Okay. Let me explain. I agreed he has a solid team. Can he win this game on a CT vs. TIE? Yes. Is he a favorite? No. Does it spoil his season, if he loses? Pretty much.
nth_mlb threw a home CT against me last season in the tournament. He beat me. (I'm still grumpy.) He wound up winning the playoffs and promoting. Perhaps not a fair point, since he's been an NBBA fixture for a while, except for the season when the wheels came off and he relegated, but a point nonetheless.
I guess my point is that a CT this early isn't going to doom a season at all. Sure, it might cause him to lose a few more games than he normally would have, but, in terms of enthusiasm, he's going to be up there with his rivals by the time the playoffs roll around. I don't see much difference between that and rolling over for you. And, on the other hand, if he wins, then he gets the continued revenue and likely easy TIEs that will come from future tournament games.
I actually think it's a decent idea for him to CT you (and not just because you're in my league! ;) ) - teams have very similar game shape and enthusiasm at this point. He gets a big bonus with HCA and a CT. (Of course, with you resting your starters the other day, he should have seen that you were going to play starters against him, but that's another story.)
The game you link to is from a year ago, like season 8 or whatever. He took you to overtime b/c of 2-3 zone and b/c some of your key players were on the bench. I've taken a 54 point loss in the league just so I could field my #1 team.
Fair enough. I mostly posted the match because I was a bit surprised to have played a non-NBBA team with equal effort (and I assume my enthusiasm was at least as good as his) on my court and to have gone to overtime. And yes, those were my backups, though my backups have always been pretty close to my starters in ability. But I take your point.