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(pre game in the Linndale locker room)

“Don’t nobody wanna see you shoot, Floyd. That’s my job”, exclaimed Ramon Sanz Garcaa. Pio was glad to see him in good spirits. He worried about that. “Hey Murdock, when are we taking him out for sushi again?”

“After the playoffs. I got another spot---” Mantas was just about to tell Ramon where when Hearn interrupted.

“Coach, you better tell ‘em. I ain’t eating no sushi. Murdock, I ain’t eating no sushi. You take me to another sushi joint and I’ll kill ya!” Hearn was not having any of it.

Kyle jumped in. “Now why you have to have such a bad attitude about sushi? So your first try got you sick; it happens. I remember one time I---”

Floyd cut him off. “Don’t nobody care about what you gotta say, Face. I’m not eating no sushi. Gimme a corned beef sandwich from Slyman’s, a polish boy from Hot Sauce Williams’ with extra sauce and fries, or better yet let’s go to Melt. I got an idea for a new menu item. A triple chili cheeseburger with jalopenos, and the buns are grilled cheese sandwiches.”

Rod Guyton joined the conversation. “Floyd, last team dinner before we break for the offseason we’ll have it catered. Tell us after the game what else you want on the menu. Pretty sure Coach had something to say.”

Pio had sat back and watched the team with their back and forth. They were loose. They were jovial. They seemed relaxed, but with a focus. Relaxing a few minutes before you start the grind. On the other hand, Pio was nervous. He went back to the one thing he could control: preparation.

“Guys, I’ll make you a deal. Since you guys have gone and made me hungry, win this game and the meal is on me. Beat San Dominica in the playoffs, the meal is on our GM.”

“Coach, you telling us if we win tonight you got the meal, but if we beat San Dominica the GM is going in his pockets? So these 2 teams are keeping us from the food we want?” Floyd just wanted to be clear he understood his coach.

“Yep.”

“Pay attention, fools. We got work to do. Those fools keeping me from my food. I’mma kill them fools! I’mma kill ‘em!”

Pio resumed talking to the team. “All right; now that that is settled, let’s get down to business. The sooner we win this game the sooner we can go eat. Before we go over our plan, I want you all to know what the league thinks of us. They’re not impressed with us at all. The last of the power rankings came out. Fair to say we get no respect. We expect San Dominca and the White Walkers ahead of. We haven’t beat them. Tasty Tardsicles are ahead of us. Fine; they got us. Every other team ahead of us are teams we just beat. The league has us 10th best. They don’t think we can make the playoffs. I want to go to the playoffs. I want to stick it to the league higher ups. We win, we’re in. Nobody else matters. We’re going to make them respect us. You guys with me?”

“HELL YEAH!!!” The team was already now they were incensed. Pio knew his team focused more intently when pissed off. They enjoyed forcing Air Allnite to eat crow; time to feed the league higher ups. Pio had no doubt about the account.

“Let’s go out there and do what we do. We’re gonna play smart, take care of the ball, rebound the ball, defend, make the three ball, and just beat the crap out of Fondy. We’re better than Fondy. We’re deeper than Fondy. Let’s go make the playoffs! We have an appointment with Coach Stephenson and his crew, and you know how I hate being late!"

“LET”S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”

“Happy Ourer, Marshall Richards and Air Allnite live from the Birds Nest, and we’re here for the game. Air, you’ve been killing the organization all season long. Any last words?”

“Happy, the league released their final power rankings. Linndale ranked 10th. You know what the 10th ranked team gets? Absolutely nothing, and they’ll like it! Linndale loses tonight. The season is over. Just Allnite being all right as usual. Nothing to see here.”

“Marshall?”

“Happy, you know I can’t let that go unanswered. Air has crushed the entire organization and been proven wrong consistently. That doesn’t change now. Linndale wins, they finish off this stretch 3-1 and make the playoffs without caring what happens in the Philly Dribble game. I’m told that Linndale already has travel arrangements set for the playoffs. They have no doubts they’re in. And about those league rankings, let me just tell you the last thing you want is to poke the bear. This team is pissed off about the lack of respect, and I hear they’re going into full on O. G. A-Team mode. If you know, you know. They’re gonna do what they do and they don’t care what anyone thinks. Air, all they’ve done is just win. That’s not changing tonight.”

“Folks, we gotta break for commercial, but when we get back we’ll see what the game plan hold for tonight’s big game!”

HO: “Welcome Linndale basketball fans! We are live from the Birds Nest where your favorite basketball was faced with a win to get in game and they did exactly that. Let’s go to Marshall Richards in the locker room!”

MR: “Hiya Happy! We’re here in a jubilant Linndale locker room with Pio reina and his team after the Fondy Cardinals played well, but as is their custom this season, not quite well enough.falling at home to Linndale 91-83!”

HO: “Marshall, I’ve just gotten word that Coach Stephenson’s boys took care of Philly Dribble 97-72!”

MR: “Happy, I have to inform you I wasn’t allowed in unless Air Allnite was with me.”

HO: “That’s pretty unusual to say the least.”

AA: *mutters to himself* “Why exactly did they do this except to embarrass me on live television…”

MR: “I’ve got coach Pio Reina here. Coach, it looks like the game plan was to forego the three ball and just slug Fondy in the face. I can’t recall seeing so many dunk attempts. Even Shooter got one! It’s been awhile!”

PR: “Yeah Marshall, the plan was to just attack the rim and make them stop us. Let me be clear, this was a total team win. Fondy was tough and it took everyone doing their part. This was by far the best our bench has been all season, and we needed it tonight!”

*players gather behind coach on camera*

HO: “Marshall, it appears you and Air have been joined by the entire team!”

MR: “Definitely appears so! Welcome guys, and congratulations!”

Rod Guyton: “We wanted to do something to commemorate this moment so---”

Voice off screen: “Delivery for Air Allnite! Air Allnite!”

RG: “He’s over here! Calm down Air, no one’s serving you with legal papers!”

Delivery guy: “Here you go, sir. Enjoy!”

AA: “Thanks, but I didn’t order anything.”

RG: “No problem, Air. It’s our treat. We all wanted to do something nice for you.”

Floyd Hearn: “You looked hungry. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like someone keeping me from a good, hot meal.”

AA: “What is this?”

Kyle Knowles: “I believe it’s a delicacy called revenge. Holy crap that stuff stinks! What is that?”

Mantas Petriukstis: “ You guys said no sushi! Floyd said he wouldn’t do that to his worst enemy! He threatened to break my arms and legs!”

Daniil Kamp: “So our little Murdock got you some thing special. How he found a place that serves crow, I will never know how, and I don’t want to, but you earned it. Eat up, compliments of The A-Team!”

FH: “One more thing… Ramon!”

*Ramon Sanz Garcaa dumps cooler of Gatorade on Pio Reina, assisted by Art Reese*

RG: (laughing): "I love it when a plan comes together!"

Last edited by Speedtraps at 4/29/2023 10:28:33 PM

Day 22 (Saturday 29 April 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
209’s MostWanted 128 - Flamin' Flamingos 116
Lion Rebels 70 - Carolina Rebels 84
Philly Dribble 72 - San Dominica Warriors 97
Linndale 91 - Fondy Cardinals 83
Tasty Tardsicles 96 - Hustlas 93
STG on MCU 67 - Żubr Białystok 98
Miami Cleo 38 - The White Walkers 89
Cincinnati Slammers 69 - The Beer Bellys 108

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 128 : 209’s MostWanted
Rebounds : 67 : 209’s MostWanted
Assists : 29 : Żubr Białystok
Steals : 17 : Flamin' Flamingos
Block Shots : 13 : The White Walkers

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 35 : A. Ziółkowski (209’s MostWanted)
Rebounds : 23 : N. Kackis (209’s MostWanted)
Assists : 10 : J. Makeba (Tasty Tardsicles)
Steals : 6 : L. Bernaerts (The Beer Bellys), D. Rivas (Flamin' Flamingos)
Block Shots : 6 : V. Valladares (San Dominica Warriors)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : L. Bernaerts (The Beer Bellys) (8 Points, 4 Rebounds, 9 Assists, 6 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 23
Shooting Guard : A. Ziółkowski (209’s MostWanted) (35 Points, 6 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 40
Small Forward : D. Rivas (Flamin' Flamingos) (27 Points, 9 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 6 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33
Power Forward : F. Hearn (Linndale) (19 Points, 17 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34
Center : D. Allen (Carolina Rebels) (15 Points, 16 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 5 Block Shots), C. Anaya (The White Walkers) (15 Points, 13 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 1 Steals, 5 Block Shots), P. Katsikis (Fondy Cardinals) (23 Points, 13 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 31

MVP of the evening
A. Ziółkowski (209’s MostWanted) (35 Points, 6 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 40

The bad performance of the evening
M. Maurin (Miami Cleo) (15 Points, 5 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -11

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : N. Peretz (Żubr Białystok) : 7 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : H. Espinosa (Carolina Rebels), R. Singh (Lion Rebels), M. Anwander (Fondy Cardinals) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : G. Locus (Miami Cleo), E. Dickens (Tasty Tardsicles), S. Hollins (Lion Rebels), A. Fornos (The White Walkers), R. Ainsworth (Cincinnati Slammers) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : Y. Georgoulis (The Beer Bellys) : 4 Three points

The best performer : A. Vicys (The White Walkers) : Rating : 18.0

The worst performer : T. Lang (Fondy Cardinals) : Rating : 3.0

Warriors/ Linndale Pre game trailer:

Pio (VO):
Gentlemen, we expect to make the playoffs. That is our expectation. That is ALWAYS the expectation here.

Coach Stephenson (VO):
Number 1 goal is make the playoffs. Number 2 thing be as healthy as possible when making the playoffs. Right now we in a good position.

Pio @ Press Conference
We’re still learning each other, so there will be ups and downs, but right now we have a young team that is learning to play a rugged brand of basketball

Coach Stephenson @ Post Game Interview
In this league with these opponents you gonna have a bad day or two. Thing is to be in a position where a bad day can be shrugged off and not be a "OMG what do we do now" moment.

Pio @ Post Game Press Conference
“Coach Stephenson has done an incredible job there. I appreciate what he said and I have much respect for him. I expect they’ll want to beat us just as they have nearly every other opponent they’ve faced!”

Coach Stephenson@ Radio Show
Oh no i got mad respect for Pio. Very analytical. Sees the game like a chessboard and pokes around looking for the weak spot on the board and just pounds on it.

Coach Stephenson (VO):
This is our house! So go and do that hoodoo that you do!

Pio (VO):
We have an appointment with Coach Stephenson and his crew, and you know how I hate being late!"

Pio & Coach Stephenson to their respective teams:
“LET”S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”

ESPN Announcer:
And going we are. We’re thirty minutes away from kicking off the real season as Linndale comes into the SMG looking to knock the top seeded Warriors out of the Dance. I’m Mike Mitchell and I’m here with Alana Nobel and the hot rod himself Jalen Thomas. Alana we’ll start with you. It’s hard to beat a team three times and the Warriors face that challenge tonight even though they’re here on home court

Alana:
Coach Stephenson said during the season you can put in words the power of home court. What you also can’t put into words is the power of a good bench and the Warriors definitely have one of if not the deepest bench in the Big 8 if not the league. But as the trailer showed us, we have two veteran coaches in Stephenson and Reina who have been in these situations before. Especially Reina who this season has had to fight not just the teams in front of him but the front office behind him. It was not an easy task but he managed to will this team into the playoffs. Coach Stephenson is not gonna have his Warriors team underestimating them just because of regular season results.

Jalen:
There’s a popular show called Doctor Who and one of the first rules regarding the central character the Doctor is that 1.) The Doctor lies. Like you said Alana we have two very analytical, attention detailed coaches in Reina and Stephenson. These two are “Doctors” so everything we’ve seen before we can throw them out the window. The only real fact we know is that nothing should surprise us. Look for both of these coaches to pull somethings we have not seen from them in the regular season

Mike:
I think most people are expecting a high tempo game as both teams will be "Unleashing the Kraken" When we come back, we’ll have our keys to the game and more game predictions after this commercial break.

Last edited by Coach Stephenson at 5/2/2023 1:33:51 PM

"Hello everyone, We are here with Hustla's TV. I am your host, Cash Danger, and I will be going solo tonight. Now, about our Hustla's. To say this season was a disappointment would be a gross understatement. The Hustla's failed at every aspect of the game this season. They have shown a little bit of life in a few games towards the end of the season, but other than that, this has been one of the worst season's on record. And now, the Hustla's is in a relegation match with an opponent that outmatches them. I do not see this team pulling out of this one. They will be demoted again, when this matchup is over, in two games. Though, they did make some big pickups the last few days. But, their main pickup for point guard, the one they had the highest hopes on, is out injured, and so will not make an appearance......"

Bobby Sparks shuts off the TV. "Well, gentlemen, what do you think? Mr. Kerry, Mr. Walton, I have not fired either of you yet because of the lastest, ridiculous moves you have done Kerry. But make no mistake, you are still on the chopping block. So, if the team relegates, you are both fired. And guess what, we have a losing record against Philly Dribble, so relegation is inevitable. So, pack your bags, when this season is over, you will be gone. I can't wait."

Such a tough relegation matchup - will be sad to see you go - loved your additional commentary - hurry back up to Div III (or pull a rabbit out of your hat!)

MR: “Marshall Richards live in studio with Happy Ourer and Happy, tell us what you think about what you just saw!”

HO: “...”

MR: “Well it seems my partner is speechless. Let’s go live to our man on the scene, Air Allnite!”

AA: “What… what did I just… what just happened?”

MR: “Air, the folks at home are hoping you can tell them!”

AA: “…”

MR: “Folks, we’ll see you after the commercial break. Yes folks, your Linndale basketball team is up at the half, but there’s still a lot of basketball left to go!”

Pio Reina: “First off, I have to commend Coach Stephenson on a phenomenal season with a phenomenal team. We knew it would not be easy, and I assure you it was a lot harder than what you think you saw. This was an old school, knock down, drag out heavyweight fight, and whomever was the last one standing would win. That’s exactly what happened.”

Sam Dunkley: “Coach Reina, Sam Dunkley of the Basketball Times. Would you care to talk about what you did differently in this game as opposed to the previous times you faced San Dominica this season?”

PR: “Well, we stress defense and rebounding. They beat us on the boards and shot better than we did, so that didn’t work tonight. (Laughter from the crowd.) We shot the three ball extremely well and attacked the rim offensively. We also drill free throw shooting. The three ball and free throw shooting paid off.”

Air Allnite: “I can’t believe I am even having to say this, but congratulations on a huge win tonight. I noticed a defensive change from your usual playbook at the start of the game and wonder if you thought it worked out.”

PR: “From my perpective, not as well as we would have liked, but we held the Warriors off, so yeah. I think if you ask Coach Stephenson you might get a different answer. If you go box score surfing, you’ll get a different answer. To answer your question without giving anything away, we did what we wanted to.”

SD: “Is this something we’ll see in the next round?”

PR: “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask the next coach of Linndale. I’m told I wasn’t supposed to make the playoffs, I’d find a way to lose this for us, and the team was not even going to make it here. Fortunately for us, that’s why we play the games and you write about them.”

Happy Ourer: “Folks, you’re watching the post game press conference live after an incredible 117-114 victory as over the San Dominica Warriors. As Coach Reina departs the dais, let’s go to a commercial break and when we return, Marshall will break the game down for you!”

Coach Stephenson:
Games like these are the worst when you’re on the losing end. Hmm this one is gonna sting for a bit. But that’s good cuz it means it was a helluva a game and you still care about the game of basketball. (points) Mike

Reporter 1:
Mike McCordell, DSSN. Coach what happened differently in this game as opposed to the two meetings earlier in the season.

Coach Stephenson (gives him a look then shrugs)
To be honest nothing. First, like I stressed earlier, it is hard to beat a team three times in one season, especially a good team like Linndale with a helluva of coach like Pio Reina. On paper the game plan went like we wanted it to. We were dominate on the boards. We had second chance points opportunities and enough of them just didn’t go our way. Hmm like I said to start off these kind of games are the worst to lose because there’s not much you point at and say hey we screwed this up.

This was just a old fashion slug fest where every possession was crucial and the dice just landed in Linndale’s favor. Now could we had played better, yeah. There are some charity stripe shots that I would think we would want back. Begin, a proficient free throw shooter and Blanchet our point guard both went 1-2 from the free throw line. Hit both of those and maybe we win in regulation. Or if we go 13 for 31 from three point land, ehh we advance. So many of those kind of things you can say in hindsight but during, I felt good about us in the second half.

Reporter 2:
Pluck TaPaul, Coach if you had to do over, would you had gone with a different defense other than man ?

Coach Stephenson:
Nah. We thought about using a box defense but decided to trust our players. Yes Guyton got the better of Blanchet, you could say but I wouldn’t agree with that assessment. He went 9 for 22, hit half his threes unfortunately but that’s something you just have to live with.

Again. We lost by three. I know there are some that want a ‘ooh we shoudn’t have done this or we should have done that’ but this game someone had to win and someone had to draw the short straw. It happens. Last season the situation was reversed. Pio Reina was up here trying to give answers for a loss while we were advancing towards the conference title in the playoffs.

Reporter 3:
Coach who will you be rooting for in next week’s matchup.

Coach Stephenson:
Wait who won the Rebel Rassle?

From the crowd:
Carolina.

Coach Stephenson:
Oh well not that it was gonna matter. I mean you root for the team that beat you. But funny I talk about how its hard to beat a team three times in one season and now Pio and Linndale are facing that exact same challenge. However I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to devote to watching with the draft coming and finance decisions to be made.

Hunt Mosley:
That was Coach Stephenson at the post game press conference. Warriors fall to Linndale 117 to 114. We’ll be back with more post game report on the Warrior's Sports Network

The following takes place in a rare post-game appearance by Lion Rebels GM J. Samuels:
J. Samuels
First off, glad to be here, despite the circumstances - I just felt like I needed to show up and address the press to relay a message to our fans. The last two seasons, we suffered through 7-15 records and 6th place finishes after making the playoffs in our first two seasons in Div III.15. This was because we re-tooled, sending off up and coming star Byron Lutz, who I'm proud to say has averaged just over 20 PPPG and nearly a 14 rating in the last two seasons since we transferred him to Gagliardda in Italy...we were at an economic crossroads - we probably could have made the playoffs in Season 58, but I realized that while Lutz and Brown were becoming key contributors, we just didn't have enough depth. Fortunately, we'd drafted Robin Hood Hollins and with the money we made off the Lutz transfer were eventually able to bring in some vets to bring up the floor of our bench play, including getting Singh back into the starting lineup this season. And the results were pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. A 2nd place finish in the Big 8 (a first for us) and a competitive spirit all season, only losing six games and a 255+ point differential. Were we going to win the championship this season? Probably not - not with how competitive our division was, but we're satisfied with where we landed after the last two seasons. Our window is still open with Armstead - we're hoping for two more seasons with him as a dominant big and with the progress of Hollins and the development with Huerta, we have a four season planning we're looking at being ultra-competitive in this league. The goal is to get to Div II by the time Terry starts to diminish.

Petra Torre [D3SN] (interrupting) Mr. Samuels, what happened last nigh...

J. Samuels
Listen - I'm not here for questions - just for a state of the team sort of thing. What happened last night was a bit disappointing. I know our coach Baine was thinking our enthusiasm and home court advantage would put us over the top and we'd at least make it to the semis. But listen, after the last two seasons, this is a step in the right direction. I'm not going to hold one loss against Baine. We're here, we're a mainstay, and we'll continue to be that way. We have a good vision and we're going to keep progressing toward that.

Melanie Kines [FXSD3] (interrupting) But you have to admit that 11 points in the fourth quarter when you started with a 17-point lead with Brown once again not showing up has got to be deflating. What are your plans with Brown - are the rumours true? Are you going to move on from him because he doesn't have that killer instinct?

J. Samuels
I don't know how many times I've got to tell you this: Listen! Kurt's a great player - he's had some ups and downs, but as we continue with the rest of this 5-year plan we started at the beginning of this season, you'll see him continue to develop into the player we've always envisioned him to be - there's a reason we stuck with Kurt rather than Lutz.

That's all I'm gonna say about this. Until next time.

Last edited by Baine at 5/3/2023 10:44:50 AM