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“So, we’re just gonna finish this season out with 11 guys? We have a gaping hole at small forward, we still don’t know who the starting point guard is, two rotation members who refuse to use their offensive talents, no depth, no defense, a distinct lack of scoring, and even less heart, What are we even doing here?” Air Allnite was frustrated, and he didn’t care who knew it.

“Air, shut up.” Byron Helm was not in the mood for Air’s piss-and-moan act. “You said we didn’t have a true point guard. The front office got you 2 and said coach them up. Gave you something to work with, too. Told you to get the shooting guards up to speed. They told you to make the already good group better before your best guard was gone. If you did your job well, tell me why you moaning right now?”

“Easy for you to say, Byron; you’ve got a frontcourt with some ability and depth.”

“If it were easy, Air, why aren’t we in first place?”

Pio Reina and Marshall Richards walked into the room. Pio spoke. “The starting five tonight is Shooter at the point, Farley at the 2, Hatfield running the small, Josh and Koncki up front. Short bench unless it gets to garbage time. I don’t trust McCain or Donny tonight. Cerri is on a minutes restriction; we need to get Reynolds some time. We’re gonna find out about that kid one way or another. Mantas backing up both guard spots. Don’t even say it, Air; his defense plays whether you like it or not. Pemwieser at both the 4 and 5. He’s going to get plenty of opportunity to try and assert himself offensively. Garbage time McCain at the 1, Donny at the 2, Cerri at the 3, Reynolds shifts to the 4, and Pemwieser the 5. If I were you, Air, I’d be nervous. Your task was to clean up the turnovers. If you got your guards as you call them ready, this should be a pretty good night turnover wise. If you didn’t, it’s gonna show. Byron, I think we’re going to learn a lot about Pemwieser tonight. Marshall, we’ll get to see if your idea about Hatfield is spot on. Let’s go talk to the locker room. Byron, you have media duty tonight. Air, if you so much as look at a microphone tonight… it won’t be pretty.”

Byron Helm spoke with Joshua Doe immediately after the game.

Byron Helm: “For us, we need everything to go right to get a win. We have questions that need to be answered, and though we didn’t win, we are a long way towards getting the answers we seek. We couldn’t get shots to drop, we didn’t attack the rim hard enough, our defense was pretty rough at times, and we absolutely did not have the necessary firepower to win this. We lost by 25; our first meeting, we lost by 24 with Floyd Hearn and Kyle Knowles here. We are simply not good enough to compete with this team yet.”

Joshua Doe: “What went right for us tonight?”

BH: “That’s relative in a game like this. We won the battle on the boards, particularly on the offensive end. Hatfield at small forward looks promising. It’s a small sample size, but what we saw tonight was encouraging. Pemwieser was effective tonight; With Hatfield moving to the 3 tonight, Pemwieser needed to step up in relief at power forward and center, and he did. We’re not worried about MacNeur and Koncki. Josh has been a double double machine since his arrival, and Koncki has been as well.”

JD: “You haven’t mentioned the guards. What did you see in the back court?”

BH: “Shooter didn’t have a particularly bad night shooting, but we need him to be his best self. With the starting bigs having a tough night shooting the ball, I think Shooter tried to do a little too much. I think we know what we have in Farley; going forward, I don’t know he’ll see much time at the 2. Petriukstis had an excellent floor game though he doesn’t light up the stat sheet. I also want to point out that Air Allnite has done a nice job with the guards; he’s been tasked with getting our turnovers under control. Tonight, only 2 of them came from the guards. It starts there. Now it’s on the staff to clean up the turnovers with the bigs, me included. Our bigs are too talented to have that many turnovers, but we had to clean it up in the back court first.”

JD: “What does point guard look like going forward? How close is the team to finding a full time answer?”

BH: “That’s something that every time I think we might have clarity on, they decide we don’t. Farley can play there. Cerri might be best there. Petriukstis can handle it defensively. Tovar can play there. Ideally, you want to have Cerri and Farley handle it with Tovar and Petriukstis at the 2. We need someone at each position to grab it and run with it; that would go a long way to settling things.”

JD: “Is Hatfield the small forward moving forward?”

BH: “I can only say that remains to be seen. He will continue receiving opportunities. We’ll see if he takes those opportunities and runs with them. He certainly left a promising first impression.”

JD: “Coach Helm, thank you for your time. Happy, back to you in the studio.”

Day 19 (Tuesday 31 October 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
southpaw army 123 - Las Vegas High Rollers 68
Lion Rebels 120 - 209’s MostWanted 80
San Dominica Warriors 107 - Philly Dribble 90
F.Day Internet Lovers Club 118 - Linndale 93
Fort Wayne Pistons 196 - Miami Cleo 79
VileOnes 94 - Super Sonics 118
Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 109 - Twotone Touloose 91
Żubr Białystok 20 - Tasty Tardsicles 138

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 196 : Fort Wayne Pistons
Rebounds : 68 : Fort Wayne Pistons
Assists : 57 : Fort Wayne Pistons
Steals : 19 : Tasty Tardsicles
Block Shots : 15 : Fort Wayne Pistons

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 39 : E. Piana (F.Day Internet Lovers Club)
Rebounds : 30 : A. Nikitinas (Tasty Tardsicles)
Assists : 11 : G. Izaza (Fort Wayne Pistons)
Steals : 5 : A. Guilla (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️)
Block Shots : 5 : M. Coedo (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : A. Guilla (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) (31 Points, 4 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 5 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 30
Shooting Guard : S. Aranda (Fort Wayne Pistons) (25 Points, 9 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 39
Small Forward : U. Jaén (Fort Wayne Pistons) (28 Points, 9 Rebounds, 10 Assists, 0 Steals, 3 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 39
Power Forward : A. Nikitinas (Tasty Tardsicles) (34 Points, 30 Rebounds, 10 Assists, 4 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 69
Center : T. Armstead (Lion Rebels) (30 Points, 17 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 42

MVP of the evening
A. Nikitinas (Tasty Tardsicles) (34 Points, 30 Rebounds, 10 Assists, 4 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 69

The bad performance of the evening
C. Crosby (Żubr Białystok) (2 Points, 1 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots)C. Tharp (Żubr Białystok) (3 Points, 0 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -12

Triple-Double of the evening
A. Nikitinas (Tasty Tardsicles) (34 Points, 30 Rebounds, 10 Assists, 4 Steals, 1 Block Shots)

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : M. Stepurevicius (Las Vegas High Rollers), M. Wheelan (Miami Cleo), C. Crosby (Żubr Białystok) : 6 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : K. Ramazan (VileOnes) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : M. Blanco (F.Day Internet Lovers Club), L. Melucci (F.Day Internet Lovers Club), A. Durham (VileOnes), A. Guilla (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️), T. McCollum (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : U. Jaén (Fort Wayne Pistons), L. Ma Ying (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) : 6 Three points

The best performer : N. de Moraes (southpaw army) : Rating : 19.5

The worst performer : P. Rivard (Miami Cleo) : Rating : 0.5

Brian:
I'm Brian Sanborn, and this is the Warriors Pregame Show here at 98.5. I'm here with legendary Warriors, Bret Rodrigues and Douglas Diamond along with my Hunt Palmer and fellow Sanborn Charles, here in The Canyon where the Warriors will be taking on the Southpaw Army in their final matchup of the regular season. So first question what is it either of you expect from this game?

Everyone else in unison:
Nothing!

Douglas:
I mean everything from this point is set in stone. This game doesn't really matter. The game after Veteran's Day is what matters.

Bret:
Yeah, when Coach said the hope was to get to 12 wins, the unspoken sentence after was that also it's likely the 209 will not have nine wins and fortunately they don't. So unless some kind of divine intervention occurs its a foregone conclusion these two teams are meeting in first round of the playoffs. I mean the 209 ran out of runway. Philly and Linndale are too far behind.

Brian:
So what do you think both coaches are going to go for tonight?

Hunt:
I mean the Southpaws are going to continue to terrorize the othoer members of the Big 8. They're going to want to decimate the Warriors but they've been doing that and with very little effort. It's no different than what we saw with the White Walkers a couple of seasons ago in the Great 8. The Soutpaws are going to wreck and pillage because who can stop them.

Charles:
I got to agree with Hunt. The Southpaw tonight are going to basically be "Hello I hate you. Now die and let me feast on your carcass" but I don't see them doing anything different than what they've been doing all season. Both teams are treating this game as a formality, its a chore to get through on their way to the final showdown in the playoffs.

Brian:
So we shouldn't expect any kind of tricks or any sort from either coach?

Bret:
I mean nothing should surprise you if it happens in the game. I wouldn't be surprised if Coach went with a lineup of Tercero, Vrana, East, Bermundez and Manley any more than Coach seeing what happens with Granger at the point. Mainly because why not, game doesn't matter other getting intel thus don't be surprised if both teams do the most unlikely things to off set that. Other than who is hosting between the Lion Rebels and the Internet Love I don't seeing anything really changing in the Big 8 playoff picture.

Brian:
When we come back we'll talk about the Big 8 playoffs and the future of the Big 8 next season. This is the Warrior's Pregame Show.

Happy Ourer: “Well, it was a hard fought battle, but in the end Linndale wasn’t able to pull it out, falling to 209’s MostWanted 120 to 116. Coach Pio Reina joins us live. Coach, tough loss tonight.”

Pio Reina: “It was a very tough loss. The team battled. We went back to a Linndale staple of the last few seasons, the motion offense. The results were not what we would have liked, but the effort was. The turnovers were kept in control, and that’s a feather in the cap of Air Allnite. I didn’t like the way the whistles went against us, and I hate the fact that we lost the rebounding battle, but we took steps today. We don’t think we’re that far off.”

HO: “Coach, was there any clarity gained at point guard tonight?”

PR: “Farley had a nice game tonight. Cerri was incredible in his minutes. I don’t know that we have any clarity quite yet, but we’re getting there. I’d say Cerri still is the frontrunner, but Farley made sure this was still a competition.”

HO: “How about at small forward? What did Hatfield and Reynolds do to clarify that position?”

PR: “Reynolds had his best game of the season. We want him to build on that. Hatfield got some needed experience at small forward. He didn’t do badly, he’ll get better. Even if the experiment doesn’t work, it will help him long term. That, in turn, will help the team. Clarity is still a ways off, though.”

HO: “The bench tonight was very productive.”

PR: “Well, with a shortened roster, guys have to show up and get to work. Tonight, they did. We have a few things to look at, so the grouping off the bench will be fluid. Bench production is a thing we’ve been trying to locate for some time, but the Cerri-Reynolds-Pemweiser trio looked solid tonight. Petriukstis was solid with that group, but we need a bit more from him.”

HO: “Even with a short roster, Rich McCain didn’t make it into the game. Where does he stand?”

PR: “Rich has a long way to go. He knows it; we’ve talked about it. He knows where he stands; we’ll see what happens with his development.”

HO: “Thanks, Coach. That was Pio Reina after a tough 120-116 loss at home to 209’s MostWanted. We’ll be back with more after the break.”

Day 20 (Saturday 4 November 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Las Vegas High Rollers 107 - Philly Dribble 112
209’s MostWanted 120 - Linndale 116
Lion Rebels 79 - F.Day Internet Lovers Club 88
San Dominica Warriors 71 - southpaw army 113
Miami Cleo 49 - Twotone Touloose 140
Super Sonics 103 - Tasty Tardsicles 112
VileOnes 152 - Żubr Białystok 32
Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 107 - Fort Wayne Pistons 106

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 152 : VileOnes
Rebounds : 69 : Twotone Touloose
Assists : 46 : Twotone Touloose, VileOnes
Steals : 22 : VileOnes
Block Shots : 18 : VileOnes

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 36 : M. Kelly (Las Vegas High Rollers)
Rebounds : 22 : M. Coedo (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️)
Assists : 12 : J. Bover (VileOnes)
Steals : 5 : A. Messineo (VileOnes), K. Ramazan (VileOnes)
Block Shots : 5 : J. García de la Vega (VileOnes)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : G. Kirilovs (Twotone Touloose) (22 Points, 11 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 3 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 42
Shooting Guard : T. Rumin (209’s MostWanted) (29 Points, 7 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 28
Small Forward : J. Bover (VileOnes) (21 Points, 6 Rebounds, 12 Assists, 4 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 36
Power Forward : M. Coedo (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) (26 Points, 22 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 40
Center : G. Cinovskis (VileOnes) (28 Points, 15 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 46

MVP of the evening
G. Cinovskis (VileOnes) (28 Points, 15 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 46

The bad performance of the evening
J. Gobl (Miami Cleo) (3 Points, 6 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -12

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : K. Nádas (209’s MostWanted), C. Tharp (Żubr Białystok), H. Gandy (Żubr Białystok) : 8 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : J. MacNeur (Linndale), D. Hatfield (Linndale), P. Farley (Linndale), J. García de la Vega (VileOnes), C. Tharp (Żubr Białystok), M. Swenson (Żubr Białystok) : 5 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : L. Melucci (F.Day Internet Lovers Club), M. Swenson (Żubr Białystok), H. Gandy (Żubr Białystok), T. Freeman (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️), W. Acevedo (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : S. Rigaux (Philly Dribble), Ó. de la Orden Ibáñez (Philly Dribble), T. Tovar (Linndale) : 5 Three points

The best performer : D. Branimirović (F.Day Internet Lovers Club), S. Kunyan (southpaw army), N. de Moraes (southpaw army) : Rating : 18.0

The worst performer : P. Rivard (Miami Cleo) : Rating : 0.5

Don’t like the double OT game and effing up both our GS!

Yeah, especially as I wasn't expecting to be competitive! At least it was an entertaining one, I guess?

Day 21 (Tuesday 7 November 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Linndale 104 - Las Vegas High Rollers 97
Philly Dribble 87 - 209’s MostWanted 105
southpaw army 130 - Lion Rebels 124
F.Day Internet Lovers Club 59 - San Dominica Warriors 76
Tasty Tardsicles 141 - Miami Cleo 40
Twotone Touloose 70 - Super Sonics 96
Fort Wayne Pistons 102 - VileOnes 125
Żubr Białystok 31 - Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 148

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 148 : Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️
Rebounds : 81 : Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️
Assists : 51 : Tasty Tardsicles
Steals : 13 : Las Vegas High Rollers
Block Shots : 16 : Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 54 : N. de Moraes (southpaw army)
Rebounds : 20 : J. García de la Vega (VileOnes)
Assists : 18 : G. Solórzano (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️)
Steals : 5 : A. Norman (Las Vegas High Rollers)
Block Shots : 6 : D. Branimirović (F.Day Internet Lovers Club), M. Jimenez (Tasty Tardsicles)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : G. Solórzano (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) (21 Points, 9 Rebounds, 18 Assists, 1 Steals, 3 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 42
Shooting Guard : S. Brinkman (VileOnes) (37 Points, 10 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 44
Small Forward : L. Ma Ying (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) (26 Points, 14 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1 Steals, 3 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 41
Power Forward : A. Nikitinas (Tasty Tardsicles) (20 Points, 15 Rebounds, 10 Assists, 1 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 41
Center : M. Jimenez (Tasty Tardsicles) (28 Points, 14 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 0 Steals, 6 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 46

MVP of the evening
M. Jimenez (Tasty Tardsicles) (28 Points, 14 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 0 Steals, 6 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 46

The bad performance of the evening
C. Crosby (Żubr Białystok) (4 Points, 2 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -13

Triple-Double of the evening
A. Nikitinas (Tasty Tardsicles) (20 Points, 15 Rebounds, 10 Assists, 1 Steals, 2 Block Shots)

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : M. Wheelan (Miami Cleo) : 6 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : R. Sedonio (Lion Rebels), S. Hollins (Lion Rebels) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : N. de Moraes (southpaw army) : 54 Minutes

The shooter : N. de Moraes (southpaw army) : 7 Three points

The best performer : M. Coedo (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) : Rating : 19.0

The worst performer : P. Rivard (Miami Cleo) : Rating : 0.5

Tough loss last night, man. I caught the end when you were still within four. Good run though!

Thanks. Me and that team were the best teams left and based on ratings I'm a little surprised I lost.

Brutal week overall... we went double OT so the minutes were already messed up, I lose that game, then I got busy and didn't set my scrimmage lineup so minutes got REALLY messed up.

Hell of a way to go into the postseason. Sheesh.