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Seems like we missed the recap for Gameday 7. As we travel through our three game road trip, it can get hard to get to business.

The Visionaries winning streak is alive and expanding, and just about to be tested on Tuesday.

Everyone has noticed that, after Act 1 of the season, there are nine (!) teams with 3-4 records. There is something slightly deceiving about the figure of course: some got there with three home games, rather than four. Others got there despite losing at home to the league leaders, while others (like us) just had to face them at their home and so still have to pay that particular tribute. But there is no denying that there is substantial parity in the league. This makes the race for the underbelly more interesting than the race for the title.

The race for the title itself is pretty simple: the interconference games (aka Act 2) will tell us more, but if Visionaries makes it out with the home-court lead, you ain't catching them.

In the middle, the most interesting game was no doubt EBW @ Big Gulp. In the discord, I said something to the effect of, gotta pick and choose your away normals, because nearly all of the time it isn't enough. Having looked at the game more carefully, though, I think EBW's decision to normal was the right call. Setting aside the fact that they had higher ratings (RP can lead to slightly depressed ratings), I think EBW caught a really bad roll of the dice here. According to PP100, Kiser was expected to score about 17 points and went for 24, Duff/London had similar expectations (about 17) and also combined for 22 points. Conversely, EBW's SF position was expected to yield 24 points but yielded only about 20. In retrospect, I think this [I]was[/I] a winnable away game, and they just got very unlucky. And the Reverse Patient itself didn't really work, producing only 104 pp100 and 18 shots for the target guy.

Enough for me (the reporter) changing my mind. We knew we (the Black Light team) were TIE-ing all the way and also making some sub-optimal line-up decisions for training. But we were a bit emboldened by the fact that we'd been crushing the Alley-Oop Allstars in scrimmages. And indeed we were staying close until late, but then, in the last quarter, the recently reinforced Warroad just had more to give (and HCA) and it got out of reach before we got somewhat closer at the end. It would be nice, if there was an option to calibrate what counts as "out of reach" for the purposes of garbage time, so that your team could raise the white flag a bit earlier and optimize minutes.

I was so focused on the underbelly sweepstakes that I didn't notice the most amazing result of the week until now. Rhino's Rage trounced Deronimo at their arena. When I looked at the box score I thought "hmmm .632 3FG% and 37 points in the same quarter: they probably landed a 3pt barrage in the first quarter, and then coasted". Wrong. The initial lead was built largely without 3pts, and then once established it got blown up by the 3pt shooting. Tremendous(medium) outside score rating will take you places, and in this case it took Rhino's to a 30pt lead, before garbage time. Deronimo hit the highest Buzzer-manager rating in the association at 178, but that will be hardly consolation. It is good to be reminded that despite the air of inevitability, there is, very occasionally, a game that is won on good tactics.



Last edited by Coco at 10/13/2024 10:29:11 AM

Wait, I wrote a recap... did I forget to hit send? Old age sucks... I hope it's still on my other computer when I'm back!

I ... didn't mean to stop the tradition of posting the Buzzermanager stats! They are fun to look at!

I realized as I was thinking through Peluin's options that since Visionaries are doing Team Training, the option of busting the minutes totals and training Game Shape is ready at hand. Splash Gang had their own cup games to deal with. Their punting this game feels like the equivalent of walking Barry Bonds with bases loaded: "we'll cut our losses, thankyouverymuch".

Big twist: Deronimo after their home loss went after it against the poor Orchestra, and won the ever-precious away game. It wasn't that Deronimo's offense was that great in this game, but more that the Orchestra's Patient was completely smothered, and they were patiently looking for an offensive outlet that wasn't there. Needless to say this is a big win for Deronimo that puts them out of the mediocrity dwellers.

In every other competitive game, the home team held HCA serve. Which means that nearly all of the 3-4 teams in the Big 8 are now 4-4, and and the Great 8 ones are 3-5. We went for it against EBW, but all along knowing that we didn't have enough to overcome EBW's A-lineup if that's what we were going to face. It's always great to play against one of my favorite skill combinations: Bruce Dowell.

Here is my paean for Bruce Dowell: I've been complaining a bit, mostly to myself, that the training system is broken. You buy an expensive trainee, work on it for 3 years of real life, and on the other side you get an expensive player that's worth 100k on the market. One strategy here is to not train anything period. Another is to do what I do, which is to train players who aim to be between the 4th and 8th man. And finally the hardest, but probably most rewarding strategy is to train a super-stud that costs less than 100 a week. Pieces like this are what allow everything else to work. End of paean.

Bad injuries to really important players happened in non-competitive matches respectively for White Walkers and Rhino's Rage -- both losing 200k pieces.

WEDNESDAY EDIT: since this didn't post on Tuesday, check out that amazing win by the Orchestra in B3. The GE taketh away, but sometimes the GE giveth!

EDIT: the recap isn't gone!

I ... didn't mean to stop the tradition of posting the Buzzermanager stats! They are fun to look at!

I realized as I was thinking through Peluin's options that since Visionaries are doing Team Training, the option of busting the minutes totals and training Game Shape is ready at hand. Splash Gang had their own cup games to deal with. Their punting this game feels like the equivalent of walking Barry Bonds with bases loaded: "we'll cut our losses, thankyouverymuch".

Big twist: Deronimo after their home loss went after it against the poor Orchestra, and won the ever-precious away game. It wasn't that Deronimo's offense was that great in this game, but more that the Orchestra's Patient was completely smothered, and they were patiently looking for an offensive outlet that wasn't there. Needless to say this is a big win for Deronimo that puts them out of the mediocrity dwellers.

In every other competitive game, the home team held HCA serve. Which means that nearly all of the 3-4 teams in the Big 8 are now 4-4, and and the Great 8 ones are 3-5. We went for it against EBW, but all along knowing that we didn't have enough to overcome EBW's A-lineup if that's what we were going to face. It's always great to play against one of my favorite skill combinations: Bruce Dowell.

Here is my paean for Bruce Dowell: I've been complaining a bit, mostly to myself, that the training system is broken. You buy an expensive trainee, work on it for 3 years of real life, and on the other side you get an expensive player that's worth 100k on the market. One strategy here is to not train anything period. Another is to do what I do, which is to train players who aim to be between the 4th and 8th man. And finally the hardest, but probably most rewarding strategy is to train a super-stud that costs less than 100 a week. Pieces like this are what allow everything else to work. End of paean.

Bad injuries to really important players happened in non-competitive matches respectively for White Walkers and Rhino's Rage -- both losing 200k pieces.

WEDNESDAY EDIT: since this didn't post on Tuesday, check out that amazing win by the Orchestra in B3. The GE taketh away, but sometimes the GE giveth!


Last edited by Coco at 10/16/2024 6:20:47 PM

I am very much still in in the mediocrity dwellers I would say. But that’s all but one team on our side.

Thanks for the Wednesday Edit! It was wild to see my bench seal the deal in the final minute!! Totally amazing!!!

I've never done this BuzzerManager export thing but I think I found it
they are pretty fun, I could pick up the responsibility...

Day 8 (Tuesday 15 October 2024) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Warroad 65 - Big Gulp Reincarnated 79
Black Light 78 - ExplosiveBubbleWrap 94
Flashover 74 - The White Walkers 118
Beware of Dogs 73 - southpaw army 96
HipsterBears 114 - High Point Heroes 125
Visionaries 117 - Splash Gang 40
Deronimo 86 - The Orchestra 81
Rhino’s Rage 124 - Sofuegg 36

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 125 : High Point Heroes
Rebounds : 68 : The Orchestra
Assists : 41 : Rhino’s Rage
Steals : 16 : Rhino’s Rage
Block Shots : 16 : Rhino’s Rage

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 37 : A. Conejos (High Point Heroes)
Rebounds : 26 : R. Mullins (The Orchestra)
Assists : 12 : X. McNair (southpaw army)
Steals : 8 : A. Cartago (Rhino’s Rage)
Block Shots : 6 : S. Colburn (ExplosiveBubbleWrap)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : A. Cartago (Rhino’s Rage) (23 Points, 8 Rebounds, 9 Assists, 8 Steals, 3 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 41
Shooting Guard : R. Faryna (The White Walkers) (22 Points, 7 Rebounds, 8 Assists, 2 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34
Small Forward : K. Rodriguez (High Point Heroes) (28 Points, 6 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34
Power Forward : L. Henderson (Visionaries) (28 Points, 8 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steals, 5 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 43
Center : A. Conejos (High Point Heroes) (37 Points, 19 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 47

MVP of the evening
A. Conejos (High Point Heroes) (37 Points, 19 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 47

The bad performance of the evening
C. Staley (Warroad) (0 Points, 4 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -9

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : V. Khanyuk (Sofuegg) : 7 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : Q. Ellis (ExplosiveBubbleWrap), R. Salazar (Black Light) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : L. Morton (Splash Gang), A. Cartago (Rhino’s Rage), M. Jorquera (Sofuegg), V. Khanyuk (Sofuegg), C. Staley (Warroad), P. Koon Wai (Flashover), B. Dunning (Beware of Dogs) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : M. Alastrué (HipsterBears) : 4 Three points

The best performer : A. Taylor (Visionaries) : Rating : 21.5

The worst performer : A. Põld (Sofuegg) : Rating : 0.0

edit: No way, Salazar fouled out?!


Last edited by Peluin at 10/17/2024 11:57:09 PM

they are pretty fun, I could pick up the responsibility...

It's all yours Peluin.

Coco, love reading your post game analysis. Keep them coming.

Many non-competitive or partially competitive games tonight.

The most interesting result of the day is Rhino's Rage's not being able to protect the home court against some ill-intentioned musicians. The understatement of the day is that being down a 240k / week player is tough. But let me tell you... this game was U-G-L-Y. Each team made 24 buckets in 80+ shooting attempts, and the winners survived a 2-22 three point shooting night, making up the difference by taking a whopping 30 free throws and making 25 of them. To add insult to literal injury, the game was televised and many spectators called into BBTV to please ask for reruns of last season's playoffs.

The White Walkers punted, which was to be expected with a big injury and a difficult cup game ahead. But this also means that Visionaries has all but secured HCA and the next time we're gonna talk about them is when they next lose --- or if they fire Polk.

In the other two games that weren't total blowouts, the home teams --- Hipsterbears and Black Light --- hung on to beat the away teams. For Hipsterbears it was a much needed second win, although their path out of the last spot seems incredibly prohibitive. For us, it was a return to the winning column after three consecutive losses in three consecutive away
games.

Eight of the nine teams that were 3-4 last week are now 4-5. As noted on Tuesday, a single away win, like the one that Deronimo nabbed then, is a huge asset going forward. Right now it's the difference between third place and seventh place!



Last edited by Coco at 10/19/2024 11:10:42 PM

Lugo with 51 didn't get a mention, are you kidding me Coco?!