BuzzerBeater Forums

Welcome to the fun that never ends...

Time for the return of...
team breakdowns!

I'm going to start here with the Big 8 since I'm not involved with that division as much. Here's your team by team breakdown as best I could ascertain it!


Returning teams:
The Mighty Titans (17-5 = tied 1st in division last year)
A consistent top team, after bouncing around for 8 years, TMT has been here 4 years, and has 3 playoff appearances to show. They made their deepest USA Tournament run in eight seasons last year, making the 4th round before a tough road loss to another top IV team. Their furthest advancement overall was the 5th round back in seasons 14 and 15.
23 year old center Cole Grubs is one of the top talents in the league and mans a strong interior for the Titans. The Titans core is moving into their prime, and they play matchups well, so they'll be a tough win this season.

St Louis Stars (15-7 = 3rd in B8 last year)
In 4 years in Buzzer Beater, SLS is showing continual growth. They have been here two years, and improved from the relegation series in his first season to just a 17 point first round playoff loss last year. Last year matched their furthest Cup work, with advancement to the 3rd round before a tough unexpected exit.
St Louis has a roster that also bodes great things. Everyone 26 or under, with a large group of healthy DMI and potential. With 8 guys averaging 8 or higher, they typically play a base offense and spread it out. With such depth, they will present a challenge to anyone.

Philly Eagles (14-8 = 4th in division last year)
Another team going the right direction. In 5 years, each season has shown growth. In their three seasons in our league, they have progressed from 6th to 5th to 4th. They've also shown some great Cup skill, making the 5th round a couple seasons ago and also in season 18, but found an early exit against a top line IV team last year. This year is off to an auspicious there, with a first round draw against a III team being a rough way to get rolling.
It's probably go time for Philly's roster, as the youngest guy on the roster is 27. They are led by 33 year old SG Guy Rae and 27 year old C César Augusto Penagos, but overall a fairly well-rounded team. The Eagles pretty typically play Push The Ball and Man to Man, but that resulted in their position as top scorer here last year, so beating them is a matter of slowing them down.

Springfield Juggernauts (12-10 = 5th in division last year)
One of the old guard, Springfield enters their 9th season in our league and 10th overall. Last year was a down year, their first playoff miss in 6 seasons. However, they made up for it with a second straight trip to round 6 of the USA tournament.
The Juggernauts are well known for their defense, but the team hasn't changed much in the past few seasons, and is aging after some tough drafts. Still, their tough interior manned by Andreon and Harding makes them a challenge for any of the millions of Look Inside crews out there.

Five Horsemen (6-16 = 7th in division last year)
Five Horsemen is looking for the second season success that many others have had in IV. This will mark their fifth overall season, so they're right on pace. This year is also a chance to move deeper into the USA Cup, with only a 3rd round run to show so far, including a difficult draw resulting in a second round exit last year.
Their top scorer is 33 year old guard David Southam, and most of their top stat stuffers appear to be aging, but 18 year draftee old Storm Ash could Storm this team forward in the years to come. Horsemen plays varying offense and defense, but generally outside ball, which might sneak up on a lot of teams.

New Teams:
Land Iguanas (6-16 = 6th in division in III league last year)
Land Iguanas is this year's D III challenger. And quite the challenger they look to be. They have made the playoffs in all 6 seasons they spent in IV, before promoting last year into one of the tougher III leagues. Now they come in looking to move right back up at our expense. I thought I did well in the cup last year, but Iguanas made the final 128 teams (round 7). Want deeper? Ok, how about round 9 (final 32) in season 20. Yikes!
The Iguana roster seems to work around transfers, as the drafts have been rough. They are the classic look inside team, lead by star $37000+ center Ted Clayton. They've probably built up a bit of money, too, with a recent sale netting $700,000... so I for one will definitely be looking for a team to following the III relegation blueprint followed so greatly by Tornado Turtles last year.

BC Main Line (22-0 = 1st in division in V league last year)
In their first full season in the game, BC Main Line went absolutely perfect in league play after blitzing through the playoffs (and making me jealous!). Other than a third round cup exit and scrimmages, their closest game of the entire year was a 25 point win. That's scary good! So now we'll see if they can compete at that same level on our tougher stage! If they're even anything close, they'll make our lives very difficult.
They look to be a team that plays a pretty normal offense, with top stats last year coming at the forward positions. Found two pretty decent picks in the draft this year, and have 8 guys 22 or younger, so this should be a team that continues to develop if managed well.

Whizards (21-1 = 1st in division in V league last year)
Season 4 for the Whiz welcomes them up to their first IV visit as well. They played fairly strong last year, but chose to be walked over in the final. But if they were looking to stay in V, they've failed, and stumbled into our house of pain. Oh well, if nothing else, make some money, and perhaps they can stay up. In their limited cup chances, they've had a max run of 3rd round 2 years ago, so perhaps if they choose relegation, that is where they will focus their energies.
Whiz has a pretty team, manned with some tall and fairly talented inside guys, matched with an up-tempo offense. But they work on their defense, too, only allowing 1704 points last year. So they might just have the game to stick in D IV.

I have run short on time... and feel a bit weird doing my own division anyways... but if anyone else would like to take a shot at it, please do. Perhaps if time allows, I'll try to do it, but hopefully, if nothing else, this gives us a good look at things. AJ2012 and Bad Rabbits are both up from V into the Great 8 this year. AJ2012 is making his second visit, and went 22-0, but lost his finals, whereas Rabbits went 20-2 and a swept the playoffs. So the typical V team that you're not sure how to take at this point. But if you want to research them (and the rest of us) more, please do make a post, I'd love it!

Best of luck this season guys.

All these national team ads are getting in the way of me complaining about losing to you Wolfpack :-p

You have the better team on paper, but my guys have found a way lately. :)

Hey guys. I just joined in the middle of this season. I see I'm in the basement and have a lot of work to do.

Welcome!

Welcome to the party!
Going down a level isn't a bad thing, it's how I started...

Well NC, here we go, one more time, one more epic battle! Best of luck my friend :-)

Best of luck to you also. I haven't checked, but I'm hoping there is a chance I could advance even if I lose. I know you didn't last season though.

Oye :-( :-( :-(
To have a 6 point lead evaporate that way.
To have you hit all those threes, including the last difficult one.
To have Hemphill miss two clutch free throws, either of which would've been enough to seal it.
That's heartbreaking, that's what it is.