Who will clinch 8th spot of the American Conference?
Jun 16, 2015 7:48:50 GMT -6
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Post by Indiana on Jun 16, 2015 7:48:50 GMT -6
RACE TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS
With the regular season coming close to it's conclusion the race for the 8th and final playoff spot in the American Conference is still a hotly contested prize between 3 teams. Franca BC currently hold the 8th and final place ahead of the Globetrotter's and the Pacer's. The Warrior's look to have tied up 7th place and is unlikely to drop away and the Celtics, 76ers and Piston's all sit 5 games out, not impossible for them to make so if you like them tick "other". So let's take a look at how our 3 teams have managed to get where they are and the road ahead.
Current Form:
Franca BC: (33-25)
Franca started the season in good fashion jumping out to a 10-4 record and continued to pile on wins to eventually reach their highest point of the season chalking up an impressive record of 23-8. Sadly for Franca this is where they peaked and since then they have gone onto record just 10 wins from 27 games.
Globetrotters: (33-27)
Much like Franca the Globetrotters got off the a flying start reaching a great record of 16-4 before a tough patch saw them lose 7 games straight to tough opposition. The Trotter's regrouped to go on another impressive winning streak to stretch their win-loss record out to healthy 28-14 and looked set to be playing finals. Since then they have crashed badly winning just 5 games and losing 13. Looking to break an 8 game losing streak on the road against the Celtics this sim.
Pacers: (31-29)
The Pacers are the slow starters of the threesome, after 18 games they were sitting on 9-9 before a poor run of games saw them drop to their lowest record of 17-23 in late January and at 1 stage boasted an away record of a miserable 2-14 and the Pacer's looked shot. Loud noises were made at Indiana and some harsh decisions made which lead to an impressive run of 14 wins from 20 games and 5-4 on the road. The Pacers have managed to do all of this without key man Dennis Johnson who now returns after 63 days on the sidelines.
Franca BC: (33-25)
| Home Record: 21-9 | Road Record: 12-16 | Last 10: 3-7 | Last 20: 7-13 |
Franca started the season in good fashion jumping out to a 10-4 record and continued to pile on wins to eventually reach their highest point of the season chalking up an impressive record of 23-8. Sadly for Franca this is where they peaked and since then they have gone onto record just 10 wins from 27 games.
Globetrotters: (33-27)
| Home Record: 18-12 | Road Record: 15-15 | Last 10: 2-8 | Last 20: 7-13 |
Much like Franca the Globetrotters got off the a flying start reaching a great record of 16-4 before a tough patch saw them lose 7 games straight to tough opposition. The Trotter's regrouped to go on another impressive winning streak to stretch their win-loss record out to healthy 28-14 and looked set to be playing finals. Since then they have crashed badly winning just 5 games and losing 13. Looking to break an 8 game losing streak on the road against the Celtics this sim.
Pacers: (31-29)
| Home Record 24-11 | Road Record: 7-18 | Last 10: 6-4 | Last 20: 14-6 |
The Pacers are the slow starters of the threesome, after 18 games they were sitting on 9-9 before a poor run of games saw them drop to their lowest record of 17-23 in late January and at 1 stage boasted an away record of a miserable 2-14 and the Pacer's looked shot. Loud noises were made at Indiana and some harsh decisions made which lead to an impressive run of 14 wins from 20 games and 5-4 on the road. The Pacers have managed to do all of this without key man Dennis Johnson who now returns after 63 days on the sidelines.
The Run Home
Franca BC:
It's a tough run of games coming up to finish off the season for Brazil. They have tough homes games against Warriors, Titans x2, Towers, Kings, Sonics, Lakers, Beerman and a must win game against the Globtrotters. On the road they face lesser teams but they have 2 must win games against the Pacers and Globetrotters plus tough games against Berlin and the Spurs.
Globetrotters:
Harlem by far have the easiest run home. 2 must win games are Franca on the road and Franca at home, it will be tough for Harlem to grab 8th if they drop these 2 games. On the road they face challenges from the Celtics, Sonics, Kings and Knicks whilst at home the real threats come from just the Warriors but they do face challenges from Beermen and Zalgiris but you would expect Harlem to win these games at home.
Pacers:
Despite not having to face the talent that Franca is up against the sheer number of away games makes the Pacers run home very difficult. They will need to draw on every ounce of their recent positive road record to pull off a playoff birth. The most difficult games for the Pacer's on the road come against the Knicks, Beermen, Warriors, Bullets and the Laker's. At home they face Beermen again, Titans, Warriors and their must win clash against Franca which will give them a win advantage in case of a tie.
Franca BC:
| Games Left: 24 | Home Games: 11 | Road Games: 13 | vs Harlem: 2 | vs Pacer's: 1 |
It's a tough run of games coming up to finish off the season for Brazil. They have tough homes games against Warriors, Titans x2, Towers, Kings, Sonics, Lakers, Beerman and a must win game against the Globtrotters. On the road they face lesser teams but they have 2 must win games against the Pacers and Globetrotters plus tough games against Berlin and the Spurs.
Globetrotters:
| Games Left: 22 | Home Games: 11 | Road Games: 11 | vs Franca: 2 | vs Pacer's: 0 |
Harlem by far have the easiest run home. 2 must win games are Franca on the road and Franca at home, it will be tough for Harlem to grab 8th if they drop these 2 games. On the road they face challenges from the Celtics, Sonics, Kings and Knicks whilst at home the real threats come from just the Warriors but they do face challenges from Beermen and Zalgiris but you would expect Harlem to win these games at home.
Pacers:
| Games Left: 22 | Home Games: 6 | Road Games: 16 | vs Franca: 1 | vs Harlem: 0 |
Despite not having to face the talent that Franca is up against the sheer number of away games makes the Pacers run home very difficult. They will need to draw on every ounce of their recent positive road record to pull off a playoff birth. The most difficult games for the Pacer's on the road come against the Knicks, Beermen, Warriors, Bullets and the Laker's. At home they face Beermen again, Titans, Warriors and their must win clash against Franca which will give them a win advantage in case of a tie.
So what we have here are 2 teams very much the same in Harlem and Franca that need to turn their season around and rediscover that winning formula and a team in the Pacers that have found a winning recipe but need to carry on their winning way. The fact that Franca have 2 games in hand is and advantage to them but only if they use them games to beat Harlem and the Pacer's. If Franca drop 1 or 2 of those games then it's back on an even playing field. The Indiana Pacer's have 1 advantage in the fact that Dennis Johnson is finally ready to return after 60 days out, and they will be hoping he helps get them the crucial win against his old Globetrotter GM. Whoever takes the honors 1 thing is for sure, the 8th and final place will be fort over vigorously until 1 teams earns the right to enter the ABCA playoffs!
