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Alright so I know everybody is looking forward to the game this week between IXL and GEO, and I do agree that it is the game of the week. However, these teams have both been featured in the game of the week, and will again in the future , I'm sure. Plus I said I would do a preview of the most interesting game, which is........

Week 5 (2/1-2/4)
#5 DreamTeam3 vs. #5 Arkansas Kings

This is a game featuring two modestly talented teams in the hunt for a playoff berth, and considering the #4 teams ahead of them are facing difficult opponents this week, the winner of this game has a chance to either jump ahead in the standings or remain closely in the hunt. Both teams have taken a slightly different approach in how to be successful, however they both rely on bringing in imported talent. DRE has perhaps two of the best players in the league now after purchasing Ervin Catajoy, taking some pressure off of MVP candidate Rastislav Budzinák. However all of that star power means that there isnt much money left over for any other talent, as the next highest rated player has a rating of 5.5 (This team has to be bleeding money!). ARK on the other hand has quality players across the board, threatening defenses at every position, and they even have some depth to rely on. The biggest storyline for this game is going to be the matchup between 2 of the best point guards in the game, with Rastislav Budzinák taking on Mei Weiliang one-on-one. Lets take a deeper look at the two teams:
KTV for DRE: Attack inside and defend outside. With the purchase of Ervin Catajoy and Ruediger Madsen, DRE has a sizeable advantage inside and it will be interesting to see if the league leader in RB's (Michel Debaise, 13.8 RB's/game) will be able to hold his own against them. ARK has scored the fewest points from the C position this season in the league and 2nd fewest points from the PF position, so the inside game is not to be feared. However, ARK is shooting 38% from behind the arc, second in the league, and about 25% of the shots they take are from 3-point range. If ARK gets open shots from that range, they are shooting a whopping 52.8%. Allowing ARK to shoot from that range without being contested would be a recipe for disaster. Not to mention that ARK has perhaps the best true SF in the league in Renaldas Šukšinas, who is scoring 23.5 points a game, AND the best backup SF in the league in José Vicente Lizarazu, who is scoring 124 points per 100 shots taken, 8th highest in the entire league. So pretty much what I'm saying is, run a 3-2 zone.
KTV for ARK: Run a high tempo offense. Only a third of DRE's players have a game shape of respectable or strong, and Budzinák's game shape is inept. This means that DRE won't be able to keep up with a high tempo team and they will not perform as efficiently, especially at the end of the game. Also it will take a while for DRE's recent transfers to get used to playing for their new team, depicted by their drop in game shape, and therefor will not play up to their usual standards. ARK's best shot at victory would be to live or die by the three point game. It seems backwards but ARK's shooting percentage while contested gets higher the further away from the basket they go, and considering that DRE is 4th in the league at contesting shots (60%), that would mean that shooting 3's would be a good offensive strategy, as ARK shots 33% from the arc when contested. Expect Lizarazu to have a big game, as DRE has given up an average of 22.7 points per game to the SF position this season.

Final score: DRE - 87, ARK - 92
Once again, another example of game shape being the difference. If DRE can manage the minutes of their stars, then I see this team competing for the number 4 seed this season. But as for this game, chalk up a victory for ARK and their superior backcourt.

Week 6 (2/8) ALLSTAR WEEK!
#1 Bull Knights vs. #1 Georgia PowerRiders

And finally the game of the year. These two veteran IV.10 teams go at it again, and the winner will be in the driver seat for clinching home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Georgia PowerRiders has stockpiled their roster with veteran lineup of quality players, looking for their first victory over BUL, and we will see how the young backups of BUL can handle the pressure. Last week GEO pulled off a big win against IXL, even though MVP front runner Donát Gubán was held to only 7 points on 16 shots. Even when Gubán isnt playing well, GEO has enough talent that somewhere, someone will step up, and against IXL it was Ewold Oppenheim, who came off the bench and put up 12 points in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Their opponent this week is Bull Knights, who except for their lone loss to IXL, has been winning games by a margin of 39.4 points a game, due to both their swarming defense, which is contesting 67% of all shots and allowing a league low of 77 points per 100 shots taken, and their prolific offense, which has a total of 8 players scoring 10 or more points a game, led by star guard Mustapha Hajri. This game is loaded with enticing match-ups, but the one everybody is waiting to see is Mustapha Hajri vs. Donát Gubán, arguable the two best shooting guards in the league, going head-to-head.
Lets dive into the weeks match of the week.
KTV for BUL: Play stout defense. BUL will have to win this one by outperforming GEO on the defensive side of the court. Even though BUL has scored more points this season, both teams score 113 points per 100 shots taken, and GEO's shooting percentage is 29 points better from the field and 27 points better from behind the arc, so a shootout will most likely result in a win. Instead, BUL must try to keep the possessions to a minimum and contest as many shoots as possible, which should be easy considering GEO has only a 41% open shot percentage, although they do shoot 42% while contested, which is pretty outstanding. The biggest key to victory believe it or not is BUL's backup center, a young Bobby Joe Tackett. One of the great match-ups in this game is rebounding leader and MVP candidate Stefan Antonsson vs. shooting percentage leader Guillaume Vénard. But when these two take a breather, Joe Tackett will have to play against the highest rated player in the league in Aarno Kuristik. If Joe Tackett can keep him from grabbing offensive rebound after offensive rebound, then BUL will be just fine while the stars take a breather.
KTV for GEO: Get Donát Gubán open. GEO might have fared well againts IXL last week while Gubán only had 7 points, but that was against a rebuilding team with not as much talent as BUL. In order for GEO to win, Gubán has to score a decent chunk of points, or at least shoot better than the 18% he did last week. That will be very difficult against one of the leagues best defenders in Mustapha Hajr, who has held the man he has guarded to 0 3-pointers on 21 attempts, and is only allowing 50 points per 100 shots defended. This means that Gubán's teammates will need to be excellent passers this game and get him the ball while he is open. But they must be careful with the ball, as BUL is actually averaging more steals than turnovers with a league best 9.2 steals a game, and in a game that will be tight, turnovers could be the difference. The biggest advantage GEO has over BUL is depth, and if they can pull away while BUL's stars are resting, then it will make it very difficult for BUL to come back.

Final Score: GEO- 100, BUL- 98
GEO's depth will kill any momentum BUL gains, and that will be where this game is won, especially if Cieszymir Klimczak doesn't recover from his injury in time.

Week 7 (2/15-2-18)
#2 B.I.GBallers vs. #2 IXLOS Sabers

This game is huge for both teams. the loser of this game will most likely lose any chance of keeping up with the #1 team and claiming the #1 seed for the playoffs. BIG has a particularly difficult ending to inter-conference play, facing IXL and Bull Knights this week, but if they can get somehow win both of those games, then they will be in an excellent position to claim the #1 seed when they play Georgia PowerRiders in about 4 weeks. IXL on the other hand looks to be building for the future, and since they siphoned of their two best players, they have been a slightly better than average team. But they are still only one game back and have already proven that they can beat the Bull Knights, so a win against BIG will keep them close until that deciding game at the end of the season. This game will feature two different philosophies, as well as some All-star names, and it will be interesting to see if the highest scoring offense can overcome the stingiest defense. Lets dissect this game and determine the outcome.
KTV for BIG: Stick to the gameplan that has worked all season. BIG has scored more points from the C and PF position this season than any other team, and it is because of the two beast All-stars inside, Temel Öndüç and Urmas Nael. Between the two of them, they are shooting 70% from inside the paint, and have only allowed a combined average of 23 points from the PF and C positions on 18% shooting, third in the league. At the beginning of the season, IXL would have had the advantage inside, but now, only a young Wendell Windham, another All-Star, is adept enough to play inside with BIG's big men, but he cant do it by himself. A patient offense that takes advantage of the mismatches inside will result in a win for BIG.
KTV: Rely on the defense and take advantage of poor perimeter defense. The key advantage IXL has over BIG is a stifling defense with the best ratings in the league. IXL only played one game this season with an inside focused defense, and they acheived the best combined defensive ratings of their season, not to mention their best rebounding ratings. I suggest they try it again to counter BIG's heavily focused inside game. As far as offense is concerned, BIG has some players in their backcourt, including assist leader Marek Łętowski, but when it comes to defense, they have some holes. Jean-François Cabral will have to guard IXL's new SG Martin Štefanák, who has put 23.7 points per game since his transfer, and with a medicore game shape, it will be a difficult task. IXL also has Wu Shuoxiang, who has only allowed 38 points per 100 possessions, and with another advantage at game shape, Shuoxiang should make Łętowski's day quite difficult as well.

Final Score: BIG- 104, IXL- 109
The mismatches outside will make it difficult for Łętowski to dish the ball inside, which will lead to BIG having to play a more balanced attack, which unfortunately for them, does not bode well. Look for IXL's backcourt to outduel BIG's.

Wow, you were only a point off the actual spread. Great job.

Updated Power Rankings: (Last Power Rank)

#1 Georgia PowerRiders (1)
#2 Big Big Gulps (4)
#3 B.I.GBallers (5)
#4 Bull Knights (3)
#5 IXLOS Sabers (5)
#6 Darlington Falcons (6)
#7 Arkansas Kings (9)
#8 The Blood Suckers (7)
#9 DreamTeam3 (11)
#10 Sheboygan Red Skins (8)
#11 Rat Brigade (13)
#12 Ten Jaguars (10)
#13 Texas Demon Slayers (12)
#14 Giant Hobos (14)
#15 Dreadnought (not ranked)
#16 Billahs24 (not ranked)

Updated Projected MVP voting:
1. Donát Gubán
2. Mustapha Hajri
3. Rastislav Budzinák
4. Zhao Xiuguang
5. Stefan Antonsson
6. Miguel José Cordero
7. Wu Shuoxiang
8. Vsevolod Averchenkov
9. Görkem Ferzan

Man I totally messed up my no wins record i was shooting for. Came in halfway through to an 0-13 team thinking hey may as well cut msot the roster and make as much as i can the rest of the season. Instead somehow I won a game? My team is STILL running laps for that. Just call me the Philly 76'rs of this season.

Ok so now that the playoffs are starting, lets evaluate the top two teams:l

#1 Georgia PowerRiders
GEO is heading into the playoffs as the undisputed favorites, winning all but one game. Whats even scarier is that 7 out of GEO's 10 starters have proficient game shape, meaning that their best basketball could be yet to come. Donát Gubán's scoring has diminished over the second half of the season, but his rating has improved drastically since GEO was ousted from the National Tourney, seeing his rating rise above 13.0 8 times since then, compared to only twice before that. GEO is a much better rounded team now, evidenced by their superior points per 100 possessions (117), but they also have the toughest division. GEO wiil have to first get by The Blood Suckers, who despite their mediocre record, still has a very talented team, with a 9.0 average team rating, which is 5th best in the league. After that they will have to get by either the highest scoring team in the league, B.I.GBallers, or the one team that beat them this season, Big Big Gulps. But if any team can do it, it is GEO.

#2 Bull Knights
After terrible inter conference play, BUL has gotten back on the track of destroying teams, having the highest point differential by 67 points despite having 4 losses. BUL has the ability to outscore their opponents or suffocate them with outstanding defense, indicated by their 2nd best offense and defense. Led by two possible MVP candidates, Mustapha Hajri and Stefan Antonsson, BUL is now finally healthy and poised to head to the championship game. To get there, they will have to get by Arkansas Kings first, which has bought its was into contention in their first year, having talented players all over the floor. After that they will have to defeat either a rebuilding IXLOS Sabers team, or a dangerous but tired Darlington Falcons ( 24% proficient game shape). The road to the championship game should be easy, but from there, they will be the underdogs.

Also i would like to do another MVP race update. I base my predictions off of 3 things: stats, minutes and team success.
The most important stat is points scored and ppg, but other stats such as rpg and apg are also important, as well as rating. Minutes played is also extremely important, as it is an indication of the impact on the team. A player who plays 21 games and averages 30 min pg will have a better chance than a better player who only played in 17 games. Finally the teams success is important because the true meaning of an MVP is winning, and a player that cant help his team win isn't very valuable. Also, the race includes playoff play, and I will take into consideration the respective team's chances of going deep into the playoffs for each player.

1) Donát Gubán- GEO is the best team and he is the best player on the team, leading the league in scoring and ranking 7th in rating.
22 games played, 34.8 min, 29.0 ppg, 12.2 rating, 2.9 3's, 48.0% shooting, 1.1 steals, 108 PP100

2) Rastislav Budzinák- even though DRE isnt in the playoffs, Budzinák easily had the most spectacular season, ranking 5th in highest rating, 4th in ppg, 2nd in apg, 3rd in steals pg, and 3rd in AST/TO.
22 games played, 39.4 min, 25.4 ppg, 12.5 rating, 7.0 assists, 2.0 steals, 46.0% shooting, 78.1% free throw, 104 PP100

3) Mustapha Hajri- Has played only 11 games at his best position this year due to the teams training regiment, but still has posted one of the best years of his career, ranking 3rd in rating, 7th in ppg, 3rd in steal pg, 5th in apg, 9th in AST/TO, and 16th in blocks pg.
21 games played, 35.1 min, 22.2 ppg, 12.9 rating, 6.0 assist, 2.0 steals, 48.3% shooting, 5.8 rebounds, 104 PP100

4) Stefan Antonsson- He has led the league in rebounding most of the season, plus ranking 6th in rating, 3rd in block pg, and 1st in OR.
21 games played, 34.2 min, 14.4 ppg, 12.3 rating, 14.7 Reb, 3.8 OR, 2.3 blocks, 52.7% shooting, 109 PP100

5) Zhao Xiuguang- while not leading the league in any category, Xiuguang has played a very rounded and effective game, ranking 11th in ppg, 8th in rating, 9th in apg, and 2nd in steal pg.
22 games played, 36.0 min, 21.0 ppg, 12.0 rating, 5.4 assists, 2.1 steals, 49.3% shooting, 3.7 rebounds, 112 PP100

6) Miguel José Cordero- Been the best player on a surprising good team, backed up by a decent secondary stats and lots of minutes. Ranked 13th in ppg, 17th in rating, 4th in apg, and 22nd in steals.
22 games played, 37.2 min, 20.5 ppg, 10.6 rating, 6.1 assists, 1.2 steals, 41.5% shooting, 4.7 rebounds, 97 PP100

7) Wu Shuoxiang- He been the floor general for a rebuilding team and is solely responsible for the teams #2 seed. He is ranked 2nd in rating, 19th in ppg, 11th in apg, and 22nd in steals.
20 games played, 32.0 min, 17.0 ppg, 13.0 rating, 5.0 assists, 1.2 steals, 45.4% shooting, 3.6 rebounds, 101 PP100

8) Vsevolod Averchenkov- he has been a great scorer in every game he has played, but the lack of games played hurts his chances. still he is ranked 3rd in ppg, 17th in rating, 18th in apg, and 16th in steals.
19 games played, 41.4 min, 25.8 ppg, 10.6 rating, 4.1 assists, 1.4 steals, 52.8% shooting, 4.6 rebounds, 113 PP100

9) Renaldas Šukšinas- Although an extremely potent offensive threat, he is a defensive liability and his rating will hurt his chances. He is ranked 2nd in ppg, 16th in steals, and 25th in blocks
22 games played, 34.3 min, 26.3 ppg, 7.8 rating, 1.6 assists, 1.4 steals, 45.6% shooting, 5.4 rebounds, 98 PP100


Tell me what you guys think!

When is the draft done? I think I've just about finalized my selection :-p

i do not know

The draft takes place after offseason processing is done. So after the Sunday where the 3rd game of the finals is played offseason processing (promotions/relegations/salary adjustments) will begin and usually the next Monday or Tuesday they show up.