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HO: “Coach, what’s the basic Linndale plan of attack?”

PR: “For us, it starts with what we can control. We demand defense and effort. We can control that. We demand rebounding. We demand ball security. If you don’t turnover the basketball, those are shot attempts the other team doesn’t get. If you rebound the basketball, that’s a shot that missed and the other team doesn’t get another shot attempt for that possession. Those things help keep your opponents’ shot attempts down. That helps your defense. Offensively, it’s simple. We will take what you give us. Every team in this league does things well. We just try to figure out what we do better than you defend. You take away the outside game? We have the horses inside. Take away the inside game? We have shooters. Want to run? We can do that. Want to slow things down? Go ahead, be my guest.”

HO: “It sounds like you want a team that can do it all. So, if you do it all, what do you hang your hat on? As the saying goes, ‘jack of all trades, master of none’. What’s the secret sauce? What makes Linndale tick?

PR: “Happy, at the end of the day we play basketball. There are different ways to play the game, but it’s still the game of basketball. The fundamentals don’t change. The goal is to get everyone playing together on the same page, working to achieve a common goal. It takes everyone. Not just the starters, but the bench also. You have to have depth. It’s a team game. That’s probably what we do better than most. That’s our strength. It’s why we can mix and match what we do depending on who we play any particular night. We have 3 guards who can go for 30 at any given time. We don’t run anything specifically for our small forward, but he’s led us in scoring twice this season already. You know how talented Heard and Sanz Garcaa are. The secret is the guys behind them are pretty good too. Do they do everything as well as other players? No, but they don’t have to. You coach to the players strengths and put them in positions to succeed.”

HO: “Where does player development fit in?”

PR: “We have 2 rookies on this team. 6 players are 21 or under. 11 players are 24 or younger, and remember Floyd Hearn was 24 when we brought him in last season. Out of those 24 or younger, 2 are starters, 5 are rotational pieces, and 2 more are almost there. On the other hand, we have 3 starters 25 or over, and they keep getting better as well. Of those 5 rotation pieces, we have 2 that we feel comfortable starting, and 3 that we think we will be comfortable starting by the end of the season. This is where I remind you when I say we are comfortable starting a player, that means the player can play on the defensive end first and foremost. If you can defend a position, we’ll figure out your playing time.”

HO: “Who’s the player you are most excited to see develop?”

PR: “That’s a trick question, Happy. I like to see all the guys get better. We’re working to get Rich McCain time, and Elijah Wilson. Christophe Nguyen, Art Reese, Rolland Reynolds, Art Reese, and Damian Hatfield are all fun to watch develop. The others I wouldn’t say are developing but I’d say they are evolving. That’s fun to watch, too!”

HO: “Coach, we’re out of time tonight. Can we possibly pick this up at another time? This is a really interesting conversation.”

PR: “It would be my pleasure!”

HO: "We'll see you next week on the Pio Reina Show. I'm Happy Ourer, and you're listening to the Linndale Radio Basketball Network!"

Haha, it happens. I fell asleep and forgot to set my lineup for what's looking like the 7th - 8th place battle... Could be costly down the stretch as I'm probably destined for auto-relegation at this point...

(Doesn't help that I impulse bought a pair of players who are 2-3 more seasons away from helping me lol...)

Day 7 (Saturday 10 June 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Lion Rebels 78 - San Dominica Warriors 75
209’s MostWanted 91 - Linndale 104
Carolina Rebels 92 - Philly Dribble 103
Las Vegas Silver Stars 108 - FR-S 99
Super Sonics 113 - BKDogs 92
Tasty Tardsicles 104 - LionPride 50
Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 110 - The Beer Bellys 90
Miami Cleo 63 - Żubr Białystok 81

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 113 : Super Sonics
Rebounds : 70 : Tasty Tardsicles
Assists : 28 : Super Sonics
Steals : 10 : Żubr Białystok
Block Shots : 13 : Tasty Tardsicles

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 45 : S. Szuster (Las Vegas Silver Stars)
Rebounds : 20 : D. Lin (Super Sonics)
Assists : 10 : M. Craig (Super Sonics)
Steals : 4 : G. Bermudez (San Dominica Warriors), L. Bernaerts (The Beer Bellys)
Block Shots : 4 : E. Dickens (Tasty Tardsicles)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : S. Szuster (Las Vegas Silver Stars) (45 Points, 5 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 48
Shooting Guard : A. Guilla (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) (29 Points, 4 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 35
Small Forward : J. Glicas (Philly Dribble) (24 Points, 3 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 26
Power Forward : D. Lin (Super Sonics) (33 Points, 20 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 44
Center : L. Marín Gil (Tasty Tardsicles) (19 Points, 19 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 37

MVP of the evening
S. Szuster (Las Vegas Silver Stars) (45 Points, 5 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 48

The bad performance of the evening
G. Luongo (LionPride) (8 Points, 2 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -8

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : I. Homs (The Beer Bellys), G. Locus (Miami Cleo) : 5 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : O. Darmanović (FR-S), N. Garbellini (FR-S), G. Sankoh (BKDogs), H. Quindós (Żubr Białystok) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : K. Brown (Lion Rebels), T. Plummer (Carolina Rebels), P. Ngo (LionPride), S. Hatch (Żubr Białystok) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : S. Szuster (Las Vegas Silver Stars) : 9 Three points

The best performer : T. Freeman (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) : Rating : 18.0

The worst performer : L. Jackson (LionPride), P. Ngo (LionPride) : Rating : 5.5

Harrison Mann walks into the Pio Reina’s office.

HM: “Coach, you got time to talk.”

PR: “You know my door is always open. What’s on your mind?”

HM: “It hasn’t been lost on me that I’m seeing a lot more time at backup center this season. The time I would normally see at power forward is now Damian’s time. I just need to understand why.”

PR: “The easy answer is that you’re playing at center, and Damian’s a better player at power forward. That answer doesn’t tell you enough, I’m sure. Your timing is about right; I wanted to talk to you and Damian both. I’ll talk to Damian later. Sit down and let’s talk.”

HM: “I’m a power forward. I should be at power forward. He’s a center. Why are we playing the other’s position?

PR: “In a perfect world, you’d be correct. You still have a lot of work to do developmental wise. We know there’s more inside of you, but those talents that you possess are best used at center for now. You two complement each other on the defensive end with you at center. He’s much better able to switch on the perimeter. That’s one reason. You’re better inside and he’s better on the perimeter defensively. Offensively, it’s the same. Your jumper is solid but lacks range. You’re better inside on offense. Damian lacks polish on his jumper but he has better range. You both need work on rebounding. He’s got the ball skills to allow him to play some small forward if he fixes his shot. Your ball skills and ball security are lacking in that regard. They are serviceable, but lacking. Why is that a problem for me? Because you’re usually on the court with Art Reese. Defensively, with you 3, Tovar and Mantas, I know the defense is going to be solid. It’s the other end where the turnovers really hurt. If Tovar is hitting his shots, the scoring gets to be rough. That’s where you and Damian have to be better. You and Reese have to be better with ball security. You and Damian have to be better shooting the ball.

HM: “So shooting, taking care of the ball and rebounding. Got it.”

PR: “I’m not sure you do. This isn’t the first time we’ve had this type of conversation. However, it will be the last. Harrison, you’re at a crossroads. You want to be a power forward. For this team, you’re the backup center. Damian has a better game at power forward right now than center. To make this second unit work the way we know it can, you, Damian, and Reese have things to fix. If you want to stay here, get to work. Rebounding and ball security should be your priorities. If you don’t get to work, we’ll have to move on. You’re at the point where you either get better or get gone. Winners find a way. Quitters quit. It’s your choice, but I don’t tolerate quitters at all.”

HM: (angrily) “WHO YOU CALLING A QUITTER?”

PR: “Good. You’re mad. Take that energy out on the court and make the opposition pay.”

HM: “I’m gonna crush somebody.”

Man we are absolute trash this season. Made an overhaul and got some way better players, and we get our butts handed to us by another 7th team… the worst loss of the season if you will.. probably going to relegate back to D 4 if I can’t figure out where the kinks are

Day 8 (Tuesday 13 June 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
San Dominica Warriors 81 - BKDogs 59
Lion Rebels 79 - Super Sonics 94
Linndale 118 - LionPride 49
209’s MostWanted 76 - Tasty Tardsicles 83
Philly Dribble 126 - The Beer Bellys 64
Carolina Rebels 102 - Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 87
FR-S 79 - Żubr Białystok 115
Las Vegas Silver Stars 70 - Miami Cleo 104

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 126 : Philly Dribble
Rebounds : 67 : Linndale
Assists : 27 : Żubr Białystok
Steals : 15 : Philly Dribble
Block Shots : 12 : Linndale, Philly Dribble

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 29 : L. Arevalo (Carolina Rebels)
Rebounds : 19 : F. Hearn (Linndale)
Assists : 8 : T. Rumin (209’s MostWanted), D. Santana (Miami Cleo)
Steals : 4 : F. Alidori (San Dominica Warriors)
Block Shots : 5 : R. Guyton (Linndale), G. Locus (Miami Cleo)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : M. Velasco (Philly Dribble) (20 Points, 5 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 2 Steals, 3 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 26
Shooting Guard : L. Arevalo (Carolina Rebels) (29 Points, 4 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 30
Small Forward : M. Craig (Super Sonics) (25 Points, 2 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 26
Power Forward : T. Armstead (Lion Rebels) (20 Points, 13 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 3 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 25
Center : B. Pimentel (Philly Dribble) (17 Points, 11 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 3 Steals, 2 Block Shots), M. Stålland (Miami Cleo) (25 Points, 11 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 30

MVP of the evening
B. Pimentel (Philly Dribble) (17 Points, 11 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 3 Steals, 2 Block Shots), L. Arevalo (Carolina Rebels) (29 Points, 4 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots), M. Stålland (Miami Cleo) (25 Points, 11 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 30

The bad performance of the evening
R. Stinson (LionPride) (8 Points, 2 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 0 Steals, 1 Block Shots), : Efficiency : -8

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : R. Descarpentries (The Beer Bellys) : 7 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : G. Sankoh (BKDogs), R. Pace (Tasty Tardsicles), Á. Maradona (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️), K. Necišcionis (Las Vegas Silver Stars) : 5 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : S. Hollins (Lion Rebels), L. Jackson (LionPride), L. Arevalo (Carolina Rebels), M. Grimm (Żubr Białystok) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : I. Trapezanidis (FR-S) : 5 Three points

The best performer : R. Guyton (Linndale), M. Velasco (Philly Dribble) : Rating : 17.5

The worst performer : L. Quintana (The Beer Bellys) : Rating : 3.5

Well, don't get too down about losing to Miami. They're typically pretty good and are correcting their game shape issues. Don't sell yourself short yet!

Marshall Richards: “Marshall Richards and Air Allnite here with you tonight as our colleague Happy Ourer gets the rare day off, and we are live on a special edition of the Pio Reina Show. Tonight is all about the rookies, so that’s who we are going to talk about!”

Air Allnite: “This won’t take long at all. Pio doesn’t play rookies.”

Pio Reina: “Marshall, thanks for the time. Let’s jump right into it. Air you’re right. I generally do not play rookies. I make them earn their playing time. It’s good for their development. You’re talking about young men who have no idea what it means to be a professional, and I’d rather have them learn that upfront.”

AA: “Fine. Name one rookie you’ve developed.”

PR: “As an organization, we’ve made choices to go after more established players in lieu of rookies. Mostly because we’re trying to win. Rookie development hadn’t been on our radar. We’re in the process of changing that.”

MR: “Pio tell us about the rookies. Let’s start with Rich McCain. What can you tell us about him? Linndale fans don’t get to see him on the court much.”

PR: “Well, I’m glad you brought him up. Rich is in line to have an increase in his playing time. He was drafted as a point guard, but he’s not ready to even give backup minutes at that spot right now. We're going to start force feeding him minutes. We know it may cost us a few games, but this kid has talent and we need him to develop quickly.”

AA: “That kid is no point guard. Anyone with eyeballs can see that!”

PR: “He was drafted as a point guard. I clearly stated he was not ready for minutes there. He has talents that we want to develop and investigate.”

MR: “What does the organization like about McCain?”

PR: “Immediately what stands out is his ball handling, passing, and inside defense. His perimeter defense is a work in progress, but he’s not far off from getting playing time at the point guard position. Offensively, we’re all going to find out what he can do. As far as defense and ball security, he definitely fits in. His offensive growth will go a long way to determining what his ceiling can be.”

AA: “Does he have a chance to pass Christophe Nguyen on the depth chart? They sound like similar players.”

PR: “They have some similarities, but they’re also very different. Where Nguyen looks to be more of a drive and kick distributor, McCain isn’t. Nguyen doesn’t have the ceiling McCain has. Having said that, McCain could very well end up at a different position than point guard. It’s far too early to tell right now, but his ball skills are promising and would be an asset at any position.”

MR: “Pio, what can you tell us about Elijah Wilson? I admit I was surprised that the team grabbed 2 point guards in the draft.”

AA: “Well that’s one thing the team got right, Marshall."

PR: “Marshall, I hate to agree with your colleague, but he’s right. Elijah hasn’t gotten much court time. We’re going to see how we can increase that. He’s a young man who appears to have the skills to be a typical Linndale point guard, with the possible benefit of shot blocking. We’ll see if that develops with the rest of his game as he develops. I’m hopeful that he can bring that part of his game with the rest of his development.”

MR: “It’s been a long time since we had a shot blocking guard on the team. As the leading shot blocker in franchise history, are you giving him tips to get better?

PR: “As a coach, I give all my players tips on how they can get better. There are also things he will pick up by improving other aspects of his game. Once he sees how everything is related, then you’ll see the biggest gains in his development. That goes for any player.”

MR: “Folks, we’ll be back with more after we return from this commercial break. You’re watching The Pio Reina Show.”

Day 9 (Saturday 17 June 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)

Night results
Super Sonics 78 - San Dominica Warriors 92
LionPride 57 - Lion Rebels 112
Tasty Tardsicles 83 - Linndale 91
The Beer Bellys 96 - 209’s MostWanted 112
Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 93 - Philly Dribble 81
Żubr Białystok 84 - Carolina Rebels 96
Miami Cleo 105 - FR-S 88
BKDogs 100 - Las Vegas Silver Stars 120

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 120 : Las Vegas Silver Stars
Rebounds : 66 : Lion Rebels, 209’s MostWanted
Assists : 32 : Las Vegas Silver Stars
Steals : 14 : Philly Dribble
Block Shots : 13 : The Beer Bellys

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 35 : C. Holley (LionPride)
Rebounds : 20 : D. Lin (Super Sonics), I. Homs (The Beer Bellys)
Assists : 9 : D. Santana (Miami Cleo), M. Maurin (Miami Cleo)
Steals : 4 : J. Bourgeois (Philly Dribble)
Block Shots : 7 : I. Homs (The Beer Bellys)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : R. Guyton (Linndale) (29 Points, 1 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 29
Shooting Guard : Y. Chengbiao (Las Vegas Silver Stars) (29 Points, 4 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 3 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 33
Small Forward : G. Azheli (209’s MostWanted) (33 Points, 3 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34
Power Forward : A. Gallucci (Miami Cleo) (22 Points, 12 Rebounds, 1 Assists, 1 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 32
Center : G. Locus (Miami Cleo) (28 Points, 11 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 29

MVP of the evening
G. Azheli (209’s MostWanted) (33 Points, 3 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 34

The bad performance of the evening
G. Luongo (LionPride) (3 Points, 0 Rebounds, 0 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -7

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : Y. Tostain (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) : 6 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : L. Marín Gil (Tasty Tardsicles), M. Jimenez (Tasty Tardsicles), H. Espinosa (Carolina Rebels), S. Hatch (Żubr Białystok), H. Quindós (Żubr Białystok), P. Matkowski (BKDogs) : 5 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : S. Hollins (Lion Rebels), P. Ngo (LionPride), S. Hatch (Żubr Białystok) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : G. Azheli (209’s MostWanted) : 8 Three points

The best performer : K. Brown (Lion Rebels), R. Guyton (Linndale) : Rating : 17.5

The worst performer : A. Borden (LionPride), A. Blackmon (LionPride) : Rating : 5.5

Day 10 (Tuesday 20 June 2023) : Performances by (https://www.buzzer-manager.com)
God, the Big 8 is a nightmare. Look at all those 7-3 records!

Night results
San Dominica Warriors 50 - LionPride 0
Lion Rebels 100 - Tasty Tardsicles 87
Linndale 134 - The Beer Bellys 65
209’s MostWanted 92 - Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️ 97
Philly Dribble 75 - Żubr Białystok 117
Carolina Rebels 88 - Miami Cleo 82
FR-S 125 - BKDogs 112
Las Vegas Silver Stars 97 - Super Sonics 125

Best collective performance of the evening
Points : 134 : Linndale
Rebounds : 62 : Super Sonics
Assists : 37 : Linndale
Steals : 25 : FR-S
Block Shots : 9 : Linndale

Personal best performances of the evening
Points : 39 : T. Freeman (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️)
Rebounds : 20 : C. Riggins (Żubr Białystok)
Assists : 12 : R. Guyton (Linndale)
Steals : 5 : L. Seoane (FR-S), J. McCormack (FR-S)
Block Shots : 4 : T. Armstead (Lion Rebels)

Top 5 of the evening
Point Guard : T. Rumin (209’s MostWanted) (31 Points, 5 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steals, 1 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 36
Shooting Guard : K. Knowles (Linndale) (21 Points, 5 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 23
Small Forward : T. Freeman (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) (39 Points, 5 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 3 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 37
Power Forward : C. Riggins (Żubr Białystok) (22 Points, 20 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 41
Center : C. Goldsmith (Super Sonics) (16 Points, 15 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 0 Steals, 0 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 28

MVP of the evening
C. Riggins (Żubr Białystok) (22 Points, 20 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : 41

The bad performance of the evening
W. Acevedo (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) (5 Points, 3 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 0 Steals, 2 Block Shots) : Efficiency : -6

All kinds of statistics
The player who forgot to remove his mittens : G. Bolcioni (BKDogs), M. Buendía (BKDogs) : 7 Turnovers

Player targeted by the referees : A. Nikitinas (Tasty Tardsicles) : 6 Personnal Fouls

The iron-man : K. Brown (Lion Rebels), M. Meert (The Beer Bellys), R. Descarpentries (The Beer Bellys), A. Guilla (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️), M. Grimm (Żubr Białystok) : 48 Minutes

The shooter : M. Meert (The Beer Bellys), T. Freeman (Mindless Zombies 🧟‍♀️) : 6 Three points

The best performer : R. Guyton (Linndale), C. Riggins (Żubr Białystok) : Rating : 18.0

The worst performer : L. Quintana (The Beer Bellys) : Rating : 3.5

Pulling the plug on the season and DIII unfortunately, should have last year but did a half ass rebuild instead. Like Baine said a few weeks ago, I have too many old guys. Fortunately my three trainees are popping like crazy, so hopefully I'll be ready for DIII next time through. I'm an even easier training minutes game as soon as my starting backcourt is sold off, easy win.

Good thing we still have the best drinks and sexiest slutty cheerleaders in the league!