Week
Eleven Player Reports
Mark - The red team lost its third game in a row with Mark in the lineup. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Mark inspires hatred from the rest of the league young simpletons like Matt V could only dream of inspiring. Every night Mark suits up, the other teams come after him, following the old advice that the only way to become king is to steal the crown from the old one. Despite a strong performance of 28 points, 10 rebounds, and a perfect 6 for 6 from the free throw line, earning his fifth Player of the Week of the season, it's obvious that something very different happens when Mark plays for the red team. The strange occurrence in Week Ten, when the red team pulled an unlikely upset over the well-respected orange team, without Mark playing, is easier to understand if you believe the idea that teams only play hard when they are facing a good player. The rest of the time, the players play like the fat old men they are. Except Matt V, who always plays like a fat old man.
Matt K - Another strong, consistent effort from Matt with 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists - all right around his averages. But if the red team is going to step up when it matters most, meaning the playoffs, Matt will need to beat his averages in every category. He's that important to the success of the red team. Other load-swallowers, like Lucas, are completely unnecessary to the success of the team. For proof, read on.
Luke - Luke put up his worst performance of the season, only managing 6 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists - missing his only free throw attempt. After an entire season of solid - boring - but solid performances, the powder blue squad was under five hundred. Over the last two games Luke is averaging 5 ppg, and his team won both games. Clearly, the answer was scaling back Luke's impact on the game. The less he's done, the better his team fared. That's a simple equation right there. It looks something like this: Blue - #42 = :)