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Charles:
This is Charles Sanborn, welcome back to the Warrior’s Den and our special on the State of the Big 8. We previously discussed the Muffin Men and the 209 Most Wanted. None of us believe either team are in a position to disrupt the playoff picture. However our next two teams have inspired different feelings. First up a team pretty familiar to all of us. Hunt we’ll start with you because I’m sure you have a lot to say.

Hunt:
Normally I don’t say this. You guys know how I feel about Linndale. They’re dreaded rivals. Not as dreaded as those d**n Rebels but rivals all the same. That said, I feel for Pio Reina, I really do. I mean if I had to work with the insanity that is their GM office. I’d be … (sighs) You thought what Air Allnite said last week was bad, that would be me every day! The man has no stablity roster wise. Every time we turn around somebody’s been moved!

Sam:
And not just any players. You can understand scrub players or bench players but they’ve moved some major pieces.

Hunt:
Hearn, gone. MacNeur, gone. Koncki, gone. Knowles, gone. Genipabu, gone! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Some of them I undersand. Not to name any name but if you’re getting over a hundred grand, you gotta wreck.

Bret:
It’s almost to the point where Reina is putting lineups together with duct tape.

Sam:
Cheap duct tape. We’re not even seeing the duck on the duct tape.

Pete:
And yet they’re 6-9 and still in the hunt for the playoffs.

Hunt:
Exactly! Despite all that they’re still a dangerous team. Everyone who is on the inside, the Warriors, the Agency, the Golden Lions, and that other team. You cannot give this team any hope. You are hoping the Warriors win Saturday. You can’t give this team any hope. The odds are not in their favor. 11 losses put them out of it I believe. The sooner you get this team to 11 losses the easier everyone in the top four can breathe.

DD:
I agree this is a team you can’t judge on based on record. They’re well coached despite what one one the outside could believe the GM’s attempt to sabotage the team, but …

Charles:
It’s not easy being a GM. There are nasty decisions that they have to make. Many of them unpopular decisions.

Hunt:
Look I just remember when playing Linndale was scary. You saw them coming or you had to go to the Speedway and you were in sheer panic. This team isn’t that due to being gutted and its tragic because they’re … they’re …

Sam:
They’re wasting a good coach.

Hunt:
Thank you

Brett:
We better move on Charles. Hunt might have an aneurysm if we keep talking about Linndale.

Charles:
So this brings us to the Dragmort Dragons

Pete:
Oh yeah the Dragon Maffia.

Hunt:
Look I just wanna know where the hell they found those two muscle hamsters.

Pete:
Yeah, I mean we saw first hand how much beast, Pakzat and Yu Zi are.

Sam:
Is it Yu Zi, or is the last name just Zi

Pete:
Doesn’t matter when a guy is leaving your court with more boards than a lumber company and is basically a walking flyswatter. But if we’re saying how the inner four need to be concerned about Linndale, they really need to be concerned about the Dragons. I mean Pakzat and Yu Zi gives them so many second chance opportunities and force teams to only one opportunity. They probably need a bit more firepower from outside to really scare the heck out of teams like the Lion Rebels and the Agency but they could be problematic for the Warriors as we saw and the Golden Lions

Sam:
I’m with Pete. Of the two, the ability of the Dragon Maffia hitmen in the paint, gives the Dragons a more likely ability to maybe take a playoff spot. Sidney Kang some would say this is unfair but he needs to give a little more. But they definitely will need more from Petrinski and Pessen

Pete:
That’s Efe Pessen to you young lady

Sam:
Efe Pessen if they really want to make a run for the playoffs.

Hunt:
He’s shorter than Begin

Charles:
When we come back we look at the top four when we come back to our State of the Big 8 show.


Last edited by Coach Stephenson at 1/25/2024 5:04:02 PM

Charles:
We’re back and now we’re down to the top four in the Big 8.

Sam:
Look I just want to say before you go onto the Golden Lions. In my defense Pete, the stat sheet show him as Pessen.

Pete:
That’s to the stat sheet. To us he is Efe Pessen

Sam:
You better not be in drunkencaster mode

Pete:
On national radio after what happened to those poor blokes at WINO back in Speedville! No way! I’m just hoping we don’t get fine because of Hunt!

Charles:
So the Shandong Golden Lions? Double D, what’s your take

DD:
To me the Shandong Golden Lions go as far as Daniel Gay takes them. Which is not a bad thing because Daniel Gay is one heck of a player. I think he can be the difference maker when the Golden Lions have to take on the Lion Rebels. If he falters, the Shandong Golden Lions playoff dreams falter. He gets hot and elevates things a bit higher, the Golden Lions maybe the Lions we talk about when we’re discussing the finals.

Bret:
I have to disagree with that sentiment Charles, I think for the Golden Lions Cheung Choi Kwan is the piece you have to discuss. He’s the number 1 rebounder in the league but more importantly he’s number 2 in field goal percentage. I really truly believe that if the Golden Lions want to punch a ticket into the finals, they are gonna have to go to Hong Kong and find the best sauce they have to put on the ball because they are gonna need to keep feeding that silverback the ball and letting him eat. I like Daniel Gay as a player but it’s gonna come down to silverback play if you’re going to take down the Lion Rebels and the Agency so first and foremost give the silverbacks their due and let ‘em feast.

Charles:
What about the rest of you guys? What's your view on this?

Pete:
I’m with Bret, if Choi Kwan elevates his game, it frees up Gay to elevate his but it goes to Choi Kwan.

Sam:
I’m with Double D. Daniel Gay has to take it to the next level if the Golden Lions want to do things in the playoffs but I think most of us agree if neither of those two things happen, then the Shandong could find themselves outside looking in.

Charles:
Now this brings us to our own San Dominica Warriors.

Sam:
Everyone will agree that the Warriors are probably the deepest team in the league. They have one of the most dangerous, if not the most dangerous bench in the league. But the problem has been consistency with the first five particularly with the three through five spot.

Pete:
Yeah the question isn’t really a matter of talent especially now that the Southpaws are gone but that scoring leader just hasn’t popped up and the doing it by committee just hasn’t worked this season. Now I think they’ve solved the frontcourt issues but O’Brien’s tendency to get into foul trouble is still an issue.

Bret:
I think this weekend a lot of questions will be answered and I think a lot of new questions will be formed.

Hunt:
I don’t think the issue is can these Warriors make the playoffs, the real question is what can they do in ithe playoffs.

DD:
You can’t even take that for granted. Linndale has gone from outside looking in to being in and putting some else out. You have to play these seven games with that kind of mindset or you will be outside looking in.

Sam:
Versatility and depth will get them in, but I don’t know if the talent is enough to win it.

Charles:
When we come back we take a look at the final two teams in our State of the Big 8 countdown and then we’ll listen to you the fans viewpoint. We’re back after this commercial break.

Pio Reina: Air’s gone for awhile, Marshall you know what he was working on, right?

Marshall Richards: Already ahead of you. I ran the scrimmage. He did get the lineup set before the suspension came down. Piece of cake!

PR: Two days. What are we doing, Byron?

BH: The bigs need rebounding, inside defense, and inside offense. We’re going defense for the week.

MR: Pio, these kids need to see what this game is all about. Nothing fancy, no tricks or gimmicks. Keep things simple. This is your assignment. Go out and execute.

PR: Marshall, are you of all people telling me not to run any games? (laughs)

MR: Nah; I’m just kidding! (laughs)

PR: What are we thinking for defense?

BH: Man to man. It’s the only way.

MR: Who’s the focal point?

BH: Doesn’t matter. They have 5 point guards and 2 small forwards to run through three spots. They have depth. They have 5 guys to run up front through 2 spots. That depth will show up. Our kids will need to step up, especially up front.

PR: What I’m hearing is ball security will be at a premium and so will rebounding and post play. Byron is right. Man to man is the only way. Shorten the bench up front?

BH: I think so. Pemwieser’s gonna have to earn his keep.

PR: What do we want to do in the back court, Marshall?

MR: This might be a game you throw Bolibok to the wolves, though. Let’s see if he shrinks from this moment.

BH: Marshall, that boy is gonna get cooked on defense.

MR: Maybe, but if he gets his points and gets someone in foul trouble, I’d take that.

PR: What about the wing? We always have trouble with LAB, and we don’t have a Knowles to duel with him.

MR: We have a guy there who we brought in for defense. I think we have that covered.
LAB always seems to get what he needs against us anyway.

Carlos Frias (barging in the office): Coach, we got a problem.

PR: Talk to us. What’s the problem?

Walt Pasman: (walking behind Frias) We feel like you guys have been babying us. We don’t like it. You said we’d do the lockdown thing on defense and figure out the points.

PR: I did. Carlos, since your arrival, we’ve given up 116 in a 2 point loss, 98 in a 2 point win, and 102 in a 2 point win. Walt, your first game was the 15 point loss before Carlos got here.

CF: Coach, you gotta turn us loose. Vamos cozinhar!

PR: I don’t know Portuguese, but I distinctly heard some Spanish sounding stuff. Sounds like you said to let you cook, is that right?

WP: Coach, that’s what I heard. Let us do what we were brought here for.

PR: Marshall, Byron, I think we got us a couple of leaders in the locker room. Let the kids cook and we’ll see exactly what we have.

(shouts from outside the office) YEAH!!!!!

BH: (looking out the doorway) Marshall, I don’t think we’re running a short bench anymore. They’re all here. Everyone. The whole roster.

Trenton Tovar: All right fellas; we got what we came for. Let’s get back to work.

MR: Shooter, practice isn’t until tomorrow. You guys just had a scrimmage.

TT: Coach Richards, didn’t you get the memo? The 27th is two days away. That game means something! 19 points, man. 19 mutha---

CF: SHOOTER!!! (grabs Tovar with Damian Hatfield and carries him out)

Joy Beko: Coach, this is not the same team from that first game. We heard about it; Shooter won’t shut up. Coach Allnite didn’t shut up. You don’t say much about it but your demeanor has changed. We know it means something. To you, to the staff, to the secretaries, to the janitors who mop the courts, to the fans and everyone. We going to cook now, OK?

PR: Just make sure you guys are ready to burn the place down in 2 days.

JB: Coach, we will be. We have matches!

MR: We don’t need no stinkin’ matches. Byronm get the flamethrowers!

BH: You really gotta stop watchin' that tv rasslin', man!

Week Eight Power Rankings
The Power Rankings return after the All-Star Hiatus with three games between rankings, which solidifies, by the numbers, that (breaking news!) the good teams are better than the bad teams. But seriously, we have arrived at a place where there is a pretty clear separation. The teams that are most efficient on offense are also the teams that are most defensively efficient. There is a broad middle grouping of pretty decent offensive efficient teams. But the gap from first to last in each category is relatively huge, with 64.6 points separating the best and worst EFFG teams and 83.9-point difference in the best and worst OPP EFFG teams. But with that, there were some relatively big leaps and drops for several teams in their efficiency from before the all-star game, which I'll try to highlight here.

As we'll see from the top of these rankings this week, the Great 8 came in with something of a large upset in the All Star game with a 24-point victory having jumped out to a ten-point lead after one (51-41), then holding steady for the next two quarters and finishing off with another 11-point increase in their lead in the 4th to finish the dominant victory. They were led by All Star MVP (according to yours truly), Gerardo Nuñez, who scored 31 points on 13-20 shooting, including 5-6 from three to go along with 9 rebounds and 5 assists from the power forward spot.

Gjallim Azheli was the three-point contest champ, and I find it quite quirky that two players from two "lesser" teams (no slight intended) led the way for the All Star week.

In addition, with this being the 8th week of the season, each team will have their first week's ranking, including the efficiency difference from Week 1 to now. On to the rankings!

1. Lion Rebels
Week 1 Ranking: 1st
EFFG Diff: +0.2
OPP EFFG Diff: -1.7

Next Up: at Muffin Men before hosting 209's

2. F.Day Internet Lovers Club
Week 1 Ranking: 5th
EFFG Diff: +7.5
OPP EFFG Diff: +15.1 (4th best improvement)

Next Up: host to Dragmort Dragons then at Shandong Golden Lions

3. San Dominica Warriors
Week 1 Ranking: 2nd
EFFG Diff: -8.2
OPP EFFG Diff: +2.3

Next Up: at Linndale before hosting Muffin Men

4. Tasty Tardsicles
Week 1 Ranking: 6th
EFFG Diff: -13 (4th biggest decline)
OPP EFFG Diff: +32.3 (2nd biggest improvement)

Next Up: host to Mindless Zombies before visiting Super Sonics

5. Super Sonics
Week 1 Ranking: 10th
EFFG Diff: -4.3
OPP EFFG Diff: +38.3 (biggest improvement)

Next Up: at CB Bethesdorf then hosting Tasty

6. Shandong Golden Lions
Week 1 Ranking: 7th
EFFG Diff: +12.7
OPP EFFG Diff: +10.6

Next Up: visiting 209's before hosting F.Day

7. Mindless Zombies
Week 1 Ranking: 9th
EFFG Diff: +12.9 (4th biggest improvement)
OPP EFFG Diff: +21.6 (3rd biggest improvement)

Next Up: playing at Tasty before hosting VileOnes

8. Linndale
Week 1 Ranking: 8th
EFFG Diff: +8.6
OPP EFFG Diff: -20.6 (4th biggest decline)

Next Up: hosting the Warriors then visiting Dragmort for a TV game

Week Eight Power Rankings - Part Two

9. Fort Wayne Pistons
Week 1 Ranking: 4th
EFFG Diff: -8.8
OPP EFFG Diff: -36.6 (biggest decline)

Next Up: at VileOnes then hosting Jumpstop Jumpers

10. Dragmort Dragons Utd
Week 1 Ranking: 13th
EFFG Diff: +19.9 (biggest improvement)
OPP EFFG Diff: +9

Next Up: at Internet Lovers then hosting Linndale on that TV game

11. CB Bethesdorf
Week 1 Ranking: 3rd
EFFG Diff: -23.9 (2nd biggest decline)
OPP EFFG Diff: -22.8 (2nd biggest decline)

Next Up: host to Super Sonics before visiting Balls to the Walls

12. Jumpstop Jumpers
Week 1 Ranking: 11th
EFFG Diff: -8.3
OPP EFFG Diff: +0.7

Next Up: hosting Balls on TV then at Fort Wayne

13. 209's MostWanted
Week 1 Ranking: 15th
EFFG Diff: +19.2 (2nd best improvement)
OPP EFFG Diff: -3.1

Next Up: LIONS WEEK: host to Golden Lions before visiting the Rebel Lions

14. Muffin Men
Week 1 Ranking: 16th
EFFG Diff: +18.8 (3rd best improvement)
OPP EFFG Diff: -0.3

Next Up: hosting Lion Rebels before visiting the Warriors

15. VileOnes
Week 1 Ranking: 12th
EFFG Diff: -30.5 (biggest decline)
OPP EFFG Diff: -14.3

Next Up: hosting Fort Wayne before a TV game at Mindless

16. Balls to the Walls
Week 1 Ranking: 14th
EFFG Diff: -10.9 (4th biggest decline)
OPP EFFG Diff: -22.6 (3rd biggest decline)

Next Up: at Jumpstop on TV before hosting CB Bethesdorf

Good luck this coming week. I will toot my horn with my luck to have a Div. II team tank their Cup matchup with me - can't really believe I'm making it to the Elite 8!

P.S. Hat tip to Coach for providing some much needed team analysis. Love it - just hate that you can't "like" multiple posts by one team in less than 12 hours *eyeroll*

P.S. Hat tip to Coach for providing some much needed team analysis. Love it - just hate that you can't "like" multiple posts by one team in less than 12 hours *eyeroll*

That irritates me to my core!

Charles:
We’re back and down to our final two teams in our State of the Big 8 show. But before we go on I just wanted to throw this out. The preseason playoff predictions from the Baine Report had gone as follows for the Big 8

1. Lion Rebels
2. F.Day Internet Lovers Club
3. San Dominica Warriors
4. Shangdong Golden Lions

Now if the playoffs started today. These would be your four teams in the exact seeding order.

Now we were talking about the Dragons and how Pakzat has been playing way above his height, but there is probably no more undersized team in the Big 8 than the Lovers Club. Paco Pardo is 6’9” and we’ve all seen him its a generous 6’9” but he’s just out there being late 20’s Draymond Green. As a team they’re just behind the Warriors in team rebounding and slightly above the Lion Rebels.

And its paid off, they only have one loss and that’s to the Lion Rebels. Now the question is can they keep that up during the final seven game stretch?

Sam:
Actually I think they can. You brought up Draymond Green and for the most part the Agency has been playing like the Warriors during their championship run. The Agency for the most part has done everything right. Now are they infallible? No, but they have all the things check marked. They have experience: they’ve been in II level on up. They have talent and they have chemistry.

Pete:
Yeah to backup Sam, I don’t see many teams in the Big 8 stopping the Agency cold. They can hurt you inside, they can hurt you outside. Despite being undersized they are really skilled on the boards. I’ll not be surprised if by the end of the season the Lions/Agency record for the season is 1-1

Bret:
In many ways the Agency plays the way the San Dominica Warriors use to play. You look at them on paper and think you can underestimate them and the next thing you know you’re wondering what happened after the game is over.

DD:
Of the two, they are probably the better on paper. But on paper doesn’t always translate to reality but the Agency is a complete team. Only thing that can keep them out of the playoffs is a complete financial collapse

Charles:
Which brings us to our final team on the list. The Lion Rebels (laughs) Hunt you can get is started on the final leg.

Hunt:
I wish I could say something like who gave all them guys green cards, but the Lion Rebels are the most American team in the Big 8. I don’t even know why you had me start off you all know how I feel about the Rebels. Are they a complete team yes. Am I in the Gordo Long club and think the only good Lion Rebel are hurt Lion Rebels, almost. The Lion Rebels are the reason I don’t have that much pity on the 209. They’ve been a pain in the neck since Day 1. Armstead has been Mr. Consistency for them for as long as I’ve had to report on them. They have an identity and they’ve stuck with it. For God sake somebody somebody take over before I puke.

Bret:
I got you Hunt. The Lion Rebels are probably the most traditional formed team in the Big 8. A team that built around a superstar big in MT Armstead and have slowly and steadily become a powerhouse. They have built up depth but most importantly they have experience against most of the teams in the conference and everyone is good at the role they’re suppose to play. Dirty Brown and Singh are dangerous scorers in the wing but also good defenders.

Sam:
The real thing is their versatility. On paper the Armstead at the three experiment shouldn’t work

Bret:
Why not?

Charles:
I mean the Warriors have done it for years. Stuart Wilson was pretty much a power forward build atr 6’10” who played the over 200 games at the 3 spot. Same with Begin. Bret played quite a few games at the small forward. It can work and for the Lion Rebels it has.

The thing to me that makes the Lion Rebels so dangerous is that they are a team of specialist.

Hunt:
They’re like freakin’ Voltron. The parts themselves are dangerous, but just when you think you may have a chance of hitting the weak spot in the lineup, they start playing in sync together and its like those d**n lions coming together to form this giant unifed being and the next thing you know you’re being sliced and diced up by a doggone blazing sword.

Charles:
Exactly. Are they as curb stomping as the Southpaws were. No. You can see possible weaknesses but the window to actually exploit it is small and by the time you do, you’ve been sliced up by a blazing sword. They do all the hustle and bustle things well and they slowly chip and pry till they find that crack and then they keep hitting it with a sledgehammer.

Pete:
You understood all that Hunt said?

Charles:
Yeah. I think most coaches try to scheme an attack as if they are 10 individual pieces and when you do that you’re playing right into their hands

DD:
I’m with Charles. Other than the Agency I don’t see anyone being able to knock them on the ropes long to exploit a weakness. This to me is their year. After this season I don’t know if they keep all the main pieces together so this year they better get it done.

Sam:
I agree.

Hunt:
D**m Rebels.

Charles:
That concludes our portion of the show. (327) 499-7391 is the number to call. Tell what you thought about our analysis and how you all think the Big 8 is going to turn out at the end of the stretch.


Last edited by Coach Stephenson at 1/26/2024 2:40:17 AM

Coaches meeting for breakfast
Marshall Richards: Frias and Uzek improved their passing. Piotr got better on the drive part of the drive and kick.

Byron Helm: Air is gonna have his hands full with that kid when he gets back.

Pio Reina: That will sort itself out later. I’m still thinking about the game plan.

MR: You’re thinking about changing the training calendar.

PR: Already did that. Made a slight change to the rotation.

BH: I figured as much.

PR: Don’t worry; we’ll get back to the original plan. I’m just moving a few things around.

MR: Plus, if the guards get better in front of the bigs, that can only help the bigs.

PR: That, and we’ve been working the bigs pretty hard. Let them catch their breaths.

MR: Ball movement gonna be better on the first unit, but that 2nd unit might just pack a punch offensively.

PR: We'll see.

Later, In the arena...

Joshua Doe with Sam Dunkley and Jimmy Buckitts here live from courtside! Sam let’s jump right in! What do you expect to see tonight?

Sam Dunkley: There shouldn’t be a question as to who the better team is at all. It’s the Warriors. What we’re hoping to see is if Linndale’s in season rebuild has closed the gap. They’ve spent over four million dollars on 9 players and moved 8 for nearly three and a half million. They clearly want to see the gap close.

Jimmy Buckitts: To be fair, that rebuild was not done in response to the Warriors loss earlier this season; this was kicked off by a disheartening loss to the Jumpstop Jumpers. Various sources in the front office have indicated to me that it may not have appeared so initially, but every player brought in was an upgrade or necessary part to remake the team defensively. They are telling me this was a long term vision, and they think they’ve accelerated the turnaround.

SD: I’ve heard from other sources around the league and in other basketball circles that Linndale has done a nice job of remaking the roster in such a short amount of time, but no one I spoke to thinks the architect of this makeover will be around long if the team doesn’t show improvement.

JD: Sam, are you saying that Roberto Gurgone is on the hot seat?

SD: I haven’t confirmed that, Joshua. For now, that seems like speculation.

JD: Tell us something you can confidently report, Sam.

SD: That Jumpstop Jumpers game is really sitting with Pio Reina. The Fort Wayne game also, but mostly the former. He really feels like both games were there to be had, and is bristling at having to wait a season to play those teams again.

JB: From that perspective, you win those two games and you’re 8-7, 2 games out of a playoff spot. Pio has a history of getting his team up for the challenge, though I think that one would be a bit too tall.

JD: Gonna play devil’s advocate here. You win those games, you don’t make the moves they’ve made. Likely lose games later on. From what I’ve heard within the organization and seen with my own eyes, this is the group to roll with. I’m not saying they’ll make a run this season; I just think if it comes down to a relegation series, no one wants to face Linndale.

SD: Jumpstop looks like a likely opponent in that event, and I think they’ll take their chances.

JB: CB Bethesdorf and Fort Wayne may have something to say. 3 teams, 1 playoff spot. One of them will be seeing Linndale again.

JD: If they’re worrying about Linndale, they’ve already lost. If you’re in a playoff, that should be the only focus!

In Air Allnite’s apartment…

(radio speakers) ...and now… the starting lineup your favorite basketball team…

“I should be there”, Air thought to himself. “Marshall’s gonna run one of his gimmicks and get us killed.”

...starting at shooting guard… at 6 feet 7 inches tall from…

“D***** MARSHALL, HE’S NOT READY FOR THAT!!!”

(neighbor yelling) “SHUT UP OLD MAN; WE’RE TRYIN’ TO WATCH THE GAME!”

Welp, I made mistake. Congrats Muffins!