WATCH: Meleek Thomas receives uplifting message from his coach which inspires him to lead City Reapers to an OTE Playoff victory 

Meleek Thomas receives uplifting message from his coach which inspires him to lead City Reapers to an OTE Playoff victory  (Image: IG/meleek.thomas)
Meleek Thomas receives uplifting message from his coach which inspires him to lead City Reapers to an OTE Playoff victory (Image: IG/meleek.thomas)

Meleek Thomas led his team, the City Reapers, to another victory in the Pokemon Playoffs to go up 2-0 against the Fear of God Athletics. The City Reapers need one more win to advance to the finals after grabbing a 77-65 win on Wednesday.

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In the second quarter, Fear of God Athletics had a 23-15 lead when Thomas took a mid-range shot and missed. In a video uploaded by the official page of City Repaers, head coach Doug Martin called him over and gave him an uplifting message:

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"You gotta be patient. You are trying to force it. Be patient. I think it was a good shot and I felt like you rushed it a little bit. Just keep playing, keep playing. I believe in you. You gonna be the reason we win this game. So just keep playing. It's slow and that's why we gotta get our own energy. We gotta push. We gotta push. We gotta push." said Martin.
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Thomas also displayed his mindset after coach Martin told him that he would be the reason the team would win the game, saying:

"I think we gonna be the reason (to win this game)."

Meleek Thomas finished the game with 22 points on 33.3% shooting, including 25.0% from beyond the arc. He also dished out two assists, grabbed nine boards and stole the ball twice in 36 minutes.

Both Amari Evans and Micah Tucker scored in double digits. Evans had 13 points, two assists, eight rebounds and one block while shooting 100.0% and 14.3% from the 3-point line. Meanwhile, Tucker scored 18 points, grabbed three rebounds, dished out five assists and stole the ball twice. He shot 75.0% from the field and converted 80% of his shots from the charity strike.

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Meleek Thomas' teammate Amari Evans wins OTE DPOY

Tennessee signee and No. 68 recruit in the 2025 class, Amari Evans, won the Overtime Elite Defensive Player of the Year award in back-to-back years. On3's Joe Tipton took to Instagram to reveal the news:

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The 6-foot-5 shooting guard had a phenomenal 2024-25 season, averaging 15.8 points, 3.8 assists, 7.3 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 0.6 blocks per contest. He also became OTE's All-Time Steals leader in Feb. after totaling 113 steals.

Meleek Thomas even took to his Instagram story to ask the audience to vote for Evans for the Defensive Player of the Year award:

Meleek Thomas asks for DPOY votes for teammate Amari Evans (Image: IG/meleek.thomas)
Meleek Thomas asks for DPOY votes for teammate Amari Evans (Image: IG/meleek.thomas)

Meleek will be joined by Darius Acuff and Isaiah Sealy at the Razorbacks next season.

Edited by Nadim El Kak
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