It was the Nar Nar Goon Bulldogs who received the honour of playing the Bucks last Tuesday evening.
Ill be honest, for the first 10 minutes I thought my team was comfortably accounting for the Karl Tirkkonnen selected Bulldogs. What I failed to take into consideration, however was the fact that the official Super league GOAT (not a self-appointed one like Mr Donnelly or Mr Blackney) was spectating silently from the nosebleeds section of Bridgewood.
As soon as Sir Jeff Reid injected himself into the game, the Bulldogs looked like a completely different outfit. The effect of having to closely guard the great man, freed up the likes of Rob Middleton and the rest of the team.
We switched to a man-on-man defence and suddenly Karl Tirkkonnen entered beast mode and started monstering the post. It is obvious that Karl and Jeff have played a few seasons together because their synergy was great to watch, and I can see them being a combined threat to the East Conference teams.
One thing I did notice, was this was the first time Jeff Reid hasn’t been picked in the number 1 draft spot in a season I have played in. Whilst Jeff still led the average points per game stat last season some wonder if old age and bung knees are starting to finally catch up with him? One thing is for certain, write him off at your own peril. Being taken pick 2 might just be the motivation he needs to dominate the competition once more.
I have already briefly mentioned Karl Tirkkonnen but one thing that impressed me last season was that he only attempted one 3 pointer. I like a big man who knows his role and hovers around the post like he should. Karl was also in the top 20 for steals last season. Very impressive for a man of his size.
The other thing I noticed about the Bulldogs, is they had a lot of players who were comfortable driving aggressively to the basket. The like of Alex Moore, Peter Kennedy, Rob Middleton and Josh Carroll should prove to be great passing options for Jeff. Speaking of Josh, I played alongside both him and Jeff in the Silverbacks dominant first season. Ah the glorious memories of having a GM who rorted the system for all it was worth. I miss Paul Williams. Someone drag him back to super-league next season please!
Overall, I think the Bucks got the points on the day but any team with Jeff in it is going to be dangerous. I am confident that on any given day they will be able to win against any opponent.
On a different topic, a fellow Super-Leaguer recently asked me about my personal sporting pedigree. I used to be a tennis player but every time I took to the court, I got nothing but net. A switch to basketball therefore was the obvious choice.
