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Happy Ourer: Hello and welcome to another season of Linndale Basketball! I am Happy Ourer, and joining me as usual will be Joshua Doe, Sam Dunkley, and Jimmy Buckitts. Let’s get right to it! Joshua, what are you looking to see this season from the team?

Joshua Doe: After a disappointing finals, I want to see coach Pio Reina go deeper into his bench and bag of tricks. I want to see Carlos Frias all over the court. I also want to see Walt Pasman improve his offensive game and see Petey Buckets play a little defense.

HO: Sam, what are you looking for?

Sam Dunkley: I want to see how Lecian and Craig improve this season. There is an opportunity for Lecian specifically if he can improve his ball handling and shooting. I also want to see Joy Beko progress on offense.

HO: Jimmy, you’ve been with the team in training camp. What have you seen?

Jimmy Buckitts: Happy, the coaches told me they like that they can move Joy Beko around on the floor and want to be able to that with more players. The key will be how the younger guys develop. We’ll see how that plays out. Air Allnite was particularly excited to see Petey Buckets working on his defense and rebounding. He also said Leandro Leao isn’t where they want him to be, but he’s close.

HO: Well, let’s find out what the General Manger of the team, Roberto Gurgone expects to see. Roberto, thanks for joining us.

Roberto Gurgone: Thanks for having me. Great to see everyone back for another season!

HO: Explain what the plan for this season is.

RG: We’ll deal with the playoffs when we get there. This season is all about versatility. We need to get back to being unpredictable offensively and defensively, and versatility allows you to do that.

JD: Roberto, the team already appeared to be pretty versatile as it is, what exactly are we going to see?

RG: There’s being able to do something, and being able to do something at a level expected. We want to get to the point where you know who’s on the court but you don’t know where. We want our guys to be able to play a variety of positions at a high level. We have a guard we can put in the paint defensively and a power forward we can put on the perimeter at the same time. That kind of versatility is a weapon. We want more of that, but we also want them have the skills needed to play multiple positions on offense. Beko or Pasman defensively anywhere isn’t a surprise, but on offense you largely know where they will be. That’s going to change. Guys are going to be able to guard multiple positions and be a threat on offense at multiple positions. That protects us against injury and gives our opponents nightmares. How do you game plan for that?

HO: That sounds like the return of a fan favorite could be in the offing. Will we see a backwards game this season?

RG: That depends on both the matchups, and if Coach Reina says our guys are ready for it. I think he’d want to see two, maybe three more players improve in certain areas before he pulled that out. That’s his call. I’ll allow that we’ve told Pio to go into his bag of tricks to find out who can do what. Last season, he wasn’t as willing to do so, and played things pretty conservative. I think he’ll be more aggressive this season. He won’t care about losses as long as we make the playoffs. Let the players play.

HO: We’ll be back with Roberto Gurgone when we return from this commercial break! When we return, we'll find out if Pio Reina is on the hot seat.

RG: That's ridiculous! I'll explain why he's not when we return! Come on, Happy! You can't be serious!

(laughter on set from everyone)

HO: About Pio Reina on the hot seat? No. About the commercial break? Totally! I told you I'd get you! We'll be back in 90 seconds!

Jimmy Buckitts: Jimmy Buckitts with head coach Pio Reina. Coach, what was the plan for tonight’s game?

Pio Reina: We just wanted to get started with a good half of basketball, and get the work in our guys need to get them where we want them to be. We wanted to focus on our ball handling specifically; I’m sure you noticed the guys in the backcourt tonight are all guys we want to see improvement from in regards to ball handling. Particularly, we need to see improvement from the guys that ran on the second unit tonight. If you can’t take care of the basketball, that is going to affect playing time, so you’d better improve if you want playing time.

JB: Was this first half offensive production a function of the defense for the Eagles being good tonight, or was this a function of a bad shooting night for your guys?

PR: Give them credit. Neither team is going to be the same at the end of the season, but give them their credit. We do not care who is on the floor for us, we have expectations. We did not meet those expectations in the first quarter on offense. Credit their defense. We did not meet those expectations in the second quarter defensively. Credit their offense.

JB: What did you see that you liked out there?

PR: I liked Pasman’s aggressiveness on offense. I thought Beko and Kops were both aggressive on the boards. I thought defensively we forced turnovers, and made it difficult at times to shoot.

JB: What improvement do you want to see?

PR: We have to stop giving away free points at the foul line. They’re comfortable when they shoot the three ball. They’re attacking the offensive glass. That’s three right there. Let’s see how the game goes on, and give both teams a chance to put their best foot forward.

JB: Thanks for your time, Coach, and good luck in the second half.

PR: Thanks, Jimmy.

Jimmy Buckitts: I’m here with coach Pio Reina after a 109-89 victory over the New York Eagles. Coach, what did you like out there tonight?

Pio Reina: I like that we cleaned up our free throw shooting as the game went on. I liked that we were able to keep turnovers to a decent number while working on our ballhandling. Our starting backcourt combined for 1 turnover, the number 2 backcourt combined for 2. We were also able to briefly get the third unit on for a moment, so that went well.

JB: Was there anything you didn’t like?

PR: There was a lot to not like, but I’m not going to weigh it too heavily. First game, and I don’t think anyone out on that floor had a particularly sharp game. There were things I liked and a lot more of things I didn’t. I liked Pasman in the first half. I thought he kind of disappeared in the second. He’s just one example; I thought there was a lot of inconsistency out there, though I expected it.

JB: Are there reasons that we didn’t see Carlos Frias or Gao Rongjing tonight? Their absences were noticeable.

PR: Carlos wasn’t needed with what we wanted to do tonight. With the focus of the game for us, Carlos is where we wanted him. Kops and Bolibok were also, which is why they didn’t play in the backcourt; they’re working on other things. Leao looked sharp, Pasman was solid, Enfes was acceptable, Uzek looked a bit shaky.

JB: Congratulations on the win, Coach, and thank you for your time. We’ll see you back home Tuesday night. Back to Happy and the guys in studio!

Happy Ourer: Thanks, Jimmy. Joshua, I saw your eye twitch when Pio pointed out the disappearance of Walt Pasman in the 2nd half.
Joshua Doe: If you mean he disappeared on offense, I can buy that. On offense, he gave you nothing in the second half. Defensively, he was his usual fantastic self. The bigger picture is his offensive output. I don’t see him putting up 17 a night every night, or even every other night; this team has too many players who are better offensively than he is. If he can improve his outside game and finishing around the rim and also improve his ball skills, the versatility we talked about on the pregame show gets unlocked. Pasman is a huge key for what Pio Reina wants to do.

Sam Dunkley: Joshua, I agree that Pasman is important, but don’t undersell Leandro Leao either. For whatever reason, Pio Reina and Roberto Gurgone both indicated he wasn’t up to their minimum at the point guard position, but he was close. If you want to play Carlos Frias off the ball, you need another ball handler on the floor. Eight assists and no turnovers tells me he wants the ball in his hands.

HO: I don’t think either of you gentlemen are wrong on this, but I also think the performances of Cafer Enfes and Midas Kops bear watching. Kops had a sensational night rebounding for him, and Enfes in the backcourt had a pretty good night himself. Pasman is very good defensively, but those two might have something to say about his playing time as well. Pasman is the best defender of the trio, but Enfes can match him on the boards and is stout defensively. For his part, Kops is the most versatile of the three offensively and not as stout as the other two defensively, but still a very, very good defender.

JD: Well, let's hope the improvements continue for the boys Tuesday night when the URI Rams show up at The Speedway! I'm pretty sure we'll see Gao Rongjing and Carlos Frias then. We're out of time, so we'll see you Tuesday!

HO: Hey, that's my line!

SD: You snooze, you lose! Dinner's on Happy tonight!

HO: We'll see you Tuesday night, folks! Tonight's final Linndale 109, New York Eagles 89.

Happy Ourer: Hello Linndale faithful! You know who we are and what we do! For those who don’t, I am Happy Ourer and my pals are Joshua Doe, Sam Dunkley, and Jimmy Buckitts. Before we get into tonight’s game, I wanted to touch on Tuesday’s game a bit. It seems we have some thoughts about it.

Joshua Doe: Doggone right we do! I don’t care about the quality of the opponent because you still have to execute, but what I loved that Pio Reina took the opportunity afforded him to give playing time to the younger guys to develop, and the guys that played responded. Ercan Uzek was solid, Cafer Enfes was outstanding, Stuart Grubbs was solid, Luis Isarre showed a little something, and Leandro Leao continued his great play in a brief appearance.

Sam Dunkley: Joshua, did you see Carlos Frias at the power forward? That was interesting; I don’t think we’ll see that too often. Piotr Bolibok lived up to his nickname. It was nice to see Petey Buckets, and he was efficient! Midas Kops looked good but his board work was surprising: I want to see more. Ondrej Lecian left me disappointed. I expected more from him.

Jimmy Buckitts: I was just hoping to see Bernie Craig get more time on the court. It was clear that Gao Rongjing would have his way out there and he absolutely did. Also, anyone saying they expected 53 assists was lying. That ball was moving!

HO: You guys all make good points, but Pio Reina said he wanted to develop guys and try new things and combinations. I don’t think he’s begun to dig into his bag of tricks yet. On to tonight with COGERS, what are we looking for? Jimmy let’s start with you?

JB: I expect to see guys working on their shot, especially in the back court. I look for Linndale to run the motion offense after the dazzling passing display Tuesday. Pio’s gonna want them to show him it was for real, but he also wants them to clean up the turnovers. We’ll find out if what the young guys showed was sustainable.

SD: No we won’t, Jimmy. Tuesday was nice but didn’t really tell us anything. We knew our guys were better then and we know it coming into this one. What we need to see is if they can continue to execute while working on their games. I’m told the young guys did improve, but just as important, veterans like Cafer Enfes and Leandro Leao also got closer to where the coaching staff wants them to be. If everyone is getting better, that’s what you want to see. So far, so good.

JD: I gotta agree with Sam, here. We’ll know more from the guys when we actually see the improvement and not a second before. I’d like to see guys get shots up, but make them good shots. Part of working on your shooting isn’t just making shots. It’s also shot selection, it’s working to get the good shot, and it’s getting the ball to someone with a better shot.

HO: Yeah, but if the guys are telling you to shoot it, you better have the confidence to shoot it.

JD: That’s a good point, Happy, but you also have to make it. It’s one thing to shoot it because guys tell you to, but if you can’t make it and they know it, they won’t be so encouraging.

JB: And you won’t get playing time unless your game is just exceptionally in some other area.

HO: With that, when we come back, Sam Dunkley picks a position group and Joshua Doe breaks down what to watch for from them. We’ll be back in two minutes on the Linndale Basketball Pre game Show!

Happy Ourer: Halftime sees Linndale on the road to a strangely underwhelming 49-25 lead. Joshua, what’s going on out there?

Joshua Doe: They aren’t taking care of the ball or moving it well enough. 16 assists and 5 turnovers don’t seem bad for a half, but this is a team that had over 50 assists in their last game. Also, Cafer Enfes is not nearly as efficient as he was last game when he seemingly couldn’t miss.

Sam Dunkley: Joshua, defensively I like that they are definitely getting after it and making shots hard to come by and harder to make. On the boards, Rongjing has nearly outrebounded COGERS by himself with their entire team having 17 rebounds to his 15.

Jimmy Buckitts: Sam, I gotta go back to the offensive side. The execution isn’t as crisp as it was last game. You can see Linndale is executing, and they are working on things, but it is not nearly as crisp. They are working to get good shots and largely making them, but that crispness and consistency isn’t there tonight.

HO: Wouldn’t that be a sign of youthful inexperience? Frias and Leao haven’t been on court and those two are the leaders.

JD: That’s a fair point, but Midas Kops and Joy Beko should be able to help Ercan Uzek and Luis Isarre run the team and that’s not happening. What is happening is they are giving the young guys room to find their way, and that’s exactly what you want them to do in this situation. IT’s on those young guys to respond, and right now, they aren’t leading or running the offense the way a veteran like Frias or Leao would.

HO: We’re going to break for local news. When we come back, can Stuart Grubbs keep up this torrid shooting outside in the second half? We’ll be back after the news!

Last edited by Speedtraps at 06/22/2024 21:05:17

Happy Ourer: Folks, I don’t know what Pio Reina said in that locker room at halftime, and I’m not sure I want to. What I do know is that Linndale was a different team in the second half. Thinks were far more crisp, execution was better, and Walt Pasman was a man possessed. Picking up the accuracy banner from Cafer Enfes in the previous game, Pasman seemingly could not miss!

Joshua Doe: The huge part of that is that his only miss was a three ball, and he was 5 of 6 from out there. He just dominated that second half when he was on the floor.

Sam Dunkley: I don’t know that he dominated, but the ball movement got much better and that will help the efficiency of the shooters. Let’s not get overboard on his performance.

Jimmy Buckitts: Happy, you were talking about Stu Grubbs in the first half, but he only took 1 three pointer in the 2nd half and missed it. You sure you didn’t mean Walt Pasman when you mentioned torrid shooting?

HO: I was trying to talk the young man up! He had a nice first half.

SD: I liked that Midas Kops had another game of strong board work, and had a complete game off the bench. He scored, he rebounded, he passed, he defended.

JD: I gotta give love to the bigs doing the grunt work. Rongjing was a force with 14 points and 16 boards in 24 minutes, Craig brought his lunch pail with 9 and 7 in 24 minutes, Beko just kind of got out the way and let Rongjing do his thing, but while his numbers weren’t eye popping, his game just does. 2 points 6 boards and 6 assists don’t seem like much, but every team needs that glue guy and Beko is a supremely talented glue guy. Then there’s Lecian, his understudy. He brings a similar skillset and affects the game in a similar manner, with his 10 boards and 6 assists. Being able to get that kind of playmaking from the bigs is a huge advantage.

JB: Let’s not forget that Beko played some point guard in the past and can do so for long stretches. We’re talking about a guy who could literally play any position on the floor and start.

HO: I know Pio Reina and his coaching staff are working on trying to get Beko to shoot more, but is that a guy who knows his game, is that a lack of aggressiveness, or is that him being passive?

JD: Beko is not a passive guy; he’s an observer who once he sees what needs doing goes out and does it. Need a distributor? He’s there. Rebounds? There. Shut down defender? There. He does it while staying within himself.

SD: Happy, Beko knows he’s got to improve his offensive game, and he works extremely hard on that. However the guy is just so good at getting the ball to where it needs to be. How do you stop a guy who’s game is everything else but scoring?

JB: You take away his options and make him shoot, except with this team, it’s extremely difficult to take away all the options. We didn’t see Bolibok or Siuta tonight. Kops was solid tonight. Pasman was on fire tonight. Enfes was on fire a few nights ago. Leao can fill it up. Frias can score. Rongjing is a force. It takes a supremely strong defensive team to tackle that challenge successfully.

HO: Well, I for one, expect t see another night of this on Tuesday when Linndale returns home to face the Swamp Donkeys. We’re out of time, so we’ll see you all Tuesday at the Speedway. Your final tonight, Linndale 121, COGERS 53. Have a good night everyone!