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Roberto Gurgone: Marshall, before you say a word I want you to read the kid’s file. I know you hate losing a two-way defender, but this was a long term play. Bonus is it frees up Frias, so did you really lose a two way defender?

Marshall Richards: ‘Berto, I know I’m supposed to be mad at you right now. I’m also smart enough to know you’re cooking something, so I’ll allow it.

Air Allnite: So what are we doing in the backcourt? Kops played some point, shooting guard and small forward for us. This kid can’t play all three. You really gonna move Frias to small forward and let Bodura start at the other guard spot? You’re gonna have to do something to make it fit the 3 ball handler rule.

Pio Reina: I’ll have that sorted; don’t worry about it. Roberto, are we going to hold off on that other thing?

RG: We’ll play that one by ear. If needed, we’ll make our move.

PR: Noted. Air, Marshall, be prepared to hit the ground running with the guard boot camp. Byron, how are the bigs coming along?

Byron Helms: They’re putting in the work, but the last couple of weeks have shown few results.
Working them hard to try and push through it. Maybe switch to the guards for a few weeks.

PR: We’ll give them this week and then see how we attack that.

RG: If there’s nothing else for me, I’ll leave you gentlemen to it.

PR: See you after the game. Now on to tonight’s game. I’m giving the keys to Colenbrander. Let’s see what he can do. Ozver and Beko up front, Frias and Pasman round out the starting five. Mashall, we good on the rule of three?

MR: We’re good there. Just a question; why isn’t The Hammer on the second unit?

AA: Who?

MR: Gian-Luca. The Hammer.

BH: That dude is all arm and no hammer. You better get out of here with that name! I’ll tell you what, if you can get his defense and rebounding to where his shooting is, I can buy that as a nickname.

PR: That’s not a big ask, Byron. You going soft?

BH: Nope. I see a move coming, and Marshall won’t be happy about it when it comes. To make it worse, he will have made it happen. Good coaching can’t go unrewarded.

AA: We DO have a game tonight to talk about.

PR: Air’s right. Looking in their backcourt, Ye Kaifang is a solid veteran, but the guy we have to keep in check is Justynas Izatavicius. We’ll see if we can match Pasman up wth him defensively. Up front, Stadnichenko has to be kept in check, but we also have to make sure Mattieu Gatard doesn’t beat us. Our bench should be a difference maker tonight; they don’t have the depth we do. New point guard, so I do expect a few hiccups, but nothing we shouldn’t be able to withstand. If we do what we do, and keep them in check, we should walk out of here with a win. Any questions?

AA: Yeah. Who’s doing the media tonight?

PR: Looks like you just volunteered for the pregame. To be nice, Marshall you do the halftime and postgame hits. One more thing, Air. 14 turnovers a game is something I cannot abide by. I know we’re only two games in, but I want my results. Steals are down and turnovers are up. I expected steals to be down, but turnovers are unsustainable and unacceptable.

AA: Noted.

PR: Marshall, Byron. I want Twaruschek up to speed defensively. He’s closer on inside defense than he is on the perimeter. I need him ready for both. Byron, I imagine the rebounding will be come, but I want that kid ready to go. To that end, plug him the lineup tonight. My prerogative. Let’s see what he can do. I want to know if we can live with his current shortcomings. We should be able to find that out tonight. Ozver gets the next start.

BH: I'll let him know.

PR: I'll do it. I made the call, I can be the one to tell him.

Day 3 (Saturday 28 September 2024) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Fondy Cardinals 55 - Anchorage Allstars. 113
Las Vegas Red Pandas 92 - brooklyn knicks 109
AZ Sunburn 96 - The Dachshunds 115
Defenseless Babies 140 - GloryBoyz 116
Organization XIII 103 - Eternityz Rostah 108
Duke Devilz 122 - K8be4L 109
Linndale 111 - Nanooks of the North 86
Andersonville Alligators 101 - Cleveland Heat Lakers 79

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 140 : Defenseless Babies
Rebounds : 67 : Anchorage Allstars.
Assists : 40 : Defenseless Babies
Steals : 12 : Defenseless Babies
Block Shots : 25 : Anchorage Allstars.

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 38 : R. Lian (Duke Devilz)
Rebounds : 21 : A. Smith (Organization XIII)
Assists : 17 : M. Silver (Defenseless Babies)
Steals : 5 : L. Salisbury (Cleveland Heat Lakers)
Block Shots : 6 : J. Yongyi (Anchorage Allstars.), J. Schindl (Anchorage Allstars.)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : C. Ji Hun (Defenseless Babies) (37 Points, 4 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 3 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 35
Shooting Guard : L. Rosario (The Dachshunds) (31 Points, 7 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 39
Small Forward : R. Landherr (K8be4L) (37 Points, 13 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 40
Power Forward : M. Parnell (Defenseless Babies) (34 Points, 11 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots), A. Roche (Andersonville Alligators) (21 Points, 15 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 37
Center : A. Smith (Organization XIII) (15 Points, 21 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 32

MVP of the evening
R. Landherr (K8be4L) (37 Points, 13 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 40

The bad performance of the evening
D. Aliferovich (Fondy Cardinals) (4 Points, 2 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -10

Triple-Double of the evening
A. Di Massimo (GloryBoyz) (10 Points, 11 Rebounds, 11 Assists, 1 Steals, 3 Block Shots)

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : C. Ji Hun (Defenseless Babies), J. Šlianderis (Organization XIII), W. Lemons (Andersonville Alligators) : 5 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : A. Carter (AZ Sunburn) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : B. Barkley (Cleveland Heat Lakers) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : R. Lian (Duke Devilz) : 7 Three points

The best performer : A. Czerwonka (brooklyn knicks), L. Rosario (The Dachshunds), Y. Maggitas (Defenseless Babies), S. Yli-Kovero (Eternityz Rostah) : Rating : 16.0

The worst performer : M. Beer (Duke Devilz) : Rating : 6.0

After spending 15 seasons with Defenseless Babies, Lee Rosario will be making his return to The Plantation at Belle Isle. We are hoping for a warm welcome and expecting to see a big game performance from Archer!

Tonight, the Defenseless Babies welcome back Lee Rosario, who now plays for The Dachshunds.

Lee was drafted in season 50 and spent his first few years with the team while they were rebuilding. He was a key member who helped the team go from Division IV and eventually made it to the NBBA for one season.

Lee Rosario ranks 5th all-time in points scored, 6th in assists, and 7th in games played for the Defenseless Babies.

“Hey Pio, got a minute,” asked Byron. “The bigs want to talk to you for a bit. All of them.”

Pio got up from his desk and followed his associate head coach. “What is this about,” he asked.

Byron replied, “I think they just have questions and want to hear answers from you. I think they think I’m blowing smoke when I tell them why we’re asking them to do what we’re asking them to do. Sometimes you gotta hear it from the big boss, you know?”

The coaches walked in to the locker room, and noted the guards and wings were not there. Pio spoke.

“Gentlemen, rarely am I summoned to a conference before a game. What gives?”

“Coach, as the longest tenured big man, I’ve been elected spokesperson. Some of the guys just want to understand their role better, and others want to know why they aren’t starting. A few want to know what they need to do to see court time.” Joy Beko was clearly not pleased to be here, but he was not going to turn his back on his teammates.

“Relax, Joy. This shouldn’t get contentious at all. Let’s work from the last question first. By a show of hands, who’s just trying to get court time?” Pio already knew the answer and just wanted to engage his charges in conversation. Three hands were raised.

“Young Mr. Carlson, what’s on your mind?” Pio noted he was nervous. “Take a deep breath and relax. Speak what’s on your mind.” The rookie, Duane Carlson, spoke.

“Coach, I just want to get some court time and I’m wondering what it would take to get a few minutes.”

“That’s a fair question, Duane. I’m sure Coach Helm has told you minutes might be hard to cone by at first for a rookie. We have a crowded and talented group and everyone has different talents. You have a varied set of skills and we are going to get you time on the court to explore and develop them. Be prepared to play all 48 minutes on Thursday. We’ll see how things go from there. Ondrej?”

“Same question. Coach, I just want to play.” Ondrej was frustrated.

“Expect to play Thursday. I can’t promise you all 48 minutes, but you will play. Ondrej, you have skills we like, but we need to see you apply yourself. You haven’t even scratched the surface of how good you could be.”

Rafet Ozver appreciated having time to speak, and having a coach that allowed it. He stood up.

“Mr. Ozver, if I may be so bold, you’re wondering how you’re the best rebounder on the team and can’t get a start. Is that right?” Pio wanted to let him know he understood where he was coming from. It worked.

“Yes sir.”

“That’s on me. We have an embarrassment of riches, but I have to be better about making sure everyone gets time. You were supposed to start Saturday, but I made that choice to change things. Gentlemen, please understand not everyone will start. No one will start every game. However, when the opportunity presents itself, your job is to make it impossible for me to remove you from the lineup. As a coach, you present me the luxury of playing the best matchups against our opponents. Joy, I’m sure you know where I stand on playing talent. Most of you are relatively new and don’t know, but legend of Joy running point guard is true. Force your way on to the court. I’ll find a way to get you on the court. If you think it’s best you move on, we’ll accommodate you.”

Byron spoke. “Gentlemen, if there are further questions or concerns, please see me or Coach Reina after the game and we’ll be happy to talk with you about whatever you may want to address. Thank you. Go get warmed up.”

“Byron, I though that was going to be a lot worse than it was. Keep an eye on Ondrej, will ya?”

“Already on it. We might need to talk to Roberto about him.”

"I hope not. I like the kid."

"Me too, Pio. Me too..."

Day 4 (Tuesday 1 October 2024) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Anchorage Allstars. 79 - Las Vegas Red Pandas 92
brooklyn knicks 132 - AZ Sunburn 126
The Dachshunds 96 - Defenseless Babies 107
GloryBoyz 109 - Fondy Cardinals 86
Eternityz Rostah 144 - Duke Devilz 101
K8be4L 90 - Linndale 112
Nanooks of the North 82 - Andersonville Alligators 134
Cleveland Heat Lakers 89 - Organization XIII 129

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 144 : Eternityz Rostah
Rebounds : 71 : Organization XIII
Assists : 40 : Eternityz Rostah
Steals : 14 : Fondy Cardinals
Block Shots : 11 : GloryBoyz

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 44 : Y. Mji (brooklyn knicks)
Rebounds : 22 : J. Pastorell (Organization XIII)
Assists : 14 : V. Laihinen (brooklyn knicks)
Steals : 5 : C. Ji Hun (Defenseless Babies)
Block Shots : 4 : A. Roche (Andersonville Alligators)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : A. Harrani (Organization XIII) (31 Points, 6 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 41
Shooting Guard : L. Shtrbev (Organization XIII) (25 Points, 5 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 28
Small Forward : Y. Mji (brooklyn knicks) (44 Points, 6 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 40
Power Forward : Á. Ronco (Eternityz Rostah) (23 Points, 20 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 38
Center : M. Álvarez (Eternityz Rostah) (12 Points, 11 Rebounds, 8 Assists, 1 Steals, 3 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 29

MVP of the evening
A. Harrani (Organization XIII) (31 Points, 6 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 41

The bad performance of the evening
L. Paraskevakos (Nanooks of the North) (0 Points, 1 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -3

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : A. Timpanaro (Duke Devilz) : 7 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : L. Xiaozheng (Anchorage Allstars.), Z. Haoyu (Andersonville Alligators) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : M. Beer (Duke Devilz), V. Marchenkov (K8be4L) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : Y. Mji (brooklyn knicks), R. Lian (Duke Devilz) : 6 Three points

The best performer : S. Yli-Kovero (Eternityz Rostah), J. Beko (Linndale), J. Šlianderis (Organization XIII) : Rating : 15.5

The worst performer : E. Lomax (Eternityz Rostah) : Rating : 4.5

Rafet Ozver followed Pio Reina and Byron Helm into Pio’s office. “Coach, how bad was I out there?” Rafet was clearly anxious and expecting the worst.

“First, close the door behind you. Second, are you sure you want to do this now,” Byron asked.

“Young man,” Pio began, “I appreciate the aggressiveness you show in wanting to find out. There’s a sense of urgency there. Use that as fuel and play with that same sense of urgency. Let’s talk about the game. Byron, you have the numbers?”

“Ozver… thirty-three minutes… six points, twelve rebounds, one assist, one block. Three of ten from the field, one of two from the charity stripe. Five turnovers. Pio, we already know the kid has talent. Not bad numbers, but clearly there’s more in there I have to bring out.” Ozver felt a bit better.

Pio asked a question. “What did his primary assignment do?”

Byron smiled. “His counterpart had five points, four boards, two assists, three steals, and three turnovers.

Pio asked his young charge, “Mr. Ozver, how do you think you did, and what would you do better?”

Rafet thought for a moment. Do I tell him what I really think? I don’t know what he wants to hear; do I tell him what Coach helm says all the time? No, that’s a bad idea. Coaches talk and he’s right here. I’m just gonna tell him.

“I think I need to clean up the turnovers and improve on defense. Coach Helm says all the time that’s the fastest way to get on to the court. He’s right, but I also think I can do more. I want to play more like Gian-Luca.” Byron was slightly surprised at the answer, as Ozver was quiet and a bit hard to read at times. Pio appreciated the thought put into the answer and the forthrightness.

“Mr. Ozver”, Pio began, you are not the same player as Gian-Luca. You should focus on being the best player you can be. Play like the best version of you. You have skills we can build on, and others that need to be polished. We are working on that. You’re one of the reasons we are running big man camp right now.”

“Coach”, Ozver said, “I don’t start. I see we have a large group. I thought I was just trying to make the team still.”

Byron took that one. “Oz, you’re not going anywhere. Beko doesn’t care if he starts or comes off the bench, and he’s versatile enough to play a number of positions. Gian-Luca is on fire right now, and we’re going to ride that, but we also want to see if he can expand his versatility. If he can, that will open more opportunities for you and the other guys. Mr. Vendrell has the most similar skillset to Gian-Luca, but he’s not that kind of player either. Renato Corro is another solid big. That’s five bigs for four spots. Ondrej wants time, but he has to earn it in practices and scrimmages. Carlson needs time, but it’s hard to get him in. We’re going to make an effort to do more to get more of you time. Of that group, nobody rebounds like you. You’re not going anywhere.”

Pio spoke. “You have a skill set that needs refinement. Try taking things from your teammates games, and incorporate what works for you in yours. Defense and rebounding will get you on the floor. How you evolve as a player will determine your role. We’ll give you the chance, but you’re not starting every night.”

Ozver stood. “Thanks, Coach. You have given me much to think about.” He walked out the office.

“Byron…”

“I know. Gotta get him to not think and just play.”

"That too", Pio allowed, "but make sure he's scheduled for sessions with Marshall and Air. Go talk to Air and make it happen. And Byron, don't break him if he gets out of pocket."

"No promises."

Byron Helm meets with the bigs…

Byron Helm: Things are going to start changing around here. I know you’ve noticed the emphasis on what you gentlemen are asked to provide. First of all, I want to commend you on the work you’ve been putting in. Mr. Ozver, you are officially a center. Your role hasn’t changed, but the new position should help you out some. Gian-Luca, you are going to be tested like you haven’t yet seen tonight. Just play your game. You guys know the assignment. Time to show up and show out.

Meanwhile, Marshall Richards meets with the wings…

Marshall Richards: This room is going to be changing a lot. I don’t have any more insight than that, but I do know that we’ll be seeing some Gian-Luca Twaruschek in this room and we could see some Joy Beko in here more. We need to look at increasing offensive output on the wings. If we can do that, we can keep Gian-Luca at the power forward spot it seems like he’s in the process of locking down. Get your game on, guys. You’re doing well, but there is much more inside this room. Let’s show it out there on the court.

Air Allnite is with the guards…

Air Allnite: I demand a few things from you. Ball skills are at a premium, and some scoring. Pasman, you’re going to be moved around in an effort to get some of your skills where we need them. Uzek, stay ready, as you might be also. Leao, we need you to pick it up. Frias, you’re going to see some time moving around, but you already knew that. Walt C., you are doing fabulous work. I want you to add a bit more offense to your game. Isarre, Jernigan, you both have the standard to reach. Go get there.

Ten minutes later, Pio Reina addresses the team…

Pio Reina: We wanted 4 wins in the Great 8. We got 3 in 4 games, and I’m feeling like we can do far better than what we anticipated. Show me. Eternityz Rostah beat us by 19 in their place. Organization XIII is coming here tonight. I do not want to lose this game. I do not want to lose this game by 19. I also know we aren’t we I think we need to be, but I think we can beat this team. It’s going to take a huge effort from everyone, but we can do this. We have to own the boards. We have to limit turnovers. We have to play great defense. And we have to keep that ball moving. Share the ball. Find the open man, and make them pay. We haven’t played our best ball yet. Tonight would be a great time to start. We don’t need a hero, we just need to do what we do as one. We win this together…

On the pre game show...

Happy Ourer: It’s prediction time. Org 13 125, Linndale 84. Linndale cannot compete.

Joshua Doe: Oh Happy, you are sorely mistaken. Pio and the boys will compete, but they won’t win. They fall 125-108.

Sam Dunkley: Not even close. Org 13 120 to 76.

Jimmy Buckitts: Pio tries to catch them sleeping. They fall in a closer than expected one, 114-106.



Last edited by Speedtraps at 10/5/2024 9:08:55 PM

We join the Linndale postgame conference already in progress...

Pio Reina: We knew this was going to be a tough task, but I want ya’ll to look at the numbers. You all know by now what Linndale basketball means. We come to defend, we come to rebound, and we come to take care of the basketball. We believe if we do those things, we will win. Tonight, we rebounded the ball. We defended well, I thought. We did not take care of the basketball. We had twenty turnovers and they got thirteen steals.

Sam Dunkley: Sam Dunkley, Basketball Times. Coach, it seems like Pere Vendrell was getting a lot of run early on and has since given way to Gian-Luca Twarduschek who had not only another twenty point game, but a double double. Does this mean that Twaruschek has a starting job, or has this been a function of matchups?

PR: Sam, every lineup decision is a function of matchups. Now does Gian-Luca’s performance change things? His job is to make me make tough decisions. He’s doing his job. Pere Vendrell hasn’t done anything to cause us to lose confidence in him; he’s making us make tough decisions also. Then there’s Joy Beko, who again has done nothing to cause us to lose confidence. I’ll point out as good as Gian-Luca played, his turnovers hurt us. You take the good with the bad, and try to improve the bad.

Jimmy Buckitts: Jimmy Buckitts, WINO radio. Coach, we usually see Roman Bodura start at the shooting guard position, but tonight we got Carlos Frias. What was the thinking there?

PR: That’s very observant of you, Jimmy. We thought about starting Roman, but we wanted to get Carlos in the backcourt to facilitate him getting the ball into his hands a bit more. We thought Walt Pasman could handle the matchup and small forward. I thought their backcourt would make things hard and wanted to give Colenbrander a hand in initiating things on offense. It helped, and so did our ability to pass from the post, but the ball security killed us. We thought we needed to play the perfect game and catch them sleeping. We didn’t quite play the perfect game, but we did catch them sleeping a bit.

Jay Smith: Jay Smith, Swish Magazine and Basketball America. Coach, your starting center finally came through with a big game. Is that what you’ve been waiting for from him?

PR: I assume you mean tonight’s starting center, because we expect whomever we put on the court to perform, and as I’ve stated with regards to other positions, we go with what we think are the best matchups for us. We think we have a handle on which players of our opponent we can’t let beat us, so we put in place our best defenders to try and mitigate that. You saw that with Pasman playing small forward. In the instance of power forward, we wanted to go test Twaruschek and see how he would produce. He did well. Joy Beko can and would start at either of those positions as well as center, but we felt we would need him off the bench, and he produced. We knew what we had to do. We went out there and came close to pulling off an upset, and yes we know it would have been an upset. But again, every lineup decision is a function of matchups.

(shouted from an anonymous reporter): Coach, is it possible to see Twarushcek at small forward, and what improvements does he need to make to be seen on the floor there?

PR: That’s something I discuss with the players. I’m not putting that out in the press. If the player chooses too, that’s on them, but I’d hope that what we discuss privately stays private. You’re welcome to see the results when they manifest. That’s it, no more questions tonight. See you next time.

Day 5 (Saturday 5 October 2024) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
The Dachshunds 72 - Anchorage Allstars. 88
GloryBoyz 110 - brooklyn knicks 96
Fondy Cardinals 94 - AZ Sunburn 123
Las Vegas Red Pandas 100 - Defenseless Babies 118
Nanooks of the North 50 - Eternityz Rostah 109
Cleveland Heat Lakers 123 - K8be4L 116
Organization XIII 109 - Linndale 102
Duke Devilz 82 - Andersonville Alligators 152

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 152 : Andersonville Alligators
Rebounds : 64 : AZ Sunburn, Eternityz Rostah
Assists : 39 : Andersonville Alligators
Steals : 20 : Fondy Cardinals
Block Shots : 14 : Anchorage Allstars., Andersonville Alligators

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 44 : V. Marchenkov (K8be4L)
Rebounds : 20 : D. Walchshofer (The Dachshunds), L. Janesch (Eternityz Rostah)
Assists : 12 : R. Motti (K8be4L)
Steals : 6 : A. Harrani (Organization XIII)
Block Shots : 10 : J. Yongyi (Anchorage Allstars.)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : K. Telén (Andersonville Alligators) (32 Points, 2 Rebounds, 8 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 38
Shooting Guard : V. Marchenkov (K8be4L) (44 Points, 9 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33
Small Forward : L. Salisbury (Cleveland Heat Lakers) (39 Points, 8 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 42
Power Forward : J. Yongyi (Anchorage Allstars.) (16 Points, 17 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steals, 10 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 40
Center : L. Janesch (Eternityz Rostah) (14 Points, 20 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 3 Steals, 1 Block Shots), M. Álvarez (Eternityz Rostah) (25 Points, 14 Rebounds, 8 Assists, 1 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 41

MVP of the evening
L. Salisbury (Cleveland Heat Lakers) (39 Points, 8 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 42

The bad performance of the evening
K. Dupre (brooklyn knicks) (0 Points, 0 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -7

Triple-Double of the evening
J. Yongyi (Anchorage Allstars.) (16 Points, 17 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steals, 10 Block Shots)

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

Player targeted by the referees : J. Pastorell (Organization XIII) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : V. Marchenkov (K8be4L), B. Barkley (Cleveland Heat Lakers) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : N. Sheppard (Cleveland Heat Lakers) : 9 Three points

The best performer : M. Álvarez (Eternityz Rostah), L. Salisbury (Cleveland Heat Lakers), A. Roche (Andersonville Alligators) : Rating : 16.5

The worst performer : A. Lott (Fondy Cardinals) : Rating : 4.5

Happy Ourer: Folks, tonight’s pregame show is going to look a little different, as it’s just me and Joshua in studio. Jimmy Buckitts and Sam Dunkley are both on assignment. However, we are joined by Linndale Hall of Famer John Herring. John, welcome to the show!

John Herring: Happy, it’s good to be here! Joshua, good to see you. Thank you guys for having me!

Joshua Doe: Great to see you, John. I’m gonna start off by asking what did you think of the last game?

JH: I actually didn’t get to see the game; I was dealing with some personal things. I’ve heard it was a great effort but it just wasn’t enough. I heard that you and Jimmy Buckitts had it pretty well nailed down, though.

JD: We saw similar things; I thought the score would be a bit worse than it was. Jimmy was almost dead on for that. He thought turnovers would be an issue. I thought not necessarily turnovers, but ball security in general. We were both right. Twenty turnovers and thirteen steals pretty much confirms that.

HO: John, let’s get into ball security. As a point guard, you had a 6 assist to 1 turnover ratio. What’s the secret to ball security.

JH: I don’t mean to sound glib, but the secret to ball security is taking care of the basketball and making good decisions. I look at the roster and I see a good number of guys who can make good decisions when they have the ball in their hands. That’s a big part of it. I think there are a few guys who are careless with the basketball, and that shows up too. If you’re going to be careless with the ball, you’d better be worth that trouble you’re causing. Another thing I‘ve seen is you’ve got a number of good decision makers when they have the ball, but how many of those guys are good handling the ball? It’s great that you can make the pass to the right guy at the right time in the right spot, but if you can’t be trusted to handle the ball so you can make the pass, that’s a problem.

JD: Talk to ‘em, John. Linndale sees passing bigs as a weapon, abd they are, but if I can force a turnover or steal it from you before you can make the pass, I just took away your ability to pass.

JH: Exactly. I’ve talked with the assistant coaches as part of the team’s alumni program, and I’ve had the fortune to be able to come in on occasion and work with the players. It’s no accident that in seasons past, Joy Beko was able to play some point. I don’t think they need to do that again because Colenbrander can take the career assists record down if he sticks around. What they need to do is to get more guys to buy into the ball security aspect. If I can trust you to handle the ball and I can trust you to make a good decision with the ball, that’s something that wins games even if it’s not considered cool or sexy.

JD: Happy, that’s truth; that’s what that is. John, who would you like to see improve their ball security?

JH: I’d have to break that into ball handling and decision making. As far as the ball handling goes, I look at the backcourt and I think the young guys are a work in progress. I’m not even sure Uzek is going to stay at guard, but he, Isarre, Jernigan and Pasman have to pick it up. Up front, that young guy Vendrell, the rookie Carlson, and all the centers all need improvement. For decision making, every guard not named Colenbrander, every forward not named Beko or Bodura, and the big man Ozver.

HO: Every guard, John?

JH: I’m gonna call out Carlos Frias and Leandro Leao specifically. Fellas, it’s clear that neither is the starting point guard. It’s clear the team is high on both players, but where do you fit Frias? He can do a lot of things, but I feel like he should be better than he has been. Leao, I think is too good to be just a backup point guard. I need to see them get it together.

HO: We’ll be back with John Herring after the break on the Linndale basketball pregame show!