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Strongest Lineups:
1st: Wolff / Friedel
2nd / 3rd: Two of Bhat / McCambridge / Pruess / Donaldson
4th: Naroditsky / Young
(Can’t use Wolff, McCambridge, and Naroditstky all together)
Strength of strongest
lineups: Though San Francisco’s lineup
from week to week should be of very similar shape, it’s hard to find
fault with that shape
as the virtual guarantee of having an IM on board three each week is a
hard one
to come by for any team. On top of this
they can use a double GM lineup (though Bhat may not
technically be a GM yet, given he has all the norms, I think it’s safe
to
assume he’s one for the purpose of this article), they certainly seem
strong
enough here. Score: 9.
Flexibility: Not only will the Mechanics have an IM on
board
three each match, they have a rather large number of ways of doing so
which
should keep the other teams guessing.
The one minor drawback is they can’t generally put a master
strength
player on board four. Score:
8.
Underrated Players:
Dedication: If there was any category last season that I
felt was responsible for the Mechanics winning the crown last year,
this would
have been it for sure. The team is a
close group of players who take each match seriously and prepare
together. Adding the fact that they have a
resident GM
who coaches the team as part of his job, I don’t think any team can
match
Other Factors: Though I’m sure the Mechanics are glad to
have Wolff available to play on board one to give them a bit more
flexibility
in lineups than last season, the fact that he has been out of
competitive play
for so long has to be a minor concern. This
Score: 6.
Total Score: 41
Projected
Record: 7 - 3
Strongest lineups:
1st: Kuljasevic
2nd: Bartholomew
3rd: Stopa
4th: Guadalupe / Zorigt
1st / 2nd: Two of Kuljasevic / Bartholomew / Stopa
3rd: Zaremba / Kiewra
4th: Milisitis / Guadalupe / Zorigt
1st: Bartholomew
2nd: Stopa
3rd: Zaremba
4th: Kiewra
Strength of strongest
lineups: Like New York and
Flexibility: Though they don’t have a superstar on their team they still do have a fair mix of different lineups and the ability to stack either of the lower two boards when they wish by putting Stopa on three and Kiewra on four as desired. Score: 8.
Underrated Players: It is somewhat difficult to gauge whether
several of these players who haven’t been in the
Dedication: Though the Dallas team has always been a
close-knit group, it’s been somewhat rumored that this has worked
against them
to a certain extent as it’s often said that they spend more time
partying
together than preparing. I have a
feeling that after their really close call last season though, that
they’ll be
able to come up with an appropriate mix of both of those activities to
be
successful. Score: 8.
Other Factors:
Total Score: 38.
Projected
Record: 5.5-4.5
Strongest Lineups:
1st: Becerra
2nd / 3rd: Two of
4th: Mederos
1st: Becerra
2nd:
3rd:
4th: Cardona
(Can’t use
Strength of strongest
lineups: The Sharks are a team which
should be able to
semi-regularly put a 2400 player on board three and also have the nice
option
of using a near 2300 player on board four should they wish it. Score: 8.
Flexibility: This has been one minor worry for the Sharks
in the past two seasons as though they have a nice batch options for
the lower
boards, the two times they’ve been forced to play without their rock
Becerra,
they have not fared well. However this
season they have a new 2400+ player (Perea) to join the fray if that
should
occur. Score: 7.
Underrated Players: Both Becerra and Martinez are likely to fit
this bill as Becerra of course being above 2600 along with the 2nd
and 1st place finisher in the league MVP race the past two
seasons
certainly qualifies, and after his rough 2006 season Martinez seems to
have
turned his game around in recent times having scored his first GM norm. One thing that has seemed to plague
Dedication: The Sharks are definitely a very closely
bound team who likely prepare together, but as shown last season, many
of them
seem to have quite a few other professional responsibilities (their big
tourney
at the end of September springs to mind), and that can always be a
hindrance to preparation plans. Score:
7.
Other Factors:
Total Score: 37.
Projected
Record: 5.5 - 4.5.
Strongest Lineups:
1st: Serper
2nd: Orlov
3rd: Milat / Readey
4th: Sinanan
1st: Serper / Orlov
2nd / 3rd: Two of Mikhailuk / Schmidt / Milat / Readey
4th: Lee / Sinanan
Strength of strongest
lineups: Like most other teams they have a
very strong
best lineup which can beat anyone in the league, but not quite the
overall
power that some of the double GM + one IM lineups that New York and San
Francisco have. . Score: 8.
Flexibility: It seems likely based on last season that
Underrated Players:
Dedication: It’s difficult to know for sure how much the
Sluggers prepare together, but their rock Serper showed his dedication
via
spending time in post mortem analysis with the other team members so I
would
guess there will be some amount of pre-match preparation.
Also the fact that their likely most common
board four player Lee is a student of Orlov bodes well for that. On the other hand, with Milat residing in
Other Factors:
Total Score: 35
Projected
Record: 4.5 - 5.5
Strongest Lineups:
1st: Milman
2nd: Schroer
3rd: Chumachenko
4th: Bapat / Timmel
1st: Milman
2nd: Schroer / Chumachenko
3rd: Zaikov
4th: Aliyev / Jones
(Can’t use Chumachenko and Aliyev together here)
Strength of strongest
lineups: There is no doubt that Carolina
will
generally be outgunned on the top two boards as they were last season
which
they overcame with super impressive play on the lower boards. However, with nearly every other team in the
league having an improved lineup overall with there’s virtually the
same, it
will be even harder for that to be enough this season.
Score: 5.
Flexibility: This is one thing the Cobras definitely do
not have in abundance with Milman really needed to maintain a good
rating hold
on the rating cap, and in the past two seasons attempting to use anyone
besides
Zaikov and Jones on the lower boards has not proved very fruitful. Score: 6.
Underrated Players: Probably Zaikov and Jones via their last
year’s performance fall in this category, but probably not by quite as
much as
many of the youth of the other teams. Score:
6.
Dedication: As mostly students like the
Other Factors: Despite having a
very rough season in 2006,
Milman may well perform better this year especially since he might find
the
competition at the top in the West a tad more manageable than the East
(no
slight intended to the board ones in the West, but realistically ten of
the top
twelve rated players being in the East does lend credence to this). However they may face tougher tests on Boards
3+4, making Zaikov and Jones impressive result from 2006 more difficult
to come by. It still seems that
Total Score: 30.
Projected
Record: 3.5 -6.5
Strongest Lineups:
1st: Burnett
2nd: Andrews
3rd: Bereoles
4th: Bick / Wheeler
Strength of strongest
lineups: As the one team in the league
whose best
lineup falls far below the rating cap, obviously the Tempo will be
facing an
uphill climb each match as they did last season. Score: 2.
Flexibility: As a team struggling to submit a roster which
is as close to the rating cap as possible, flexibility is another thing
they
really do not have as any attempt to field a team without any of their
top
three players would result in an even more severe rating disadvantage. Score: 4.
Underrated Players: Though the Tempo do have some youth to guide
them in Wu and Phay, when they are so far below the rating cap to begin
with,
and those two players likely to still be far out rated on board four,
this edge
can only do so much. Score:
5.
Dedication:
Other Factors: A big cause of
Total Score: 22.
Projected
Record: 1.5 - 8.5.