Re-printed with permission from the April 4, 2022 version of the Daily Bugle®. NEW YORK — A lost season in Manhattan turned into the best stretch of professional basketball the Big Apple has ever seen. Led by midseason addition Joel Embiid, the Manhattan Spiders went on a 30-2 tear down the stretch, including a near-sweep of powerhouse Hamburg BSV in the COMO Finals, to capture the city's first hardwood championship since 1973. The Spiders started the season 3-11 and 11-17 before getting healthy and climbing up the North Star standings. They overwhelmed Shorewood and Sunnyvale in January and February to claim the top seed in the conference, a run that coincided with a trade for Embiid on Jan. 13. Billy Sunday's team earned a first-round bye, swept Sunnyvale 3-0 in the North Star finals, and then defeated Hamburg (the league's regular-season champion) 3-1 in what would've been another 3-0 sweep had Manhattan's Montrezl Harrell not laid a rare "zero" at the end of Game 2. The Spiders didn't blink, winning two straight to close it out, and had perhaps their best performance of the season in the clincher. "It feels even better than we thought it would!" co-general manager Alex Krause yelled in the locker room. Krause, who officially added co-GMs Jack and Abbey Fink this season, has fielded a few good teams since founding the expansion Spiders in 2015. But they've never come close to winning a ring before this year; perhaps their best shot was in 2020, when key players were kept out of the COMO Bubble that provided a somewhat unsatisfactory ending to an endangered season. After missing the playoffs last year and starting very slow this past October and November, fans began to call for Krause's job. Sunday night, he was suddenly a champion, and was already talking about becoming the first back-to-back champ since Shorewood in 2016 (three straight). "Our blend of organizational teamwork was the key to our success," Krause said. "We are grateful for what we were able to accomplish this season. But one championship isn't enough for any of us. We'll see you all again this fall." Notes
List of COMO Finals MVPs
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SHOREWOOD, Minn. — For Rio general manager Brendan Halleron, there was never a doubt that Jabari Parker would be wearing a Rainmakers jersey this season. Prince's squad took the Duke star No. 1 overall in Sunday night's COMO Rookie Draft, which didn't lack any drama after the first few selections were made. But Parker was the unquestioned choice at the top spot. "Compared to any other draftee, his situation, skill set, and motivation were far and away the best," Halleron said. "Wiggins could be great down the line. It was a tough decision. But I think Jabari possesses more now and could be as great or better than Wiggins. I feel this is very much a Oden/Durant situation. But I can't look at it as a bad decision. At this point in time, I made the choice I wanted to make and I have to live with it." A gruesome injury to starting small forward Paul George in a USA exhibition game this week means that Parker will be battling with Kawhi Leonard for the minutes this year. Halleron plans to give Leonard the reins until Parker shows he can handle being the man. "I planned on cutting George anyway to try and sign him for less," Halleron said. "His injury is unfortunate but I planned on him not being here. Leonard will start until Jabari is consistently putting up solid numbers." After Hollywood (Andrew Wiggins), Minnesnowta (Dante Exum) and Kansas City (Julius Randle) made safe choices during the next three picks, Colorado owner Collin Atkinson threw the first curveball of the night. Doug McDermott, the first official Hilltopper in team history, was drafted No. 5 overall out of Creighton. Just before the selection, Minneapolis traded Newport Beach the No. 7 overall pick in a deal that included Zach Randolph and his $4 million contract. Newport proceeded to use the selection on injured Kansas star Joel Embiid. "There's no chance he would have fallen if he was even moderately healthy," said Mayer, who offered a simple scouting report on the seven-footer: "GOAT status." The Player Haterzz weren't done making moves. Owner Dan Renfro sent Trevor Ariza ($2 million) to Shorewood for the No. 10 pick (used on T.J. Warren) and a 2015 second rounder. Later, they used back-to-back second rounders on Adreian Payne from Michigan State and Rodney Hood out of Duke. Atkinson continued to make bold moves in the back half of the draft. He selected Jarnell Stokes and Jordan McRae -- two players who weren't expected to be drafted -- at No. 15 and No. 21 overall. Here are the final draft results: 1.1 (1) RIO • Jabari Parker (Duke), Milwaukee
1.2 (2) HOLLYWOOD • Andrew Wiggins (Kansas), Cleveland 1.3 (3) MINNESNOWTA • Dante Exum (Australia), Utah 1.4 (4) KANSAS CITY • Julius Randle (Kentucky), Los Angeles Lakers 1.5 (5) COLORADO • Doug McDermott (Creighton), Chicago 1.6 (6) SHOREWOOD (From Newport Beach) • Elfrid Payton (Louisiana-Lafayette), Orlando 1.7 (7) NEWPORT BEACH (From Minneapolis) • Joel Embiid (Kansas), Philadelphia 1.8 (8) DUVAL UNITED • Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State), Boston 1.9 (9) CHASKA • Nik Stauskas (Michigan), Sacramento 1.10 (10) MINNEAPOLIS (From Shorewood) • T.J. Warren (NC State), Phoenix 2.1 (11) RIO • Noah Vonleh (Indiana), Charlotte 2.2 (12) HOLLYWOOD • Aaron Gordon (Arizona), Orlando 2.3 (13) MINNESNOWTA • K.J. McDaniels (Clemson), Philadelphia 2.4 (14) KANSAS CITY • Shabazz Napier (Connecticut), Miami 2.5 (15) COLORADO • Jarnell Stokes (Mississippi State), Memphis 2.6 (16) MINNEAPOLIS (From Newport Beach) • Adreian Payne (Michigan State), Atlanta 2.7 (17) MINNEAPOLIS • Rodney Hood (Duke), Utah 2.8 (18) DUVAL UNITED • Zach LaVine (UCLA), Minnesota 2.9 (19) CHASKA • Cleanthony Early (Wichita State), New York 2.10 (20) SHOREWOOD • Dario Saric (Croatia), Philadelphia* 2.11 (21) COLORADO • Jordan McRae (Tennessee), Philadelphia *Saric is not currently signed to an NBA roster. Shorewood will own his rights until he signs, and then he will be activated immediately. SHOREWOOD, Minn. -- With the inaugural COMO Rookie Draft looming on Aug. 3, it's time to take an early look at what teams might do with their selections.
Remaining selections11. Rio Rainmakers
12. Hollywood Hornets 13. Minnesnowta Chill 14. Kansas City Monarchs 15. Expansion Franchise 16. Newport Beach Grizzlies 17. Minneapolis Player Haterzz 18. Duval United 19. Chaska Moose 20. Shorewood Show 21. Expansion Franchise (Expansion pick) |
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