Playoffs?!?

Playoffs. No, I'm not talking about the NBA playoffs. I don't follow the NBA. The only thing I knew about this year's playoffs was the Heat was in it, and they didn't win. Were they supposed to be good? I don't know. Like I said, the NBA just isn't my wheelhouse. Too much drama.

I'm talking about something much more serious: Palau National Women's League playoffs.

Intimidated? You should be. Pay no attention to the floral clothing in the background of this photo. This is serious basketball; there is no hour-long "Decision," just 40 minutes of basketball.

In case you missed the broadcasting, we played in April at the Palau National Gymnasium. This is where Kryptonite's magic happens...

Before even making it to the playoffs, Kryptonite had to win in a play-in round. We won, and our first opponent was Bring It On. I mentioned earlier that Bring It On had beat us pretty badly once during the season, so we all knew we'd have a tough series.

When it comes to playoffs, you leave nothing on the table. So we ramped up the practice times to two, maybe even three times a week. I'm not going to lie, there was one shooting drill where Jubilee had me running sprints between shots and I almost lost my lunch afterwards. If I remember correctly, Ryan's way of encouraging our tall ladies to play tough was to "stop pretending that you're a grizzly bears cuddling puppies." Clearly things were getting serious. It even got to the point where Veronica and I started running plays in the law library instead of working. OK, so maybe that didn't happen....and maybe along the way we had a team movie night where we giggled, ate seven layer dip, popcorn, and jellybeans, and watched Princess Bride. But trust me, it started getting real.

Thanks to all the effort, and the fact that Jubilee officially took herself off maternity leave, giving us another amazing guard, we defeated Bring It On in just two games! There were definitely some bruises along the way, but everyone played incredibly tough. As usual, I was really, really effective at cheering and handing out water when needed. What can I say, I don't choke in the playoffs.

So we made it to the finals. But we were set to play Money. You know, that team comprised of 5 or 6 girls that played on Palau's national team from the Micronesian games. No big deal right? Wrong. Suffice it to say that we played our Kryptonite hearts out, and went down fighting after two games. We won't dwell on the details, and it doesn't really matter because we were all smiles at the end, got a ginormous trophy, and of course a feature article in the Island Times.

And...wait for it...I scored a few points. That's right Schumaker family. The shortest one of you all managed to score 8 points [over the course of three games]! It only took an entire season, but man, my 10-foot jump shot is golden. Booya!

Team Kryptonite's 2011 season is over now, but I had a great time getting back into a sport that I have absolutely no business playing, and getting to know some fantastic ladies that I wouldn't have otherwise met. Sulang Team Kryptonite!!!

(Oh, and in case you're wondering, the jersey's coming back to Chicago.)