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MR: “Marshall Richards and Happy Ourer here for our Linndale week in review, and let me tell you we have a lot to review! We have the departures of Paul Lutz, Bobbie Coenen, and Joe Brown. We have the acquisition of Mantas Petriukstis. We have the team’s GM in studio. We have rumors of coming moves and wild speculation about others. Let’s get right to it!”

HO: “Let’s welcome the GM to the show, Marshall. So, I want to start by thanking you for coming on the show, and ask you why you gutted the guard room. What was the thinking there?”

GM: “Thanks for having me. We gutted the guard room because it was clear that what we had wasn’t going to get it done. That being the case; it would make no sense if we didn’t go out and get guys with the upside to be better than what we moved on from. Coenen lost his aggressiveness and I think it was more the league got better at the point guard position and he didn’t progress. Lutz was doing just fine but we don’t want just fine; we want far better than that. Brown we decided if someone grabbed him, good for him and them. Trenton Tovar came in passed Brown quickly. He played well with Lutz, but we want to see him and Knowles on the court together. We want to see if he can play some point. Mantas Petriukstis is going to be the point guard, but we don’t have a true backup. If Tovar can handle extended minutes at the point and Kyle can handle some minutes at the point, great. We’re trying to put pressure on our guys to get better. Brown, Coenen, and Lutz weren’t getting better. It’s as simple as that.”

MR: “What do you say to those that say you took a playoff team and made them worse?”

GM: “Keep in mind we gave up a pair of talented 27 year olds and a 26 year old. Tovar is 22, Petriukstis is 21. If they aren’t at the level of Coenen or Lutz in 3 years, they’ll be real close with a few years to spare before they hit that age 27 season. We’re betting we can get them to be better. We’re betting on the development of Art Reese and Rolland Reynolds. We’re betting that our kids will be good enough to not only make the postseason, but build a title winner around.”

HO: “You have no veteran leadership; no real experience on the roster. What do you say to that, to a lack of depth, and to a lack of toughness, especially inside?”

GM: “Kyle’s the leader. Daniil Kamp can start asserting himself. Nick Guevara is a behind the scenes and glue guy. At just 21, Datler is a blue collar, no nonsense guy. Reese just gets better and you can see he’s coming along. Tovar is showing he’s more than just a brash kid. He wants the ball and the spotlight. He wants to win. This is a group that can grow together.”

MR: “But your bigs aren’t doing it. Datler, I’ll agree just keeps plugging away and at the end of the day is looking very nice. I’m going to call Garcaa a huge disappointment. His next 20 point 20 rebound game will be his first. The talent is there but the results are not. Kamp when at the 4 hasn’t produced big games consistently. Nick hasn’t done it consistently. Mann is still a work in progress. What are you going to do so that the guards don’t have to carry the load every night?”

GM: “Did you see San Dominica jump out to a 12 point lead after one? We just kept coming. The punched us in the face, we gut punched them, over and over and over. The problem was we didn’t have enough to land that big blow left in the tank. It was a 2 point game with 2 minutes on the clock. The should have beat the brakes off us but the guys didn’t quit fighting and no one had to carry the team alone. The whole team fought.”

HO: “So you’re looking to add more young guys if the opportunity presents itself?”

GM: “No Happy; I’m looking to add the best player to this group when the opportunity presents itself. I don’t care the position. Can you play, and how do you make us better? That’s what we want to know.”

*pregame press conference*

Coach Pio Reina and the GM are at the podium.

Marshall Richards: “A question for each of you. For the GM, what does the acquiition of Floyd Hearn mean for Ramon Sanz Garcaa and Balthasar Gebhardt Datler and roster security? For Coach Reina, does this change any of the calculus as far as the team goals this season? What weaknesses would you like to see addressed?

Coach Reina: (to the GM) “Do you mind if I go first this time? Thanks. Marshall, as far as team goals this season, this changes nothing. We expect to win. We haven’t. We made changes to get us back into the win column. This was a long term move, so any speculation on what I want to see addressed is just that: reckless speculation. I haven’t seen the group play together yet and they don’t know each other. Let’s wait until they can take the court together before we see what might need addressing.”

GM: “Also Marshall, you mentioned roster security. In general, in this business you of all people should know there is no such thing as roster security. Specifically, in regards to the players you mentioned, Ramon Sanz Garcaa and Balthasar Gebhardt Datler are members of this team until such time as they are not. Doesn’t mean they or anyone else is guaranteed to be here. I mean, we just moved on from our starting point guard, a longtime starter at small forward, and the longest tenured roster member all in a matter of a day or two. So please, tell me more about this roster security you speak of. Next question.”

Air Allnite: “Air Allnite of the Supreme Court Basketball Network with a question for Pio Reina. Pio, any thought to playing one of the centers at power forward?

Coach Reina: “No. The man has a broken nose. He’s out two weeks. We have no thought of playing him before he’s healed. We will figure out things once he’s able to take the court, and not a second before. Why are you folks acting like he’s going to play tonight? He’s not. Or Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday. Likely not for 2 weeks. We knew that when we acquired him. I’m going to coach the guys we have available and we’re going to go to work and punch people in the gut. Anyone here not willing to do that will be gone. Understood? Thank you; now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a game to coach.”

*postgame press conference*

Pio Reina: “Before we begin, I’d like to publicly admit that I owe Marshall Richards an apology for how I treated him when he asked an insanely dumb question during the pregame presser. I’m not giving him one at this time, but I acknowledge I owe him one. Marshall, you want the first question? Put your hand down Allnite; I’m not talking to you.”

MR: *laughng* “Coach, two part question. What did you like about the game tonight, and what did you not like?”

PR: “Marshall, this is how you make people think you're either sucking up or we’re friends. Seriously though, I liked the defensive aggression early. but I noted that it got less aggressive as the game went on. I liked our overall board work and that we took care of the basketball. I did not like our inability to keep our opponent off the offensive boards. I did not like that 7 of our 9 turnovers were by starters. Our new point guard seemed passive on offense. Also, I didn’t like Shooter’s inefficiency on offense.”

Air Allnite: “Coach---”

PR: “You, in the corner. Got a question?”

Sam Dunkley: “Sam Dunkley, Basketball Times. Coach, what do you need to do to get more people involved on offense. 52 of your 78 shots came from 2 people.”

PR: “That’s a fair point. There’s no reason Daniil Kamp should only get 6 shots. Guevara had 9. We’ve got to do better than that, but we’ve also remade our guard unit. Expect that to get better. More than anything, Sam, the guys have to keep getting better. Kyle can’t carry the load every night, Shooter can’t either. Expect the offense to be a work in progress. Who we were at the start of the season isn’t who we are now, and won’t be who we are at season’s end.”

AA: “Coach, are you going to ignore me all night long?”

PR: “Next question!”

MR: “Coach, Marshall again. Given that it seems Tovar has ascended in playing time, who’s the next young player to make that leap?

PR: “That’s a good question, Marshall. A trick question, but a good one. Shooter is getting the time because of our back court situation, but he’s also earned it. Another one I expect to see playing time increase is Art Reese. Again, he’s earned it. Datler’s earning his time, we expect Mann to continue to do so, and we’re going to keep finding ways to get Reynolds some time. Game situations will impact that as well as injuries and availability. The situation is fluid; we expect the players themselves will sort things out with their play. Any last questions?”

AA: “Your team can’t score outside or inside. Why should anyone expect you to make the postseason?”

PR: “I’ll answer you this one time tonight. It’s simple, really. If we can’t score, our job is to make sure you can’t either. If you can’t play defense, you can’t play here. It’s why we want to find ways to get Reynolds on the court; we’d like him to be playable by the postseason. He is not there, but he’s getting there. If you can find anyone who will talk to you, you’ll find that to a man, my locker room understands if you cannot play defense you will not be here. Now, if you think we can’t score from the outside, go stop Kyle. If you think we can’t score inside, it means you conflate not doing so with the inability to do so. We also do a solid job of getting to the line. No, we don’t mind if our shooters go wild. What happens is you focus on them and forget about our inside guys. Or if you focus inside and the shooters beat you. When Floyd Hearn takes the court, just watch how the dynamic changes. Watch how the dynamic changes when our young guys keep getting better. Allnite, nobody likes you. Your focus on what you perceive as the negatives would be easier to take if you actually took the time to do your research and had some context to inform your observations. Good night everyone, and I’ll see you guys Tuesday.”

Last edited by Speedtraps at 3/5/2023 6:03:15 AM

Day 7 (Saturday 4 March 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Flamin' Flamingos 85 - 209’s MostWanted 104
Carolina Rebels 43 - Lion Rebels 99
San Dominica Warriors 96 - Philly Dribble 86
Fondy Cardinals 75 - Linndale 95
Hustlas 79 - Tasty Tardsicles 113
Żubr Białystok 105 - STG on MCU 83
The White Walkers 69 - Miami Cleo 57
The Beer Bellys 117 - Cincinnati Slammers 40

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 117 : The Beer Bellys
Rebounds : 76 : San Dominica Warriors
Assists : 32 : Tasty Tardsicles
Steals : 18 : The Beer Bellys
Block Shots : 17 : Lion Rebels

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 44 : K. Knowles (Linndale)
Rebounds : 25 : J. Bégin (San Dominica Warriors)
Assists : 8 : C. Wui Kwong (Tasty Tardsicles), H. Šapiras (Żubr Białystok)
Steals : 7 : N. Muižys (The Beer Bellys)
Block Shots : 5 : P. Cheatle (Miami Cleo), M. Stott (Lion Rebels), A. Fornos (The White Walkers)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : K. Brown (Lion Rebels) (32 Points, 8 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 1 Steals, 3 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 40
Shooting Guard : J. Esposito (Hustlas) (43 Points, 4 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 40
Small Forward : A. Nikitinas (Tasty Tardsicles) (14 Points, 8 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 27
Power Forward : J. Bégin (San Dominica Warriors) (29 Points, 25 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 Steals, 2 Block Shots), I. Homs (The Beer Bellys) (37 Points, 15 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 45
Center : Y. Semiramis (The Beer Bellys) (20 Points, 16 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 1 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34

MVP of the evening
J. Bégin (San Dominica Warriors) (29 Points, 25 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 Steals, 2 Block Shots), I. Homs (The Beer Bellys) (37 Points, 15 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 45

The bad performance of the evening
B. Buijtels (Carolina Rebels) (3 Points, 1 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots), U. Barbarossa (Cincinnati Slammers) (5 Points, 5 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -9

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : D. Christopher (Cincinnati Slammers), U. Barbarossa (Cincinnati Slammers) : 7 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : L. Talbot (Philly Dribble) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : G. Locus (Miami Cleo), B. George (Carolina Rebels), K. Brown (Lion Rebels), S. Hatch (Żubr Białystok), A. Fornos (The White Walkers), R. Ainsworth (Cincinnati Slammers), D. Christopher (Cincinnati Slammers), B. Rivas (Cincinnati Slammers), U. Barbarossa (Cincinnati Slammers), Z. Carr (Cincinnati Slammers) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : J. Esposito (Hustlas) : 7 Three points

The best performer : T. Armstead (Lion Rebels) : Rating : 19.5

The worst performer : Z. Carr (Cincinnati Slammers) : Rating : 2.0

Does anyone know when the deadline is for players to be purchased and eligible for playoffs/relegation?

This is going back 10 years now...but it seems like it's the Sunday after the last regular season game:(https://buzzerbeater.org/community/forum/read.aspx?thread=...)

Last edited by Baine at 3/7/2023 10:44:32 AM

Couple of big matchups to keep an eye on tonight...
--> Miami Cleo at Philly Dribble
After Philly took one on the nose at home while putting in more effort against San Dominica on Saturday night, they're in danger of hitting the .500 mark in the middle of the crowded Great 8. Miami suffered its second loss of the season, failing to put up much offense against White Walkers tremendous Inside Defense with more effort as well. I typically side with the home team in most cases, but with Philly's recent poor showing, Miami might be able to do the same thing the Warriors did with their stifling defense. But you can't count out Velasco, Glicas, and Woesler. I think it comes down to whomever can shoot more than 33% from three to get the win.

--> Żubr Białystok at Carolina Rebels
Carolina opted to throw the Rebel Cup in favor of striving to stay in the Cup, which means, they should be starting their regular crew with high enthusiasm at home against whitestok's crew. while Żubr sports a +63 PD and Carolina sits at -22, they both have a 4-3 record. But Carolina has more to lose by losing this game, so while I'm betting they TIE, I think their home court advantage wins out.

-->Tasty Tardsicles at 209's MostWanted
Tasty's really turned it on ever since they lost game number two, winning blow outs and close games setting them up for a nice matchup with high octane 209's offense. 209's is ranked #2 in offensive efficiency after 7 games while Tasty is right behind them at #3. But the glaring difference is Tasty's defensive efficiency, which is currently ranked tied for 3rd while Alex from the 209's squad is ranked 12th. Will that be enough to overcome home court advantage? I think that depends on how badly they want to continue their Cup run.

-->White Walkers at San Dominica Warriors
This is the premiere matchup of the week, and while San Dom has lost two games, I think they might have the best shot to take on the Night King at home and pull out a victory. While Victor Papageorgiou has cooled off a bit (down to 20.7 PPG), they're still such a fierce-some foe, truly feeling like the frozen undead descending to the south at an unstoppable rate. While Coach Stephenson pull a Arya Stark and deliver the killing blow? Tune in tonight to find out!

Day 8 (Tuesday 7 March 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Tasty Tardsicles 99 - 209’s MostWanted 105
Hustlas 69 - Flamin' Flamingos 111
STG on MCU 96 - Lion Rebels 117
Żubr Białystok 77 - Carolina Rebels 101
Miami Cleo 82 - Philly Dribble 80
The White Walkers 98 - San Dominica Warriors 108
Cincinnati Slammers 89 - Linndale 101
The Beer Bellys 88 - Fondy Cardinals 67

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 117 : Lion Rebels
Rebounds : 66 : Carolina Rebels
Assists : 31 : Lion Rebels
Steals : 9 : Cincinnati Slammers
Block Shots : 13 : The Beer Bellys

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 39 : A. Varpukevicius (Miami Cleo)
Rebounds : 24 : G. Locus (Miami Cleo)
Assists : 11 : T. Rumin (209’s MostWanted)
Steals : 4 : K. Knowles (Linndale), M. Bobôšík (Żubr Białystok)
Block Shots : 6 : V. Papageorgiou (The White Walkers)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : D. Rivas (Flamin' Flamingos) (21 Points, 5 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 2 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 27
Shooting Guard : L. See Yan (Flamin' Flamingos) (26 Points, 7 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34
Small Forward : J. Waters (Lion Rebels) (22 Points, 5 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 30
Power Forward : T. Armstead (Lion Rebels) (20 Points, 15 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 3 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 38
Center : G. Locus (Miami Cleo) (13 Points, 24 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 1 Steals, 3 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33

MVP of the evening
T. Armstead (Lion Rebels) (20 Points, 15 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 3 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 38

The bad performance of the evening
J. Chang (STG on MCU) (0 Points, 1 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -2

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : T. Plummer (Carolina Rebels), H. Quindós (Żubr Białystok) : 5 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : C. Anaya (The White Walkers) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : G. Locus (Miami Cleo), S. Huerta (Lion Rebels), H. Quindós (Żubr Białystok), D. Freire (The White Walkers), P. Stevens (Cincinnati Slammers) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : G. Azheli (209’s MostWanted), C. Wui Kwong (Tasty Tardsicles) : 6 Three points

The best performer : T. Armstead (Lion Rebels) : Rating : 19.0

The worst performer : T. Lang (Fondy Cardinals) : Rating : 5.0

Well, three of the four matchups I highlighted were at least relatively close. Let's take a look at what really happened.

Tasty Tardsicles @ 209's MostWanted
Looking at the box score, all things were relatively equal on the night, with the only obvious difference over the course of the game being 209's hitting more shots at a higher percentage. And Tasty didn't shoot poorly, hitting 38.4% on the night, including 11 threes. But Alex's crew shot 46.2% including 50% on 26 threes. Looks like it would've been a fun shoot out type of game to witness. Tasty jumped out to a monster 15-point lead after one quarter and the MostWanted chipped away at that lead through the second and then took over in the third, outscoring the Tards by 12 to be up three heading into the final quarter. The score was 69-72 and we were immediately treated with a show, with both teams scoring 15 points in the first three minutes. With them stuck at 75-81, Tasty went to work over the course of the next 4.5 minutes getting to within one point 3 times before retaking the lead on a layup with 3:18 left. But MostWanted wasn't having it, hitting a layup in response to go back up by one and then they didn't look back thanks to two threes and a handful of free throws the seal the victory.

The White Walkers @ San Dominica Warriors
In what I deemed the match of the week, this game ended up being a nice back and forth. Both teams shot almost 42% from the field, with the only real differences coming in two factors: 3-point shooting (25% vs. 47%) and fouls turning into more free throws for San Dominica (although, they only scored four more points on free throws, only hitting 60.6% compared to the Walkers 16-18 from the stripe shooting). The real bummer was probably starting PF Carlos Anaya fouling out for the first time all season after playing 30 minutes with 9 minutes left to go in the quarter and the Walkers down two. They'd been down 6 at the half after being up 5 after one quarter and then stormed back to take a four point lead into the fourth, 76-72. But San Dom tied it up and then took the lead within three minutes. The Night King's zombie-crew tied it back up with 6:19 left at 87, but "LAB" Baião wasn't having any of that, hitting a shot from the top of the key 10 seconds later to retake the lead. While they kept it close, the Walkers couldn't recover with free throws resulting in a ten point lead with 20 seconds to play and the game virtually out of reach.

Miami Cleo @ Philly Dribble
What ended up being the game of the week saw Miami and Philly in a slug-fest back and forth with Arys Varpukevicius scoring 39 points and 10 rebounds. Miami started out up 5 after one, then surrendered 27 points in the 2nd while only scoring fifteen to be down by 7 at the half. A chippy third quarter led to a four point deficit, at 54-58 (Philly). Both teams scored their first shots of the 4th quarter and Miami regrouped with a short time out and Arys came out shooting from the corner and hit a three to bring it within one. It would take them another near two minutes to get it tied up at 63 and then taking the lead 65-63 with 9:17 remaining. The teams hung out at 67-65 for several minutes before the action started back up again with about three minutes left - Philly scored to bring them within one point adn then after battling for a bit, finally tying it up at 74 with 1:39 left on a jump-shot from Max Woesler. With 26 seconds left in the game, Varpukevicius scored again to go up 78-74 and Philly called a time out. Coming out of the break, four seconds later P. Fasseli hit a three to cut the lead to one, the subsequent foul resulted in two made free throws and with 18 seconds left, Philly called a 30 second time out. And here, no one, but two miracles occurred. With 14 seconds remaining, M. Velasco scores a three to tie it up but with time running out, Damon Santana passed off to Varpukevicius who scored a buzzerbeater from the elbow to shock Philly

Week Four Power Rankings & Notes
Welcome to 36% of the way through Season 60 where we've seen some surprises, fierce competition, and everyone (mostly) trying their best to succeed in the gauntlet known as Division III.11.

Transfers have finally come to a halt (though I do have one pending rookie, and a shot in the dark) and after Linndale's epic signing of 24-year-old (and injured) Floyd Hearn for only $394k, teams appear to have settled in for the primary run through the season, but I assume we'll see more moves made as we get closer to the playoffs and relegation.

No undefeated teams after this week, but Cincinnati and Fondy are still looking for that first victory. Unlike last season's victory-less teams, these two are trying and don't appear to be botifying any time soon (happily).

Week 4 Player Notes & Stats
Jumping into full-fledged interconference play, here are the current league leaders:
-->Scoring Leader: Hustlas Jonata Esposito has assumed the lead in PPG with 30.6 while Ariel Ziółkowski had the unfortunate injury in the first minute of their game on Tuesday night, dropping him down to 27.4 per game. That mark is up nearly 7 whole points up from league leaders last year.
-->Rebounding Leader: Patrick Cheatle from Miami edges out The Beer Bellys Isidre Homs with 16.2 RPG. Homs has had 4 games with 20+ rebounds, while Cheatle has only had 2 of them.
-->Assists Leader: Marko Maurin leads the pack with 6.2 APG with San Dominica's Étienne Blanchet on his heels.
-->Shooting Leaders: Philly's backup center Mack Farnsworth leads with 64.7% on FGs while Ariel Ziółkowski has hit 58.3% on 48 3PA.

With that, we'll get on to the rankings. This week's rankings will include week one's rank in parenthesis behind the team's name.

Week Four Power Rankings
1. The White Walkers (1)
No change at the top, though The Night King suffered their first loss on the season. But they've held steady in both efficiency categories through the first four weeks of the season and have proven to be dominant, though they did give up 125 OPP EFFG in their loss. We'll see how the rest of their trip through the Big 8 pans out. This week they host Philly Dribble and then travel to Carolina to face the Rebels.

2. Lion Rebels (2)
Often times the top of these rankings don't reflect the standings, but this season, which seems to be true, but we'll see how long that lasts. Carolina tricked me into playing Normal as they prepared for their Cup matchup, and a nice win over STG leaves us at 7-1 heading into a road TV matchup against Żubr Białystok followed by playing host to Miami. Might be two more losses in my standings after week 5.

3. Miami Cleo (6)
Miami with one of the biggest jumps in these rankings from week 1, which shouldn't be a surprise. While they did lose by 12 to the Walkers, they had a pleasant road win over Philly as previously chronicled. Next up is their Rebel Week, playing host to Carolina before visiting Daylis Stadium. They've got a decent opportunity to be 8-2 after week 5.

4. Tasty Tardsicles (15)
The biggest of jumps I've seen in my few seasons of trying to chronicle the week to week activities of league games comes from spilly19 who ranked near the bottom of these rankings tanks to a 41-point loss to The White Walkers. But since then, they've reeled off five wins until Tuesday night when they lost by 6 to 209's as I wrote about earlier this week. Before that they smacked down Hustlas 113-79. Tasty's steadily moved up the rankings, improving to 4th in EFFG and actually dropped from 3rd to 4th in OPP EFFG, but deserve to be at least this high as they're proving themselves over 8 games so far. Next up comes the Cardinals followed by Linndale on the road.

5. San Dominica Warriors (5)
Sitting at 2nd in the Big 8 at 6-2 and having beaten both #1 seeds in each conference, their first loss of the season was a bit of a fluke seeing where Flamingos are at so far, but their loss to Carolina on the road is a bit of a head scratcher. Either way, they handled two tough teams this week against Philly and White Walkers leaving them well positioned to continue to improve both in the standings and these rankings this week as they face Cincinnati and then host The Beer Bellys. They also have a nice matchup in the Cup for the chance to continue on.

6. Philly Dribble (3)
Philly slipped from 5th to 8th in EFFG as they dropped 8 points in that category, but and while they saw slippage in OPP EFFG by 4 points and have lost two in a row now (to two difficult teams) and find themselves at .500 and out of the top 4 spots for the first time I recall in the last several seasons that I've been here. Both losses came at home and now they turn their sights to the Night King on the road with a chance to right the ship before hosting the Slammers for what should give them a breather.

7. 209's MostWanted (12)
While week 1 had them ranked 5th in EFFG their 15th rank in OPP EFFG left them 12th overall. They've used their offensive fire power to move up to 7th now thanks to their 123.6 EFFG (2nd). They're 3rd in the Big 8 and took care of the Flamingos and then beat out Tasty to find themselves at 5-3 on the season. Next comes a road game against Hustlas followed by hosting STG which should only improve their stock overall.

8. Żubr Białystok (8)
Whitestok's crew finds themselves at .500 after taking out STG on the road before getting shut down by Carolina on the road. After struggling last season and surviving, this year they're finding themselves in the middle of the pack. But watching their young guys improve over the last few seasons, they're window for being great is rapidly approaching. They host the Lion Rebels on Saturday and then travel to the best designed court in the league to face off against the Flamingos.

9. Linndale (9)
After last season, their start to this season seems a bit underwhelming, but with their recent big moves, they're banking on making some great strides. At .500 but having won their last two games against the bottom feeders (so far), they turn their attention to The Beer Bellys on the road before hosting Tasty Tardsicles. Still at least another week before Hearn arrives and even then, they'll have to adapt to poor game shape on his part, making it probably until the all-star break before he'll be able to perform at his highest level. Still enough time for them to break through the Big 8 to get back into playoff contention.

10. Carolina Rebels (5)
How am I ranking a 5-3 team below the .500 teams? This week, they dropped in 5 spots in EFFG and 3 spots in OPP EFFG thanks mostly to throwing their matchup against the Lions before dominating Zubr and their Cup matchup. Their reward for ensuring progression through the Cup? A 373rd ranked KC Kings - while it's on the road, it's probably a good 100K well worth it on the season. And with two difficult matchups on the road against Miami and then hosting the Night King's zombies, it makes sense to continue to on in the Cup, especially sitting where they're at.

11. Flamin' Flamingos (14)
It's unfortunate for the Flamingos, being in the Big 8 - I think if they were in the opposite conference, they'd probably have a better record (no offense Beer Bellys, Hustlas or STG). And while they're sitting at 3-5 on the season and only two games out of the playoffs at this point, they did only win two games against Big 8 teams before beating the Hustlas dominantly in their first interconference play. Next up, comes STG on the road and a good test of where they're really at against Żubr Białystok. They're also still in the Cup, with another favorable matchup before hell week in wee