Reprinted with permission from the St. Paul Pioneer Press. ST. PAUL, Minn. — Giannis Antetokounmpo has been here before. The Minnesnowta Chill have not. After the final buzzer sounded in a bizarre, subs-laden Game 5 of the COMO Finals between the Chill and the visiting Cream City Bricks, one could sense the difference between Antetokounmpo (business-as-usual as he accepted his second career Finals MVP trophy) and owner/GM Matthew Taylor, who yelled out in triumph as he skipped around the court and took selfies with fans. "It feels absolutely incredible, man," Taylor told the Pioneer Press. "We knew this day would come when we formed this franchise 10 years ago, but with all the heartbreak that this team has faced over the past decade, even we started wondering if we were cursed ... COMO CHAMPS, BABYYYYYYYYYY!" This was the perfect ending to a wild, unpredictable playoff season. The Chill, No. 3 in the regular season, entered the Finals as major underdogs to the No. 8-seeded Bricks, who had miraculously overcome several serious obstacles to reach the ultimate series. Cream City's historic run was an all-timer For starters, Cream City only had $79 million on the payroll, by far the lowest of any playoff team ('Snowta had $124 million, by comparison). Bricks GM Jack Hughes, in his first season without a co-GM, had been a seller at the deadline. But in return, he collected key pieces that led the most improbable playoff run in league history. Both Kristaps Porzingis and Mikal Bridges made the All-Playoffs team after getting shipped to Milwaukee, while Immanuel Quickley came up with a season-saving, career-best performance (50 bones) to steal Game 3 of a first-round series against No. 1 seed Scranton. All of that after the Bricks needed some help to even make the playoff field on the final day of the regular season. They insisted on drama at every step of the way, following the Scranton series with a 5-game, back-and-forth triumph over Sunnyvale, and then a 5-game Finals that went down to the wire. "Some people thought moving on from [Julius] Randle and [John] Collins was me giving up on the season," Hughes said. "But I felt getting Porzingis, Bridges, and Quickley back was not only going to set me up for the future, but also for the rest of the season. Once everyone got healthy, we showed what we could do." Overnight superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is set for a new contract this summer (likely $30 million), which will likely prevent the Bricks from making another "Moneyball" run in 2024. For his part, Hughes was non-committal when it came to the topic of locking up his first-team All-COMO guard. "The goal is to keep as much of the squad together as possible," he said, adding that the team will take a "cheap" approach in free agency. Greek Freak's journey a fateful one But the best player on the floor wasn't SGA. It was Giannis. The future COMO Hall of Famer added a fifth ring to his trophy case (his previous four were with Shorewood), and a second Finals MVP to match former teammate Stephen Curry for the most in league history. "This win cemented Giannis's status as the undisputed COMO GOAT," Taylor said. "Having the Freak on your team automatically makes you a COMO Finals threat. We'd be fools to not do all we can do to bring him back." Antetokounmpo only ended up in St. Paul after Taylor overslept during the COMO auction. The commissioner's office placed an auto-bid to bring the Greek Freak to 'Snowta after nine seasons with the Shorewood Show. With his one-year, $43 million deal now up, he figures to be one of the most sought-after free agents once again. 2023 All-COMO Playoffs team
List of COMO Finals MVPs
0 Comments
|
Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|