Predictions Week 7: Shootouts in Michigan and Philadelphia

[Steven Donow]

Originally Posted by Looking Forward

If there's a "wild card" in Philadelphia this weekend, it will be 1370. The most accomplished "physical" defensive machine in the region, Thermogenesis reached the finals at both of their districts (including a win at Rutgers) and were instrumental in shutting down 25 and 1089 at Lenape. But they don't provide any autonomous scoring, including feeding balls to their partners, and haven't demonstrated the ability to pass balls forwards across the barrier. They can shut down most fender scoring machines, but MAR has a greater tendency to shoot from the key than most other areas. They have the potential to change the outcomes of elimination matches in the right match-up, but they could miss eliminations entirely in favor of other, more flexible, defensive machines like 816 or 3974.

This is something interesting that I've noticed that separates MAR from other areas, along with the lack of a triple balance. Most webcasts, I've seen so many teams shooting from right in front of the fender, as if it was the complete norm. In MAR, you see few teams shooting at the fender; those that do are mainly the dedicated 2nd-basket dumper bots. It'll be interesting to see if anyone's added some 3rd basket fender functionality this weekend and if that has an impact.