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This is Chris McSpirit joining Coach Stephenson and welcome to the Warrior Review. Coach, you guys went into the Murph, a tough place for any visiting team and pulled out a big win.

COACH: Yeah though I'd say survived more than pulled out the win. There was plenty of rat poison this week going out and it nearly got us. At least you can say that from the appearance of our playing. But our game play came through when it mattered most and now we got a little bit of breathing room in the standings.

MCSPIRIT: A bit on that. You guys are currently fourth in the Big 8 which puts you in the last playoff spot and the Blaine Report had you guys fourth in the power rankings. How does it feel to get a bit of respect?

COACH: Honestly I felt better when everyone has us being relegated. Hey Blaine if you're listening do me a favor and say we suck! Nah hmm while it feels good to be respected by media and fellow coaches, those fellow coaches will also tell you its dangerous. There are still a lot of good teams behind us in the Big 8 and it doesn't take much for one to go from top of the stairs to the cellar and getting big headed can easily lead to being jack tumbling down the hill. Right now our attitude is one day at a time especially since we still have issues to fix and last Saturday's game had them all out in display

MCSPIRIT: A big questions from callers Saturday night was seeing more Marquez at the wing and a lack of Tercero, a guy who is capable of giving points and it seemed especially in the 2nd half points seemed like an endangered species for us.

COACH: The overall defensive strategy was to limit Varp. We figured if he gets hot its over. Tercero we knew could give him fits. So the game plan was a 1, 2 defensive punch of Ali (Alidori) and Tercero. Now yes Marq didn't do much scoring but he did his part in keeping Maurin from taking advantage of the situation when LAB got in trouble. So that in itself isn't the issue. The real issue is our lack of backcourt scoring at crucial times and that tendency for us to get off to bad 2nd half starts.

MCSPIRIT: And you guys did succeed on that end. Varpukevius averaging just over 20 points a game, was held to a season low of 7. Next up for you guys are the 2percent at the SMG to finish off the conference week. What are you initial thoughts going into that matchup?

COACH: Those guys are definitely a team that is more than their record would have you think. They got a guy who can potentially cause problems in the paint with Wilmink and a few guys like Golas who can just go Taz on you if you're not careful

MCSPIRIT: In fact we'll talk about that matchup more as soon as we come back from commercial break.

Last edited by Coach Stephenson at 8/29/2022 12:36:54 PM

Segovia hitting that buzzer-beater 3 at the end had to hurt, sorry man...errrr...maybe not, I need all the wins I can get while I try to rebuild this roster with limited cash lol.

Yeah - that was pretty devastating after making that comeback. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Win some, lose some.

Day 10 (Tuesday 30 August 2022) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
The Beer Bellys 20 - Linndale 111
Żubr Białystok 82 - Lion Rebels 94
Tachenko 71 - Rip City Revival 119
Hustlas 108 - The Lone Wolf 78
The Ashkickers 117 - Mighty Moose Rockets 68
Miami Cleo 60 - Carolina Rebels 74
2 percent 95 - San Dominica Warriors 112
Is This Heaven? 36 - Philly Dribble 115

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 119 : Rip City Revival
Rebounds : 72 : Linndale
Assists : 33 : San Dominica Warriors
Steals : 15 : The Ashkickers
Block Shots : 14 : The Ashkickers

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 42 : D. Charles (Mighty Moose Rockets)
Rebounds : 22 : M. Klimenkov (Linndale)
Assists : 12 : T. Armstead (Lion Rebels)
Steals : 4 : R. Heard (Mighty Moose Rockets), L. Eggleston (The Ashkickers), A. Coronado (Linndale), S. Jun Hoi (Hustlas)
Block Shots : 4 : J. Layton (Hustlas)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : M. Velasco (Philly Dribble) (20 Points, 7 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 27
Shooting Guard : L. Baião (San Dominica Warriors) (41 Points, 3 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 41
Small Forward : G. Gattoni (The Ashkickers) (26 Points, 5 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 31
Power Forward : J. Talman (Hustlas) (17 Points, 10 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 32
Center : M. Klimenkov (Linndale) (25 Points, 22 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 40

MVP of the evening
L. Baião (San Dominica Warriors) (41 Points, 3 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 41

The bad performance of the evening
B. Piotrkowicz (The Beer Bellys) (6 Points, 5 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -17

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : E. Albright (Mighty Moose Rockets) : 6 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : D. Charles (Mighty Moose Rockets), C. McNutt (Żubr Białystok), T. Ogata (2 percent) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : A. Gallucci (Miami Cleo), K. McNulty (Mighty Moose Rockets), E. Albright (Mighty Moose Rockets), R. Heard (Mighty Moose Rockets), A. Albrecht (Mighty Moose Rockets), K. Brown (Lion Rebels), M. Carrillo (Lion Rebels), H. Quindós (Żubr Białystok), W. Huffman (The Beer Bellys), B. Piotrkowicz (The Beer Bellys), D. Villari (The Beer Bellys), H. Musayyab (The Beer Bellys), P. Alvarado (The Beer Bellys), D. Wilmink (2 percent), P. Mari Acuña (2 percent) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : N. Neochoritis (Rip City Revival) : 8 Three points

The best performer : T. Armstead (Lion Rebels), N. Neochoritis (Rip City Revival) : Rating : 18.5

The worst performer : H. Musayyab (The Beer Bellys), P. Alvarado (The Beer Bellys) : Rating : 3.5

Pretty bummed - I lost my BBM game after scoring the tie it up basket with 3 seconds left, only for one of my dudes to foul the other team on their buzzer beater attempt and the guy made 1 of 2 free throws with no time left. No longer undefeated - I was hoping this season I might finally get to compete in the tournament!

Who knows. Maybe. You're not eliminated. It's double elimination and what not. I'm currently out of the running due to my point differential, but if I keep winning, I'm hoping to creep in. You are the same. One loss doesn't necessarily mean you're out. By wins and point differential is how you're ranked. I'm out of the zone right now but only lost once, by 4, shouldn't have, but eh. Anyway, as long as we keep winning, maybe we have a shot. There are two games left in qualifying.

Guess we can hope so; my PD isn't terrific. Good luck!

Week Five Power Rankings - Part One
Too much going on to go into too deep of player observations for this week - we'll give it a rest and pick it up in a week or two to see how much has changed. But plenty of ridiculous blow out action and upsets this last week which will make for some interesting efficiency rating changes, thus my ridiculous power rankings get even more ridiculous. "Tridiculous", one might say! Last week's ranking will be in parenthesis behind the team name.

1. Rip City Revival (1)
Jbogoroff maintains their top of the chart rankings, remains undefeated, and after defeating Tachenko by a bigger margin than Żubr Białystok this last week, my only question is, "How did they let a lesser team beat them in the Cup last week?" (Oh. Yes. Mmhmm. Okay, got it. Thanks.) After conferring with my assistant, it turns out they got beat because of a lack of effort. Ah well. They actually got knocked out of highest EFFG this week, but maintain their OPP EFFG dominance to remain #1. Interesting matchup week for them as well, facing the revamped Hustlas and The Ashkickers.

2. Philly Dribble (2)
No movement in the top two of the chart with 9-1 Philly getting the luxury of playing the Great 8 cellar dwellers in the same week. Slight improvements in both EFFG and OPP EFFG puts them at 1 & 2 respectively in the rankings. With most likely a cakewalk coming up this week, will The Beer Bellys or Żubr Białystok be able to pull off an upset? A decent Cup matchup this week - they've got a chance to remain in the tournament.

3. Linndale (7)
Huge leap for Linndale this week thanks in part to their great improvement in both categories (thanks to facing #8 Is This Heaven? and an interesting move by thatguy to throw the game on Tuesday) as well as stagnant movement by teams ahead of them last week plus one team that took a tumble. Matchups against #4 and #3 Great 8 seeded teams might complicate matters for them.

4. San Dominica Warriors (4)
I know, I know, I know, how can I put a 6-4 team ahead of the Great 8's top three who are 9-1, 8-2, & 7-3? Can't fudge the EFFG numbers, man. It's like the bible - it only tells the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Coach Stephenson's magic sauce this season has been his defense, ranking 3rd in OPP EFFG. They technically tied with the 4th place team in the ratings, but ties are broken by last week's averages, so they win out. Looks like a couple of easy games for them this week - will they be able to perform to expectations and maintain a top 4 ranking?

5. The Ashkickers (5)
Tylormade was seen seething after last week's rankings were released, and I can only imagine his reaction to winde up in the same space after two wins to improve their win streak to 4. They actually improved slightly in EFFG to move them up three spots as well as a spot in OPP EFFG. A walkover against The LOne Wolf at home on Saturday before a marquee matchup as they travel to face Rip City Revival next Tuesday - be sure to tune in and watch the #1's go at it!

6. Tachenko (3)
After easily handling The Lone Wolf by 30, Tachenko traveled to Rip's Memorial Coliseum and got dressed down, shooting 28% from the field and mustering up only 71 points while giving up 43 points in the first quarter. A drop in both EFFG and OPP EFFG leaves them in 3rd place in the Great 8. But I'm sure they're chomping at the bit to host the Lion Rebels on Saturday before being courted by Linndale next week.

7. Hustlas (6)
One place drops in these rankings each of the last two weeks...and that's with pretty dramatic improvement in EFFG (ranked 3rd) and OPP EFFG (ranked 8th - up two spots from last week). It truly is their OPP EFFG rating that's still holding them back, but I'm sure we'll continue to see that drop with their retooled roster. They play host to Rip City this weekend before traveling to Daylis to face off against Lion Rebels.

Week Five Power Rankings - Part 2

8. Lion Rebels (9)
My group has seemed to find their groove, right in the middle, losing on an absurd final shot with no time left to let The Beer Bellys steal one before somewhat righting the ship against Żubr. Two tough matchups this week against Tachenko and Hustlas and there's not much hope for the rebuilding Lions.

9. Żubr Białystok (10)
Up one spot this week despite a decline in EFFG and holding steady on defense, whitestok's crew finds themselves in 4th in the Great 8 despite getting handed two losses this week, losing for the first time after a four game win streak. Can they turn it around against another two difficult matchups in Linndale and Philly?

10. Miami Cleo (11)
Despite a six-game losing streak, Miami fared well against San Dom last weekend before struggling with Carolina. Not a lot of movement in their efficiency ratings or rankings and thankfully are welcoming Mighty Moose before hitting up The Lone Wolf to hopefully get back on track this week and even out their game log at .500.

11. The Beer Bellys (8)
Whatever thatguy is smoking, I want none of it. After pulling off a buzzer beater at home (I'm not bitter), they absurdly played five scrubs against Linndale to lose by 91 points, only scroing 20 points for the entire game which was good for a -40 EFFG, which helped to bring down their season average by 16 points, dropping them from ranked 5th in the category last week to 10th. I'm sure they've got a plan, but if it's The Process, Sam Hinke is in trouble.

12. Carolina Rebels (12)
After only losing by 12 to The Ashkickers last weekend, they upended Miami by 14 to notch their 3rd win on the season. They've seen modest improvements in both efficiencies and face what could be a two-win week leading to a three-game winning streak to put them at 5 wins, potentially fighting for the top relegation spot in the Big 8.

13. 2 percent (13)
The league hasn't been as nice to these bottom four teams, with only two wins between them all. After notching their first win last week, they've had to run through several good teams, but have a chance for two wins this week, hosting Carolina before visiting MMR on the road. They've got the best EFFG of the bad teams, but the 2nd worst OPP EFFG.

14. The Lone Wolf (14)
Boasting a 14th rank in both efficiencies, they unforunately haven't won since game two of the season. A tough matchup on the road against The Ashkickers, and if their OPP EFFG wasn't so bad, I'd suggest they have a chance against Miami's 12th ranked EFFG, but I think that's too much to ask. They do have a matchup against 2 percent looming the following week though!

15. Is This Heaven? (15)
Not to point out the obvious, but any other year, this team's 59 EFFG and 135 OPP EFFG would be good for the very last of places in this league. With a 0 in the win column and a 10 in the loss coupled with a -347 point differential, it's hard to imagine them winning a game, but at least one of these two bottom feeders will come out with a win the the all star game.

16. Mighty Moose Rockets (16)
After having made a couple of moves, I keep waiting for Hutch44 to make some more, but they seem content on relegating. Their scores have gotten higher the last two weeks, but still not good enough - who knows, maybe they'll pull out a surprise for the fans in the next couple of weeks!

Oh I think you want what I'm smoking lol. I knew I didn't have a chance in hell on that game, and training my guards is a priority. So that is why I played scrubs...training time allocation. Gave the starters a chance to enjoy our new bourbon lounge and club, they needed a night off

Haha - I get it and figured as such!