BuzzerBeater Forums

Thanks to my improbable win over MBMD and a solid tank-job by the Goldfish, I get to spectate for a couple weeks! All the better this way, since I'm visiting family and don't have much excuse to be spending much time here.

Quarter Finals
(1) University Heights Rojos vs. (4) EDH Wolves
Irrejuria in proficient game shape is a scary sight, and UH just beat a solid SC team despite a shocking 2-24 performance from American Hero Thad Whittington. EDH recently played SC evenly in a PL game and will need to pull a rabbit out of a hat to win here.

UH 101, EDH 85

(2) Manhattan Beach Metal Detectors vs. (3) South Central Syndicate
MB is an outstanding defensive team, while SC is solid but not overpowering on both sides of the ball. This has the potential to be a painful-to-watch 75-73 type game, but I think tactic choices will push the score up past that a bit just through sheer volume. I think MB is the better team and with HCA whether they have an enth deficit or not they should come out on top.

MB 85, SC 77

(1) 10th Ave Vikings vs. (4) Dallas Stars
Although the Stars won the previous meeting between these teams, 10th Ave has been preparing for the playoffs since early in week 2 and has had a top seed locked up since long before I can remember. With Koby Eldad playing the role of "terrifyingly good player also conveniently in proficient GS for playoffs", the Dallas guys have their work cut out for them.

Vikings 93, Stars 83

(2) Blue Crazys vs. (3) Rice Eaters
I wanted to pick Rice Eaters to win here because as far as I can see his team is following the course I've laid out for my own, and I really want that to be a good idea. But the Crazys (sic!) are a tough matchup for Rice Eaters at this stage of development. It's an unfortunate "knowing what's coming and might not be able to stop it anyway" situation. This game is a rematch of a clash just last week where both teams got what they wanted tactically and the Crazys came out on top.

Crazys 85, Rice Eaters 84

Semi Finals
(1) University Heights Rojos vs. (2) Manhattan Beach Metal Detectors
Manhattan Beach has a little more tactical flexibility here, but when your opponent is rock-solid in all defensive aspects I find that flexibility doesn't help all that much. I also have a hard time giving an upset to a guy who's limping into playoffs and recently tested the transfer waters for two of his top players.

UH 89, MB 86

(1) 10th Ave Vikings vs. (2) Blue Crazys
10th Ave is better than the Crazys at what the Crazys do best. Rice Eaters would have a better chance of pulling the upset here, but unless some surprising decisions are made and go in the Crazys' favor, this should be a ho-hum Vikings win.

Vikings 90, Crazys 79

Finals
(1) University Heights Rojos vs. (1) 10th Ave Vikings
It's boring to pick chalk, but 10th Ave couldn't rack up the PD to get home court advantage and it'll come back to bite them. Both teams will have trouble containing the other's offensive star players despite their solid team defenses. In the regular season, UH won narrowly on the road behind an extra-effort performance. I expect the home team to take all three games, getting UH out of my division for next season.

UH in 3.

Relegation
(6) Legendary Goldfish vs. (7) Farfrompukin
The Goldfish made their bed here by purposely losing the last game in hopes of earning some extra postseason income and training. They're going to get what they asked for. I was fairly confident in my own chances of handling Farfrompukin with a home court advantage, and the Goldfish are pretty similar to my squad, with excellent defense and enough scoring to keep people honest. I think Farfrompukin is more talented than they showed in the regular season. They can pull out the stops and make a surprisingly good show of this series, but that in the end they don't quite have what it takes to get the two W's.

Goldfish in 3, because they tank game 2.

(6) GuitarHeroesIV vs. (7) Airballers
I can't figure out how GH fell to the 6th spot with a former-NBBA squad that can competently run any tactic. This is a particularly tough matchup for Airballers because GH has the size to compete down low and developing guards to present matchup problems on offense. Speaking of developing guards though, the Airballers have won some games recently with guard play of their own. Although this should be more competitive than the other relegation matchup, I don't see where Airballers will get the scoring to survive.

GH in 3 close ones.

Anyone expecting any upsets? Because apparently I'm not

Even though I improbably got the number 1 seed, I still can't see myself winning the league...

Great write up, it will be interesting to see how close your predictions are to reality. I set my team up for growth rather than just this season explosiveness and my team has NEVER been an offensive juggernaught, even when Jairo Alejandro Renteria was the man locking down the middle for me. It has usually been about good defense, good rebounding and a slow sledgehammer offense. I have lost every game to almost the exact same tactics, extra effort, a 2-3 and run and gun. Will have to see if I can shut that down because I really do not see anyone in this league challenging my big men on purpose.

In my experience, upsets rarely happen, so your picks should be pretty safe. Home court makes far too much of a difference in this game, especially in the playoffs. It helps your cause that I'm 1-10 historically against da Beach. I wish he'd friggin promote already so I can get a beatable rival

Last edited by Tracy Marrow at 6/15/2010 12:58:10 AM

Well, congratulations on shooting yourself in the foot? MB wasn't winning this season anyway though.

In other news, really strange game between Rice Eaters and Blue Crazys, a nice PO-Normal win by UH, and a confusing starting C choice for GuitarHeroes.

Congrats to the First Round winners, I wish I had been a little more competitive but with Bdeir out with an injury my bench options were limited. Good luck guys!

cws

Shooting myself in the foot? Speaking of that ... I spent too much time at the beach over the past couple days apparently and forgot to set my scrim lineup. All my starters played well over 100 mins this week. Grats to UH on their win Saturday as my game shape takes a rhinoceros-sized dump

Ya never know, he may go with another PON and risk the upset.

He's made that mistake with me before ;)