Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Playoffs Heat Up.

Well, the playoffs finally get into full swing this week as both the 4.5 and 4.0 divisions have four matches scheduled for Thursday.

Is there a prohibitive favorite in 4.5 this year? I think not. Copperfield, Lakeside, the Hurricanes and the Blast are all considered the frontrunners by some knowledgable observers. None of these teams face each other this week, but all will be tested.

Lakeside takes on the Deucebags at home. It's hard to see the Dbags winning without splitting the singles, especially if Connell/Wright take the court. Quack Bui will be their target...can Nazario or Bishop (or Schmucker/Goldberg/Chavarria) take him down? I'll take Lakeside to win.

The Blast take on the Gypsies. Who will join Pete Taylor in the Blast singles lineup? Li/Regent seem to be the strongest doubles pairing on the two teams, but can the Gypsies eke out two more lines?

The Hurricanes take on Sugar Creek. Douds' guys were overlooked last year and shocked the 4.5 world. There's no Antoine Ford on the team this year, but the Hurricanes don't have any singles juggernauts themselves. I think the 'Canes take this one based on their doubles.

Finally, Copperfield hosts the Black Sheep. The Lobsters were once looked upon as heavy favorites, but there hasn't been an Adam Kent appearance since April. Shaan Patel may provide the margin of victory. As an aside, does anyone else feel that the USTA may have changed their "tolerance" level for three strikes this year? Yes, I know score managing has increased, but it seems to me there are some players out there who would have been DQ'd in previous years who have escaped in 2011. Perhaps Patel will be fine.

The 4.0 division also has four matchups this week. Some teams will be making their first appearances after having a bye last week, so we may find out a little more about some "unknown" teams.

One of those teams, The Good Guys, went undefeated this year and plays a tough Chancellor's squad that pulled off a sweep last week. Incidentally, Flight One appears a bit tougher to me, and it's possible that three teams could end up with one loss when all is said and done. The Good Guys are solid at four lines. Chancellor's Cuong Truong flirts with danger every week. Do Kiss or Mei have enough game to beat him?

Lakeside got their two "easy" matches upfront and shouldn't have too much trouble with Copperfield this week.

The Hurricanes travel out to Cinco Ranch to face a mystery team that has completely dominated their division during the regular season. Not many big names on the Cinco team, so we may find out a lot more about them this week.

Finally, The Unicorns take on an RPM team that surprised a lot of people last week, but probably doesn't have doubles depth to take three lines.

BTW, I got this from Anthony Tatu on the Austin Blog: Evan King is blogging about practicing with the U.S. Davis Cup team. I found it interesting.

51 comments:

  1. Patel only has played 2 matches so he's probably pretty close to getting DQd

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  2. Patel's two opponents are rated 4.0 with mediocre records at best. His rating is safe based on those matches.

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  3. Any predictions for MYR bumps?

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  4. Rios at 6.0 and Babu at 9.5, so that leaves tran at 10.0

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  5. I always thought of that little man as a 10

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  6. That how many inches that went into your momma last night.
    Ask her what my name.

    Tran

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  7. What happended to Minh Hoang?

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  8. Babu will not be bumped... he is computer rated.

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  9. My 4.0 predictions (last week, I was wrong about canes though I figured they would have a stronger lineup, and lakeside dropped one more line than I thought).

    Good Guys beat Chancellors 3-2. I see the teams splitting the singles lines. In doubles chancellors will take the line with Fredrick/Ross. Good guys buoy line 2 with hard hitting Blum and it comes down to line 3. Who will be at line 3? I think if Mei ends up playing there with Kiss at line 2 singles the good guys take it.

    Copperfield beats Lakeside 3-2. If copperfield is smart, which I think they are, they will slough off line 1 singles. Putting Dupuis in at line 1 doubles and keeping Bombonatti at line 2 singles. I think this makes line 2 singles close (Lakeside has a lot of singles but none are locks here). Dupuis/Lofton probably beat Kerig/Marks in a great match. I think the other doubles lines split line 2 going to lakeside and 3 to copperfield.

    Hurricanes beat Cinco Ranch 5-0. Cinco has a few good players in Mardsen and Newton, and some role players in the Hughes. But Hurricanes are way to deep and strong at the top lines. Look for the matches that Mardsen and Newton to be close losses and the other matches to be a little lopsided. Vu, Yamaguchi will roll in doubles and Boone, Rios, etc will roll in singles. Probably a good week to let halani rest up.

    Unicorns beat RPM 4-1. RPM made themselves interesting and almost relevant last week with their upset bid. This week is do or die for them, they can't afford two losses and the Unicorns are one of the teams to beat. Look for a similar lineup. Who will the Unicorns bring out vs Heng/Park? Virani will probably be out there but the other lines uncertain. Doubles favors Unicorns. Herold/Shaffer make it interesting but the other lines aren't close.

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  10. I watched Chancellors play last week and they are overrated. The only line they will win is Minh Hoang's line

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  11. Unicorns vs RPM will be a good match it can definitely go either way.

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  12. Hurricanes will beat Cinco Ranch 3-2 just to make things interesting.
    Dont know too much about the other teams...
    Unicorns over RPM 3-2.

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  13. Sienna sucks, how did they win 2 lines against Lakeside last week? Lakeside must have had their B lineup playing.

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  14. Babu did not play the Lakeside match. If he did, Lakeside would have lost.

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  15. I will beat Cuong Truong tomorrow night and then I will report him to INS

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  16. i have a feeling the hurricanes lineup this time will be 4.0/4.5 players unlike last week...

    chancellors and lakeside will 3-2 their opponent.
    Dupuis has got a surprise for y'all....


    unicorns and RPM could go either way.
    make sure soda drinks plenty of water the night before and he will beat husain virani in line #1/2


    what happened to minh?

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  17. 11:19 ... U are a dumbass idiot

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  18. soda needs to drink lots of soda

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  19. tran, you right you about 10 inches tall.

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  20. we're gonna beat the Unicorns. Y'all just watch...

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  21. does babu play for unicorns or spains davis cup team

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  22. Unicorns you penis

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  23. How did this blog get so offensive and stupid. I guess its due to the host letting everything go, just as how he captained his teams before.

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  24. Yeah, the blog gets lots of childish stuff posted. But I like the fact that it's not heavily moderated. It encourages lots of comments( both good and bad). In any case, you have an easy solution if you don't like the blog. Read something else.

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  25. It got childish and immature when the USTA started allowing kids to enter the league.

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  26. kids? one here unda 18 here!

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  27. No mention of Tim Marco for the entire season? I will break that ice. Douds won't play without Tim. He has been a tough out for most of the year through last Summer.

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  28. I checked Tennislink. Marco played 4 matches against good competition at 4.5 this summer (2 each against Chancellors and Blast). He went 1-3.

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  29. Marco went the whole season without busting a raquet over somebodys head. All in all it was a good season

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  30. Warning! Calling balls out against Tim Marco may be hazardous your health.

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  31. Babu is on the Sienna Aces, but i do believe he was once playing for the Spain Davis cup team.

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  32. Sandwhich blaster vs. Babu tonight at 8:15

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  33. D bags over Lakeside. Who wants to bet?

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  34. It would come down to the Bui vs dbags match. Most of his lines are played at line1. It's dbags who have to guess

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  35. LOL@1:19 - Very true!

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  36. I bet that Teddy P. Wears a ski parka to his match tonight. Maybe even a matching scarf and mittens.

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  37. He only breaks out the scarf and mittens if it's below 102

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  38. That is cold...brrrrr. Someone light a fire for Pumathedickhead

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  39. Puma is not a dick head. Wearing multiple layered clothing is the only way to make it fair against such weak 4.5 lemmings. Yes, he's that good! I don't know what's next, maybe a blindfold?

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  40. No, he's not that good. If he was then he would do well in 5.0 when he gets bumped. His record sucks so he keeps getting bumped back down. So he's a decent 4.5 and not so good 5.0.

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  41. Hey! We're not lemmings.

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  42. Yeah, no lemmings here.

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  43. I'm really upset about that lemmings comment. Wait ....

    Is that a cliff? Wheeee!!!!!

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  44. Fakeside... a bunch of dicks.

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  45. Why does everyone hate on the hurricanes...?

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  46. What happened out there tonight in playoffs? Any upsets?

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  47. Ha Kiss got beat by an illegal...what a loser

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  48. Blacksheep 3 Lobsters 2

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  49. Chancellors are overrated. They should have won 5-0, but they only won 4-1.

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  50. Blast over gypsies 5-0

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