{"id":25580,"date":"2019-10-02T14:44:40","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T18:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.btsh.org\/bruise\/?p=25580"},"modified":"2019-10-02T14:44:41","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T18:44:41","slug":"2019-playoff-preview-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/2019-playoff-preview-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"2019 Playoff Preview (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

15) Butchers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richie Hero: <\/strong>The Butchers have had a history of deep playoff runs, as they made it to the semis in 2010 and 2011, the first two years of their existence. With such a proud history, I have to believe they want revenge on the Rainbows for beating them last year. Yetter is the best player on the court, but I\u2019m going to go with RGII and the Butchers. They prob can\u2019t beat the Lbs. so they better hope for one upset, but if they play the Anklebiters, it will be a good game.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arya: <\/strong>As the 15th seed there\u2019s no way mathematically for the Butchers to play the #1 seeded LBS in the Round of 16.\u00a0 But they will give whomever they do face (Biters or Hookers) a lot of trouble if they play the way they can. Of course, they have to get there first and getting by a Rainbows team that eliminated them last season and improved won\u2019t be easy.\u00a0 They will get a slight lift in getting Tarzan back from his latest ACL surgery, but will it be enough? I give them 50\/50 to get by the Bows but the Biters and Rehabs probably have too much firepower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meatbox: <\/strong>The Butchers are one of the hardest teams to read in this entire bracket. It seems like every year they give some of the top teams in the league trouble (wins over Hookers & Rehabs this year, while constantly giving trouble to the Lbs), but then they get upset in games they shouldn\u2019t (see last years play-in matchup with the Rainbows). That being said, they are one of the two teams playing in the play-in round that I would be the least surprised to see make it to the elite 8. Just comes down to who shows up for them starting this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JW: <\/strong>This is the game of the week, and will likely be one of the tightest games in the entire playoffs. The Butchers will be itching to get revenge for last year, and the New Rainbows will be itching to prove they\u2019re the real deal. This one goes to OT, but Jessica is not the hero this time (and even if she was, I won\u2019t be there to film it). The OT hero\u2026…is Arthur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

14) Fresh Kills<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meatbox: <\/strong>Ah, the other of the \u201ctwo play-in teams the meatbox would be the least surprised to see win two playoff games.\u201d How Fresh Kills ended up in this position is beyond me (jk, their attendance woes could sink any team\u2019s hopes), but the talent to make a deep run is absolutely there. I think they\u2019ll handle business with the Riots in round 1, then don\u2019t be surprised if they pull the upset over the Hookers in round 2, a team they already beat this season. A third serving of Fresh Kills vs Lbs in round 3, yes please (although I\u2019d expect the Lbs to take this one).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richie Hero: <\/strong>The BTSH God (Christos the Hawk) has a way of (probably literally) shitting on teams that shit on the regular season. While they have the talent to win it all, I just don\u2019t think they deserve it. Hookers beat them in Round 2. That said, this is a perfect example of why I think we should change the playoff structure to the top half teams get to choose their playoff opponents, who finished in the bottom half.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JW: <\/strong>I am not even going to dignify Rich\u2019s ridiculous suggestion with a response (wait, I guess I kinda just did). What I will say is that this is the lowest I have even seen FK finish in all my years in the league (it may be the lowest they\u2019ve EVER finished)? Their attendance issues have already been touched on, but to be honest I wonder if they still have what it takes to hang with the top teams even if everyone does show up. Is this the beginning of the end for FK\u2019s dominance? I would hate to think so, they\u2019re a clean and friendly team whose success you\u2019ve never been able to be mad at. In any case, they handily beat the Riots, and then they MIGHT upset the Hooks in the next round, but that\u2019s as far as they go this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arya: <\/strong>Full disclosure: in the midseason power rankings I was the only person to rank the Fresh Kills #1.\u00a0 They had just beaten the LBS, who are obviously sexy, and when everyone shows up they\u2019re a tough team to handle.\u00a0 Unfortunately Gabe is operating at less than 100% after rolling his ankle in consecutive weeks and they\u2019ve looked oddly mortal this season, somehow finishing as the 14 seed meaning we\u2019ll be treated to the bizarre sight of Division 1 minus the Fresh Kills next season.\u00a0 They always have a chance to win it, but I don\u2019t think this is the year. That being said they\u2019ve won a championship every three years (2008, 2011, 2014, 2017) so next season should be the one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13) Mega Touch<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richie Hero: <\/strong>Congrats Mega, I wish we would have had an immediate rematch when Gut Rot beat us. Last year I reffed the Rehabs\/Mega game and it was relatively close. I also reffed the playoff game against Filthier and they only lost 2-1 (Shelly was not there). Mega has had major playoff upsets in the past and I expect them to play really hard in their obvious and eventual loss to the Rehabs.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arya: <\/strong>If Shelly shows up, they\u2019re beating Gut Rot – it\u2019s that simple.\u00a0 They\u2019ll probably win if Matt Jones shows up too as long as he avoids a backbreaking overtime giveaway.\u00a0 Julie is a great player, a great captain and a great American but I will be rooting hard for Gut Rot, not just so I can see how Morgen celebrates if they win but also because, as Meatbox touched on earlier, it would lead to a Round of 16 Rehabs\/Fresh Kills showdown which would edge out Filthy\/Fuzz as the game of the week.\u00a0 I think Mega is close to 85% to win this game though and subsequently close to 5% to beat the Rehabs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meatbox: <\/strong>Mega limps into the playoffs having gone 3-5-1 in the second half of the season. At one point looking that would receive a first round bye, they instead will have to get by Gut Rot in the play-in round, a team they split their season series with. Assuming Mega has the full team show up, I would expect them to win that one and advance where the apparently hot (Thanks for blowing up our spot, Isaac) Rehabs are waiting. As Frey would say this is, \u201cnot good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JW: <\/strong>This is no longer the Mega of yore. Julie has added some stellar talent in the last couple years, and it shows (when that talent shows up, of course). As long as they can stop Heather from scoring they\u2019ll beat Gut Rot, and then lose to the Rehabs by less goals than one might think.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

12) Gremlins<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richie Hero: <\/strong>The last time the Gremmies won a playoff game was in 2015 against the Demons. That\u2019s probably more than the amount of times they hung with the rest of the league, since. They have the talent to beat WTP and the Anklebiters and have a beer at Doc\u2019s but let\u2019s be honest, none of that is going to happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meatbox: <\/strong>I\u2019m just here for JW\u2019s personal +\/- prediction.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JW: <\/strong>I wasn\u2019t going to mention my +\/- but since The Meatbox did, I imagine it will probably be even with 0 pluses and 0 minuses, as usual. (Though certainly not even against WTP this season, sigh.) In what has to be a rare occurrence, 4 of the 5 teams in the 3rd division are playing against each other in the Round of 16. (WTP vs. Grems, and Karma vs. Poutine). The Pucks are the only team in division 3 who swept the Grems this year, so we will be out for some revenge. In any case, no prediction from me as I\u2019ll be reffing this game. (Only veteran BTSHers get this reference.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meatbox pt. 2:<\/strong> I just want to point out how cool Walker is making inside jokes that predate the millennials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all seriousness, the Gremlins looked great on Sunday and they have the talent to beat WTP, so an \u201cupset\u201d here wouldn\u2019t be all that surprising. I expect this to be a tightly contested matchup, with Hogg, Susie & co completing the season sweep by defeating Rockoff & the Gremlins in the battle of the Hungry Hippos (it\u2019s a D5 reference Walker, don\u2019t overthink it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arya: <\/strong>Walker doesn\u2019t play D5.\u00a0 15 person rosters = not enough playing time for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

College basketball fans know that the 5\/12 matchup is always rife for an upset.\u00a0 I\u2019m always a sucker for the Gremlins who have a roster seemingly packed with studs (Erich, Cody, Salt Boyz, Marcella, Courtney, Jamie in net), plus Walker always tells me that he rarely gives up goals when he\u2019s out there so it would be a very long-winded and elaborate con job if he was lying about that.\u00a0 I too wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see them pull the upset and move on to the quarterfinals; truth be told, they should be there. But something always seems to get in the way, and I bet it will again this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Gremlins season in a nutshell.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

11) Fuzz<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

JW: <\/strong>The-team-formerly-known-as-the-Elves struggled in the regular season, but they tend to come alive in the playoffs. I\u2019ve already stated (elsewhere) that this year the Cup will either go to Lbs, the Rehabs, or Fuzz. If Fuzz, it will be the first time in (what Rich calls) the Modern Era that a team has ever won back-to-back PBR Cups (maybe the first time, ever?). I hope this doesn\u2019t happen. Not because they\u2019re the team who lost the original PBR Cup, but because I hate to see one team dominate.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richie Hero: <\/strong>Last year I complained that after a great regular season where we came in 2nd, our path was Math, Rehabs, Lbs. and Cobra Kai. Simply put, that\u2019s ridiculous we had to do that. This year there will be no bitching, as we came in 11th, and got what we deserved. The path would appear to be Filthier, Lbs., Anklebiters, Rehabs. Let\u2019s go.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meatbox: <\/strong>Fuzz as an 11 seed. Where have we seen this story before? Ah yes, 2017, however, this time the Rehabs did the heroic thing and finished 4th instead of 2nd making it all but impossible for Rehabs vs Fuzz in the Elite 8. Rehabs vs Fuzz in the finals though? Now that is juicy (and completely possible this time). Fuzz has one of the bigger challenges in the round of 16 with their matchup against Filthier, but they\u2019re also coming into the playoffs en fuego having won 7 of their last 8 (basically once Jeff declared it was a \u201cNEW SEASON\u201d after scoring an OT winner against Rehabs, it quite literally became a new season for Fuzz Nation). Look for them to stay hot and make a deep run this postseason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arya: <\/strong>Fuzz had a championship hangover that belied their general distaste for boozing with the league, but turned it around big-time after their \u201cnew season\u201d thing that Mr Meatbox alluded to in between rounds of Taco Bell violence on the toilet (sorry – just being realistic).\u00a0 The strange thing is in theory this team isn\u2019t that different from last year\u2019s – they replaced Alyssa and Coach with Andrea and Tim Brown and should have had enough depth to make up for Paul\u2019s departure. Adding Eitan (different dude than you\u2019re thinking, same Jewish flavor) midseason helped with secondary scoring but they\u2019ll need to find their swagger if they\u2019re going to make a deep run.\u00a0 If I was listing teams in order of likelihood they\u2019ll win the championship this year, they\u2019d be around 4 or 5. They obviously have the talent to win it again, but I don\u2019t think they will. On the bright side, that means LJ won\u2019t get blamed for losing the PBR Cup this year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

15) Butchers Richie Hero: The Butchers have had a history of deep playoff runs, as they made it to the semis in 2010 and 2011, the first two years of their existence. With such a proud history, I have to believe they want revenge on the Rainbows for beating them last year. Yetter is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6355,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-league-info"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25580"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6355"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25580"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25583,"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25580\/revisions\/25583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.miyagimedia.com\/bruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}