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*inside the Linndale locker room, postgame*

"Congratulations, gentlemen, now the hard work begins. But first, a celebration is in order!"

"Coach," point guard Bobby Coenen spoke in the silent locker room, "that's exactly we can't celebrate and we won't. We've got work to do."

"Yeah, Coach" Paul Lutz spoke up, "we're glad to be here, but we're not satisfied. We've got work to do."

"Gentlemen", Pio Reina said, "as a former player let me point out the playoffs are never guaranteed. Making them is an accomplishment to celebrate."

"Yeah guys, celebrate! It's the last one with me around!" Coach was in a good mood. "We're not done yet!"

"Speech" shouted Kyle Knowles.

"Speech... speech... SPEECH..." The chant quickly spread and gained intensity as the rest of the team joined in.

"All right, Kyle, but you go first. You're the guy who led the way on offense, Mr. 45 points tonight!"

"Thanks guys," Kyle started, "but i couldn't have done it without all of you guys. Speech over; your turn, Coach."

"SPEECH! SPEECH! SPEECH!"

*fade to black*

The camera pans in on the Hustlas locker room. The coach comes in with Bobby Sparks and John Walton.

"Another come from behind victory after being down 20 point," says Coach Boone. "I think I will need a new heart after this one."

"You guys fought, and that is what it's all about. Not winning and losing, but fighting. You fight here in a child's game, you fight in life. Having that fight, win or lose, and you are a winner. And right now, you guys are winners. You fought. You didn't hang your heads. I'm proud of all of you," says John Walton, former coach and current General Manager.

"Well said John." Team President Bobby Sparks steps forward. "We beat our projections from last season by a wide margin..and the last two wins, and I believe 3 or 4 on the season, have resulted in major comebacks. The last two were the best. Last game was the best by far, and then this one. You guys did well. And I'm proud, but not just proud, I'm satisfied."

The team cheers before the camera pans away, then goes black.

Day 22 (Saturday 21 January 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Lion Rebels 135 - BOBBBSBURGS 34
Linndale 88 - San Dominica Warriors 76
Carolina Rebels 89 - Philly Dribble 116
209’s MostWanted 114 - BKDogs 94
The Ashkickers 90 - The Beer Bellys 89
Miami Cleo 87 - Motor City Waddupdoe 43
Sweaty Socks 60 - The Philadelphia Spartans 147
Hustlas 108 - Żubr Białystok 105

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 147 : The Philadelphia Spartans
Rebounds : 75 : Lion Rebels
Assists : 48 : The Philadelphia Spartans
Steals : 13 : The Philadelphia Spartans
Block Shots : 13 : The Philadelphia Spartans

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 45 : K. Knowles (Linndale)
Rebounds : 17 : F. Taylor (The Philadelphia Spartans), R. Sanz Garcáa (Linndale)
Assists : 12 : G. Cappilli (The Philadelphia Spartans)
Steals : 5 : M. Grimm (Żubr Białystok)
Block Shots : 6 : G. Romão (The Philadelphia Spartans)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : C. McNutt (Żubr Białystok) (27 Points, 3 Rebounds, 9 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34
Shooting Guard : M. San Miguel (The Ashkickers) (41 Points, 6 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34
Small Forward : G. Romão (The Philadelphia Spartans) (18 Points, 8 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 Steals, 6 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33
Power Forward : F. Taylor (The Philadelphia Spartans) (31 Points, 17 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 2 Steals, 3 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 54
Center : P. Zychowicz (The Philadelphia Spartans) (25 Points, 15 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots), T. Medina (Lion Rebels) (27 Points, 13 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 42

MVP of the evening
F. Taylor (The Philadelphia Spartans) (31 Points, 17 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 2 Steals, 3 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 54

The bad performance of the evening
G. Blair (BOBBBSBURGS) (5 Points, 2 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -10

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : F. Killian (Motor City Waddupdoe), M. Redman (Motor City Waddupdoe), L. Senserrich (Hustlas) : 6 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : E. Meeks (Sweaty Socks), L. Baião (San Dominica Warriors), C. Riggins (Żubr Białystok), J. Moore (BOBBBSBURGS) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : G. Locus (Miami Cleo), J. Dotson (Sweaty Socks), F. Killian (Motor City Waddupdoe), M. Redman (Motor City Waddupdoe), Y. Delagnès (Żubr Białystok), M. Grimm (Żubr Białystok) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : J. Dotson (Sweaty Socks) : 8 Three points

The best performer : A. Varpukevicius (Miami Cleo) : Rating : 16.5

The worst performer : E. Meeks (Sweaty Socks) : Rating : 1.0

Well, after gaining some clarity of our roster Friday night during an enhanced daze of rum and edibles I realized in the moment that my back-court is getting too old to sustain DIII level of play much longer. All but Segovia are on their way out, good chance he could be listed early next season as well. Need to devote time/money towards buying and training up the Belly guards of the future. Honestly I've put this off probably a season too long, but I couldn't face leaving this league and all the great conversations in here! At least we'll have one more season before relegation.

Best of luck to everyone in the playoffs/relegation!

Final Season 59 Power Rankings
This last ranking comes late, courtesy of the last game of the season not coming until Saturday evening, but I'm getting it in before the playoffs/relegations start, so they still count! Not a ton of huge changes, but some interesting tie breakers leading up to it. I'll get to the rankings, keeping the comments short because I want to get to my playoff/relegation predictions as well. Let's go!

First a quick note from last week's power rankings comments on how things COULD shake out. The Great 8 settled about where I thought with Hustlas holding off Beer Bellys, while I was off on the Big 8 thanks to a Linndale upset of San Dominica in the final game and Carolina getting upended by 209's on the road before falling, as expected, to Philly Dribble. So Carolina gets the privilege of traveling to Philly for back to back games while Linndale also gets back to back road games against San Dominica. I do think both 2 vs 3 seed games should be interesting tonight, but we'll get to that in a moment.

For these final rankings, I thought it would be fun to look back at where each team was ranked after the first week of the season - that number is in parenthesis.

1. San Dominica Warriors (6)
I know - they're 15-7, but this isn't based on standings, simply efficiency. They finished the season ranked 2nd in EFFG and OPP EFFG, which puts them at the top of the pack.

2. The Ashkickers (2)
While they haven't gotten a lot of love in these rankings, they finish out at least closer to where they probably belong, which is #1 because, you know, Defense wins Championships! Their 59.1 OPP EFFG ranks supreme - they will be tough to beat.

3. Philly Dribble (1)
Philly is the exact opposite of The Ashkickers: ranked 1st in EFFG and 6th in OPP EFFG. But still, they're dynamite and are chomping at the bit to move on.

4. Miami Cleo (8)
Losing only 4 games this season thanks primarily to their 2nd ranked OPP EFFG. It will be an interesting contest with the unpredictable Hustlas, but should they advance, they're maybe the best team with a shot to knock off The Ashkickers.

5. The Beer Bellys (3)
I just want to point out that the Bellys went from averagign 103.8 EFFG last season to 122.1 this season and made even greater improvements in OPP EFFG going from 100.3 down to 73.7. Too bad it sounds like they're blowing it up, though probably necessary.

6. 209's MostWanted (5)
Our first non-playoff team enters the rankings, edging out Hustlas solely based on final OPP EFFG rating, 79.6 compared to 84.3. Looking back, having just missed out on the playoffs by one game with a favorable point differential in the case of a tie, it's hard to pick which game they'd want back, but it's probably their 10-point loss to Linndale at home on New Years Eve as that would've pushed them into that last spot.

7. Hustlas (7)
Finishing where they started in the rankings, they're downfall, barely, is probably their defense as they could score with the best of them. But an 84 OPP EFFG (ranked 9th overall) isn't going to cut it, especially this season with so many dominant defensive teams who could still score (There are only 10 EFFG points separating #1 and #7). Of the top teams, Hustlas OPP EFFG was the 2nd worst.

8. Linndale (4)
The tricky thing for Linndale is I don't know that they NEEDED to beat San Dom - the right type of close loss could have them edge out 209's based on point differential - but it would had to have been close!

9. Żubr Białystok (10)
They miss out on the playoffs after surprising us in season 58 by finishing 2nd in the Great 8, but it seems like their training regiment got in the way of season success, which makes next season's team more daunting.

10. Carolina Rebels (9)
Carolina's definitely played the field very well this season and their efficiency rankings show that they played above their level. Kudos to them for prepping as well as they did to earn the 4th seed.

11. Lion Rebels (11)
Finishing with a bang over a bot team, the rumour mill around the team is whirling, having finished with their second worst record ever, the mood around the team is somber. Relegation matchup with the Spartans looks a bit daunting, but time will tell as they earned home court advantage for the series based on a barely favorable point differential.

12. The Philadelphia Spartans (14)
Despite a brief daliance with competing at this level, they fairly quickly backed out, seeking shelter in the relegation zone. Lion Rebels and Philadelphia were the two teams on the plane in between playoff spot competition and bottom of the barrel.

13. Motor City Waddupdoe (12)
Tough sledding for Motor City, finishing with 4 wins on the season winning the title of Best of the Worst. Relegation matchup against 209's doesn't look too promising for them.

14. BKDogs (14)
BKDogs wins the prize for not losing to the bot teams and also having only the fourth worst point differential on the season.

15. Sweaty Bots (15)
Stinky.

16. BOTTTSBURGS (16)
Defensive (in)efficiency did indeed reach 200 as well as dropping down to -0.6 in offensive (in)efficiency.

Playoff and Relegation Predictions
First up, the Great 8 where we have a decent separation between all four teams from 1 - 4 seeds.

The Beer Bellys (4) vs. The Ashkickers (1)
thatguy's squad barely lost to The Ashkickers in the final game of the season, losing by one with a failed 4th quarter comback which might make this an interesting matchup, except for that loss came at home. In the first game of the season, The Ashkickers kicked some Beer Belly ash, winning by 15 when they hosted them.
Prediction: The Ashkickers

The Hustlas (3) vs. Miami Cleo (2)
Miami lost at home to the Hustlas early on in the season, falling by 11 before renewing their resolve and beating the Hustlas on the road on New Years Eve by 10. Miami lost two strange games this season, including the first one to Hustlas. Regardless, I don't think Hustlas pulls off another on the road victory, but I wouldn't put it passed them.
Prediction: Miami

Next, the Big 8, where they finished with a log jam at 2, 3, & 4 all at 15-7 with point differential playing the tie-breaker.

Carolina Rebels (4) vs. Philly Dribble (1)
Carolina lost by a cumulative 40 points in their two matchups with Philly this season. Assuming they both played the TIE, Philly has the favorable matchup as the host.
Prediction: Philly Dribble

Linndale (3) vs. San Dominica Warrios (2)
Linndale lost by 10 at home in the first part of the season before then finishing the season with the upset on the road, winning by 12 with more enthusiasm used. With that, it feels like they sealed their fate.
Prediction: San Dominica

Great 8 Conference Finals
Miami Cleo (2) vs. The Ashkickers (1)
Talk about a tale of two different games. In their first matchup of the season, Miami rode into The Ashkickers court and limped off having only scored 45 points in four quarters in what turned out to be a terrible TV game. But then, with three games left to go in the season, Miami played host and defeated The Ashkickers by 9 in a redemption game where The Ashkickers put in more effort on the night. A decently tough call, but I'm riding Tylormade's defense and home court advantage to the league championship.
Prediction: The Ashkickers

Big 8 Conference Finals
San Dominica Warriors (2) vs. Philly Dribble (1)
While San Dominica was playing extremely efficiently against most teams in the league, Philly Dribble was their achilles heel, losing by 13 at home and 15 on the road. While I've touted their efficiency all season, I think it ends at this point in the road.
Prediction: Philly Dribble

Season 59 Div III.11 Finals
Philly Dribble (1) vs. The Ashkickers (1)
I'm assuming The Ashkickers wins home court advantage for the series with the better record and having beat Philly by 6 at the middle point of the season. And that game was at Philly, with Philly using more enthusiasm than The Ashkickers. Tylormade's three-headed outside monster composed of Sesamo, Gattoni, and Rojas scored 27, 25, and 24 points respecitvely despite Philly's prominent rated permeter defense and jumping out to a 12-point lead at the half. And I know it's probably not too fair to compare, but Philly lost to The Ashkickers in their only matchup last season. I'm not saying it will be a blow out, but it probably won't be quite the slugfest.
Prediction: The Ashkickers in 3 games

Relegation Predictions
Motor City Waddupdoe (7) vs. 209's MostWanted (5)
I can't imagine this will be much of a competition, with 209's having just missed out on the playoffs and Motor City's only other win aside from bot victories coming against BKDogs. Their highest salaried player isn't a scorer and even if 209's sell off 35-year old $41k PG Paulinho Gomes before the series finishes, I don't think there's any way Motor City competes.
Prediction: Motor City in 2 games

BKDogs (7) vs. Żubr Białystok (5)
Much like the previous matchup, I don't imagine this one will be close either, especially with BK selling $13k SF Zigmas Elsneris and fielding a less than stellar game shape squad. whitestok can't get out of this league quite yet!
Prediction: Żubr Białystok in 2 games

The Philadelphia Spartans (6) vs. Lion Rebels (6)
Unfortunately for Philadelphia, their most recent acquisition, big man Timothy Richard, isn't available for post season play. But they still have enough tools to compete with a weary Lion Rebels, who thanks to injuries don't have their game shape quite up to par. It should be a decent matchup.
Prediction: Philadelphia Spartans in 3 games

That's all folks - good luck to those in the playoffs and good luck to the Spartans (I'm gonna need it!).

Last edited by Baine at 1/24/2023 5:50:07 PM

*addressing the press after his final game*

Coach: "We talked about the lack of bench scoring. We talked about the lack of scoring. We talked about the lack of rebounding. We talked about all of that all season long. I don't know if you weren't listening, but we talked about it. All of that came back to bite us. We just didn't get the job done. To be clear, that's a good team over there in the other locker room. Give them all the credit in the world. They went out and took this game. That's what you have to do in the postseason. I suppose I'll see you guys one last time after I clean out my office. It's been a good run, but I'm sure I leave things better than when I got here. Pio has a nice team with some youth and young vets. He's a capable coach. He will get this team where it needs to be. I'm around as an adviser to the GM, whatever that means. I'm a coach. I know basketball; what am I going to advise a GM on? Budgets? I never saw a budget make a free throw, block a shot, take a charge, or draw a foul. You guys know who I am and what I do. They need to change that title; it should be adviser to basketball operations, or something like that. Anyway, I'll see you guys later, we gotta get home. Thank you all, have a great night, and congratulations to San Dominica."

Thanks for the writeups all season. Tough go for me getting promoted to a league this competitive after only having the franchise for a quarter season. Enjoyed playing with you all and hopefully I'll be back soon

Was tough sledding - glad you stuck it out though. Now you have a chance to retool and come back stronger!