Week-In Review: The Sacrifice Play; Big Shot Episode 10

Week-In Review: The Sacrifice Play; Big Shot Episode 10

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Westbrook is one win away from Division Two, and Carlsbad is suspected of stealing their playbook.

After Emma’s (Sophia Mitri Schloss) inspired performance in the Beth Macbeth, it was made clear to Coach Korn (John Stamos) that his job offer at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) was the worst kept secret and it has hurt everyone that he built a relationship with at Westbrook. This Season’s final episode opens with Coach Korn replaying the scene in his dream/nightmare as the closer he gets to a job back as a Men’s Basketball College Coach something just doesn’t feel right.

Well the offer from UCSB is in, this is the moment Korn has been waiting for since being given the opportunity at redemption coaching the Lady Sirens. However, Korn doesn’t seem thrilled to take it but he blames it on the fact that his agent just woke him with the call. As viewers would expect Emma doesn’t like the fact that once again she’ll be forced to move and change schools due to a decision that is out of her control. The girls on the team are giving Korn the silent treatment because of his betrayal no longer consider Korn their coach, and speaking to him through Coach Holly (Jessalyn Gilsig). So Korn ends practice to let the girls cool down, giving Coach Holly the perfect time to tell him about the offer she received from Coach McCarthy (Camryn Manheim) to be Carlsbad’s next head coach.

Meanwhile, in the locker room, the hate-fest of Coach Korn continues until Samantha (Cricket Wampler) can’t find her playbook. The team’s prime suspect is Olive’s (Monique A. Green) new boyfriend Jake (Damian Alonso) from Carlsbad.  The girls now are in need of some new plays for the Carlsbad game this weekend, going back to Coach Korn with their tails tucked. Korn uses the chance to make amends with the team while exposing Samantha’s fake ankle injury.

BIG SHOT - "Marvyn’s Playbook" (Disney/Gilles Mingasson) YVETTE NICOLE BROWN

Principle Thomas and Korn sharing a celebratory drink together.

 

Korn is suffering from a massive case of writer’s block struggling to come up with new plays, due to all the stress in his life at the moment. Miss Goodwin (Kathleen Rose Perkins) does offer some relief by open her home to Emma so she can stay at Westbrook. Emma does appreciate the offer but for the first time, she finally feels like she has a dad and doesn’t want to lose that. So if she has to choose between stay at Westbrook or her father safe to say she’ll be choosing her dad.

The use of a dream sequence is a classic trope that depicts the struggle between Coach Korns Heart and his head while going back to Men’s College Basketball is the best choice for his career his heart is in Westbook with Emma and the girls on the team. As Coach Korn Continues to struggle to come up with new plays he is visited by Kalm Korn (His Statue that was taken down at Wisconsin following his chair incident) points him to the court where a ref that looks like George Pappas (Richard Robichaux) who gives him 10 seconds to make a decision if his the coach at Westbrook or forfeit the game,  Louise (Nell Verlaque) asks You’re coming, Coach, right? As the ref continues to countdown the rest of the girls yell “Come on Coach! We need you to–Coach! Come On!”  Unable to answer in time Korn forfeits the game, enraged throws a chair at the ref. It lands on a pile of chairs that has Emma trapped, a metaphor for that torment she suffered over the action at Wisconsin. This dream, speaking with Destiny’s (Tiana Le) adoptive mother and shooting in a dark gym reflecting on everything that happened this season helped Korn in making the decision to stay at Westbrook. He now understands the fact that you may need to sacrifice things in your life for the betterment of the ones around you.

It’s finally time for the game at Carlsbad and Coach MacCathy is still up to no good with the physical tricks from being in a visiting locker room that displays all their trophy, smells bad, and is uncomfortably hot at 107 degrees. Couple this with the crowd noise Carlsbad would have the edge but Korns experience dealing with all the stress/noise in the world prepared him for this. So he has the team circle up and holds hands they simply mediate as the noise dissipates, but the real reason for the crowd noise disappearing is that the gym was infested with bees. MacCarthy believes it was Westbrooks doing it because they were afraid to lose but Coach Korn willing to accept the challenge will play Carlsbad in Westbrook with no one but the refs and players to prove the Lady Sirens are the better team.

BIG SHOT - "Marvyn’s Playbook" (Disney/Gilles Mingasson) NELL VERLAQUE

So viewers don’t get to see the entire gameplay out but the most in the part play of the game came at the end when Korn called the Sacfrice play knowing MacCarthy would double Louise and Samantha on the inbound, Destiny would pass it to Olive who then passes it to Mou.. I mean Carolyn (Tisha Custodio) who makes the game-winning basket.  They’ve done it winning enough game to play in the Division 2 league (DII) next year.

BIG SHOT - "Marvyn’s Playbook" (Disney/Gilles Mingasson) JOHN STAMOS, JESSALYN GILSIG

Korn calling the sacrifice play

Other things that happened, Principle Thomas (Yvette Nicole Brown) and Korn shared a drink as a farewell/congratulations on the new job while talking about life. Principle Thomas is able to empathize with Korn due to her deiced to take her current position at Westbrook that uprooted her family from Ohio. Commenting that her kids gave her the silent treatment for about two weeks, the funny thing is she liked the silence. The conversation also reviled that this team has to change Korn as he builds a connection with each girl on the team which why they’re all hurt by his decision to jump ship. Originally he was a guy who came into Westbrook seeing this as a pitstop on his way back to Men’s College Hoops but over the course of this season, Marvyn Korn has evolved and that person he uses to be may no longer exist.

Olive breaking up with Jake after letting her teammates get into her head about him possibly stealing Samantha’s playbook for Coach MacCarthy, Jake is the one who let the bees into the gym at Carlsbad, Destiny’s talking to her birth mother Angel, and Samantha playbook being returned by Miss Goodwin when it was taken by one of the ushers during opening night on Beth Macbeth.

What started as a story of a quest to make history at Westbrook became a story of the sacrifices it took to get there. They all had to give up things they cared about, but got something much more valuable in return; a family.

In all, I would say I’ve enjoyed this series as a whole, while some of the storylines were easy for me to figure out halfway through the show, Disney’s Big Shot did a great job not completely change their characters after they learned a lesson. Marvyn Korn was a complicated men and throughout the series learned an important lesson to get him to become the person he is now but along the way, he had to fail again and again to attack a situation different than he would have in the past. Now as for a second two like many series the final episode did leave room for that and I would love to see it. Until next time Lady Sirens.

 

BIG SHOT - "Marvyn’s Playbook" (Disney/Gilles Mingasson) CAMRYN MANHEIM

 

 

 

Jun 18, 2021 No Comments
A Story of Competitive Collaboration, Undefeated x Nike Premieres Nike Dunk vs. AF-1 With Lookbook

A Story of Competitive Collaboration, Undefeated x Nike Premieres Nike Dunk vs. AF-1 With Lookbook

Sneaker Releases

UNDEFEATED and Nike has presented detailed photography of the Air Force 1 “Ballistic” and Dunk Low “On Your Feet Kid.” The upcoming Dunk vs. AF-1 pack effectively retells a story of a partnership years old, taking the colorway of the most notable Dunk and Air Force 1 to come from this icon streetwear brand and putting them on the opposing silhouette. As a salute to the staying power of two of Nike Sportswear‘s most popular sneakers.

undefeated nike sportswear dunk vs air force 1 pack ballistic on your feet kid official release date info photos price store list buying guide

 

The Air Force 1 “Ballistic” features a military-style olive color scheme, rugged suede-and-nylon build, a yellowed midsole, and black branded hits. It’s inspired by 2003’s Dunk High “Ballistic,” a shoe that was a friends and family only style until it dropped as part of UNDEFEATED and Nike’s “Bring Back 2003” pack in 2012.

undefeated nike sportswear dunk vs air force 1 pack ballistic on your feet kid official release date info photos price store list buying guide

The Dunk Low “On Your Feet Kid” comes in a brown and white color scheme with thick leather seams and patterned detailing plus bold touches of yellow, taking inspiration from an Air Force 1 from 2006. Both feature UNDEFEATED’s Five Strike logo and are completed by special insoles.

To better celebrate the nearing release,  Undefeated has invited Erik Koston, Aleali May, KB Lee, Lauren Wasser, Jimmy Gorecki, and Alex Smith to preview the Air Force 1 “Ballistic” or the Dunk Low “On Your Feet Kid” in a Lookbook.   These sneakers to launch on June 18th via Undefeated’s online and physical stores, however,  it’s unconfirmed whether we’ll see an SNKRS drop, but there’s definitely a chance. Enjoy the detailed look at both pairs below:

 

Jun 15, 2021 No Comments
Kicks Through the Lens (Week 4 of Playoffs)

Kicks Through the Lens (Week 4 of Playoffs)

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The Phoenix Suns have swept the Denver Nuggets to move onto the Western Conference Finals. Devin Booker seems to be sticking to his purple P.E. pair of Nike Kobe 4 Protros. Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? P.J. Tucker came with the heat this past week. It’s always nice to have the sneaker king himself make a deep run in the postseason so we can continue to see the heat he rocks on the hardwood. The Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks series just got a lot more interesting than people anticipated after the Bucks tied things up at 2-2 over the weekend. Langston Galloway of the Phoenix Suns is steadily proving to sneaker fans why he deserves to be up in the conversations with who wears the most heat in the league. Between decade-old signature sneakers, obscure player exclusives from the mid-2000’s, and rarely seen Nike basketball gems – Galloway brings it all. Getting your spot in our Kicks Through the Lens countdown will only become harder the rest of the season as the remaining weeks will only feature five spots instead of ten. There’s just not enough teams left to warrant a list of 10 sneakers from the week. Scroll below to check out this week’s list.

 

 

10. Adidas D.O.N. Issue #3 – Donovan Mitchell

 

           

 

 

9. New Balance THE KAWHI P.E. – Kawhi Leonard

 

           

 

 

8. Nike Kyrie 1 iD – Bruce Brown

 

     

 

 

7. Nike Kobe 4 Protro P.E. – Devin Booker

 

     

 

 

6. 2016 Nike Kobe 3 “Fade to Black” – P.J. Tucker

 

           

 

 

5. Nike Kobe 6 Protro P.E. – Khris Middleton

 

           

 

 

4. Nike Kyrie 7 P.E. – Kyrie Irving

 

     

 

 

3. Nike LeBron 15 “SVSM” P.E. – P.J. Tucker

 

           

 

 

2. 2013 Nike KD 5 “What The” – P.J. Tucker

 

     

 

 

1. 2005 Team Dime x Jordan XX 3/4 (Mike Bibby P.E.) – Langston Galloway

 

           

Jun 14, 2021 No Comments
SR – NBA Playoff Power Rankings: Week 4

SR – NBA Playoff Power Rankings: Week 4

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As we head into the fourth week of these postseason Power Rankings, we’ve got some shocking revelations about some championship contenders, and with the conclusion of one of the Western Conference series on Sunday night, we learned a few things about some of the teams that were on the bubble of contention as well.

While the Philadelphia 76ers, who struggled mightily dealing with Trae Young’s Atlanta Hawks in Game one but began to realize they were the superior side by splitting the first two home games of the series and then going on to keep the beat rolling on the road, look like they’re finally getting hot at the right time with health on their side, the same – ever so suddenly – cannot be said for the Brooklyn Nets. Kyrie Irving suffered what looked to be a gruesome ankle injury from landing on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s ankle following a layup attempt in Game 4’s second quarter Sunday afternoon, and it is unclear when or *if* the star Nets guard returns for this series.

And with the news of James Harden’s reaggravation of his right hamstring, the Nets’ injury woes have uncontrollably snowballed at the most inconvenient time. A banged-up top-heavy championship favorite with somewhat suboptimal role pieces never quite offer the offensive punch necessary to win, and without two of the greatest mismatches in NBA history on the floor for the Nets for an undisclosed duration of time, it could be the Nets’ downfall for this series with Milwaukee tying the series up 2 apiece after their 107-96 victory.

And on the Western hemisphere of the NBA universe, the Phoenix Suns successfully completed the sweep of the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night as a balanced, healthy team relayed the same adage of every postseason throughout history: the best availability is indeed availability. Phoenix never let the Nuggets get into arms reach of a win at any point in the series, and Chris Paul, at 36 years old, is headed back to the Western Conference Finals after averaging 25.5 points, 10.3 assists and 5 rebounds against the Denver Nuggets in four games. Coincidentally, in his first-ever trip to the NBA Playoffs, Devin Booker stayed hot in continuation from the Lakers series, in which the Kentucky product put up 25.3 points per game in the four-straight wins over 2021 MVP Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets.

The Jazz and Clippers series looked to be nearing its conclusion with Utah holding serve at home and going up 2-0, but Los Angeles won their first game of the series at home in rousing fashion, as Paul George quieted the doubters and kept his foot on the gas pedal for all four quarters.

Let’s get into the details of all the series and the top four teams with the fourth edition of these postseason power rankings.

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1. No. 2 Phoenix Suns (51-21, Won 4-2 vs. No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers in First Round, Won 4-0 vs. No. 3 Denver Nuggets in WCSF, Last Week’s Ranking: 2 

Be real with yourself – even you didn’t quite see the Suns advancing past the first round of the playoffs when Suns GM James Jones pulled the trigger and sent Kelly Oubre Jr. to the Oklahoma City Thunder (who then sent him to the Warriors for two draft picks) and got 36-year-old Chris Paul in return. And you anticipated that Paul was going to take a leadership position to help out younger players like Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton maximize their potential.

Trust me, we all couldn’t see this magical carpet ride of a 2020-21 campaign happening with a team that missed out on the eighth seed before last year’s playoffs.

But reality often is misleading. While Devin Booker’s rise to superstardom has been in fact expected and equally meteoric, what Paul has done for this franchise in a matter of seven months should be talked over in lore. And in not just helping these Suns who were coming on at year’s end following their 8-0 record inside the NBA Bubble at Disney Springs in Orlando last summer, Paul has helped in instilling hope into a franchise that hadn’t gotten a sniff of a playoff visit in more than eleven years. For the first time since the 2010 season, the Rally for the Valley will extend to the Western Conference Finals, for the Suns are but a mere four wins away from advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time in 28 years.

As a team, the Suns look to be the most evenly-poised and steady team in these playoffs, and with a system put in place by Head Coach Monty Williams that optimizes for his two MVP-caliber guards in Booker and Paul to utilize all three levels of the floor in their scoring efforts, Suns fans have them to thank for the run they’ve been on.

And additionally, though they possess the sixth-best offensive rating (114.2 points per 100 possessions), they have the best defensive rating of all Western teams left in the playoffs (104.1 points per 100 possessions allowed). After beating an undermanned Nuggets team who were sorely missing playmaking and shot creation off the bounce with Jamal Murray out for the season, the Suns beat them when they targeted Jokic as a drop defender in the PnR with both Paul and Booker, as well in transition when the Nuggets struggled to run sets in the halfcourt.

And now, the Suns wait for their next opponent, in either the Utah Jazz or Los Angeles Clippers.

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2. No. 3 Milwaukee Bucks (46-26, Won 4-0 vs. No. 6 Miami Heat in First Round, 2-2 vs. No. 2 Brooklyn Nets in ECSF, Last Week’s Ranking: N/A)

  

Well, that escalated quickly.

After grinding out a three-point win to gain some traction on the offensive three-headed dragon of the Brooklyn Nets, there was very little optimism on the Bucks extending this series due to the lack of a defensive gameplan in stopping both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant for the duration of another 48 minutes in Game 4. But with six minutes and six seconds remaining in the first half of Sunday’s Game 4, Irving came down with a hard thud on the floor of the Fiserv Forum where it looked like he inadvertently landed on the foot of Giannis Antetokounmpo, twisting his ankle in the process and laying on the hardwood for a few minutes before being escorted off of the floor.

What started out as a 17-point swing in the first-half in the Nets’ favor quickly transitioned into a 44-40 lead and a gargantuan 30-point second quarter for the Bucks, who seemed to turn it on when they realized running Antetokounmpo at the 4 and 5 as a screener and off-ball cutter made the most space for outside scorers like Brook Lopez and Pat Connaughton through the litany of Mike Budenholzer’s rotations.

Moreover, when Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton assumed the responsibilities of being the marauders with the rock in their hands, the offense couldn’t be stopped the rest of the way through, as both Middleton and Holiday finished Game 4 with a combined and supplementary 33 points to go along with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo’s efficient 34 points, as the 6’11 mismatch of a downhill scorer made his mark in the open court and as a roll man who used his gravity to full sufficiency, often finishing with fervent like how we know him to do so when defenses were collapsed off the dribble drive or were slowly getting back in transition.

Milwaukee went up by as much as 23 points, and as the floor was shrunken with no other on-ball threat to create in the halfcourt other than Durant, PJ Tucker was a thorn in his side, keeping Durant from scoring more than 9 points off 3-for-12 shooting whenever matched up against him, especially when the Bucks poured it on and stuck to their gameplan in the third and fourth quarters.

Now, Brooklyn’s collective playoff hopes fringe on an all-world Kevin Durant performance in Game 5 in Brooklyn Tuesday night. Because if not, the Bucks could be heading back to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in three years.

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3. No. 1 Philadelphia 76ers (49-23, Won 4-1 vs. No. 8 Washington Wizards in First Round, 2-1 vs. No. 5 Atlanta Hawks in ECSF, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)

With the other MVP big man now out of the postseason picture, it’s Joel Embiid’s chance to prove the voters of the award wrong again after his Philadelphia 76ers took a commanding 127-111 Game 3 win last Friday night. Embiid looked locked in and indomitable as usual, posting 27 points off a 7-for-14 shooting night with a lone three-ball falling through four quarters. As Atlanta’s Clint Capela got in foul trouble, the game plan formulated itself due to the ebb and flow of Friday’s decisive win, and a flurry of weakside isolation looks that made themselves in the mid-post created a variety of chances and looks for Tobias Harris, Furkan Korkmaz, Matisse Thybulle, Seth Curry and the rest of Philly’s perimeter scorers.

Philadelphia’s bench outscored Atlanta’s 48-32, and Atlanta was outmatched in the halfcourt when Trae Young was singled out and blitzed/trapped on every high PnR look. That’s expected when there is a plan established in shutting down a speedy ballhandler who can create for himself and others should he see an angle of space worth using.

And of course, he’d get his (28 points off 9-for-17 shooting and 50 percent shooting from downtown) but following Philadelphia’s adjustment from games 1 and 2, they ended up looking like the more aggressive team on both ends, imposing their will offensively by getting Ben Simmons downhill as their 6’10 freight train of a mismatch going downhill, showing muscle when driving baseline and establishing middle with the ball in his hands, but defensively is where the Sixers shone through in the second and third games of this series, actively switching off of Atlanta’s double drags and stagger looks at the top of the key with a variety of long bodies to employ.

Doc Rivers made sure to emphasize making Young uncomfortable by putting Thybulle onto him when they were in man during the bench’s minutes when Simmons was off the floor, often limiting his and others’ open attempts from three-land as much as possible. However, not all that was sweet could avoid becoming sour, as veteran 3-and-D piece Danny Green may miss the rest of this series due to a strained right calf. Though they’ve shown they can handle their business without Green on the floor for this series, even showing a slight anemia in the wing department hurts your ability to adjust on the fly against future offenses, and shrinks the floor that much now down an additional shooter.

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4. No. 4 Los Angeles Clippers (47-25, Won 4-3 vs. No. 5 Dallas Mavericks in First Round, 1-2 vs. No. 1 Utah Jazz in WCSF, Last Week’s Ranking: N/A)

After falling behind 2-0 to the top-seeded Utah Jazz, many sportswriters, experts, and fans alike all wrote off the Clips following their second-straight playoff series that started with a 2-0 deficit this year. But in preparation for what could be a season-altering Game 4, the Clippers got themselves into a promising position to compete for a Conference title and gain even more ground on the injured Jazz with a signature Paul George Game 3 performance at home and a 132-106 win with their backs against the wall this past Saturday night.

And while Kawhi Leonard struggled, the playoffs are usually the time for unsung heroes in the rotation to step up and assume some larger responsibilities. Reggie Jackson has been that guy for the Clippers in the three games they’ve played this series by scoring 17 points off of 6-for-8 shooting in a must-win game 3, knocking down five threes in six attempts in the process. Adjustments and gameplan tweaks aplenty have emanated from Head Coach Tyronn Lue, who seem to have the Utah Jazz on the ropes all of a sudden when it looked as if the Jazz were going to steamroll them for four straight contests.

As a team, they struggled to neutralize and constrict Donovan Mitchell from bludgeoning their defensive coverages, as the ever-elusive Louisville product has been a nightmare to defend in the three games they’ve played, but the Clippers sent two, at times three, defenders to hedge or trap Mitchell whenever he got a sliver of space with a dribble handoff or with the ball in his hands as the team’s initiator when Quin Snyder calls for him to get the offense moving in the halfcourt.

In the playoffs, to the most physical go the spoils, and that age-old truth spoke volumes against Utah for the Clippers. They made sure to rough up Mitchell’s Jazz, who, albeit, were doing the roughing up when they held serve during their two-straight home wins against L.A., and as they finally saw some pushback and productivity from George and Leonard (who combined for 65 points off 26-for-48 shooting) the optimism is back in the Staples Center that these Clippers can earn yet another hard-fought victory against Utah and extend this series to, ultimately, get to their first Conference Finals in franchise history, who will make sure to not have a repeat performance of their last outing that saw them shoot under 43 percent for the third time this postseason.

Photo Source: pngkey.com

Jun 14, 2021 No Comments

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Jun 13, 2021 No Comments