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Well, don't get too down about losing to Miami. They're typically pretty good and are correcting their game shape issues. Don't sell yourself short yet!

Marshall Richards: “Marshall Richards and Air Allnite here with you tonight as our colleague Happy Ourer gets the rare day off, and we are live on a special edition of the Pio Reina Show. Tonight is all about the rookies, so that’s who we are going to talk about!”

Air Allnite: “This won’t take long at all. Pio doesn’t play rookies.”

Pio Reina: “Marshall, thanks for the time. Let’s jump right into it. Air you’re right. I generally do not play rookies. I make them earn their playing time. It’s good for their development. You’re talking about young men who have no idea what it means to be a professional, and I’d rather have them learn that upfront.”

AA: “Fine. Name one rookie you’ve developed.”

PR: “As an organization, we’ve made choices to go after more established players in lieu of rookies. Mostly because we’re trying to win. Rookie development hadn’t been on our radar. We’re in the process of changing that.”

MR: “Pio tell us about the rookies. Let’s start with Rich McCain. What can you tell us about him? Linndale fans don’t get to see him on the court much.”

PR: “Well, I’m glad you brought him up. Rich is in line to have an increase in his playing time. He was drafted as a point guard, but he’s not ready to even give backup minutes at that spot right now. We're going to start force feeding him minutes. We know it may cost us a few games, but this kid has talent and we need him to develop quickly.”

AA: “That kid is no point guard. Anyone with eyeballs can see that!”

PR: “He was drafted as a point guard. I clearly stated he was not ready for minutes there. He has talents that we want to develop and investigate.”

MR: “What does the organization like about McCain?”

PR: “Immediately what stands out is his ball handling, passing, and inside defense. His perimeter defense is a work in progress, but he’s not far off from getting playing time at the point guard position. Offensively, we’re all going to find out what he can do. As far as defense and ball security, he definitely fits in. His offensive growth will go a long way to determining what his ceiling can be.”

AA: “Does he have a chance to pass Christophe Nguyen on the depth chart? They sound like similar players.”

PR: “They have some similarities, but they’re also very different. Where Nguyen looks to be more of a drive and kick distributor, McCain isn’t. Nguyen doesn’t have the ceiling McCain has. Having said that, McCain could very well end up at a different position than point guard. It’s far too early to tell right now, but his ball skills are promising and would be an asset at any position.”

MR: “Pio, what can you tell us about Elijah Wilson? I admit I was surprised that the team grabbed 2 point guards in the draft.”

AA: “Well that’s one thing the team got right, Marshall."

PR: “Marshall, I hate to agree with your colleague, but he’s right. Elijah hasn’t gotten much court time. We’re going to see how we can increase that. He’s a young man who appears to have the skills to be a typical Linndale point guard, with the possible benefit of shot blocking. We’ll see if that develops with the rest of his game as he develops. I’m hopeful that he can bring that part of his game with the rest of his development.”

MR: “It’s been a long time since we had a shot blocking guard on the team. As the leading shot blocker in franchise history, are you giving him tips to get better?

PR: “As a coach, I give all my players tips on how they can get better. There are also things he will pick up by improving other aspects of his game. Once he sees how everything is related, then you’ll see the biggest gains in his development. That goes for any player.”

MR: “Folks, we’ll be back with more after we return from this commercial break. You’re watching The Pio Reina Show.”

Day 9 (Saturday 17 June 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Super Sonics 78 - San Dominica Warriors 92
LionPride 57 - Lion Rebels 112
Tasty Tardsicles 83 - Linndale 91
The Beer Bellys 96 - 209’s MostWanted 112
Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 93 - Philly Dribble 81
Żubr Białystok 84 - Carolina Rebels 96
Miami Cleo 105 - FR-S 88
BKDogs 100 - Las Vegas Silver Stars 120

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 120 : Las Vegas Silver Stars
Rebounds : 66 : Lion Rebels, 209’s MostWanted
Assists : 32 : Las Vegas Silver Stars
Steals : 14 : Philly Dribble
Block Shots : 13 : The Beer Bellys

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 35 : C. Holley (LionPride)
Rebounds : 20 : D. Lin (Super Sonics), I. Homs (The Beer Bellys)
Assists : 9 : D. Santana (Miami Cleo), M. Maurin (Miami Cleo)
Steals : 4 : J. Bourgeois (Philly Dribble)
Block Shots : 7 : I. Homs (The Beer Bellys)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : R. Guyton (Linndale) (29 Points, 1 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 29
Shooting Guard : Y. Chengbiao (Las Vegas Silver Stars) (29 Points, 4 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 3 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33
Small Forward : G. Azheli (209’s MostWanted) (33 Points, 3 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34
Power Forward : A. Gallucci (Miami Cleo) (22 Points, 12 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 32
Center : G. Locus (Miami Cleo) (28 Points, 11 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 29

MVP of the evening
G. Azheli (209’s MostWanted) (33 Points, 3 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34

The bad performance of the evening
G. Luongo (LionPride) (3 Points, 0 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -7

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : Y. Tostain (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) : 6 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : L. Marín Gil (Tasty Tardsicles), M. Jimenez (Tasty Tardsicles), H. Espinosa (Carolina Rebels), S. Hatch (Żubr Białystok), H. Quindós (Żubr Białystok), P. Matkowski (BKDogs) : 5 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : S. Hollins (Lion Rebels), P. Ngo (LionPride), S. Hatch (Żubr Białystok) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : G. Azheli (209’s MostWanted) : 8 Three points

The best performer : K. Brown (Lion Rebels), R. Guyton (Linndale) : Rating : 17.5

The worst performer : A. Borden (LionPride), A. Blackmon (LionPride) : Rating : 5.5

Day 10 (Tuesday 20 June 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)
God, the Big 8 is a nightmare. Look at all those 7-3 records!

Night results
San Dominica Warriors 50 - LionPride 0
Lion Rebels 100 - Tasty Tardsicles 87
Linndale 134 - The Beer Bellys 65
209’s MostWanted 92 - Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 97
Philly Dribble 75 - Żubr Białystok 117
Carolina Rebels 88 - Miami Cleo 82
FR-S 125 - BKDogs 112
Las Vegas Silver Stars 97 - Super Sonics 125

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 134 : Linndale
Rebounds : 62 : Super Sonics
Assists : 37 : Linndale
Steals : 25 : FR-S
Block Shots : 9 : Linndale

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 39 : T. Freeman (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️)
Rebounds : 20 : C. Riggins (Żubr Białystok)
Assists : 12 : R. Guyton (Linndale)
Steals : 5 : L. Seoane (FR-S), J. McCormack (FR-S)
Block Shots : 4 : T. Armstead (Lion Rebels)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : T. Rumin (209’s MostWanted) (31 Points, 5 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 36
Shooting Guard : K. Knowles (Linndale) (21 Points, 5 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 23
Small Forward : T. Freeman (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) (39 Points, 5 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 3 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 37
Power Forward : C. Riggins (Żubr Białystok) (22 Points, 20 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 41
Center : C. Goldsmith (Super Sonics) (16 Points, 15 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 28

MVP of the evening
C. Riggins (Żubr Białystok) (22 Points, 20 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 41

The bad performance of the evening
W. Acevedo (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) (5 Points, 3 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -6

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : G. Bolcioni (BKDogs), M. Buendía (BKDogs) : 7 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : A. Nikitinas (Tasty Tardsicles) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : K. Brown (Lion Rebels), M. Meert (The Beer Bellys), R. Descarpentries (The Beer Bellys), A. Guilla (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️), M. Grimm (Żubr Białystok) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : M. Meert (The Beer Bellys), T. Freeman (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) : 6 Three points

The best performer : R. Guyton (Linndale), C. Riggins (Żubr Białystok) : Rating : 18.0

The worst performer : L. Quintana (The Beer Bellys) : Rating : 3.5

Pulling the plug on the season and DIII unfortunately, should have last year but did a half ass rebuild instead. Like Baine said a few weeks ago, I have too many old guys. Fortunately my three trainees are popping like crazy, so hopefully I'll be ready for DIII next time through. I'm an even easier training minutes game as soon as my starting backcourt is sold off, easy win.

Good thing we still have the best drinks and sexiest slutty cheerleaders in the league!

Happy Ourer: “Happy Ourer here with Marshall Richards and we are discussing the takeaway from the win over The Beer Bellys. Marshall, what three things did you come away with?”

Marshall Richards: “Happy, my first takeaway is that it was a hard game to have any takeaways from without sounding like you’re nitpicking. Still, Harrison Mann has a ball security issue that he has to be addressed. Right now, he’s a liability with the ball in his hands and he’s a liability in the rebounding department.”

HO: “That tracks, Marshall. Harrison had a huge game in a scrimmage on June 15th, and followed up with a solid game on June 17th, but he’s not giving the team the consistent production, or dare I say, the effort the team needs and demands from him.”

MR: “That brings me to my second takeaway, Happy. Damian Hatfield is another one that has to bring more to the table. He has much development work to do, but there’s more in there. Getting that production to translate on the court in games would go a long way to shoring up a weakness on the Linndale bench. Either he or Harrison Mann has got to bring it.”

HO: “There nothing more to be added there. What’s the third takeaway?

MR: “Rod Guyton is balling out of his mind, Kyle Knowles has become more efficient and accurate since the start of the season, and the duo of Floyd Hearn and Ramon Sanz Garcaa are doing work. The thing that no one has noticed is Serkan Sokmen quietly becoming a revelation. The team is 3-0 when he scores 20 points, and in those games the smallest margin of victory was 12 points. Simply put, if he’s scoring, you have a problem. When you get him going with Guyton and Knowles going at the same time, well that’s a problem I’m glad I don’t have. Pio Reina sees he has another weapon and is going to find ways to get him the ball. That’s something teams would do well to remember.”

HO: “Marshall, to add on to that, If Trenton Tovar and Mantas Petriukstis keep playing the way the have been, good grief! Tovar’s been finding ways to impact the game when his shot isn’t falling, and you can see Petriukstis growing in confidence out there. When he finally starts to assert himself, the second unit is going to be interesting.”

MR: “Well, it appears Petriukstis is gonna be forced to try asserting himself. We’ve got an incoming update from Air Allnite, who was with the team for today’s scrimmage. Air, what do you have for us?”

Air Allnite: “Trenton Tovar is going to be out 5 to 8 days with a bruised knee. He was 5 of 5 from the field, 3 of 3 from deep, and 2 of 2 from the free throw stripe, scoring 15 points in 11 minutes before leaving with the knee issue. I spoke briefly with an assistant coach and was told we should expect to see more of Rich McCain and likely Elijah Wilson might make his regular season debut this week.”

MR: “Thanks, Air. Pio had talked about getting more court time for the rookies, and injuries are a sure way to do it. I expect we’ll see more of Christophe Nguyen along with the two rookies. I would imagine that dictates the training schedule for the week.”

HO: “That’s also going to put pressure on Guyton and Knowles to produce. Linndale won’t be able to handle a bad game from one or both now. Petriukstis has to step up if only to keep pressure off the rookies.”

MR: "We'll talk about what to expect from the rookies and when we might see them on the other side of the break!"

This entire season is about getting Holley on the NT, and I guess about making millions. He's at 145 tsp and so very close so need a pop or two. He will destroy all of you as I lose by 60 points a game.

I personally love it. His pure dominance with no one else supporting him. Best NBA comp?

Pio Reina addressed his team. “I’m feeling like trying something different tonight. I’m not going to yell or scream or anything like that. I’m going to tell you if I like something or not about your game tonight. Don’t think that just because we won I didn’t see things you guys need to work on. Wilson and McCain you guys did a nice job on the bench.” Laughter followed. “Good to see you guys brought your sense of humor. We’ll see who still has it at the end of this.”

If that statement couldn’t chill the room, nothing would.

“Mr. Guyton”, Pio began, “I have to put some respect on your name. Sir, you are on quite the roll. You are as close to unstoppable as I’ve seen anyone here!”

“Thanks, coach, and thanks to my teammates for making me look good.” Guyton seemed to sense a storm was coming for his teammates and tried to mitigate it a bit.

“Kyle, you’ve been pretty darn good yourself! I‘ve noticed. I see the sacrifice you’ve been making.” Knowles smiled and nodded. “Floyd, that was a great performance out there! I see the work you put in on expanding your game!” “Team effort, Coach!” Floyd was happy with his performance, but he also sensed the storm coming for his teammates. Right before he called the next name, Floyd saw the look on his coach’s face change.

Guyton saw it too. Both knew there was nothing they could do to save their teammates from what ws to come.

“Sokmen, there was once a guy who played here who was called ‘Invisible Man’. He did a lot of things that don’t always seem important, but teams don’t win without guys like that. Every so often, he explode with a big all around game that showed off his varied skills. You were not invisible. In fact I saw you playing for the opposition tonight. How else can you explain 6 turnovers?” Guyton recoiled along with Sokmen. Rod made a mental note to chat up Sokmen later.

“Mantas, you have much more in you. We need to see it. Nice game, but far too passive. We need you to be aggressive off the bench. Ramon, you seem comfortable. I don’t like it. Assert yourself more. You’ve found a role and fill it well, but you are capable of much more. We want to see you be much more.” Ramon rarely showed emotion. This time was no different.

“Reese, I’m yanking your playing time Tuesday. We need more offense off the bench. Rolland is taking your minutes. You know what you’ve got to do if you want them back. Rolland, you know what to do if you want to keep those minutes. I will not have a defensive liability on the court.” Reese and Rolland were both fuming. Floyd was already sitting with those two, Guyton noted. They’re in good hands, he thought. Still, gotta talk to those guys.

“Mann, I still don’t see it. Even when the metrics say you’ve improved. I’ll allow that I appreciate the turnover free game. Do that again.” Mann didn’t seemed bothered, but Pio knew better.

“Nguyen, decent job out there. You’ll get another chance to build on that. Show me something. Hatfield, I cannot abide a big man with more turnovers than rebounds. That’s a problem and you need to fix it.”

“Gentlemen, the Zombies shot very well. They moved the ball well. On offense, they did what they wanted. On the other hand, we gave them the basketball too many times and let them hang around way too long in this game. We showed we still have a lot to clean up. We are not where we want to be yet. We’ve got time to clean these things up. Get it done.”

Pio turned and stepped toward his office. He paused. "If anyone has a problem with anything I've said, as I have consistently told you from day one, my door is open. Except for you, Harrison. I'm tired of talking to you. Show me."

Tonight looked a lot better than season 47 where my team was dominated from beginning to end. Tuesday a lost for my team too. I just got a feeling.

I had to go back and look at that. I looked at my roster and cringed. The best part of that unbalanced team was the backcourt. As far as Tuesday goes, it would appear we both have our hands full.