COMO Finals: Cleveland Outlaws climb the mountain, outlast Chaska Moose for first championship5/7/2021 Reprinted with permission from the May 7, 2021 edition of The Plain Dealer. CLEVELAND — Less than two years ago, the Cleveland Outlaws were a moribund, small-town franchise located in the foothills of the western United States. Then known as the Colorado Hilltoppers, the franchise had failed to make the playoffs in all five seasons of its existence. The owner abandoned ship late in the offseason. And the league needed a fix, fast. By some stroke of fate, a two-man group—who had no clue there was an opening—faxed the league office indicating interest in owning a team, should such an opportunity arise. Within hours of the original owner's departure, Nate Atkins and Wade Rupard took control of the organization. They soon moved to Atkins' hometown region and rebranded as the Cleveland Outlaws. In Year 1, they smashed expectations and finished 43-39 to earn the team's first-ever playoff berth. This year, they beat up an extremely competitive conference to earn the Empire's No. 1 seed. Thursday night, they clinched the league championship on their home floor. "It’s crazy to have turned the franchise around as quickly as we did," Rupard said. "But we were built for this. We’re building a dynasty here in Cleveland. This won’t be the first banner we hang." Indeed, the Outlaws have a few stars under contract for next season. COMO Finals MVP Kyrie Irving (who clinched the series with a 46.00 average in Game 4), Jimmy Butler and Clint Capela all have multi-year deals, while a group of younger players—including late-season surprises Jae'Sean Tate and Moses Brown—figure to extend their stays. The front office swung pre-draft deals for Damian Lillard (Kansas City) and Donovan Mitchell (Memphis), then added Butler from Scranton in February. They completely mortaged their draft future, but that's unlikely to affect them much over the next couple seasons. Atkins pointed out that the team got sufficient bulletin-board material in January from Minnesnowta Chill GM Matthew Taylor, who insinuated that the Outlaws had built their team without much of a plan. "Ever since a rival Empire GM said we had poor roster construction, we took it upon ourselves to build the most complete team possible," Atkins said. "Thank you to Matthew Taylor for inspiring the trade for Jimmy Butler, who became a horse for another Finals run." Butler was one of three Outlaws to make the All-COMO Playoffs team (Irving and Capela were the others). They needed every last ounce of help to squeak by Cream City in the semifinals—league miscommunication on a Bricks substitute extended the series and caused no small amount of controversy in the Rust Belt—and then put a halt to Chaska's momentum when it mattered most. In signature fashion, the post-game celebration was soaked in vitriol. "We know the league will never vote for us for executives of the year or for any of our players to be first-team All-COMO," Atkins said. "We’ll have wins changed to losses after the fact and our rule-change proposals denied, but we will always persevere because that’s what Cleveland does. It’s a city of champions." On the other side of the scoreboard, Chaska was a particularly despondent runner-up. The Moose are now 0-4 all-time in the Finals, including the past two. Their roster is set for a near-complete implosion this offseason, and they've traded away their next two first-round picks. However, they do have an amazing silver lining to build around: second-year star Zion Williamson averaged 30.68 bones over 19 playoff appearances to earn a spot on the All-COMO Playoffs squad. Speaking of which, here's the 2021 team: 2021 All-COMO Playoffs selections
List of COMO Finals MVPs
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Re-printed with permission from the Chronicle Herald
ORLANDO, Fla. — James Harden's swift path to redemption met its terminus on Friday as the Sunnyvale Slayers star put the finishing touches on his COMO Finals MVP performance. It was a year ago when—following an ugly playoff exit—general manager Matthew Quammen dangled Harden in several trade offers and coach Lavar Ball trashed the perennial All-COMO player in the media. Harden and the team were unable to find a buyer, and they eventually put those events behind them. Following a 4-2 Finals win over Chaska, Harden (44.5 bones) now has two rings, his first Finals MVP, and a Hall of Fame legacy carved in stone. Still, as the champagne flowed in the bubble, the front office was not quite ready to admit any fault for nearly sabotaging their championship team. "We did put Harden on the block (last year) as he'd failed us in the playoffs," Ball said in the locker room. "James understood that. What I think surprised him was that the rest of the league showed limited interest. That disrespect pushed James to another level this year, as if he dumped a Kardashian again." Salt aside, this is a team that performed at its peak at the perfect time. The bubble restart hamstrung certain teams (cough, Manhattan, cough) and gave Sunnyvale a major opportunity. It capitalized. Harden got help from fellow All-COMO star Kawhi Leonard, acquired in a midseason trade from Cleveland. Leonard posted a 35.00 average over two starts, and was the only other Slayer to join The Beard on the All-COMO Playoffs team. "Kawhi is a champion and he was huge," Ball said. "I'm told no other ownership group would give up a first (-round pick in a trade), which is crazy to me. You play to win the damn thing." He added: "Star power conquers all. Matt Quammen and Trent Johnson taught us that a long time ago." The championship party extended into the wee hours of the morning. The folks of Sunnyvale and the greater Dartmouth also held a notable celebration. Ball said he heard that local celebrities Julian, Ricky, and Mr. Lahey were on the prowl, saying, "COVID isn't the virus we're worried about tonight!" Ball also made sure to let the world know that the Slayers would be back for more in the winter. "I appreciate the haters," he said. "We could've won three or four by now, but we were getting BBB off the ground, taking over Australia, building the JBL. So this championship feels good but it mainly feels like the start of a dynasty." 2020 All-COMO Playoffs team
GREELEY, Colo. — The day before the COMO draft, Colorado general manager Collin Atkinson sent a surprise message to commissioner Alex Smith: This would be Atkinson's final season. Five years of subpar basketball had taken their toll. Smith confirmed details of the conversation with the Greeley Tribune. He said that the message wasn't shocking, given the Hilltoppers' struggles (110-300 in five seasons). But, hours later, he was stunned by the timing of another message, this one from a potential ownership group inquiring about 2019-2020 membership. Nate Atkins (based in Detroit) and his business partner Wade Rupard (Minneapolis) had stumbled into the conversation at the perfect time. Smith quickly asked Atkinson if he was willing to transfer ownership, and he obliged. Roughly 24 hours before the draft, Atkins and Rupard held the reins of the Colorado Hilltoppers. It'd be one thing if the pair were intimately familiar with the league rulebook and various transactional contexts. But, in fact, they knew little about the day-to-day process of owning a COMO team. It was with this baggage — or lack thereof — that they immediately began building their draft board. Once the event began, the league allowed Colorado to execute a basic trade with St. Louis that had been loosely agreed upon under Atkinson's watch (the Hilltoppers' No. 5 overall pick for Nos. 8 and 10). 'If you ain't first, you're last' The Toppers' first official pickup was Duke guard/forward Cam Reddish, and two picks later, they added Virginia guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who greatly boosted his draft prospects in the NBA Summer League. Atkins said the team originally targeted Vanderbilt point guard Darius Garland at No. 5, but decided to accept the package of picks instead. The guy they got at No. 8 — Reddish — was high on their board, anyway. "We loved Cam Reddish so much we honestly considered him at No. 5," Atkins told the Tribune. "He is the reason we were OK passing on Garland (who went to Hamburg at No. 6). "Our picks are almost all about upside and the same is true for Nickeil, who could soon be lobbing passes to Zion (with the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans)." Rupard said it was part of the organization's aggressive mindset. "We want to build a team that can contend for a title, and this is the first step," he said. "That's our ultimate goal. As the prophet Ricky Bobby once said, 'If you ain't first, you're last,' and that's a motto Nate and I live by." Zion arrives in Chaska The world has seen few conclusions as foregone as the No. 1 selection Sunday. Chaska — once a COMO powerhouse, now a cellar dweller — was able to inject a significant amount of positivity into its franchise with the addition of Duke legend Zion Williamson. General manager Joseph Fafinski told SWNewsMedia.com that no fewer than six COMO teams made trade inquiries regarding the No. 1 pick. Nothing was tantalizing enough to follow through on. Once Williamson's name was called, Fafinski made it clear to reporters: "We're rebuilding." A big part of that mindset is John Wall's albatross of a deal ($28M) that will hang around the Moose's neck until 2021. The roster is full of iffy contracts (Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, even Kristaps Porzingis), but even if Fafinski cleans house, Wall's deal makes it tough to complete a rebuild through free agency. Perhaps the former All-COMO player will show a spark this season and become a trade-deadline prospect. Regardless, Fafinski is feeling pretty good. "Woke up today and remembered getting Zion wasn't a dream," he said Monday. Expansion teams finally add talent The first-ever Hamburg Villagers and Scranton Stranglers arrived Sunday via the draft. Each team had three picks: first round, second round, and expansion round. The Stranglers, slotted at No. 4 overall, made a bit of a splash by taking North Carolina guard Cobi White. Two spots later, the Villagers selected Vandy guard Darius Garland. The two new teams are in the same conference, so they'll be able to directly measure their progress against each other in 2019-2020. Their next opportunity to land players will be in the Expansion Draft (slated for Sept. 29), when other teams' cut players $14M and below will be available. After that, they'll participate in unrestricted free agency with some limitations. 2019-2020 COMO Draft results (first round)
2019-2020 COMO Draft results (second round)
CHASKA, Minn. — Give the Chaska Moose credit; They battled back from a large deficit in Game 7 to nearly draw even with the favored Shorewood Show at Hazeltine Court.
But all the Show had to do was get Steph Curry the ball. The COMO Finals MVP came through, and outgunned Chaska's Klay Thompson to deliver a second straight championship to Shorewood. Meanwhile, fans in Chaska witnessed their second straight Finals Game 7 loss at home. "There's little doubt Chaska has been the most dominant team of the past two seasons," Shorewood GM Alex Smith said of the back-to-back regular season champs. "But we've come through when it matters most. And tonight, we made history." The No. 2-seeded Show were not as efficient as in their semi-finals demolition two weeks prior, but still got important contributions from Curry (26.89 bone average), trade-deadline acquisition LeBron James (29.20), Pau Gasol (24.50) and LaMarcus Aldridge (22.43) in the Finals. Young guns such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nerlens Noel and Elfrid Payton also made surprisingly strong contributions to the playoff run. "You look at our roster, and it's obvious we're here to stay," Smith said. "We'll be the outright favorites to make it three in a row next season, and there's no doubt in my mind that our boys are already thinking about a three-peat." Moose GM Joey Fafinski will oversee a squad that will likely be Shorewood's biggest challenger in 2015-2016. "We gave it our all this year," he said. "We're bummed we didn't take [the championship]. Special props to DeMarcus [Cousins] and near-MVP Tim Duncan. You can bet we'll be back. United We Graze, as always." Cousins, who missed much of the playoffs with injury, was Chaska's lone All-Playoffs selection. Minnesnowta's Kyrie Irving got the shooting guard nod, while the rest of the spots belonged to a dominant Shorewood lineup. 2015 COMO All-Playoffs Team PG Stephen Curry, Shorewood (27.65 // 20 starts) SG Kyrie Irving, Minnesnowta (23.20 // 10 starts) SF LeBron James, Shorewood (29.07 // 15 starts) PF Pau Gasol, Shorewood (25.22 // 18 starts) C DeMarcus Cousins, Chaska (37.00 // 8 starts) 6TH LaMarcus Aldridge, Shorewood (25.24 // 17 starts) CHASKA, Minn. — On Monday night, Moose GM Joseph Fafinski threw in the towel and texted "congrats" to Shorewood GM Alex Smith.
Fafinski had made the ugly mistake of leaving shooting guard Klay Thompson on the bench, and missed out on a 45-bone performance that could've swung the Finals momentum. But despite the fact that he's already given up, there is still one more thing working in his favor: unpredictability. The final day of the NBA season brings plenty of crazy start-or-sit conundrums to the table, with several stars playing limited minutes. This silly guessing game will not necessarily help Fafinski, but it gives Chaska a shot to climb back from a significant deficit. Here's the breakdown on the final night of COMO basketball. THE FAVORITE: Shorewood Show. After absolutely destroying the field in the semifinals, Shorewood got off to a relatively slow start in the Finals. That's history, though, as the Show put its foot on the gas this past weekend behind superstar Stephen Curry. Currently, Shorewood has made one more start than Chaska, but has a 77-bone cushion. Essentially, Chaska has five starts against Shorewood's four to make up that deficit. Here's the projected Show lineup for Wednesday night: PG Stephen Curry [27.38 // 8 starts] SF LeBron James [29.20 // 5 starts] PF LaMarcus Aldridge [24.17 // 6 starts] C Pau Gasol [25.00 // 7 starts] It's likely that two or more of these guys will not actually play tonight, so some lineup switching will probably be in order. Here are the replacement options: PG Elfrid Payton [21.00 // 2 starts] SF Giannis Antetokounmpo [16.50 // 2 starts] SG Khris Middleton [zero starts] PF Kelly Olynyk [zero starts] With the exception of Payton, it's possible that none of those guys will play tonight, either. The Show could potentially be in some serious trouble if things don't break its way, lineup-wise. Which brings up to... THE UNDERDOG: Chaska Moose. It's odd to see that tag applied to the Moose, who have pretty much run rampant throughout most of the past year, and locked up the regular season title in February. But here we are for a second straight year -- Shorewood is coming on strong when it matters most. Injuries have somewhat crippled Chaska this postseason, especially the loss of DeMarcus Cousins, who averaged 38.33 bones in three Finals contests. But there's still some decent talent on the floor. Here's the projected lineup: PG Ty Lawson [23.50 // 2 starts] SG Dwyane Wade [12.33 // 3 starts] SF Klay Thompson [18.00 // 3 starts] PF Tim Duncan [25.13 // 8 starts] C Enes Kanter [23.00 // 2 starts] Again, nobody is really a lock to play significant minutes on Wednesday night. If any of those guys drops out, here are the replacement options: PF Al Horford [23.83 // 6 starts] PG Kyle Lowry [zero starts] SG Nik Stauskas [zero starts] As the day goes on, there will be plenty of updates on players' availability. For now, Chaska is simply hoping that chaos reigns. If so, the coup will not be bloodless -- we're looking at the biggest upset in COMO history if the tables turn. COLUMBIA, Mo. — Kevin Love and Michael Carter-Williams were named February/March Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month, respectively.
Love averaged 35.29 bones in 17 starts for Chaska, the COMO regular season champions. Carter-Williams won his fourth straight ROM, and is essentially a shoe-in for Rookie of the Year. He averaged 14.73 bones in 15 starts for Minnesnowta. League award schedule: Monday, March 24 — League MVP / Rookie of the Year Tuesday, March 25 — All-COMO teams (1st, 2nd) CHASKA, Minn. — Joseph Fafinski was still in his luxury box well after the lights were turned off at Hazeltine Court.
The grueling COMO regular season had come to a close, and his Chaska Moose had snuck out the league title by a hair. Duval United made a great run at the crown, but fell short by 0.5 standings points. After everyone else had gone home, only Fafinski remained with a gaggle of reporters. His words were confident, but they belied the nervous wreck he had been hours earlier. "It was pretty obvious that we had the best team all year," Fafinski said. "We're excited to home the regular season trophy, but this is only the beginning." Fafinski has his sights set on the four-and-a-half weeks of playoff games between his team and the real prize: a world championship. After eking out the regular season 'ship, the Moose have a bit of momentum going forward. Star player DeMarcus Cousins (likely to be named to one of the All-COMO teams on Wednesday) was a last-second injury scratch, meaning other players needed to step up. Enter Kyle Lowry, the resilient point guard who plugged the gap with 38 bones. "Kyle helped calm my nerves," Fafinski said. "It served as a medication of sorts. I got nervous when DeMarcus was injured. I had to replace him with either Wes Matthews or Andre Iguodala. It was a no-brainer. I hate Iguodala." Before ushering everyone out of his private suite, Fafinski offered one last token of wisdom to the rest of his peers. "Good luck to everybody in the playoffs," he said. "You'll need it." CHASKA, Minn. — It's been awhile.
Chaska power forward Kevin Love collected his fifth COMO Player of the Week award for his two-game performance from Feb. 24 to March 2. Love had not picked up a POW nod since December. "Kevin took note of Dan Renfro's unprovoked remarks, and decided to show him who the real Player of the Week is," Chaska owner Joseph Fafinski said. Fafinski is, of course, referring to the Minneapolis Player Haterzz owner, who routinely barks at the Moose. "I'll see you in the playoffs," Fafinski said to Renfro. "For the first couple weeks, anyway." SHOREWOOD, Minn. — It's official: After several months of trade rumors, we finally have the first COMO swap.
Chaska (first place, 62 points) receives: • PF Paul Millsap ($4 million) • C Amir Johnson ($1 million) Rio (seventh place, 38 points) receives: • SG Victor Oladipo ($3 million) • SF Tyreke Evans ($2 million) The move was clearly done with Rio's future and Chaska's present in mind. The Rainmakers gave up stud forward Millsap (23.2 bones per game) and any realistic chance of making the playoffs in order to get ahold of Oladipo, a rookie and the Moose's best prospect. Chaska has been shopping Oladipo for the past two weeks, as several key players have gone down with injuries. Millsap adds a very productive scoring option to an already dangerous offense. "Victor is a great player, and we wish him a long and productive career in Rio," Chaska owner Joseph Fafinski said. "However, Paul Millsap's value with Al Horford out indefinitely — coupled with his cheap contract — was too good to pass up." Speaking for Rio owner Prince, general manager Brendan Halleron was very excited about jettisoning one of his best players for Oladipo. "Prince is pleased to add the Voodoo child Victor Oladipo," Halleron said. "He hopes he can bring the black magic to the team." After being in playoff position in December, Rio has slid all the way to seventh, and appears to be more interested in making a run for the first overall draft pick than a spot in the postseason. "It was time to set a standard in the locker room that we don't take s--- from anyone," Halleron explained. "Leave the garbage basketball at home." Who was bringing the garbage? "The entire team," Halleron said. CHASKA, Minn. — What is Love?
The clear-cut favorite for 2013-2014 COMO MVP, that's what. Chaska's offensive powerhouse continued an impressive run of dominance on Sunday night, when he racked up 58 bones to lead the Moose to its second straight No. 1 finish. Chaska (44 standings points) is now tied with Minnesnowta for the league's top spot with 11 weeks to play in the regular season. "The thing about Kevin is that, no matter the situation, he turns in greatness every game," Chaska owner Joseph Fafinski said. "Kevin's performances, coupled with guys like DeMarcus (Cousins), Jrue (Holiday) and Al (Horford), are the reason this team is tied for first. We couldn't be happier with COMO's MVP so far." The POW award is Love's second straight and fourth of the season. After narrowly missing out on the October/November Player of the Month award to Minneapolis' LeBron James, Love looks like a shoo-in for POM in December. Now, his team is back in the regular season title chase. "We're not going anywhere, folks," Fafinski said. "Chaska is in it for the long haul." |
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