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Last night marked the end of season 33. Some new faces rose to power within the league and others fell. For the 2nd straight season a relegated team won the regular season title, as the Disciples finished with one loss in the Great 8, while in the Big 8 Those Guys and the Donner Pass Cannibals shared the regular season conference championship yet again. Now, let's break down what's in store for Tuesday.

RELEGATION SERIES:

6 (G8) UNLV (6-16) vs 7 (B8) WILLIAMSTOWN DEMONS (4-18)
It's a battle of newly formed franchises in this series. The loser goes to a weaker league, but one could argue that would be to their benefit in a way. It'd be a chance to prepare for competition as opposed to being thrust into it as they have been. So there's no real loser here.
Williamstown's manager seems to be fairly active, and their team seems to have a fair amount of talent for a week-old team. UNLV's manager hasn't had a chance to log in since his team was officially formed Friday. If Williamstown uses smart tactics they should be able to overcome the home court advantage and take this series.

PREDICTION: WILLIAMSTOWN

6 (B8) WINGS ELITE (6-16) vs 7 (G8) CHAIN GANG (2-20)
The Chain Gang is another newborn team without a manager and with a limited talent pool. The Wings Elite aren't exactly a talent heavy squad themselves but they've built a balanced group at the very least. I expect them to have a slightly easier time next season. And a slightly easy win in this series.

PREDICTION: WINGS ELITE

PLAYOFFS:
GREAT 8:

1 THE DISCIPLES (21-1) vs 4 PITTSBURGH JUSTICE (14-8)
Honestly I shouldn't have to make a prediction for this one. I like Pittsburgh. I think they have a lot of potential if they're willing to put in the work to boost their team to the next level. But the Disciples have the league's top scoring offense at (130 ppg), a decent defense to back it up, and despite a late-season injury have plenty of talent to take this game running away. The only real question is which of their 7 active players averaging 10+ points per game will be lighting up the scoreboard on Tuesday

PREDICTION: DISCIPLES

2 MUFFIN MEN (15-7) vs 3 MOHAWKGEAR (14-8)
This promises to be easily the most exciting first round playoff game. These teams played in the regular season finale and Mohawkgear came away with a 10 point win at home to take the 3 seed. Mohawkgear is one of the most balanced teams in the league, with very few obvious weaknesses. They've slipped down the ladder slightly over the past couple seasons, but they're still capable of playing good basketball. Muffin Men is a bit inside heavy, but they have some depth and are capable of putting points on the scoreboard (108/gm). I think this is a very even matchup, but I've gotta give it to the home team in the end.

PREDICTION: MUFFIN MEN

BIG 8:

1 THOSE GUYS (20-2) vs 4 SHANKERS (11-11)
The Shankers are not a team of pushovers, and they've proven that they're deserving of a spot in this league. However, Those Guys boasts the league's top scoring defense (68.8 PA/gm) and Shankers was held to just 22% shooting when these teams met this weekend. If Shankers goes on another shopping spree (11 players bought in just over 2 weeks this season) expect them to be dangerous. But Tuesday expect them to be overwhelmed.

PREDICTION: THOSE GUYS

2 DONNER PASS CANNIBALS (20-2) vs 3 D.C. LAKERS (18-4)
There's never been any question of who had the best offense in the Big 8, and that talent will be on full display at Cannibal Hall. Sadly, D.C.'s manager seems to be going inactive, which weakens the conference as a whole. Donner Pass won this matchup last Tuesday by 41 and I'd expect a similar scoreline this Tuesday.

PREDICTION: DONNER PASS

But as always, regardless of my predictions, I wish the best of luck to all 12 teams competing this week.

I really enjoyed this and cant say i disagree with any of your predictions. Great job! I'm hoping for a quick recovery of my guy in time for finals.

Tuesday's games went mostly as expected, with Those Guys, Donner Pass, and the Disciples winning their games by a combined 124 points. Mohawkgear managed to come back from an 11 point halftime deficit to make a very close game of it, before finally falling 102-100 in the Drury Center. And normally I don't mention the relegation series in my round 2 post, but a quick shoutout to UNLV; the Runnin' Rebels were down 21 at home against Williamstown, but held the Demons to 32 2nd half points and scored 62 of their own, and surged to a 102-93 victory in game 1.

Now let's have a look at Saturday's conference finals matchups

GREAT 8:

1 THE DISCIPLES (22-1) vs 2 MUFFIN MEN (16-7)

These teams are both newcomers to IV.47; Muffin Men promoted from Division 5 and The Disciples was relegated from Division 3. The Muffin Men boast a solid Inside D, but the Disciples have one too, and a powerful offense to go alongside it. Muffin Men is exactly the kind of team this league needs more of. They're active, and they're making an effort to improve. I'm interested to see what happens with them moving forward. But for now, They're facing a Disciples squad that has them outmatched by a large margin. Hopefully they'll be ready next year. They just haven't had the time to prepare for a conference title. Maybe next season, Voc.

PREDICTION: THE DISCIPLES

BIG 8:

1 THOSE GUYS (21-2) vs 2 DONNER PASS CANNIBALS (21-2)

These two teams seem to be developing quite a rivalry at the top of the Big 8, with the two finishing tied for first in the conference two seasons in a row. Those Guys have boasted the conference's top defense, while Donner Pass has consistently put up astonishing scoring numbers, in a true unstoppable force vs immovable object scenario. Both sides have 6 players averaging 10 points a game, both are shooting well over 40% from beyond the arc, and both average over 50 rebounds per contest.

All that being said, Those Guys have taken both contests this season, 107-73 in The Arena in November, then 142-140 in overtime in Cannibal Hall 2 weeks ago (Those Guys' first win in Cannibal Hall in 4 tries). And the Cannibals haven't won in The Arena since July. Why? Because Those Guys' style of offense matches up better against Donner Pass's defense than vice versa. I feel sorry for whoever has to compete against the Disciples next week, but I see no reason why it won't be Those Guys.

PREDICTION: THOSE GUYS

But regardless of all I've said, I sincerely wish the best of luck to Tuscon Matt, Voc, and Jesus2012 this weekend.

Yet again, there were not any real surprises to be had in the conference championship games. Those Guys got everything they could handle from the Donner Pass Cannibals in the Big 8 title game. However, strong performances from Bekman, Prozorov, and Tuokko, and scoring contributions from 9 different players allowed Those Guys to pull away in the fourth quarter in an incredibly tight conference title matchup. In the Great 8, for most of the game The Disciples' defense looked impenetrable, holding the Muffin Men to just two 4th quarter points. And on offense the team made THIRTEEN 3 point baskets. I feel sorry for whoever has to deal with them next...

Oh. Riiiight...


IV.47 LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

1 (Great 8) THE DISCIPLES (23-1) vs 1 (Big 8) THOSE GUYS (22-2)

These teams have proven this season that balance is Key; Both have balanced offenses and defenses, and both rank in the top 3 in the league in both scoring offense (Combined average of 124 ppg) and scoring defense (combined average of 73 ppg allowed). And that balance is what has allowed them to win their respective conferences.

In terms of playstyle, these teams have an incredible amount in common. I could sit here listing it all out for an hour. But the simple fact is that all season long, we have yet to see the Disciples use the full extent of their ability. Because they haven't needed it to win 21 games. They're that dominant. If there's any team in this league that can force them to go all out, it's probably Those Guys. But without a little luck or some brilliant stroke of genius on the tactics side, there's simply no way I can pick even my own team to take two of three from the Disciples at their full power. Maybe next season I'll be ready to win a league title. But this season, it appears we'll be making it 3 straight times a relegated team from D-3 wins the crown

PREDICTION: THE DISCIPLES

Of course, as per always, I wish the very best of luck to Jesus2012 in this week's finals matchup.

Best of luck to you. Should be a great series! Wish more playoffs were two out of three i feel like it shows who the better gameplanners are. Im not convinced ive got you beat though my outside shooting is inconsistent i need to continue my great inside scoring.

Well, I agree, it'd be wonderful to see more two-of-three series, and I wish it were doable! But I do understand why the first two rounds are single games. Making those rounds into 3 game series would add another week to the playoff portion of the season, where progressively more teams have no official games to play. (during the extra week, 12 of the 16 teams in each league would have no postseason games). It also would mess with game-shape minutes because some teams would have more games than others in playoff weeks. (it doesn't affect the finals series because the last update before the season starts resets game-shape anyway)

I would absolutely LOVE to see multiple playoff series, but I know why it shouldn't actually happen.

Great first game! Im shocked at how that game turned out. I used a lineup/tactics i hadnt used all year going guard heavy and man to man in hopes of catching you off guard and bolstering my 3 point shooting. It looks like the man to man was a great decision with you being 7-37 on 3 point attempts. The threes still didnt fall and it took a superhuman effort and 48 minutes by my PG (and a few calls going my way) to pull this win out. I was extremely worried about this first game.

Yeah, I tried to play some mindgames and got burned on it big-time. The Motion offense was for two reasons; First, it was to keep you from trying to game-day-prep me (since I used either Base or Look-inside for most games). Second, my team as a whole has shot well from beyond the arc this season (44%), and 51% overall, so the math told me against the average team in this league I'd get more points per shot if I shot more threes than I currently do. Obviously I was forgetting to factor in which specific team I was facing this week. Also, gotta give props for your tactics; they were pretty much perfect for the matchup.

I was actually pretty happy with the game overall, once you consider the fact I totally blew it with some of the tactical decisions. I expected to have a hard time winning even if I DID hit the game-day-prep. Obviously, I'm not proud of the 18% mark from three, but my team hung in there really well for most of the game (it was tied up with about 9 minutes to go and I even had a couple shots to take the lead before my team went totally cold on the offensive end down the stretch)

I agree, AMAZING first game, even from the losing side of it! I hope the next one is just as exciting! Best of luck Saturday!

I'm absolutely amazed i won this series in game two i got both predictions wrong, started my bench and played playoff normal for the second straight game in hopes of having a very high enthusiasm for a strong game 3 outing. I dont know how you lost game 2. With that being said I'm happy i won hopefully i can stay in D3 this time. Best of luck to you in the future sir you have a great team!

Well, I feel like the tactical advantage you gained by playing 2-3 zone (massive rebounding advantage and better matchup for my low post offense than a man to man would have been) played a role, as did the injury to my backup SG early on. And whoever was guarding my SGs in the series did a phenomenal job, holding my starter to 35% shooting over those 2 games. I'm just glad to see I didn't let your team dominate me any of the three times we played this season, honestly. I wish you the best of luck in division 3, but for now it's time for me to start preparing to join you up there!

yall still active?