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On the morning video call

Roberto: Pio, look at this and give me a plan of action. Pio looked at folder with three files.

Pio: Number 1... The defense is and free throw shooting are there. Offensive potential. Ball security needs addressing. Has shot blocking potential. Gotta be real; we’re probably not going to afford him. Number 2 defends, rebounds and has potential for blocked shots. Raw on offense. Ball security is a concern. If money is a concern, get number 2. Number three… defends, could be a shot blocker, rebounds, no ball security issues, plenty of upside, and affordable? Let’s go!

Roberto: You can’t keep everyone. Gonna have to move some assets.

Pio: I know Cerri, MacNeur and Pemwieser are available. Realistically, Cerri and Pemwieser make sense for us to move. We can replace Cerri now. Would take a short term hit in a few areas, but we can live with it. MacNeur is gonna hurt, but I think that’s more short term too. Pemwieser is gonna hurt our offensive weaponry. His skillset isn’t easily replicated with our roster.

Roberto: I’m sure you’ll figure it out. We’re really gonna piss Air off and put him through it too, but I don’t care about that. He’ll complain, but he’ll get it done with the ball security. That was an inspired choice to give him that responsibility. Why him?

Pio: Can’t shoot it if you can’t hold the ball. I hear he was quite the shooter in his day. So he had to know something about ball security. He’s a cantakerous guy, but he’s actually a sharp guy when you get past all the bluster. He’s still a scumbag, but he’s our scumbag. [Both laugh.]

Roberto: Speaking of Air, that was something the other night. Looks like Dunkley put the screws to him pretty good and set him off.

Pio: I heard about that, but I don’t buy it. Gotta keep up the tough guy act. Probably thinks he was doing Sam a solid. I don’t think that’s any real news there.

Roberto: Well, I see we have some news. Number one is off the reservation. That price tag made some other things we need to do a bit iffy. Number two is ours. Talk to me about usage?

Pio: Great! Anywhere. Everywhere. He can guard 1 through 5 like Beko. Imagine Cerri, this kid, Beko, Hatfield, and Kops. Okay, scratch Cerri and insert Leao. With some internal improvements from the guys we’re keeping, I think we have built the defense we want to see. Young, plenty of room to grow, and the defense plays now.

Roberto: Lineup?

Pio: Mr. Point Guard-slash-Small Forward turned General Manger, how long have we known each other? I know you’re not done! You’ll probably have another move done and force me to change my lineup. As it is, we need to get Marshall to start working on the training schedule change this will require. Also, I’m gonna make a tactical change.

Roberto: Throwing the kids into the deep end, huh? Might as well see who can do what we want to see. I imagine you guys are going to be busy for a bit. I’ll call you if anything changes.

Pio: No you won’t. You’re gonna stroll in like always, and interrupt whatever we’re doing. Probably gonna have another new player with you. Wouldn’t have it any other way, my friend! Well, I would, but that's what you do. We're used to it!

Happy Ourer: Welcome to the Linndale Pre Game Show! We have new additions to the club, a new lineup, and rumor has it that Pio Reina was back in the lab! I’m excited to talk about all of it!

Joshua Doe: We’re gonna go down to court side right now at The Headstone and bring in Sam Dunkley. Sam, what’s the word?

Sam Dunkley: Happy, Joshua, I’m hearing that Air Allnite is incensed at the front office for, in his words, ‘sabotaging his work on ball security’. I don’t know what that entails, but we are working on learning more. I’m hoping to get a word with him postgame.

Happy: You might want security with you after that interview. He didn’t seem very appreciative of your talents.

Sam: (Laughs.) I’m sure he wasn’t. We also have a few lineup changes. Newly acquired defensive specialist Walt Pasman is expected to start at small forward. Midas Kops at guard, Trenton Tovar at the point. Josh MacNeur and Joy Beko will round out the starting five.

Happy: Sam, what can you tell us about the newcomers?

Sam: Happy, Pasman is a 22 year old small forward. A rugged defender and solid rebounder. Promising shot blocker. Offensively, he’s a work in progress. Ondrej Lecian is 21 year old power forward. He’s a passing big man who needs to get stronger. Shows shot blocking promise. Amother work in progress on offense.

Joshua: Sounds like the defense makeover Pio and the staff have been talking up is a real and serious thing.

Sam: The tell will be in what other moves are coming. Pio wants to see what the newcomers can do first hand and said that tonight is just the start. I hear rumblings that they want to have their new defense ready to unleash against a respected and familiar foe, Coach Stephenson’s San Dominica Warriors.

Happy: Makes sense. You know you’ll find out fast if we need to go back to the lab or just make a few tweaks.

Sam: You could find that out against anyone.

Happy: Sam, you’ll find out on January 27th. There’s just something in the air when these two teams go at it. If it plays against San Dominica, it plays against anyone. Joshua, it sounds like Pio’s getting back to his hardcore defensive roots.

Joshua: I love it! We played together on teams where we just uglied the game up with great defense and made you scratch and claw for everything. We just to shut you down and would grind out wins. Sounds like Pio’s going back to that. We won a lot of games that way!

Sam: From scouts I know, I’m told Linndale now has 5 two-way defenders, and believe they have another 2 in house that just need to develop. I’m told you, Pio and the GM know something about that.

Joshua: Sam does research!

Sam: I don’t have athletic ability or good looks, so I gotta do something!

Happy: You’ve got a face for television Sam! Don’t sell yourself short!

Joshua: What are we going to see tonight, Sam?

Sam: Pio says they can’t match up with talent, so they’re gonna try and use depth. Pio says the main thing he wants to see is effort.

Joshua: Whoever doesn’t give Pio the effort won’t be playing, I promise you that. I certainly wouldn’t want to be the guy sitting next to Byron Helm after getting benched for lack of effort!

*First quarter
Byron Helm: Great job! That’s what I want to see! Make ‘em work for it! That’s what I’m talking about. We could be a bit more active on the boards, but this is a good start.

Pio Reina: Let’s not take so many three point shots, and try to force the action attacking the rim. We got 4 missed layups or dunks. We should be up 4 right now. I need ya’ll to go find me those 8 points. I want my points!

Byron Helm: Defense, if the offense can’t find those points, you got to take them from those guys out there. That’s called team ball. I love to see that. Let’s go. Great quarter. Now go do it again!

6:30, 2nd quarter
Pio Reina: OK, you punched them in the face that first quarter, now they’re hitting back. What you gonna do, stand there and let them or fight back? Go out there and punch ‘em in the face again. Attack! Get out there and make them work!

Byron Helm: They’re starting to get comfortable. They don’t think you can hit them again. Show them what you can do. Get inside their jerseys. Make them miserable. No easy baskets on defense. Shut it down!

3:11, 2nd quarter
Pio Reina: That’s what I’m talking about. Bring the fight to them!

Byron Helm: Keep it up defense. That’s what we want to see! Shut it down. Nothing easy.
Halftime
Sam Dunkley: Marshall, 56 points in the first half. 35 in the second quarter. What do you have to do to get back to the first quarter kind of defensive play?

Marshall Richards: Sam, we got the young guys out showing what they can do. They didn’t expect us to punch them in the face and they came out swinging in the second. Well, they didn’t expect us to swing back and hit them again. We want to slow the pace down and not let them get to the rim. Just make them work.

Locker room:
Air Allnite: Great job taking care of the basketball! We can’t give them free possessions! Keep it up!

Byron Helm: Defense! I see you working! You brought some fight! This third quarter, I want ya’ll to bring more of it. I want ya’ll to try and impose your will. Nothing easy. Ya got hit in the beginning of the 2nd quarter, but good teams hit back. We did that.

Pio Reina: I said ya’ll owe me 8 points after that first quarter. We should be up 7. Defense, can ya’ll take 7 points away?

Team: LET’S GO!

Pio Reina: On offense, stop playing hero ball. We don’t need to jack a three because they do. Play our game, attack the rim. Force the issue on offense. Be smart about it. They weren’t expecting a fight. Too bad! They got one! Let’s go take this second half! Defense on three! 1-2-3!

Locker Room: DEFENSE!

Before the 3rd quarter
Sam Dunkley: Air, It’s a 3 point game; what do you need to do to slow down the Zombie attack?

Air Allnite: Keep them off the boards better, find a way to slow down Acevedo and make him work harder, and find a way to slow down Ying and make him work harder.

Sam Dunkley: Thanks, coach. Good luck in the second half.

Last edited by Speedtraps at 1/10/2024 7:14:13 AM

8:40 3rd quarter
Pio Reina: They came out swinging. Let’s calm down. We need to extend the defense to three point line. They’re getting to comfortable. Nothing easy inside or outside. Got it? Good. Now let’s go!

3:36, 3rd quarter
Pio Reina: Hey! Where’s my defense at? Where they at?

Byron Helm: This is where you guys gotta ask yourselves, are you gonna stay down, or are you gonna get up and keep fighting? If you ain’t fighting, why are you here? Defense has to get us back in this game. Come on!!!

4th quarter
Air Allnite: Why are you guys just giving them looks from 3? They hit 5 this quarter. Close out on them HARD! Make them move off the line!

Byron Helm: Your teammates have your back. Make them move off the line.

Pio Reina: You wanna win, you gotta be in the fight. Show me your fight.

6:27, 4th quarter
Pio Reina: Ya’ll wanna play some defense? Because I assure you, those that don’t are not long for this team. They’re just toying with us now. I don’t like being toyed with.

2:49, 4th quarter
Marshall Richards: Mr. Kops, nice effort. Good block. Defense, you starting to fight again or are they just tired? You got just under three minutes to convince us it’s you and not them.

Walking off the court after the game
Sam Dunkley: Coach Reina, that was a tough game. Wgat happened?

Pio Reina: Well for starters, we left 18 points on the floor just missing layups and dunks. We lost by 15, so I’ll let you do the math on that. What happened was the third quarter. We got a young team that experienced a little success defensively in the first quarter, started feeling themselves in the second when they withstood a Zombie run and stayed in the game, and then the third quarter happened.

Sam Dunkley: Did you see what you were looking to see from the defense?

Pio Reina: Overall, I saw steps in the right direction. I saw a second unit make strides. I was impressed with Pasman. Acevedo got him, but he didn’t back down. We had no answer for Freeman at the point, but what they did defensively is what we’re trying to do. They pretty much made us a one man offense. Give them their flowers.

Sam Dunkley: What do you take away from this game?

Pio Reina: We have a few answers to some questions we had. We had a few things we knew reconfirmed. We’re heading in the right direction. Not happy with any loss, but we’ll learn from this and build on it.

Day 12 (Tuesday 9 January 2024) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Dragmort Dragons Utd 100 - CB Bethesdorf 93
San Dominica Warriors 74 - Tasty Tardsicles 90
Lion Rebels 97 - VileOnes 65
Shandong Golden Lions 105 - Jumpstop Jumpers 80
F.Day Internet Lovers Club 91 - Super Sonics 80
Linndale 96 - Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 111
Muffin Men 87 - Fort Wayne Pistons 118
209’s MostWanted 113 - Balls to the Walls 106

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 118 : Fort Wayne Pistons
Rebounds : 65 : Lion Rebels
Assists : 33 : 209’s MostWanted
Steals : 10 : 209’s MostWanted
Block Shots : 12 : Lion Rebels

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 43 : J. Valentin (Jumpstop Jumpers)
Rebounds : 24 : M. Jimenez (Tasty Tardsicles)
Assists : 14 : G. Izaza (Fort Wayne Pistons)
Steals : 4 : A. Durham (VileOnes)
Block Shots : 5 : E. Dickens (Tasty Tardsicles)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : L. Melucci (F.Day Internet Lovers Club) (22 Points, 11 Rebounds, 12 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 38
Shooting Guard : E. Diršliokas (CB Bethesdorf) (24 Points, 1 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots), U. Jaén (Fort Wayne Pistons) (28 Points, 5 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 24
Small Forward : W. Acevedo (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) (31 Points, 4 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 31
Power Forward : J. MacNeur (Linndale) (18 Points, 18 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 35
Center : G. Reinhardt (Fort Wayne Pistons) (19 Points, 13 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 1 Steals, 3 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 30

MVP of the evening
L. Melucci (F.Day Internet Lovers Club) (22 Points, 11 Rebounds, 12 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 38

The bad performance of the evening
W. Pasman (Linndale) (0 Points, 4 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -6

Triple-Double of the evening
L. Melucci (F.Day Internet Lovers Club) (22 Points, 11 Rebounds, 12 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots)

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : L. Chestnut (209’s MostWanted) : 5 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : T. Cartaxo (CB Bethesdorf) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : S. Huerta (Lion Rebels), A. Durham (VileOnes), A. Suprianto (Shandong Golden Lions), J. Valentin (Jumpstop Jumpers), L. Melucci (F.Day Internet Lovers Club) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : M. Kops (Linndale), U. Jaén (Fort Wayne Pistons) : 6 Three points

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

The worst performer : A. Handy (Lion Rebels) : Rating : 3.5

“We’re going to have to course correct. We need to make a few adjustments.” Roberto Gurgone was disappointed to even have to think this thought. Saying it out loud in a room with people was a gut punch to his ego.

Pio wanted answers. “What do you mean course correct? You’ve given us a group of guards we have to coach up. We have bigs we need to continue coaching up. We have a small forward who hasn’t realized he’s a guard, another who’s learning how to play offense, a third who thinks passing the ball is a crime, and a power forward who is gifted in every way imaginable that does not involve scoring. What is this course correct you speak of?”

Air Allnite’s temper flared a bit. “Let me see if I got this right. You bring in a 20 year old, then a 19 year old who was better than the two 19 year olds you drafted, get rid of those draftees, and then move the 24 year old starter? AND I’M GETTING ANOTHER KID TO COACH UP?!? [Takes deep breath] We gotta have at least one voice of experience in the guard room. Never mind the fact I only got one shooting guard. I’m running a kindergarten at point guard; this is insane!”

Pio was nonplussed. “Air, shut up. Marshall, you have any grievances?” Marshall thought aloud, “Well, our best current small forward gets moved to guard... That means we have to get Enfes up to par passing; we can do that this season. Pasman isn’t any better passing, and he needs so much work on offense. We also just lost our best finisher at the rim and defender at guard. Defense first… Nah, I’m good.” Marshall smiled. He knew another move was coming and was certain it was a guard or someone who could play guard.

“Byron, anything to add,” Pio asked.

“MacNeur doesn’t defend or score enough, but that man can rebound. That counts. Beko doesn’t score. Pemwieser doesn’t rebound or defend enough to get the playing time his offense seems to deserve. Lecian should help with depth at forward defensively; not so much on offense right now. Hatfield is a defensive first big. His rebounding isn’t good enough to overcome his lack of offense yet. Gotta get some internal improvement out of that crew. A big ain’t coming unless another Hearn situation falls into place. That ain’t likely.”

“You’re right”, Roberto replied. “I think we have the bigs we need and the guy to coach them up. Each guy brings something the others don’t have or complements what’s there. We just gotta polish the group a bit and then unleash them. That goes for all the position groups.”

Pio spoke again. “Defense first. The defense will be fine. When are we going to get that guy on offense? Leao isn’t ready to be that guy, but he flashes. Shooter isn’t a lead scorer. Enfes and Kops aren’t there yet, but both of them could be soon. MacNeur isn’t a lead scorer the way we play. Beko’s not a scorer, and Pemwieser could be, but isn’t there yet either. We need that scorer. We have weapons to put around that guy. We have defensive players. We need that man of offense.”

Roberto stood up. “So what I’m hearing is you guys understand you have to coach guys up, you think the defense is close, and you’re worried about finding enough points to score. Is that right?” Nods all around, except from Pio.

“Pio, aside from a scorer, what’s the concern,” Roberto asked.

“Point guard. The lack of depth scares me. Shooter can handle it if needed. Uzek isn’t ready for duty there. We need another point guard.”

“Pio, I hear you. Finish getting that defense together. Byron knows he’s got work to continue with the bigs. The scorers will show themselves eventually; they always do. Keep working. You’re all doing yeoman’s work and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. That concern of yours will get handled.”

Week Six Power Rankings
Just over halfway through interconference play and on the cusp of the All-Star game, this week we'll present each team's potential (if any) all stars. These calculations are based on a combination of Average Rating (AR) and Average Efficiency (AE) wherein, the score is calculated by valuing AR as it is represented but adding weight to AE by multiplying it by two and then adding the two numbers together. This is based on a scale of 100 because I'm basing AR on the theory that it's max possible score is 20 and the max possible score for AE is 40 (I'm treating Efficiency on the concept of Player Efficiency Rating (PER_ - a season of 35+ would be All Time Great). So, 40 * 2 + 20 = 100. So, no commentary this week, just potential all stars and then I'll finish out with my All-Star Predictions. Each player's "Score" in my all-star calculations will be listed behind their proposed position.

1. Lion Rebels
Last Week's Ranking: 2
EFFG: 135.8
OPP EFFG: 68.6

Potential All Stars
Terry Armstead (PF) 67
Mario Watkins (C) 50.4
Kurt Brown (SG) 48.1

2. Super Sonics
Last Week's Ranking: 1
EFFG: 137.8
OPP EFFG: 83.6

Potential All Stars
Morris Craig (PG) 60.6
Zoran Levin (SF) 59
Stanislaw Fabis (C) 53.2

3. F.Day Internet Lovers Club
Last Week's Ranking: 4
EFFG: 125.8
OPP EFFG: 83

Potential All Stars
Igor Tabrizi (PF) 68.1
Paco Pardo (C) 64.2
Luca Melucci (PG) 58.4
Ermenegildo Piana (SG) 45.1

4. Tasty Tardsicles
Last Week's Ranking: 3
EFFG: 131.2
OPP EFFG: 88.8

Potential All Stars
Marco Jimenez (C) 57.5
Algis Nikitinas (PF) 54.2
Chik Wui Kwong (PG) 52.1
Stéphane Bachelier (SG) 41.4

5. San Dominica Warriors
Last Week's Ranking: 5
EFFG: 121.8
OPP EFFG: 83

Potential All Stars
None (WHOA, be careful now boy!)
I will say this, the Warriors top three players (by AR and AE) are Otcigin (Score of , Granja, and Begin. Neither of those three are in the top 20 in either AR or AE so far. The 20th ranked AE player is at 20.3 EFFG and the 20th ranked AR player is at 13.8. But, this calculation is most definitely an imperfect science, so for Coach Stephenson's sake, here's what they would've scored:
Otcigin - 52.6 (23rd overall)
Granja - 49 (26th overall)
Begin - 47.1 (27th overall)

6. Shandong Golden Lions
Last Week's Ranking: 7
EFFG: 115
OPP EFFG: 82.8

Potential All Stars
Cheung Choi Kwan (C) 58.9
Randy De Calice (PF) 57.7
Daniel Gay (PG) 55.3
Jia Zhizhuo (SG) 43.3

7. Mindless Zombies
Last Week's Ranking: 6
EFFG: 124.9
OPP EFFG: 87.4

Potential All Stars
Amor Carečina (C) 62.7
Thomas Freeman (PG) 59.3
Macario Coedo (C) 58.5
Warner Acevedo (PG) 52.4

8. Linndale
Last Week's Ranking: 10
EFFG: 110.8
OPP EFFG: 119.3

Potential All Stars
Josh MacNeur (If he's still on the team!) (PF) 53.6

9. Fort Wayne Pistons
Last Week's Ranking: 11
EFFG: 117.3
OPP EFFG: 127.3

Potential All Stars
Ulises Jaén (SG) 65.2
Simón Aranda (SF) 56

10. Dragmort Dragons Utd
Last Week's Ranking: 12
EFFG: 92.9
OPP EFFG: 115.3

Potential All Stars
Sidney Kang (SF) 55

11. Jumpstop Jumpers
Last Week's Ranking: 9
EFFG: 87.8
OPP EFFG: 95.7

Potential All Stars
John Valentin (PF) 58.4

12. CB Bethesdorf
Last Week's Ranking: 8
EFFG: 107.6
OPP EFFG: 123.3

Potential All Stars
Gerardo Nuñez (PF) 58.4

Last edited by Baine at 1/13/2024 11:38:12 AM

Week Six Power Rankings - Part Two

13. 209's MostWanted
Last Week's Ranking: 15
EFFG: 89.3
OPP EFFG: 134.2

Potential All Stars
Ioannis Kavoukas (PF) 58.6

14. VileOnes
Last Week's Ranking: 13
EFFG: 67.3
OPP EFFG: 128.8

Potential All Stars
None - closest bet:
Jordi Bover (PG) 49.2 (26th Overall)

15. Muffin Men
Last Week's Ranking: 14
EFFG: 66.7
OPP EFFG: 131.7
Potential All Stars
None - closest bet:
Carlos Webber (PF) 46 (27th Overall)

16. Balls to the Walls
Last Week's Ranking: 16
EFFG: 69.7
OPP EFFG: 148.6

Potential All Stars
None - closest bet:
Dennis Hilliard (PF) 43.3 (Tied 28th Overall)

Full All-Star Predictions
Average Rating (AR) and Average Efficiency (AE)
Great 8
PG Morris Craig | AR: 15.4 | AE: 22.6
PG Thomas Freeman | AR: 17.9 | AE: 20.7
SG Ulises Jaén | AR: 12.6 | AE: 26.3
SG Stéphane Bachelier | AR: 14.8 | AE: 13.3
SF Zoran Levin | AR: 13.6 | AE:22.7
SF Simón Aranda | AR: 10.2 | AE: 22.9
PF John Valentin | AR: 11.6 | AE: 23.4
PF Gerardo Nuñez | AR: 13.4 | AE: 22.5
C Amor Carečina | AR: 12.5 | AE: 25.1
C Macario Coedo | AR: 14.7 | AE: 21.9

Big 8
PG Luca Melucci | AR: 13.8 | AE: 22.3
PG Daniel Gay | AR: 14.7 | AE: 20.3
SG Kurt Brown | AR: 16.3 | AE: 15.9
SG Ermenegildo Piana | AR: 13.9 | AE: 15.6
SF Sidney Kang | AR: 14.0 | AE: 20.5
SF Mario Granja | AR: 13.2 | AE: 18.1
PF Igor Tabrizi | AR: 15.1 | AE: 26.5
PF Terry Armstead | AR: 16.4 | AE: 25.3
C Paco Pardo | AR: 15.0 | AE: 24.6
C Cheung Choi Kwan | AR: 16.1 | AE: 21.4

Great Big Snubs
There's always a handful of snubs - I'm counting 10 of them this season, with two of them being pretty big snubs based on AR/AE. This will be listed in order of their Overall Rank compared to both conferences and their position rank in parenthesis behind their name.
10th: Ioannis Kavoukas PF (3rd)
15th: Randy De Calice PF (6th)
16th: Marco Jimenez C (5th)
20th: Algis Nikitinas PF (7th)
21st: Josh MacNeur PF (8th)
22nd: Stanisław Fabis C (6th)
23rd: Warner Acevedo PG (5th)
24th: Chik Wui Kwong PG (6th)
25th: Mario Watkins C 7th)
29th: Jia Zhizhuo SG (4th)

I'm tabbing Ioannis and Chik as the biggest snubs of those bunch. Ioannis's 23.3 EFFG is ranked 7th overall, and while his 12.0 AR hurts him, the other problem is that EFF generally favors big men, so there's always a surplus of PF/C in the list I pull from top stats. Chik Kwong is an opposite story, however, with his 3rd overall AR of 16.3 getting snuffed out because of his 25th ranked EFFG of 17.9. Overall, this was one of the most complete list of available all stars. Typically, I have to do a lot more work, especially for small forwards, and occasionally the guards. The Warriors Granja sneaks in thanks to my lone vacancy from my initial list was at backup SF.

Good luck tonight and I hope you can't wait (like me) to find out on Monday how wrong I am about these predictions!

Happy Ourer: Happy Ourer, Joshua Doe, and Sam Dunkley here for the Linndale basketball Pre Game Show, and in this pre All Star game edition, we have ourselves a very special in studio guest, Linndale GM Roberto Gurgone! Roberto, thanks for joining us!

RG: Thanks for having me!

JD: Roberto, I gotta ask this one right off. What kind of team should the fans be expecting to see?

RG: If you’re looking for style of play, I leave that to Pio Reina and his coaching staff. I’m not going to speak on that. If you’re looking for characteristics, we’re bringing back that hard nosed, smothering defense. We don’t want to just make things difficult, we want to make things miserable for our opponents. John Valentin’s recent performance against us spurred us to make some changes. At no time was he uncomfortable on the court. That can never happen again.

SD: You’ve remade the roster in a short amount of time. Take us into the thought process and tell us about the new players.

RG: Again, after the debacle against the Jumpstop Jumpers, it was clear that we needed to upgrade the defense immediately across the board. That actually started before that game when we got Joy Beko. He’s young, versatile, and can play any position and play them well. Staying in the frontcourt, Ondrej Lecian is a young player who is a capable defender. Walt Pasman is a defender in the mold of Joy Beko. One of those two is the best all around defender on the team, and we’re not sure who it is. Throw Cafer Enfes in there; he’s only been here a month. Another well rounded defender. Young point guard Ercan Uzek is a defender we’re excited about because with his size he can guard 3 positions, and he’s just a rookie. Leandro Leao is another young point guard; he’s been impressive. The newest point guard, Carlos Frias, is raw, talented defender. The perimeter defense has been improved dramatically and the interior defense has improved also.

JD: That sounds great, but they’re young, you can’t play everyone, and they need to learn how to play together. You also haven’t mentioned offense.

RG: You’re right, Joshua. They are young. Frias is the elder point guard at 22. Leao is 20, and Uzek 19. Enfes and Pasman are both 22, and Midas Kops, whom we didn’t mention, is 23. Joy Beko is 22 and Ondrej Lecian is 21. As for not being able to play everyone, we can. We have youth and versatility.

SD: Versatility can’t put that ball in the hoop. You need scorers.

RG: Sam, we still have Trenton Tovar. Frias we think will become a scoring option. Leandro Leao is on the way to being an option. Kops looks like he’s ready to assume that burden, and Enfes as well. Don’t sleep on MacNeur and Pemwieser, and when Beko gets his jumper to start falling, look out.

HO: Roberto, we still have to talk about the game tonight. At 5-7, Fort Wayne is in contention for a playoff spot.

RG: They have two of the top seven scorers in the league and the top assists man. They’re 5th overall in shooting, 2nd from beyond the arc, tops from the charity stripe, they take care of the basketball, they’re number two in steals, and they’re fifth in blocks. They take care of the ball, make shots, and don’t waste opportunities. They are definitely going to be a test for our newly constructed defense.

JD: Last question; you know I can’t let it slide. You said you were eyeballing San Dominica to unleash the new defense. Why them, and with so many moves is such a short time, will the defense be ready?

RG: San Dominica because we know them. We know they’re a test. If it plays well against them, we’re doing something right. Will the defense be ready? We’ll see. Tonight’s game should give us an idea.

Jimmy Buckitts: Jimmy Buckitts with The Basketball Times and the Linndale Basketball Radio Network, and I’m here for a rare one-on-one interview with assistant coach Byron Helm. Thanks for your time, Byron. Let’s talk about last night’s game. It was a different, and some might say unusual lineup used by Pio Reina. Why did Pemwieser get the start?

Byron Helm: We thought he would be able to help with spacing on offense with his outside shooting, contribute on the boards and inside offensively, and do a solid job on defense. When he hit that 3 ball with 15 seconds left, we thought we were going to overtime. He did what he was supposed to do.

JB: That was one of the bigger lineups we’ve seen Linndale use in quite some time. Two 7-footers, a 6-10 guy, a 6-7 guy and a 6-5 guy. Was that a design or just happenstance?

BH: A bit of both. We wanted to attack inside and control the boards. We controlled the boards. MacNeur was a monster, Pemwieser was solid, and Beko was a beast on the offensive boards. However, we gave up too many dunks and layups, and we missed too many on our end. Cleaning that up is a point of emphasis.

JB: Pio Reina, and in fact the entire Linndale organization, preaches defense, rebounding, and ball security. Why those three things specifically?

BH: It’s our thing. You don’t last here long as a player if you don’t do those things. We can control our defensive effort. We can control our effort on the boards. We can control the decisions we make with the basketball. Turnovers on offense work against ball security and the defense. Rebounding helps the offense, defense, and is a direct form of ball security. Defense leads to offense. It’s all related, but these are things we can directly control.

JB: With the renewed emphasis on defense, how tough was this loss to take?

BH: All losses are tough to take. This one hurts because things we can control cost us the game.
We make some free throws, we win this game. We make a few more layups or dunks, we win this game. We defend a nit better, we win this game. This one is tough to take. Seeing how hard the kids took it lets us know they’re all in on the message.

JB: Your defense gave up 34 points in the first quarter and 36 in the fourth. How would you grade the defense overall, and would you call it a successful outing?

BH: No one is calling a loss a success. Are we on the right track? Yeah, we are. The third quarter they scored 19 points. I want to see us do that more often, and I believe the talent is here to do it. I graded the defense a D overall.

JB: Your GM said that Enfes and Pasman were two of your better defenders. Why did they only play 11 minutes each in this game if you’re going defense first?

BH: They both have ball security issues we are working on. If you can’t play defense you don’t play. They played. If you can’t take care of the ball, that hurts the defense. Neither turned it over. They played their roles well.

JB: The lineup and rotations were quite different.

BH: We used a new lineup. We’re trying to find the best combinations. We had Frias and Kops at guard, Pemwieser at center, Beko at small forward and MacNeur at the power. We thought it was a good opportunity to get Beko on the wing. We wanted to get our best defenders on the perimeter.

JB: That’s not what the official score sheet says.

BH: Jimmy, watch the tape. Look at the defensive alignment. Use your head. What small forward is Pemwieser going to guard right now? Nothing in the rules say the guard you guard had to be the one guarding you. Defensive versatility is a weapon.

JB: Byron, I’d love to talk more with you. Come back again! Thank you for your time, and good luck the rest of the way. Folks, we’re out of time. See you Saturday on the Linndale Basketball Radio Network.

Day 13 (Saturday 13 January 2024) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Tasty Tardsicles 96 - Dragmort Dragons Utd 79
VileOnes 35 - San Dominica Warriors 114
Jumpstop Jumpers 57 - Lion Rebels 110
Super Sonics 114 - Shandong Golden Lions 125
Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 92 - F.Day Internet Lovers Club 111
Fort Wayne Pistons 116 - Linndale 114
Balls to the Walls 101 - Muffin Men 111
CB Bethesdorf 134 - 209’s MostWanted 124

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 134 : CB Bethesdorf
Rebounds : 69 : Linndale
Assists : 38 : San Dominica Warriors
Steals : 13 : Shandong Golden Lions
Block Shots : 15 : San Dominica Warriors

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 40 : I. Tabrizi (F.Day Internet Lovers Club)
Rebounds : 29 : J. MacNeur (Linndale)
Assists : 16 : G. Izaza (Fort Wayne Pistons)
Steals : 5 : J. Zhizhuo (Shandong Golden Lions)
Block Shots : 6 : Q. Yu zi (Dragmort Dragons Utd)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : D. Gay (Shandong Golden Lions) (34 Points, 3 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 3 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 30
Shooting Guard : S. Bachelier (Tasty Tardsicles) (37 Points, 2 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 3 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 30
Small Forward : M. Granja (San Dominica Warriors) (17 Points, 9 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 30
Power Forward : J. MacNeur (Linndale) (28 Points, 29 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 53
Center : K. Brown (Lion Rebels) (30 Points, 11 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 0 Steals, 4 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34

MVP of the evening
J. MacNeur (Linndale) (28 Points, 29 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 53

The bad performance of the evening
A. Pérez Ruiz (VileOnes) (1 Points, 2 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -7

Triple-Double of the evening
A. Suprianto (Shandong Golden Lions) (12 Points, 11 Rebounds, 12 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots)

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : J. Graf (VileOnes), T. Hearn (Super Sonics), S. Fabis (Super Sonics), I. Kavoukas (209’s MostWanted) : 5 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : S. Huerta (Lion Rebels), Z. Levin (Super Sonics), S. Fabis (Super Sonics), T. Freeman (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️), M. Coedo (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️), A. Carečina (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️), U. Jaén (Fort Wayne Pistons), S. Aranda (Fort Wayne Pistons), C. Rankin (Balls to the Walls), V. Hyötyläinen (Muffin Men), C. Pla Llorente (Balls to the Walls), T. Cartaxo (CB Bethesdorf) : 5 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : Q. Yu zi (Dragmort Dragons Utd), A. Pakzat (Dragmort Dragons Utd), L. Miller (VileOnes), J. Valentin (Jumpstop Jumpers), L. Praznik (Jumpstop Jumpers), R. De Calice (Shandong Golden Lions), A. Suprianto (Shandong Golden Lions), L. Melucci (F.Day Internet Lovers Club), A. Guilla (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : G. Azheli (209’s MostWanted) : 8 Three points

The best performer : M. Watkins (Lion Rebels), S. Hollins (Lion Rebels), T. Freeman (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) : Rating : 17.5

The worst performer : L. Praznik (Jumpstop Jumpers) : Rating : 5.0