Palky‘s Top 5 Favourite Old Red’s Saturday Teams – Number 3 - 2011 Saturday A’s

So we are up to Number 3 on the countdown of Palky’s favourite Saturday teams. Number 3 is the Saturday A’s of 2011. 

The team was A, Goody, Liam, Mike, Jack, Stu, Purge and Leo – Darsow was also involved but was in and out of the team as he was away a bit during the season. Early in the season the team was playing free flowing ball – they beat Saints in the 1^st game and started the season undefeated – playing loose and scoring bunch of points. The main scorer was Stu at the height of his talents – but everyone chipped in because this team ran the break so well – Purge, Liam, Stu and Jack could get out on the break and just score in bunches and then with A and Goody low they were able to get stops with swarming ball pressure and then get out on the break again. 

This was highlighted in the 7^th game of the season when Stu had the greatest half of basketball in a Reds uniform – he hit 5 straight 3’s and had 21 points against Knightsbridge, who were still really good. In the 2^nd half he came of the gates with 2 quick layups and he was on his way to 40. Then in an innocuous looking drive to the basket he did his knee. 

This injury sort of derailed the team – they lost the Intercol, then lost to Saints the next week by 20, they lost to the B’s by 19 for the first time in club history. It wasn’t that the offense was built around Stu but he had become the first scoring option – so it took a while for the A’s to gel again now that had been taken away.

It took a while but midway through the season the team switched identities - for years the A's had been scoring teams that could get stops and rebounds when they needed to. This team became a defense first team and scoring second. With Stu out - there was a renewed focus on defense and rebound - Liam, Purge and Jack shut down opposing back courts and Goody, A, Leo and Mike focused on cleaning the glass. Mike became the team's main scoring option with Liam, Goody and Jack scoring in their methodical way - good shots not lots of shots.     

In the last game of the season – the top 2 was decided – Saints were top and A’s were 2^nd. They would meet in the 1^st week of the finals. They would also meet in the final game of the Minor Round. Saints jumper and were up 20 at half time – they were laughing it up. I remember one particular Saints person (who is often smug and will remain nameless) waving his arms like a fool and generally being smug. The Reds switched from man to a 3-2 and everyone went out to all 3’s. It worked a treat – the Reds closed the gap down to 2 before time ran out. But it was a moral victory – all season the Reds had been beaten comfortably by this Saints team and then the week before Finals started they final found their edge.

The Qualifying Final was the next week and is my favourite game in Old Reds history – its lore is much spoken of. Everything was in Saints favour – they had the wood on the A’s all year, they were playing in their gym and the Reds only had 5 players – Jack, Purge, Liam, Mike and A. I won’t go into the full story because there is an excellent retelling of the story here by all the lads involved http://oldredtiger.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/september-memories-draft-v02.html - you should take some time to read it – it captures every moment of the best game ever. Every guy who watched that game will remember how big a task it was – no one thought we would win … except us.

The Grand Final turned out to be a grind against Saints. The game was never in doubt – Saints never recovered from losing the lead in the week before finals and then the most demoralising loss in the Qualifying Final. Our boys were so confident going into the final with Leo and Goody coming back for the game. Here is the Game report: 

For the 7^th year in a row, the A’s were playing in the A Grade Grand Final, they were going for their 4^th win a row and for the 2^nd year in row they were playing Saints. The Grand Final was the 7^th time in 2011 that the Reds were facing off against their bitter rivals – the season standings stood at 3-3 – with Saints winning the important Intercol match (which was against a Reds side that was minus Purge, Stu and Mike). This was the 3^rd time the Reds were playing Saints in 4 weeks – the final regular season game the Reds came back from 16 down with a man to man D – they eventually lost the game but it set up what they would do in the finals. The Reds would play tight man and go over every screen making it tough for the Saints shooter – Scammell, Ness, Good and Lightheart – and went 1 big against Saints 4 bigs (Proctor, Heim, Tonkin and Newland) – choosing speed over size. It was an intriguing matchup and one that the Reds felt very confident that they could win after beating Saints 2 weeks ago with only 5 players. 

The Reds would start with the same 5 from the Semi Final – Jack, A, Liam, Mick and Purge. Mick and Liam hit early 3’s and the A’s D was stifling all of Saints attempts at the basket. Jack hit a short pull up j, a 3 and scored on the break, Purge hit a crazy 3 and Leo came off the bench and hit a 3 – the Reds were up 23-10 at halftime. In the 2^nd half Saints switched to man and played their 3 bigs. Ness, Scammell and W. Good were all struggling to get good looks at the basket but Heim, Charles and Kong were proving tough to keep off the glass. Mike hit a jumper and a layup but Saints mounted their comeback. Lightheart hit a short j and a 3, Charles knocked down 5 or 6 free throws and Big Red A got 2 tip ins and with 5 minutes to go the lead was down to 5. Jack and Liam both made 2 of 2 FTs  and Jack scored on the break but Saints kept coming and the lead got down to 3. Jack was fouled in the last 2 minutes and airballed the first free throw. The Reds got a stop and Liam scored on the break. Things got a bit weird now and I can’t really remember what exactly happened – but Saints made a FT and I remember thinking it made the A’s up 3. I looked up at the scoreboard and we were only up 2 with 45 seconds left. Reds had the ball and the refs called 10 seconds to shoot - Purge jumped at the 3 point line to pass inside and was fouled with 10 seconds left. The refs called it 3 shots. Purge missed the first, made the second, the A’s up 3 – missed the third ... A battled inside and got a massive rebound over Kong – he threw it to Purge who was tackled by Charles ... unsportsmanlike. Purge made the first – Reds up 3 ... well actually – the scoreboard was wrong and the Reds were up 4. Off the inbounds the A’s ran the Palk Play and Jack got fouled on an open layup – Jack 1 of 2. Reds win 40-35 for their 4^th straight A Grade title. Jack had 12 and Mike and Liam had 9. 

Amazing result after such a crazy year with Stu getting hurt and Darsow focussing on his work commitments - the team was down to 6 players. Leo came in and fit perfectly into the team ethos. Great for A, Goody, Liam, Stu and Purge who have been there for all 4, this Jack’s third with the A’s and Mike’s second. With this fourth title, the A’s would have to be the best team of the last 20 years (if they weren’t already). If you look at a team that has lost Blair, Donaldson, Darsow, Grant, Brownie, Stu (for this season) and DB over the last 5 years and said they would continue to win every year that is pretty special. It says something about the leadership in the team and that others sacrifice of their game but when called upon can step up as need be and how we recruit and foster the talent in the young guys. We rule!

Postgame – we all went to The Seven Stars. Mike Hill was very happy because he got “Canteen Girl” phone number. Quoting Hillusion “she is hot”. Just received a text – Mike wants me to tell you all the Canteen Girl has a boyfriend back in Sweden – sadface. 

Great squad – all heart!

Side note - I played 2 games for this team - I made a nice fadeaway jumper against Modbury and hit a 3 against Knightsbridge.  

3. PAOCBC Team Stats 2011
Saturday A's
Player	Games	Points	Pts Avg	FTA	FTM	FT%	3's	Fouls	FO	Hi
Hill M.	18	189	10.5	57	31	54.4%	9	33	0	22
Harford J.	15	149	9.9	44	28	63.6%	7	33	1	19
Golding L.	15	128	8.5	21	13	61.9%	19	22	0	15
Good	16	95	5.9	20	4	20.0%	0	35	1	10
MacDonald	7	80	11.4	12	8	66.7%	10	17	0	25
Purgacz	15	71	4.7	40	19	47.5%	5	28	0	10
Borges	7	41	5.9	11	4	36.4%	5	14	0	11
Williams A.	16	19	1.2	7	3	42.9%	0	21	0	7
Darsow	6	15	2.5	2	1	50.0%	2	2	0	6
Palk	2	5	2.5	0	0	~	1	1	0	3
Campbell	1	2	2.0	2	1	50.0%	0	2	0	2
Altmann	1	2	2.0	0	0	~	0	1	0	2
Lunn	1	0	0.0	0	0	~	0	0	0	0	Low
Late Player		7
Totals	18	803	44.6	216	112	51.9%	58	208	2	62	17
	Opposition	628	34.9							52	22
	Total	Streak				Minor Round			Playoffs
Wins	14	5				2nd			Champions
Loss	4	2