Game 3 in Pictures

Jason McGuinness stretching getting ready for the Game 3 showdown



Brian Brown was money all series long from the mid range.

Pat Sullivan trying to get his shot going. He struggled from behind the arc in the last 2 games.

Jake Vernon going to get ready for his game - he had his game face on all week long.

Greg Smith kept things close as he dominated in the paint.

Kyle Krol getting his game face on - waiting for his game to start

Doug was ready to pounce on Team 3.

Everyone in the gym went crazy after Richie hit the game winning 3 pointer.

Richie's shot was the best shot in PFOL history.

Team 1 advances to the Finals.

Pat Sullivan reflects on missed opportunities.

Brian Brown and Richie Smith discuss his buzzer beater

Edmound Elzy taking the ball to the hoop

Vernon playing lock down defense before fouling Elzy

Flatt going in to rebound an Elzy shot - Flatt had a season low 2 rebounds

Neff looking to post up Troy

Krol playing defense while Ashlee and Chelsea enjoy a brief break from the the players yelling at them.

Elzy was hitting from outside despite great defense from Neff

Vernon looking to seal the win. He missed to keep the door open for Team 2.

Game 3 will answer many questions

Indianapolis- Who will step up for Team 2 and lighten Edmound Elzy's burden? Will Team 3 avoid the biggest upset in PFOL history and move on the Championship game? How serious is Alan Mowrey's knee injury? Can Team 4 rebound from Tuesday's loss? Can Jake Vernon game back up all the trash talking that has taken place this week in the office? All of these questions and more will be answered less than 24 hours.

"I'm just glad there was only 3 days in between games instead of the normal 7 days", I don't think I could take another 4 days of Vernon's trash talking", said Edmound Elzy. "The pressure is all on them - they are the #1 seed, they are supposed to win".

GAME 3 NOTES

PFOL will attempt to live stream tomorrow's games on the Internet - games can be found at http://qik.com/abmowrey

Due to scheduling conflicts, Game 3 of the Championship Series will be moved to Friday, April 2nd.

Alan Mowrey is listed as probable for tomorrow's game (torn meniscus).

PFOL is anticipating the largest crowd in it's history. Officials are expecting over 10 people for tomorrow's game.

PFOL - Where Game 3 Happens

Team 1- 42
Team 4 - 39

Indianapolis - On Tuesday both Teams 1 and 3 knew what was at stake - win or go home. Team 1 beat Team 4 for the first time this season, narrowly hanging on to a 3 point win, 42-39. "We have had a problem holding leads and finishing down the stretch all season long. It feels good to finally get one against them", said guard Brian Stutzman.

Team 4 changed up their defense to start the game by going to a 2-3 zone. Alan Mowrey made quick work of that plan by hitting back to back 3's and scoring his team's first 8 points.

Guard Brian Stutzman played another great game at point dishing out 9 assists and coming up with 4 steals. Henry Kreutzinger continued to be a monster on the boards as he snagged 14 rebounds. Richie Smith chipped 8 rebounds himself to go along with 6 points.

Team 4's leading scorer Pat Sullivan was held to a season low 11 points. "I didn't get a good look all night".

Game 3 is scheduled for Friday at 11:45am.


Team 3 - 50
Team 2 - 31

Indianapolis - It was a long week for Team 3, as they had to wait 7 days to prove that they are not a fluke. It was a well balanced scoring attack lead by Simpson's 14 and Vernon's 13. Jake Vernon who wore a throw back Reggie Miller Jersey to intimidate Edmound Elzy, lead a team effort in guarding Elzy. "When I looked in the mirror this morning with my Miller jersey on, I knew what Reggie was feeling when he faced the Knicks, the jersey has something magical about it". When asked to comment, Elzy simply said, "whatever Jake".

Team 2 is left wondering what thier future is. "One week we look great, the next week we lose by 20", said Eric Flatt.

Game 3 is set for 12:30pm Friday.

Video Clips for Tuesday's Playoff game

Team 1 arrives at the arena. Rumor is they rented a bus that picked them up on Pennsylvania and dropped them off on Delaware.

Team 1's Nathan Burger giving a pre-game interview.

Hasen trying find his stroke. He missed a similar wide open jump shot that could have won the game in Game 1.

This clip summarizes Team 2's Day: Contested jump shot by Elzy, Team 3 runs the shot clock down only to get a offensive rebound and score on the extra possession.

Team 2's Eric Flatt clearly upset at his team's performance

Jake Vernon draws the foul just like Reggie used to

Simpson with a nice move inside.

Krol doing what he does best - takes a bad shot but hustles back on defense to stop (hack) a layup attempt.

R1, Game 2 in pictures

Burger, Kreutzinger and Stutzman arrive feeling very confident





Mowrey directing traffic




Mowrey shot Team 4 right out of their Zone Defense they tried.

Richie Smith getting to the hoop

Mowrey won defense player of the week honors by holding Sullivan to 11 points - well below his average.

Team 1 lives to play another day

Vernon took things to a whole another level - he vows to call Elzy "Starks" the rest of the playoffs.

Elzy drew attention from all 5 players on Team 3.

Balanced scoring was the key in Team 3's blow out victory.

Krol doing his Patented windmill layup.

Vernon was 3-12 from beyond the arc.

Elzy didn't have many open looks.

Win or Go Home

It’s do or die for two teams today. Team 1 and Team 3 both face elimination games today as each team is down 0-1 in the best of three series. “I live for moments like this. I am going to take this game over”, said Eric Gustafson from Team 3. While Gustafson was confident after game 1’s loss, some of his other teammates weren’t so optimistic. It was reported by a Conseco Fieldhouse security guard, that Jake Vernon was overheard last week in the locker room saying, “You know what the sad thing is? I am just not good anymore”.

The intensity of the playoffs and the long 7 day break between games has spurred a great deal of trash talking over the course of the week:

Edmound Elzy – “I guarantee we are not playing on Friday – this series is OVER

Hanson Wong – “I dare them to give me that open look again – I’m not missing that shot again”

Sam Elmore – “No one is coming in the lane today – you come in the lane you will meet the floor. We must protect this house!!”

Troy Brokl – “If this is our last game of the season, then I am going out slinging the rock. I’m going to get mine”.

Greg Smith – “Get me the ball and the game is over – this kid (Kreutzinger) was in diapers when I first started dunking on cats”.

Dave Neff – “You will never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody”

Nathan Burger “You will never see someone push someone as hard as I will push Evans today if he comes in the lane’

Jake Vernon – “I have something for Elzy that he has never seen before”

Misc Notes:

Brian Stutzman is questionable for today’s game after an intense 16 minute P90X ab workout last night

Jake Vernon listed as probable for today’s game after suffering from extreme cramping after his 5K race on Sunday

Edmound Elzy is active despite a sore back. Elzy has battled this injury all season long as a result of carrying his team on his back the entire season.

Eric Flatt is questionable after forgetting his hair product. “No way I am playing if I can’t do my hair afterwards”

Elzy and Team 2 are VERY confident going into Game 2 next week

Indianapolis - As Game 2 of the first round playoff series draws closer, Edmound Elzy of Team 2 is sending a message to top seeded Team 3. "I taking a vacation day next Friday, that is how confident I am that we will sweep them on Wednesday", said Elzy. "I don't even have anything planned that day -they can plan on NOT playing next Friday".


Elzy is so confident his team will win on Wednesday he submitted a vacation request form for the same day a potential game 3 would be.

Round 1, Game 1 Recap

Team 2 - 37
Team 3 - 33



Going into Game 1 of the playoffs, Team 3 had a lot to be confident about. They were the number 1 seed, they were playing a team who in their eyes was an inferior team and they arguably have the strongest starting 5 in the league. PFOL Sixth Man of the Year, Dave Neff even showed up 5 minutes late for the game and causally strolled in after the game was under way apparently not very concerned about the game.

Team 2 upset Team 3 on Tuesday 37-33 to take a 1-0 lead in the series. "Hopefully, this game woke them up and lets them know we are here to play" said Edmound Elzy. Team 2 held Jhared Simpson to just 10 points and no other player scored in double digits. Edmound Elzy scored 16 points despite being harassed by Jake Vernon all afternoon long.


With all of the offensive weapons that Team 3 had, they struggled to move the ball. Most of their possessions resulted in one pass and shoot. If it wasn't for a number of timely rebounds, this game would not have been as close as the score indicated.



Team 4 - 44
Team 1 - 40

The story of the season for Team 1 has been: get a large lead early in the game and loss the game in the final mintues. Team 1 has held double digit leads in all 5 of their losses this season. The same was true on Tuesday afternoon as Team 1 blew an early 12-2 lead and lost to the Team 4, 44-40.

"I blame myself for this loss. I usually blame Stutzman or Kreutzinger, but today I take full responsibility. We are a better team than them, I know we can beat them. Go ahead and buy your tickets for Friday, March 19th because I promise there will be a game 3", said Alan Mowrey.

Another major issue for Team 1 this season has been defense. "Certain players (wearing #24)refuse to play defense - it's as simple as that" said Brian Stutzman. Upon hearing the comments, Mowrey responded, "Really? He said that huh? Wait till next week. I like being called out. I can play defense, it's just at this stage in my career I need to pick and choose when to D up. It's on next week. Pat goes for single digits next week".




Chris Evans slicing up the soft defense of Team 1

Playoffs Round 1 Game 1 in Pictures

Chris Evans and Richie Smith battled all afternoon long




Mowrey trying to get it going from the outside - he was 0-4 free beyond the arc




Hasen showing his game even while on the sidelines

Brian Brown was clutch from mid range

Mowrey banging down low

This might have been one of the problems for Team 1. Riche and Henry discuss strategy while Evans and Jason listen in.

Jason goes in for the game winning layup with 25 seconds left.

Sam goes up for the dunk as Vernon tries to take his head off

Elzy slashing to the rim

Vernon had a "no layup rule" in effect for today's game

Flatt going up for a rebound

Neff drives the lane

Hasen still creeping

Edmound focusing at halftime

The next 4 pictures were all taken in succession

Jhared wasn't afraid to shoot the rock

a classic Doug Morgan corner 3

Vernon stroking it from the outside

PFOL fans enjoying the game from a suite

Playoff Preview

Team 1 vs Team 4
The PFOL playoffs begin Tuesday at 12pm with Team 1 taking on Team 4.  In a classic match up of offense vs defense, this promises to be a battle.  Despite a 2-4 record, Team 1 was the highest scoring team in the regular season, while Team 4 was the league's best defensive team.  This will be like the Suns vs Spurs.

Match ups to watch:

Chris Evans vs Richie Smith
In two games this season, Chris Evans has held Smith to 2 points total.  Smith is coming off his best game of the season last week. He is nursing a strained hip flexor but is determined to have a huge game vs Evans.

Henry Kreuetzinger vs Greg Smith
The rookie vs the veteran.  Can Greg keep Henry off the boards?  Can Greg put up his third straight 20 point game?

Team 2 vs Team 3
Top seeded Team 3 comes into the playoffs looking to prove once and for all they are the league's best team.  "I still feel we are underrated", said guard Troy Brokl.

League MVP Edmound Elzy knows he has a target on his back.  "No big deal, go ahead and add a target on my back.  I already have my entire team on my back, what's another target or two?", said Elzy.

Match ups to watch

Jake Vernon vs whoever guards him
With the league title on the line, look for some questionable calls from Vernon, especially if the game is close.

Edmound Elzy vs Jhared Simpson
Simpson has been looking forward to redeeming himself after getting torched by Elzy for 31 in week 5.

Tickets are still available for both games tomorrow by calling Troy Brokl's cell - 317-654-1234.

Elzy wins MVP amongst controversy

Indianapolis - A late barrage of votes in the final hours of Monday secured Edmound Elzy as the league MVP for the 2010 season.  Elzy received 39% of the 233 votes.  Dave Neff came in second with 30% of the votes.

To no one's surprise, controversy surrounds the PFOL MVP voting.  Several players around the league are now crying foul play.  "As late as this afternoon I was leading by 20 votes, and somehow his votes spike in the last few hours? All I am going to say is I saw him hanging out with Bob Cary at lunch today - very interesting", said Dave Neff.  It is believed that Elzy somehow hacked into the league website to manipulate the votes.

Other theories are also floating around. A staff member whom asked to remain anonymous had this to say, "I was working in my cube on Friday afternoon and all of a sudden Edmound pushes me aside and starts typing on my keyboard.  He logged on to the website, voted for himself and then left".  He just went from cube to cube. I thought it was wierd.

The league commisioner has annouced that no formal investagation will be held in relation to the vaildatity of the voting.

DEJECTED

Kyle Krol was left wondering what happened after a 20 point blowout loss

Team 1 - 55
Team 2 - 35

Team 1 scored a league high 55 points on Tuesday afternoon as they cruised to a 55-35 victory over a struggling Team 2. Richie Smith connected on three 3 pointers and Brian Stutzman handed out 13 assists. Alan Mowrey scored 20 and Henry Kreutzinger chipped in 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. "This was the best game of the season for us, if we play like this going into the playoffs I don't see many teams that can stop us", said Nathan Burger.

"I have been saying it all season long, you want to be playing your best basketball in March, not January and February", said Alan Mowrey.

Team 3 - 52
Team 4 - 46

Team 3 claimed the league title via tie breaker on Tuesday by beating Team 4, 52 -46. Both teams were missing key players and forced both teams to play 4 on 4. Things got heated between Jhared Simpson and Pat Sullivan as the game came down the stretch. "The game had a lot at stake and tempers started to flare up", said Jason McGuinness.

Jake Vernon had a solid game for Team 3, by putting up 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. "What's more impressive is that all of his shots hit the rim", said teammate Troy Brokl. Brokl, himself connected on all 5 of his 3 point field goals.

Greg Smith had another strong performance by putting up 20 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. "These fools need to realize that the offense goes through me", this isn't my first rodeo." said Smith.

Playoff pairings set

Team 3 vs Team 2
Team 1 vs Team 4

Now that the playoff match ups are determined, teams will have a week to prepare for next week's match ups. Team 1's Alan Mowrey is not afraid of letting Team 4 know exactly what the game plan for them will be. "Let's just say Chris Evans better have his head on a swivel while he's guarding Richie next week. We are not going to let him face guard him the entire game. I would practice calling out screens if I were Team 4".

Edmound Elzy is guaranteeing a round 1 upset of Team 3. "These cats haven't seen nothing yet from me".

Individual tickets are on sale now by tweeting @PacersVPTix