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Ouch, Grave Skull. That was a brutal third quarter. Otherwise, you hung with him. Their wingmen went ape on the 3-2, though... Maybe they caught your PF/C rotating late.

no, i had injuries to my two top players in the first half, my back ups did ok, but in the third the coach decided to put one of my injured starters back in

also as it was explained to me, your advantage of style and prediction weens after the half and talent if factored in more due to coach adjustments

anyways thanks for the compliment, congrats on your win, your guards really did a number on them but i guess that what happens when 2-3 zone meets the motion offense; your the last in the big eight still in the cup, so represent for as long as you can

That makes sense, then. That's a bummer about the injuries. At least they were just in-game injuries. I'll represent as best I can. But it all depends on the draw.

Attrition has begun to set in as last week's eight remaining cup survivors were halved to four. And before we look at this week's match-ups, let's have a little recap.


Thursday's National Tournament action

After falling behind 21-pts early in the 4th, CHI stormed back to within 4 with :20 left. But forced to foul and only able to sink one of four 3-pt attempts in the final seconds, they couldn't force the Telecasters (136) off the air and ended their bid for the cup with a valiant 119-113 home loss.

The Clams emphatically denied the CT attempt from ryber (468), giving the home crowd a 84-107 victory to brag about until next week.

Springfield knew when to fold 'em. And so they left most of their starters at home as they offered themselves up to Rik Smits Clogs (39) on the altar of Splijnterfuuts... to the tune of 24-96.

The headless chicken stopped kicking two days before his match with the Cincinnati Crusaders (742) and so the reformed franchise Dizzy Dunks played their first game in Team Scheming's stead. The team they scraped together in 2 days comported themselves respectably, but inevitably fell 86-58.

Despite leading at the half, Deadmen suffered some key injuries and couldn't overcome a dismal third period. They gave up the ghost as divinedragons (655) successfully defended their home court 52-75.

Mambas mopped the floor (57-107) with the miraculously weakened tootsies (305), who sold all their talent on Tuesday and replaced them with a ragtag crew of young scrubs.

Delpra has won the 1984 Olympics!! Wait... Make that: they beat Olympic 84 (1046), not as big a deal – especially when you consider that their opponent only fielded 3 players.

There was too much working against KOB to hope for victory against The Blur (611): venue, roster, tactical decisions. The 60-109 road thrashing means the All-Stars will watch the rest of the cup from the bleachers.


Previews of next week

Spenn visits RBC Center to face the Red Terrors (555) of IV.59. These two teams have similar rosters and depend on their star players to see them through to victory. Between the Brisson injury and HCA, I think odds favor a continuing reign of Red Terror.

Thursday will also see another IV.28 team travel to III.13 as Delpra square off against The Cruel Angels (139). Unless they throw a league game and save their starters for the cup, don't look for Delpra to fare much better that the Chi-town Storm last week.

Bird Machine (1268) of IV.26 come calling at Clutch Stadium this Thursday. And one has to favor the Mambas' depth in this one. Unless something goes awry, expect another victory for the snakes.

Inebriation Nation will ride the party bus to WindHill arena to see if they can still win a game if they're three sheets to the WindWalker (423). But they ought to make sure there's coffee in the locker room, because the Clams will have to muster all their wits if they want to take down IV.7's top team.

Last edited by rhyminsimon at 5/3/2014 9:46:21 AM

And then there was one...

IV.28 went 1-3 in the cup this week.

Spenn trailed for nearly the entire game – at one point in the third, they were even down by 19. A few baskets from Tona and Allende shortened the deficit to 14 at the quarter. And soon after the start of the 4th, Beatrix took matters into his own hands, jacking up Yiannakoglou on an inside attempt and forcing the Red Terror star to sit the rest of the game. With the lane now clear, Spenn put together a 27-10 run in the 4th to pull ahead with just over a minute to go. It didn't last long, though. A quick bucket by Donahue gave the lead back the the Red Terrors. Now forced to foul, Spenn got two opportunities to tie the game. But misses by Beatrix and Berzinš-Kalninš left Spenn to wonder what might have been, and nurse their pride after a 83-86 heartbreaker on the long ride home.

Delpra punted and let IV.28 fall to 0-2 vs III.13 this season. When the carnage was over, 24-98 was the final tally.

Despite an impressive stat line for Tam, the Clams couldn't handle Windwalker. So on the only stat that really matters, they ended up on the losing side of a 61-81 final.

The bright spot of the night was Clutch Mambas' win over Bird Machine. The Mambas out-shot, out-rebounded, out-defended... just plain out-played the team from IV.26. When the dust cleared, it was a 68-102 beat-down that sent the last team from IV.28 into the next round.

But this is likely the end of the road, as the Mambas drew EDH Wolves (13) – currently 4th place in the NBBA Big 8.

Future Team Outlook: Jordi Zurita

The first of two installments of the Future Team Outlook Series (pending further transactions)

They talk about his size, they talk about his potential, one thing they don't talk about: his age. The kid is just 22 years old and already has a huge role for the perennial contending Springfield Storm. He's the sixth man for one of the best teams in the league. During his first season with the Storm, when he was then a 20 year old uber prospect, averaged 16 points and 9 rebounds in 31 minutes per game. As a 21 year old, he averaged 16 points and 8 rebounds per game in what many considered an underwhelming season. This season, he's failed to show any growth offensively, averaging 13 points and 8 rebounds in 29 minutes of play per game. Although he's been a stalwart defensively in the early going. The front office apparently feels confident in his ability. The General Manager was quoted earlier in the season as saying, "He's the real deal. He's our Power Forward of the future. He'll be leading the charge soon enough." A big reason for his success is Coach C's hesitancy to hand Zurita the starting job based on potential. "He has to earn it, he has to produce. He's a bit unlucky in the fact that he's got two great bigmen in front of him in the rotation. But he's also very blessed in the fact that he's get two great mentors. Hopefully he can learn a lot from them and continue to improve and win the job outright."
Jordi Zurita appears to be in the future plans as an impactful starter with a long career ahead of him, but until then, he'll just have to make the best out of his situation.

Great post guys. I really enjoy your pieces.

Future Team Outlook: Denis Radzevich

This is the second and final installment of the Future Team Outlook Series (pending further transactions)

In the first installment of the series we talked about 22 year old Jordi Zurita and the impact he's made coming off the bench, while struggling to nail down a spot in the starting line-up. The opposite holds true for Denis Radzevich. Maybe it was because of need, or maybe he was just that advanced of a prospect, but Denis Radzevich hasn't taken much time to become a valuable contributor to the Springfield Storm. When he was acquired as a 19 year old, he served as a valuable back-up to then team MVP, Demis Passas. As his back-up Radzevich averaged 13 points and 4 rebounds in 33 minutes per game. Although during his age 20 season, his minutes were almost cut in half for unknown reasons. That off-season Demis Passas left via free agency, which opened up a giant hole at the Point Guard postion with giant shoes to fill. Denis Radzevich rose to the challenge, averaging 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists per game. He was viewed as a star in the making by fans, but critics weren't quite convinced of his talent, they said he could never repeat that season. So what did he do? He finished with almost the exact same stats the next season, posting 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists per game. Although he increased his shooting percentage from 42% to 47% and averaged 2.4 steals per game. He was doing great, but not good enough. Coach C said he had some work to do in the off-season, he said he needed to become a better passer and defender. He was a one trick pony. Denis Radzevich started this season like a bat out of hell, averaging 25 points and 6 assists per game. And he hasn't let up much since, he's averaging 5.5 assists and leading the Springfield Storm in scoring at an even 20 points per game. He's grown into an unspoken leader for the Storm, not to mention the kid's versatility. He's split time at all 5 positions since his arrival to Springfield. Coach C said, " He's my swiss army knife." We can go on all day at how dominating he can be offensively, but this season his defense is reaching elite heights. If he can continue to improve like he has been, Springfield will be hard to stop.

Last edited by C- Diddy at 5/13/2014 6:05:00 PM

A preview of tonight's league action:

#2 Drunken Clams @ #8 Seattle Tsunami – How will the Clams fare without the injured Tam to anchor them in the paint? With total salaries $25k below the salary floor, the Tsunami aren't in a position to expose the difference. The only interest in this game will be how big the PD will be.

#7 Wildkatz @ #1 Clutch Mambas – The Mambas are riding high as the only remaining cup team and the top red seed. And with their sixth man earning more than the Katz's top player, it's not difficult to imagine what this outcome will look like.

#6 Deadmen @ #5 Raleigh Roughriders – The Riders will look to extend their win streak to four against Big 8 teams. Their three-headed monster of Portarena, Shuoxian, and Zaimis look set to devour the Deadmen's skeleton crew of trainees and scrubs.

#4 Dizzy Dunks @ #4 spenn – The Dunks haven't logged in for two weeks. And even if they had, they still have their initial roster, which couldn't put up much of a fight against the 8-3 team just 125 PD out of 1st.

#1 Chicago Kings Storm @ #7 Kobe Bryants All-Stars – It looks to be another lop-sided game in the works. Blake just doesn't have the talent around him developed yet to the point where he can make the impact he'd need to win this game. The King Storm's team-focused build, on the other hand, is tailor made to tear apart the star-and-scrubs setup the All-Stars run.

#8 Harbor City Storm @ #6 Linndale (TV) – Under the lights, Linndale looks prepped to run all over another team still fielding their initial roster.

#3 Springfield Storm @ #3 Big Dawgs – One good game ought to be this matchup of #3's. Big Dawgs has already shown a penchant for surprising top Big 8 teams in last week's extra-effort, home win over the Clams. But the league's highest paid starters are coming to visit. And they might have something to say as they look to make this the season that they erase the memory of Season 24's stolen championship. This one could go either way.

#5 Massachusetts Minis @ #2 Delpra – The Minis and their aging triangle offense will run up against the team with both the stingiest defense and the most expensive roster in the league tonight. Expect valiance in defeat from the Mini's seasoned vets.

Good luck to all!

Wish you'd have been here back when I was Simon. You alone keep this league active. You and that guy who likes to finish 2nd in the Finals repeatedly. :P

Recap of Tuesday:

Tuesday's games went as expected, with the biggest blow-out of the night coming in the 51-104 walloping that spenn handed out the the Dizzy Dunks.

The only real contest was at The Pit, where the Big Dawgs edged out another Big 8 team on extra effort. The biggest lead of the game actually belonged to the Storm, whose 13-0 run in the 1st put them up 21-11. But the Dawgs fought back and took a 2-point lead into the half. From there the spread remained 6 or less until, with a minute to go, it was a one-possession game favoring the Dawgs. When a jump ball went in favor of the home team, quickly followed by a Vernimmen three, the Dawgs went up by 5 and the Storm had to foul. Despite the Dawgs only going 6-10 from the foul line, the Storm could only make 3 points out of 6 quick possessions; and the game ended 89-97 in favor of the home team. The Belgian Vernimmen had his best game of the season, shooting 16-35 (46%) from the field, 6-15 (40%) 3FG, and 2-4 on FTs, on his way to putting up 40 pts, 8 asts, 6 rebs, and 1 stl.