[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by Grim Tuesday

Here's my opinion:

To whomever seeds number 1, there are plenty of good scorers at this competition. That was evident from seeing the team list. What there aren't so many of are excellent feeders and defenders. There is one team, I think everyone knows who I'm speaking of. They're the defending World Champions. If the first seeding team can score faster than they can collect balls, like Miss Daisy, they need someone like 16 to feed them. I'm not privy to their scouting but if I was, I would be that they would be highly considering picking 16 as their first choice. There is no doubt in my mind that the ninth pick (1114? 67?) will still be an excellent scorer. That does not hold true for excellent feeder. If the first alliance doesn't take 16, someone in the middle like 3322 will and they will become unstoppable.

I alluded to this scenario in another thread.

In this game, the "do we want to play against that team" factor trumps OPR. You'll need a stopper to win the hoop points battle and move on in the elims. Winning balls on the opponent's side of the field (without drawing fouls) creates a huge advantage.

Team 16 is effective triple balance robot as well. Their World Champs alliance nailed a triple balance in a ~7 seconds on their first attempt on the practice after Galileo alliance selection. Their 40-point balance with 1114 and 2834 today looked pretty smooth...

Wishing I were there (my personal fantasy).

Revised fantasy: 341/16/1114 would definitely rock IRI - against any other alliance!