Categories: Division E

NBA Free Agency, A Spotlight and Sun

Peeze’s Playbook

By Paolo Della Rocca

Week 7

NBA free agent frenzy is in full swing.  The NBA perhaps more so than any other league is now capitalizing on the fact that we love the movement off the court as much as if not more than the action on the court.  It fills us with wonder to imagine what will happen once AD and Lebron hit the court together.  Who will benefit from the wet three point touch that Klay Thompson has shown throughout his career? Who will Kevin Durant lead to dominance in a year when he returns from his achilles injury?  Will the Pelicans be able to surround Zion with shooting?  Will the Knicks begin a decade of wasting the career of RJ Barrett? Will Kahwi choose Canada?

In the meantime there’s plenty of FPF action to get through. Tough Lungs are an interesting team to spotlight. They enter the last part of their season now with a 4-3 record (after an 18-13 win) but lead there division.  This last game can serve as a time capsule of what the team has been in the Spring 2019 season.  Matthew Lerner had trouble moving the ball (only amassing 95 passing yards but was fairly efficient.  Justin Lerner was limited by the defence and as such Tough Lungs d looked to be stifled.  However, this is a strong team that’s well rounded even when the offense doesn’t play that way.  Justin Lerner and Greg Kritselas each intercepted a pass and Kritselas’ interception was in fact a pick 6 that would be the difference in the game.

Tough Lungs running through Justin Lerner has me considering the plight of the New York Knicks.  It seems for years the “Mecca” of basketball has been trying to rest their hopes and dreams on the shoulders of a single hope.  Whether that hope was Patrick Ewing, Carmelo Anthony and now RJ Barrett.  Ewing will now forever be remembered for the slow, stiff corpse of a big man the Knicks were counting on way beyond his prime. Melo, once a great scorer has become a meme with the broadway portion of his career. It makes one wonder if RJ Barrett will be the one to turn it around or whether he is destined to a similar fate.

A player with a seemingly decided fate for quite some time has been Michel “Sun” Deguire as a quarterback.  We thought after his last failed attempt we wouldn’t see him throw again.  Charles Verrault has looked promising for Diablos and Deguire struggled mightily.  Now, with the injury to Deguire, Diablos have turned back to Michel Deguire.

To his credit “Sun” took all of this in stride. The return was far form perfect.  He was intercepted by Threat Level Midnight’s Nicholas Godbout, Jonathan Lemieux and Simon Richard.  He looked to go deep too often and it was to his detriment.  However, late in the game.  Deguire looked poised and seemed to constantly be able to hit Francois Martin on the sideline at the conclusion of a 5 yard out or in the redzone on a corner route over the top.  Martin scored twice and and led Diablos to a huge 25-24 win.

Threat Level Midnight certainly did not deserve to win this game.  Coming into the game they were shocked to see Diablos dress Luis Begin and Gabriel Wiseman and they couldn’t believe that Diablos fit the cap.  This seemed to get into their heads all night.  It’s rare to force three turnovers all game and not come out with the win.  Jonathan Lemieux was simply wasting opportunities.  There were drives that didn’t conclude with a score and then, the worst of the worst of it was late in the game, down 25-24, Threat Level Midnight went for the tie.  I was shocked, I was angry but more than that, I was embarrassed for them.  Never could I have imagined such cowardice.  The ball on the convert hit the ground as ineptly as the play started and just like that, the game was over.

In just the snap of a finger (if a finger is half a season long) Anthony Davis is no longer a Pelican and is now part of the Space Jam Lakers.  The trade that never was has now become the trade that changed the league.  The moment it happened the media and the public’s reaction was predictable.  Perhaps people have largely been tainted by Emilio Esteves’ performance in the Mighty Ducks, or perhaps Rocky Balboa’s penchant for always getting off the mat.  People love the potential of the underdog story and appear to hate dynasties and greatness.  The problem with that of course, is you’re all liars.  The NBA has always been built on super teams and dynasties.  The ratings are never higher than when we have greatness.  There has also never been a recipe for success in the NBA that didn’t come from pairing stars.  There is no way to look at the Lakers end of the trade and not think that they “won” the trade.

In addition to adding one of the best players in the league, the Lakers have convinced Anthony Davis to take a pay cut in order to give them the flexibility to add another max player (thank Lebron James for throwing some extra cash to AD via Space Jam 2…irresponsible journalism I know but it is what it is).  The draft picks the LA gave up cannot be over three consecutive years and will likely have little value as the Lakers will likely finish atop the league for as long as Lebron and Anthony Davis are on the court.  When you consider that they were able to pull the trigger on the trade and keep Kyle Kuzma, this trade is simply a slam dunk.

…yeah slam dunk was a little too on the nose…

I’m sure when Alex “the Eagle D’Aquila” and original Lockdown captain Andrew D’Anna built Lockdown, the team name was a little “on the nose”.  This hasn’t truly been the case this year. The defence doesn’t react well to floods and motion as defenders that see routes leave their zone and are left covering grass.  

The strength of this version of Lockdown has undoubtedly been their offense.  Pat Riot was able to abuse the Mean Machine defence with perhaps one of the most physically imposing receivers in this division. Shawn Fontaine added four touchdowns to his insane season total.  Mean Machine simply could not adapt.  However, with the game time expiring Pat Riot had an open Eric Mathieu in the end zone.  The ball soared through the air in a perfect spiral only for it to be dropped at it’s final destination and Lockdown would lose 30-25.

Alright, so the non-FPF story that’s been on everyone’s mind.  Will Kawhi stay and plant his Kawactus roots or, will he be Ka—gone.  In the end, it will come down to whether or not Kawhi wants to go home to LA or play in Toronto.  He has given the Raptors his final meeting.  This is a good sign.  This means that Masai Ujiri will likely have his opportunity to sway Leonard back to Canada.  I think there is a good chance that Kawhi signs a 1+1 contract with the Raptors.  The Lakers may not be his Jam (I can’t stop) and this will give him an opportunity to allow the Clippers to put together a more attractive team for him to play for.  However, only time will tell.

Elite 8

  1. Los Banditos (6-1): A loss by forfeit isn’t a huge deal.  A mistake by Banditos for sure.  However, we know how good they looked last week.
  2. Mean Machine (5-1-1): Mean Machine are 3-1-1 with Jake Titleman.  Perhaps more impressive is that they’re 2-0 without him.  This team doesn’t need optimal conditions to get the win!
  3. Los Siete Amigos (5-2): Despite the couple of blemishes, Los Siete Amigos are ready to be on the assault.  This team’s offense is excellent and their defence is finding their way.
  4. Trailer Park Boys. (5-2): A win by forfeit, saved them from having to sacrifice St.Jean festivities.
  5. Jean Guy (6-1): Once again, the lack of scoring bothers me but, it is working.  Special props to Simon Provencher who’s recorded 6 interceptions thus far.
  6. Bud Knights (6-1): Mathieu Kieljan has been looking for the quick strike every drive.  He may need to learn some gamesmanship in order to see post season success.  So far, Bud Knights may be the most balanced team this season.
  7. Threat Level Midnight (6-1): cowards
  8. Pardon My Swag (5-2): Big Bad Hawaiian Brad Evans….what you got?  He’s got a low key solid season.  He’s controlling the offense and making few mistakes.  The high quantity of sacks isn’t the worst thing.  He’s living to play another down!

 

Marc Andre’s Top 8 – 7e semaine

  1. Los Banditos : Une défaite pour avoir dépassé le cap, mais quelle saison et équipe!
  2. Threat Level Midnight : défaite surprise et de justesse face à un club Diablos motivé.
  3. Mean Machine: Invaincu depuis la semaine deux, l’équipe de l’heure.
  4. Jean Guy: Wow, quelle défensive, 83 points accordés en 7 parties.
  5. Bud Knights : Quelle remontée en fin de partie pour la victoire. 
  6. X-Sterminators : Autre victoire éclatante. 
  7. Trailer Park Boys: Ils sont de retour en grande forme, le duel de la semaine face à Mean Machine. 
  8. Los Siete Amigos : Belle victoire face à un club en pleine progression.

 

Sunday’s Syrupy Seconds

Let me know your thoughts by reaching me at @PeezeFPF on twitter, @Peeze Della Reeze on Facebook or by emailing me at [email protected]. 

 

There’s no podcast this week since I’m getting married and the boys are lost without me. You can see back episodes on youtube @ www.youtube.com/flagplusfootball. 

Have a great and safe week of action. See you at the fields!