Isaiah Briscoe: Fireman of the Year Season Breakdown

A quick refresher on the Bring The Fire rule, which is unique to FIREBALL3:

Once per half, each coach is permitted to challenge a shooting foul (or a common foul, if their team is in the bonus and the foul would have resulted in a free throw.)

Once the challenge is issued, free throws are scrapped in lieu of a one-on-one challenge between the player who was fouled and the player who fouled him, with the former attempting to score on the latter.

If the offensive player manages to score, his team is given the corresponding amount of points; two points if he was fouled on a two-point shot, three if he was fouled on a three-point shot, and four if he was fouled on a four-point shot. The offensive player is also awarded the points if he gets fouled during the Bring the Fire Challenge. If the defensive player stops the offensive player from scoring, no points are awarded.

At the end of each season, the “Fireman of the Year” award is given to the player who makes the most combined baskets and stops in Bring The Fire situations. For the second year in a row, the BIG3’s Fireman of the Year is Trilogy guard Isaiah Briscoe.

This will not be a surprise to anyone familiar with Briscoe’s game. In order to score in a Bring the Fire situation, a player has to both get fouled and consequently win a one-on-one matchup.

Briscoe, who may be the most physically imposing player in the league even though he stands at just 6’3, excels in both of those areas. Briscoe is 215 pounds of pure muscle. Even though he’s capable of knocking down the occasional perimeter shot, he prefers to relentlessly attack the basket from the perimeter with unceasing downhill attacks. He’s also one of the best ball handlers in the league, and can perform advanced dribble moves during his forays to the rim. When a guard lives in the paint like that, he’s going to draw a lot of fouls.

Then there’s the second part of the offensive equation – making the basket after the foul is challenged. Briscoe doesn’t just excel at getting to the basket. When he gets near the rim, he gets his money’s worth, and his ability to keep his focus and make layups through contact is absolutely astonishing to watch.

Briscoe is not an easy guy to stop, or even contain. Even Bringing the Fire often isn’t enough to keep him from getting his points.

As for the defensive side of things, Briscoe is just as tenacious on that end as he is on offense, and he’s still nearly impossible to move. Also, he has a 6’10 wingspan. With that combination of strength, length, and speed, it’s nearly impossible to go through him, over him, or around him, so good luck scoring on him in a one-on-one situation. When you draw a foul on Briscoe, players just have to hope they can shoot their free throw before they hear the unmistakable sound of the Bring the Fire horn.