BuzzerBeater Forums

Day 1 (Saturday 21 September 2024) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
AZ Sunburn 110 - Anchorage Allstars. 104
Defenseless Babies 125 - brooklyn knicks 123
Fondy Cardinals 105 - The Dachshunds 120
Las Vegas Red Pandas 109 - GloryBoyz 121
Linndale 96 - Eternityz Rostah 115
Andersonville Alligators 99 - K8be4L 108
Organization XIII 136 - Nanooks of the North 108
Duke Devilz 139 - Cleveland Heat Lakers 123

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 139 : Duke Devilz
Rebounds : 55 : AZ Sunburn, brooklyn knicks, Eternityz Rostah
Assists : 38 : The Dachshunds
Steals : 16 : Fondy Cardinals
Block Shots : 10 : Anchorage Allstars.

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 41 : H. Lý (K8be4L)
Rebounds : 20 : B. Macis (AZ Sunburn)
Assists : 15 : K. Telén (Andersonville Alligators)
Steals : 4 : K. Bulat (Organization XIII)
Block Shots : 5 : J. Yongyi (Anchorage Allstars.)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : M. Levickis (Duke Devilz) (35 Points, 4 Rebounds, 12 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 47
Shooting Guard : H. Lý (K8be4L) (41 Points, 1 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34
Small Forward : L. Salisbury (Cleveland Heat Lakers) (32 Points, 6 Rebounds, 11 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 41
Power Forward : A. Czerwonka (brooklyn knicks) (25 Points, 15 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 39
Center : L. Janesch (Eternityz Rostah) (17 Points, 17 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1 Steals, 2 Block Shots), A. Silva (Duke Devilz) (25 Points, 13 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 36

MVP of the evening
M. Levickis (Duke Devilz) (35 Points, 4 Rebounds, 12 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 47

The bad performance of the evening
W. Atkinson (AZ Sunburn) (0 Points, 2 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots)M. Reardon (Andersonville Alligators) (0 Points, 1 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots)L. Rátkai (K8be4L) (3 Points, 1 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots)G. Tschudi (Nanooks of the North) (0 Points, 0 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots)H. Olivares (Cleveland Heat Lakers) (2 Points, 1 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots)C. Skutt (Duke Devilz) (0 Points, 0 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -2

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : J. Pastorell (Organization XIII), A. Stadnichenko (Nanooks of the North) : 5 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : T. Mizoguchi (Eternityz Rostah), T. Dvéri (Andersonville Alligators), K. Telén (Andersonville Alligators), M. Gatard (Nanooks of the North), R. Lian (Duke Devilz) : 5 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : M. Parnell (Defenseless Babies) : 43 Minutes

The shooter : M. Thyner (Anchorage Allstars.), H. Lý (K8be4L) : 7 Three points

The best performer : L. Salisbury (Cleveland Heat Lakers) : Rating : 15.0

The worst performer : W. Atkinson (AZ Sunburn), A. Lott (Fondy Cardinals) : Rating : 5.5

Happy Ourer: Let’s go down courtside to Jimmy Buckitts with head coach Pio Reina after a 115-96 defeat.

Jimmy Buckitts: I’m here with Linndale head coach Pio Reina. Coach, how did you view the first quarter?

Pio Reina: We got off to a bit of a funky start, but we did a good job of making the game ugly, relying on our defense, and making them foul. We weren’t trying to outrun them, but we weren’t not trying to either. We knew we were in for a night, but we needed to let them know that they were, too.

JB: The second quarter you got off to a small 7-2 run.

PR: They answered with a 12-2 run before the flagrant foul on their guard.

JB: What was the secret to not letting things get out of control?

PR: We know who we are, so we just had to calm down and do what we’re supposed to do. They beat us on the boards in that first half and we turned the ball over way too much, but I like that our guys did a nice job of hanging around. Gian-Luca was huge with the buzzerbeater at the end of the half.

JB: The third quarter seemed like everything that you had going for you just stopped.

PR: Jimmy, you answer a run with a run. We didn’t do that. They just decided they were done with us. We wanted to keep then under 25 a quarter and not go down by 10. Both of those things happened. They got loose for a few three pointers and we didn’t have the answer I wanted us to have.

JB: The fourth quarter was much of the same. What do you take positive from this game?

PR: I go back to what we stand on. We stand on defense, rebounding, taking care of the basketball, and sharing the basketball. It takes a really good team to prevent us from doing those things. That other team is a really good team. We didn’t back down. We fought. We’ll continue fighting. We just have to get better offensively. We’ll make some adjustments and try it again on Tuesday. We face the Cleveland Heat Lakers in our home opener. Lou Salisbury is a problem. We’ll be ready.

JB: Thanks, Coach. Happy back to you in studio.

HO: Thanks Jimmy. Sam, you came closest to the final score and had the winner. What did you see?

SD: A history of offensive struggles, which we saw. Linndale couldn’t score. They were competitive on the boards, they fought defensively, but they could not score. As long as they could keep it close and ugly, they were fine. Once Eternityz Rostah decided they were done with Linndale, they dispatched them. The team is good enough to compete with D3 teams, but this team is not built to win in D3 just yet. Pio always says the expectation is the playoffs. Maybe for this season, the expectation should be avoid relegation.

JD: Sam, you know them’s fightin’ words! Since when has the team not improved? Since when has the team not addressed weaknesses? At no point has anyone said this team was in it’s final form, and even if it was, this group earned a right to see what they could do here in D3. If GM Roberto Gurgone feels the need to make changes, he will. What he won’t do is tell Pio how to run his shop. What Pio won’t do is tell Roberto how to handle his business. Do they always get along? No. Do they always know where the other is coming from? Yes, and they share the same goal. They want what’s best for Linndale. They will get things together. You just watch!

HO: We’ll be back aftera word from our sponsors...

Day 2 (Tuesday 24 September 2024) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Anchorage Allstars. 88 - Defenseless Babies 106
brooklyn knicks 114 - Fondy Cardinals 96
The Dachshunds 107 - Las Vegas Red Pandas 112
GloryBoyz 141 - AZ Sunburn 132
Eternityz Rostah 106 - Andersonville Alligators 92
K8be4L 105 - Organization XIII 131
Nanooks of the North 135 - Duke Devilz 150
Cleveland Heat Lakers 84 - Linndale 124

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 150 : Duke Devilz
Rebounds : 67 : Organization XIII
Assists : 35 : GloryBoyz, AZ Sunburn
Steals : 12 : Anchorage Allstars., Organization XIII
Block Shots : 11 : Defenseless Babies

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 40 : J. Izatavicius (Nanooks of the North)
Rebounds : 24 : A. Silva (Duke Devilz)
Assists : 14 : M. Levickis (Duke Devilz)
Steals : 4 : P. Vendrell (Linndale)
Block Shots : 5 : M. Parnell (Defenseless Babies)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : M. Levickis (Duke Devilz) (29 Points, 6 Rebounds, 14 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 41
Shooting Guard : J. Izatavicius (Nanooks of the North) (40 Points, 4 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 42
Small Forward : A. Timpanaro (Duke Devilz) (35 Points, 4 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33
Power Forward : B. McAlinden (Las Vegas Red Pandas) (38 Points, 11 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots), J. Pastorell (Organization XIII) (25 Points, 22 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 40
Center : A. Kulacs (AZ Sunburn) (26 Points, 13 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 37

MVP of the evening
J. Izatavicius (Nanooks of the North) (40 Points, 4 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 42

The bad performance of the evening
S. Vujadin (Andersonville Alligators) (1 Points, 0 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -5

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : H. Hilton (Defenseless Babies), G. Cihaner (Las Vegas Red Pandas), W. Lemons (Andersonville Alligators) : 5 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : R. Shafer (Defenseless Babies), T. Mizoguchi (Eternityz Rostah), H. Lý (K8be4L), H. Chunda (Nanooks of the North), R. Lian (Duke Devilz), A. Stadnichenko (Nanooks of the North), M. Gatard (Nanooks of the North) : 5 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : A. Viktor (GloryBoyz) : 42 Minutes

The shooter : Y. Xiao (GloryBoyz) : 7 Three points

The best performer : A. Smith (Organization XIII) : Rating : 14.5

The worst performer : A. Lott (Fondy Cardinals) : Rating : 5.5

*Editor's note: I meant to post this before today's games, but real llife intervened...

It was Pio Reina’s office, but Byron Helms had the floor.

“You got offense from Gian-Luca while it appears that Corro just had a bad matchup. We simply have to get more from Corro. Let’s move Gian -Luca to the bench and see if he can give the bench a spark with offense and start Vendrell. He’s not quite the offensive player, but he’s better inside defensively. Since we have so many big bodies, start Beko and bring Corro on relief. Ozver and Lecian can play the cup game.”

Pio slowly nodded his head and spoke.

“I agree with Vendrell getting the start. I’m sold on the idea of Lecian going 48. I’m not sold on the idea of Ozver not playing here, and I’m not sold on the idea of Gian-Luca and Corro being separated. Those two complement each other well, where one lacks the other excels. Plus, I think Gian-Luca still thinks of himself as a small forward. I think we should go Ozver and Vendrell and follow that with Gian-Luca and Beko. It leaves Beko and Corro available with Lecian for the cup game, while Vendrell and Gian-Luca should get their minutes in.”

“So we’re just gonna make changes all across the lineup,” asked Marshall. “If you want Ozver and Vendrell, we have to make changes else where. Three ball handlers rule.”

Air Allnite was silent. Until now, anyway. “That’s easy. Move Walt to the second unit and put Midas on the first unit. Problem solved.”

“Where’s the third ball handler on the second unit, Air?” Marshall was enjoying this. “You get Leao. You just put Pasman on. Pio wants Gian-Luca and Beko on. So you get Enfes as your fifth. You only have two.”

Byron usually joined in the fun of picking on Air, but the performance of his bigs annoyed him.

“So play Corro or Lecian and give Gian-Luca some pine time” he bellowed.

“Walt is on the floor with the starting five. We’re not changing that. Carlos, Walt, Bodura, Vendrell and Beko. I’m not breaking the rule. I’ll make sure the entire team knows how I feel about the 15 turnovers and losing the battle on the boards. And Air, we got off 27 three pointers. I don’t want to hear about it for a while. They are not where you think they are from the outside. They need work, but that’s not where our focus is yet. We know the defense and rebounding have to get better. The inside game is our focus. Byron, how long you need before we can get wings and guards rolling?”

Byron took a deep breath and exhaled. “That depends on the players, and if we’re changing the goals. Lecian is gonna need a few weeks at least. I’m going to find a way to get the rookie Carlson in; he has some possibilities worth exploring. Vendrell could use a few weeks, but if I’m right, Marshall has designs on him also. Gian-Luca needs a few weeks before Marshall gets him, and I could see Air wanting him also. Same for Ozver. Beko needs some serious one on one time with Air.”

“Marshall,” Pio asked. Marshall knew what the question was.

“Give me Corro. He’ll be there defensively. Not sure about Vendrell, but wanna find out; his offense will be there. We gotta tighten up some things with Gian-Luca, but he’s already there. Ozver will be there also. Yeah, Pio, we’re almost there.

“Air, you good? My starting backcourt had 6 turnovers.”

“I’ll be good when you get me a real shooting guard,” Air replied. “In the meantime, I’m gonna tear those guys a new one. Bodura too.”

Jimmy Buckitts: I’m here with the Joy Beko and Gian-Luca Twaruschek after tonight’s 124-84 victory
in the season’s home opener. Joy, you and Gian-Luca had big games tonight in very different manners.

Joy Beko: We just went out and did what we had to do. We had different responsibilities in the game plan, but the plan worked.

Gian-Luca Twaruschek: Coach told me when I’m on the second unit, to go out and score. My teammates made it really easy tonight.

Jimmy Buckitts: Joy, you had 18 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 assists in 24 minutes. You were also one of three players with 6 assists for Linndale tonight and you two were the leading scorers for Linndale. Did Coach Reina do anything differently for tonight’s game?

Joy Beko: Defensively, we played zone. Coach prefers man, but he is adaptable. We wanted to take away the outside shots and make them go inside. They did a good job of sticking to their guns, but we did a good job cleaning the glass and limiting them to one shot. On offense, coach told us to pound it inside, so that’s what we tried to do.

GLT: Joy kept telling me he had to score a little more just to show he had it in him. We have a loaded front court, so we felt like coach telling us to pound it inside was music to our ears. A lot of our perimeter players like to attack the basket also, so we hope to get to do more of that.

Jimmy Buckitts: How did you slow down Lou Salisbury?

Joy Beko: We didn’t try to, really. We just made it so one person wasn’t responsible. The goal was to shut down everyone else and just not let him go crazy. We’ve got to do a better job defending the three point shot, but we didn’t foul and we had a great night shoot the ball.

Jimmy Buckitts: Gian-Luca, has Coach Reina told you that your role going forward is to be the scorer off the bench? That’s something that Linndale has traditionally been lacking.

GLT: I’m just going to do what coach asks me to do. If he wants me to play small forward, I will. If he wants me to be the scorer off the bench, I will. I know the coaches all want me to improve my all around game. I see the defenders we have, and I know I’ve got a ways to go to get to their level. Challenge accepted, but if coach wants me to score, I’m gonna do that, too.

Jimmy Buckitts: Thanks for the time, gentlemen, and congratulations on the win.

Joy Beko: Thanks, Jimmy.

GLT: Thanks, Jimmy.

Jimmy Buckitts: Back to you, Happy!

Happy Ourer: When we come back from the commercial break, we’ll get Joshua Doe’s reaction after the big win tonight. We’ll be back in 2 minutes and 30 seconds...

Roberto Gurgone: Marshall, before you say a word I want you to read the kid’s file. I know you hate losing a two-way defender, but this was a long term play. Bonus is it frees up Frias, so did you really lose a two way defender?

Marshall Richards: ‘Berto, I know I’m supposed to be mad at you right now. I’m also smart enough to know you’re cooking something, so I’ll allow it.

Air Allnite: So what are we doing in the backcourt? Kops played some point, shooting guard and small forward for us. This kid can’t play all three. You really gonna move Frias to small forward and let Bodura start at the other guard spot? You’re gonna have to do something to make it fit the 3 ball handler rule.

Pio Reina: I’ll have that sorted; don’t worry about it. Roberto, are we going to hold off on that other thing?

RG: We’ll play that one by ear. If needed, we’ll make our move.

PR: Noted. Air, Marshall, be prepared to hit the ground running with the guard boot camp. Byron, how are the bigs coming along?

Byron Helms: They’re putting in the work, but the last couple of weeks have shown few results.
Working them hard to try and push through it. Maybe switch to the guards for a few weeks.

PR: We’ll give them this week and then see how we attack that.

RG: If there’s nothing else for me, I’ll leave you gentlemen to it.

PR: See you after the game. Now on to tonight’s game. I’m giving the keys to Colenbrander. Let’s see what he can do. Ozver and Beko up front, Frias and Pasman round out the starting five. Mashall, we good on the rule of three?

MR: We’re good there. Just a question; why isn’t The Hammer on the second unit?

AA: Who?

MR: Gian-Luca. The Hammer.

BH: That dude is all arm and no hammer. You better get out of here with that name! I’ll tell you what, if you can get his defense and rebounding to where his shooting is, I can buy that as a nickname.

PR: That’s not a big ask, Byron. You going soft?

BH: Nope. I see a move coming, and Marshall won’t be happy about it when it comes. To make it worse, he will have made it happen. Good coaching can’t go unrewarded.

AA: We DO have a game tonight to talk about.

PR: Air’s right. Looking in their backcourt, Ye Kaifang is a solid veteran, but the guy we have to keep in check is Justynas Izatavicius. We’ll see if we can match Pasman up wth him defensively. Up front, Stadnichenko has to be kept in check, but we also have to make sure Mattieu Gatard doesn’t beat us. Our bench should be a difference maker tonight; they don’t have the depth we do. New point guard, so I do expect a few hiccups, but nothing we shouldn’t be able to withstand. If we do what we do, and keep them in check, we should walk out of here with a win. Any questions?

AA: Yeah. Who’s doing the media tonight?

PR: Looks like you just volunteered for the pregame. To be nice, Marshall you do the halftime and postgame hits. One more thing, Air. 14 turnovers a game is something I cannot abide by. I know we’re only two games in, but I want my results. Steals are down and turnovers are up. I expected steals to be down, but turnovers are unsustainable and unacceptable.

AA: Noted.

PR: Marshall, Byron. I want Twaruschek up to speed defensively. He’s closer on inside defense than he is on the perimeter. I need him ready for both. Byron, I imagine the rebounding will be come, but I want that kid ready to go. To that end, plug him the lineup tonight. My prerogative. Let’s see what he can do. I want to know if we can live with his current shortcomings. We should be able to find that out tonight. Ozver gets the next start.

BH: I'll let him know.

PR: I'll do it. I made the call, I can be the one to tell him.

Day 3 (Saturday 28 September 2024) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Fondy Cardinals 55 - Anchorage Allstars. 113
Las Vegas Red Pandas 92 - brooklyn knicks 109
AZ Sunburn 96 - The Dachshunds 115
Defenseless Babies 140 - GloryBoyz 116
Organization XIII 103 - Eternityz Rostah 108
Duke Devilz 122 - K8be4L 109
Linndale 111 - Nanooks of the North 86
Andersonville Alligators 101 - Cleveland Heat Lakers 79

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 140 : Defenseless Babies
Rebounds : 67 : Anchorage Allstars.
Assists : 40 : Defenseless Babies
Steals : 12 : Defenseless Babies
Block Shots : 25 : Anchorage Allstars.

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 38 : R. Lian (Duke Devilz)
Rebounds : 21 : A. Smith (Organization XIII)
Assists : 17 : M. Silver (Defenseless Babies)
Steals : 5 : L. Salisbury (Cleveland Heat Lakers)
Block Shots : 6 : J. Yongyi (Anchorage Allstars.), J. Schindl (Anchorage Allstars.)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : C. Ji Hun (Defenseless Babies) (37 Points, 4 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 3 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 35
Shooting Guard : L. Rosario (The Dachshunds) (31 Points, 7 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 39
Small Forward : R. Landherr (K8be4L) (37 Points, 13 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 40
Power Forward : M. Parnell (Defenseless Babies) (34 Points, 11 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots), A. Roche (Andersonville Alligators) (21 Points, 15 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 37
Center : A. Smith (Organization XIII) (15 Points, 21 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 32

MVP of the evening
R. Landherr (K8be4L) (37 Points, 13 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 40

The bad performance of the evening
D. Aliferovich (Fondy Cardinals) (4 Points, 2 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -10

Triple-Double of the evening
A. Di Massimo (GloryBoyz) (10 Points, 11 Rebounds, 11 Assists, 1 Steals, 3 Block Shots)

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : C. Ji Hun (Defenseless Babies), J. Šlianderis (Organization XIII), W. Lemons (Andersonville Alligators) : 5 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : A. Carter (AZ Sunburn) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : B. Barkley (Cleveland Heat Lakers) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : R. Lian (Duke Devilz) : 7 Three points

The best performer : A. Czerwonka (brooklyn knicks), L. Rosario (The Dachshunds), Y. Maggitas (Defenseless Babies), S. Yli-Kovero (Eternityz Rostah) : Rating : 16.0

The worst performer : M. Beer (Duke Devilz) : Rating : 6.0

After spending 15 seasons with Defenseless Babies, Lee Rosario will be making his return to The Plantation at Belle Isle. We are hoping for a warm welcome and expecting to see a big game performance from Archer!

Tonight, the Defenseless Babies welcome back Lee Rosario, who now plays for The Dachshunds.

Lee was drafted in season 50 and spent his first few years with the team while they were rebuilding. He was a key member who helped the team go from Division IV and eventually made it to the NBBA for one season.

Lee Rosario ranks 5th all-time in points scored, 6th in assists, and 7th in games played for the Defenseless Babies.

“Hey Pio, got a minute,” asked Byron. “The bigs want to talk to you for a bit. All of them.”

Pio got up from his desk and followed his associate head coach. “What is this about,” he asked.

Byron replied, “I think they just have questions and want to hear answers from you. I think they think I’m blowing smoke when I tell them why we’re asking them to do what we’re asking them to do. Sometimes you gotta hear it from the big boss, you know?”

The coaches walked in to the locker room, and noted the guards and wings were not there. Pio spoke.

“Gentlemen, rarely am I summoned to a conference before a game. What gives?”

“Coach, as the longest tenured big man, I’ve been elected spokesperson. Some of the guys just want to understand their role better, and others want to know why they aren’t starting. A few want to know what they need to do to see court time.” Joy Beko was clearly not pleased to be here, but he was not going to turn his back on his teammates.

“Relax, Joy. This shouldn’t get contentious at all. Let’s work from the last question first. By a show of hands, who’s just trying to get court time?” Pio already knew the answer and just wanted to engage his charges in conversation. Three hands were raised.

“Young Mr. Carlson, what’s on your mind?” Pio noted he was nervous. “Take a deep breath and relax. Speak what’s on your mind.” The rookie, Duane Carlson, spoke.

“Coach, I just want to get some court time and I’m wondering what it would take to get a few minutes.”

“That’s a fair question, Duane. I’m sure Coach Helm has told you minutes might be hard to cone by at first for a rookie. We have a crowded and talented group and everyone has different talents. You have a varied set of skills and we are going to get you time on the court to explore and develop them. Be prepared to play all 48 minutes on Thursday. We’ll see how things go from there. Ondrej?”

“Same question. Coach, I just want to play.” Ondrej was frustrated.

“Expect to play Thursday. I can’t promise you all 48 minutes, but you will play. Ondrej, you have skills we like, but we need to see you apply yourself. You haven’t even scratched the surface of how good you could be.”

Rafet Ozver appreciated having time to speak, and having a coach that allowed it. He stood up.

“Mr. Ozver, if I may be so bold, you’re wondering how you’re the best rebounder on the team and can’t get a start. Is that right?” Pio wanted to let him know he understood where he was coming from. It worked.

“Yes sir.”

“That’s on me. We have an embarrassment of riches, but I have to be better about making sure everyone gets time. You were supposed to start Saturday, but I made that choice to change things. Gentlemen, please understand not everyone will start. No one will start every game. However, when the opportunity presents itself, your job is to make it impossible for me to remove you from the lineup. As a coach, you present me the luxury of playing the best matchups against our opponents. Joy, I’m sure you know where I stand on playing talent. Most of you are relatively new and don’t know, but legend of Joy running point guard is true. Force your way on to the court. I’ll find a way to get you on the court. If you think it’s best you move on, we’ll accommodate you.”

Byron spoke. “Gentlemen, if there are further questions or concerns, please see me or Coach Reina after the game and we’ll be happy to talk with you about whatever you may want to address. Thank you. Go get warmed up.”

“Byron, I though that was going to be a lot worse than it was. Keep an eye on Ondrej, will ya?”

“Already on it. We might need to talk to Roberto about him.”

"I hope not. I like the kid."

"Me too, Pio. Me too..."