SUMMER LEAGUE FINALS SET

Even though a decent amount of matches were played in the final week, it wasn’t exactly a nail biting, stomach fluttering finish to the finals. The only real question to answer was which of two teams were going to end up 4th. The “Fruit Loops” had been threatening “Going Bananas” for that coveted last play-off position for the past 3 rounds, but after making up 10 points alone in round 5, could not make up the remaining 3 points over the last 2 weeks of play. They ended up 6 points out.

“Pickled Onions” ended up were they began: on top. They are the first Summer League team in 6 years to score over 100 points. Looking at their regular season record, they must go into the finals as the favorites. The statistics are rather alarming. They only lost 4 matches all season – and only one of those was 3-0. Of the matches they won, 56% of them were 2-1. So they were not wiping the court, but somehow were just refusing to lose. They also rank only 5th in bonus points. This must be the first time that a top team ranks outside the top 4 in that category. Two of their players played every match. Brandon Dobbins won all 7 – one of only two players in the league to do so. (The other was Jeff Gembis from the “Fruit Loops”). Two of their players played 6 of the 7 matches. Those four players made up 81% of the team’s season total. Can they continue to carry the team through? They are matched up against “Going Bananas” in the semi final and on paper a lot of those matches could go either way. Hopefully the rest of “Pickled Onions” turn up to play!

Now for the other end of the spectrum. Believe it or not, the “Blowing Raspberries” played more matches than the “Pickled Onions”. One more. However, compared to the 88% win rate of the league leaders, the “Blowing Raspberries” won only 29%. They also ranked 2nd last in bonus points. Only one player scored more than 10 points, and that player also scored the team’s only 3-0 win.

The team with the least amount of matches played was the “Cold Turkeys”. They managed a meager 51%. The 6, 7, and 8 players accumulated 75% of the team’s season total. Not surprisingly, the “Cold Turkeys” were dead last in bonus points, averaging less than 3 players turning up per week.

Looking at individual efforts, Brandon Dobbins (“Pickled Onions”) picked up the most points overall with 23 and his undefeated effort will definitely earn him a promotion up the ranks next season. Brian Rosman (“Pickled Onions”) and Jeff Gembis (“Fruit Loops”) picked up 22, and Tom Bergh (“Going Bananas”) ended up with 21.

Overall, the participation level of the Summer League this year has been reasonably good compared to previous seasons. Overall we had 67% of matches completed, compared to 59% in 2009 and 63% in 2008. The trend is positive, and although I would never expect a 100% participation rate, there is definitely still room for improvement.

The finals should be interesting. The four teams they got the through are the ones that deserve to be there, and all four have a decent chance of winning – if they play well.