A Fun Rookie Ride

[CaptainSB 117]

In his first season in the VHLM, Samsayz I-Smell had a great initial season. He joined late off waivers to the Houston Bulls playing backup defensive minutes to a veteran laden team. The team was already second in their division and was looking for some solid late minutes from the rookie. I-Smell came in early and had a bit of an adjustment as the team started slow into a 1-3 record. However as he became more acclimated to the team, the team and I-Smell came together and started to play better by the week. The team went on an incredible 15 or so game run and I-Smell kept playing solid minutes and assisting in many of the games. It became a good happy story of a hidden gem helping a team late. The season though fell a little short as with the crazy late run, Houston ended up tied with the eventual champions Wild as the top. What could have been had Houston took the tie breaker and had a different matchup! 

 

The Bulls ended up taking on their nemesis the Las Vegas Aces. The two teams battled hard as they had done during the season. During the season, Las Vegas had the better of the two having won the last two games with the current squad. Also, Las Vegas has a history of having beat Houston in the playoffs so this was a litmus test to see how far Houston had come under the GM, AJ. However, in this playoffs the team would not go down quietl y and fought tooth to nail. With Vice leading the scoring and I-Smell playing solid defensive backup minutes the team went on a great 4-1 series win over the Aces and made easy work over their nemesis. The Teams had some rough battles in between with many penalties and body blows taken, but the good teams always seem to prevail in these moments and Houston went on to the semi-finals against Ottawa.

 

In the matchup against Ottawa, the two teams were locked in a battle. The two teams went to game 7 in a stellar contest with both sides exchanging constant blows. Neither team would want to be denied and both thought they were destined. The two teams would constantly take one game a piece with the other winning the next one. Houston decided to rely on their more veteran starting lineup so I-Smell played more cheerleader and started to defer to the captains of the team. And the strategy worked like magic as Houston ended up with the great series 7 game. However, the team ended up falling slightly short as Ottawa, division winners, just were too much offensively for the Bulls. The better team had unfortunately won, but Ottawa ended up being swept by the Wild in the finals. 

 

Had the seeding been different, the Bulls can only wonder what could have been once again as the Bulls were favored over the other teams in the playoffs. It was just a bad luck case of bad matchup and Houston will go into the offseason looking to figure out how their GM can overcome the disappointment of the playoffs and build off the strong finish to the regular season. I-Smell is not sure what the future entails but has really enjoyed a fun rookie season.