Highlighting the 2021 TBL Champions - Enid Outlaws
The Enid Outlaws are a TBL (The Basketball League) team owned by Jonathan Reed and are based in Enid, Oklahoma. The Outlaws play in the Central Division alongside teams like the Houston Push, Shreveport Mavericks, Omahas Finest, and much more. Having only joined the TBL in 2020, the team impressively won the TBL Championship in their first season!
Best Wins and Worst Losses
In the regular season, the Enid Outlaws went 22-2 (91.7 W/L%). No other team had a better record besides the Houston Push, who also went 22-2. The only two losses that the Outlaws had were against the Houston Push and the Dallas Skyline. The first loss was against the Push on May 9th, 2021. Although the Outlaws lost, the score was close, losing 96-98.
Their second loss was the game right after their first loss. On May 15th, 2021, the Enid Outlaws lost 111-114 against the Dallas Skyline. Another close game. The reason for this particular loss was probably due to their inefficient shooting. Whereas the Skyline shot 51.2% from the field, the Outlaws shot 45.8%. Charlie Marquardt, Kyle Steward, and Tavares Sledge of the Outlaws shot less than 33.3% from the field:
C. Marquardt: 4/12 FG
K. Steward: 2/7 FG
T. Sledge: 3/9 FG
Despite the terrible loss, the Enid Outlaws beat almost all of their opponents easily. In 15/22 of their wins, the Outlaws beat the other team by more than 20 POINTS!
The Enid Outlaws' best win was on May 2nd, 2021, against the Waco Royals. The Outlaws beat the Royals, 161-80. An 81 POINT win! It's not surprising that the Outlaws won by this much, considering the Royals went 5-19 (20.8 W/L%). Five players on the Outlaws scored more than 20 points, whereas not a single player on the Royals scored more than 20 points:
L. Waters III: 31 Points
C. Marquardt: 24 Points
K. Steward and W. Runnels: 23 Points
C. Comanche: 22 Points
The Enid Outlaws ended up shooting 61.1% from the field! The only person that shot less than 50% on the team was Tavares Sledge, scoring eight points while shooting 37.5% from the field.
Even though 37.5FG% is not good, the Royals only shot 31.4% from the field. George Brock went 6/13 (26.1%) from the field, while Ryan Harris went 1/8 (12.5%).
The following game, the Enid Outlaws, had another blowout, beating the Midtown Prestige by 50 POINTS, 156-106. Again, it makes sense that the Prestige lost by this much, considering that they were the second-worst team in the TBL. They were 4-20 (16.7 W/L%) in the regular season.
61.1% from the field is already amazing. However, in this game against the Prestige, the Outlaws shot 70.2% from the field on 84 shots. The player with the lowest field-goal percentage on the Outlaws was Kyle Steward with 42.9%, but even then, that's still not that bad. Interestingly, the Prestige were not even playing that bad either. They shot 57.1% from the field, but their pace was just a lot slower.
The Enid Outlaws' Best Player: Chance Comanche
Without a doubt, the Enid Outlaw's best player in the 2020-21 TBL season was Chance Comanche. Comanche is a Power Forward/Center that entered the 2017 NBA Draft but was unfortunately not selected. As a result, Comanche ended up playing for the Memphis Hustle and the Canton Charge, the Memphis Grizzlies, and Cleveland Cavaliers' G-League affiliates.
With both teams, Comanche averaged:
7.5 Points, 5.0 Rebounds, 0.6 Assists, 0.3 Steals, and 0.7 Blocks
55.9 FG%, 73.9 FT%
16.6 Minutes
It may not seem like the most impressive numbers, but in 16.6 minutes, this is a pretty decent stat-line.
After his two seasons in the G-League, Comanche would join the Enid Outlaws and ball out. He ended up averaging:
28.1 Points, 12.8 Rebounds, 2.0 Assists, 0.8 Steals, and 1.3 Blocks
69.6 FG%, 79.6 FT%
(Minutes Unknown)
Comanche was a Top 10 Leader in almost every statistical category:
1st: 28.1 PPG
2nd: 12.4 TRB, 69.6 FG%
3rd: 8.8 DRB
4th: 4.0 ORB
6th: 1.3 BLK
10th: 70.1 2P%
As for his stats compared to the rest of the Enid Outlaws players, Comanche led every statistical category except for assists and free-throw percentage. No other player on the Outlaws averaged more than 20 points. The closest to 20 is Charlie Marquardt with 18.8 PPG.
To no one's surprise, Comanche ended up winning the 2021 TBL Most Valuable Player award. No one else was near as good as Comanche besides Little Rock Lightning's Percell Washington.
Comanche's best game was on June 5th, 2021, against the Omahas Finest. The Enid Outlaws ended up winning 143-113 primarily due to how dominant of a game Comanche was having. He ended up putting up:
40 Points, 20 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 3 Steals, and 4 Blocks
15/17 FG, 10/14 FT
Chance Commanche is no longer on the team and plays for the Yeni Mamak Spor in the Turkish Basketball League. He is not playing as well as he was in the TBL, but he still plays at an All-Star caliber level, averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 62.2% from the field.
2020-21 Playoff Run
In the first round of the TBL playoffs, the Enid Outlaws went against the Omahas Finest. The Outlaws never lost to the Finest in the regular season, so unsurprisingly, the Outlaws beat the Finest, 2-0. In the first game, the Outlaws won, 130-119. Chance Comanche, Charlie Marquardt, and Lindy Water III scored more than 26 points and shot more than 50.0% from the field.
The Finest also put up a pretty good fight in the first game. Brandon Jones, Devin Patterson, and Kevin Scott scored more than 25 points and shot more than 47.0% from the field. The game ended up going to the Outlaws because outside of the Finest players that I just mentioned, everybody other Finest player essentially did nothing.
The second game was a complete blowout. The Enid Outlaws would win, 164-110. A 54 POINT loss! The Outlaws had THREE players score more than 30 points in this game:
T. Sledge: 39 Points
W. Runnels: 34 Points
C. Comanche: 30 Points
You would think that one of these players was the star of the game, but the best player in this game was Devin Patterson of the Omahas Finest. He put up:
47 Points and 10 Rebounds
15/25 FG, 7/11 3P, 10/14 FT
The Finest could have won this game if it weren't for Kevin Scott. Although he shot 13/14 from the free-throw line, he shot 2/10 from the field and 1/5 from the three-point line.
The second round was against the Houston Push. The Push would be the Enid Outlaws' toughest opponent. The Push were the only team to win one game against the Enid Outlaws. In the first game, the Outlaws lost severely. They lost, 118-98. The team was shooting extremely poorly:
D. Harris: 37.5 FG%
K. Steward and Q. Denson: 33.3 FG%
T. Sledge: 27.3 FG%
On the other hand, the Push had three players score 20 points while shooting more than 53% from the field. The only player that performed well in this game for the Enid Outlaws was Chance Comanche, putting up the typically efficient 20+ point and 10+ rebound game.
The second and third games would be a lot better for the Outlaws. In the second game, the Outlaws won 109-95, and in the third game, 115-104. The reason that the Outlaws won both games was... Chris Comanche. In the second game, Comanche put up:
37 Points, 12 Rebounds, 1 Block
14/21 FG, 9/12 FT
In the next game, he put up:
30 Points, 10 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Block
8/15 FG, 14/14 FT
No one on the Houston Push could outrebound Comanche. The only player close to Comanche in rebounds was Ruston Hayward, who averaged eight rebounds within those two games.
Besides Comanche, Charlie Marquardt and Tavares Sledge played great in Game 3:
C. Marquardt:
25 Points, 3 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 3 Steals
9/14 FG, 3/5 3P, 4/5 FT
T. Sledge:
19 Points, 12 Rebounds, 1 Assist
6/12 FG, 3/4 3P, 4/7 FT
In the third round, the Semifinals, the Enid Outlaws faced the San Diego Guardians. The Houston Push were the Outlaws' most significant obstacle, so the Guardians were a walk in the park. The Guardians were the first seed in the Western Conference but were only 13-7 (65.0 W/L%).
In the first game, the Outlaws won 115-78. Comanche, Marquardt, and Harris scored more than 20 points and shot more than 50% from the field. I stated previously that no one on the Push could outrebound Comanche, but literally, nobody even came near to outrebounding Comanche on the Guardians. In this game, Comanche had 18 REBOUNDS. That's more than 50% of the Guardian's total rebounds (31).
The second game was somewhat closer. The Outlaws won, 123-94. Although Nigel Jones of the San Diego Guardians played amazingly, scoring 30 points, that was still no match for the Enid Outlaws. In this game, it was apparent how important rebounding is. Comanche and Sledge combined for 25 rebounds, and the Guardians team as a WHOLE ended up with 25 rebounds.
Finally, the Enid Outlaws went against the Syracuse Stallions in the TBL Finals. The Stallions had a pretty good regular-season record. They ended up going 20-4 (83.3 W/L%) and were the first seed in the Eastern Conference. However, like the last few matchups (besides the Houston Pushes), these two games would be easy for the Outlaws.
In the first game, the Outlaws won, 129-108. The player that performed the best in this game was not Comanche but Marquardt. He ended up putting up:
39 Points, 6 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 2 Steals
14/23 FG, 8/15 3P, 3/3 FT
Marquardt was only averaging 17.6 points throughout the finals, so he came in clutch with this performance. Even throughout the regular season, Marquardt never put up a 30+ point game until this Finals match against the Stallions. Getting a career-high in points in a Finals game is a HUGE flex.
In the second and last game of the Finals, the Enid Outlaws won 120-107. This time, Marquardt took a step back and only scored six points. Comanche stepped back up to the throne again, putting up a monstrous:
38 Points, 10 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal
15/21 FG, 8/8 FT
This is most definitely Comanchee's second-best game, behind his 40 points and 20 rebound game.
Although he's not on the Enid Outlaws, I wanted to highlight Trahson Burrell's performance in the Finals for the Syracuse Stallions. Although they lost 2-0, Burrell still performed amazingly in both games:
Game 1:
33 Points, 10 Rebounds, 8 Assists, 1 Steal
10/23 FG, 4/11 3P, 9/11 FT
Game 2:
32 Points, 12 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steal
14/24 FG, 4/8 3P
And just like that, the Enid Outlaws would win the TBL Championship in their first season in the TBL. The Outlaws ended with an 8-1 record throughout the playoffs, only losing one game to the Houston Push.
