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A day after the close one point come from behind victory over Linndale, the Hustlas are at their team headquarters in a somber mood.

"We don't know what happened. All we know is that there was some sort of medical situation happened with Linndale's coach," says the Hustlas coach.

"It was a broken heart. He had his heart set on the match after being up 19 points," says Legkauskas. "We won with Talman's.final.bucket just before time expired. Their final heave was short. We won, and we gave their coach a heart attack."

"Respect, Legkauskas. We weren't told it's a heart attack. Just that it's a medical situation. And he's a great coach. He out coached me in that game, even though we won," says the Hustla's coach.

The general manager of the Hustlas walks in.
"Everyone, I congratulate you on a great season. You guys have gotten so good that I think you all could have, and would have won out the rest of the season and the championship. Hell of a match yesterday. I never doubted for a second."

"Yes you did sir," says K.Huk.

"Yes I did," said the GM. "I won't lie. But you guys came back, and won. I thank you all for a great season, and I see you continuing to have one, but, it will get better tougher from here. Two key players have been transferred and we will transfer one to two more. Because of this, I don't see us winning the title this season. But I still want you guys to give your all. Maybe we'll get lucky. But with the lost players and the ones we will be losing, I don't see how. The changes will move us to 4th best. At the moment we are the best I think. But keep trying. Keep winning. And, the Linndale coach, we don't know what has happened with him. But, if you broke his heart, good job."

The GM leaves and the players all stand, and, one by one, then in groups, depart.

Last edited by Reece at 9/12/2022 12:54:19 AM

Day 13 (Saturday 10 September 2022) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Linndale 143 - Hustlas 144
Lion Rebels 73 - The Ashkickers 97
Rip City Revival 72 - Miami Cleo 54
The Lone Wolf 98 - 2 percent 101
Mighty Moose Rockets 80 - Is This Heaven? 100
Carolina Rebels 112 - The Beer Bellys 99
San Dominica Warriors 91 - Żubr Białystok 96
Philly Dribble 101 - Tachenko 91

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 144 : Hustlas
Rebounds : 69 : Carolina Rebels
Assists : 31 : Is This Heaven?
Steals : 25 : Linndale
Block Shots : 8 : Miami Cleo, Mighty Moose Rockets, Żubr Białystok, The Beer Bellys

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 47 : K. Knowles (Linndale)
Rebounds : 26 : H. Espinosa (Carolina Rebels)
Assists : 11 : B. Coenen (Linndale)
Steals : 5 : P. Lutz (Linndale), J. Brown (Linndale), B. Coenen (Linndale)
Block Shots : 5 : P. Kalinov (The Beer Bellys)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : M. Velasco (Philly Dribble) (24 Points, 6 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Steals, 3 Block Shots), H. Šapiras (Żubr Białystok) (30 Points, 9 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 36
Shooting Guard : K. Knowles (Linndale) (47 Points, 5 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 3 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 36
Small Forward : P. Lutz (Linndale) (38 Points, 6 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 5 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 37
Power Forward : F. Torreira (Is This Heaven?) (20 Points, 21 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 38
Center : D. Wilmink (2 percent) (22 Points, 25 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 39

MVP of the evening
D. Wilmink (2 percent) (22 Points, 25 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 39

The bad performance of the evening
M. Maurin (Miami Cleo) (6 Points, 4 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots)W. Graf (Miami Cleo) (0 Points, 2 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots)M. Grimm (Żubr Białystok) (0 Points, 3 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -3

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : S. Legkauskas (Hustlas), J. Talman (Hustlas), D. Wilmink (2 percent) : 6 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : H. Šapiras (Żubr Białystok), Z. Enxuan (The Lone Wolf), K. Huk (Hustlas) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : G. Locus (Miami Cleo), R. Cuberas (Mighty Moose Rockets), J. Cadelago (Mighty Moose Rockets), H. Espinosa (Carolina Rebels), L. Arevalo (Carolina Rebels), K. Brown (Lion Rebels), M. Carrillo (Lion Rebels), Y. Semiramis (The Beer Bellys), M. Rubin (2 percent), D. Wilmink (2 percent), P. Mari Acuña (2 percent), K. Park (2 percent), A. Ingram (2 percent) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : K. Knowles (Linndale) : 9 Three points

The best performer : N. Neochoritis (Rip City Revival) : Rating : 18.0

The worst performer : O. Oynak (Mighty Moose Rockets) : Rating : 2.0

Pio Reina live for an exclusive with Coach here at the Linndale Medical Center. I'm told Coach didn't want to speak with anyone else to make this statement. Coach, it makes me very happy to see right now. The community has been quite worried about you.

Coach: Pio, I know that; that's why I'm here and I'm going to say this unequivocally so everyone can understand. I had a heart attack. There was an altercation in the locker room that preceded it. That altercation is not related to it. I'll be at courtside tomorrow. The doctors have said I can't coach for a week at least. I won't be coaching. I'll be sitting courtside as part of the broadcast team for the next week. Coaching the team will be done by committee. The assistants will run things along with my point guards. I fully expect to be back in my normal role Saturday. The doctors say I'm rushing it. If they decide different then so be it, but my intention is to not miss a game. I want to thank the organization for taking care of me. I want to thank the Hustlas organization for their concern. I know some of you think I might be being reckless, but I've been coaching a long time; this is all I know. This is all I've ever wanted to do. Pio, you know better than most, this is what I do and who I am. I'm not just a coach; I'm Coach. I'm always going to be there for my team. And if I go out that way, I'll be the luckiest guy in the world. Thank you all for coming, be safe, and I'll see you courtside. Good night everybody!

Pio: There you have it, straight from the man himself. Pio Reina on the WINO radio basketball network. Back to the studio with Happy Ourer.

"We're giving up" says Hustlas GM, Bobby Sparks. "We are throwing in the towel on the season. We will start transferring our players but the starting lineup I hope will remain intact. That is the hope," he says, while looking into the video camera. "Nothing I can do about it. We learned a lot with this lineup, but we have to think a bit smaller. We did enough to stay in this league and not demote for a season or two, and, if we're lucky, we could possibly win one. But, we are not fighting for a title this week. That is over."

"That folks, was Bobby Sparks, the Hustlas GM. I think heads will roll from this. Something happened, and now he has to clean it up," says Stephen A. "And we at ESPN are the first to bring you this recording. What is going on in Hustlaville. What is happening? They still have BBM and a cup match. And, with the lineup they have, there is a shot of winning. I just don't know about this team. But I have hope for them yet. It will just be harder, but I think it can be done. Come on Hustlas, show us what you got. This is Stephen A, on ESPN, signing off.

"We're giving up" says Hustlas GM, Bobby Sparks. "We are throwing in the towel on the season. We will start transferring our players but the starting lineup I hope will remain intact. That is the hope," he says, while looking into the video camera. "Nothing I can do about it. We learned a lot with this lineup, but we have to think a bit smaller. We did enough to stay in this league and not demote for a season or two, and, if we're lucky, we could possibly win one. But, we are not fighting for a title this week. That is over."

"That folks, was Bobby Sparks, the Hustlas GM. I think heads will roll from this. Something happened, and now he has to clean it up," says Stephen A. "And we at ESPN are the first to bring you this recording. What is going on in Hustlaville. What is happening? They still have BBM and a cup match. And, with the lineup they have, there is a shot of winning. I just don't know about this team. But I have hope for them yet. It will just be harder, but I think it can be done. Come on Hustlas, show us what you got. This is Stephen A, on ESPN, signing off.

Economics?

I know that for me, several times I've "gone big."

Hopefully you can get what you need and stay competitive. It sure is a lot of fun having your around. As much as I'd love to promote. . . I also just love being an a league where guys are active.

For sure - makes it a lot more fun to be in an engaging league!

Season 58 All Star Results
Alrighty, well, all told, I'm happy to report my predictions for the all star game were across the board pretty solid, missing out on only three predictions, all back up positions - one in the Big 8 and two in the Great 8. Here's what I got wrong:

Big 8 Backup SF
I swear I wasn't favoring my wunderkid Kurt Brown by slotting him in, but let's look at the numbers and why Philly's Juljonas Glicas deserves the slot over Brown.

Efficiency:
Brown - 18.7
Glicas - 17.4

Rating:
Brown - 11.2
Glicas - 14.2

Statline::
FG%
Brown - 48.6
Glicas - 48.2

3FG%
Brown- 43.8
Glicas - 47.9

AST
Brown - 3/game
Glicas - 2.5/game

PTS
Brown - 22.4/game
Glicas - 15.6/game

REB
Brown - 4.6/game
Glicas - 4.9

All in all, these dudes are basically the same, excluding Rating, and here's where I think the difference lies: Glicas has averaged 29.5 min/game in 13 games, whereas Brown has averaged 43.1/game (30.5 at SF). So, all things being equal, the only reason Brown scores more points is because of the 13 more minutes per game AND he's not rated as well. Glicas definitely deserves the slot here.

Big 8 Backup PG
My next error was basically overlooking Hustlas' Suen Jun Hoi, Reece's early season monster pickup. I had put Harvey Griffin in there based on his efficiency - looking back at the list, I think I just missed Suen Jun Hoi, who has averaged 21.4 EFF good for 12th after 13 games, while Harvey is at 20 EFF. Interestingly, both players have only played a combined 16 games for the season.

Big 8 Backup SF
Randell Tobin (Tachenko) unseated my prediction of The Ashkicker's Graziano Gattoni, who admittedly was pulled from the seat of my pants based on his (now) 16th highest average rating on the season. But his efficiency is a "mere" 12.9. Tobin, however, just missed out on the top 20 efficiency rating in the league, holding onto a 19.4 at this point in the season. But, for fun and games, let's take a look at their statline comparisons:

Statline::
FG%
Player 1 - 43.2%
Player 2 - 48.3%

3FG%
Player 1 - 37.3%
Player 2 - 34%

AST
Player 1 - 2.7/game
Player 2 - 2.3/game

PTS
Player 1 - 23.5/game
Player 2 - 18.7/game

REB
Player 1 - 5.6/game
Player 2 - 3.8/game

Player 1 averages 33 min/game, while player two averages just under 35 min/game. Who are you choosing?

If you said Player 1 (Tobin), you'd be right according to what happened. And, I think that's probably the better pick at the end of the day, but all in all, they're relatively close.

3-Point Contest Results
I was pretty close on this one, but missed on two guesses: I had Paul Lutz (49% for Linndale) and Lorenzo Rojas (47.6% for The Ashkickers). They were replaced by Krzysztof Huk (43.9% on 82 shots in 31.9 MPG for the Hustlas [and if I never have to spell his name again, I'll be happy!]) and Juan Gilberto Segovia (47.6% on 105 shots in 37.7 MPG for The Beer Bellys).

I'll settle for being wrong on those two, who are VOLUME shooters, with the two of them combining for 15.8 shots per game from behind the arc, while my two predicted players only shoot 10 per game combined.

Any thoughts on which team will win tomorrow night's matchup? Always seems like a carnival game to me - never certain who is going to win!

Beer Belly's are not happy with the selections this year. Segovia is the league scoring leader with an avg/rating of 13.0, shooting 43.7% and 47.6% from 3 along with 1.3 steals, 4.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists and he is a backup?

Rojas and Varpukevicius are great players, but not nearly the same stats. Their stats are also a ton easier to achieve since they are on strong teams, while I blew up my roster (stupid mistake) and Segovia has single handedly kept us somewhat in the relegation race. Varpukevicius shooting %s are horrible comparatively speaking, and he's barely even scored much the past couple weeks.

League officials and press who voted for the All-Star line-ups are officially cut off from any of our specialty brews and bourbon club. Nothing but Miller High Life and Trulys for those idiots the rest of the season.

"I did this, it's my fault," says Hustlas coach John Walton. "I over thought it, and so after constant back and forth thinking, I went with an overly aggressive tempo, but wanted to change it back to normal, but never got to it. I was busy checking on the players and then taking my wife to the emergency room. By the time that it was near game time, I forgot, had to prepare for the game. Well, Maine did the same as us with aggressiveness. But I had a plan for that, even in the loss. Our motto has been don't do something that will jeopardize you the next game. And I'm afraid I did. I never changed our game plan for our BBM game since the loss of players, and on top of that, the team was weary. The plan was to play inside. We may have won a close one even with us being weary. But I never got to it. And now, we won't be ready for Philly Dribble either."

Bobby Sparks, Hustlas GM looks at the sad John Walton. "You guys had a good run this year John. I expected this. It's not your fault. You have Philly Dribble, you will lose that one, no bones about it. Just beat who you are supposed to beat. The upper teams, don't worry too much about it. I'm trying to keep this team together. But we can't sale anyone while we are seeing other people sale for ridiculous amounts. If we can't sale, then the team will be exploded and we will have to start over. So just do what you can with what you have."

"Okay boss. I'll do my best," says John. He knows even if he does, and all that the GM says come to pass he may not be the coach any longer."

Season 58 Midseason Final Predictions - Part One
It's just over the half-way point of the season and with most* of the transfers having settled down, though Hustlas and The Ashkickers still appear to be trying to sell off some players, so I decided to revisit/revamp my preseason predictions based on salaries for the end of the season.

These predictions are based on current salary statistics for the league, with total salary being the most highly weighted, followed by Top 6-10 salaries, and then Top 5, Top 8, and Top 10, and average salary rankings are weighted equally. Total those ranking position points up and divide by the number of categories gathered gives me my ranking system. Except! With the season more than half-way played out, to try and balance things out, I've included an additional parameter that takes into account a team's standings so far. Once again, not very scientific, but someone has to be the idiot putting these things out! Without further ado!

Current League Leaders in Salary
1. Hustlas - $434,083 (this does take into account the pending sale of Layton, but doesn't consider Goran Denkovic who doesn't have a bid as of this writing. Previous league leader was Tachenko who shed $45k in salary and two players. Hustlas has only 9 players rostered and wasn't in the top 3 at the start of the season (previously 6th). Early season addition Suen Jun Hoi makes up 35% of their total salary expenses and has been a welcome pairing with Sirmantas Legkauskas for a combined 44 PPG on 55% shooting from the field.
2. Tachenko ($384,787) replaces Rip City Revival at second on this list with C Richard Mason occupying a whopping 49% of their salary. Mason is dominating with 16/16 PTS/REB/Game this season.
3. Rip City ($350,467) knocks Linndale out of the top three. Nikos Neochoritis is the lynchpin for this crew (with his 100K salary) being responsible for a fifth of their points and a tenth of their rebounds/assists on the season.

In the division, teams average $251K (down $6K from the start of the season) in salary with $250k being the split between the top 8 and bottom 8 (though, it is worth pointing out Mighty Moose Rockets being a full $195k below that mark).

Current League Leaders in Starting 5
The top 5 highest players list mirrors the overall salary list:
1. Hustlas - $382,682 - 88% of total rostered salary.
2. Tachenko - $347,772 - 90% of total rostered salary.
3. Rip City - $282867 - 80% of team's total salary.

Overall, the 16 teams average $191k (up 7k) for top 5 paid players with only 6 teams averaging more than $209k and two teams averaging less than $69k.

Current League Leaders in Assumed Top Bench Players (Top 6-10)
1. San Dominica Warriors - $85,781 ($17.2k per player)
2. Philly Dribble - $80,530 ($16.1k per player)
3. Linndale - $76413 ($15.3k per player)

San Dom swapped spots with Linndale on this list, while Philly moved up two spots to second and former #2 Hustlas dropped to 7th. Teams still average $55k in this grouping of salaries with four teams averaging more thank $80k and 5 teams averaging less than $40k.


Last edited by Baine at 9/16/2022 1:45:23 PM