Grand MaMa's Still Trying to Find Identity in 59-46 Loss

The Grand MaMa's haven fallen to 1-4 after their 59-46 loss to Tylers last night in the Brunswick Mens Rec League.

The tale of the tape includes turnovers, poor three point shooting, and a bad fast-break defense.

The MaMa's stayed close during the first half of play, but a short run by Tylers at the end of the half pushed their lead to seven, 32-25.  The MaMa's would get no closer.

During the second half the MaMa's attempted to use their size.  This was the first game this season where they had a larger front court than the opposition. New faces Matt Eberwein and Kevin Morgan benefited from the inside-out approach, totaling 29 points and 17 rebounds between the two.  Eberwein has moved his rebounding average to over 10 boards a game (10.4).  Morgan led the team with 19 points.

Though throwing the ball inside is something the team isn't quite as used to during their normal jump shooting, attack the basket offensive approach.  During a few moments with the ball in the post, the movement would be stagnant, with no cuts to the basket, leaving the post player to force shots or to try and create something on their own.  These moments usually led to turnovers and easy baskets on the other end.

The MaMa's could also only manage a 21% outing from three point range, which derailed their offense on a few occasions.  The team is only shooting 27% from there this season and will need to move away from the three during games where the shots are not falling.

The team seems to want to utilize the inside-out approach more often going forward, especially against teams like last nights; under-sized.  Being able to find a solid post presence, especially with the size the team now possesses, will likely benefit the team in more ways than one.  Not only will Eberwein and Morgan be able to use their skills close to the basket, but with more strong cuts to the basket, and a more inside-out look, the three point shooters will have more space and more easy layups will be had.

The time of the Grand MaMa's next game was not available at the time of this article.

Grand MaMa's Suffer Second Largest Loss in Organizations History

Back in 2010, when the now Grand MaMa's were the Reignmakers, the team lost their opening divisional-placement game by 27 points to Young and Reckless 59-32.

The team combined to shoot 8% from three point range, only made 14 total shots on the night (25%) and scored only 12 points in the second half.  Only two members of this year team were playing that day as Brandon Hunter (5/23 from the floor) led the team that night with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Fast forward almost four years later.

The Grand MaMa's (1-3) fall to The Family by 26, losing 72-46.

The numbers from the two games are extremely similar as the team only shot 18% (6/34) from three and 26% (19/72) total for the game.  The MaMa's could only put up 15 points in a second half where shots within 5 feet of the basket seemingly rolled off the rim all night long.

The Family spread the game out early, scoring 24 of their 39 points in the first half off of three pointers and truly never looked back; they totaled half of their points from beyond the arc spreading the Grand MaMa's 2-3 as thin as they could.

On the offensive end, the Grand MaMa's had a fairly balanced scoring attack, point total wise, with Brandon Hunter leading the team with 12 (7 rebounds), followed by Kevin Morgan with 11, Jason Hunter with 9, and Matt Eberwein with 8 (11 rebounds).  Andy Kempf (4 points, 11 rebounds) and Chuck Caldwell (2 points) rounded out the scoring effort that was never going to be enough on this evening.

There were some positives to take from the game, though you have to dig a little.  The team is starting to hit the glass harder as a unit, grabbing 41 rebounds.  Eberwein and Kempf are closing in on averaging 10 rebounds a game, though only through four games, and Chuck Caldwell is nearly 3 rebounds a game(3.8) over his career total (1.9).  The Grand MaMa's will also likely never face a team quite as talented as The Family for the rest of the fall season and even throughout its upcoming winter season.  The Family has been a staple in the Brunswick Rec League Upper Division, routinely finishing at the top of the standings there for the past few seasons.  The Grand MaMa's have finished near the top of their division respectively, but in the League's Lower Division.

The Grand MaMa's are also still a bit slim when it comes to their overall roster numbers as Kyle Komer, Justin Woo, and Brent Hunter were all absent from this nights contest.  Woo and Hunter will likely be out the entire fall.  Player-coach Kerry Hunter has yet to dress for a contest this season.

The Grand MaMa's will look to bounce back next Monday.  Time for their game has not been disclosed at the time of this article.

The Grand MaMa's Score Their First Win

With a large scoring output, The Grand MaMa's (1-2) defeated Long Shots by nearly 30 points this past Monday, 76-50.

The MaMa's had three players in double figures, Brandon Hunter (24), Kevin Morgan (20), and Jason Hunter (17).  Brandon Hunter added ten rebounds for the first double-double of the teams season.  Morgan and the oldest Hunter sibling combined to shoot 4 of 10 from three point range and 10 of 15 from inside the arc.

Matt Eberwein (8 points) and Andy Kempf hit the glass hard totaling 12 and 10 rebounds respectively.

Chuck Caldwell added seven points and four rebounds as the Grand MaMa's shot 47% from two point range as a team.

The good guys led by only 8 points headed into the half, but as they have in the past, opened it up in the second, outscoring the Long Shots 44-26.  They constantly found open shot underneath and behind the defense of their opposition resulting in layups and uncontested baskets.  The 2-3 zone worked to perfection as the MaMa's held the Long Shots to only 5 three pointers.

The Grand MaMa's will take on their toughest opponent to date facing The Family this coming Monday at 8:10.