Elite Eight Odds

Playoffs begin Saturday after the most complex playoff seeding process in Balance Elite League history. The #1, #2, #5, and #6 seeds were determined by the 3rd variable, point differential. The #8 seed was settled after a 3-way tie between the Cougar Hunters, Lights Out and Critical Mass. The Cougar Hunters took the #8 seed with heads up victories vs. both former playoff contenders.

-#1, 5 Guys get a rematch vs. Cougar Hunters, whom they came back to beat in the reg. season by eleven. 5 Guys have not lost since April 12 while dominating the competition, and losing only then by 2. Cougar Hunters find themselves on a Knick-like slump losing their last few games by an avg. of 30 points. Teams have seemingly found the weakness to this early season offensive juggernaut.
Keith Holden (19.5 pts/gm), Sean 'Dale Davis' O'Connor (15.1pts/gm) and Brian 'Steve Blake' Cunningham (14.9pts/gm) should lead 5 guys to victory.
Byron 'Iverson' Hall (25.7pts/gm), Phil 'Villenueva' Jackman (20.5pts/gm) and Shawn Jackson (16.1pts/gm) hope to make Cougar Hunters the next Balance cinderella story.

-#4, Truth and #5, Night Cap face in a rematch of last season's classic Finals match where Night Cap came back with a 2nd half flurry to beat Truth. Truth heads into the playoffs on a 3 game slump. Joby 'John Starks' Ryan has had an unresolved return to the team after a midseason disappearance, while 'Mr. Consistency,' Nick Freshman has consistently put up 19.8gm. However, Andrew 'Ginobili' Huling seems to be the team's bellwether. During their 6 gm. winning streak, Huling's 20pts/gm led the squad. During their 3 gm. skid - 10pt/gm.
Night Cap has found a variety of ways to win all season. After losing former league MVP, Ebong Eka, to an arm fracture, they went 3-1 to secure a spot in the playoffs by spreading the scoring around and enhancing their stars' output. Since Eka's injury, Casey 'half-court' Craig, Mark 'See...I'm good' Vugrinovich and Matt Vankoski (22, 24, 20 per gm. respectively) have proved a dangerous 1,2,3 inside/out punch.

-#2, most improved, Swag faces the hottest team in the league, #7, Old School. Swag and Regular season MVP, Robert Stevens, have proven themselves throughout the season with the league's most dominant defense (58.1pts./gm). Old School's aging star, Mark Awantang, can take most of the credit for their 5 game winning streak, as he was not there for the team's early season losses and has averaged 25 pts/gm during their improbable late season return to the playoffs. This is Swag's first foray into the playoffs in several years, Old School's playoff experience may play a part in this one.

-#3, Moose take on #6, Warriors. Moose's fortunes have been up & down all season with a variety of personnel filling out their gametime spots. A lot of victory & loss credit can be directly attributed to Frank Perry, who has been absent in the team's only 3 losses. His team leading 23.8pts/gm seem to come in handy. Mike 'Sam Perkins' Hochman and Mark Wehling also generate 20+pts/gm for Moose. If all three show up, look for Moose to take this one easy.
The Warriors have an unusual defense formula that has gotten them into the playoffs in their inaugural Balance season. Their leading scorer, George McCullough, (17.6/gm) has put up single digits in losses and broken 20 pts. in wins. However, offensive balance is the Warriors game with 8 players averaging 8 or more pts./gm.