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inside the locker room after Linndale's latest BBM tournament loss

Mikhail Klimenkov: Boys, it's time to have a chat.

Paul Lutz: Hold on a sec, MK; let 's let the coaches leave. Players only.

Arley Coronado: Cool. Anybody got a problem with that? *pauses* Didn't think so. MK, let's do this. Paulie,we clear?

Lutz: All out. We clear.

Klimenkov: We just lost a tough one. We got media talking about us. We got media calling our coach drunk. We got people openly disrespecting Linndale basketball, and I CAN'T HAVE THAT!!! PAULIE CAN'T HAVE THAT!!! ARLEY CAN'T HAVE THAT!!! THE BULL STOPS NOW!!!

Lutz: I don't know what ya'll think is going on here, but this ain't what Linndale basketball is. 7 games on the season where we gave up 100 or more points and we ain't even hit All Star Week. Ya'll got no pride, and I can't take it anymore.

Coronado: Ya'll look at the stat sheet and scoreboard and see a 2 point loss at the buzzer. Brownie, you know what we see? Nicky? Kev? Shots? Ya'll know what we see?

Klimenkov, Lutz, and Coronado in unison: NOTHING BUT A LOSS!!!

Lutz: We lost the boards, and that's not something I've EVER been accustomed to seeing here. Look at what happened today!

Coronado: We made progress, but we gotta be better. I gotta be better.

Klimenkov: Me and Arley can't be expected to do it all by ourselves. Who's gonna step up if we have an off night? Today it was the guards; Coenen and Paulie had 8, Knowles had 6. Kev, you had NOTHING. 0!!! in what, 10 minutes? Nicky, you 1 in the same amount of time!!! Brownie had 1 in 6 minutes!!! HE'S A GUARD!!! YOU PLAY UP FRONT!!! IT'S EMBARRASSING!!!

Coronado: Datler and Gale, you're young, but we need you to hit the ground running soon. If Nicky and Kev can only manage 1 rebound, maybe Coach needs to make a change in the rotations.

Lutz: Shots, where's your confidence, man? 1 for 7? You're better than that! Musa, this was a great game out of you today. That's what we need from you. Keep it up! Coenen, your had a rough game with the turnovers but you've pretty good since you got here. Keep doing what you do. Knowles, tough game. Figure out what you need to help us help you get easier shots, but don't be afraid to pass either. We move the ball we score. It don't matter who scores as long as we get the win.

Coronado: Brownie and Shots, Datler and Gale, you guys belong to me and Paulie now. Brownie, get your shot right. Up your game on D. Get your passing game right. Make yourself the weapon we know you can be. Shots, get your inside game together first, then get your range right. You do that, we can do more things and be more unpredictable offensively. Gale. you are a work in progress, but keep working. You have a unique set of skills that if you keep developing will be important in the future. Datler, me and MK are gonna take you to school. Kev too. We schooling both of you in the dark arts of the paint.

Klimenkov: Ya'll don't see it but we do. Ya'll don't understand it, but we do. Ya'll like running up and down the court? Ya'll like that press? Then get your defense right and crash the boards. Guards. make your layups. THAT IS LINNDALE BASKETBALL! WE PLAY DEFENSE! WE REBOUND! WE TAKE CARE OF THE BALL! WE TAKE THE BALL FROM THE OTHER TEAM! THAT'S WHAT WE DO!

Lutz: But ya'll ain't earned the right to have that kind of fun, yet. Get you right. MK?

Klimenkov: Shooting, range, and passing. I know. Knowles and Coenen, ya'll got me?

Knowles and Coenen (in unison): We got you big man!

Lutz: Arley?

Coronado: Ball skills and range. Yo Knowles and Coenen, got room for one more?

Knowles: Yep. Let's go!

Lutz: I'll be in everybody's sessions. I got to work on that rebounding, but I got get my other skills leveled up. Team game right? We all in?

Everybody: LET'S GO!!!

Lutz: Allright; go let the coaches in.

Klimenkov: We're calling a practice tomorrow. 7AM sharp. Coaches too.

So frustrating. I just accidentally deleted a post on the phone. Sigh. That's frustrating.

"We did it. We should be undefeated in BBM, but we are not. But we are still alive for a tournament birth," says Legkauskas.

"Depending on who we play next," says Andreas Mae.

"True, but I believe in us," says Legkauskas. "Just like this win, we can keep it going. We have a cup match next. We can win that one too. Just have to make shots, play defense, and rebound the ball."

"Win or lose the cup, we have Linndale next," says Jim Layton. "What about them?"

"We don't know yet," says Huk. " They are formidable, and our goal is to go into the all-star break winning these last 5 games. We have two more left. Both are great teams. And we can beat them both, if we play our game."

"Okay, if we lose, we are putting players on the transfer wire," says Legkauskas.

"Players already are," says Andreas Maes.

"For cheap," says Talman. "Better believe it, for cheap. We'd like to keep Denkovic. But, this is a business. And we have to do what we have to do."

"Whatever," says Denkovic. "Let's practice."

Coach: Everybody gather round. First off, I don't know what ya'll discussed and I don't wanna know. What I DO know is that I like what I see out of you guys this morning. You want to be a championship team---

Team (in unison): YA GOTTA PRACTICE LIKE A CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM!!!

Coach: That's what I'm talking about! Paulie, MK, Coronado, this here is Duilio Teti. We just got ourselves the backup PG we've been looking for. Brownie, I know you've been adjusting to that role, but we need you to work on you. Look guys, the more things you can do, the better chance we have to win. I don't know about you guys, but I like winning!

Team (in unison): WE LIKE WINNING MORE!

Coach: Show me. Talk is cheap. Do the work and the results will come.

Lutz: Yo, new guy, Teti, is it? Your name around here is Teddy, as in Teddy Bear. Your job in case no one told you is to run the second unit, and when in with the ones, run us too. We see you. We know you got this.

Klimenkov: I hear you can make a layup. That's good; we've had a problem when the guards get in too deep in the paint and can't finish.

Coenen: Come on, I'll show you around with Knowles and Musa and Brownie. We are the guards who can't hit layups. Maybe you can show us what we're doing wrong.

Teti: Maybe Brownie can show me! I hear he's doing just fine in the paint. Brownie, you show me what you do, I'll help with the jumper.

Brownie: Cool! New guy is cool! Yo Shots!

Sutori: What?

Brownie: You and Paulie working them skills tonight? What time?

Sutori: Don't we have a scrimmage tonight? Paulie got some other things to handle with the ones and coaches.

Brownie: Coach, who's running the show tonight?

Coach: Teti, around here, we let the players handle scrimmages. Here is what we're working on,; we expect the work to be put in. It lets us see the game through your eyes, helps us evalutate you, lets you get to know your teammates, and is a lot to ask on your first day here with us. You up for it?

Teti: Give. Me. The. Ball.

Coach: The ball is yours.

Teti: Coach, just one change for the scrimmage, please?

Coach: What's that?

Teti: Let us run. Half court is a matter of knowing where every one is going to be. I'll get that. When a team runs, you get to learn who likes to do what, where, because guys are more confident when they run. They're having fun. Let me see the guys do what they do, and that will help me learn them faster. That will help the team faster.

Coach: Done. One other thing.

Teti: What's that Coach?

Coach: Scrimmage rules are simple. Win and the guys that don't play buy dinner for the ones that do. Lose, and the ones that play buy for the ones that don't.

Teti: I'm playing and buying tonight, Coach. We win, I buy. We don't, I buy. Gotta get to know everyone.

Coach: All right everyone; that's enough talking. Let's get to work! Groups! Hit your stations!

Week Six Power Rankings - Part One
Lots of great team commentary and internal dialog going on! I love it - thanks for bringing more of a ffeeling to the week as we wait for our next games and training updates! This week, I'm going to do something a little different, highlighting each team's Efficiency Per Game Rank (EFFG) and their Opponent's EFFG Rank. Only a couple of big movements in each rankings for this week as the dust is settling down. I'm sure the Great 8 will still have bones to pick with these, but they've got their chances over the next three games to prove they're the stronger side of the conference at the top!

1. Philly Dribble (2)
EFFG: 1 OPP EFFG: 1
Phil_Wings took advantage this week to move into 1st in the overall rankings, bringing their numbers to the top in both categories and displacing Jbogoroff's crew. Their advantage came from facing a fleeing thatguy's squad and then easily handling Żubr Białystok. They arrive in to All Star Week as the seemingly best team in the conference with an intriguing matchup on the raod against Tachenko.

2. Rip City Revival(1)
EFFG: 2 OPP EFFG: 2
Jbogoroff finally has been dethroned this week after getting it from an ultra-motivated Hustlas receiving their first loss of the season. Their impeccable OPP EFFG rose 12 points to just barely be cut out by Philly, but still remains epic at just over 53. After handling The Ashkickers on Tuesday, they look forward to a matchup against Miami Cleo for a road trip before the All Star break begins.

3. Linndale (3)
EFFG: 4 OPP EFFG: 3
Maintaining their control of third in these rankings, their three losses have been expected except for last week's stubmle against whitestok's up again, down again group, struggling to score both inside and outside, while letting German PF Thiess Hinterleitner a double double with 31 points and 16 rebounds on 56% shooting. Facing what appears to be a manic monster in Hustlas on the road before next week's break, which should be an intriguing matchup.

4. San Dominica Warriors (4)
EFFG: 6 OPP EFFG: 4
Just barely edging the 5th ranked team out again this week, Coach Stephenson's squad benefited from a relatively easy week, facing Is This Heaven? and The Beer Bellys to increase their win streak to 4 after losing back to backs against Philly and The Ashkickers. Thanks to those two games, they saw modest improvements in both categories to remain (barely) in fourth. They travel to Żubr Białystok before finding out who will represent the all stars next week.

5. Hustlas (7)
EFFG: 3 OPP EFFG: 8
Reece's menagerie has made quite the impression ripping off six wins since losing on the road (and on TV) to The Ashkickers by a fair amount. This week, they showed solid dominance, out-"hustling" Rip City before putting Lion Rebels away in the 4th quarter. They're in a Do or Die scenario, and it's been rumoured that Bruce Willis has been participating in upper management training sessions to improve their "kick ass" mentality. Their only struggle has been shown on defense, but their offense is nothing to sneer at. They host Speedtraps Linndale on Saturday.

6. The Ashkickers (5)
EFFG: 7 OPP EFFG: 5
Dropping a spot this week and adding a second loss, Tylormade, much like last year, are biding their time. By my count, they've got four more "tough" matchups this season, while the rest should be relatively easy. They thoroughly dominated The Lone Wolf and look forward to hosting this poor writer's sorry squad on Saturday.

7. Tachenko (6)
EFFG: 5 OPP EFFG: 7
Reeling in their fourth loss on the season to Linndale on the road after handling Lion Rebels, they roll into the All Star break with a chance to re-establish their presence in the conference as they host Philly Dribble on Saturday.

Week Six Power Rankings - Part Two
8. Lion Rebels (8)
EFFG: 8 OPP EFFG: 9
Despite dropping back to back games for the first time this season, the Lion Rebels have maintained their position in these rankings, but have lost ground in the standings. The team's management is reportedly quietly seething, but thanks to the positive point differential, there's still hope, though rumour has it, some in the organization are settling for a upper relegation spot to win out and remain in the league. They're looking forward to losing a third straight game as they travel to The Basketball Center to face The Ashkickers.

9. Miami Cleo (10)
EFFG: 11 OPP EFFG: 6
Up one spot this week with a decent improvement in both categories, especially on defense, their offense still has their struggles, but was able to break their six game losing streak and win back to back to get back to .500 and keep their point differential positive, landing them back in pursuit of the playoffs in the Great 8. Unfortunately for them, they play host to Jbogoroff and them boys before the All Star game.

10. Żubr Białystok (9)
EFFG: 9 OPP EFFG: 10
Swapping spots with Miami this week, whitestok finds themselves at .500 with a barely negative PD after upsetting Linndale and trying to hang with Philly this last week. No real movement in either category for them and they have an interesting matchup with San Dominica at home this week. Hopefully will be fun to watch Miami and Żubr battle it out for the fourth spot in the Great 8.

11. The Beer Bellys (11)
EFFG: 12 OPP EFFG: 12
Dropping two more this week to extend their losing streak to three (including five of the last six), thatguy's group is still better than the worst of the conference, but doesn't appear to be fighting for much more than the chance to win out in relegation (sounds familiar). In what could be a preview of a relegation matchup, they host Carolina Rebels this Saturday.

12. Carolina Rebels (12)
EFFG: 13 OPP EFFG: 11
Winners of five games so far this season, they're putting on a good show of trying to contend for a better spot in the relegation matchups and put on a great run through the Cup, finally falling to the 86th ranked US team, Knights of Autumn. Two wins this week against the slums of the Great 8 and with the aforementioned matchup on the road against Beer Bellys, we'll see who is who we thought they were before all of this happens.

Week Six Power Rankings - Part Three

13. 2 percent (13)
EFFG: 10 OPP EFFG: 15
2 percent's record is proof of their 2nd to worst defense in the league, but they are sporting a middle of the packish EFFG rank, scoring at least more than 200 points more than 12-16 on this list (they're averaging 96.4 PPG, good for 6th in the league). Mighty Moose decided to come to life this week to try and squeeze out a win, but came up 3 points short against 2% who had a nice fourth quarter come back with 48 points from the young American SF Harvey Griffin (Peter's long lost cousin). They've another chance to notch a third win on their belt as they play host to The Lone Wolf on Saturday.

14. The Lone Wolf (14)
EFFG: 14 OPP EFFG: 13
Not much change at the bottom of these rankings, but lonewolf8's crew is hanging in just above the mess at the bottom as they ride a 10-game losing tidal wave into 2% this weekend. Their seemingly lone bright spot on the roster is Italian SF Nicola Mezzalira who is in the top 10 in points, averaging 19.2/game. Can they eek out a 2nd win on the road before the break?

15. Is This Heaven? (15)
EFFG: 15 OPP EFFG: 14
The struggle continues for IOWA as they dropped another two games to pile onto their losing streak. Unfortunately, they haven't been close, even in matchups closer to their level, but they do have what may be their only chance of the season to prove they are indeed the 15th team and not the 16th team in these rankings as they host Mighty Moose Rockets on Saturday. It's hard to find a bright spot on this roster, but England's U21 rostered C Paul Baker is the closest, averaging 13 Reb/game and is ranked in the top 5 in total rebounds in our conference.

16. Mighty Moose Rockets (16)
EFFG: 16 OPP EFFG: 16
Decidedly at the bottom of the Cellar, Hutch44 went for it on Tuesday night, but came up short after leading most of the game. Did they blow their chance to not go winless or will they be able to beat Heaven in this week's premiere match up of the "Why aren't we in DIV.IV already?" teams.

I'll try to get to my all-star predictions tomorrow, but I make no promises to display my ineptitude at guessing things. Cheers!

Sad to report that I just discovered Is This Heaven? hasn't signed in since the beginning of last month.

Hustlas team, still active in the Cup, faces a good team this week. The objective is to still be active in the cup after the all-star break.

Hustlas Radio host James Spy is on the scene. "The Hustlas have a solid chance of continuing on the the Cup, keeping them active for the BBM playoffs and The Cup after the all-star break. And looking at this match, the Hustlas took Jumpstart seriously, but they did not take the Hustlas seriously. The Hustlas will win this one going away."

Season 58 All Star Predictions
Much like my power rankings, I base these all-star predictions on player efficiency for the season (for the most part - there are a few instances where potential all-stars are not in the top twenty of player efficiency, at which point I "resort" to player ratings, and in one instance, Big 8's backup PG prediction, I had to resort to actually looking at statistics adn comparing them. Ugh.). Each player listed will show their efficiency on the season behind their name, followed by their overall conference ranking.

Big 8 Starters
PG: Miguel Velasco: 14.9 EFF - Philly Dribble - unranked in EFF - 6th in Average Ranking (AR)
SG: Nikos Neochoritis: 22.6 EFF - Rip City Revival - 6th in EFF
SF: Jérome Bégin: 21 EFF - San Dominica Warriors - 9th in EFF
PF: Arley Coronado: 23.5 EFF - Linndale - 4th in EFF
C: Terry Armstead: 28.5 EFF - Lion Rebels - 1st in EFF

Great 8 Starters
PG: Lorenzo Rojas: 19.1 EFF - The Ashkickers - 19th in EFF
SG: Arys Varpukevicius: 19.4 EFF - Miami Cleo - 17th in EFF
SF: Paolo Mari Acuna: 22.5 EFF - 2 percent - 7th in EFF
PF: Gordon Pullen: 25.6 EFF - Tachenko - 3rd in EFF
C: Richard Mason: 27.2 EFF - Tachenko - 2nd in EFF

Big 8 Backups
PG: Edward Rutledge: 13 EFF - Rip City Revival - unranked in EFF & AR - see notes below
SG: Luís Alberto Baião: 21.4 EFF - San Dominica Wariors - 8th in EFF
SF: Kurt Brown: 20.7 EFF - Lion Rebels - 11th in EFF
PF: Frederico Fornels: 23.1 EFF - Rip City Revival - 5th in EFF
C: Dewayne Allen: 20.5 EFF - Carolina Rebels - 12th in EFF

Great 8 Backups
PG: Harvey Griffin: 20 EFF - 2 percent - 14th in EFF
SG: Juan Gilberto Segovia: 20.2 EFF - The Beer Bellyus - 13th in EFF
SF: Graziano Gattoni: 16.4 EFF - The Ashkickers - unranked in EFF - 16th in AR
PF: Josef Talman: 21 EFF - Hustlas - 10th in EFF
C: Clark Riggins: 19.4 EFF - Żubr Białystok - 18th in EFF

Season 58 All Star Predictions: Flyers, Snubs, and other Drubs
From the Efficiency side of things, Linndale's Center Mikhail Klimenkov is the biggest snub for the Big 8, with an EFF of 19.7, good for top 15 in EFF in the league. He's followed closely by Rip City's Center Elio Pagnini with a 19.1 EFF, good for 20th on the list so far this season.

The Great 8 was a little harder to determine, from an EFF standpoint, but looking through the list of top Average Ratings, Krzysztof Huk, the Hustlas SG tops the list with a 16.8 EFF and a 13.7 AR, and The Ashkickers Center Samuel Fortune follows him with a 13.6 AR (but a measly 9.1 EFF).

Another player who probably deserves a shout is Philly's SG Paride Fasselli who is top 5 in Average Rating, but got beat out by two deserving guards, in Nikky Nay and Baião.

Couple of notable flyers I took, again based on EFF, but in terms of team record are definitely sketchy picks - here's looking at you Dewayne Allen, Harvey Griffin and Paolo Mari Acuna, whose teams have a combined 7-17 record, mostly thanks to the Carolina Rebels. In truth, 2 percent's Paolo is ranked higher in EFF than the Beer Bellys Sexy Segovia, but I'm hoping team standings plays some factor into the selections...but who knows.

As far as team snubs, Philly Dribble and Hustlas stick out with only one selection, so I assume my arena will be getting egged this weekend.

But the biggest guess out of all of these comes at the Big 8 backup PG selection of Edward Rutledge. Originally I was going to go with Philly's Sébastien Rigaux, who is ranked 3rd in FG%, 2nd in 3FG%, 1st in PTS/48 min and boasts a 13 AR to go along with a 16 EFF. He's shooting above 55% from the field (including three), but only averaging 21.8 MPG. Maybe that shouldn't matter, but that led me to move down the line where I was picking between Rutledge and San Dominica's Étienne Blanchet. They match up fairly well, but Rutledge edges Blanchet out in points, rating, and efficiency per game, so I gave the bench nod to him.

3-Point Contest Predictions
I was pretty close in my 3-point predictions for last season's all star matchup - it seems to me that you have to have at least 50 attempts on the season, so I'm taking the top 6 3-point percentage shooters who've shot at least 50 shots, which excludes the following "sharp" shooters thus far:
Sébastien Rigaux - Philly Dribble - 56% on 41 attempts
Juljonas Glicas - Philly Dribble - 52.3% on 44 attempts
Aleksa Kričković - Żubr Białystok - 48.5% on 33 attempts
Max-Phillip Woesler - Philly Dribble - 47.8% on 46 attempts (this one might come back to bite me).

So, here are my guesses:
Paride Fasselli - Philly Dribble - 58.2% on 55 attempts
Luís Alberto Baião - San DOminica Warriors - 53% on 66 attempts
Nikos Neochoritis - Rip City Revival - 49.6% on 75 attempts
Sirmantas Legkauskas - Hustlas - 49.3% on 69 attempts
Paul Lutz - Linndale - 49% on 51 attempts
Lorenzo Rojas - The Ashkickers - 47.6% on 63 attempts

Some great three point shooters missing out on the contest this year. As always, good luck this weekend and can't wait to find out how wrong I am about all of this!