Currently, Maui has 1227, Bangkok 1091 and French 1059.
Can the Kok actually make up the 136 point gap? Technically? Yes, he can.
But it's going to take a few things to getter done.
3PT% - Kok needs to move up from 5th in this category and hope Maui can drop a spot or two.
ATO - Kok is at 2.076 and Bellingham is at 2.082. So very possible. Also, Maui is at 2.054 and Idaho is at 2.041. So there could be some movement here.
BLK - still +39 available here for the Kok if his team started to swat some shots. Maui appears solid in his positioning.
FG% - the Kok needs to shoot extremely well and needs Golden to talk the final week in order to gain ground. Maui seems like he's stuck where he is.
PTS - Maui will score the most points this season. Doesn't appear that the Wack or anyone else will make up the almost 400 point gap. The Kok currently sits 4th in scoring, 120 points behind Golden and 133 behind the Wack. Needles to say, making up these gaps would be extremely valuable for the Kok.
STL - nothing happening here. Kok wins steals. Maui firmly in 2nd.
REB - as of this morning (Sunday, April 3rd) - the Kok is 6 rebounds ahead of Maui. This is a big 30 point swing for whichever team can rebound well next week.
I'm not sure the Kok can do it with all the players likely getting rested in the final week. The Kok already knows that Ayton will likely not play much this final week. Who else sits out. Maui has some Memphis players that could be rested but it looks like most of his players should be available this week.
The keys to victory for Maui are pretty simple I think. Don't shoot 3's and maintain 1st spot in 3PT%. Beat the Kok in rebounds. Maui isn't going anywhere in FG%, PTS, Blocks, or Steals so there isn't too much room to drop points. It will be up to the Kok to make the moves to gain ground.
The advantage is still with Maui for sure but it should be an entertaining week. As I've said before, Maui deserves this title now. 2nd after Week 1 and has been in 1st place every night since Week 2. While it would be a massive shock win if the Kok won it in the final week - the best JBL Fantasy team this season was the Maui Ribs.
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Another interesting battle, at least for me and my Chronicles, is the race for 4th. That spot is all about the 4th keeper.
As we begin this Sunday's slate of games, the Wack is in 4th at 930, Golden at 912 and Brussels at 897. Any of the teams could still stake claim to 4th place by the end of the week.
Golden's chances for 4th are likely the slimmest, but here's how it could be done.
Golden needs to finish 2nd in scoring (moving the Showers back to 932) and hold all other positions and hope for the best. There is little room for growth in all the other categories so Golden is all about scoring, rebounds, steals and blocks in the final week to hold ground and gain ground where possible.
Golden's cause would be helped if the Wack could drop some points in 3PT%, if Juan could pass the Wack in blocks (only 3 behind), if the Kok could catch the Wack in scoring, and if the Wack can stop rebounding altogether.
For the Wack, there is maybe +65 points available if they play really well this week.
For Brussels, the big category Golden is watching is scoring. Bellingham is just 80 points behind Brussels now and that would be a massive 20 point swing. The other category to watch is 3PT%. Brussels could catch Cali and get +13 or he could drop -13 points if Bellingham got hot. Also, Brussels ATO is 1.928 and Seoul is 1.930. Another big 13 points available. It's also fitting that Brussels, Wack and Golden are all within 28 rebounds of each other so there should be +/- 15 points there on a regular basis.
I really don't know who is going to get 4th place and that extra keeper. It's too close to call because we don't know which players will be rested in the final week. At this point, I'm not even sure Kris Dunn or Drew Eubanks will be playing as their 10 day deals with Portland expired. They cannot sign another 10 day deal as there are only 8 days left. So, does Portland sign them?
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Can Bellingham catch the Jizzlies? As of this morning, the Eggers are just 6 points back. The 12th spot means a 2nd keeper for one of those teams and just 1 keeper for the 13th place team. I take it the Jizzlies aren't fussed either way as the last FA they signed was January 24th.
Can Idaho catch Seoul for 7th? Both teams will get 3 keepers regardless but I can only imagine that the youngster would like to surpass the 5-time JBL champs (and golfing partner) just for pride.
While Norfolk made valiant efforts to get out of the basement, it's just not going to happen. Norfolk signed a lot of FA's in his attempts to climb, yet somehow, going into the final week, still rosters Kemba Walker, Larry Nance, James Wiseman, Bradley Beal, and on and on. I know he only has $2 FA dollars left now - but why was he holding onto these players? The keeper deadline has passed - they can safely be dropped and no one else can pick them up. They are out for the season. So, I'm not sure exactly what the strategy was for holding onto these guys all year. Anyways, I appreciate Norfolk's efforts immensely considering he could have checked out ages ago.
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Anyways, best of luck to Maui and Bangkok and all the teams this week. Another 1st time JBL champion will be crowned a week from now. Exciting week ahead as more than half of the JBL teams have something at stake in the final week.
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