CHANHASSEN, Minn. — The org won its fifth ring. The star won his fourth. But what some might consider "old" felt very fresh as the clock ran out on Game 3 at Paisley Park. Shorewood, winners of four titles in the 2010s, had waited 5 years to climb the mountaintop again. And LeBron James, who had been a secondary piece on three other championship teams, finally got his flowers as COMO Finals MVP. The honor, along with his record sixth All-COMO Playoffs selection, cements his case as a first-ballot COMO Hall of Famer in what's sure to be a crowded first class later this decade. "LeBron is one of the most important characters in this league's story," Shorewood GM Alex Smith said following his team's 3-0 sweep. "He's helped win it for us before. He's beat us in the Finals. We've beat him. And to have a chance to work with The King again this year feels like a full-circle moment." Way back in 2015, the Show traded for James at the trade deadline, and he helped them upset Chaska in the Finals for a second consecutive year. Then, he was gone to free agency, never to return... until this January. A balanced, veteran Shorewood squad used James' presence to finally find some chemistry in what had been an up-and-down season. They surged late, earning the No. 5 seed and peaking against Scranton and Hamburg BSV in the quarterfinals, and semifinals, respectively. While the Show cooled off in the Finals, they had the good fortune of squaring up against a Paisley Park team that was completely out of gas after a magical playoff run from the No. 7 spot. Paisley GM Brendan Halleron thanked his first-year coach, Ted Lasso, for "injecting a new level of belief" in a mostly downtrodden franchise, and cited an inspiring speech about adversity and potatoes. "If you can do it once," Halleron said, "you can do it again." That certainly rings true for Shorewood, which won titles in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2019 before a half-decade championship drought that ended Thursday night. As the champagne flowed in the visitors' locker room, James had his arm around legendary coach Bobby Finstock, who finally had "one for the thumb." "There are three rules that I live by," Finstock told reporters as James shook his head and smiled. "Never get less than twelve hours sleep, never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city, and never stand between this man and a trophy. Now you stick to that, and everything else is cream cheese." 2024 All-COMO Playoffs team
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First Team All-COMOSecond Team All-COMOMINNEAPOLIS — No one thought it would take this long, but LeBron James finally collected his first COMO Player of the Week award.
The Minneapolis superstar averaged 42.25 bones over four contests (he missed Sunday's game with a broken nose) to edge out Chaska's Kevin Love (39.00 over five games) and etch his name into the record book. James won the October/November Player of the Month despite never picking up a Player of the Week nod. Player Haterzz owner and general manager Dan Renfro brushed off the idea that James has played below expectations this season. "It's always nice when the best player on the planet plays like it," Renfro said. "It's cute how quickly people forget that." Fourth-place Minneapolis currently holds an 8.5-point advantage on the nearest two teams (Newport Beach and Minnesnowta) with three weeks to go. As long as LeBron stays on track, the Haterzz should be just fine. Once the playoffs begin, however, the Chaska Moose will be the heavy favorite to take home the championship. Will the Player Haterzz attempt to bolster their roster before the Tuesday trade deadline? "If we can acquire a player or two that can hate on our level, we will," Renfro said. "Otherwise we're set to make a run at (Chaska's) F*ck Boy Fink's squad, who is the favorite. Luckily for us, the Hollywood Hornets owner has described how F*ck Boy chockes when it matters most." Sexual innuendos aside, the playoffs should be fun. MINNEAPOLIS — We've hardly heard a peep from the media about the third-place Player Haterzz this season. Maybe it's karmic retribution for the team's namesake. Maybe it's just irony.
But the spotlight is now firmly on Minneapolis thanks to stud forward LeBron James (30.0 COMO points per game in 16 starts), who claimed the inaugural COMO Player of the Month award for October/November. "It's nice having the best player on the planet," owner Dan Renfro said in a written statement Monday. "Worth every penny." James, of course, has the highest salary in the league ($52 million). However, he has not claimed any of the seven COMO Player of the Week awards. In fact, if Hollywood and Chaska had not screwed up their lineups just one less time, James likely would've lost out to Chris Paul (30.13 in 15 starts) or Kevin Love (30.53 in 15 starts). "It's cute that some folks get worked up over weekly awards," Renfro said. "The Player Haterzz are in it for the long haul, and the COMO title is the only thing we worry about. It's also nice that of the two teams I think could beat us... one is five years late to greatness, and the other is run by Isaiah Thomas." Jabs at other teams aside, Renfro once again pointed fingers at the media. "We'll get the press when it matters," he said. "As the COMO league trophy is hoisted high over our championship heads." CHASKA, Minn. – This week was a poor one by Moose standards. Chaska finished fifth in the COMO standings and was knocked out of the top spot in the season standings by in-state rival Minnesnowta.
But there was one ray of California sunshine as the cold northern winter began to set in. Kevin Love notched his second straight COMO Player of the Week award for his four-game performance. The power forward — an early favorite for COMO MVP — averaged 33.0 COMO points to narrowly edge out Rio's Andre Drummond (32.75) for the honor. Minneapolis' LeBron James had a higher scoring average (33.67), but played one less game. Under POW rules, James would've had to average at least 2.0 more COMO points than Love to secure the award with one less start. It's worth noting that while Love has now won two weeks in a row, he still hasn't led the league in average during either week. Duval's Kevin Durant and Hollywood's Anthony Davis were in line to win last week before league officials discovered those teams had started too many players — Durant's and Davis' best scores were lopped off the team and individual totals. Technicalities aside, Love is the first player in league history to snag POW honors two weeks in a row. Now, his team needs to get back on track. "Kevin puts his heart and soul into every game," owner Joseph Fafinski said, "and DeMarcus Cousins can't get more than seven points? That's ridiculous." |
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