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“Air Allnite with the Linndale Basketball Post Game Report and I’m here with Coach Pio Reina. Coach, how are you and the team after the win tonight?”

“I’m here because I’m contractually obligated to be here; don’t get it twisted. I do not like you. That said, we’re feeling pretty good right now. Hustlas is always a tough matchup for us, but we got it done tonight and it was our defense that did it.”

“Coach, it’s surprising that Kyle Knowles only took 7 shots and only played 22 minutes. Was there a reason?”

“Kyle Knowles didn’t score much but he didn’t have to, and he was fantastic. Shooter was phenomenal backing up both guard spots; specifically I think he played well when running the point. Mantas Petriukstis was solid. We were able to get strong minutes from our guards without needing them to score, and we were able to get Nguyen some time on the court. That was good to do. More to the point, we were up by 30 after 3; did you think we were going to leave the guys out there or try to get some young guys some in game action?”

“That was an interesting lineup you used out there. How did you think Floyd Hearn looked out there?”

“Floyd Hearn was impressive playing at the power forward. We talked about this when he arrived, and while he’s not going to be playing forward full time, he will see time there. Sanz Garcaa looked solid playing next to Hearn. Datler was solid as usual. That trio was impressive.”

“Daniil Kamp seemed to have control of the game and appeared to benefit the most from the big front line you used.”

“Daniil Kamp was impressive and efficient. Even when his shot isn’t falling, he’s been very good for us.”

“Guevara and Reese did not have their best games at all. Mann and Reynolds didn’t get much court time. Any thought to changing things up with regards to them?”

“No. We have a plan for Reynolds and we’ll stick to it. Reese had a rough game, but he’s progressing. Mann has had a solid season so far. Not as good as we were hoping, but we’re not giving up on him either. Guevara is solid. Just a bad day at the office for him today.”

“Thanks for your time, Coach. Congratulations on the win tonight, and we’ll see you when you get back home on Tuesday.”

Coach walks into the GM’s office and takes a seat next to Pio Reina, concern on his face.

“Whoever hired that Air Allnite character is playing with fire,” Coach said to no one in particular. “He’s a problem.”

“All I can say is I don’t like him”, replied Pio. His disdain for Allnite was widely known.

“Duly noted, gentlemen. Coach, welcome back. It’s always a pleasure, but we don’t have a lot of time so we need to get down to business. I asked for this meeting because I don’t believe we can wait for the All Star break as we had previously scheduled. We’re tied with Philly and Carolina at 6-5 for the last playoff spot. Due to tiebreakers, we’re in 6th place. In essence, we’re two games out of a playoff spot. All things being equal, that’s not too bad for us given the retooling we’ve had to do. Having said that, we know what the standard is. What OUR standard is. We need to determine if we need to go all in and chase that playoff spot or deal with relegation and set ourselves up for next season. Coach, you have the pros. Pio, you have the cons. I’ll name the player and you respond. Christophe Nguyen.”

Coach: “Long term play, at worst JUST a backup PG. A 19 year old rookie who is *thisclose* to being ready for a bigger role. You may have gotten yourself a steal at that price.”

Pio: “No disagreement.”

GM: “Kyle Knowles.”

Coach: “Keeper.”

Pio: “No disagreement.”

GM: “Shooter.”

Coach: “That kid is gonna be special.”

Pio: “His defense needs work.”

Coach: “You say that about everybody. You know I’m right and you believe it, too.”

GM: “Mantas Petriukstis.”

Coach: “Another good pickup. I hear what point guards with his skill set are going for.”

Pio: “He’s not a point guard, and he needs confidence.”

GM: “So we’re in agreement the guard room is not the issue?”

Coach: “We’re in agreement that the guard room is in a nice spot. You have a weapon in Kyle. You have 2 more developing in Shooter and Mantas. Both should be able to play the point full time soon. You have a rookie who will likely claim the backup point guard job outright no later than just after the all star break. When he does, and that’s not an if, Shooter will be the least accomplished defensive guard on the team”

Pio: “I can play with these guys. You know Shooter was my pet project, but I have to tell you Mantas is that guy now. One of those two will wind up being THE point guard.

GM: “Given development, what does Nguyen need to do to become that guy?”

Pio: “Free throw shooting needs to improve. He becomes a liability at the end of games without that. His outside shot needs work, but if he can get to the rim and finish, you can surround him with shooters and he’ll find the open guy. He’ll draw the defense when he attacks the rim.”

GM: “And as Coach indicated, point guards with the skill set we seek are not cheap.”

*secretary interrupts via intercom*

“Excuse me, sir, but you will want to see this.” *turns on television via remote*

“I’m Air Allnite, and this is your state of the Linndale basketball team. It sucks. This is not playoff team. The GM is out of his league. The coach is short in experience and bad in temperament. The organization seems to be well run, but that’s a facade. It’s run well enough to not fail, and even then they come close. Just utterly ridiculous!”

Coach: “Called it.”

Pio: “Any further questions?”

GM: "We'll deal with that later. We have to continue the self evaluation. We have to see where we can continue on plan and where we need to make a course correction. Coach, you and I will meet with Alejandro Jayo, the new PR manager."

Coach: "Does that Allnite character work for the team, or our broadcast partners? That has to affect the response."

GM: "Duly noted. We'll deal with that later. Let's order dinner and get back to our self evaluation. On to the forwards..."

“I’m Air Allnite, and this is your state of the Linndale basketball team. It sucks. It’s hot garbage. It’s bad for the environment. It’s toxic. This is not a playoff team by any standard. The GM is out of his league. He’s too busy trying to be the smartest guy in the room. The coach is short in experience and bad in temperament. The organization seems to be well run, but that’s a facade. It’s run well enough to not fail, and even then they come close. Just utterly ridiculous!”

“Moving on to the players, why is the GM allowed to construct the roster? Why does he even have a job? Chistophe Nguyen shouldn’t be near any playoff team’s roster. He’s a developmental type who they hope can turn into a backup point guard. Kyle Knowles is a stud, but how long is he here for? You have to think Trenton Tovar was brought in to replace him. Mantas Petriukstis was brought in to be the point guard, or so they thought. He ticks a lot of the boxes on paper, but he’s just not ready and his performance shows that. The bigger problem is that only Nguyen is a true point guard. If you took elements from each one, you could have a nice point guard. That’s not how this works. The guard position is saved from being a total failure by Kyle Knowles and the admittedly surprising performance of Trenton Tovar.”

“Moving on to the forwards, Daniil Kamp feels like an overpaid, underperforming player, the kind that should be a star but isn’t. It feels like he should average 20 a night, but he’s not good enough to. It feels like he should average 7 or 8 rebounds, but he’s not good enough. It feels like he should be better than a 30 percent shooter from the three point line, but again, he’s not good enough. Then there’s Nick Guevara; this guy seems like he should be doing 15 and 8 off the bench, while killing opposing bigs from the three point line. Instead, he falls short on the points and boards, and doesn’t shoot enough to be concerned with outside. It’s astounding to watch. Rolland Reynolds they say they have a plan for. What is it? Really, what is the plan. Do they even know? Art Reese is solid defensively. That’s it. He should be playing on a D4 team somewhere in a place where they can give him all the time he needs; and trust me, he needs a ton of time. Don’t even get me started on Harrison Mann; he’s good enough to intrigue you, but then you get him and he disappoints the crap out of you. Want proof? 6 double doubles, and not a single one against a quality opponent. He’s not even good enough to be a quality role player. He’s so good at power forward, they brought in a center to play the position.”

“Center, by accident happens to be the only position they got right. Hearn looks to be really tough if they ever put him there. Ramon Sanz Garcaa, if he could score, would be impressive. Balthasar Gebhardt Datler looks like a pure money play; they got him and bet on his potential and have watched him slowly grow into something very nice. They’ll sell him off, I’m sure.”

“Who’s the guy you absolutely have to not let beat you? Who’s the coach that can make this team a threat? Who’s the GM that can build the roster this fan base deserves? Why does ownership do nothing when changes are so desperately needed? This is why the fans don’t care anymore.”

“I’m Air Allnite, and the state of Linndale basketball is awful from where I sit. Thanks for watching, and good night.”

I'm pulling for Houston since that's where I'm from
& they have such a solid program these days.
Their defense is A++.
Also pulling for Texas, but only one of them can advance since they're in the same region.

But Gonzaga is always a threat and I could see Tennessee or UCLA winning it all too.

I think whoever wins the right side of the bracket will win it all since those two regions are so stacked right now up and down the list. The left side is where the underdogs keep sneaking through.

Last edited by ascent at 3/20/2023 4:37:48 AM

I actually did a couple of brackets - I don't pay much attention to college ball just because I don't have a strong affinity with any particular school, though my alma matter was actually in (lost to Kansas St in round one). My final four for my best bracket (I filled out three) is:
Houston
UCLA

Alabama
Tennessee

I'd picked Arizona for my first bracket and UCLA in my 2nd. I've got Houston winning in my third bracket. I actually did a women's bracket too and it's going pretty well so far, but losing both Stanford and Iowa State hurt. I had LSU, Iowa State, South Carolina and Iowa in the final four with Caitlin Clark winning the 'ship for Iowa.

Day 11 (Saturday 18 March 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
209’s MostWanted 76 - Żubr Białystok 104
Flamin' Flamingos 73 - Miami Cleo 90
Lion Rebels 58 - The White Walkers 84
Carolina Rebels 132 - Cincinnati Slammers 38
Philly Dribble 121 - The Beer Bellys 100
San Dominica Warriors 106 - Tasty Tardsicles 94
Linndale 101 - Hustlas 86
Fondy Cardinals 118 - STG on MCU 104

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 132 : Carolina Rebels
Rebounds : 75 : Carolina Rebels
Assists : 28 : Carolina Rebels, Fondy Cardinals
Steals : 13 : The White Walkers
Block Shots : 13 : Carolina Rebels

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 35 : N. Williams (Hustlas)
Rebounds : 22 : G. Locus (Miami Cleo)
Assists : 7 : T. Tovar (Linndale), Y. Georgoulis (The Beer Bellys), M. Anwander (Fondy Cardinals), J. Muñoz (Fondy Cardinals)
Steals : 4 : L. Arevalo (Carolina Rebels), J. Muñoz (Fondy Cardinals)
Block Shots : 4 : P. Cheatle (Miami Cleo), D. Allen (Carolina Rebels)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : J. Muñoz (Fondy Cardinals) (22 Points, 4 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 4 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 28
Shooting Guard : B. Buijtels (Carolina Rebels) (31 Points, 5 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 31
Small Forward : L. Arevalo (Carolina Rebels) (30 Points, 10 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 4 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 41
Power Forward : M. Anwander (Fondy Cardinals) (24 Points, 16 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 2 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 39
Center : G. Locus (Miami Cleo) (18 Points, 22 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34

MVP of the evening
L. Arevalo (Carolina Rebels) (30 Points, 10 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 4 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 41

The bad performance of the evening
U. Barbarossa (Cincinnati Slammers) (0 Points, 10 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -13

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : A. San Miguel (STG on MCU), T. Kuykendall (Lion Rebels), M. Stott (Lion Rebels) : 6 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : B. George (Carolina Rebels), L. Baião (San Dominica Warriors), C. Wui Kwong (Tasty Tardsicles), D. Conaghan (Tasty Tardsicles), A. San Miguel (STG on MCU), A. Fornos (The White Walkers), R. Dargels (The White Walkers), G. Kostezer (Fondy Cardinals), Z. Carr (Cincinnati Slammers), D. Christopher (Cincinnati Slammers), U. Barbarossa (Cincinnati Slammers) : 5 Personnal Fouls

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

The shooter : P. Fasselli (Philly Dribble), L. Baião (San Dominica Warriors), À. Casadevall (STG on MCU) : 5 Three points

The best performer : V. Papageorgiou (The White Walkers) : Rating : 18.5

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

“Happy Ourer with Marshall Richards here with your Linndale Basketball Pre Game show, and I have to say, our colleague Air Allnite made quite the controversial statement in his state of the team report!”

“Happy, I gotta tell you, there was some truth to it, a lot of controversy to it, and a lot of pissed off people associated with the team. The problem is that some folks are ill-equipped to handle the truth when they hear it, but what he said can’t be substantiated in a public ready and public facing manner. As a former player, I can tell you that you never truly know how a team feels about you until it’s contract time. At the end of the day it’s a business and us players are mere commodities.”

“Marshall, we’ll discuss that later in the show. Right now, let’s talk about some on the court basketball action. Air Allnite’s scathing view of the team came after a Linndale 101-86 victory on the road where Linndale was up by 30 at the end of 3. Daniil Kamp led the way for the good guys with 20 points, but the story of the game was the debut of Floyd Hearn. Playing 28 minutes, at power forward, he produced 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists.”

“It was a solid debut for Hearn, but Happy, I think the bigger deal is that it was easily the most balanced game we’ve seen this season. Was it a perfect game? No, but what stood out to me was the way the team said ‘we’re coming inside; stop us if you can’. The top 5 scorers for Linndale were all front court players, and no guard scored double figures. Kyle Knowles scored 8 points and they won; did you think you‘d be able to say that at any time this season? That’s both impressive and scary; what does this team look like when both Hearn and Knowles have their A games going?”

“It’s going to be interesting to find out, Marshall. Who knows, maybe we’ll get a glimpse of that tonight. For more on tonight’s game let’s go court side to Air Allnite.”

“Thanks, Happy! It is indeed going to be an interesting night. First, though, some notes. Rookie Rolland Reynolds appears to have undergone a position change and is now listed as a small forward. There are rumors that there are lineup changes coming for tonight’s game, but I have not been able to confirm anything yet. I think most people were quite surprised by Ramon Sanz Garcaa’s lack of production Saturday night. I don’t think anyone expected 10 points out of him, but the 6 boards were disappointing even in his limited time. If there’s a change, I’d expect it there. Harrison Mann and Nick Guevara both bring a different element to the lineup, but I’m going to go out on a limb and guess Guevara starts. I think their games will mesh well together. Look for Sanz Garcaa to anchor the second unit with Mann next to him. I expect that situation to be fluid, due to Mann’s inconsistency and Balthasar Gebhardt Datler’s sheer relentlessness. Datler has consistently played well whenever he’s on the court.”

“Air, Marshall here. Have you heard anything about the guards? I can’t believe they expect to win another game without a guard scoring double digits.”

“Marshall, I spoke with an assistant about that and I was told that while Petriukstis hasn’t been scoring, they will continue to run him out there because his defense has been what they thought it would be and say his internal metrics show he’s playing better each week. Granted, it’s a small sample size, but they like what’s he’s bringing right now. They’re not worried about Kyle Knowles or Trenton Tovar at all, Nguyen needs time to develop, and they think the three guard rotation they have playing the majority of minutes there puts less pressure on him and makes it easier to learn and develop. I was also told that they think Petriukstis is close to breaking out of his offensive rut.”

“Thanks, Air. We’ll be back with more pregame show after a word from our sponsors.”

Day 12 (Tuesday 21 March 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)
I'm sure we're all gonna have to hear about Tovar's brilliant performance last night...

Night results
Miami Cleo 77 - 209’s MostWanted 85
The White Walkers 83 - Flamin' Flamingos 70
Cincinnati Slammers 68 - Lion Rebels 109
The Beer Bellys 85 - Carolina Rebels 97
Tasty Tardsicles 89 - Philly Dribble 109
Hustlas 38 - San Dominica Warriors 107
STG on MCU 89 - Linndale 130
Żubr Białystok 113 - Fondy Cardinals 87

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 130 : Linndale
Rebounds : 71 : San Dominica Warriors
Assists : 33 : San Dominica Warriors
Steals : 12 : Lion Rebels
Block Shots : 9 : San Dominica Warriors

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 30 : T. Tovar (Linndale)
Rebounds : 23 : A. Gallucci (Miami Cleo)
Assists : 9 : T. Begley (Carolina Rebels)
Steals : 4 : M. Maurin (Miami Cleo), D. Wagner (Cincinnati Slammers)
Block Shots : 5 : N. Peretz (Żubr Białystok)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : M. Velasco (Philly Dribble) (13 Points, 3 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots), H. Quindós (Żubr Białystok) (19 Points, 5 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 17
Shooting Guard : T. Tovar (Linndale) (30 Points, 8 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 32
Small Forward : D. Kamp (Linndale) (28 Points, 5 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 32
Power Forward : I. Homs (The Beer Bellys) (18 Points, 17 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steals, 3 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 30
Center : A. Gallucci (Miami Cleo) (19 Points, 23 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots), B. Pimentel (Philly Dribble) (20 Points, 14 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33

MVP of the evening
A. Gallucci (Miami Cleo) (19 Points, 23 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots), B. Pimentel (Philly Dribble) (20 Points, 14 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33

The bad performance of the evening
F. González (Cincinnati Slammers) (6 Points, 0 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots), : Efficiency : -6

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : A. San Miguel (STG on MCU) : 6 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : B. Öc (STG on MCU) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : A. Gallucci (Miami Cleo), T. Plummer (Carolina Rebels), S. Hollins (Lion Rebels), H. Quindós (Żubr Białystok), P. Stevens (Cincinnati Slammers) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : T. Tovar (Linndale) : 5 Three points

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

The worst performer : T. Lang (Fondy Cardinals) : Rating : 4.0

*Baine, you know this!!! Now, to the post game report!*

Happy Ourer: “Saturday night,, not a single guard scored 10 points or more in a win over Hustlas. Last night, the lone guard who didn’t only played 10 minutes. What a difference playing style makes. Saturday night, the team said “we’re going inside, stop us if you can”. Last night, it was “make it rain”, and they did to the tune of 18 for 35 from the three point line ina 130 to 89 win over STG on MCU. Led by Trenton Tovar and his 30 points off the bench, Linndale got off to a slow start, but would turn it on in the 2nd quarter to lead by 25 at the half. Daniil Kamp would score in double figures with 28, with, with Art Reese (16), Kyle Knowles (15), and Mantas Petriukstis (13) rounding out those in double figures.”

Marshall Richads: “Well, it looks like the team saw an opportunity to run and took it. This is not likely to be the norm, as they are still trying to get accustomed to playing with Floyd Hearn, who only had 5 points but collected 10 rebounds, Garcaa had 13, Guevara had 9, surprisingly Trenton Tovar had 8, and Datler grabbed 5 in just 3 minutes of court time. I think it safe to say rebounding, a huge weakness, has been addressed.”

HO: “I know it’s a very small sample size, but it appears that Daniil Kamp has really responded to playing with Floyd Hearn. He’s followed up his 20 point game Saturday night with a season high 28 point performance tonight. Let’s see if he can keep this up. Meanwhie, it’s time for a new segment called Pros and Cons. Give us the pros, Marshall!””

MR: “The pros tonight were Trenton Tovar, Daniil Kamp, Art Reese, Mantas Petriukstis, Floyd Hearn, Ramon Sanz Garcaa, and I’m gonna put Balthasar Gebhardt Datler in there as well. Gotta give him some love just because he’s kept his head down, worked his butt off, and he’s seeing some results. That’s always encouraging. The board work was solid but if you said Trenton Tovar would grab 8, you’re not a very good liar. His game high 30 points off the bench included a perfect 5 of 5 from deep. I guess that’s why they call him Shooter! Kamp was 4 of 6 from deep, and to prove they had it working, both Art Reese and Mantas Petriukstis, had it going with 3 of 6 each from deep. Air, what do you have for cons?”

AA: “The cons tonight were Nick Guevara, Harrison Mann, and I’m gonna throw Kyle Knowles in there for his putrid 7 of 21 from the field. Floyd Hearn has to be there also; how does he only get 7 shot attempts? 5 points for 100+ k salary? That’s on Pio Reina, so I’m definitely putting the coach with the cons. You know what else gets a con? The lack of aggressiveness with only 10 free throws the entire game, and only 22 assists. Where’s the ball movement? 5 assists from Kamp is nice, but that should never lead the team for a game if no one else has more than 3, and it’s embarrassing that a big had 3 and no one else aside from Kamp. The fans might be happy with this game, but the fans are nothing more than idiots at this point. They’re too dumb to know they deserve better. Listen, they don’t play well on tv, they’ve had a garbage run in cup play, their rival consistently beats them like a drum, and nobody knows these guys. I am not a believer in this team and you shouldn’t be either. You’re foolish if you do. This entire organization is a con!”

HO: “That’s it for Pros and Cons. We’ll be back after the commercial break, when Air Allnite will tell us how he really feels about this basketball team...”

Last edited by Speedtraps at 3/22/2023 1:23:33 PM

Bobby Sparks was in the office, fuming. He picks up the phone. "John Walton, Luke Kerry, in my office, NOW!" He slams the phone down. He takes a deep breath then picks the phone up again, "Mark York, in my office, now." In 5 minutes, Bobby Sparks had all three men in his office.

"What the hell am I seeing out on the court? We are 2-10. Some of the game shape of our players is inept. They can't perform on inept game shape!" Shouted Bobby.

"Mark, we had money, you went after players, we struck out, about 8 to 9 players. We got no one. You have one more chance coming up this Saturday and Sunday. If we get no one, then pack your bags. As General Manager, I expect results. And right now you've given me nothing. If I get nothing this weekend, you're done. Now, leave me with these two." He leaves and Bobby is left with John and Luke.

"Luke, we gave you control of the offense, you selecting what offense we will run. You selected Low Post in the last game, the worse possible decision. We scored only 38 points and had our worst loss in seasons. You're fired. Leave, or I will have security escort you out." Luke tried to say something but Bobby put up his hand, silencing him. Luke stood, turned, and left the office.

"John, we go back a ways, but if this team does not improve, I will have to let you go. Get me some wins, get me something respectable. Or else your job will be done as well. I don't want to do that John. But that last game was horrible. We are bottom feeding. Do something. Or else, when we demote, you will not be with us."

John Walton nods his head. "I'll do my best," he says.

"Do better, John. Do better."

“Happy Ourer here on WINO Radio and your Linndale Radio Basketball Network with one of my television broadcast partners, Air Allnite. Air, thanks for joining us.”

“It’s my pleasure, Happy.”

“Air, let’s get right to it. You’ve been highly critical of every facet of the organization, from the owner to the water boys and everything in between. Even the fans haven’t been spared. Why?”

“Your GM is in over his head, and the owner facilitates it. You had 2 good point guards in Bobby Coenen nnd Paul Lutz, and got rid of them without even a candidate on roster to replace them. You’re hoping that Trenton Tovar, who’s vastly overrated by the way, and Mantas Petriukstis, who couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn with if he were standing next to it, turn into point guards. He then goes out and gets a kid in Christophe Nguyen who shouldn’t be anywhere near a playoff roster. We haven’t even mentioned Kyle Knowles, who’s just as likely to go for 40 as he is for 14. That’s just your guards. Don’t get me started on the dumpster fire you call forwards.”

“Air, it’s one thing to criticize the organization, and there are things to criticize, but you still haven’t answered the question of why.”

“I’ll tell you why. Because I’m right, and everyone listening at home or watching on television needs the reality check. You are all comfortable, and support the team, but you don’t expect anything. What is that all about? You guys are probably Cleveland Browns fans in that NFL thing, aren’t you? How stupid is everyone around here? Is it in the water, or what? I don’t care; I only drink bottled anyway, so I’ll be fine.”

“Harsh statements, indeed. Begs the question, why did you come here if things are that bad?”

“For the paycheck, and the opportunity to smarten up this rinky-dink two bit town. Plus, any chance I can get to get under the skin of Pio Reina, I’m here for.”

“What’s your beef with Pio Reina?”

“He exists. That’s enough for me. He didn’t earn the job, he was groomed and given the job. His mentor was beloved, but for what? For doing things the so called right way? He ever been to D2? Win a cup? He’s revered for a D5 title 34 years ago. What else did he win? 4 D4 titles? You know what that means? He kept getting relegated from a D3 league. In a 34 year career? What a joke! You people think being the tallest person on a room full of little people means something. It doesn’t. You people have embraced mediocrity and think that means you’re elite. That’s insane!”

“Folks, we’re here with Air Allnite on the Linndale Radio Basketball Network and WINO radio, and we’ll be back with more after these messages.”