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Week Nine Power Rankings - Part One
As Hustlas continues their descent into the abyss, we find ourselves sitting pretty pat in these rankings, with only minor adjustments and only four teams moving up or down in the EFFG/OPP EFFG rankings, and only one spot in either direction in each case. Steady as she goes toward the playoffs!

1. Rip City Revival (1)
EFFG: 1 OPP EFFG: 1
San Dominica Warriors played host to Rip City last Saturday night and nearly pulled off the upset, falling just six points short after a barn-burning comeback faltered in the fourth quarter. Down 24 points coming into the final period, San Dom outscored Rip by 18 points, including 14 poings in the final 60 seconds which would have been enough to tie, but they finally started giving up free throws to end the game with a loss. In a somewhat scary turn of events, Rip then played host to 2nd seed Philly Dribble and beat them soundly by 16 while putting forth less effort to remain at the top of the standings. Of their remaining 5 games, only one is in question as they look to finish the season with only a fraud loss on their record.

2. Philly Dribble(2)
EFFG: 2 OPP EFFG: 2
Suffering their third loss of the season after handily shutting down The Lone Wolf last weekend, Phil_Wings probably has some frustration as they face the prospects of having to find a way to beat Rip City on the road in the Big 8 finals AND then go on to win a best of three matchup against the Great 8's victor. Their somewhat surprising loss on Tuesday makes next Tuesday's road game against Linndale interesting, but they get a nice little pebble in the road in an easy boosting TV game against Lion Rebels in what is all but assuredly a win.

3. The Ashkickers (5)
EFFG: 5 OPP EFFG: 3
A bump up in position in both EFFG/OPP EFFG results in a two spot jump for The Ashkickers (to where some might say is their rightful place in these rankings) as they lead the Great 8 into the playoffs almost certain to retain the top spot, unless something catastrophic happens such as Oscar Reine, Graziano Gattnoi, AND Lorenzo Rojas all drowning in the cold tub after a game this week. Runaway wins this week against The Beer Bellys and recently botified Is This Heaven? were enjoyed as they now turn to face persistent 2 percent before traveling to rejuvenated Żubr Białystok in a sudden top two Great 8 matchup next Tuesday.

4. San Dominica Warriors (3)
EFFG: 6 OPP EFFG: 4
Sliding down a spot in both categories this week, it's not because of a lack of effort. After losing to Rip City, they toyed with Lion Rebels on the road, giving them the brief illusion of hope against hope before terminating them in the third period and never looking back. An important matchup looms on Saturday against Linndale San Dom to make up ground in pursuit of 3rd in the conference before an easy matchup on the road against The Lone Wolf next week.

5. Linndale (4)
EFFG: 4 OPP EFFG: 6
Despite holding steady in their own right in both categories, they slip a spot in these rankings, but Saturday's matchup should be their proving ground to show that these numbers are a farce. A blow out win against Mighty Moose Rockets followed by a breezy television win at home against Carolina by 20 leads to a trying week where they'll work to avoid going 0-2 against the next two seeded teams in the Big 8. While they have to travel to #4 San Dominica, they do get to play host to Philly Dribble and make up for their 34 point loss on the road back at the beginning of August.

Week Nine Power Rankings - Part Two

6. Tachenko (6)
EFFG: 7 OPP EFFG: 8
As long as Hustlas don't have any players, even though according to the season EFFGs, they'll miss out on being placed above 16th on this list (spoiler alert, this is where they would have been) - in their place lands Tachenko...I never would have predicted they would have suffered 8 losses coming into the home stretch of the season, but here we are. Back to back losses this week, including a stunner of an upset by 2 percent to knowck them out on the road (and drop 141 points on them) followed by a fair dismantling of them by Żubr Białystok leaves them suddenly in 4th place. Fortunately for them, the state of the Hustlas almost assures them of a playoff spot and matchups against The Beer Bellys at home and bot Is This Heaven? on the road are a welcome relief.

7. Żubr Białystok (7)
EFFG: 8 OPP EFFG: 7
Two solid wins against Miami and Cleo finds whitestok in the 2nd seed in the Great 8 and with a projected walk over win against Hustlas before having to host The Ashkickers, they appear to be in pretty good position to finish the season with 15 wins (which I think would've been a surprise to them at the start of the season!). I normally save this information for the end of the season, but they've had a phenomenal turn around since the first week of the season, improving their season EFFG by 33.5 points and their OPP EFFG by 19.

8. Miami Cleo (8)
EFFG: 13 OPP EFFG: 5
Miami still struggles with offensive production, but their defense holds them in most games. They're currently on the outside looking to the playoffs, but what could be two easy matchups this week should result in them propelling up the standings with Hustlas falling. 2 percent, next Tuesday, presents an interesting feat, but enthusiasm should be the effective force at play there while an easy win comes their way on Saturday.

9. Lion Rebels (9)
EFFG: 9 OPP EFFG: 9
Settling in at the top of the bottom of the pack with some dispicable results as of late, including a tremendous 3-point buzzer beater loss to Carolina (bitter pill added by having it come from their center with his only 3-point shot of the night, whose made 33 career three-pointers in 7 seasons). They have to face Philly on the road in a TV game before getting (hopefully) some relief against Mighty Moose next Tuesday to break their now 7 game losing streak.

10. Carolina Rebels (10)
EFFG: 12 OPP EFFG: 11
Most likely securing their spot at 5th in the standings over Lion Rebels with that dramatic finish at home last Saturday, they got it handed to them by Linndale on Tuesday (on TV), losing by 20 points after leading at the half by six. Though I'm projecting them to go 2-3 over their final five games, I don't see a scenario playing out where Lion Rebels can overtake them. A win approaches on Saturday vs. The Lone Wolf before they travel to Rip City next week.

11. The Beer Bellys (11)
EFFG: 11 OPP EFFG: 12
Dropping an expected game to The Ashkickers on the road before picking up a nice win at home against Miami, thatguy's squad isn't out of playing for a surprise playoff spot with at least three wins penciled in over the coming weeks. A tough matchup with Tachenko (whom they beat at the beginning of the season) looms, where kokka is sure to exact revenge, before getting their walk-over win against Hustlas this next week.

Last edited by Baine at 9/29/2022 6:26:07 PM

Week Nine Power Rankings - Part Three

12. 2 percent (13)
EFFG: 10 OPP EFFG: 14
2 percent has gone from being a mockery to being an opponent to be wary of, but it may have been too little too late. They travel to The Ashkickers this weekend before playing host in an important game against Miami. If they play it right, they could move up and face easier competition in the relegation series, but it will be a difficult task.

13. The Lone Wolf (14)
EFFG: 14 OPP EFFG: 13
With only three wins on the season (though a nice decisive showing against MMR), they face Carolina on the road before playing host to San Dominica. I just don't think they've got it in them to move up, though I've seen crazier scenarios play out. Regardless, I don't know they have what it takes to win a three game relegation series against any of the four potentials, unless it happens to end up being Hustlas in a strange turn of events.

14. Mighty Moose Rockets (16)
EFFG: 16 OPP EFFG: 16
Hutch appears to have given up, finally moving David Charles two weeks ago. But they're only averaging 61.8 PPG and they're allowing an incredible 119.8. They face Rip City at home before traveling to Daylis for a tumble with Lion Rebels. It was a pleasure playing against them - hopefully they rebound quickly.

15. Is This Heaven? (16)
EFFG: 15 OPP EFFG: 15
The bot team benefited from a walk-over against Hustlas before getting demolished by The Ashkickers, and only more of that will be in their future for the rest of the season.

16. Hustlas (16)
EFFG: 3 OPP EFFG: 10
While they should have been 6th based on the numbers, without rostering a single player as of this writing, they're still at the bottom and if they don't pull some things together quickly, they could be looking at relegation after such a fireworks of a season. It might be too hard to do, but at 11-11, they relegation implications are strong, depending on how current 5-7 play out the string.

...inside the GM's office

GM: Are you sure you're ready?

Coach: I'm ready. The docs say I'm cleared. The time is now. If we' have to make changes this late in the season, then I need to be here. It sucked losing MK, but---

GM: Yeah; I hate the money side of this sometimes. So, tell me what you need to do what you want.

Coach: I need a big who can guard the perimeter as well as inside. Gotta be able to handle the ball. Has to help on the boards.

GM: I don't hear you saying anything about offense.

Coach: The right guy we can get up to speed. You know what I want to do.

GM: Now?

Coach: It's our best shot. We have to get them ready for it. We owe it to them, and it sets us up for next season.

GM: Then it's settled. You ready to handle that last piece of business?

Coach: Yeah.

GM: (to secretary via intercom) Miss Smith, could you send in Mr. reina, please?

Pio: You wanted to see---

Coach: Hello Pio!

Pio: (hugging Coach) I'm so glad to see you!!!

Coach: Always glad to see you Pio!

GM: Pio, we have a proposition for you.

Coach: Pio, you're the only guy I've considered for this. I know you talk with your teammates, and I'm sure you have a group in mind specifically for what I want to do.

Pio: What's that, Coach?

Coach: I want you on my staff. I want you to start thinking about who you want on YOUR staff. I want you to take over coaching duties after next season. I want to take the rest of this season and all of next season to you ready.

Pio: Coach, I don't know what to say...

GM: Pio, you do. You know the game. You know our culture; heck, you helped build it. You are a Linndale legend. You command respect. You've been ready for a while; the only question is if you want to do this.

Pio: I need to make a few calls, and I have 2 questions.

GM: MK was a money move we had to make. You'll know about any others. And yes, we have a guy in mind to replace him. A few, actually.

Pio: What about my media roles?

GM: We're handling that.

Coach: Call your guys and tell them they're assistants effective immediately. I want this transition to be seamless as possible. You know what we've talked about the last few years?

Pio: Coach, are you serious?

Coach: It's time. We're gonna do it.

Pio (to GM): Get the guy and we'll make it happen. This WILL be ready for the postseason. Get us the guy. We're in.

GM: We're in?

Pio: I have two guys, and I'm sure Coach already knows who they are.

Coach: When they get here, we'll gather the team.

GM: This might be ugly in the postseason.

Coach: You know we weren't winning the league title. IF we get to the next round, great. If we don't, that's fine too. Next season begins now for us. The future begins now.

GM: Let's do this.

Bobby Sparks is seen pacing back and forth in his office. "We still cannot compete. And the old man doesn't care. His son doesn't care, his daughter barely cares. Only we care John, only we care." The camera focuses in on John Walton, Hustlas coach, sitting in a sofa chair in the office.

"I thought you didn't care too," says John Walton.

"Of course you did. That was the point, to make it seem like I didn't
In truth, I care a whole lot. I just didn't think it would take this long. The old man said it would, and I went along with it, but, now I'm getting grey hairs, more grey hairs just sitting here with no team, no capital to build a team. And tonight, we have to forfeit to Zubr. This was supposed to be our revenge night. We were going to crush them with the team we had. But instead, we will just give them the win. We will fall to third place. The good news is that we will be in third, and we'll finally have some capital to grab some players. The bad news, the players may not be very good, and it won't be much in money. So we will keep losing," says Bobby Sparks.

"But you must have some plan, some inkling of what you want to do," says John Walton.

"The game vs Ashkickers. After that game, we may finally be able to build a team that may compete in the final game of the season. The objective is to go 12-10. I would like better, but if we can manage 12-10, just maybe we stay out of the play in zone. Won't bode well for us come next season with a bad team, but at least we will have that next season. That's the goal, anyway," says Bobby Sparks.

"I'm ready to coach," says John Walton. "I am eager."

"You're a fairly decent coach. But if I find better, you are busting down to assistant. There were some games you just did not do a good job in."

"If you say so," says John.

Last edited by Reece at 10/1/2022 10:10:23 AM

Day 18 (Saturday 1 October 2022) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Linndale 86 - San Dominica Warriors 92
Lion Rebels 92 - Philly Dribble 116
Rip City Revival 122 - Mighty Moose Rockets 42
The Lone Wolf 100 - Carolina Rebels 115
2 percent 72 - The Ashkickers 120
Is This Heaven? 33 - Miami Cleo 136
The Beer Bellys 99 - Tachenko 85
Żubr Białystok 50 - Hustlas 0

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 136 : Miami Cleo
Rebounds : 74 : Miami Cleo, Rip City Revival
Assists : 38 : Miami Cleo
Steals : 10 : Miami Cleo, The Ashkickers
Block Shots : 12 : Miami Cleo

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 47 : N. Mezzalira (The Lone Wolf)
Rebounds : 21 : H. Espinosa (Carolina Rebels)
Assists : 13 : M. Maurin (Miami Cleo), T. Begley (Carolina Rebels)
Steals : 4 : L. Arevalo (Carolina Rebels)
Block Shots : 5 : G. Locus (Miami Cleo)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : D. Santana (Miami Cleo) (16 Points, 6 Rebounds, 8 Assists, 1 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 27
Shooting Guard : A. Varpukevicius (Miami Cleo) (30 Points, 8 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 3 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 38
Small Forward : G. Gattoni (The Ashkickers) (41 Points, 8 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 3 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 50
Power Forward : P. Huddleston (Philly Dribble) (18 Points, 13 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots), J. Bégin (San Dominica Warriors) (14 Points, 18 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 1 Steals, 3 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 31
Center : G. Locus (Miami Cleo) (27 Points, 20 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 3 Steals, 5 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 52

MVP of the evening
G. Locus (Miami Cleo) (27 Points, 20 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 3 Steals, 5 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 52

The bad performance of the evening
K. McNulty (Mighty Moose Rockets) (4 Points, 5 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -33

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : B. Ross (Is This Heaven?) : 6 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : Z. Enxuan (The Lone Wolf) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : G. Locus (Miami Cleo), J. Cadelago (Mighty Moose Rockets), H. Espinosa (Carolina Rebels), L. Arevalo (Carolina Rebels), J. Cantrell (Is This Heaven?), T. Medina (Lion Rebels), D. Harden (Lion Rebels), H. Griffin (2 percent), M. Rubin (2 percent) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : A. Varpukevicius (Miami Cleo) : 8 Three points

The best performer : N. Neochoritis (Rip City Revival) : Rating : 17.5

The worst performer : B. Ross (Is This Heaven?) : Rating : 0.0

"Sir, we are fielding a very weak team," says Bobby Sparks to the owner. "And your point?" says the owner. "That we won't be very competitive, though we did get Denkovic back."

"GOOD, I LIKED DENKOVIC."

"Yes, but sir, I don't think we will win any games. At the moment, one win keeps us out of the relegation series. One win gives us a good shot at making the playoffs, though The Beer Belly's seems to be striving for that final position," says coach John Walton.

"John, go out there, do your job. And Bobby, the moment you get more capital, find another good player. Maybe that person can help us in our final match. But I see an 11-11 season. And with the teams under us losing games, we have a good shot at making the playoffs, say 50-50? The Beer Belly's will lose at least one game and have 11 loses. Tachenko will lose at least one game and have 10 losses. Miami Cleo will lose at least two games. So Beer Bellys at best will tie us, but they will be handed the tiebreaker due to our money struggles this season. But, if we win one game, just one game, then we are in. If we beat Tachenko, we will place third. And that's the final game of the season."

"You heard him John. Get the guy's ready. We are not going to do anything in the playoffs. The objective is to stick around this league for at least another season, see if we can build back up our roster. So we need one win."

"This team is the third worst overall team in this league. But I will try Bobby."

"Good," says the owner. "That's all we ask, win or lose, just try. And Bobby, look for another player after the game against The Ashkickers. We should hopefully have enough funds and fortune to find a player that can turn the tables in the last game. Work some magic Bobby, if possible."



Last edited by Reece at 10/5/2022 4:40:16 AM

Day 19 (Tuesday 4 October 2022) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Philly Dribble 118 - Linndale 125
Mighty Moose Rockets 50 - Lion Rebels 117
Carolina Rebels 62 - Rip City Revival 110
San Dominica Warriors 119 - The Lone Wolf 94
Miami Cleo 102 - 2 percent 109
Tachenko 122 - Is This Heaven? 45
Hustlas 76 - The Beer Bellys 117
The Ashkickers 108 - Żubr Białystok 93

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 125 : Linndale
Rebounds : 61 : Rip City Revival
Assists : 36 : Tachenko
Steals : 19 : Tachenko
Block Shots : 13 : Lion Rebels

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 43 : M. Maurin (Miami Cleo)
Rebounds : 27 : D. Wilmink (2 percent)
Assists : 13 : B. Coenen (Linndale)
Steals : 6 : C. Hampton (Tachenko)
Block Shots : 4 : R. Singh (Lion Rebels), C. Riggins (Żubr Białystok), D. Wilmink (2 percent)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : M. Velasco (Philly Dribble) (12 Points, 6 Rebounds, 8 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots), H. Griffin (2 percent) (17 Points, 14 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 25
Shooting Guard : K. Knowles (Linndale) (24 Points, 3 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots), N. Neochoritis (Rip City Revival) (16 Points, 13 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 25
Small Forward : B. Aviles (Tachenko) (28 Points, 9 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 4 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 36
Power Forward : I. Homs (The Beer Bellys) (22 Points, 10 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33
Center : D. Wilmink (2 percent) (23 Points, 27 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 1 Steals, 4 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 45

MVP of the evening
D. Wilmink (2 percent) (23 Points, 27 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 1 Steals, 4 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 45

The bad performance of the evening
K. McNulty (Mighty Moose Rockets) (11 Points, 1 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -14

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : B. Ross (Is This Heaven?) : 6 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : N. Guevara (Linndale) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : A. Gallucci (Miami Cleo), J. Cadelago (Mighty Moose Rockets), B. George (Carolina Rebels), T. Plummer (Carolina Rebels), J. Cantrell (Is This Heaven?), B. Ross (Is This Heaven?), S. Hatch (Żubr Białystok), D. Wilmink (2 percent) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : M. Tercero (San Dominica Warriors) : 6 Three points

The best performer : T. Armstead (Lion Rebels) : Rating : 18.0

The worst performer : B. Ross (Is This Heaven?) : Rating : 0.5

Shout out to Ray guiding the 2 Percenters for impressive wins in 3 of the past 4 league games. Big wins over Miami Cleo and Tachenko to make the race for Great 8 relegation seeding and final playoff spots very interesting. Here are my predictions for the final 3 season games and final placement for the 4th thru 7th spots.

Place Team Next 3 Final Record
3rd Tachenko 2-1 (12-10)
4th Hustlas 0-3 (11-11)
5th Beer Bellys 2-1 (11-11)
6th Miami Cleo 2-1 (10-12)
7th 2 Percent 1-2* (8-14)

Bellys and Miami beat Big 8 regulation opponents Lion Rebels and Lone Wolf, Carolina Rebels beats 2 Percent in 3 games.

*65% chance 2 Percent beats Beer Bellys this Saturday, in which Da Bellys slide to 6th.

Last edited by thatguy at 10/5/2022 2:32:46 PM

ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports entertainment. "I'm your host, Jack Moss, and I am here to give my 2-percent, lol. You like that? I liked that. Anyway, the race for the 4th through 7th seeds in the great 8 is heating up thanks to the complete disbanding of the Hustlas, who, before disbanding, had the best chance to win the league. And to 2 Percent, who as of last had put together their best stretch of the season. Zubr is another that has done really well. With the fall of the Hustlas, Zubr really took over. The Hustlas reassembled a new team, but this team is sad, very sad to look at. I guess if you're going to have to pay money anyway, might as well have some players. They assembled this roster on 120k in funds. Now that was impressive, but it's just not a good team. Now, they are trying to still beat out relegation and make the playoffs. Why? Who knows. But they have been getting help. 2 Percent has been their best friends and if 2 Percent defeat Beer Bellys, then the Hustlas may just make it, as Beer Bellys was not slated to lose to them in our predictions. If they do, then they may lose 2 out of three, giving that 4th seed to the Hustlas, without the Hustlas winning a single game down the stretch. And that would be thanks to 2 Percent. And Hustlas would have to thank them for it. I'm guessing the owner may give them something, but who knows.

But that Hustlas team. Who knew they could fall so low with this team that's assembled? I don't see them losing by less than 20 in any game the rest of the season. If they do, I'll eat an alligator. For real. And 2 Percent, who knew they had a team assembled??? Zubr, only the Hustlas people saw their worth, and now they are proving them right and everyone else wrong. Beer Bellys? Well, they may still that 4th spot. We will have to wait and see. Tachenko is probably playing possum right now. Hard to read, hard to say. All I know is that 3rd and 4th seed is up for grabs. It's anyone's guess who will take it. And the Big 8? Seeds 2, 3 and 4 are fighting for positioning. Philly Dribble is playing possum but will finish with the 2 seed. Linndale is really coming along, and San Dominican is as well. It's a toss up to see who will get those final seeding spots. Relegation we may talk about at a later time. This is Jack Moss, Signing off."

Last edited by Reece at 10/5/2022 3:49:44 PM

If Hustlas is involved in a tie they’ll automatically lose the tiebreaker because of the asterisk from a forfeit loss.