BASKETBALL PRESEASON ANALYSIS




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PRE SEASON ANALYSIS

Strength: History: The Legion of Doom, composed of Pat O'hara, Mike Hoffmann, and Jeff Kustusch, have been playing together since they have been in diapers. The Dynamic Duo of Edwin Flores and Dan Pan have playing well with each other since they met years ago. Both "groups" have blended well with each other over the years, feeding off each other's play. George Glekas, Dave Yu, Stan Wang, and Ernst Lamothe are very underrated offensive players who have blended well with their teammates. Everyone is talented in their own way and will bring something different to the table. Team chemistry and ability to play together is usually overlooked by the audience for pure talent; these guys together are definitely more than the sum of their parts.

Strength: Experience: This team has a lot of players who have been through many winters. Mostly everyone on the team is a seasoned veteran of the IMPE Saturday morning basketball wars. Dan, George, Pat, Jeff, and Mike are the Moses Malones of the team, veterans of intramural basketball, but they have very few wins and no titles to show for it. These guys will provide much knowledge and leadership to the players who don't have much intramural basketball experience. Also, Ernst can sing like nobody's business, he might as well consider performing in between halves. If nothing else, Dan's questionable taste in clothing can be distracting enough for opposing players.


Weaknesses: Size/Bulk: Back in the 1890s, this team would be fine, but since then, every team has gotten bigger and tougher. Though Ernst, Vince, Mike, and Jeff are capable interior defenders they lack a tall physical presence inside to man the middle of the offense and defense. All of them are undersized big men who might have trouble against taller players. They will have to gut it out, especially against bigger, more physical teams. Their interior defense and rebounding will be tested week in and week out. (No one on this team has the license to jump along with a man who's elbow is about the rim.) Also Ernst has been known to be a walking injury waiting to happen, will he become the next Hendrik Szurmant?

Weaknesses: Defense: Jeff Kustusch and Dave Yu are long armed guys who can block shots. Dan, is a solid perimeter defender who can bring the D like the milkman with his hustle and tenacity. In addition, Ernst is a truck of a man, who has been terrorizing the paint for years. However, the question for this team will be: Will they be able to play good, in your face team defense for the whole game and keep their opponents from rebounding and scoring at will? Stay tuned.

Weaknesses: Scoring: Outside of Edwin and Pat, the team will need a reliable third and fourth option. There are many candidiates for the third option on offense but they must figure out who it will be or it will be a lonely battle for Edwin and Pat. Without a third and fourth option, this team will struggle to score, especially against more athletic teams.


Watch out for: Individually these guys are average players but together they will give many people problems with their overall play and knowledge of how to play together as a team. No one can be overlooked on this team. Dan, Pat, and Edwin will be relied upon to keep defenses honest by knocking down outside shots, thus preventing teams from clogging the inside. If not, then the "big" men will be facing double and triple teams on a regular basis. Dan, Pat, and Edwin will also have the ball in their hands alot but the keys for this team will be

1) Ernst's, Jeff's, Mike's, Dave's and George's effectiveness down low to score and rebound. If two are shut down, then the team loses a large chunk of their interior play and will have yet another disappointing season.

2) Ernst's leadership ability. Ernst Lamothe is a rookie coach who will be asked to take care of the team, play an integral role in the team's offense/defense, and take care of the substitution patterns wile serving as a facilitator for the team to gel. That is a lot to ask from someone who lost to Thomas Duffy in fanasty football. Former player and intramural analyst Thomas Musick cast doubt on Ernst's leadership ability, saying he is a faded ball point pen in a league filled with freshly unwrapped Sharpies.

3) Dan's ability to get his teammates involved while being an effective scorer himself and at the same time, cutting down on the turnovers. Dan is a guard who would rather pass and play defense than shoot. This might require his teammates Ernst, George, and Vince to start insulting Pistol Pete Maravich so he can get rid of the squirrels under his arms.