The Elam Ending — No More Fouls!

RG33

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I have posted on here before about my two buddies who started “The Basketball Tournament” which is an amateur tournament that combines fantasy, social media, and real basketball — with the winning team this year getting $2,000,000 in cash.

I recently attended the quarterfinals over at Cal State LA and got to witness one of their innovations — “The Elam Ending.”

Ultimately, to get past all of end-of-game fouling that very rarely results in a comback win by the trailing team but almost always results in a neverending slog of an additional annoying 15+ minutes for fans, they have instituted this rule based on a MENSA middle school principal’s idea. The rule says that at the first game stoppage after the 4 minute mark of the 4th quarter, the clock is turned off, and an target score is set — first team to that score wins the game. The target score is whomever is leading + 7 points (so if it is 80-73, the first team to 87 wins the game)

Zach Lowe wrote about it for ESPN not too long ago — and it has attracted the attention of NBA executives who have been bandying about ideas to prevent the “Hack-A-Shaq” type of stuff.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19078511/zach-lowe-basketball-tournament-innovative-end-game-rule

I will say — having seen it live for 3 games at the tournament — it was MUCH less gimmicky than I thought it would be, and actually did enhance the endings of the games. The announcer makes the announcement at the stoppage — and the crowd got into countdowns and when the winning bucket was scored, the place erupted — both players and fans.

We didn’t get to see any close games where strategy needed to get involved (i.e. if a team had 1 free throw, needed 2 points to win, should they miss the free throw purposely, etc.?) — but it was cool. It is so extreme, I find it doubtful it ever makes its way to the NBA, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it experimented with in the G-League or Summer Leagues or what have you in the not too distant future.
 

DJnVa

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As devil’s advocate, couldn’t you still hack a Shaq assuming that conversion rate/possession is still lower than team without that player?
 

RG33

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As devil’s advocate, couldn’t you still hack a Shaq assuming that conversion rate/possession is still lower than team without that player?
I’m not sure I follow.

You only need 7 points — so sending the other team to the line will be problematic. Of course, if they need 3 points and you want to prevent that, it will come into play. But it won’t be an endless array of late game fouling, play stoppage, horrible fan experience which is what it is geared towards.

The MENSA guy had looked at like 2000 games, and an incredibly small amount benefitted from the fouling strategy at game end, so the thought was this was a way to get rid of the painful and unneeded endings of many basketball games.
 

Awesome Fossum

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Huge TBT fan, and thrilled they're giving the Elam Ending a full run this year. I think its weakness is in the super close game, where there's now incentives to intentionally foul or miss free throws where there weren't in the past. Maybe there's one more tweak that can be made to seal that off. But I think it's a big step forward.

This may be off topic, but TBT needs to figure out a way to increase attendance. The crowd makes such a huge difference in the quality of the television product. Increasing the number of sites for the first two rounds would be a big help (but would also require more money and staff, so I understand why they haven't yet). The Ram Nation games at VCU were just an awesome atmosphere; I was very happy for everyone involved.
 

Awesome Fossum

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As devil’s advocate, couldn’t you still hack a Shaq assuming that conversion rate/possession is still lower than team without that player?
I don't have a link, but Elam has addressed this himself in the past. Hack a Shaq can just be called for what it is: intentional fouls.
 

McDrew

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No more buzzer beaters or late game dramatics totally ruin the Elam Ending for me.
There's always a game winning basket with the Elam Ending. It might be a 20 point win, winning basket, but there will be a shot that ends the game in EVERY game. Winning team celebrates a bucket, not the clock running out.
 

McDrew

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I should have used a different term. There's always a game-ending basket with the Elam Ending. (I was editing my prior post when you replied)
 

RG33

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No more buzzer beaters or late game dramatics totally ruin the Elam Ending for me.
This was my inclination as well. I mean, how many amazing buzzer-beating type of shots would we have lost out on through the years?

However, every game has some level of the “game winning shot”, and think about what would happen with close games and somebody sticks a 3? Or when a team trailing by 10 goes on a 17-5 run to win the game. I think you would actually see a lot more “buzzer beaters” they just wouldn’t be clock based.
 

tims4wins

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I think the problem (aside from some of the super close game issues brought up earlier) is that now every game will end on a made basket or free throw, which takes away the excitement of the rare occasions in which games currently do end on a made basket. It becomes overkill and loses the excitement.
 

RG33

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This may be off topic, but TBT needs to figure out a way to increase attendance. The crowd makes such a huge difference in the quality of the television product. Increasing the number of sites for the first two rounds would be a big help (but would also require more money and staff, so I understand why they haven't yet). The Ram Nation games at VCU were just an awesome atmosphere; I was very happy for everyone involved.
Yeah — this has been a challenge. They have done things like adding payouts to the fans — so the #1 fan of the winning team gets $40,000. Fans 2-100 get something, etc. However, the crowd was sparse at the Cal State LA game I was attending — my best friend was actually running the Richmond rounds and was sending me videos of the crowd. That was kind of a unique scenario because VCU’s alumni team was playing. There’s a balance of cost — of having venues that are TV worthy for ESPN — and having places that have good amenities. Most of the players will tell you it is the best tournament they have ever played in — 3 D1 college officials, uniforms, locker room and facilities, everything is top notch. But getting 2000+ fans to attend has been a tougher draw. The alumni teams are the best for that — but these teams that are now semi-pro in nature haven’t been big draws although they are the best teams.
 

RG33

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I think the problem (aside from some of the super close game issues brought up earlier) is that now every game will end on a made basket or free throw, which takes away the excitement of the rare occasions in which games currently do end on a made basket. It becomes overkill and loses the excitement.
I don’t know, to me — it harkens back to “game point” in pickup leagues or playground ball which was always added excitement no matter the score. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out if the NBA adopts it for the G-League
 

tims4wins

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I don’t know, to me — it harkens back to “game point” in pickup leagues or playground ball which was always added excitement no matter the score. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out if the NBA adopts it for the G-League
True, even with a 10 or 15 point lead there would always be some level of tension. That may not be a bad thing.
 

The Gray Eagle

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I love the Elam ending and think it would vastly improve the end of basketball games.
I can't stand the constant fouling; the way the last minute and a half of a game takes 15 minutes of standing around to finish; the way that either video review or how quick the official timekeeper's finger is can determine who wins or loses the game; and how teams change up the way they've been playing the whole game-- the team with a late lead starts caring way more about the clock than about scoring a basket, and basically tries to do a basketball version of football's taking a knee, while the other team runs around trying to foul them.

I think if this was tried, once people got used to it, no one would be thinking, "Wow, I really miss those intentional fouls that we used to get."
 

Awesome Fossum

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Yeah — this has been a challenge. They have done things like adding payouts to the fans — so the #1 fan of the winning team gets $40,000. Fans 2-100 get something, etc.
Yeah, but -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- that doesn't necessarily incentivize anyone to show up to the games. And it definitely doesn't incentivize anyone to show up to all the games. I think it was a neat idea, but the only thing that really seems to have driven attendance at this point is the alumni teams.

However, the crowd was sparse at the Cal State LA game I was attending — my best friend was actually running the Richmond rounds and was sending me videos of the crowd. That was kind of a unique scenario because VCU’s alumni team was playing.
Right. There's a ton of alumni teams in the tournament, and if you had the funding, you could expand from five initial sites to up to 16 (which is how the NCAA does it). That way, you could expand the number of "home" crowds, and you're asking a lot less of each market. My sense is that they don't (yet) have the funding, but they dipped their toe into it this year with the Big East pod at Marquette, so that might be the vision for the future.

There’s a balance of cost — of having venues that are TV worthy for ESPN — and having places that have good amenities. Most of the players will tell you it is the best tournament they have ever played in — 3 D1 college officials, uniforms, locker room and facilities, everything is top notch. But getting 2000+ fans to attend has been a tougher draw. The alumni teams are the best for that — but these teams that are now semi-pro in nature haven’t been big draws although they are the best teams.
It's definitely a tough nut to crack, and I don't claim to have an answer ready to go. It's just clearly, to me, the biggest obstacle TBT is facing.

Building around the alumni teams is probably the way to go -- if the Big East pod was considered a success, you have the other five major conferences theoretically ready to slide in -- to the extent you can afford it. Beyond that, I think I might try to focus on "basketball meccas," historical gyms or venues that can draw basketball freaks who are just willing to come out in celebration of the game. The Palestra, some of the historic college gyms that have been outgrown (McDonough Gymnasium, Carmichael Arena, etc.) maybe the gym from Hoosiers, or even a pod at some of the famous street courts.

I'm just thinking out loud. I think they're doing a great job. Your friends should be proud.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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Does it lead to any weirdness as the game is approaching the 4 minute mark? I can see the potential for unintended consequences but am having a bit of trouble articulating them.
 

tims4wins

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Does it lead to any weirdness as the game is approaching the 4 minute mark? I can see the potential for unintended consequences but am having a bit of trouble articulating them.
Probably. Note that it would be 3 minutes in the NBA, not 4, I believe. So I could see a team with the ball and the lead at the sub-3 minute mark doing something to "lock in" the score, such as throwing a ball off an opposing player out of bounds, but that would also carry risks. You'd want to create a stoppage if you had the ball without giving up possession. Or if you didn't have the ball, you'd perhaps "intentionally" foul if you weren't in the penalty to lock in the score before the other team got closer.
 

Awesome Fossum

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What's the reason for stopping play? Why not just turn the clock off at 4:00 (or 3:00), and set the target score after the next change of possession?
 

RG33

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What's the reason for stopping play? Why not just turn the clock off at 4:00 (or 3:00), and set the target score after the next change of possession?
They don’t stop play — it is just the first stoppage after the 4 minute mark. So, theoretically, it could go all the way down to the buzzer. Teams may be incented to foul right before or after the 4 minute mark too depending upon the score I suppose. They don’t have enough of a sample size yet to see all of the potential issues and how it is relative to the standard way, but my SSS viewing 3 games, it was way more enjoyable than I expected.
 

djbayko

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They don’t stop play — it is just the first stoppage after the 4 minute mark. So, theoretically, it could go all the way down to the buzzer. Teams may be incented to foul right before or after the 4 minute mark too depending upon the score I suppose. They don’t have enough of a sample size yet to see all of the potential issues and how it is relative to the standard way, but my SSS viewing 3 games, it was way more enjoyable than I expected.
Even with that clarification, I believe his question is still valid. If they don't wait until the next stoppage to set the final score, then there would be no weirdness after the 3 minute mark. The teams have every incentive to continue trying to score / play D.
 

Bdanahy14

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Just seeing this, but I handle revenue and partnerships for TBT. Elam Ending was such a great success this past year. Nick has been analyzing every game and is suggesting some tweaks to the format. We think there will be a couple changes implemented this year.

Most are still under debate, but I'm pretty certain fouls heading into the timeout will no longer count towards the Target Score.

As for broader TBT strategy... the alumni teams have been such a great platform for us and we are tweaking the entire structure of the tournament to reflect that. As noted above, we tested out some concepts this year, but the one that worked best is the idea of Home Court games at regional level. We brought one regional to Columbus for Scarlet & Gray and another to Richmond for VCU. These sold out, had incredible energy, and both home/away teams preferred it to neutral court scenario.

We are also considering consolidating championships to the final 8 teams, bringing it to a major market, and investing into that weekend as the main tent-pole event.

We brought on Puma last year as a major partner and it was a very successful program. Strategic partnerships are the real key to future growth at this stage. We're in talks to bring in 2-3 other blue chip brands which will help grow the entire pie.

It's a great property... lots of cool things in the works on-court and off. We are in a very advantageous position in the marketplace because we're not tied to any historical way of doing things. It gives us great flexibility to be smart, creative, flexible and take risks when appropriate.

Glad you guys like it. Would love to hear any additional thoughts!
 
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Awesome Fossum

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It's a great property... lots of cool things in the works on-court and off. We are in a very advantageous position in the marketplace because we're not tied to any historical way of doing things. It gives us great flexibility to be smart, creative, flexible and take risks when appropriate.
Every time I see the "Baseball is Broken" thread, I think about how what the sport really needs is its TBT or XFL to experiment with the game free of the burden of tradition. It's honestly a service to the game.

I really appreciate you sharing; very cool to get some insight into what you guys are exploring. Glad to hear the Elam Ending was both a winner and also that's it being fine tuned; glad to hear the focus is on the alumni teams for the regionals. I think that's the right idea for both.

I was a little surprised to see Mugar tweet he was willing to pay the "professional track" elite prospects $2500 (or whatever) a game in TBT. Maybe that was mostly just for cheap publicity, but I can't imagine paying those guys and not the other players would go over well.
 

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I'm glad to see this experimentation, since next to officiating inconsistency, I think the ugliness of intentional fouls at the end of games is the worst part of an otherwise incredibly-watchable sport. Elam Ending is a fine choice and an improvement over the status quo.

The solution I've generally preferred is one that would be less of a jarring change to the viewing audience: inside the 4' or 3' mark of 4Q, start actually calling intentional fouls as, well, intentional fouls. A shooting foul, a loose ball foul, anything from the normal run of play - that's still 2 shots and change of possession (or 1 or 3 shots, whatever the case may be). But an intentional foul is 2 shots and possession for the fouled team. And look, the refs know what's what. I really don't think teams would figure out clever ways to disguise intentional fouls.

With nothing to be gained by end of game fouling, all that's left is to play defense and try to make up the ground, but if you can't, then the game ends quickly (and mercifully, if it's a 10-point game or whatever). And if it's a 1-possession game, you'd still get teams taking timeouts, drawing up plays and setting up for potential buzzer-beaters.

Consider the NFL, one of the few ways in which it's got an exemplary set of rules that create the right dynamic. The end of games can't be endlessly prolonged - but the final 2 minutes, especially if you're driving for a tying or go-ahead score, can be stretched out considerably. Clock stops on out-of-bounds in the last 5 minutes. You burn your timeouts, and the 2-minute warning happens. So there's an extended room for drama to happen... it's just not stretched to the point of absurdity and unwatchability. And if the game isn't close, it's ended efficiently. I think that's the right dynamic.

Conversely, I think hockey is too efficient with it. There's nothing more intense than empty-net time in a 1-goal game, but it's over in an absolute flash (even barring an empty-netter to seal it). Like, if they instituted a rule where a pulled goalie, once on the bench, could chug a beer to add 30 seconds to the clock, or really anything that would extend empty-net time, that'd be a gain for entertainment, right? You just couldn't take it too far.
 

Bdanahy14

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I was a little surprised to see Mugar tweet he was willing to pay the "professional track" elite prospects $2500 (or whatever) a game in TBT. Maybe that was mostly just for cheap publicity, but I can't imagine paying those guys and not the other players would go over well.
The issue is really the logistical costs associated with competing in a winner take all tournament. Not just the travel /F&B around advancing through the tournament, but the time and resources put in preparing for it as well. In a perfect world, we would be able to cover hard costs for all athletes, but that isn't viable for all rounds. Currently final 16 are covered.

We're exploring some creative ways a strategic partnership could increase the prize pool beyond $2M. I love what some of the e-sports folks have done in terms of fan/consumer spending going back towards the prize purse. It would also be great if the "hosted" regionals had smaller prize purses, which is something we're working through as well. The reality is the "next level" of talent to attract are guys on NBA lineups, which is most likely to hard of a nut to crack. Carmelo said he'd play if the purse got over $10M... clearly tongue in cheek, but I wonder what is the number is?

Last year's tournaments saw
- 80 players with NBA experience
- 83 plaryers with G-league experience
- 398 international professionals
- 26 alumni teams.

Evan Turner talked a bit about TBT on Zach Lowe's podcast last week. Good to get some "off season" coverage.
 

Awesome Fossum

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The plans for 2019 were unveiled today, although the news won't be too surprising if you've read this thread and seen @Bdanahy14 's posts. Eight regionals, which will whittle the field from 64 to 8. The final 8 will head to Chicago for the championship. Six of the regional sites are college markets, which can hopefully deliver crowds: Wichita, Syracuse, Columbus, Richmond, Memphis, and Lexington. The other two (Salt Lake and Greensboro) are built around Jimmer Fredette and Chris Paul branded teams.

The two developments I like the most: each site will only be responsible for seven total games and no more than four in one day, down from 12 and 8, respectively. In addition, the regional winner will take 25% of the gate. Both, combined with the "home team" as an anchor, should hopefully drive attendance, which has been one of the biggest limiting factors thus far.

http://thetournament.com/news/tbt-announces-regional-championship-sites-2019
 

Bdanahy14

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Quick bump here as we head into Championship Week in Chicago. Wichita was a something to behold... man Kansas loves their basketball. Over 20k tickets sold last weekend there and the Marquette Alumni team won $96k (25% of sales). Syracuse and Ohio State were also strong.

As for Elam, the slight rule adjustments have been working quite well.
 

Awesome Fossum

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@Bdanahy14 , you guys need to put a regional in Jackson, Tennessee next year.

I'm thoroughly enjoying this year's tournament. I randomly watched the end of Red Scare/Mid American Unity with some guys who were not really familiar with the event and was pleasantly surprised at the level of interest and engagement.

Great work! Looking forward to Chicago. Hopefully the Golden Eagles can make a run and drive attendance.
 

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The semifinals were awesome. And Marquette-Ohio State for the championship in Chicago has to be just about the best case scenario in terms of creating a big-time atmosphere.
 

InstaFace

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Coach Jared Sullinger has OSU up 4 now. 2 million bucks on the line.
Golden Eagles were leading 57-56, and of course tied at 60, and played great defense, had plenty of possessions, but just couldn't hit a shot. tOSU really deserved it for how they closed. Dude gets his finger jammed hard, is out with the trainer for most of the second half, comes back in and the first play he makes is a crucial steal-and-breakaway-layup to go up 64-60 in a game to 66. Can't want it much more than that.

And I have to say: This was the most physical game of basketball I've seen outside high-level street games at Rucker Park. The officials let all kinds of incidental contact go, only calling stuff affecting shots or similar. If you were making a play on the ball, contact with the other player's hand or even arm was let slide. The outcome, visually, was a hugely athletic contest. @Bdanahy14 and the rest of the management team should be stoked about how well it televised.
 

Awesome Fossum

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Great game, great atmosphere. Too bad it ended on a free throw, but actually sort of fitting, given how Marquette was just completely out of sync in the Elam Ending.

Sullinger was very impressive; I'm not an expert, but it seems like he added real value in the Overseas Elite game and it definitely felt like he outcoached the Golden Eagles guy down the stretch. I can't remember where I saw this, but he said something along the lines of every set play he ran was from Brad Stevens.

For those interested, I'd recommend listening to founder John Mugar's interview in this podcast (starts around 23:23, five or so minutes in length):

View: https://soundcloud.com/thebasketballtournament/tbt-podcast-ep-115-fran-fraschilla-bob-rathbun-jon-mugar


He talks about the physicality of play that @InstaFace references (says it can only be done with exceptional referees) among other things. I'm always most interested in what the next iteration is going to be -- looks like the plan is to build on the foundation that VCU and now Wichita State have set:

What do you think it was about the Wichita situation that could be replicated other places?

Partnering with the school itself as a marketing partner and business partner made 100% of the difference.
This part is unsaid, but I wonder if the model works especially well where the university's men's basketball team is the biggest draw in town, which is the case for both Wichita and Richmond. I'm trying to think how many more there are like that. Spokane and Creighton? How do New Englanders think it would do in Providence or Storrs?
 

Awesome Fossum

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Championship game was done by Keith Kimble, Brian O'Connell, and Clarence Armstrong. All appear to be major or mid-major college refs. Kimble, at least, has done a Final Four. I think they've had NBA refs in the past as well.
 
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Awesome Fossum

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TBT 2020 runs July 4-14, fully quarantined, in Columbus, Ohio. All games will be on an ESPN channel or service. The grand prize is just $1M this year, after a few years at $2M.

The biggest name this time is probably Joe Johnson, who hilariously joined four-time champion Overseas Elite. Between BIG3 and NBA Summer League not being played and the field being smaller than normal (24 teams vs. 64), it seems like the talent level might be the highest ever. Plus, with the NBA draft being moved back, an interesting twist is that a few draft-eligible prospects are participating, including Ohio State's Kaleb Wesson playing for Big X and LSU's Emmitt Williams playing for Eberlein Drive.

Here are the pairings. Jimmy V and D2 are standby teams should a team need to be removed for COVID reasons. The plan is to test everyone a bunch before arrival and a single positive test thereafter will disqualify the entire team.

#17 War Tampa vs. #16 House of 'Pagne (Illinois alumni)
winner faces #1 Carmen's Crew (Ohio State alumni and defending champions)

#9 Big X vs. #24 Jackson TN UnderDawgs
winner faces #8 Red Scare (Dayton alumni)

#13 Team CP3 vs. #20 Mid-American Unity
winner faces #4 Golden Eagles (Marquette alumni)

#12 Brotherly Love vs. #21 Stillwater Stars (Oklahoma St alumni)
winner faces #5 Eberlein Drive

#14 Heartfire vs. #19 Men of Mackey (Purdue alumni)
winner faces #3 Boeheim's Army (Syracuse alumni)

#11 Team Hines vs #22 Sideline Cancer
winner faced #6 Challenge ALS

#10 Best Virginia (West Virginia alumni) vs. #23 Herd That (Marshall alumni)
winner faces #7 The Money Team

#15 Armored Athlete vs #18 Power of the Paw (Clemson alumni)
winner faces #2 Overseas Elite

http://thetournament.com/news/tbt-releases-2020-teams-and-bracket
 

Awesome Fossum

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Good news: Games start on Saturday and players are in/entering the bubble.

Bad news: Two more teams have dropped out, however, with D2 replacing the Jackson TN UnderDawgs and Primetime Players replacing Mid-American Unity.

Fingers crossed!
 

Awesome Fossum

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I'm really enjoying the Tournament. One thing I don't get is the new foul rule in the Elam. I feel like they keep explaining it as though any common defensive foul in the Elam results in a shot plus the ball on the side, but there must be a part they're leaving out (or that I'm missing), because that's not always how it's administered.

Edit: Oh, it must be once you're in the bonus?
 

Awesome Fossum

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Great championship game; happy for the Golden Eagles. The bubble held up -- shows me that basketball, at least, can work if people are willing to make the necessary sacrifices. Here's hoping they can squeeze another one in the NBA off season.