San Antonio had its 4.0 playoffs this weekend. Michael Spadoni's team featuring James Murray and crafty veteran Armando Abney prevailed after finishing the season undefeated. Second place team Smash was upset in the semis, perhaps costing itself a berth at Sectionals.
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Posted this before checking out Anthony Tatu's blog. Apparently there was some interesting gamesmanship during the Case/DeKruyff match. See the Austin Tennis Blog for details.
ReplyDeleteMy only time seeing Case play was a comfortable win against my teammate Adrian Santesteban in a match in 2005 with little drama. DeKruyff beat my teammate Paulo Yoshiura in a very heated match at Sectionals in 1997 complete with cheating accusations, etc. Apparently both Case and DeKruyff have the ability to get a little feisty.
Case is the biggest prick in the entire state in 4.5.
ReplyDeleteI saw the match and Case cheated Dekruyff on match point against and was generally a jerk throughout, stalling, limping around, taking 1-2 minutes between EVERY point, then playing the point fresh as a daisy. Too bad this guy is allowed to get away with these things. It's a real black eye for league tennis.
ReplyDeleteWasn't there an incident with Case and one of the Dibuas a couple years ago?
ReplyDeletethe dibuas are great dudes! those bros have the toughest mental game that i know of. case seems to lack talent and has to cheat to win.
ReplyDeleteIs Case hated more than the infamous peeps around Houston?
ReplyDeleteI remember reading something about Case and Odion on here. I did a search and found a few nuggets. Here's one:
ReplyDeleteWhile we can't say for sure, it looked as though Odion aced Chad on a second serve at 8-9 in the third set tiebreak. Chad called it out and the match was over.
I don't know all of the details, but I got the sense that this was the last straw. As someone mentioned above, Chad threw Odion's towel over the fence and there was some discrepency about Chad hitting the ball in the opposite corner from where Odion was - in between the 1st and 2nd serve. Following the match Jimmy confronted Chad and exchanged verbal jabs.
Love the "napolean complex" reference. The term fits.
important matches this week:
ReplyDeletediv II:
wstc blacksheeps vs. wstc nwo: blacksheeps needs a desparate win, a lost win definitely take them out of the playoff spot. i predict nwo to tank a singles match againt bradley.
div III.
duecebags vs. hurricanes: duecebags need to win the to be back in the playoff race. hasker and rich has to be in the line up.
sienna vs. sugar creek:
eventhough sienna is out of it, sugar creek needs a win to broaden the gap between them and duecebags.
I heard an unconfirmed rumor that Rich has moved or will be moving to Austria.
ReplyDeleteDid hear that Rich will still be available for some of the tougher league matches though.
ReplyDeleteIn 4.0, JCC vs Sienna... who will win?
ReplyDeleteSienna will kill them just like last time.
ReplyDeleteNWO doesn't need to tank a singles match bc they don't have any singles players. Lacy and Bradley will win, so all Black Sheep needs is one line of doubles.
ReplyDeleteBattle of undefeateds in 4.0, div. IV -- 5-0 SAP vs. 4-0 Lost Forest. Predictions?
ReplyDeleteSAP is the class of Division IV. They should beat Lost Forest 4-1 or 5-0.
ReplyDeleteBack to Mixed. Mixed and Matched may have cost them Sectionals by playing Ford/Farquhar vs Mason Creek. They for sure had some better teams to play.
ReplyDeleteEmily Jacobs and either of the Brian's would have won line 3 for them.
How is John Kim rated 4.0? I am surprised AR_Hacker hasn't been complaining about that or filing protests. Where has he been?
ReplyDeleteNobody cares about mixed league. Next topic please!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know the format for mens 4.5 city playoffs yet?
ReplyDeleteRumor is that it will be a 6 team round robin...
ReplyDeleteThanks Smitty. Hope Sienna beats Sugar Creek this week. Could shake things up a little bit.
ReplyDeleteFor a round robin in the 4.5 playoffs, would each team play each other? Or would the winners of one group play the winner of a second group? One group consisting of two 1st place and a second place team and another group consisting of a 1st place team and two second place teams?
ReplyDeleteOnce city playoffs hit, there should not be any seeding of first place teams from the three divisions. If my prediction holds true one first place team will have an easier #2 place group to play.
Clearly a true round robin would be preferable in many ways. It's most fair, and it would eliminate the possibility of the true second best team getting stuck in the wrong bracket and losing out on a possible wild card berth.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that it takes a LOT more court space. A true round robin with six teams means 15 team matches, or 75 lines played. Two groups of three teams and a final means only 7 team-matches, or 35 lines played (my math may be off, but that's definitely the big factor that Diana/Cheryl have to weigh)
Historically if there are six teams then they have done 2 groups of 3 with a final. Kind of limits your ability for any mistakes.
ReplyDeleteIt would be preferable to have a RR with 5 matches with 1st and 2nd going to sectionals.
Overall the match count goes from 13 total matches to 30. This makes the court cost much more and scheduling more challenging? What do you think HTA will do?
black sheep and no way out is a huge matchup this week. should be interesting...
ReplyDeleteIt is my understanding that the HTA is trying to expand the 4.5 playoffs to 1 6-team pool whereby each team will play the other 5. The HTA has already scheduled extra days for the City playoffs in an attempt to accomodate the extra matches. For example, the guys are scheduled for July 9, 16, 17-19 (they've also scheduled extra days for the ladies).
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if they've made any final decisions yet but I know they were trying to expand from the 2 3-team pool format.
I hope it happens. It will make things much more interesting.
the black sheep has more talent, but nwo is better in being creative with their lineup. should be interesting.
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous 1:54 PM:
ReplyDeleteI am still around just disgusted with the USTA allowing cheating to happen and forcing captains to do their job in policing self-rate.
In AR right no we have a former Top 150 ATP pro, All-American, under the age of 50, who self-rated as a 4.5. The allowance of paper matches and tanking has just gotten to old to deal with now.
As for John Kim, I have no idea who that is, but will look into it if you would like.
Thanks to the blog spotters for the reads on the local leagues around Texas.
Look out for the Got Rita ladies 3.0 team at Walden on Lake Houston to win playoffs and go to sectionals. Lead by one of the best captains in Houston that no one knows (Leslie M.)
ReplyDeleteIf HTA adopts the 6 match round robin format, then there is a potential for some funny business on the Sunday/Saturday matches.
ReplyDeleteFor example, in a match between a team completely out of the running and another still fighting for the 1st or 2nd slot, what's to stop the captains from agreeing to "throw" certain lines. They could do this to protect one of their players from getting "bumped" at year's end, or just to screw another team. The experienced captains are aware of this will use it.
Just a though worth mentioning, and I am in favor of the round robin format.
What's to say that doesn't happen anyways on a weekly basis?
ReplyDeleteThere will always be a propensity to cheat no matter how much you govern and regulate.
Another possible is padding the scores. Mark down a 1 & 2 match as 4 & 5 to make it seem closer.
Maybe a little handshake between captains?
The main concern I have seen in RR events is that when a team is eliminated they stop showing up. This happens at sectionals where there is a RR. So a team could go 0-3 and then stop showing up for the last two matches. By doing this they give their 4th and 5th opponent defaults at 6-0, and 6-0 and possibly skewing the game/set differential that could decide a tiebreaker at the end of an event.
I also like the complete 6 team round robin over the current system.
ReplyDeleteThere's no way to prove it but I feel that last year we (Sienna 4.0) were the 2nd best team in the city next to the Hurricanes (we were in 3rd set breakers with the singles on at the end for a chance to win). I'm sure there would be some debate about this, but we would at least have had a good shot.
Here's my ideal situation: play the current 2 team round robin format. Play a semifinal and final (including a 3rd place match) between the top two teams in each division. Then, similar to the UIL playback match: if the teams that end up in 2nd and 3rd have not played each other, then they play for the 2nd place spot.
Of course, with any system there is a chance for manipulating the results to either avoid or cause a playback match to occur by losing on purpose.
In order to avoid this, you could take the 6-8 teams from the playoffs and use those to determine seeds for next year which determine divisional placement, this way there is incentive to win every match if for no other reason than to help your odds for next year.
sorry, I meant play the current two group round robin format
ReplyDeleteChris:
ReplyDeleteyou take care of the potential defaults by putting in the rules that any team no-showing will be fined $50 person and team suspended until fees paid. That is what ATA does and it works.
That sounds good, but I don't see HTA as an enforcement mechanism as tennislink does not grant HTA any 'lock out' capability. It would have to be enforced manually with an overtaxed organization hunting down deadbeats.
ReplyDeleteI have been at combo sectionals that was a 6 team RR and you played Friday, Sat and Sunday AM. By Sat afternoon the teams that are winless are headed home and giving matches to the other teams. Kind of sucks that it works that way
When a team defaults in a round robin situation, don't all of it's previous matches turn into defaults as well?
ReplyDeleteCurrently, if a team defaults a full match then every match played in that specific round robin is then defaulted by that same team (i.e., each opponent will get a 5-0 win, even if they already played the match).
ReplyDeleteAlso, the Texas section has rules in place to combat full team defaults. If a team defaults a team match at sectionals then that team's home district/city will be banned from participating at sectionals the following year.
There is no perfect system but I'm all for more playoff matches. I like Smitty's system.
Wild Valley pulled out of Sectionals in 4.0 last year. Does that mean there won't be a Valley representative at 4.0 Sectionals this year?
ReplyDeleteFreeman, do I get to play this week or does Red still have me benched?
ReplyDeleteI think they pulled out b/c of the hurricane that came through there a few weeks prior to sectionals. right?
ReplyDeleteTim why don't you call Freeman and stop posting bc no one cares.
ReplyDeleteIs sectionals fun? Sienna player
ReplyDeleteit sucks to be on freeman's team, you never get to play.
ReplyDeleteSectionals is very fun and a great enviroment to be in. however, driving to dallas sucks as usual. and it's freakin hot up there!
ReplyDeleteEvery match is super important. Freeman is right not to play his scrubs.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, it's fun as shit. The pressure is unbelievable if you're on a really good team.
Do you think Freeman's teams go to Sectionals and or Nationals every year by playing scrubs? All his players get a chance to play, but when the results really matter the "big guns" are in the line up.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I enjoy the experience at Sectionals a lot more than Nationals. Typically, most players are more familiar with players from the other Texas teams and have fun talking, joking and watching them play. That is not the case at Nationals, you only know people from your team. I know that the ultimate goal is to win Nationals, but the road there should also be fun.
ReplyDeleteOther than playing or watching tennis, not much else to do in Tuscon, but eat and play golf. But Vegas is another animal.
A follow up to Htown Hacker's 11:35 post.
ReplyDeleteMob Squad had the wild card but pulled out of 4.5 sectionals last year, does that impact Houston this year?
Good question. The Mob Squad pulled out beforehand (barely beat the deadline, I might add), so Houston's wild card situation is unaffected. The Valley team actually showed up and played a match (or was it two???) and then left, although there were extenuating circumstances as Chris mentioned.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately Freeman was planning on using some of his "scrubs" (myself included) in the Valley match, so some players didn't get to play much.
The Valley team got a pass because of the Hurricane last year. It was weird because they actually played their Friday matches. I was disappointed I didn't have that additional match for my guys.
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly, I have had very few people complain about playing time over the years. While I understand it is an issue for some players, it certainly is not an issue I consider or give a second thought to as a captain. The only time I even pay attention is if that is the way the team was structured and that was everyone's expectation when they signed up (Fall/Spring HTA).
I've personally never enjoyed playing on an otherwise competitive team that used the equal playing time or everyone plays concept - even when I was the weakest player (which is generally the case). However, I have a lot of good friends who disagree with me.
Tim, had you brought back to the team a Championship from Waco I might have considered putting you in but...
I will try to do better.
ReplyDeleteLove him or hate him, Freeman is a great ambassador for league tennis. he's not even in texas, but still has the passion to lead numerous teams to nationals. i'll never join one of you teams, cuz i like to play every week, but you definitely got my vote if you ran for anything...
ReplyDeleteFreeman is a good captain.... in February. :-)
ReplyDeleteLoved the last post
ReplyDeleteI have not heard about Sienna in about 24 hours!!!
ReplyDeleteWell let me help you.... I heard from a guy on Sienna's 4.0 team that one of the 500 players asked for his money back from the captain b/c he was not playing. I would have loved to be in the room when he asked for his money back. Apparently the captain flipped!
ReplyDeleteIf they asked them to play on the team then they should get a chance to play. I'd want my money back too.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is most of those roster members were not asked to play - they probably "asked" to play and the captain was to nice to say no. If Sienna wants to truly be considered a top team then they'll have to make the tough decisions.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the captains of the team explained to all the roster members that they wouldn't be playing much before they signed up. I wouldn't be mad if I knew what I was getting into but I would be furious if the captain changed the rules on me during the middle of the season.
ReplyDeletethat really sucks, not getting to play ... why did he or they sign up, just to watch ... oh man I would be furious too !!! to bad they did not know what they were getting into ( the Sienna club )
ReplyDeleteplayoffs are great but to leave out some member of the team is just cold blooded ... hate to be the captain or co-captain or anyone making decision !!!
ReplyDeleteIts suppose to be fun, what a nightmare to have someone wanting to win that badly... get a life.
I heard some top players on freeman's 4.5 team complain about the same issue. They weren't told that they might not get to play.
ReplyDeleteTop players do not complain, they always play. That is why I sit and the Dibuas play.
ReplyDeleteThis is Case, Juan played great and unfortunately cramped up in the 3rd set and probably would have beat me if he had not. Other than that, he questioned a couple of my calls and I questioned a couple of his. But Juan trully is amazing and in my opinion the better player.
ReplyDeleteThis is Case, Juan played great and unfortunately cramped up in the 3rd set and probably would have beat me if he had not. Other than that, he questioned a couple of my calls and I questioned a couple of his. But Juan trully is amazing and in my opinion the better player.
ReplyDeleteSan Antonio 4.5 league is over. Team Miller has won the league and will be at sectionals.
ReplyDeleteWell I to but I about the collection should prepare more info then it has.
ReplyDelete