HO: “Happy Ourer and Marshall Richards with a a last look at Linndale’s playoff win over the San Dominica Warriors, and the challenge of tonight's game with the Carolina Rebels. I expected a hard fought, close game, I don’t think anyone expected the game we got Tuesday night.”
MR: “Happy, what we saw was a good, old fashioned slobberknocker! Coach Stephenson had his team well rested and ready. Coach Reina’s team was ready to go. This wasn’t going to go down to who made what defensive adjustments, or who outmaneuvered whom; this was two heavy hitters going down with their guns blazing.”
HO: “Was there anything Pio Reina did differently?”
MR: “Yes. What Pio did was switch a couple of defensive assignments. Offensively, they went away from their look inside focus and decided to put the ball in the hands of their shooters. They also tightened the rotation for this game. Pio Reina usually played 10 guys routinely, but that rotation was shortened by one player. It seemed the focus offensively was to let the shooters shoot, and on defense it was to see if we could find a way to make life difficult for Baiao and Granja. The defensive adjustments didn’t work as well as they’d hoped; Baiao was more efficient shooting the ball, and Granja had the most shot attempts he’s seen in the three games.”
HO: “Well, the shooters certainly shot the ball well!”
MR: “Happy, that was the difference, and it wasn’t just one shooter; it was all of the shooters. Guyton was 4 of 8, Knowles was 5 of 11, and Kamp was 3 of 4 from the 3 point stripe. Tovar was 2 of 2 off the bench and Petriukstis was 2 of 3. The shooters shot extremely well from deep, then they made free throws, going 25 of 30.”
HO: “Marshall it sounds like you’re saying that there wasn’t any adjustment that worked except for the shooters making shots.”
MR: “Essentially that’s what happened. We got out rebounded, we didn’t take care of the ball, and we didn’t shoot it particularly well overall. Coach Stephenson pointed it out in his remarks. San Dominica had the unenviable task of trying to beat an opponent 3 consecutive times. Now, that task falls to Linndale.”
HO: “And now key players for Linndale won’t be available for the game.”
MR: “Daniil Kamp was being sold before the Carolina game and Serkan Sokmen went down with an injury in a scrimmage. The organization went all in on trying to salvage this season for the playoffs to the point where they ran the risk of bankruptcy. The owner quite literally tried to spend every cent they had in the belief that the team would make the playoffs. Now Pio Reina has to figure out how to play without his glue guy, and no time to learn how. The late season addition of Eliyahu Hadad looms incredibly larger now than it did at first, and that might be saying a lot.”
HO: “What about Serkan Sokmen, and where does Art Reese fit in?”
MR: “Both have the chops on defense. Offensively, let there be no doubt. Sokmen is far ahead of Reese. Reese’s defensive acumen is what keeps him in the conversation. Sokmen was relied on to play both forward spots; he offered versatility Reese doesn’t have. Clearly that has to change some things in Pio Reina’s rotation, but Art Reese had better bring his A game when he’s on the court.”
HO: “How do you see the game at Carolina?”
MR: “Not having Kamp will change things, but I’m not sure how much. There’s no way to know. The only thing you can know is that Pio Reina has a plan. Expect him to come out of the lab with something. The only thing this takes off the table is a backwards game. Expect another close game. I don’t know that Linndale is gonna pull out a win against Daisy Merollin’s crew, but I can’t bet against them either.”