The “Pandemic Era” continues to be upset city…Who’s still standing…Again, totals next to the team are their max lineup score from the regular season, showing what their capable of. North Pole went down as Eric Williams became that infamous scorpion from the fable who stings the turtle carrying it across a turbulent river (causing both of them to die), that he is always capable of being…sigh…Maize and Blue Bloods got just 17.0 from Scheierman-one of the steadiest players ever, and, of course, their lack of frosh production killed them in a 4.5 loss that was preventable (if they had every solved a very solvable frosh position problem)…The Virginia Gentlemen finally produced some numbers, but, again, continued to put faith in DeShawndre Washington-who, once again, let them down badly, and, Brandon Johnson had a truly “El Stinko” week…The Psychos had a good week but unfortunately for them ran into a Prozac team that was also having a good week. It didn’t help the Psychos that Josh Cohen was way under his norm…oh well…time to adjourn to those moving on…
Upper Bracket
#1 Gator Bait (179.1) vs. vs. #9 Hoosiers (164.3)
#16 The Hoop (formerly known as The Hoop Guru) really blew it. Gator Bait could only manage to put up 140.0 (39.1 under their max) in their first-round matchup as Timme only averaged 19 for the week, Tucker Devries had one game and “locked in” 9, and, super frosh Handlogten averaged just 13.5 in his first playoffs (nerves). There could be some further “turbulence” for Gator Bait, but I doubt it. Of course, they will need all hands-on deck for a dangerous Hoosiers group that put up 172.5 (8.2 above their max). It’s not a stretch to say that the Hoosiers could put up another total above their max, which means that Gator Bait will actually need to be 160+ to advance. 140 isn’t going to do it. The Hoosiers got average guard play in the first round but Tubelis averaged 43.5. That’s not going to happen again. On the other hand, their frosh Gradey Dick was under his norm at 12.0 and figures to score more this week. There is a strong likelihood that GB will return to something closer to their norm, while the Hoosiers will almost certainly have to make up for a big drop in Tubelis’ average-even if he is on a tear for Arizona. Subbing Strawther for Spencer could be a plus or a minus. Strawther is remarkably unremarkable most of the time. Podziemski returns to the GB lineup this week. GB advances.
#5 Saluki YRD’s (151.8) vs. #13 KC Warthogs (150.5)
On paper, looking at their lineup averages above, this is a “pick-em” now. But I favor the YRD;s, as they have more explosiveness in their lineup with Antoine Davis, Jalen Wilson, and, Sanogo. For KC, Chris Brandon had been in hibernation and suddenly woke up and averaged 34.5 last week. Is that going to happen again? Could it happen again? Will it happen again? Not likely, maybe, probably not. Outside of the “Edey factor” there isn’t much “oomph” in their lineup. After a short absence, Jordan Brown returns to the YRD lineup as does the always unpredictable Terrence Shannon (in a bad way usually; he can go big or go…?). YRD’s should advance.
Lower Bracket
#2 Deep Valley Grouchos (171.2) vs. #7 House of Sparky (153.7)
The DVG’s hit 171.5 in their first round, HOS reached 145.8-which was under their max but enough to beat an underperforming Vindaloo squad. And that was with Enrique Freeman putting up 34.3 in 3 games (and, yes, he could do that again, Freeman is a stud on a roll), and Polakovich putting up 23.0. But again, for an upset to happen they have to probably score 155+ and get some help from some underachieving DVG’s. DVG’s are substituting Liddell for Broome (Broome averaged 33.0 but doesn’t figure to do that this week), which should mean a drop, and, Estrada probably won’t average 30+ again, but their lineup was solid as their lows were acceptable lows (no single digit games, low scores in the high teens) and they have a lot of firepower. HOS is putting Manny Bates in the lineup. While Bates has had his moments, they have been few and far between (17.4 season average) and he is not a plus. A move of desperation? DVG’s should advance.
#6 Prozac Pups (151.8) vs. #14 Hardwood Heroes (154.7)
This is the most intriguing matchup in the Elite 8 as it truly could go either way. Prozac was 10.7 points per game better than their season lineup average while Hardwood was 10.5 point better than their season lineup average. And a 10-point bump is attainable more than once, it’s not an aberration. Prozac probably won’t get another 28.5 from Kevin Samuel, 26.5 from Nelly Joseph and 24.0 from Domask, not to mention 21.0 from frosh Sensabaugh, although it is possible-I said not likely. All of them can reproduce those numbers, I just think they won’t quite get there. They’ve been getting good numbers from Knecht, and, DaRon Holmes figures to do better than 17.5 this week. As for Hardwood, it’s the same as Nolley (29.5), and Tyson (31.5) will likely fall short, but, on the other hand, Filipowski will probably bump up his 18.5. They are getting a boost from Penn’s Dingle, who is playing his best ball of the year. I am not going to call this one, but without looking at the schedule of each player, I do think that HH is better positioned, matchup-wise to advance.