PlacidSport (Hudsonian Newswire)

[Hudson Islands]

2019 PLACIDBASKET OFFSEASON PREVIEW

Botley Bulls

The capital side was quickly dispatched in round one of the playoffs and now find themselves in a tricky situation. Jahjesh Singh, perhaps the best player in Hudsonian basketball history, is 33 and has just one year remaining on his contract. The team is mostly filled with older players, and while they have the allure of playing with Singh, they have no real assets in order to get players by means other than Free Agency. The Bulls do not have a first round draft pick. This coming offseason will likely see a surge in non-Placid talent coming into the league, and the Bulls do have two Non-Placid roster spots. Their best hope for contending into the future requires them to acquire superstars with both of them (and do so with only about $15 million in salary cap space).

Charlottetown Mammoths

They've now arrived for real, although their semi-final sweep at the hands of the Saints temporarily embarrassed them. The Mammoths are in great shape as they have one of the league's strongest cores in Ciro Caporaso, Momo Côté and big man Evan Watson, and they've built a squad that can run and gun with the best of them. Their offseason objective may be to try to trade some rotational backcourt depth for a stretch big to play up front with Watson.

Dover Pheasants

The Pheasants just missed the playoffs last season and now Jaylen Morris's contract is up. The 29 year old point guard wants to win a title, and it's tough to tell if he thinks he can do it in Dover. The Pheasants are a bit asset poor, as their young players haven't quite panned out as expected. Alexy Anderson has established himself as a starter but not an excellent one- he can score efficiently but he provides nothing defensively. Players who could shore up his shortcomings might help push him into star territory, but they may have trouble acquiring them if they can't retain Morris.

Georgetown Puffins

The Puffins' rebuild is an unusual one, as they seem to be starting entirely from scratch. They have nine pending free agents, and only 25 year old center Alessandro Casagrande is signed up beyond 2020. Casagrande is not an all-star, but he's on a very team friendly contract and is a good secondary or tertiary piece on a top club. The Puffins have two first round picks and 3 Non-Placid roster spots, so it's almost impossible to know what this team will look like next year, but expect them to be different!

Manchester Tigers

The Champs! The Tigers were disappointed to lose to BC CSKA Tiraspol in Lisander, and now seem to have their sights set for bigger fish than just PlacidBasket. Frankly, their fairly well suited going forward, although 24 year old Bradley Walker just won Finals MVP and is now a free agent. There's no real reason to think he won't be re-signed, but Tigers management will have their work cut out for them in trying to keep his cap hit low. David Stoltz's club have only one Non-Placid roster spot, but with their objective now being International domination, expect them to be in the hunt for another- they may trade a draft pick for one.

Les Patriotes de Toureuil

The Pats and wunderkind GM Maxime Bruneau-Cloutier are encouraging their supporters to trust that they have a strong future, but at the moment it's tough to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Their team is young but lacks potential superstar talent, unless you really squint when looking at Sebastian Harris. They have cash to burn, along with draft picks and Non-Placid roster spots, they will likely be one of the most active teams in the coming weeks.

Placidiana City Warriors

The Warriors just barely squeaked into the Playoffs and remain at a bit of a crossroads. Their 2nd and 3rd options, Nathaniel Jennings and Miles Gilbert, both need to be re-signed, and like many teams, they are highly asset poor. There's no real reason to think the Warriors are championship contenders, but they may be locked into their core for a while anyway.

St. Patrick Saints

Disappointed to have not won the title, and also to have lost to BC Admiral Novorossiysk in Lisander, they nevertheless are still among the league's elite. They have to re-sign Celso Iaquinta and come to a decision on swingman Momo Lebel, but they should be able to make it happen. Expect them to compete for the title and for IUBC glory again next season.

Stratford Storm

The Storm consider themselves title contenders and will be loathe to break up a core of talented players mostly in their primes. Their big decision will be whether they want to give big money to Angel Vidal or let him walk, knowing they have big man David Dunn locked up already.

Summerside Jets

JoJo Allen is 28 years old and the best hero-ball player in a league that is moving away from that style of play. The Jets were a HUGE disappointment last season, but have the second pick in the draft and a ton of salary cap space. You do the math.

Trevona BC

A deep, reliable team that plays smallball and is run by all-star Mickaël Deslauriers, Trevona still needs to figure out their path forward. Not one to shy away from innovation, they may find their best strategy will be to heavily scout the international market for players who can fit into their scheme.

Wellington Polar Bears

Slow and steady wins the race, I guess. The Polar Bears have no stars and need Patrick Gibson to develop into one in order to have any prayer of competing long term. However, they also have few players locked up long term and could become big offseason players if they decide to do a quick rebuild.

[Hudson Islands]

2019 PLACIDBASKET SEASON PREVIEW

PlacidBasket: League of the Future?

PlacidBasket commissioner Max Hudson was interviewed at the finals of IUBC 13 in Soria, Lisander, as the Valanari Highlanders and Carloburgo Knights were playing for the title of the world's best basketball club. "In three to five years, I expect this game to involve one or two of our teams. And I hope at some point soon we'll be hosting this event. Hudsonian and Placidian Basketball are the future, I guarantee it."

To a degree, PlacidBasket has already delivered on this promise. In the offseason, a wave of top stars from around the globe joined the league. Will Accursio from the world champion Drawkland Net Corps joined Charlottetown. Newmanistan's Dwayne Murray and Banija's Amadou Secka joined Botley. Patriotes signed Katherine Burrell, the league's first woman, and also captain for the Elmanden District College squad that won NSCAA 8. Filindostan's starting centre Hari joined St. Patrick. Vangaziland Royals guard Jake Frost signed up with Wellington. Ivan Kostov of Siovanija and Teusland joined Summerside.

With additional foreign talent coming into the league comes an expectation that the level of play will rise, and more and more foreign eyeballs will be on the league. The team owners are betting big on themselves, with the hope that the salary caps will rise and more and more money will come in. Hudsonian Football has struggled with a similar effort, but PlacidBasket doesn't need to sell the world on an unfamilar sport- basketball is not as popular as soccer worldwide, but it's among the most popular sports. Millions around the globe tuned into the recent International Basketball Championship final between Drawkland and Quebec. Which leads us to point number two...

PlacidBasket: Source of Soft Power?

Placid Ocean is...not very placid at the moment. There is a considerable amount of political unrest continent-wide. As this is ostensibly a discussion of basketball, I won't go too deep into it, but the Auguste/Augostos are discussing unification in order to fortify their economic markets. The Hudsonian government are hoping to create a single trade market among the Placidian nations, ostensibly because as the largest economy it would allow them to wield additional power over other states. Many of the smaller nations are also recovering from a recent unwanted raid, and the Hudsonian government are withholding much of their help until a single market is formed. There has also even been discussion of Hudson Islands annexing much of Placid Ocean and forming a super-country, which is wildly unpopular among common people but is popular among Placid elite, as they know they will benefit by being able to participate in the Hudsonian economy.

All this does lead to basketball of course! Although Botley is becoming more and more of a cosmopolitan city and travel hub, and foreigners are coming to Hudsonian beaches, Hudson Islands has very little soft power internationally. Being home to the world's top basketball league would change that, and it's an open secret that the Hudsonian government has funneled some money into the competition in recent years (made more difficult by Augosto del Sud's national hydroelectric company Elettricaugosto being the league's official sponsor). What better way to ingrain Hudson Islands into the international scene than through sports? With foreign eyeballs on the league, they will see a functional, wealthy society that on the surface looks like a model for the world. And that's exactly how they want it.

Enough With The Bigger Picture, Let's Talk Basketball!

Ok, Ok, we will. As stated already, the league got considerably stronger in the offseason with the addition of a handful of foreign IBC stars. The league is already undergoing a change towards being a more run and gun, smallball league. Teams are shooting more three pointers and doing away with inefficient long distance two point shots. Coaches are preaching ball movement and team play, and discouraging straight up iso-ball for the most part. Players who can't shoot are expected to be essentially superstars in all other facets. A handful of the league's big men can shoot now, and with Patriotes' Katherine Burrell and the Tigers' Antonello Ciufo we're entering a world where very tall players can play positions other than Centre- and in fact can be the primary ballhandler on the team. Of course, Jahjesh Singh was the originator of this, but it's taken years for the imitators to show up. This is nearly a positionless game now, and we're all better for it.

Botley Bulls

The Bulls had one of the best offseasons by savvily deciding that they'd be best suited by acquiring some gunners to take advantage of all the space created by Jahjesh Singh being on the floor. They signed up Banijan three point wizard Amadou Secka and Newmanistan's sharp shooting Dwayne Murray. They desperately needed to shed some salary to get under the cap, though, so they got fleeced in essentially sending away competent big man Gennaro Pannaro to Patriotes for nothing in order to get Secka and Murray.

Their starting five is still not quite elite, but the Bulls have also quietly solidified their rotation, which should be one of the better second units in the league. However, they are old- Singh is 33, frontcourt partner Damon Littlefield is 32 and the only rotational players under 24 are first round pick Moussa Rancourt, Nicolo Medici and Secka (Murray). With their strong offseason the Bulls are a real contender again, but their cap woes meant they could only give Dwayne Murray one year, and Jahjesh Singh is also in the last year of his contract and wants to win another ring before he retires. Plainly stated, the chips are all in for the Bulls this year.

Charlottetown Mammoths

The Mammoths made a huge splash in the offseason by picking up Drawkland Net Corps forward Will Accurso- along with Evan Watson, Ciro Caporaso and Mohamed Zakaria Côté they now have potentially four all-stars. They also have one of the league's deepest rotations- swingman Khalid Hussein feels like he's about ready to take the next step to being a PlacidBasket star. By all accounts they should be the favorite to win the league if everyone can stay healthy, assuming nothing else happens around the league.

That being said, not everything is rosy in Charlottetown. Will Accursio's size should help, but this is a small team these days. They never did get their second big man, as Accursio doesn't necessarily play down low. They got badly outrebounded by the Saints in the playoffs last year, and project to be one of the weaker teams on the glass this year. That may not matter, but with the level of play rising league-wide, it may.

Dover Pheasants

The Pheasants are in trouble long term, but in the moment they may be ok. They just locked up guard Jaylen Morris to the league's richest contract for 5 years, although at 29 he'll be out of his peak by the time it's up. The Pheasants' starting five can honestly compete, and they feel like they got a rising star in sixth pick in the draft Telvin Lopez, who was the best player in the offseason leagues. Their depth is not spectacular and with Morris and Raheem Sanders they rely heavily on two small guards, both of whom are decent shooters but are perhaps better creators or iso players. As the modern game gets more and more about efficient shooting/the three ball, they may get left in the dust.

Georgetown Puffins

The Puffins are in the middle of a full rebuild, but they had a pretty decent offseason! They almost certainly will not make the playoffs, but they now go into the season with four starters 25 years of age or under, two of whom are first round draft picks- 1st pick Marc Torres and 10th pick Kaiden McRobie. The team also has a lot of salary cap space and hasn't waded into the waters of Non-Placid players yet, but internal growth could lead them to the promised land sooner rather than later. Alessandro Casagrande and the aforementioned Torres could become a fearsome pick-and-roll tandem if that's the direction the Puffins offense is going to lead.

Manchester Tigers

The Champs! The Tigers are in talks to bring over Leo Baxter from Abanhfleft, which would be the biggest coup for PlacidBasket yet. However, as a result, they had to break up the band so to speak and move on from just about everyone outside of their starting lineup. They still haven't gotten a signature from Baxter either, so it's entirely possible with the season fast approaching that they will have slipped a spot as a result of taking the biggest gamble. Of course, should they be denied by one of the biggest stars in the world, they could reach back into the well and try to sign other foreigners.

As currently composed they are still contenders, but do seem to be a step behind Charlottetown, the Saints and even Botley. They are likely the biggest work in progress yet, though- write them off at your own peril.

Les Patriotes de Toureuil

The Pats made one of the offseason's big splashes by signing Drawkland's Katherine Burrell, both the first woman to play in PlacidBasket, and an NSCAA winner. They also made some big moves prying players away from teams who did not have cap space to retain talent- they were able to acquire Gennaro Pannaro and Angel Vidal this way. It may be tough for the team to fit them all into the lineup, but if they can do so (alongside world class talent Paul Coulibaly), the Pats may wind up being the biggest team in PlacidBasket. This will create lots of matchup problems for the wave of smallball sides, although they could also potentially get left in their dust. It's an interesting gamble, we'll see if it pays off.

Placidiana City Warriors

The Warriors just barely squeaked into the Playoffs and used up all their space re-signing their two key players to long term deals. Their core three players, big, mean rebounding machine Miles Gilbert, creative swingman Isaac Moreno and world class distributor Nathaniel Jennings are all locked up long term, and all are in their prime. However, there's little else to write home about- their rotation is filled with journeymen otherwise, and the Warriors haven't been creative or innovative enough in solving the problem. They are going to have to hope like hell that their three draft picks, Edward Graham, Aaron Korver and Josiah Griffin all come through if they want to have a rosy future.

Yet theoretically the future is not all that important to the Warriors. At this point their top two players can compete with the Mammoths, Saints and Tigers, so there's reasons for some optimism. Like the Bulls, their chips may be all in for the near term future.

St. Patrick Saints

The Saints front office must be hoping and praying that the influx of foreign cash into PlacidBasket will bring the salary cap way up, because at the moment they are screwed. Sure, they made among the biggest splashes of the offseason by signing Filindostan national team star Hari, a big man who can stretch the floor and now gives the Saints a weapon to compete with the Tigers' big lineup. And sure, Damien Labonté remains the closest thing to a competitor to Jahjesh Singh's title of best player in the league, and sure ANtonello Ciufo and Cristaldo Verga are excellent gunners. And obviously cry me a river that we got this far, but....this team's depth is bad. They were ravaged in the offseason by salary cap issues, and their rotation may wind up being only 7 or 8 deep, because the back of the roster is one of the worst in the league. This is likely not a problem come playoffs, but they may be in legitimate crisis if anyone gets hurt.

Of course, that won't be the narrative. This team won the league two years ago, made the finals last year, made the last 16 of the IUBC in their first try, and have the best starting five in PlacidBasket. Just be aware before betting on them, though.

Stratford Storm

The Storm let Angel Vidal walk to the Pats in the offseason and yet are still struggling with the cap. They are remarkably similar to their alphabetical neighbour the Saints, except without the history of success. Rather than running with 4 all-stars, the Storm rely on a starting lineup of five guys who are better than average but not all-world. David Dunn and Mario Santeramo are a great pick-and-roll combo, and Dunn is also one of the league's best rim protectors. The Storm have a bit of an identity problem, and honestly would benefit most from someone taking a big step forward or by trying to lure a superstar into town. They lack a singular talent who can take over a game, and in a league that's increasingly getting better, that seems like a big problem come playoff time.

Summerside Jets

JoJo Allen is 28 years old and the best hero-ball player in a league that is moving away from that style of play. The Jets were a HUGE disappointment last season, and don't look to be considerably better, although they made an intriguing signing in Siovanija and Teusland star Ivan Kostov, who can both get Allen the ball and shoot a bit himself. Don't expect too much from the Jets unless Allen is the best player in the league this year (which....is always possible).

Trevona BC

When PlacidBasket opened up its' doors to talent and eyeballs outside of Placid Ocean it was thought that Trevona BC would be one of the innovators in bringing in foreign talent. They've long been one of the league's most innovative teams, playing small ball and run and gun lineups for years. However, this has not happened- Trevona instead largely stood pat in the offseason, adding mostly through the draft, adding local big man Eduardo Mikele with the fourth pick, who is projected to slot right into the lineup. Their core players are good but in their primes, and they've made few waves thusfar so do not expect much from them.

Wellington Polar Bears

The Polar Bears are also in a full on re-build, and should give regular minutes to their two draft picks this season- swingman Devin Palmer and point guard Tanemahuta Goldsmith. Power Forward Patrick Gibson was a delightful surprise last season as he blossomed into one of the league's better shooting bigs in his rookie year despite being a second round pick. Their status as late bloomers however led them to a golden opportunity when Vangaziland Royals guard Jake Frost fell into their laps- the 22 year old opted to come to PlacidBasket after the IBC, and Wellington were essentially the only team with the money and a roster spot to land him. This gives the Polar Bears a young and strong core that likely won't win much this season but could be a force going forward.

[Hudson Islands]

HudCrick Season 1

Hudson Islands has a moderate tolerance for cricket, and the Hudsonian cricket board is trying to capitalise on this with the launch of the HudCrick T20 competition. It played out to modest crowds nationwide, most popular in posh Wellington (whose supporters were not rewarded with a good season), and in some of the suburbs of Botley, who were rewarded with a very good season. The competition was very tight in year one, with Rose City emerging from the home-and-away season in first place. They ultimately got a chance to play in the HudCrick Grand Slam Final at the Rose City cricket ground, but all their hard work all season was undone by some absolutely miraculous batting by Greater Botley's Lance London, pretty much the only Blue who showed up for the final. London hit for a century, whilst the rest of his teammates put on perhaps the whole HudCrick season's worst batting performance. This has made London mildly famous within Hudson Islands, perhaps the best case scenario for cricket in the country.

Code: Select all

                              Pld    W   D   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts
1 Rose City Blades             14    9   0   5  2192 1931 +261    27
2 Greater Botley Blues         14    9   0   5  2036 2002  +34    27
3 Manchester Lightning         14    8   0   6  1957 1948   +9    24
4 West Island Rockets          14    8   0   6  1969 2020  −51    24
5 Wellington Cricket Club      14    7   0   7  2008 2042  −34    21
6 Botley Strikers              14    6   0   8  1973 1951  +22    18
7 Rocky Coast Whalers          14    5   0   9  1891 2000 −109    15
8 East Island Green Wave       14    4   0  10  1981 2113 −132    12


SEMI-FINALS
Rose City Blades 167/6 (20 overs)
West Island Rockets 146/8 (20 overs)

Greater Botley Blues 146/7 (17.4 overs)
Manchester Lightning 145/8 (20 overs)

HUDCRICK GRAND SLAM FINAL
Rose City Blades 136/3 (20 overs)
Greater Botley Blues 137/9 (14 overs)

Hudson Islands (HUD) entrants:
Greater Botley Blues
Rose City Blades

[Hudson Islands]

2019 SEASON TIPOFF!

ROUND ONE:
Dover Pheasants 106–124 Wellington Polar Bears
Botley Bulls 104–113 Patriotes
Charlottetown Mammoths 96–107 Summerside Jets
Stratford Storm 115–117 Georgetown Puffins
Placidiana City Warriors 113–109 Trevona BC
St. Patrick Saints 117–96 Manchester Tigers

Wow! What an opening tip to the season. The Tigers were wheeling and dealing up until opening day, where a finals rematch awaited against a hungry Saints team. They haven't quite put pen to paper with a rumoured "World Class Talent" that they traded some space away for, and they got blown out of the water by a Saints side led by 33 from Damien Labonté. Elsewhere the Puffins' tank started out poorly when they shocked the Storm thanks to a stone-cold Noah O'Neill 3 to win it at the death. JoJo Allen handed preseason favourites Charlottetown a brutal opening day loss by dropping 40 on them. Vangaziland's Jake Frost put up 28 in Wellington's rout of Dover. Patriotes beat Jahjesh and the Bulls thanks to a 30 point, 15 rebound, 5 block effort from Paul Coulibaly. The Warriors got 35 from big money man Isaac Moreno to put down L'Arancia.

ROUND TWO:
Wellington Polar Bears 96–106 Manchester Tigers
Trevona BC 110–106 St. Patrick Saints
Georgetown Puffins 111–112 Placidiana City Warriors
Summerside Jets 101–103 Stratford Storm
Patriotes 107–103 Charlottetown Mammoths
Dover Pheasants 98–114 Botley Bulls

The Tigers weren't about to lose two in a row, they spread the ball around and got a big 10 point win over a game Wellington team. Aralus Mar-Shayal put up 18 points and 13 boards to propel Trevona past the Saints. Noah O'Neill had a chance to hit a second straight game winner, but his shot clanged off the rim and the Warriors got a 1 point win in Georgetown, thanks to another strong Isaac Moreno outing. New Storm guard Khalid Hussein looks like the star he said he was in Charlottetown as he and JoJo Allen traded blows all through an exciting Jets-Storm contest. Hussein scored 31, Allen scored 35, and the Storm snuck out a two point win. The Patriotes are looking beautiful with a win over a surprisingly poor Charlottetown team who are now 0-2 and whose new acquisitions seem to not be gelling yet. Meanwhile, Katherine Burrell got the best of her compatriot Will Accursio with a special 13 point, 12 assist, 9 rebound effort. 3rd overall pick Tony Dragic got into the action with 17 points of his own for the Pats. The Bulls rained 3s down on Dover, Jahjesh Singh scored 29, Dwayne Murray scored 23 and Amadou Secka scored 19.

ROUND THREE:
Botley Bulls 97–114 Wellington Polar Bears
Charlottetown Mammoths 120–106 Dover Pheasants
Stratford Storm 114–114 Patriotes (120–121 OT)
Placidiana City Warriors 126–121 Summerside Jets
St. Patrick Saints 131–102 Georgetown Puffins
Manchester Tigers 104–108 Trevona BC

Wellington look legit! Jake Frost has been dynamite, putting up 34, outscoring Jahjesh. The Mammoths got a great outing from their bench to put away Dover and get on the right track. The Pats and Storm played a great game and the Patriotes got a big game from big Angel Vidal, who blocked 8 shots! Isaac Moreno has been the early season MVP, putting up 39, seemingly spurred on by being guarded by JoJo Allen. The Saints blew the doors off of Georgetown, who had absolutely no answer for Hari, the Saints' big Filindostani three point gunner, who scored 29. Things need to turn around fast for the Tigers, who got beat at home by Trevona, who played great team ball- Aralus Mar-Shayal, Marco Zarello and Anouk Bernard all scored at least 15.

Code: Select all

                               Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts
 1 Patriotes                      3    3   0   341  327  +14     3
 2 Placidiana City Warriors       3    3   0   351  341  +10     3
 3 St. Patrick Saints             3    2   1   354  308  +46     2
 4 Wellington Polar Bears         3    2   1   334  309  +25     2
 5 Trevona BC                     3    2   1   327  323   +4     2
 6 Summerside Jets                3    1   2   329  325   +4     1
 7 Charlottetown Mammoths         3    1   2   319  320   −1     1
   Stratford Storm                3    1   2   338  339   −1     1
 9 Botley Bulls                   3    1   2   315  325  −10     1
10 Manchester Tigers              3    1   2   306  321  −15     1
11 Georgetown Puffins             3    1   2   330  358  −28     1
12 Dover Pheasants                3    0   3   310  358  −48     0

[Hudson Islands]

2019 PlacidBasket Rounds 4-11

The other shoe drops

Shortly after round 3 the defending champion Manchester Tigers, who had struck out on the international market in the offseason and looked lost through the early games, called a press conference. The Tigers impressively were able to seal up any leaks, and when the media assembled they had no idea what they were getting. Management assembled in front of the usual backing of team and corporate logos, and when time started, general manager Trevor Curley announced perhaps the biggest bombshell in PlacidBasket history. The club had traded long time big man Youssuf Moreau to Georgetown for a 2nd round pick and waived some bench depth in order to free up space to announce the signings of Fleftic legend Leo Baxter and Cosumarian legend Warren Cross.

The press were floored at the announcement, and quickly wondered how these two would share the floor with Kelly Douglas III, and why they were both coming to PlacidBasket. Curley told the assembled press that Baxter felt as though the Tigers provided the best deal and should be available come round 5. The FBA is coming off of a year long lockout and with his contract with his FBA team was now void. Baxter, the captain of the world #1 ranked Abanhfleft national team is 32 years old, and seems to believe in what the Tigers are doing and hopes to win the IUBC with them. Cross, an absolutely brilliant passer, will have no trouble getting the ball in the hands of Kelly Douglas III, Bradley Walker and Rahul Morgan, and he is also expected to be one of the key players for the rest of the season. He should be available for round four.

Elsewhere, another Cosumarian player, Robinson Kamara, signed with Patriotes. The 22 year old shooting guard is expected to have a long career with the Toureuil side, who are well equipped going forward.

ROUND FOUR:
Wellington Polar Bears 99–108 Trevona BC
Georgetown Puffins 100–86 Manchester Tigers
Summerside Jets 95–115 St. Patrick Saints
Patriotes 106–96 Placidiana City Warriors
Dover Pheasants 114–98 Stratford Storm
Botley Bulls 92–121 Charlottetown Mammoths


ROUND FIVE:
Charlottetown Mammoths 122–81 Wellington Polar Bears
Stratford Storm 94–122 Botley Bulls
Placidiana City Warriors 111–101 Dover Pheasants
St. Patrick Saints 106–100 Patriotes
Manchester Tigers 117–113 Summerside Jets
Trevona BC 103–101 Georgetown Puffins

ROUND SIX:
Wellington Polar Bears 98–111 Georgetown Puffins
Summerside Jets 123–110 Trevona BC
Patriotes 111–122 Manchester Tigers
Dover Pheasants 116–92 St. Patrick Saints
Botley Bulls 97–108 Placidiana City Warriors
Charlottetown Mammoths 105–116 Stratford Storm

ROUND SEVEN:
Stratford Storm 115–90 Wellington Polar Bears
Placidiana City Warriors 91–86 Charlottetown Mammoths
St. Patrick Saints 112–98 Botley Bulls
Manchester Tigers 121–107 Dover Pheasants
Trevona BC 108–87 Patriotes
Georgetown Puffins 106–106 Summerside Jets (114–113 OT)

ROUND EIGHT:
Wellington Polar Bears 102–90 Summerside Jets
Patriotes 96–87 Georgetown Puffins
Dover Pheasants 90–126 Trevona BC
Botley Bulls 87–107 Manchester Tigers
Charlottetown Mammoths 117–95 St. Patrick Saints
Stratford Storm 103–113 Placidiana City Warriors

ROUND NINE:
Placidiana City Warriors 107–106 Wellington Polar Bears
St. Patrick Saints 94–111 Stratford Storm
Manchester Tigers 95–111 Charlottetown Mammoths
Trevona BC 105–108 Botley Bulls
Georgetown Puffins 114–104 Dover Pheasants
Summerside Jets 104–85 Patriotes

ROUND TEN:
Wellington Polar Bears 90–91 Patriotes
Dover Pheasants 114–97 Summerside Jets
Botley Bulls 98–89 Georgetown Puffins
Charlottetown Mammoths 122–97 Trevona BC
Stratford Storm 89–90 Manchester Tigers
Placidiana City Warriors 99–102 St. Patrick Saints

ROUND ELEVEN:
St. Patrick Saints 109–99 Wellington Polar Bears
Manchester Tigers 120–89 Placidiana City Warriors
Trevona BC 122–103 Stratford Storm
Georgetown Puffins 102–91 Charlottetown Mammoths
Summerside Jets 97–108 Botley Bulls
Patriotes 103–89 Dover Pheasants


TABLE THROUGH 11 ROUNDS

Code: Select all

                                Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts
 1 Placidiana City Warriors      11    8   3  1165 1162   +3     8
 2 Trevona BC                    11    7   4  1206 1156  +50     7
 3 St. Patrick Saints            11    7   4  1179 1143  +36     7
 4 Manchester Tigers             11    7   4  1164 1128  +36     7
 5 Patriotes                     11    7   4  1120 1129   −9     7
 6 Charlottetown Mammoths        11    6   5  1194 1089 +105     6
 7 Georgetown Puffins            11    6   5  1148 1147   +1     6
 8 Botley Bulls                  11    5   6  1125 1158  −33     5
 9 Stratford Storm               11    4   7  1167 1189  −22     4
10 Summerside Jets               11    3   8  1161 1190  −29     3
11 Wellington Polar Bears        11    3   8  1099 1162  −63     3
12 Dover Pheasants               11    3   8  1145 1220  −75     3


FIVE STORIES FROM THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE LEAGUE

A Whole New Ballgame

We won't see much real separation in the standings for a few more rounds, but it's clear this is a whole new PlacidBasket. 1/5th of the league's starting lineups now hail from outside of Placid Ocean, all of whom are brand new to the league. Combine that with star rookies Marc Torres of Georgetown, the Patriotes' Tony Dragic and George Baird of the Jets, and we seemingly have a brand new league. The talent level is way higher, especially with the number of very good players displaced to other teams because the salary cap has not yet caught up to the new world. Starting next season we'll likely go back to a clearer stratification between the haves and have nots, but right now aside from maybe Dover and Wellington (who little was expected of) and the Jets (who were primed to explode), it's hard to say that any team is truly better than any other. Except for...

The Eye of the Tiger

After a rocky start, the Manchester Tigers' only loss after the arrivals of Leo Baxter and Warren Cross was in round nine against a Mammoths team with the league's best point differential, and who seem to have the magic touch for neutralising Bradley Walker. The Tigers have gotten insane contributions from their Big Four of Bradley Walker, Kelly Douglas III, Warren Cross and Leo Baxter- Walker is the league leader in rebounds, Douglas is fourth in scoring, Cross is first in assists per game, and Baxter leads the whole league in Player Efficiency Rating.

Everything Clicked For the Warriors, Until it Didn't

Placidiana City's continuity in a league of change looked like it may have set them apart early on, they were 8-1 through 9 games and Isaac Moreno led the league in scoring. However, they suffered two huge defeats to fellow 2018 playoff teams in a row, getting beat by a late Hari three pointer against the Saints and then getting absolutely blown out by the Tigers. Their non-Moreno players stopped performing at a high level a few games previously, and will need to start to click again if they are going to withstand challenges by...the entire league, seemingly.

The End of JoJo Allen?

The Summerside Jets have made it clear that they are tired of the antics of guard JoJo Allen, benching him for the last five rounds. GM Jarvis Durant has publicly stated that any team that wants to acquire Allen can have him for a song. Without Allen, the Jets are maybe the weakest team in the league, despite strong efforts from rookie George Baird and Siovanija and Teusland's Ivan Kostov, who has been game all year but has nobody to pass to with Allen not on the floor. The Jets may be in tank city for the rest of the year unless they can get a good return for him. (OOC: TG me if you have a team interested in acquiring Allen, I can give you RP details if you do.)

Don't Bet on the Patriotes Just Yet

The Pats have been the darling of the early season for "building the right way", and at 7-4 the results show they are ahead of their GM's three year plan. However, don't expect the strong results to hold all season long. Their point differential is actually negative, and they seem to be feasting on the league's cupcakes- their win against Charlottetown was early on when their new acquisitions were not clicking yet, and they've lost to Manchester, St. Patrick and a strong thusfar Trevona team.

[Hudson Islands]

2019 PlacidBasket Rounds 12-22

Jets Suspend Allen

So, let's start this from the top. Long time Summerside Jets guard JoJo Allen is one of the best (if not the best) pure scorer in PlacidBasket. He doesn't pass much, he doesn't really play defense, his three ball is decent but not elite. Yet he is an absolute wizard of a dribbler who can drive and score on anyone in the multiverse. The Jets are not, however, an especially good team! They also have spent the last few years running an offense designed solely to let Allen eat, which has frustrated many of his teammates and discouraged free agents from signing with Summerside. The Jets have not been very successful, and a string of head coaches have suffered as a result. However, Allen doesn't see anything wrong with his play and feels as though he hasn't gotten enough support from the Jets, calling them out in the offseason- "I've been trying to win PlacidBasket by myself, and these guys? They're not on my level. The front office? They're not on my level. Coach D? I think he knows you gotta just give me the ball, you don't have to be on my level to coach me." he told an assembled crowd at a press conference. This, naturally, created friction between himself and the front office and especially coach Donovan D'Antoni, who promptly benched him after round five. Allen has not played again this season, and has stopped practicing and traveling with the team. The Jets are clearly hamstrung, as his contract is huge, and as bad as they were with him, they're not exactly going to be any better without him. Yet Allen is a toxic enough player, and the arrival of high priced foreign talent has temporarily made every team cash strapped, that it seems like it'll be impossible to move him in the league. The Jets and JoJo Allen are hoping and praying a team from abroad swoops in and can acquire him, but it does not look good...

ROUND 12:
Wellington Polar Bears 122–111 Dover Pheasants
Patriotes 102–97 Botley Bulls
Summerside Jets 104–101 Charlottetown Mammoths
Georgetown Puffins 99–100 Stratford Storm
Trevona BC 106–112 Placidiana City Warriors
Manchester Tigers 92–112 St. Patrick Saints

ROUND 13:
Manchester Tigers 110–100 Wellington Polar Bears
St. Patrick Saints 97–112 Trevona BC
Placidiana City Warriors 96–106 Georgetown Puffins
Stratford Storm 106–126 Summerside Jets
Charlottetown Mammoths 109–97 Patriotes
Botley Bulls 93–106 Dover Pheasants

ROUND 14:
Wellington Polar Bears 108–138 Botley Bulls
Dover Pheasants 96–125 Charlottetown Mammoths
Patriotes 96–115 Stratford Storm
Summerside Jets 85–124 Placidiana City Warriors
Georgetown Puffins 102–123 St. Patrick Saints
Trevona BC 96–107 Manchester Tigers

ROUND 15:
Trevona BC 101–100 Wellington Polar Bears
Manchester Tigers 123–97 Georgetown Puffins
St. Patrick Saints 119–101 Summerside Jets
Placidiana City Warriors 96–94 Patriotes
Stratford Storm 97–109 Dover Pheasants
Charlottetown Mammoths 120–97 Botley Bulls

ROUND 16:
Wellington Polar Bears 90–106 Charlottetown Mammoths
Botley Bulls 109–111 Stratford Storm
Dover Pheasants 124–108 Placidiana City Warriors
Patriotes 95–108 St. Patrick Saints
Summerside Jets 107–134 Manchester Tigers
Georgetown Puffins 98–114 Trevona BC

ROUND 17:
Georgetown Puffins 95–105 Wellington Polar Bears
Trevona BC 104–92 Summerside Jets
Manchester Tigers 117–92 Patriotes
St. Patrick Saints 110–124 Dover Pheasants
Placidiana City Warriors 94–109 Botley Bulls
Stratford Storm 96–123 Charlottetown Mammoths

ROUND 18:
Wellington Polar Bears 109–96 Stratford Storm
Charlottetown Mammoths 97–96 Placidiana City Warriors
Botley Bulls 101–90 St. Patrick Saints
Dover Pheasants 111–110 Manchester Tigers
Patriotes 111–96 Trevona BC
Summerside Jets 103–93 Georgetown Puffins

ROUND 19:
Summerside Jets 105–109 Wellington Polar Bears
Georgetown Puffins 109–110 Patriotes
Trevona BC 98–119 Dover Pheasants
Manchester Tigers 115–90 Botley Bulls
St. Patrick Saints 98–102 Charlottetown Mammoths
Placidiana City Warriors 109–115 Stratford Storm

ROUND 20:
Wellington Polar Bears 125–112 Placidiana City Warriors
Stratford Storm 115–103 St. Patrick Saints
Charlottetown Mammoths 125–110 Manchester Tigers
Botley Bulls 124–108 Trevona BC
Dover Pheasants 99–99 Georgetown Puffins (107–106 OT)
Patriotes 103–106 Summerside Jets

ROUND 21:
Patriotes 124–100 Wellington Polar Bears
Summerside Jets 89–103 Dover Pheasants
Georgetown Puffins 109–96 Botley Bulls
Trevona BC 87–118 Charlottetown Mammoths
Manchester Tigers 102–95 Stratford Storm
St. Patrick Saints 95–89 Placidiana City Warriors

ROUND 22:
Wellington Polar Bears 120–103 St. Patrick Saints
Placidiana City Warriors 97–106 Manchester Tigers
Stratford Storm 106–104 Trevona BC
Charlottetown Mammoths 99–88 Georgetown Puffins
Botley Bulls 116–99 Summerside Jets
Dover Pheasants 105–122 Patriotes


TABLE AFTER 22 ROUNDS

Code: Select all

                                Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts
 1 Charlottetown Mammoths        22   16   6  2419 2148 +271    16
 2 Manchester Tigers             22   15   7  2390 2250 +140    15
 3 St. Patrick Saints            22   12  10  2337 2296  +41    12
 4 Patriotes                     22   12  10  2266 2287  −21    12
 5 Trevona BC                    22   11  11  2332 2340   −8    11
 6 Placidiana City Warriors      22   11  11  2298 2324  −26    11
 7 Dover Pheasants               22   11  11  2360 2400  −40    11
 8 Botley Bulls                  22   10  12  2295 2320  −25    10
 9 Stratford Storm               22   10  12  2319 2378  −59    10
10 Wellington Polar Bears        22    9  13  2287 2363  −76     9
11 Georgetown Puffins            22    8  14  2250 2323  −73     8
12 Summerside Jets               22    7  15  2278 2402 −124     7


FIVE STORIES FROM QUARTER TWO

Back To Normal Up Top...Sort Of
Coming into the season, the pundits had a clear top tier of teams- Charlottetown, St. Patrick, Botley and Manchester, should they bring in reinforcements (which they absolutely did). Patriotes also had hype, as did Stratford, and everyone knows the Warriors have a great lineup and a weak bench. Early PlacidBasket results were crazy, with teams like the Polar Bears and Trevona in the mix among the elite, and Patriotes playing more like a team of today than a team of the future.

Halfway through, the table is getting more and more stable, and it's shaking out...roughly as expected. Up top, the all all-star Charlottetown Mammoths have learned to work together and are coasting to far and away the league's best +/-, best record at 16-6, and are on a nine game win streak. You could absolutely make a case for all five starters (AND sixth man Raul Nunez) to be PlacidBasket all-stars- Evan Watson has developed into a rangier big man than he was before, leaving the down low dirty work to Pierre-Ian McArthur, who has been utterly dominant. Drawkian big Will Accursio has created a series of mismatch problems on the wing for other teams, and all this has created a ton of open shots for Ciro Caporaso and Momo Côté. The only reason one would bet against the Mammoths this year is you really believe in the...

...Manchester Tigers, who are on a similarly hot streak and are only one game behind Charlottetown. The Tigers are only on a two game win streak, having lost by 15 in Charlottetown to the Mammoths, against whom they've yet to notch a win this year. The two seem destined to meet each other in the finals, and we have reason to believe it'd be a classic, although we are certainly nervous about the fact that the Tigers are 0-2 against them thusfar. Still, Leo Baxter has been exceptional as expected, and with him and Warren Cross at the helm, the team's ball movement has been extraordinary. They don't have the natural shooters the Mammoths have, but it almost doesn't matter considering how few contested shots they have to take thanks to the incredible court marshalling.

Disappointment Under The Egg
Although they're just a game out of the playoffs at the moment, there is some disappointment in our nation's capital. Jahjesh and the gang expected to be among the elite this season, so sitting in eighth at the halfway point is simply unacceptable. They've been besieged by injuries to their bigs, and it's looked like Singh has had to work harder than usual to play his game. Now, he's still been fantastic, but he has to be worried his time as the undisputed champ may be coming to an end. The Bulls have a little bit of cap space, so they may wind up being big movers at the deadline.

Nobody Can Keep Up With Isaac Moreno
Following up from Q1, Isaac Moreno is probably the MVP thusfar this season (although this may be the toughest race ever). The Warriors maintain a spot in the playoffs at the moment, and are 7th in +/-, meaning their record is roughly correct, and you could make a case that's all due to him. He keeps a lower profile than many of the league's other stars, but on national TV in round 18 he scored 32 and limited Will Accursio to his worst game of the year, but it simply wasn't to be as the Warriors lost to the Mammoths. They went on to lose to the Tigers and Saints in subsequent weeks, so it does not seem as though Moreno will be enough to bring them far into the playoffs.

Speaking of the MVP Race
Isaac Moreno leads the league in scoring, and has a seemingly mediocre team in the playoff picture. Leo Baxter leads the league in player efficiency rating and his team is in second, although they're loaded with stars. Jahjesh Singh is top 10 in basically everything, because he is a wizard. It's tough to pick anyone from the league's best team as MVP, because their starting five are all elite players. At the moment it's seemingly impossible to pick an MVP, although with half a season left to go, thankfully we do not have to yet!

Who Will Be Buying At the Deadline?
As established, no team has significant money right now under the salary cap, so the trade deadline will likely be uneventful compared to years past. However, it may not transpire entirely without action! Injuries to big men on the Bulls have negatively impacted them greatly, and they have about 2 million left (which becomes closer to 5 million at the deadline). If Summerside is simply giving up at this point, a big like Jude Wells (on an expiring deal) or Andrea Cirillo could be moved, which may have a tremendous benefit for a team like Botley. Trevona center Rasheed Harris is also on an expiring deal, and has been made largely irrelevant by the arrival of Aralus Mar-Shayal from Ceni. Elsewhere, Saints feel held back by everyone they've thrown in the off-guard slot this year, and could be willing to splash out some draft picks to nab a bargain from the league's deepest position.

[Hudson Islands]

2019 PlacidBasket Rounds 23-33

The Saints Get Their Man
St. Patrick had spent much of the season rotating through various players at the off-guard spot along side Damien Labonté and getting nowhere- but with some extra cap space (especially since it is midseason) they nabbed Lions de Bezieres and Valladar national team guard Diego Lombardi. The Saints lineup is now Filindo 3-and-D big man Hari, young shooter Antonello Ciufo, creator Cristaldo Vega, Valladar national teamer Diego Lombardi and brilliant offensive star Damien Labonté. Is their bench also extremely shallow? Sure, but it looks now like the "Big Three" teams may be able to separate even further.

ROUND 23:
Dover Pheasants 105–91 Wellington Polar Bears
Botley Bulls 105–93 Patriotes
Charlottetown Mammoths 93–96 Summerside Jets
Stratford Storm 105–81 Georgetown Puffins
Placidiana City Warriors 118–108 Trevona BC
St. Patrick Saints 102–109 Manchester Tigers

ROUND 24:
Wellington Polar Bears 108–108 Manchester Tigers (130–129 OT)
Trevona BC 97–101 St. Patrick Saints
Georgetown Puffins 114–107 Placidiana City Warriors
Summerside Jets 109–96 Stratford Storm
Patriotes 96–100 Charlottetown Mammoths
Dover Pheasants 100–90 Botley Bulls

ROUND 25:
Botley Bulls 111–97 Wellington Polar Bears
Charlottetown Mammoths 102–96 Dover Pheasants
Stratford Storm 102–126 Patriotes
Placidiana City Warriors 108–105 Summerside Jets
St. Patrick Saints 99–96 Georgetown Puffins
Manchester Tigers 97–97 Trevona BC (104–101 OT)

ROUND 26:
Wellington Polar Bears 112–97 Trevona BC
Georgetown Puffins 114–105 Manchester Tigers
Summerside Jets 110–98 St. Patrick Saints
Patriotes 106–102 Placidiana City Warriors
Dover Pheasants 98–143 Stratford Storm
Botley Bulls 101–114 Charlottetown Mammoths

ROUND 27:
Charlottetown Mammoths 111–87 Wellington Polar Bears
Stratford Storm 106–102 Botley Bulls
Placidiana City Warriors 110–96 Dover Pheasants
St. Patrick Saints 93–90 Patriotes
Manchester Tigers 133–112 Summerside Jets
Trevona BC 126–124 Georgetown Puffins

ROUND 28:
Wellington Polar Bears 102–96 Georgetown Puffins
Summerside Jets 93–118 Trevona BC
Patriotes 109–96 Manchester Tigers
Dover Pheasants 106–96 St. Patrick Saints
Botley Bulls 98–106 Placidiana City Warriors
Charlottetown Mammoths 91–101 Stratford Storm

ROUND 29:
Stratford Storm 111–119 Wellington Polar Bears
Placidiana City Warriors 99–120 Charlottetown Mammoths
St. Patrick Saints 96–99 Botley Bulls
Manchester Tigers 101–109 Dover Pheasants
Trevona BC 114–108 Patriotes
Georgetown Puffins 103–124 Summerside Jets

ROUND 30:
Wellington Polar Bears 101–112 Summerside Jets
Patriotes 97–101 Georgetown Puffins
Dover Pheasants 97–107 Trevona BC
Botley Bulls 117–132 Manchester Tigers
Charlottetown Mammoths 122–96 St. Patrick Saints
Stratford Storm 88–100 Placidiana City Warriors

ROUND 31:
Placidiana City Warriors 129–125 Wellington Polar Bears
St. Patrick Saints 122–101 Stratford Storm
Manchester Tigers 107–107 Charlottetown Mammoths (123–116 OT)
Trevona BC 99–96 Botley Bulls
Georgetown Puffins 95–94 Dover Pheasants
Summerside Jets 113–113 Patriotes (118–120 OT)

ROUND 32:
Wellington Polar Bears 97–118 Patriotes
Dover Pheasants 122–102 Summerside Jets
Botley Bulls 99–92 Georgetown Puffins
Charlottetown Mammoths 112–102 Trevona BC
Stratford Storm 97–114 Manchester Tigers
Placidiana City Warriors 108–123 St. Patrick Saints

ROUND 33:
St. Patrick Saints 123–102 Wellington Polar Bears
Manchester Tigers 125–102 Placidiana City Warriors
Trevona BC 118–91 Stratford Storm
Georgetown Puffins 107–120 Charlottetown Mammoths
Summerside Jets 85–119 Botley Bulls
Patriotes 109–114 Dover Pheasants


TABLE AFTER ROUND 33

Code: Select all

                                Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts
 1 Charlottetown Mammoths        33   24   9  3620 3252 +368    24
 2 Manchester Tigers             33   22  11  3661 3459 +202    22
 3 St. Patrick Saints            33   18  15  3486 3436  +50    18
 4 Trevona BC                    33   17  16  3519 3496  +23    17
 5 Patriotes                     33   17  16  3438 3429   +9    17
 6 Placidiana City Warriors      33   17  16  3487 3532  −45    17
 7 Dover Pheasants               33   17  16  3497 3546  −49    17
 8 Botley Bulls                  33   15  18  3432 3440   −8    15
 9 Stratford Storm               33   14  19  3460 3558  −98    14
10 Wellington Polar Bears        33   13  20  3450 3605 −155    13
11 Georgetown Puffins            33   12  21  3373 3501 −128    12
12 Summerside Jets               33   12  21  3444 3613 −169    12


FIVE STORIES FROM QUARTER THREE
Who Will Be The Odd Team Out?
In this space we've discussed the "Big Three" plenty, so let's now move on to spots 4-6. There are four teams tied at 17-16 (with Botley and Stratford theoretically within striking distance, albeit unlikely) as we move down to the wire- Trevona, Patriotes, Placidiana City and Dover. Each presents a unique situation that's worth diving deeper into, and with only 11 games left it's tough to tell which team will miss the playoffs. At the moment, it's Dover on the basis of being a -49 Point Differential, but they're only 4 points behind the Warriors.

The Future is...Orange?
Currently holding down the fourth spot, Trevona BC are also fourth in PlacidBasket in +/-. They're third in PlacidBasket in scoring at 106.6 points per game, and they're getting contributions from everyone, including one of the league's best and most efficient second units. Their big offseason acquisition was excellent Cenian centre Aralus Mar-Shayal, who doesn't play much down low but whose height creates all sorts of mismatch problems for opposing teams. He's a unique player who attacks from outside but is a capable enough interior defender, which has also given Trevona some versatility in how they use Rasheed Harris. They don't have a lot of wins against top teams, but Trevona tend to beat the lesser lights, and should make the playoffs.

Blue is the Warmest Colour
Trevona's Auguste compatriotes, Patriotes de Toureuil are in fifth thanks to PlacidBasket's second best defence. They're also another team with a strong second unit, anchored by Juvencus point guard Calixte Dennel and shiny first round draft pick Jasper O'Connor. The 18 year old doesn't score, but not unlike Paul Coulibaly he represents a difficult mountain to climb for opposing teams. The Pats have gotten tremendous three point shooting from Robinson Kamara, fantastic court vision from Katherine Burrell, and of course fantastic defending from Paul Coulibaly. The Patriotes aren't an elite offensive team- they're a bit one-note in that they don't have too many players who can create for themselves, but as they say "defence wins championships"- so they're another team that should make the playoffs.

Warrior Spirit
We've spilled a lot of ink in this column about the fantastic season Isaac Moreno is having, so we'll spare you reading that again. This team should also make the playoffs, but we'd like to highlight a second Warrior having a decent season- point guard Nathaniel Jennings, who does seem to have an easy job setting Isaac Moreno up, but he's been creating some buckets for himself too- upping his scoring average to 13 a game.

Roadkill Pheasant
Despite being in seventh place, the Dover Pheasants look unlikely to make the playoffs. Despite consecutive wins against Manchester and St. Patrick, the Pheasants are simply too small. Their rout against Stratford identified a major flaw in the Pheasants that other teams should be looking to exploit- the Pheasants can't defend and they definitely can't defend inside. This isn't a total disaster, as few of the top teams hammer you inside, but down the stretch the best teams adapt- and Dover's obvious weakness is easily exploitable.

[Hudson Islands]

2019 PlacidBasket Rounds 34-44

Trade Deadline Wrapup
Well........there's not much to say here. With so little empty cap space there were very few trades at the deadline. Botley brought in Luke Johnson, former Wellington centre for a 2nd round pick. Botley were rumoured to be talking about acquiring JoJo Allen, which would have broken the internet and the Placidian basketball media, but Allen remained a Jet. Other than that, we saw a few deep rotation trades- Stratford got two picks from the Saints for rookie wingman Ian Ibanez, who has barely played. Patriotes feel as though they may be able to rehabilitate Mohamed Reda Bertrand, trading away their second round pick for him.

ROUND 34:
Wellington Polar Bears 96–117 Dover Pheasants
Patriotes 94–124 Botley Bulls
Summerside Jets 111–111 Charlottetown Mammoths (122–121 OT)
Georgetown Puffins 106–114 Stratford Storm
Trevona BC 89–99 Placidiana City Warriors
Manchester Tigers 101–108 St. Patrick Saints

ROUND 35:
Manchester Tigers 95–120 Wellington Polar Bears
St. Patrick Saints 100–107 Trevona BC
Placidiana City Warriors 91–119 Georgetown Puffins
Stratford Storm 109–107 Summerside Jets
Charlottetown Mammoths 106–99 Patriotes
Botley Bulls 126–106 Dover Pheasants

ROUND 36:
Wellington Polar Bears 108–108 Botley Bulls (114–120 OT)
Dover Pheasants 108–102 Charlottetown Mammoths
Patriotes 101–125 Stratford Storm
Summerside Jets 96–109 Placidiana City Warriors
Georgetown Puffins 108–116 St. Patrick Saints
Trevona BC 105–113 Manchester Tigers

ROUND 37:
Trevona BC 110–97 Wellington Polar Bears
Manchester Tigers 112–101 Georgetown Puffins
St. Patrick Saints 107–95 Summerside Jets
Placidiana City Warriors 113–116 Patriotes
Stratford Storm 122–105 Dover Pheasants
Charlottetown Mammoths 108–105 Botley Bulls

ROUND 38:
Wellington Polar Bears 82–130 Charlottetown Mammoths
Botley Bulls 107–96 Stratford Storm
Dover Pheasants 112–116 Placidiana City Warriors
Patriotes 106–122 St. Patrick Saints
Summerside Jets 106–110 Manchester Tigers
Georgetown Puffins 89–128 Trevona BC

ROUND 39:
Georgetown Puffins 114–108 Wellington Polar Bears
Trevona BC 119–105 Summerside Jets
Manchester Tigers 119–99 Patriotes
St. Patrick Saints 117–93 Dover Pheasants
Placidiana City Warriors 102–107 Botley Bulls
Stratford Storm 103–106 Charlottetown Mammoths

ROUND 40:
Wellington Polar Bears 103–98 Stratford Storm
Charlottetown Mammoths 121–109 Placidiana City Warriors
Botley Bulls 102–102 St. Patrick Saints (112–113 OT)
Dover Pheasants 100–113 Manchester Tigers
Patriotes 110–108 Trevona BC
Summerside Jets 103–112 Georgetown Puffins

ROUND 41:
Summerside Jets 112–103 Wellington Polar Bears
Georgetown Puffins 116–113 Patriotes
Trevona BC 120–103 Dover Pheasants
Manchester Tigers 105–106 Botley Bulls
St. Patrick Saints 97–107 Charlottetown Mammoths
Placidiana City Warriors 105–91 Stratford Storm

ROUND 42:
Wellington Polar Bears 96–107 Placidiana City Warriors
Stratford Storm 100–122 St. Patrick Saints
Charlottetown Mammoths 122–101 Manchester Tigers
Botley Bulls 122–103 Trevona BC
Dover Pheasants 105–101 Georgetown Puffins
Patriotes 107–95 Summerside Jets

ROUND 43:
Patriotes 116–96 Wellington Polar Bears
Summerside Jets 99–94 Dover Pheasants
Georgetown Puffins 108–109 Botley Bulls
Trevona BC 90–104 Charlottetown Mammoths
Manchester Tigers 106–101 Stratford Storm
St. Patrick Saints 107–104 Placidiana City Warriors

ROUND 44:
Wellington Polar Bears 101–100 St. Patrick Saints
Placidiana City Warriors 89–91 Manchester Tigers
Stratford Storm 106–111 Trevona BC
Charlottetown Mammoths 106–104 Georgetown Puffins
Botley Bulls 104–102 Summerside Jets
Dover Pheasants 106–87 Patriotes

FINAL TABLE

Code: Select all

                                Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts
 1 Charlottetown Mammoths        44   33  11  4853 4372 +481    33
 2 Manchester Tigers             44   29  15  4827 4616 +211    29
 3 St. Patrick Saints            44   26  18  4695 4570 +125    26
 4 Botley Bulls                  44   24  20  4674 4591  +83    24
 5 Trevona BC                    44   23  21  4709 4644  +65    23
 6 Placidiana City Warriors      44   22  22  4631 4677  −46    22
 7 Patriotes                     44   21  23  4586 4659  −73    21
 8 Dover Pheasants               44   21  23  4646 4745  −99    21
 9 Stratford Storm               44   18  26  4625 4737 −112    18
10 Georgetown Puffins            44   16  28  4551 4706 −155    16
11 Wellington Polar Bears        44   16  28  4566 4824 −258    16
12 Summerside Jets               44   15  29  4586 4808 −222    15


PLAYOFFS ROUND ONE:
St. Patrick vs. Placidiana City
Botley vs. Trevona

Saints vs. Warriors looks like it should be fairly easy for the Saints. The Warriors had to hold off a late surge by the Patriotes (whose swoon at the beginning of the fourth quarter put them behind anyway), so they've been playing playoff basketball for a few weeks, but it's hard to see them winning many matchups against St. Patricks. Diego Lombardi will likely get the task of defending Isaac Moreno, and he's a fantastic defender. Warriors Centre Miles Gilbert won't be able to handle the outside shooting of Hari, and Damien Labonté's creativity won't be restrained by Nathaniel Jennings, as good as he is.

It's tough to count out Jahjesh Singh in the playoffs, but Trevona will likely try with Aralus Mar-Shayal. Botley whooped on Trevona in round 42, and should be the favourites, having played much much better since the deadline. Trevona does have some pretty good wing defence, which will be critical for protecting against the three ball from Dwayne Murray and Amadou Secka.

[Hudson Islands]

2019 PLACIDBASKET PLAYOFFS

ROUND ONE (BEST OF THREE)
GAME ONE:
St. Patrick Saints 90–105 Placidiana City Warriors
Botley Bulls 118–95 Trevona BC

And away....we....go. The Warriors shocked the world on opening night of the playoffs through a 40 point Isaac Moreno effort and some cold shooting from the Saints. Moreno's virtuoso scoring effort allowed the Warriors to give extra minutes to some of their bench stoppers, and it worked- Cristaldo Vega and Diego Lombardi both had cold shooting nights. Meanwhile in the capital, the Bulls did it exactly like their coach drew it up, shooting 14-23 from three point range and exposing l'Arancia's lack of depth. Amadou Secka was repeatedly left alone, which you just cannot do- he scored 28.

GAME TWO:
Placidiana City Warriors 113–128 St. Patrick Saints (Series tied at 1)
Trevona BC 89–102 Botley Bulls (Botley wins the series)

The Bulls finished off Trevona easily as the series moved to Auguste, and as expected it was the Jahjesh Singh show, as Hudson Islands' greatest ever basketballer dropped 44 on Trevona, who alternated big men Aralus Mar-Shayal (who had a great offensive night) and Rasheed Harris on Singh. St. Patrick meanwhile got back into the game by improving their ball movement and vision and letting the game run through Damien Labonté, who paired with some strong picks from sixth man Sean Oliver, was able to find more and more open men and the Saints' shooting was dramatically better than game one.

GAME THREE:
St. Patrick Saints 110–91 Placidiana City Warriors (St Patrick wins 2-1)

There are some positive takeaways for the season for Placidiana City, but this game was definitely not one of them. They were already down by 25 at the half and looked totally lifeless, allowing the Saints to take their foot off the gas. As a result, newly acquired Ian Ibanez scored 20 off the bench against his hometown team. However, in the end, did anyone really doubt the Saints' ability to strangle the Warriors into submission with beautiful flowing team basketball?


SEMI FINALS (BEST OF SEVEN)
GAME ONE:
Charlottetown Mammoths 104–107 Botley Bulls (Botley leads 1-0)
Manchester Tigers 101–98 St. Patrick Saints (Manchester leads 1-0)

GAME TWO:
Charlottetown Mammoths 113–112 Botley Bulls (Tied at 1)
Manchester Tigers 118–92 St. Patrick Saints (Manchester leads 2-0)

GAME THREE:
Botley Bulls 105–107 Charlottetown Mammoths (Charlottetown leads 2-1)
St. Patrick Saints 109–106 Manchester Tigers (Manchester leads 2-1)

GAME FOUR:
Botley Bulls 116–112 Charlottetown Mammoths (Tied at 2)
St. Patrick Saints 93–114 Manchester Tigers (Manchester leads 3-1)

GAME FIVE:
Botley Bulls 97–111 Charlottetown Mammoths (Charlottetown leads 3-2)
St. Patrick Saints 105–108 Manchester Tigers (Manchester wins 4-1)

GAME SIX:
Charlottetown Mammoths 123–80 Botley Bulls (Charlottetown wins 4-2)

PLACIDBASKET FINALS
GAME ONE:
Charlottetown Mammoths 102–104 Manchester Tigers

GAME TWO:
Charlottetown Mammoths 107–119 Manchester Tigers (Manchester leads 2-0)

GAME THREE:
Manchester Tigers 112–101 Charlottetown Mammoths (Manchester leads 3-0)

GAME FOUR:
Manchester Tigers 92–104 Charlottetown Mammoths (Manchester leads 3-1)

GAME FIVE:
Manchester Tigers 129–123 Charlottetown Mammoths (Manchester wins 4-1)

Basketball is a beautiful sport, moreso than almost any other it relies heavily on a visual component. It's a high event sport- there are hundreds of possessions total in a 48 minute basketball game, and PlacidBasket is playing at a faster and faster pace each year as the push towards analytics and #disruption and efficiency has taught PlacidBasket coaches where the optimal shot is, how to get it, how playing a higher event game allows for less randomness and thus the lower skill teams should be playing slower and the like. Of course, lower skill teams have to be aware they are lower skill, or else they'll be caught up in their own hubris...

A few years ago, the nation of Marianne was known as Cotdelapoms and it was a highly stable nation that was a prominent participant in Rushmore politics, trade, and especially sport. It had a democratic, egalitarian society, really pretty much the ideal. They stayed away from military conflict, preferring to send aid. However, their economy was occasionally fragile, and thus begins the story of how HudBank is the Manchester Tigers of banks.

About thirty years ago, HudBank formed a partnership with Swift Bank, the biggest bank in "Anglo Cotdelapoms", headquartered in the city of Albionpool. In order to generate interest (pun intended) in the new Swift Bank partnership, they recommended particularly aggressive savings rates (in order to encourage flow of cash into the bank) along with an aggressive investment policy, buying up junk assets and the like. The Cotdelapomais National Assembly was immediately skeptical of Swift Bank and threatened to levy sanctions against them for violating the terms of the nation's strict financial regulations, but managed to escape any such sanctions after a wave election brought in the most conservative government in Cotdelapoms' history...

...Of course, the Cotdelapomais public loves consumer and labour protections, so getting them to vote against their own interest was tricky. At the time, the President of Cotdelapoms was a man named Jarvis Coquerique. He was sort of an anxious, tall, lanky, not especially smooth man. He was well spoken and very intelligent and thoughtful, but he had a tendency to put his foot in his mouth. Thus, in order to topple him it was necessary to begin to divide the public's opinion on him. This required an extensive disinformation campaign that took place largely in international sources- paying to have articles placed into foreign newspapers, propping up anti-Coquerique voices, funding books, documentaries, the like. There were always two premises- one that Jarvis Coquerique was a laughing stock internationally and that as a result, so was Cotdelapoms. The world was laughing at Cotdelapoms, but there's a way forward- economic might!

This was able to shift public opinion of the banking sector over time. There was a concerned effort to place a figurehead CEO of Swift Bank, a very handsome man named Manny Paris-Brest. Taking advantage of the Cotdelapomais' highly democratic and open society, knowing that folks would tend to be too polite to push back too hard in the marketplace of ideas, the HudBank group flooded Cotdelapomais television, radio, newspapers and magazines with glowing articles about Manny Paris-Brest, the friendly banker who was just so goddamn patriotic he couldn't bare to see Cotdelapoms struggle. He had a tattoo of a blue apple on his heart! He was well spoken, and he got the public in a tizzy. Come election time, sources sympathetic to loosening banking regulations won elections coast to coast, and thus within a year or two Swift Bank was able to generate tremendous amounts of money! The public was even more in the pocket of Manny Paris-Brest, and he set off to take control of the country for real.

After two terms as President Jarvis Coquerique was presiding over a roaring economy as a result of loosening restrictions, but the public was getting restless. Half the country hated him for selling out his far-left principles...the country's far-left principles, just because he was watching the rise of right-wing economic viewpoints disguised as patriotism and was too desperate to be liked to not cave in some capacity. He also liked the positive feedback he got from the power people in his ear since the economy was superficially doing well. Of course, he was also hated by a certain percentage of the country for responding too compassionately to the artificial crisis of high levels of Mytanar migration- a crisis that Hudsonian owned news media trumpeted on the regular, encouraging Cotdelapomais media to cover it using the same terminology in the interest of fairness and international openness.

So, if you're still reading, you probably know history well enough to know what came next. Hudsonian holding corporations swallowed up some of the biggest Cotdelapomais banks and stripped them of their good assets, leaving only their junk assets creating a house of cards that they then knocked over (or more accurately burned to the ground) by moving all of HudBank's debt into Cotdelapomais dollars. Next up the economy collapsed in time for a Presidential election, and Jarvis Coquerique was left to pick up the pieces of his economy against...Manny Paris-Brest. Fueled by a considerable amount of Hudsonian investments, Paris-Brest won. If you thought the Cotdelapomais economy was weak before, hoo boy, you haven't seen anything like the Cotdelapomais economy after 10 years of being run by a raider Banker backed by a shadowy foreign cabal.

Cotdelapoms no longer exists, because it's public eventually became hip to what happened and staged a revolution. The administration after Paris-Brest was that of Alexandre Torres-Bruneau, an activist who rose to prominence during the "August Revolution", a month long series of strikes and protests that led to the government overstepping its' bounds in the eyes of the public by using the military to quell the protesters. Eventually there was a coup and Paris-Brest was exiled back to Hudson Islands after vacating the Presidency, forcing a new election, and the savvy, handsome Torres-Bruneau won. Immediately the old welfare state was established, and in an effort to symbolically demonstrate the power of the people, the nation renamed itself Marianne (after the personification of Francophone Cotdelapoms), and many of the old Anglophone cities were renamed. Strict language protections were put in place to make French the official language, in part to put a symbolic thumb in the eye of the Hudsonian oppressors.

Of course, this all took place with few foreign eyeballs- Cotdelapomais/Mariannois involvement in Rushmori sport, culture, politics and the like was...minimal for decades. Few know what really happened. So, do you want to watch a basketball game?