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finally found you!! thanks for your contribution.

Update: I am no longer going to count the Crows in the rankings since they've been inactive for 3 weeks.
Big 8 Power rankings:
1) BPE (3-0)
2) Gators (3-0)
3) WildHoochieKoos (3-0)
4) Big Beavers (1-2)
5) Snake River Panthers (2-1)

Great 8 power rankings:
1)Raleigh Capitols (3-0)
2)Hard2Guard (3-0)
3)The Duck City Ninjas (1-2)
4)The Barack O'Ballers (2-1)
5)Jersey Blazing Heat (1-2)

Discussion/explanation: I thought Raleigh would win pretty soundly against Duck CIty...but I wasn't expecting THAT. It seems safe to put them as the exclusive #1 in the Great 8 for now, but the mega-matchup on the 28th will determine that ultimately. Other than that, I'm fully expecting Duck City to win the rest of the first round of division play now that they've gotten through their brutal stretch to start the season. As for the Big 8, Big Beavers won over Snake River, which I expected, but it was a little closer than I thought it would be; the disparity in rebounding clearly made a huge difference. If I were Snake River, then, assuming they have enough funds to do this, I'd look for a center on the transfer market with high ratings in the post player skills, especially rebounding(though preferably it would be a younger player). Other than that, things are shaping up as expected and congratulations to Jersey City on their first win of the season!

Here's the updated power rankings as major matchups in both divisions loom

Big 8 Power rankings:
1) BPE (4-0)
2) Gators (4-0)
3) WildHoochieKoos (4-0)
4) Big Beavers (1-3)
5) Snake River Panthers (3-1)

Great 8 power rankings:
1)Raleigh Capitols (4-0)
2)Hard2Guard (4-0)
3)The Duck City Ninjas (2-2)
4)The Barack O'Ballers (3-1)
5)Jersey Blazing Heat (1-3)

discussion/explanation: Nothing I saw in these games changed my opinions on the teams. Commenting on the games, the thing I was most interested about was seeing H2G bust out the old run and gun with a press that they used to run all the time. Other than that, all the games went as expected and there wasn't anything of note to look at tactically or with any interesting lineup changes that I'm aware of.

Here's an exclusive head's up to you. If it works you have something to talk about if not forget about it.
will be defending BPE's bigs with an inside box and 1. They seem to like their bigs no matter which offense they run. Will come at them with my inside game even though my center is hurt. No excuses!

There are not as many big matchups looming, but still some intriguing ones on the way. Here are the updated power rankings going into those

Big 8 Power rankings:
1) BPE (5-0)
2) Gators (5-0)
3) WildHoochieKoos (4-1)
4) Big Beavers (2-3)
5) Snake River Panthers (3-2)

Great 8 power rankings:
1)Raleigh Capitols (5-0)
2)Hard2Guard (4-1)
3)The Duck City Ninjas (3-2)
4)The Barack O'Ballers (4-1)
5)Jersey Blazing Heat (2-3)

discussion/explanation: the games went as expected, though some of the margins were surprising. The injury to Hooch's starting center made a big impact on the game against BPE; maybe they don't win with him healthy, but they probably shoot better than 25% from the field...yikes. They tried putting in a higher effort level and tried to slow down the big men for BPE through strategy, but Baldriz still got his buckets despite the inside box and one defense that Hooch played. Another interesting thing to note was BPE bringing their second-leading scorer off the bench; he was still kept in check scoring wise, however. Perhaps this was with the intent of starting with a more defensive based lineup? I'd have to ask Smooth himself to get that answer. What I can tell you is that the gameplan I had for Snake River went even better than expected. I went with a defense based starting lineup and brought Bayramov, usually my best scorer, off the bench. I expected to win by a sizeable margin; what I was not expecting was holding them to 21% from the field on defense and significantly impacting the averages of previously some of the highest average scoring players in league IV.64. Lastly, we have another interesting matchup impacted by an injury. Raleigh vs Hard2Guard went about as I expected it to, a relatively close game where Raleigh comes out on top. Depending on a few factors, namely injuries, however, I could see Hard2Guard getting them back in the rematch at their place. Another interesting thing to note is the fact that H2G decided to play through their post players in this game. The injury to Ortiz obviously affected the tactical decisions, but it almost felt like, in addition, a way to reward Tomo Plot just for this game for being a beast on the boards for so long.

As inter-conference play draws near, let's take a look at the updated power rankings.

Big 8 Power rankings:
1) BPE (6-0)
2) Gators (6-0)
3) WildHoochieKoos (4-2)
4) Big Beavers (3-3)
5) Snake River Panthers (3-3)

Great 8 power rankings:
1)Raleigh Capitols (6-0)
2)Hard2Guard (5-1)
3)The Duck City Ninjas (4-2)
4)The Barack O'Ballers (4-2)
5)Jersey Blazing Heat (2-4)

discussion/explanation: Snake River got picked apart by another top-ranked team in the Big 8...seems like when I was just starting out. Also, I'm pretty sure Hooch is about to get Must back when the two teams play so there's that. I was also surprised to see Hooch take it easy in the matchup against me, but I can understand the rationale considering they're about to get their big man back. In the Great 8, Hard2Guard basically beat the O'Ballers at their own game, so it'll be interesting to see with one of their players back from injury whether they continue playing through their post players or go back to a perimeter-based game. Duck City and Jersey played their usual brands of basketball; one interesting development, though, was the dominance of Duck City's bench unit in the fourth quarter of that game. Maybe it's partly because, like when I was starting, Jersey doesn't have much of a bench, but if a top-tier second unit develops for Duck city, it could help them going forward, especially in tougher close games.

Here are the updated power rankings as we head into inter-conference play

Big 8 Power rankings:
1) BPE (7-0)
2) Gators (6-1)
3) WildHoochieKoos (5-2)
4) Big Beavers (4-3)
5) Snake River Panthers (3-4)

Great 8 power rankings:
1)Raleigh Capitols (7-0)
2)Hard2Guard (6-1)
3)The Duck City Ninjas (5-2)
4)The Barack O'Ballers (4-3)
5)Jersey Blazing Heat (3-4)

discussion/explanation: first of all...wow. I was not expecting the O'ballers to get absolutely run out the gym like that. Oh, my goodness. Also, Hooch went away from playing post offense and blew out Snake River, and now they get their starting center back as the head into inter-conference play. Lastly, it has become evident to me that once I get sufficient funds after expanding my stadium again, I need to get some more players because while the team I have now is close, BPE has seemed to have clearly established themselves as the Big 8's top dog as of present. What would that look like? I don't know, possibly a point guard that could move Basham into a 6th man role for now or another player with close to Lackey's capabilities to defend both the perimeter and post at a high level.

Wow. vs WildHoochieKoos, @ Gators, and vs BPE.Bombers. Hopefully my new strategy will atleast allow me to get 2 out of 3 in this stretch. Course, the main issue will be dealing with the Koo's C, which even though has a low salary, seems to be their offense's engine. We'll see what happens! Also plan a couple lineup changes.

With inter-conference play officially underway, here are the updated power rankings

Big 8 Power rankings:
1) BPE (8-0)
2) Gators (7-1)
3) WildHoochieKoos (5-3)
4) Big Beavers (5-3)
5) Snake River Panthers (4-4)

Great 8 power rankings:
1)Raleigh Capitols (8-0)
2)Hard2Guard (7-1)
3)The Duck City Ninjas (6-2)
4)The Barack O'Ballers (4-4)
5)Jersey Blazing Heat (3-5)

discussion/explanation: First of all...wow, what a difference a couple of months makes. I know San Diego is winless and not in these rankings but damn...lost by 100 points. Even most CPU teams don't do that. Onto the user v user games...even with Must back, Duck City was able to run Hooch's press out the gym for a 34 point victory. I was surprised to see Hooch go to the press, and they seemed to have no answer for Duck City's guards and small forward. The Gators came out with a wire to wire 22 point victory against Jersey, despite the fact Jersey took 13 more shots in the end. And lastly, we have the most exciting game of the season yet: Big Bevers versus the Barack O'Ballers. This game came down to the final seconds but in the end, the go-ahead basket proved to be a dunk by Vidar Brathen that was assisted by Wade James. The O'Ballers had a chance on a buzzer beater, but their point guard Bosko Begovic couldn't get the baseline mid-range shot to drop (I personally question why they didn't go to Gaugl in this situation, but things happen).

I hope our game tomorrow will come down to the wire. My game plan will be simple: lockdown defense, 3 point shooting, avoiding turnovers, and stacking assists. I think I made the right decision to put a young Justin Christopher back into the lineup. Fraga is more experienced, but he lacks the shooting touch and the ability to direct the offense like Christopher was able to do vs the Koos. The thing I focus on is different players at different times stepping up and giving me big minutes, whether as a starter or off the bench. Both scenarios have happened quiet a lot. See ya in The Swamp Rob.

With several marquee matchups to discuss, here are the new power rankings

Big 8 Power rankings:
1) BPE (9-0)
2) Gators (8-1)
3) WildHoochieKoos (6-3)
4) Big Beavers (5-4)
5) Snake River Panthers (4-5)

Great 8 power rankings:
1)Raleigh Capitols (9-0)
2)Hard2Guard (8-1)
3)The Duck City Ninjas (6-3)
4)The Barack O'Ballers (5-4)
5)Jersey Blazing Heat (3-6)

discussion/explanation: 4 user v user games...there's a lot to discuss. BPE absolutely dominated Jersey on the boards; they even held Joya, one of this league's top rebounders, to 6 boards as they outrebounded them 69-33 in a 57 point blowout. As for Snake River and Raleigh...it was also domination. Raleigh had around a 4:1 assist to turnover ratio; Snake River had exactly a 1:4 ratio. Raleigh was nearly +30 in rebounds. The only statistics Snake River did better in this game were fewer fouls, more made free throws, and more made 3's, and even then those were marginal. Makings of a 59 point blowout. Now, we get into the more juicy matchups. BPE vs Hard2Guard, just looking at stats, seems like a matchup that's pretty even until we get to shot-making, particularly 3-point shot-making. The difference in 3's equates to 27 points; H2G won by 28. Lastly, we get to the game of the day...a game where my Gators had more turnovers, fewer assists, made 5 fewer shots...and won the game. The slight edge in 3's and the bigger edge in rebounds helps for sure, but the difference has to be free throw shooting. I don't know if I'm gonna have to interrogate someone in one of the luxury boxes, but I would NOT expect to ever get THAT kind of disparity in free throws again.