The Playoff Brackets

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Tuesday, 09 February 2010

 

West Scores Week #12

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Monday, 08 February 2010

Analysis: The only movement in the standings resulting from this past weekends games was Rukus overtaking Titans for the #3 seed, which gets them a first-round date with SWAT, while Titans get to face Strong Island in what will be a rematch of last year's semi-finals between those two teams. For those who forgot, Titans prevailed last time around. The winner of Rukus (3) vs. SWAT (6) will play the winner of MKA (2) vs. HUMANS (7). Both of those series are expected to be highly competitive and while the higher seeds may be the favorites going in, any two of these four teams can realistically advance. Rukus' big three will be going up against SWAT's big four, and four is better than three, right? We'll see... HUMANS used their gym time wisely yesterday with a team practice to prepare some surprise sets for MKA. Watch out for the "Statue of Liberty" play! The winner of Strictly Biz (1) vs. Hitmen (8) will get to play the winner of Titans (4) vs. Strong Island (5). The Titans and Strong Island match-up should be epic and in past years this would be a kind of match-up we'd expect to see in the finals or semis, not in the first round. Having to play two games in one day may tire Strong Island out in the long-run however, so that's definitely something to keep an eye on, but don't expect to hear them complain about it. It seems everyone has written the Hitmen off after their 2nd half slide, but with a full squad, they can hang with anyone. Don't forget that Triggy is the reigning MVP and Simran is still the biggest inside presence in the league. Don't discount these guys, but at the same time don't expect Strictly Biz to take them lightly. Final Standings: 1. Strictly Biz (11-1) 2. MKA-NY (10-2) 3. Rukus (8-4) 4. Titans (7-5) 5. Strong Island (7-5) 6. SWAT (7-5) 7. HUMANS (8-4) 8. Hit-Men (5-7) ------------------------ 9. Jaguars (3-8) 10. Basketballers (2-9) 11. Panthers (2-9) 12. Ravens (0-11)

 

East Round One Results

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Monday, 08 February 2010

Analysis Not many surprises in the East to start off Round One of the playoffs. As expected, both Styl and Strong Island, the two favorites in these playoffs, are off to huge leads against Triple Threat and Force, respectively. Some may even call these leads insurmountable, but you still have to play the games just to be sure. Styl did it with dominant defense and crisp passing while Strong Island blitzed on the offensive end and Force simply could not get stops. Adrenaline has a slight edge over the Lions going into game two, which was expected (see below). These are two pretty evenly matched teams, but the speed and athleticism definitely favors Adrenaline. The biggest surprise to everyone but the Eagles was the fact that they are only 3-points down against 24/7 entering game two. You could say it's really anyone's ball game. It's going to come down to which teams makes the better adjustments heading into game two. 24/7 are still the heavy favorites, but Eagles are angling for that upset. After next week, we'll have East's "Final Four" ready to go.

 

East Playoff Power Rankings!

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Thursday, 04 February 2010

Strong Island Ranking: #1 / Record: (8-3) Probability of winning Championship: 32% Strong Island may have the 2nd best record in the East behind Styl, but the committee has them as the favorites to come out of the East. The reasons are simple: Not only do they have the most experience and balance out of any East team, they had to play two games every Sunday during the 2nd half of the season and they still managed to get the job done on most days! Styl Ranking: #2 / Record: (10-1) Probability of winning Championship: 28% When most people think of Styl they think it's just "Stanley and co." but they have been so dominant this season and have won so many close games because of 1) a very deep squad and 2) great late-game execution and free-throw shooting. We can't forget that guys like Davis, Sijo, and Sinu are players on Styl (other than Stanley) who have had all-star type seasons in past. This team is no joke! 24/7 Ranking: #3 / Record: (8-3) Probability of winning Championship: 20% The one other team that can legitimately be counted as a true contender in the East is 24/7. They started off the season on shaky ground but they soon started to mesh and bulked up in the middle at the trade deadline. It's no surprise that their only losses this season have come at the hands of the two teams ahead of them. Playoffs are usually about momentum and if this team finds theirs early, they will take it all the way. Adrenaline Ranking: #4 / Record: (6-5) Probability of winning Championship: 7% Adrenaline picked up their play in the 2nd half of the season as the schedule softened up for them but you could see that their confidence started to rise with the W's. They play hard and they got some all-star pieces on the team, but unless the shots are falling consistently, it's going to be tough for them to go all the way. Their youth and lack of overall size may be their undoing, but they're going to be fun to watch, that's for sure. Lions Ranking: #5 / Record: (4-7) Probability of winning Championship: 5% The Lions played their best basketball early in the season, but have run into injuries and attendance issues which has resulted in a disappointing 2nd half. The team's defense is not up to par with the top contenders in the East and we all know that defense wins games especially in the playoffs. The question with this team is "Which Lions team will show up?" Desert Eagles Ranking: #6 / Record: (4-7) Probability of winning Championship: 4% They just blew out the Lions, so some would think they would have a better chance than the Lions to win it all, at the very least. *But* it should be noted that they are in a tougher bracket with the likes of 24/7 and Strong Island awaiting them. The Eagles have the size to compete with any team but their problems have been turnovers and late-game execution. The pressure will be even higher in the playoffs, so it will be even harder for them to avoid late-game meltdowns. Triple Threat Ranking: #7 / Record: (2-9) Probability of winning Championship: 2% Triple Threat not only had to inherit the Bulldogs record, they had to try to come together in half a season. While they were in competitive in most of their games, it should be noted that they haven't faced any of the top seeds yet. It will be interesting to see how they handle a top-tier team like Styl. The smart money is on a blowout for Styl, but if the long-range bombs are falling for Triple Threat, they may be able to keep it close. "Triple" threat... such a fitting name. Force Ranking: #8 / Record: (2-9) Probability of winning Championship: 2% Force has about the same chances as Triple Threat does of coming out on top in the playoffs, but the reason they are ranked lower is because they, like the Eagles, find themselves in a tougher bracket, so the road to the top of the hill is bumpier, to say the least. Force closed out the season with an inspired game, but that can't erase the failures of the rest of the season. Still, as Lloyd from "Dumb and Dumber said, "So you're tellin' me there's a chance!".

 

West Scores Week #11

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Tuesday, 02 February 2010

Analysis: Week #12 of Regular Season games for the West is coming up on 2/7 (the schedule is already up). The evening games have been canceled. As announced earlier in the season, the top 6 seeds have clinched, at worst, a top 6 spot going into the playoffs. That means Hit-Men are locked into the 8th seed and the HUMANS are locked into the 7th seed regardless of the outcome of their game this Sunday (7vs8). Strictly Biz and MKA-NY have clinched the top two spots but MKA can overtake SB with a win this Sunday coupled with a SB loss. The remaining teams were all 7-4, so we looked at head-to-head results for the tie-breakers and Titans went 4-0 against the other 7-4 teams so they are sitting at the #3 seed for now. Week 12 games will likely shuffle the decks a bit in the middle, but not much else. If anything, some of these games might be nice round one or round two playoff previews. It's interesting to note that only one sub .500 team made the playoffs (Hit-Men @ 5-6). Standings: 1. Strictly Biz (10-1) 2. MKA-NY (9-2) 3. Titans (7-4) 4. Rukus (7-4) 5. Strong Island (7-4) 6. SWAT (7-4) 7. HUMANS (7-4) 8. Hit-Men (5-6) ------------------------ 9. Jaguars (3-8) 10. Basketballers (2-9) 11. Panthers (2-9) 12. Ravens (0-11)