And the finals are here! Congrats to Barking BassetHounds knocking me off and Breaking Batum pulling off the upset as the 6 seed beating #2 Martyball. David vs. Goliath final! Sheesh, I was going to say I think I had a great team minus the injuries, but I would’ve been bludgeoned by both Batum and Martyball as well! My comeback this year was an illusion… “Magic tricks are what whores do for money…. OR COCAINE!” Good luck to our finalists, and here’s how the semi-finals of the REL playoffs went down in the Razzball Elite League:
Semi-finals:
1st seed Barking BassetHounds DEF (5-4-0) 4th seed JB – Razzball
JB: Well, it was a fun run. Kinda like the app! That game is fun… Anyway, gave it a good ride this year, and while I could complain about all the injuries – Barking had them/DNPs just as bad throughout the week.
Narrow wins in steals and 3s with a W in FT% and TO gave me my four, and really only Pts was a runaway for the Hounds. What is the ultimate “what if?” of the matchup is if Whiteside doesn’t get stitches (or if Ibaka wasn’t hurt, but that’s old news), my loss of 8 blocks could’ve really been a +/-1 difference maker. Oh well, I thought for sure this would be a 2-7 loss sorta thing and I gave my cinderellas a good run. Snagged 19-year-old Damien Inglis with my last pickup of the year and will be really excited for my squad in 15-16. I probably will have the youngest team with nearly all my positions filled, so I can chase a buzzy rook in the draft as well.
Barking BassetHounds: Send in Oral Roberts! Immediately! Our teams need it.
In the all important category of did not play because of injuries the results were:
JB: 16 . Whiteside 3, Ibaka 4, Rubio 4, Scott, 3, Knight 2.
Basset Hounds 18. Lin 1, Martin 4, Boozer 4 (am counting him under tanking although he does not need Oral Roberts), Gallinari 1, Teague 2, Matthews 4, Lowry 2.
That is if I did this right and didn’t miss one or two.
Gawd. Somehow I survived this mess 5-4 with our injuries more or less canceling each other out, but as of this morning 8 of my players have an injured tag besides them. If Oral Roberts does not come now and impart divine miracles of health to this mess, We are totally screwed in the finals against a healthy Breaking Batum team.
Oh well. Such is life. I have always said these playoffs come down to the health of the teams at the time, and I think these finals will probably prove this point short of a miracle. But who knows, outside of Matthews (who was known coming into the playoffs), there are at least glimmers of hope for the remaining players returning this week at some point.
6th seed Breaking Batum DEF (5-4-0) 2md seed Martyball – IFBL
Breaking Batum: That went better than expected. We were up all week, I don’t believe we ever trailed. It wasn’t an easy win however, with a few categories close and could’ve gone either way. We were able to survive with an empty roster spot from Rose, and luckily, were able to drop him this week without him being a $1 keeper next year. With MKG possibly missing the week, we felt the $35 Rose was probably not a keeper for us, so it was an easy move. Barbosa has a 4 game week (not playing on Wed or Fri), so he seemed like a no brainer. Hopefully Millsap will be better than Butler for us (either would’ve started 3 games most likely for us), and he’s a potential keeper for $1.
Finals:
1st seed Barking BassetHounds vs. 6th seed Breaking Batum
Barking BassetHounds: So I thought about making a move dropping Boozer for a random FA player (Udonis Haslem) since Boozer is not a keeper for me, but I figured it was a coin flip between the Lakers coming to their senses and any FA acquisition getting meaningful minutes. Besides my team really does not need Udonis Haslem, it needs a miracle.
Anyway, we are here and where there is life there is hope. As I said last week, may the Schwartz (Space Balls) be with both of us. And may Lin, Lowry, Martin, Deng, Boozer, Teague, and Gallinari get better. Now.
Breaking Batum: Looking towards this week, we now get to take on a team who was probably our worst matchup all year. Health will likely be the deciding factor in this matchup. Good luck Barking BassetHounds!
Thanks again to everyone who played in the REL this year, and good luck in your deep dynasties this championship week!
