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Coach Stephenson’s Press Conference following the Internet Lovers Club game:

Coach Stephenson:
Hmm, tough loss tonight. Hats off to Coach Mc Kr and his squad. They came out to play, they came out with a very effective game plan. We made adjustments, they made all the right counter adjustments. They left it all out on the floor and walked away with a win. Nothing really negative you can say when that is how the game goes, but still doesn’t make it any way less of a tough loss. Reg

Reporter 1:
Reg Harris, Aegiana Chronicle. Coach, it seemed like the defensive effort was there --- at least for a bit? Was there some adjustment you think you missed in hindsight?


Coach Stephenson:
We were thinking about going zone, earlier in the week. Trying to take away the 1, 2 dump from Melucci to the inside man. But we decided not to go that route. Now on paper you can make argue that may have made a difference but I don’t think so. Defensively early on we were making the stops, the issue was getting points off the stops. That they excelled in and we stunk in. We left a lot of points off the scoreboard off of stops. Now credit to the Agency. They were good at getting back on defense and making that difficult but I think the bigger fault for us stinking in that regard is in ourselves. To the left, mid row

Reporter 2:
Pug Warner, Ozark Tribune. The Lover’s Club seemed to take this game to another level to the point it seemed as if they were the only team making an effort and that’s something given their talent. Is there a moral victory you can take from this loss.

Coach Stephenson:
Yes and no. They respected us. It’s good when a team like that respects you but moral victory nah. I mean this isn’t like the Carolina thing. I mean we’ve beaten these guys before so they’re not living in our heads rent free. Just this season, they’ve figured out the code and we haven’t. Now there is a good chance we see this team in the playoffs and we as a team have seen all kind of things happen in the playoffs so nah this loss hasn’t shattered us to the point that we’re looking for moral victories. Sam

Reporter 3:
Samantha Walsh, Aegiana Sports News. Coach usually you have no problems going into your rotation, but this game Baiao and Begin only played 10 minutes. We saw very little of Tercero and Vrana. Was this a load management game?

Coach Stephenson:
Mostly we were just trying to keep the lineup out there that would give us the most firepower and defense to get us back in it. Now I know where you all are going with this. I’m talking about utilizing firepower and yet LAB Baiao sees only 10 minutes. Look I know it rarely crosses our minds because of the player LAB is but LAB is oldest player on our roster so yeah we are trying to protect him. Vrana we felt just wouldn’t be able give enough firepower and it seemed the little that Tercero played that it wasn’t his night. Thank you ladies and gents, that’ll be all for tonight.

Pio Reina addresses his team before practice.

Pio Reina: You may have noticed that two of your number are gone. Trenton Tovar and Damian Hatfield are no longer members of this team. Trenton did not improve his defense despite being told that was his biggest issue repeatedly. Yes, I am aware he was our best shooter and our best free throw shooter. As you were all informed upon joining this organization, defense first. You now understand how serious we are about that. As for Damian, his departure is especially painful, but not without planning. Mr. Lecian, do you recall what you were told when we acquired you?

Ondrej Lecian: Yes. You, Coach Helm, and Mr. Gurgone all said I had the ability to be better than Damian.

Byron Helm: Son, we told you that you had the ability to be better and we will get that ability out of you. To do that, you’re going to need playing time. Damian being here was blocking that. No more. We expect much from you. It’s time for you to start earning your keep.

Marshall Richards: Ondrej, do you recall what I said?

OL: You wanted to help me get better on offense.

MR: Close enough. We’re going to get you better on offense. To that end, let’s reintroduce you and your teammates to our shooting coach, Air Allnite.

Air Allnite: I had to watch you basta--- you bums--- on television. Hey, wait a minute; I’m not wearing a mic. You f****** bums can’t shoot, you give the ball away like a hooker giving free samples, and don’t get me started on you guards! I’m sure Pio and Marshall did what they could, but you guys are in for it now! Play time is over!!!

PR: Welcome back, Air. Hate to admit it, but we all missed you.

AA: Yeah, yeah… Bolibok. Defense and passing. Am I understood? Frias? Range and passing. Leao? Range, defense, and ball skills. Uzek? You get the everything treatment.

Ercan Uzek: I don’t like that grin on his face.

AA: Kops, range and ball skills. Enfes, defense, range and ball skills. Pasman, you get the everything treatment with Uzek. You guys wanna play basketball? Let’s play!

MR: And with that, I surrender the training schedule back to you.

AA: Well, you didn’t wreck it, so thanks for that.

PR: Air, I’ll assume Happy is on his way or at the station now. Would that be accurate?

AA: Nope. I left him at his place making nice with his porcelain god. You know, for someone with that name, you’d think he could handle his alcohol better than that.

PR: I’ll call him later. All right people, we have work to do! Air, you’re running practice.

AA: Ball security drills NOW! You people can’t win anything if you can’t hang on to the ball! Let’s go!

Jimmy Buckitts: Coach, congrats on the W tonight.

Pio Reina: Jimmy, I'm glad we got the W, but the starters played like crap. The bench won this game for us.

JB: Coach, the defense seemed to be a bit sporadic. What was that about?

PR: The first quarter was ok, but toward the end I sensed a shift, and I didn't like it. These guys thought this was going to be an easy one. Well, 209 didn't get that memo, and neither did me or my staff. Give them credit for hanging around. And give Azheli credit for showing Bolibok what it takes to play in the Big 8. You gotta wear your big boy pants over here, and that man had himself a night!

JB: You mentioned the bench winning this game for you. Tell us about that.

PR: Leao was phenomenal tonight on both ends. Pemwieser was aggressive on offense. Enfes was solid, Kops and Beko were both efficient. Don't let their lack of statistics fool you. The bench saved our butts tonight.

JB: Stojakevic was a strong on the boards also.

PR: He had a tough night and found a way to contribute. He kept battling. Pasman was huge when we really had to have it. Those guys did their part, but the bench won this game for us. I haven't been able to say that often, but I'm saying it right now.

JB: Thanks for the time, Coach. Congratulations again on the win!

PR: Thanks Jimmy!

JB: Back to you, Happy!

Happy Ourer: Thanks Jimmy! When we come back from the break, Sam and Joshua break down this win over 209. That break starts now!



Last edited by Speedtraps at 2/11/2024 2:54:27 AM

Day 19 (Tuesday 6 February 2024) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
209’s MostWanted 76 - Dragmort Dragons Utd 88
F.Day Internet Lovers Club 94 - San Dominica Warriors 73
Linndale 78 - Lion Rebels 104
Muffin Men 92 - Shandong Golden Lions 106
Jumpstop Jumpers 62 - Super Sonics 89
CB Bethesdorf 76 - Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 100
Tasty Tardsicles 123 - Fort Wayne Pistons 101
VileOnes 118 - Balls to the Walls 122

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 123 : Tasty Tardsicles
Rebounds : 61 : Dragmort Dragons Utd
Assists : 31 : Tasty Tardsicles
Steals : 11 : Lion Rebels, Muffin Men
Block Shots : 11 : F.Day Internet Lovers Club

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 58 : J. Bover (VileOnes)
Rebounds : 19 : C. Webber (Muffin Men)
Assists : 12 : G. Izaza (Fort Wayne Pistons)
Steals : 5 : K. Brown (Lion Rebels)
Block Shots : 5 : L. Melucci (F.Day Internet Lovers Club)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : J. Bover (VileOnes) (58 Points, 7 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 52
Shooting Guard : T. Freeman (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) (25 Points, 6 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 31
Small Forward : D. Branimirović (F.Day Internet Lovers Club) (24 Points, 15 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34
Power Forward : C. Webber (Muffin Men) (31 Points, 19 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 49
Center : C. Rankin (Balls to the Walls) (22 Points, 6 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 3 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 35

MVP of the evening
J. Bover (VileOnes) (58 Points, 7 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 52

The bad performance of the evening
M. Call (Shandong Golden Lions) (0 Points, 0 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -7

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : P. Bolibok (Linndale) : 7 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : J. Graf (VileOnes) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : A. Suprianto (Shandong Golden Lions), S. Ofome (Jumpstop Jumpers), J. Bover (VileOnes) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : J. Bover (VileOnes) : 6 Three points

The best performer : T. Armstead (Lion Rebels) : Rating : 18.5

The worst performer : W. Mansour (Shandong Golden Lions) : Rating : 1.0

Day 20 (Saturday 10 February 2024) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Dragmort Dragons Utd 83 - Lion Rebels 118
San Dominica Warriors 97 - Shandong Golden Lions 60
F.Day Internet Lovers Club 120 - Muffin Men 103
Linndale 105 - 209’s MostWanted 94
Super Sonics 117 - Fort Wayne Pistons 96
Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 110 - Balls to the Walls 71
CB Bethesdorf 111 - VileOnes 72
Tasty Tardsicles 113 - Jumpstop Jumpers 86

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 120 : F.Day Internet Lovers Club
Rebounds : 69 : Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️
Assists : 31 : Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️
Steals : 11 : Linndale, CB Bethesdorf
Block Shots : 14 : Fort Wayne Pistons

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 43 : G. Azheli (209’s MostWanted)
Rebounds : 28 : C. Webber (Muffin Men)
Assists : 11 : É. Blanchet (San Dominica Warriors), L. Melucci (F.Day Internet Lovers Club), G. Izaza (Fort Wayne Pistons)
Steals : 4 : L. Petrinski (Dragmort Dragons Utd), D. East (San Dominica Warriors), L. Leão (Linndale)
Block Shots : 4 : D. Le (Fort Wayne Pistons)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : L. Melucci (F.Day Internet Lovers Club) (28 Points, 8 Rebounds, 11 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33
Shooting Guard : G. Azheli (209’s MostWanted) (43 Points, 10 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 37
Small Forward : S. Aranda (Fort Wayne Pistons) (34 Points, 10 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 39
Power Forward : C. Webber (Muffin Men) (18 Points, 28 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 39
Center : P. Tai On (CB Bethesdorf) (19 Points, 16 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33

MVP of the evening
C. Webber (Muffin Men) (18 Points, 28 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots), S. Aranda (Fort Wayne Pistons) (34 Points, 10 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 39

The bad performance of the evening
L. Chestnut (209’s MostWanted) (1 Points, 1 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots), : Efficiency : -4

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : G. Cinovskis (VileOnes) : 6 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : V. Hyötyläinen (Muffin Men), S. Aranda (Fort Wayne Pistons), T. Pryor (CB Bethesdorf), A. Durham (VileOnes), J. Graf (VileOnes), M. Johnson (Jumpstop Jumpers) : 5 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : A. Pakzat (Dragmort Dragons Utd), J. Zhizhuo (Shandong Golden Lions), D. Gay (Shandong Golden Lions), R. De Calice (Shandong Golden Lions), A. Suprianto (Shandong Golden Lions), L. Melucci (F.Day Internet Lovers Club), A. Durham (VileOnes), S. Ofome (Jumpstop Jumpers) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : G. Azheli (209’s MostWanted), Z. Levin (Super Sonics), S. Aranda (Fort Wayne Pistons) : 6 Three points

The best performer : K. Brown (Lion Rebels) : Rating : 18.5

The worst performer : G. Cinovskis (VileOnes), A. Pérez Ruiz (VileOnes) : Rating : 5.0

Sam Dunkley: We’re here with Byron Helm, Pascal Michel Pemwieser, and Joy Beko after Linndale’s 136 – 95 victory at home over the Muffin Men. Coach Helm, what was the plan of attack for tonight?

Byron Helm: We just wanted to get our work in. The focus this week was on rebounding, and the guys took it to heart and attacked the boards.

SD: You only gave up 2 offensive boards while grabbing 18, and you more than doubled up the Muffin Men on the boards and dominated inside.

BH: They have a talented big over there in Webber, and we heard a lot about him. My guys wanted to let people know we’re talented, too.

Joy Beko: Big Pimpin’ over here (points to Pemwieser) made it easy tonight. He was able to score inside, and then when he drifted outside he just knocked those down. Webber had to go defend, so that took him out of the equation for stopping us from grabbing the offensive boards.

SD: Pascal, you had a nice game shooting the ball, but how do you think you did defensively?

Pascal Michel Pemwieser: You’re not going to just shut down a guy like Webber. My job was to make him work some and draw him outside away from the rebounds.

BH: We held him to one offensive board, so that was a job done.

SD: Webber has been on an absolute tear. Why was the plan geared specifically for him and not anyone else?

JB: All we’ve heard is that he was coming to carve us up. Well, as good as he is, we have some talented guys on our side, too. We just play differently. He’s got to seemingly do it all. We have the guys to be able to share the load.

BH: These guys know when they’re in the game, the have an assignment and they go out and usually accomplish it. They also know when the next man on the bench gets on the floor, any slack will be picked up. Tonight, it was Beko’s night to remind people why we acquired him. 15 points, 20 rebounds, 7 assists, a steal and a block. He was everywhere and incredible, and still wasn’t our best big man on the floor. Stojakevic and Rongjing were arguably better.

SD: Did you sell out on the inside at the expense of outside defense? The Muffin Men did hit 11 of 17 from the arc.

BH: No. We had faith that our guys would hold up on defense and we thought we had a clear edge on offense with our depth. We had 9 guys in double figures, which bears that out. We still have improvements to make on defense, but we didn’t sell out.

PMP: Our coaches came up with a plan and we executed it. We rebounded, we defended, and we took care of the basketball. These are the things we have to do to win, and we did that tonight.

SD: Last game of the season, a home game against conference leaders F.Day. What do you expect to see?

BH: Their best lineup. They’re only up by one game on the Lion Rebels. I can’t imagine they fear Shangdong, and don’t imagine they want to take chances against Coach Stephenson and the crew at San Dominica. At any rate, we’re going out to give them hell and try to win. We’d love to give them their second loss on the season.

SD: Thank you all for your time, and congrats on the win. Happy, there you have it from Coach Helm, Joy Beko, and Pascal Michel Pemwieser after a 136-95 win over the Muffin Men. Back to you in the studio!

Last edited by Speedtraps at 2/14/2024 3:05:06 AM

Day 21 (Tuesday 13 February 2024) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Shandong Golden Lions 70 - Dragmort Dragons Utd 89
Lion Rebels 88 - San Dominica Warriors 73
209’s MostWanted 96 - F.Day Internet Lovers Club 115
Muffin Men 95 - Linndale 136
Balls to the Walls 82 - Super Sonics 147
Fort Wayne Pistons 140 - Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 153
Jumpstop Jumpers 95 - CB Bethesdorf 100
VileOnes 61 - Tasty Tardsicles 114

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 153 : Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️
Rebounds : 78 : Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️
Assists : 39 : Super Sonics
Steals : 19 : Fort Wayne Pistons
Block Shots : 16 : Super Sonics

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 43 : E. Piana (F.Day Internet Lovers Club)
Rebounds : 21 : A. Venslauskas (Super Sonics)
Assists : 16 : G. Izaza (Fort Wayne Pistons)
Steals : 4 : A. Pakzat (Dragmort Dragons Utd), G. Izaza (Fort Wayne Pistons), U. Jaén (Fort Wayne Pistons)
Block Shots : 6 : A. Venslauskas (Super Sonics)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : M. Craig (Super Sonics) (30 Points, 3 Rebounds, 10 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 40
Shooting Guard : E. Piana (F.Day Internet Lovers Club) (43 Points, 5 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 48
Small Forward : R. Gordillo (Dragmort Dragons Utd) (32 Points, 8 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 3 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 32
Power Forward : T. Armstead (Lion Rebels) (20 Points, 18 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steals, 4 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 40
Center : J. Beko (Linndale) (15 Points, 20 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 39

MVP of the evening
E. Piana (F.Day Internet Lovers Club) (43 Points, 5 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 48

The bad performance of the evening
D. Schroeder (Muffin Men) (0 Points, 1 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -7

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : T. Burkay (CB Bethesdorf), G. Cinovskis (VileOnes) : 5 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : C. O'Brien (San Dominica Warriors), R. Squires (Fort Wayne Pistons) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : R. De Calice (Shandong Golden Lions), A. Suprianto (Shandong Golden Lions), R. Gordillo (Dragmort Dragons Utd), D. Branimirović (F.Day Internet Lovers Club), J. Valentin (Jumpstop Jumpers), J. Bover (VileOnes) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : R. Gordillo (Dragmort Dragons Utd), G. Azheli (209’s MostWanted), E. Piana (F.Day Internet Lovers Club), C. Pla Llorente (Balls to the Walls) : 5 Three points

The best performer : T. Freeman (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) : Rating : 19.5

The worst performer : F. Chongwen (VileOnes) : Rating : 5.0

Final Week Power Rankings
Well, here we are, one final game away from the postseason and relegation series. My apologies for missing last week's rankings - had to travel for family stuff and didn't get around to it. As promised, this week's ranking will include what each team would be ranked according to their improvement/decline in Opponent Efficiency ratings. This will be an "official" which team is the best and worst ranking based on their EFFG and OPP EFFG rankings, however.

16. Balls to the Walls
Week 1 OPP EFFG: 128
Week 11 OPP EFFG: 152.7
OPP EFFG Diff: -24.7
OPP EFFG Change Rank: 15

Before the start of the season, I wrote about how Scags' latest transaction (bringing on Claus Hofstätter probably wouldn't help much. So, he went ahead and spent $784k on 8 new players with a combined $69k in salary. Claus ended up leading them in scoring (18.5 PPG), but four of those new additions finished the season with an Average Rating of at least 9 raising the baseline of their play. And while it was only good enough to win twice (I'm not saying they don't have a chance Saturday night), they were at least not a Div. IV newbie getting blanked night in and night out. They're currently slated to face Dragmort in a relegation series.

15. VileOnes
Week 1 OPP EFFG: 123
Week 11 OPP EFFG: 140.8
OPP EFFG Diff: -17.8
OPP EFFG Change Rank: 13

Unless they beat Jumpstop this weekend, they're locked in on the first pick, which is a fair feat of a tank job with at least two teams technically worse than them. But that was one of my theories in the preseason. They've still got some cash cached up, so I'm sure they'll be back in Div. III before long.

14. Muffin Men
Week 1 OPP EFFG: 132
Week 11 OPP EFFG: 133
OPP EFFG Diff: -1
OPP EFFG Change Rank: 8

If there's one thing we can say about the Muffs, it's that they've been consistent with their allowed efficiency. Despite a -163 Point Differential, as luck would have it, they have an opportunity to win a spot in a relegation series against CB Bethesdorf (probably) and not just be outright demoted with a matchup against 7-seed 209's. But that would be the difference between the 3rd and 4th pick in the draft. And I have to point out, they exceeded my preseason win total expectation by hitting the over on 2.5 games.

13. 209's MostWanted
[ Week 1 OPP EFFG: 132
Week 11 OPP EFFG: 134.7
OPP EFFG Diff: -2.7
OPP EFFG Change Rank: 10

I think it's safe to wonder whether or not Alex's squad is fighting for the 7th seed or eagerly anticipating the 8th. Coincidentally, I had the MostWanted slated at 8th overall in my preseason rankings and questioned whether that would come back to bite me. Well, it did, but not in the way I thought it might. But that was before they basically entirely retooled by dispatching Tian Rumin and Kalman Nadas after previously shedding super star Ariel Ziolkowski, which was $160k in salary. And while they brought in four new players, they only hit $57k in salary combined. And thus, the story was wrought.

12. Jumpstop Jumpers
Week 1 OPP EFFG: 107
Week 11 OPP EFFG: 109
OPP EFFG Diff: -2
OPP EFFG Change Rank: 9

Jumpstop started out 0-5 and then strung together 5 wins to break even and then decided *bleep* it and sold off another $93k in salary after already hitting reset before the season began. They did eventually bring in new blood after a few more weeks, but by then, their fate seemed sealed to battle for one of the relegation spots, and they are positioned for what might be one of the most interesting one with a faceoff against Linndale looms, who was their second to last win for the season.

Final Week Power Rankings - Part Two
11. Linndale
Week 1 OPP EFFG: 99
Week 11 OPP EFFG: 118.8
OPP EFFG Diff: -19.8
OPP EFFG Change Rank: 14

Speaking of the devil...I honestly hate the 6 seed relegation battle...because generally it's two decent teams a piece or two away from competing for near the top of the food chain in each division. But as expected Speedtraps put on a show for us both on the transfer market and on the coaching sidelines. Always a delight!

10. Dragmort Dragons Utd
Week 1 OPP EFFG: 119
Week 11 OPP EFFG: 1106.7
OPP EFFG Diff: 12.3
OPP EFFG Change Rank: 5

I think it's safe to say that Dragmort exceeded expectations this season - I thought they'd be decent but knowing what the top of the Big 8 looked like, I knew it was going to be difficult. But they played up and will finish at least .500 on the season. Bravo!

9. Fort Wayne Pistons
Week 1 OPP EFFG: 94
Week 11 OPP EFFG: 131.6
OPP EFFG Diff: -37.6
OPP EFFG Change Rank: 16

I almost hate to say it, but it's almost always true. Teams like Fort Wayne, while excellent offensively (7th overall in EFFG), their defense betrayed them from being great. That being said, they're the best of the bottom in the great 8 and looking to improve to 10 wins and a chance to knock off Tasty in the playoffs.

8. CB Bethesdorf
Week 1 OPP EFFG: 98.5
Week 11 OPP EFFG: 114
OPP EFFG Diff: -15.5
OPP EFFG Change Rank: 12

I called CB as finishing 6th in the Great 8 before the season began and they're sitting at fifth with a matchup against the #1 team in the conference. With an upset and a better PD than Fort Wayne, they could surprise and force their way into a second matchup against Tasty just three short days later.

7. Shandong Golden Lions
Week 1 OPP EFFG: 102
Week 11 OPP EFFG: 98.2
OPP EFFG Diff: 3.8
OPP EFFG Change Rank: 6

The Golden Lions are the type of Div. II relegator I like to see make their way down to Div. III, unlike southpaw army (who for those of you who are curious, are dominating, enjoying an undefeated season and on route to NBBA). Their Big 3 have kept them competitive and it looks like we'll have back-to-back Lion matchups in the coming days.

6. Mindless Zombies
Week 1 OPP EFFG: 117.5
Week 11 OPP EFFG: 93.8
OPP EFFG Diff: 23.7
OPP EFFG Change Rank: 3

The top three of the Great 8 find themselves at the top of the OPP EFFG rankings list, thanks to the three of them playing each other in the first two games of the season, meaning their early season OPP EFFG were a bit inflated to start. Mindless and Super face off in back to backs as well with home court advantage at stake for the second of those matchups. Super currently enjoys a 27 PD advantage, but a Mindless win at home Saturday night grants them that advantage, while a road win for the Sonics sends them back the Key Arena.

5. SuperSonics
Week 1 OPP EFFG: 131
Week 11 OPP EFFG: 87.7
OPP EFFG Diff: 43.3
OPP EFFG Change Rank: 1

Super didn't believe in themselves very much (which is easy to do in this game), but they've proved themselves hardy. If they lose tomorrow, I'm predicting a second loss directly after. But I've been wrong before.

Final Week Power Rankings - Part Three

4. San Dominica Warriors
Week 1 OPP EFFG: 77.5
Week 11 OPP EFFG: 78.3
OPP EFFG Diff: -0.8
OPP EFFG Change Rank: 7

Seven of the Warriors 11 players make at least $29k, with injured Mario Granja leading the way at $40k. They've consistently done more with less than any other team I've ever seen, proving that quality depth is more important than one or two quality stars.

3. F.Day Internet Lovers Club
Week 1 OPP EFFG: 96.5
Week 11 OPP EFFG: 82.5
OPP EFFG Diff: 14
OPP EFFG Change Rank: 4

A lone loss leaves them at the top of the Big 8, guaranteeing home court advantage for the playoffs, unless Linndale pulls off the miraculous. They've got two legitimate MVP candidates in Tabrizi and Melucci and have successfully sealed their fate with my end of Cup run mistake.

2. Tasty Tardsicles
Week 1 OPP EFFG: 120
Week 11 OPP EFFG: 86.9
OPP EFFG Diff: 33.1
OPP EFFG Change Rank: 2

I wrote before the season that it looked like we might have more parity between the two conferences this season than we'd had recently, and it has definitely improved, but not quite as much as I expected. While I point out that both of Tasty's losses came to Big 8 teams, they also came on the road. A three-game series in the finals is a big difference of opportunity, regardless of HCA.

1. Lion Rebels
Week 1 OPP EFFG: 65
Week 11 OPP EFFG: 69.1
OPP EFFG Diff: -4.1
OPP EFFG Change Rank: 11

It doesn't matter if you finish the best in something, because if you start out at the top, there's not much room for improvement, so you end up near the bottom of the Most Improved lists. I haven't said much about this, but my loss to Muffins, while it stung, was almost redeemed by the fact that I only lost by 4 to one of the better Div. II teams in the Cup that week. But a mistake is a mistake, and I might've blown up my plan to tank in Div. II next season thanks to that lone loss.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is our final rankings of the regular season. I am planning on posting an MVP prediction, and I'm quite excited about it this season because I've figured out a way to try and calculate/guess votes. So, after the games tomorrow night, I'll update my rankings and have a post out on Sunday, I hope.

Best of luck to everyone tomorrow night, especially Linndale.

Best of luck to everyone tomorrow night, especially Linndale.

We're going to find out how much the defense has improved, aren't we? (The answer is not enough, but if they go deep in their rotation we might have a shot.)

We're not kidding anyone; we don't have a shot.