SHOREWOOD — Number four was different; the locals were here. The Shorewood Show clinched their fourth title in six seasons on Thursday night. In their three previous conquests, they'd won on the road. Last year, the Show had two opportunities to clinch in front of the Shorewood faithful, but failed both times (including a heartbreaking Game 7 loss to Newport Beach). Finally, they broke through as a sellout crowd at Big Reggie's Danceland soaked it in. "This makes it special," general manager Alex Smith said. "There's no plane to catch. There's no bus to hop on. It's just us and the community that has embraced great basketball for six years." Shorewood's run is among the greatest in professional sports history. After winning three straight titles, they've remained among the league's elite; a fact that was once again obvious Thursday. Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo — who was named Finals MVP after posting 42 bones per game, including 67 in Game 1 — is COMO's unquestionable alpha dog. He has an important offseason of contract negotiations ahead, and maximized his value as the Show finished the playoffs on a 7-game winning streak against the league's two best regular-season teams. Shorewood came into the playoffs as the No. 3 seed with a strong lineup but seemingly little chance of running the table. Sunnyvale (65 wins) and Minnesnowta (67 wins) were major roadblocks ... at least, on paper. Smith had even reportedly tried to ship star guard Ben Simmons to St. Louis at the trade deadline. After the Show breezed past the Slayers in the semifinals (a surprisingly easy 4-1 victory), they advanced to play the Chill, a team that had gone 6-1 against the Show during the regular season. What followed was a set of dramatic games, sure, but all of them swung Shorewood's way. In particular, Game 3 looked to be Minnesnowta's for the taking, but point guard Kyrie Irving missed key shots down the stretch and Shorewood small forward Rudy Gay came through with the winning bucket. 'Snowta GM Matthew Taylor was particularly disappointed with Chill center Hassan Whiteside. "How do I explain the 4-0 sweep? Hassan Whiteside is how," Taylor said. "The dude choked when the lights were brightest and he won't be missed in St. Paul next season, that's for sure. Hats off to (Shorewood), though. Giannis is a helluva player." Up until the Finals, it was a dream season for 'Snowta, which posted the second-highest win total in COMO history (67). Taylor made the tough offseason decision to dump two-time COMO MVP Anthony Davis, opting instead for a more balanced lineup. The gamble paid off. "Didn't expect (67 wins)," Taylor said. "Kyrie, (Bradley) Beal, (Nikola) Vuc and (Rudy) Gobert stepped up and we look forward to bringing them back next year to compete for a 'chip again." For now, the trophy is back where it started: in Shorewood. "A run like this is once-in-a-lifetime stuff," Smith said, fighting back tears. "If you look at the résumé we've put together, it's untouchable. This is the best basketball team in the world. The best franchise. And we're sure as hell not taking this for granted. I might go crack a Grain Belt and give out some aggressive high-fives, but mostly I just plan on letting this sink in. God bless, guys." All-COMO Playoffs 2019 PG Bradley Beal, Minnesnowta (30.20 / 15 starts) SG Devin Booker, Shorewood (29.13 / 15 starts) SF Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shorewood (37.86 / 14 starts) PF Nikola Jokic, Shorewood (29.25 / 16 starts) C Rudy Gobert, Minnesnowta (32.07 / 15 starts) 6th Nikola Vucevic, Minnesnowta (31.21 / 14 starts) Honorable mentions: Clint Capela, Shorewood (26.50 / 18 starts), Andre Drummond, Duval United (32.42 / 12), James Harden, Sunnyvale (32.45 / 11), Ben Simmons, Shorewood (27.80 / 15), Kyrie Irving, Minnesnowta (29.50 / 12)
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ST. PAUL, Minnesota — Entering this year's playoffs, the Minnesnowta Chill had stood on the doorstep of the COMO Finals four times. Much like the residents of the Twin Cities, this team had grown accustomed to slipping and falling on its ass. Saturday night, that officially changed. The Chill — coming off a dominant 67-win regular season — put the finishing touches on a demolition of rival Duval United. Point guard Kyrie Irving poured in 40 bones. Shooting guard Bradley Beal topped that with 41.5. All-COMO post Rudy Gobert had 37. And so on. 'Snowta is now 7-1 this postseason, but now must slay an annual bogeyman. The Shorewood Show have made a habit of reaching peak efficiency this time of year. Three times, they have won the COMO Finals without winning the regular season title. Saturday, they completed a surprising 4-1 takedown of No. 2 seed Sunnyvale with the help from newly announced 2018-2019 league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (more on him below). But Shorewood has not captured a league title since 2016. The Show fell to St. Louis in the semis in '17, and then blew a 3-1 Finals lead against Newport Beach last April. They've played extremely well in the playoffs this year, but they don't quite have the depth to be considered favorites against 'Snowta. The Chill owned the Show in the regular season — a 6-1 mark — so it's not a stretch to think Irving, Beal and co., will be able to bring St. Paul its first professional basketball title. Minnesnowta has exhibited the sort of balance that helped St. Louis blow through the 2016-2017 season. In fact, the Chill were the first regular season champions in COMO history to not place a single player on the All-COMO first or second teams. Irving, Gobert and fellow post Nikola Vucevic were all named to the third team. Other notables include breakout star Montrezl Harrell and former All-COMO standouts DeAndre Jordan and Hassan Whiteside. Both squads are, more or less, in great health, which means fans in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area should expect an impressive Finals clash. Greek Freak named MVP (again) James Harden and his Sunnyvale Slayers earned a higher playoff seed, but Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Shorewood Show stole it away with a 4-1 semifinals win. As it turns out, Antetokounmpo stole the regular season MVP award, too. League general managers slightly favored the Greek Freak over Harden, giving Antetokounmpo his second consecutive MVP award. The two players had an epic battle over the weekend, as Harden notched 57 bones against Antetokounmpo's 52 (the Show prevailed to clinch the series). Those numbers, of course, had no bearing on this particular vote, which was conducted at the same time as the All-COMO voting. Harden and Antetokounmpo were the only players to receive unanimous first-team consideration. Here's a closer look at the MVP results:
COMO Finals schedule Game 1 @ Minnesnowta (Sunday-Monday) Game 2 @ Minnesnowta (Tuesday-Thursday) Game 3 @ Shorewood (Friday-March 24) Game 4 @ Shorewood (March 25-28) Game 5 @ Minnesnowta* (March 29-31) Game 6 @ Shorewood* (April 1-3) Game 7 @ Minnesnowta* (April 4-7) *if necessary |
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