Paris Kyles and Minnesota Elite hand Omar Tires their first loss in Fridley this season

Kyles

Last night’s matchup between Omar Tires and Minnesota Elite was being branded as the game of the season in the Fridley Rec-Plus League. Omar Tires came into the game as the only undefeated team remaining in Fridley, boasting a 5-0 record, while Minnesota Elite sat at 4-1, with their only loss coming in an 86-83 game against Air Ballers (a game in which they played without Paris Kyles and Zhao Lee).

Along with the two best teams squaring off, this game also featured a few of the best players in the league. It had Hall of Famer Paris Kyles going against the unstoppable duo of Kevin Thompson and Marquise Walker, who have arguably been the two best players in Fridley this season. Could Paris and the rest of Minnesota Elite establish themselves as the top team in the league, or would Thompson, Walker and Omar Tires prove they’re the team to beat this season?

The former ended up being the case, as Minnesota Elite came away with a 75-68 victory, giving Omar Tires their first L of the season.

The first half was pretty balanced, as Omar Tires went into the break leading 40-36. Thompson was the best player on the floor early, as you could see multiple defenders gave him a few inches of space to avoid getting beaten off the dribble. He used that space to bury four 3s, shooting 10-13 from the field in the game for a team-high 27 points.

The second half was when Kyles started to take over. He was going up against Walker on most possessions, but Minnesota Elite did a good job of using picks to switch lesser defenders onto Paris. Once he had a mismatch, he was able to get to his spot and either get off a clean look or get fouled. More often than not, it was the latter, as Paris shot 12 free throws (making nine of them), eight more than anyone on Omar Tires. Paris had a team-high 21 points on 5-15 shooting, adding five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Da’Jon McKnight deserves a lot of credit for his performance as well, as he had 20 points on 7-14 shooting from the field, adding a team-high 11 rebounds and three assists. Six of his 11 boards came on the offensive end, and more often than not, that turned into points for Minnesota Elite.

The two biggest factors in the game were the disparity of free-throw attempts and the performance from role players. Minnesota Elite shot 18-23 from the free-throw line, while Omar Tires shot 10-13. Those eight extra points proved to be massive in a game that was decided by seven points. This once again sparked the “Paris gets every call” narrative, which you 100% believe when you play against him and 100% detest when you play with him. The most telling thing I heard last night regarding this came from Sonny Young-Graves of Omar Tires, who said, “It’s hard to beat LeBron James,” when walking off the court after the loss.

As for the role players, Minnesota Elite got much more production from their whole team than Omar Tires did. Geno Phelps and Steven Ellis both scored 9 points and shot over 50% from the field, while John Hoven added nine points and eight rebounds. Zhao Lee was also productive, putting up seven points and three assists, but he had to come out of the game in the second half with what looked like an ankle injury. Even when he was out of the game, he was constantly communicating while on the bench and trying to help Minnesota Elite get the W.

Omar Tires got 47 combined points from Thompson and Walker on 18-28 shooting from the field. The rest of the team scored 21 points on 7-21 shooting. Thompson and Walker are good enough to win games by themselves, but against a top team like Minnesota Elite, they need more help from the other three players on the court. Maybe they’ll be able to get it if these teams face off again in the playoffs, which I wouldn’t be upset about seeing.