After finishing the most grueling 8 day stretch in team history with a 4-0 record against some very quality teams, the stretch will continue into a second week as the Desert Storm will travel to face #4 Rocket Science in the next round of the cup.

This terrific run begain when the team hosted #1 Bullish Mentality in the National Tournament last week, winning 95-83. Fighting off the emotional high of that amazing win, the team let down a little against #23 GS Warriors on the road 2 nights later. Arizona trailed by 14 early, and by as many as 10 in the 4th quarter before turniing it on for a 103-99 victory. That tight game woke them up because they were ready, and proved to be rude hosts when #14 World Idea Toys came to town, and Arizona blitzed them early and often winning 102-78. Last night, facing another high ranking quality team, Arizona hosted the #21 Harrisburg Hammerheads in another round of National Tournament action. Niether team fielded their best roster in that game as Arizona ran away with it 91-55.

After this brutual schedule, players were really hoping to for a favorable Cup Draw in the next round. Coach Mahody commented on the draw "Very dissapointing. 2 NBBA teams in 3 weeeks, that's brutual! Heck, there are two teams in the NBBA that don't even have 2 wins on the season. I told the guys, luck plays a huge role in this tournament. If this proves to be our last game of the tournament, we can hold our heads high. We exceeded all expectations to this point, and we represented well. We aren't going to break our backs in this one to stay alive. Even if we do, we are likely to draw King Drive Ballers next anyway. It's probably time to turn our focus back to league play, and work on obtaining HCA through the finals, and ensure that we ourselves, are an NBBA team next season"

Before the Cup game against Rocket Science, Arizona has a road trip to play Forza Juventus on Saturday. Forza is ranked just one spot behind Arizona, and are incredibly tough at home. Forza is sure to test the perimeter of the "Desert Swarm" defense. Even if Tuesdays game against Rocket Science is indeed their last of the tournament, things do not get any easier in the last month of the season. Arizona has 6 of ten games left on the road, including 4 against top 40 teams. PG Danila said "We are thankful we have the 2 game lead now, because things will only get tougher. We are up for the task...but we know we are going to have to bring our A game to hold everyone off.".

This is shaping up to be a fun and exciting month to conclude the regular season, and sets up one of the most exciting post seasons II.4 has seen in some time!

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By: INA-Hassan Donnelly_295
To: Jason

316202.2 as reply to 316202.1
01/12/2013 16:14:59

how in the world does all this merit a national ranking of, what, 51? makes no sense.

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By: Jason
To: INA-Hassan Donnelly_295

316202.3 as reply to 316202.2
01/12/2013 19:13:09

Hey Hassan! Thanks for keeping tabs on my team :-) I think overall, I am okay with the ranking, because if you take the previous 12 games befor this season, we are under .500 during that stretch...where i take isssue is the fact that there are still a handful of D3 teams ranked ahead of us...that bugs me :-)

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Arizona's historic week is rewarded with a trip to #4 Rocket Science