Laddies, this is shaping up to be the greatest campaign in the, ah, proud history of your Angry Fish. Last night we improved to 3-0, besting a team that has given us fits in the past. Our best player – point guard Billy Lynch (don’t that sound straight outta Hoosiers) – carried the day, dropping close to 20 I think. Otherwise, it was an all around effort by our scrappy bunch. Final score was something like 60-50. Your Scrodes Bros representative also took the squad’s first charge of the season, which I must say, felt pretty awesome.
Like any dominant franchise though, we face some tough decisions ahead. Namely, a big-time roster crunch come January. (Note: at this time, cap space is not an issue.) As you now know, that’s when our Captain and starting small forward, Ferol Vernon returns from what was once thought to be a career-threatening injury. He will bring us to nine Fish - we have never carried more than 8. Average game night attendance is probably about 6.5 (mathematically speaking). 1 or 2 subs is generally ideal, get up to 3 and PT becomes kind of issue. Plus it’s tough to get in rhythm with that much subbing. (though our ferocious 1-3-1 zone is pretty hot when we’ve got that many fresh bodies).
Anyway, being one of The Deciders and all, I’d like to hear thoughts from you gentlemen - men whose basketball minds I have the utmost respect – on how best to deal with this stockpile of talent. Do we carry 9? Do we lose somebody? Technically, we’re supposed to let the new guy (Eric) go, but as you’ll see, he’s become pretty darned valuable. And in fairness, we can’t really get rid of anybody else. So, there’s the background. Now meet the roster: (Louis, I’m sorry, but I don’t have any hard stats to throw at you)
Billy Lynch: 5’10” PG. Strengths: Complete offensive game. Sweet J, good going to the hoop, excellent passer. Weaknesses: Defense is fairly average. Lacks a bit of physicality, can get burned by gambling. NOTES: Starts at 1; Played college ball at Babson.
Tim Manning: 5’11 G. Strengths: Understanding of the game, particularly on the offensive side. Quick hands on D. Weaknesses: Streaky shot. Lack of physicality.
SeanPat4: 6’3. F/C. Strengths: Strength. Girth. Hustle. Low post footwork. Weaknesses: Travels at least 3x a game. Suspect jumper. Fatigue. NOTES: Original Fish. Starter.
Adam Russell: 6’1. F. Strengths: Hustle. Right hand. Can shoot inside and out. Weaknesses: Shot selection, decision making. NOTES: “Not your shot Adam,” is a phrase spoken at least several times/game. Original Fish.
Bruce Gray: 5’10” G/F. Strengths: Arguably team’s most versatile player. Has been compared to a young Penny Hardaway. Slippery (and we do mean slippery, don’t we) menace on offensive glass. Weaknesses: thinks he’s Penny Hardaway; not real point guard by long stretch; not nice to refs. NOTES: Starts at 2. Original Fish.
Ferol Vernon: 6’1” SF/SG. Strengths: Composure. Overall offensive game. Court awareness. Weaknesses: Foul prone. Questions: How fast will rehab be? NOTES: The Captain. Original Fish. Once 100%, will again be starter.
Eric Marhoffer 6’4: C. Strengths: Hugeness. Rebounding. Shoulder hair. Weaknesses: Absolutely no shot outside of 2 feet. Highly foul prone. NOTES: Supposed to be a one season sub ONLY. SP4 is only one that comes close to playing his type of game. Offensively, resembles a carnivorous/non-vegan version of a 7th grade Ben Taylor. Fall ’07 Starter.
Sean Coffey: 6’1” G/F. Strengths: Tenacity. Rebounding. Defense. Weaknesses: Shot selection. Handle. NOTES: Original Fish.
Mark McGowan: 6’3” F. Strengths: Highly polished offensive game, both inside and out. Generally leading or second leading scorer. Weaknesses: Not many. Can be tentative at times. Occasionally foul prone. NOTE: Taking a night class on Tuesdays. Will miss about half of Fall ’07 contests. (shouldn’t be a problem next season). Starter.
There it is. I expect a long thread (or whatever you bloggers call those comment chain thingies) on this one.
10 comments:
It sounds like there's a lot of shooters on this team, I don't think you can afford to lose the big/new guy, since you would only have two "tall" players left (tall is 6'3" or above IMO). If I were to cut anyone it would be Adam Russell, based on the shot selection decision. Unfortunately, that's probably not possible. I say you solve the depth problem by convincing one of your hustle guys to assume a "sparkplug" role. You know, come off the bench at crucial times--five minutes left in first half, halfway through second half, and give five minute bursts of crazy, focused at tormenting the other team's best scorer, then quietly slink back to the bench.
I agree with Rafe. As long as you set groundrules that some just won't be receiving that many minutes, and get everybody on board with the strategy, depth can only be a positive.
What happened to Killa Cam? He was deadly from long range for a three minute stretch of one game. Athletic for a big man. A little too Sam Perkins with his love for the arc, I suppose.
I might have more to add later, but right now I've gotta go fill out some paperwork for the new job.
Nice work Lou. (I expected nothing less.) You're right, we can't really cut anybody - save the new guy - so Rafe's solution probably makes the most sense. But to give you a clear picture of the whole thing, I thought it necessary to provide scouting reports on all the fellas. (It's a good exercise for me too)
As for 'Killa' Cam, the only thing that sopping vag ever killed was our offensive sets. Most of those he was involved in, in fact. Sam Perkins is a pretty fair comparison, though (relatively speaking) I think Big Smooth had twice the range and would at least body somebody up from time to time.
Anywho, the Duffy effectively resigned his spot after repeatedly rolling an ankle last year. (However, rumor has it he's hucking up bricks for Crazy Steve Hopkins' squad these days.) Plus nobody really liked him anyway. Also, my sister dumped him.
Ouch Louis!
ps- BL: 28; TM: 30; SP4: 30; AR: 25; PH: 28; FV: 26; EM: 31; SC: 28; MM: 29
pps- I should this goes without saying, but I plan on competing at this relatively high level for many years to come. (we playing tackle at xmas this year?)
I think Rafe makes several good points, and would only add that you can sell the depth thing to the fellas with the "fresh bodies make for a well-oiled and lethal zone D" angle as well. But I don't need to preach to you about the lethality of a fluid defense...
Also, and forgive me if someone else already made this point (I skimmed), I think the groundrules for playing time can be formulated on very logical and fair premises; eg, original fish take precedence over non-originals.
One last idea is to implement a strict and mandatory chain-smoking regimen for all players. That way, you'll all need breathers a lot more frequently.
And I'd be remiss if I didn't point out some of the chestnuts from this post:
"Weaknesses: thinks he’s Penny Hardaway"
"Weaknesses: Travels at least 3x a game."
"Strengths: Hugeness."
While I'm not qualified to judge these people, I can parse a bit from what you've written using your words. Sounds like Billy Lynch and McGowan are lights-out; B.G., Vernon, Russell are next; and SP4 and Marhoffer are bodies. That leaves Coffey and Manning, and it sounds to me (and I could be wrong) that you were trying to find good things to say about your boy Tim. Being that Coffey is Original Fish, just judging from your own words, it sounds like Timmy could be the weakest. Then again, if you've got stars, someone with a "complete offensive game" would be an invaluable role player and one of the more valuable assets.
That's just what I think. I hope none of them ever read this.
W/R/T who starts, I'm not sure how much it matters, but it's probably a commonsense thing between length of Fishiosity and talent.
Thanks for all the love and advice boys. For those of you who expressed concerns about writing about the other members of Team AF, don't worry, none of them even know about this here blog.
Joiner, you're right, first cut (if there ever was one) would probably have to be Sean C.
And Sam, well, you're just brilliant. It's a pack-a-day from here on out.
Brisson, you're cut.
oh man, that gets me every time.
A word to the wise: If you do in fact cut someone, you'd be better off informing them that their option is not going to be picked up, rather that simply saying, "You're cut."
It will ease the pain.
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