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Hunt:
Me I'm putting El Charro in. Trust the experience. He's had big games when the Warriors have needed him to. Of the two El Charro is the most like Tercero at least in my opinion. But the most important opinion is Coach and maybe Gordo Long so we'll see. We'll be back after this commercial break.

*we join Pio Reina in the GM office mid conversation*

Pio Reina: “We don’t generate enough steals and we turn the ball over entirely too much. We don’t shoot well inside the arc, but we’re pretty deadly behind it. We’re decent at the free throw line. We can’t play with pace on offense or defense. We rebound well…”

GM: “We’re better at stealing the ball than you realize.”

PR: (looks at report) “I’ll grant you that, but we’re awful at protecting it.”

GM: “If by that you mean we give it away too much, I can see that, but the numbers say we cause more turnovers than you give credit for.”

PR: “I can’t give credit for causing turnovers if we’re just giving it right back. We have too many turnovers and give up too many steals. You can’t play with pace like that. We need ball hawks and we need ball handlers to do that.”

GM: “OK; enough of that. Pio, we’re gonna have to develop what we have to get what we want. I know what you want. We’ll get there. It will be rough, but we’ll get there. Let’s talk about what we have. What did you see in that last BBM game?

PR: “The better team won that game, but we are closer than it would appear. Knowles and Guyton did work against a a tough defense. Mann showed up. Hearn was the best player on the court but Perez did a number on him. We gotta figure out how to get Sokmen back on track. The problem is the bench. You’d think putting Garcaa on the 2nd unit with Tovar and Petriukstis would have been beneficial but Hatfield and Reynolds did not hold up their end of the deal either.”

GM: “ Why no Pemweiser?”

PR: “Because I knew he would get big minutes in the scrimmage I don’t want to run these guys down.”

GM: “Fair enough. Let’s talk scrimmage. What did we get out of that?”

PR: “We got the possible return of Shooter. After a bad game, Reynolds came back nice even though he still has plenty work to put in. Hatfield bounced back nicely. Mantas was steady off the bench. Nguyen needs to improve rapidly. Mann played like he was gassed. Pemweiser showed some versatility and showed he wasn’t quite ready. We needed to see Nguyen go. Th kid still needs plenty of work.”

GM: “What about against BKDogs? And where does McCain fit in this week?”

PR: “We need to improve the shooting from our bigs. Training wise, that’s going to be the focus. Game plan wise, you know what I’ve been preaching all season long. They’ve been working hard at it, and you‘ve got numbers that back their work. I thought I’d be nice and throw them a bone. I think the matchup suits this game plan for us. I think you’ll like it. We have depth. They don’t. We’ll come at them in waves and see if we can run them out of the gym. The guys have wanted to run all season, and every time I’ve tried to let them, they lay an egg. If they want to run again this season, they know what is expected. As for the kid, he’ll be playing up front Thursday the whole scrimmage.”

GM: “I’ll like it, huh? You know I like backwards week a lot!”

PR: “And you know I’d tell you if this was happening because no way could the players keep that to themselves. but you have to know backwards week ain't happening. Not yet. Gonna make 'em earn it.”

Halftime…

Pio Reina: “I thought ya’ll wanted to run. This is Linndale!!! We do things when we run. We take care of the basketball! We defend! We rebound! 59 points in the first half?!? All season long I hear ‘Coach, let us run.’ THIS IS WHY I DON’T LET YOU RUN!!!! WHERE’S MY DEFENSE? WHERE’S MY REBOUNDING? WHERE’S MY SMALL FORWARD? WHY IS MANTAS THE ONLY THREAT OFF THE BENCH? YA’LL GOT WHAT YOU WANTED, AND YOU HAVEN’T DONE A THING RIGHT! DON’T ASK ME ABOUT RUNNING ANYMORE! WHERE’S MY GM?!? THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED TO SEE, RIGHT?!? I TOLD YOU THIS IS NOT THAT KIND OF TEAM YET!!! SOMEBODY IN THIS LOCKER ROOM BETTER START LISTENING TO ME AND ACT ACCORDINGLY!!!”

Pio stormed out of the room. His team and GM hadn’t seen him like this before. This was not the normal, grump coach they knew. This was bad. Very bad...

Pio Reina: “They thought I was mad at halftime, They thought I was livid after the third quarter. They are about to regret the day they ever set foot into the Linndale basketball facilities and tried to pawn this performance off as the Linndale standard. I’m glad we came back and won in overtime but this game should never have come to that.”

Air Allnite: “Two questions. What is the status of Rod Guyton? Do the numbers say you don’t run anymore, or was your gut feeling not to run?”

PR: “Rod Guyton is fine. He tweaked something but he’s fine. He’s being checked out again by the doctors and training staff, but we don’t expect to find anything and he shouldn’t miss time. As for your second question, I have long told the team and management we are not ready to run. We haven’t shown that we are. Too many turnovers, rebounding inconsistency, and a lack of bench production are indicators. We have those things. We also don’t play defense when we run, and I can neither understand nor tolerate that. I let them run today because I know I’ve been tough on them, and the eye test says they are still not ready. I don’t know what the numbers say, but I expect someone will fill me in.”

AA: : “You got outrebounded 57-46, you had 10 turnovers versus 18 for BKDogs, and you generated 15 steals to their 6. How do those numbers track with your ideas?”

PR: “Too many turnovers. I’d like to keep them under 10 a game. I don’t care if we played overtime; that does not move the standard. Air, the defense was garbage and you know it. What did they end up shooting? I’ll bet it was about 10 points better than us. Sure, I’ll bet we killed in three point shooting, but we had no answer for Matkowski, who absolutely had his way with us. Begonha put up a 50 spot against Kyle Knowles. That’s not an easy thing to do, but he did it and on less shots than Kyle took. Their frontcourt put numbers up on us. We looked like trash and played worse. The better team tonight was our opponents. Look, before I take anymore questions, let me be clear about something. I don’t know if you’ve looked around the league, but this is a tough league and on any night anyone can beat you. Looking specifically at the Big 8, we know someone who is a bona fide playoff team will not make the playoffs. We cannot afford to play like trash and I have consistently said that. I will beat this message into my team’s collective skulls until I am satisfied that they understand. Same thing happened last season when no one thought we’d get in. I knew we would, and I knew that meant a good team would miss out. Nothing has changed, and in fact, the Big 8 is even harder now. We cannot afford to play at less than our best if we expect to win. This game was not up to Linndale basketball standards. We have to be better than that. I hope the guys in that locker room know they have to be better. Also, I want to give my regards to that organization in the other locker room. You guys brought it, and deserved to win.”

Last edited by Speedtraps at 7/9/2023 1:25:04 AM

Day 13 (Saturday 1 July 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)
Sorry folks - been off on vacation without any electronics/service for a bit. Here's to getting back at it!

Night results
Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 73 - San Dominica Warriors 97
Żubr Białystok 81 - Lion Rebels 97
Miami Cleo 68 - Linndale 90
BKDogs 66 - 209’s MostWanted 90
Super Sonics 108 - Philly Dribble 123
LionPride 70 - Carolina Rebels 120
Tasty Tardsicles 130 - FR-S 96
The Beer Bellys 89 - Las Vegas Silver Stars 104

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 130 : Tasty Tardsicles
Rebounds : 63 : Las Vegas Silver Stars
Assists : 33 : Tasty Tardsicles
Steals : 11 : Tasty Tardsicles
Block Shots : 8 : Lion Rebels

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 49 : C. Holley (LionPride)
Rebounds : 20 : J. Bégin (San Dominica Warriors), N. Peretz (Żubr Białystok), C. Riggins (Żubr Białystok)
Assists : 9 : T. Hearn (Super Sonics)
Steals : 4 : Y. Chengbiao (Las Vegas Silver Stars)
Block Shots : 4 : T. Armstead (Lion Rebels)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : M. Velasco (Philly Dribble) (33 Points, 7 Rebounds, 8 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 40
Shooting Guard : J. Makeba (Tasty Tardsicles) (23 Points, 5 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 26
Small Forward : K. Brown (Lion Rebels) (45 Points, 1 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots), I. Trapezanidis (FR-S) (38 Points, 3 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 29
Power Forward : D. Lin (Super Sonics) (38 Points, 17 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 42
Center : C. Holley (LionPride) (49 Points, 11 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 37

MVP of the evening
D. Lin (Super Sonics) (38 Points, 17 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 42

The bad performance of the evening
R. Stinson (LionPride) (0 Points, 4 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots)A. Borden (LionPride) (0 Points, 0 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -3

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : T. Rucker (FR-S) : 8 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : P. Huddleston (Philly Dribble) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : T. Freeman (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️), W. Acevedo (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️), K. Brown (Lion Rebels), G. Bolcioni (BKDogs) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : K. Brown (Lion Rebels) : 9 Three points

The best performer : F. Hearn (Linndale), M. Velasco (Philly Dribble) : Rating : 18.0

The worst performer : G. Lay (The Beer Bellys) : Rating : 4.5

Day 14 (Saturday 8 July 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
San Dominica Warriors 64 - Żubr Białystok 88
Lion Rebels 77 - Miami Cleo 43
Linndale 152 - BKDogs 144
209’s MostWanted 100 - Super Sonics 114
Philly Dribble 103 - LionPride 72
Carolina Rebels 102 - Tasty Tardsicles 109
FR-S 116 - The Beer Bellys 114
Las Vegas Silver Stars 94 - Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 116

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 152 : Linndale
Rebounds : 71 : Lion Rebels
Assists : 28 : Linndale, FR-S
Steals : 15 : Linndale
Block Shots : 13 : Lion Rebels

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 50 : Ó. Begonha (BKDogs), K. Knowles (Linndale)
Rebounds : 21 : A. Nikitinas (Tasty Tardsicles)
Assists : 12 : P. Matkowski (BKDogs)
Steals : 4 : K. Knowles (Linndale)
Block Shots : 8 : M. Watkins (Lion Rebels)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : T. Rumin (209’s MostWanted) (41 Points, 1 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33
Shooting Guard : K. Knowles (Linndale) (50 Points, 3 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 4 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 44
Small Forward : P. Matkowski (BKDogs) (21 Points, 10 Rebounds, 12 Assists, 3 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 39
Power Forward : M. Watkins (Lion Rebels) (19 Points, 15 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 1 Steals, 8 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 37
Center : C. Holley (LionPride) (30 Points, 11 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 1 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 28

MVP of the evening
K. Knowles (Linndale) (50 Points, 3 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 4 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 44

The bad performance of the evening
R. Pineda (LionPride) (3 Points, 3 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -4

Triple-Double of the evening
P. Matkowski (BKDogs) (21 Points, 10 Rebounds, 12 Assists, 3 Steals, 2 Block Shots)

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : J. Bégin (San Dominica Warriors), G. Luongo (LionPride), L. Talbot (Philly Dribble) : 5 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : K. Knowles (Linndale), G. Di Cosmo (BKDogs), T. Plummer (Carolina Rebels), M. Meert (The Beer Bellys) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : G. Bolcioni (BKDogs) : 49 Minutes

The shooter : K. Knowles (Linndale) : 8 Three points

The best performer : M. Velasco (Philly Dribble) : Rating : 17.5

The worst performer : G. Lay (The Beer Bellys), H. Zare (FR-S) : Rating : 5.0

Hunt:
Welcome back to the Warriors Pregame show. Ok before we start let’s get this clip from the end of Saturday’s game vs the Zubr Bialystok

Interviewer:
Coach obviously not any where close to the result you were hoping for

Coach:
No, obviously not what we were hoping for tonight. We knew they’re good a team, but we didn’t help ourselves in this game and you can’t do that against a good team. Really you can’t do that against any team

Interviewer:
Was it execution? Was it thought they were going this and they did that?

Coach:
Oh it was definitely execution. Just go down the checklist.
Did we stop them on the defensive end? No!
Did we let them get off to a good start? Yes!
Did we let them get into a comfortable offensive flow? Yes!
Watching the game I watched, I’m not surprised we lost. We didn’t do anything to deserve a win in this game.

Hunt:
Okay that’s enough for me there because Coach is right. Saturday the Warriors were just terrible. You remember that song about the Grinch where it says the three best words that describe you are stink, stank, stunk. Well those words perfectly suited the Dubs play Saturday. Their play in the first half stinked. By the middle of the second half it stank and after it was all over and looking back on it it certainly stunk. They certainly can’t play like this against the Cleo and expect to win.

Bret:
Tell us how you feel Hunt (laughing)

Hunt:
Seriously they don't play better than they did Saturday they can forget about the championship. I'm going to be up here all Jim Mora yammering about the playoffs

Bret:
Well we's about to finds out.

Pio Reina: “You all saw that, right? You see what happens when I let the team run? They go out and play a terrible game Saturday, wear themselves out, and put up an even worse game tonight. Tovar and Hearn gave us some punch off the bench, but we got absolutely nothing from the starting 5.”

Air Allnite: “Hearn and Sokmen were out of the starting lineup and Petriukstis was in. Why?”

PR: “I knew guys would be gassed and this was my attempt to minimize it. Plus,we had training considerations. Mann got the start so we could get Hearn a rest. As it is, Mann’s injury gave opportunity to Pemweiser. Pemweiser is not playoff ready and it showed. Mann’s injury was both a blessing and a curse from that standpoint. Guyton and Knowles were gassed but wanted to try and gut one out. Mantas was starting at the small forward because, well, you saw Sokmen on Saturday.”

AA: “You said Saturday the numbers and your gut said you shouldn’t run. What did the numbers say tonight?”

PR: “We didn’t attack on offense, so we didn’t get to the foul line. We didn’t shoot many threes or shoot particularly well. We got beat on the boards. We actually had a game under 10 turnovers, but the Super Sonics had less. We did not generate steals. They kicked our butts in every aspect of the game. Sure we lost by 13, but if not for Hearn in a limited role tonight and Tovar, this game would have been disgustingly gross.”

Jimmy Buckitt: “Hi Coach, Jimmy Buckitt with Athlon Sports. After the last two outings, one a win you were not pleased with and now this loss, what do you say to the team in the locker room?”

PR: “There’s not a lot to say that I haven’t already said. They know what I expect. They know what I demand. That doesn’t change. Anything I have to say now will be told by playing time. If you’re not happy with your playing time, you better figure out what you’re doing wrong because I’m done talking.”

JB: “A follow up, coach. Does that mean there are changes forthcoming to the starting lineup or rotation?”

PR: “Absolutely. No more questions tonight, folks. You have any more questions, call in to my radio show tomorrow. Air, bring you worst. You know what you do. So do I.”

Day 15 (Tuesday 11 July 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Miami Cleo 38 - San Dominica Warriors 84
BKDogs 91 - Lion Rebels 109
Super Sonics 99 - Linndale 86
LionPride 61 - 209’s MostWanted 108
Tasty Tardsicles 95 - Philly Dribble 79
The Beer Bellys 66 - Carolina Rebels 132
Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 106 - FR-S 81
Żubr Białystok 128 - Las Vegas Silver Stars 118

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 132 : Carolina Rebels
Rebounds : 79 : San Dominica Warriors
Assists : 40 : Carolina Rebels
Steals : 11 : FR-S
Block Shots : 12 : San Dominica Warriors

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 31 : G. Bolcioni (BKDogs)
Rebounds : 19 : J. Smug (209’s MostWanted)
Assists : 12 : D. Allen (Carolina Rebels)
Steals : 4 : P. Matkowski (BKDogs), Y. Georgoulis (The Beer Bellys)
Block Shots : 5 : É. Blanchet (San Dominica Warriors)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : S. Szuster (Las Vegas Silver Stars) (24 Points, 3 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 29
Shooting Guard : R. Singh (Lion Rebels) (20 Points, 4 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 3 Steals, 0 Block Shots), T. Plummer (Carolina Rebels) (19 Points, 7 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots), C. McNutt (Żubr Białystok) (25 Points, 1 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 23
Small Forward : L. Arevalo (Carolina Rebels) (30 Points, 4 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 35
Power Forward : J. Smug (209’s MostWanted) (19 Points, 19 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 1 Steals, 3 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33
Center : R. Ainsworth (Las Vegas Silver Stars) (26 Points, 13 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 29

MVP of the evening
L. Arevalo (Carolina Rebels) (30 Points, 4 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 35

The bad performance of the evening
A. Braka (Miami Cleo) (0 Points, 0 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -6

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

Player targeted by the referees : S. Szuster (Las Vegas Silver Stars) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : S. Huerta (Lion Rebels), P. Ngo (LionPride), M. Grimm (Żubr Białystok), R. Ainsworth (Las Vegas Silver Stars) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : T. Tovar (Linndale), T. Rumin (209’s MostWanted), L. Arevalo (Carolina Rebels), A. Guilla (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) : 4 Three points

The best performer : F. Hearn (Linndale), C. Holley (LionPride) : Rating : 19.0

The worst performer : H. Zare (FR-S) : Rating : 4.0

Happy Ourer: “Happy Ourer here with Air Allnite, Marshall Richards, and Coach Pio Reina with a special edition of the Pio Reina Show. Coach, let's get right to it. Air Allnite, the first question is yours.”

Air Allnite: “Why do you think this team is more talented than they actually are? Are you even sure this is a playoff team?”

Pio Reina: “I believe in my players. I know the organization is behind me. I know what these guys are capable of. Ask the teams ahead of us how comfortable they are. Are you doubling down on that garbage you peddled last season that ended up with you eating crow?”

AA: “You would bring that up again, wouldn’t you?”

PR: “Air, this isn’t last season, last season’s team or even last season’s league. We all got better. You look at the Big 8 and given the right set of circumstances, our sixth place team is a threat to make the postseason. Laugh now, but you thought we wouldn’t make it last season. How’d that go again? My job is to get us better and make us ready. We are getting better, and we will be ready when the postseason arrives. We fully expect to be there."

Marshall Richards: “Coach, how difficult is it to balance getting ready for the postseason with developing young players? It’s widely thought you don’t develop young guys.”

PR: “That’s tough. It’s obviously easier if you have a young talent with a high floor and a need to play him. I have to pick and choose my spots because our conference is so tough. Art Reese was ready defensively, but not offensively. He’s young enough that we think it would be foolish to give up on him. Rolland Reynolds was not ready and has even changed positions, but it would be foolish to give up on him. Serkan Sokmen, Mantas Petriukstis, and Trenton Tovar are young guys we brought in and helped them improve. Christophe Nguyen is another young player we’re working with. Rich McCain is the one I know everyone wants to talk about. Well, we’ve adjusted our training regimen to see if we can get him up to speed to do a few things. We’ll see how that works out, but he’s going to be here and we’re excited to see what this kid will become.”

AA: “I can’t believe you are buying that absolute garbage he’s spewing at you Marshall. Not a single player on this roster is home grown, and even if you stretch that definition, no one home grown is in a significant rotation spot.”

MR: “Watch your mouth, old man. Next time you eat crow, I’ll be force feeding it to you through a straw while you’re laid up in traction watching Pio and the boys in the postseason.”

HO: “Gentlemen, let’s calm things down before they get out of hand and regrettable things are said and done.”
PR: “Marshall I appreciate you standing your ground, but I got this; it’s me he wants. Air, your playing days are a good 30 years past you. You’re old, bitter, and frankly you say anything to get noticed. I’ll tell you what, let’s make this sporting. You’re qualified to be a coach, but I don’t think you’ve ever showed interest. If we don’t make the playoffs, I’ll bring you on as an assistant coach with real responsibilities. When we do, you actually find legitimate things to criticize about the team.”

HO: “Pio, you can’t be serious!”

MR: “Pio, you don’t have to do this!”

PR: “Gentlemen, it’s simple. Either we fail, and he can help make us better, or we succeed and he’s irrelevant. Or, we fail, he refuses, and proves to be all talk. If we win, I win. If we lose, I win because I get a grizzled basketball mind on staff. If we lose and he’s all talk, I win and he shuts up. There’s very little downside from my point of view. If he does a crap job, I’ll fire him.”

AA: “You’ll never get to fire me. I’ll take that bet, that assistant position, and eventually, your job. You’re on!”

MR: “Is this even legal? Pio, are you sure about this?

HO: “It appears we have an agreement, and we’ll be back with more after a word from our sponsors.”

PR: “We didn’t attack on offense, so we didn’t get to the foul line. We didn’t shoot many threes or shoot particularly well.

lol, game plan is to attack inside, yet the coach wants players to shoot more 3s.