Hopefully the 4 remaining teams have shaken off the rust from the two week lay-off and we will see some better basketball tomorrow night than we saw last week.
O’Malley v. Shimko -3 (Most everyone believes that this is the real Championship Game) -this game will feature a re-match of sorts in that McCann and Shimko matched up against each in the Final 4 last year albeit with totally different teams. However, Shimko has surrounded himself with a completely different type of team than he had last year and although Team O’Malley finished with the Number 1 seed (as did McCann’s team last year) Team O’Malley might not been as strong as Team Green was last year. As last year’s game did, this game will come down to who wins the McCann/Shimko match-up and based on what happen in their two games against each other this year, I expect there to be some fireworks maybe even a technical or two. Shimko will go with the risky strategy of having Hall guard McCann saving his energy for the offensive end
Hall v. McCann- big edge to McCann this will not be a true match-up because McCann will be guarding Shimko
Glanville v. Bendo -edge Bendo
O’Malley v. Bedell- slight edge to O’Malley
Shimko v. Petrak- big edge to Shimko
Tyler v. Gainer edge Gainer
DeCarlo v. Garmes even
Bench edge Shimko (Shimko has a short bench without George, Sr. or Abe but will get more out of their bench than Team O’Malley who may only go 6 deep)
Coaching O’Malley v. Shimko edge Shimko
Intangibles- even good players have bad nights-if either Shimko or McCann have a bad night their team will follow suit but Team Shimko might have a slight edge with as MJ use to say “my supporting cast” with Bendo being the biggest difference maker. Will Team O’Malley be able to exploit the McCann/Hall match-up and force Team Shimko to go to plan B. Expect Bedell to once again be the “x” factor for Team Shimko. Neither team is great defensively so I expect this to be a high-scoring game(as flashbacks from Team O’Malley’s offensive performance still haunt me). O’Malley will have to shake off his season long shooting slump and hit multiple 3s while making Alex working extra hard by moving without the ball.The winner of the Bendo/Glanville match-up could decide the game. Another match-up to keep an eye is the Gainer/Tyler match-up both will have to contribute some easy baskets down low. Petrak will be the “x” factor for Team O’Malley. Team O’Malley will not rely on its bench but Team Shimko could get a big boost from its bench from both Garmes and Rees if the lights are not too bright. This game could come down to the last possession and FTS.
Team Statham -5 v. Team Healy- the outcome of this game could depend on whether Marinier plays and if he plays how effective he can be. Assuming he does not play, Team Statham will have a slight edge because they have a few more scoring options. Team Healy will have to rely heavily on their size advantage and their Bigs will have to score. Without Mariner and Brown, these are two teams with very contrasting styles and it will interesting to see which style prevails. If Marinier plays, all the match-ups change and the advantage goes back to Team Healy.
Late addendum: Marinier is officially out for the game which is a big blow to Healy’s chances and puts more pressure on their star replacement player to shoulder the scoring load but by no means assures a W for Team Statham.
Cosme v. Badon edge Cosme
Statham v. Sexuaer/B. Healy edge Statham
Nolan/Shrader v J.Healy even
Spain v. Alkofer- edge Spain
Alvosky v. Taft edge Alvosky
Bench- slight edge to Team Statham
Coaching- Healy v. Statham Big edge to Statham
INTANGIBLES- Will Team Statham’s Championship experience and team chemistry developed by playing almost 2 full seasons together be enough to carry the day? Team Statham played better(at least on the defensive end) last week but continues to struggle on the offensive end despite have a number of weapons. If they struggle again, Team Healy moves on. If the Bash brothers can dominate the boards and each score double-digits, it will be a long night for Team Statham but Nolan and Shrader may be two of the most under-rated big men in the league-both do all the dirty work and run the floor extremely well and play bigger than they are. Will team Statham employ a “hack a shack” approach and force the Healy boys to make FTs. If Team Statham can hold their own on the boards and get out and run, will Team Healy be able to keep up. Badon loves to take the ball and go but will his team mates be able to go with him. Alkofer will be the “x” factor for Team Healy but Sexauer will have to contribute on the offensive end. Alvosky, Spain, and Greeno all will be “X” factors for Team Statham on the offensive end as Team Healy will focus on stopping Cosme and Statham but the biggest X factor for Team Statham will be whether Cosme and Statham can get hot from beyond the ARC. If both Cosme and Statham can get open looks and knock them down and, that is a big IF, it will be a long night for Team Healy.
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