When the Desert Storm acquired Lorenzo Bland, team officials and fans alike were dreaming about the wonderful things this would do to such a balanced team. The team has really never had that one go to scorer, instead prefering balance and spreading the ball around.

However, when Bland arrived, it was believed they could maintain that same dynamic while having Bland, a dominating player on the court. Instead, Bland has been content to pick and choose his scoring opportunities since joining the team. While the results have been good for the team, and his impact on his teammates has been obvious, it's felt like a little bit of a let down to some who wanted to see him dominate in a Desert Storm uniform.

Well, that all changed last night as the Ajo Als Arena played host to the #1 Bullish Mentality in the National Cup Tournament game. Bland started off early and often going 6/6 to start the game, and stretching that into a 10/12 start. Despite Blands great start, the first quarter belonged to the visitors as Bullish Mentality dominated the boards, and scored on all but 3 possessions, leading 33-29 after the first 12 minutes.

It was hard to tell if fans were more shocked at how one of the best defenses in the country was obliterated in the first quarter, or that Arizona was only trailing by 4 at the end of the quarter. The team gathered around coach Mahody during the break; whatever he said worked, because Arizona controlled and dominated the next 2 quarters in pretty much all phases of the game. Arizona dominated from the tail end of the 1st quarter, until about a minute left in the 3rd outscoring Bullish 53-28 during that stretch to break the game wide open.

Just when it looked like Arizona had their foot pressed firmly on the visitors throats, they let up at the end of the 3rd leading 80-64 and watched Bullish real off 5 unanswered to close the gap to 11 at the end of the 3rd quarter. As the teams walked off the court, Bullish had a pep in their step not seen since the 1st quarter, and Arizona was clearly frustrated with how they ended the quarter.

Arizona came out in the 4th very aggressive intent on stopping the bleeding, but instead over pursued and watched Bullish score the first 7 points of the quarter stretching their run to 12-0 and cutting the lead to 80-76. and they had the ball back to cut into the lead even more. But just when it looked the #1 team in the country was showing how dominant they can be, Arizona forced a stop, and took over the game, quickly stretching the lead back to double digits.

Bland led Arizona in scoring with 25, but the front court of Arizona was scary good as Bland and Ryska combined for 46 points on 22/37 shooting. After being destroyed on the boards in the opening quarter, Arizona ended up dominating the rebounding battle 56-40 including a 19-12 offensive rebounding adavantage. Arizona shot 47% from the field, and held Bullish to just under 41% shooting. SG Zvonc really struggled to put the ball in the hoop in this game, the only player for Arizona to struggle offensively, however he led the team with 9 assists, and also collected 7 rebounds.

Arizona received another tough assinment in the cup, as they will host the #23 Harrisburg Hammerheads in the next round.

Last edited by GM-Jason at 1/4/2013 11:11:50 AM

Reply to this

View message in thread.

BuzzerBeater Community

Press Blog

Bland has coming out party, Arizona knocks #1 out of the Tournament!