notable Speed Performances
Kevin Love 16 pts 3 reb 1 ast 3 blk
Ricky Rubio 13 pts 1 reb 22 ast 1 stl 2 blk

Notable Hornets Performances
Chris Paul 18 pts 3 reb 10 ast 1 stl
Jarret Jack 14 pts 3 ast
Leon Powe 12 pts 7 reb 2 ast 2 stl
Peja Stojakovic 12 pts 1 reb
Kelenna Azubuike 11 pts 1 reb 4 ast 1 blk

Screenshots or it Didn't Happen Images of the Game


Surge rocked New Orleans like Kat-...Too soon?


Up Next: Can the Speed avenge their Playoff exit against the Heat?

[dare]

Wow I just have a quick read from the start till here, I'd say I love what you have done to this team. From being a weak to team now you have a 11 game streak.

Also love how Rubio gets a 20 points and 20 assists.

I'll be following this from time to time

[Oznogrd]

Thanks dude, nice to know people are still paying attention. Write up of the Heat game coming: played it today and I want to write it before i forget again lol..Odds are this is gonna be my final season of this assoc. though. Unless i get an idea thats just like phenomenal, i may just start playing the game to play the game again rather than having to write it up...Zombie Sonics and some other teams really intrigue me right now so i may want to run a couple years of them without writing up all of it

[Oznogrd]

Speed Avenge Playoff Exit
St. Louis 108 - Miami 91
(4th quarter glitched again...still counted the stats though)

The Speed crowd was louder than its ever been in St. Louis. Possibly drunker too. Why you may ask? Dwayne Wade and his Miami Heat were in town. You may remember that last year, not only did the Heat knock the Speed out of the playoffs, but it was a flat out embarassment. The Speed were swept in the 1st round and went home early. Honestly, Speed fans usually bristle at the words flash, spanish jerseys, and the sheer mention of the state of Florida.

Tonight though, the fans who prepared for another embarassment became the happiest and least sober bunch ever seen in an NBA crowd as the Speed easily handled the Heat.

"It took us forever to get going, and even when we started catching up, some of our younger guys made some bad shot selections" Wade said while glancing down the table at the controversially unstable Michael Beasley "They just had a better gameplan than us and they stopped us. Nothing more to really be said though"

The Speed kept their usual bag of tricks going they've had during this 12 game win streak. Constant pressure on Defense, spreading the ball around, scoring down low, and minimizing turnovers. (33 ast, 8 blks, 4 stl, 4 TO)

"Thats our plan every single night" said Coach Raoul Duke. "It just seems we're running it way better than we used to. Its not a bad year to be in St. Louis. That's all I can really say"

Team captain and assist leader Ricky Rubio jokingly wore a Captain America mask at the beginning of his press conference (which we're sure he got an endorsement from Marvel for). "It wasn't a perfect night for us, we let them score alot. But hey, we scored more than did so we can live with it. We just have to keep playing how we're playing and we should be fine the rest of the year."

Player of the Game
Carlos Boozer
45 Pts 8 reb 5 ast
Despite lacking on defense, Boozer lit it up on the boards and scoring again, even managing to rack up a few assists when the double team eventually came. Flat out ridicolous to stop.

Notable Speed Performances
Ricky Rubio 22 pts 3 reb 20 ast
Kevin Love 14 pts 3 reb 1 ast 1 blk

Notable Heat Performances
Michael Beasley 25 pts 4 reb 2 ast 1 blk
Dwyane Wade 19 pts 1 reb 9 ast 1 stl
Josh howard 13 pts 1 reb 1 ast
Mario Chalmers 10 pts 1 reb 10 ast 1 stl
Jermaine O'Neal 10 pts 3 reb 1 ast 1 stl 2 blk

Screenshots or It Didn't Happen Images of the Game

Rubio reminds D-Wade that you have to play him tight.

Up Next: The Bulls come to town. Can the Speed keep this streak alive to unlucky 13? Will Boozer and Rubio keep up their insane tandem numbers? Stay Tuned.

[dare]

Zombie Sonics? Tell me more. So your going to end this soon? I just started to follow it man

[Oznogrd]

Zombie Sonics? Tell me more. So your going to end this soon? I just started to follow it man

Zombie Sonics=Thunder

Umm we'll see. If i win a championship (which is how my guys are playing right now) then I'll probably call it because once i can win instantly it gets boring. Maybe one more season after this one...im interested to see what happens in my offseason..might be some big names heading out of town that may not make me such a shoo-in next year. Not too sure yet. But i have some summer courses that are gonna be all day m-f for the month of june so updating will probably be slow if i dont end it by then.

[megarover]

Getting a win over the Heats is great. Rubio wearing a marvel mask also made me chuckle

[Oznogrd]

Bulls 4th Quarter too much for Speed to handle
St. Louis 93 - Chicago 110

What goes up must come down. Also, basketball is a game of four quarters. The Speed learned both the hard way at home tonight. Despite being up 7 going into the final stretch of the game, the Speed were outscored 35-15 in the fourth: a deficit that led to a blowout loss.

Team captain Ricky Rubio was swearing in Spanish before saying "You can't collapse like that in the fourth. It reminds me of my rookie year when we were so bad. Their shots all hit in the fourth, ours didn't. Just...ugly finish to what I thought was a decent game."

Coach Raoul Duke agreed and "I'm gonna be running their asses ragged covering the 3 ball for practice. 6-12 doesnt seem like that big, but every time we start to pull away an open three put them back in the running. We have to play perimeter D better and hold on to the ball more if we want to keep winning. We're still number 1 in the rankings and standings, our job is to stay there. We want everyone gunning for us: its how we play our best. Lets just hope they dont actually get us..."

Player of the Game
Derrick Rose
19 pts 4 reb 14 ast 3 stl 1 blk 8/10 shooting
Ridiculous statline and the win get Derrick Rose the PotG nod

Notable Speed Performances
Carlos Boozer 33 pts 3 reb 1 blk
Ricky Rubio 22 pts 3 reb 16 ast 1 stl 8 TO
Stormile Swift 10 pts 3 reb 1 ast
Trevor Ariza 10 pts 2 ast 2 blk

Notable Bulls Performances
Zydrunas Ilgauskas 20 pts 3 reb 2 ast 7 blk
Wilson Chandler 18 pts 2 reb 2 ast 2 stl
Ben Gordon 18 pts 7 ast 1 stl
Al Harrington 15 pts 4 reb 1 ast 1 blk
Mike MIller 12 pts 2 reb

Screenshots or It Didn't Happen Images of the Game

Despite Rubio scoring in traffic constantly, his contribution wasnt enough to keep the Speed alive in the 4th

Up Next: After the win streak comes to an end in front of their home crowd, can the Speed bounce back against the .500 Magic?

[Oznogrd]

Free throws help Speed Sink Magic
St. Louis 105 - Orlando 95

The Speed had looked just bad most of the game against the Bulls. They looked like the exact opposite tonight against the Magic. They hung with and eventually pulled away from the Magic in the third behind the leadership of their Captain Ricky Rubio and their leading scorer Carlos Boozer. Despite Dwight Howard and his teammates scoring well, it wasn't enough to top the Speed. Partially the free throw discrepancy (the Speed had a 2-1 ratio of FTs and only missed 1) caused the Magic to fall, but also every time the Magic started to get hope they were still in the game, a Speed player would step up with yet another dagger.

"I knew it was over when Ricky made the half courter at the end of the third. Its so demoralizing when that happens. The game was done then and there. When the other team is having the luck go their way there's not a ton you can do" said Dwight Howard "They played hard though and deserve the win.

Ricky Rubio laughed it off when asked about the half courter "I'm kinda upset actually. None of the guys will bet with me on a game of HORSE this year." Rubio has upped his scoring substantially this year, having finally found his stroke in his jump shot. He also has his highest assist numbers to date and for the most part is keeping his turnovers low.

"What can I say? It's just a good year"

Player of the Game
Carlos Boozer
43 pts 8 reb 1 ast 2 stl 1 blk
After an off night against the Bulls, Boozer rebounded with his usual brand of offensive and board domination.

Notable Speed Performances
Ricky Rubio 25 pts 22 ast 3 stl 2 blk
Kevin Love 12 pts 6 reb 4 ast 2 stl 1 blk

Notable Magic Performances
Dwight Howard 31 pts 6 reb 4 ast 4 blk
Rashad McCants 14 pts 1 reb 3 ast
Jameer Nelson 14 pts 7 ast 1 stl
Rashard Lewis 11 pts 2 reb 5 ast 1 blk
Ryan Gomes 10 pts 1 reb

Screenshots or It Didn't Happen Images of the Game

Yet another half courter for rubio.

Up Next: Can the Speed handle the Grizzlies who had the best record last season?

[kibaxx7]

8 turnovers by Rubio in the loss against the Bulls. At least you bounced back at Orlando.

[Oznogrd]

8 turnovers by Rubio in the loss against the Bulls. At least you bounced back at Orlando.

although i was still winning till the fourth...looked like year 1 all over again

[dare]

Carlos Boozer is a monster for your team, I wish I know how to use Boozer properly.

[Oznogrd]

Carlos Boozer is a monster for your team, I wish I know how to use Boozer properly.

pick & roll & post like mad. also remember he's not really a power guy, he's a finesse guy with medium range jumpshot. Layups and banks are his bread and butter for me.

[Martti.]

Rubio has started to score and you're winning. Nice job.