PCTI Players' Poll: #4 Skillz

The Brat's Preamble: I'm not sure PCTI knows what to make of Skillz at the moment. Notorious for building a persona as a bad boy/disinterested participant, it's difficult to know how much of that is legitimate and effects his plans to stay with or bow out of PCTI in the future. Is it part of a permanent exit strategy? Perhaps. Certainly one can see how being a part of all of this riff-raff could be construed as a risk for someone making a career out of basketball. Combine that with someone who doesn't enjoy the social aspect as much as many of the brethren and it starts to make even more sense.

Let me be clear, if that's the case, I'm not casting judgment. In fact, I would totally understand and I bet most others would, too. People change, interests change, jobs change, priorities change. It happens. What I am saying is that I really don't know. PCTI will certainly have a spot for Skillz in the future if he's interested/able to continue. 

What's easier to understand is what Skillz brings to the table when he does lace 'em up in PCTI. Due to some sort of combination of his coaching background, his existence as somewhat of a curmudgeon or simply a better grasp than most of common sense, he has an unmatched hatred for the stupid play. He loathes players who make stupid plays and he butters his bread by doing little more than continuously making the next easy play.

It's a ridiculously easy approach that is almost impossible to execute, especially in PCTI when nerves get easily frayed and teams lack cohesion. Coupled with a unique set of skills (good handle, wide frame, great vision, craftiness around the rim) and a shortcoming that rarely has any effect in PCTI good or bad (speed/quickness) and it makes for one of the league's top players.

Voting Breakdown: highest vote: 1. lowest vote: 10. There it is, the first number one vote. Three guys got a vote for top overall player.

Lifetime Record: 3-1, a great number. His lone loss was while he was captain in PCTI II. He was outwitted by The Brat.

Lifetime Stats: 7.2 ppg (T-10 with BMac), 7.5 rpg (1^st, one of three guys in PCTI to average over 7 boards a game), 17 steals (T5), 14 blocks (2^nd), 73 assists (1^st, the title of PCTI Assist King figures to be Dan The Boy's after IIIII, unless Sabin starts including per game averages in his composite stats. The Brat ain't about to crunch those numbers on his own. Also, three of PCTI's top four assist guys won't be on the floor in Denver.), 48.8 percent shooting (1^st, only seven guys in PCTI shoot north of 40 percent, Skillz is two misses below 50 percent) 47.4 percent (1^st, Only 19 attempts lifetime. In most cases, you'd disregard this stat on account of the limited shots taken but considering the wealth of missed threes in PCTI the fact that he refuses to shoot more is commendable. Last season he was 0-3. Only Smo shot fewer)

Lifetime Bests: 16 points, (PCTI III, game 3), 19 rebounds! (PCTI I, game 4), 8 assists! (PCTI I game 4)

Other Notes: Another epic moment from PCTI's most famous game. Wes was getting loose offensively, cramps were annihilating half of the brethren and Skillz was putting together the most impressive stat line in PCTI history. 14 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists. With his famously thick legs showing no signs of cramping, he took down the single game records for rebounds AND assists while scoring the second most points of his career. Spectacular.

It should be noted, Skillz continuously logs a ton of minutes. I guess he figures he does enough sitting on the bench at work to do it on vacation. If I took that approach imagine all the magic you would lose on the videos...

Last year Skillz struggled, averaging 4.3 points and 5.6 rebounds on 37 percent shooting. But his reputation for making positive plays clearly did not take a hit. To that point, he led PCTI IIII with 25 assists. Only seven guys had double digit assists a year ago.

Three guys appear to have their doubts as he got 18 percent of the votes for Most Overrated, putting him in a tie for second place. He's part of the four-way tie for second place in Best Teammate. He also got one vote for playing above his ability level.

PCTI Players' Poll: #5 Sabin

The Brat's Preamble: Behold, the full evolution of PCTI. Sabin began as a mostly unknown and quickly evolved in to an upper tier player. Then from the upper tier to to the target of scorn, mockery and humiliation. Out of that he made it through the fire and reaffirming his spot as a solid player. And now, back to a spot in the upper tier.

It's been a Homeric journey for one of PCTI's most controversial and indispensable members. Yet the one thing missing from this odyssey is what he desires most: a winning weekend.

Despite the losses, Sabin is one of the big winners to come out of this exercise. It's overwhelmingly clear that any negative feelings - either genuine or embellished for our entertainment = as well as any questions about his ability to be a winning player, simply do not exist.

Over the years I've spent more time talking and writing about Sabin than probably anyone else in PCTI short of myself. There's two reasons for this. One, because I know he's at times been divisive - and that makes for entertainment - and two, because I know that at all times he can take it. In fact he can take any criticism far better than anyone in this thing or really anyone I've ever known and certainly way better than I can. But as you know if you paid any attention to me through these years of rambling, I'm typically speaking out in his defense or in agreement with him. So for me now, what more is there to say? Only this: IT'S A DAMN SHAME you won't be with us when we invade Denver, you'll certainly be missed.

(Do keep in mind, the voting happened before Sabin's injury, so no sympathy points awarded)

Voting Breakdown: highest vote: 2, lowest vote: 8. How about that? If there's any Sabin haters still around, the worst they think of him is as eighth. Only four guys avoided a double digit vote.

Lifetime PCTI Record: 0-4...sigh...

Lifetime Stats: 11.4 ppg (T-3 with a former player), 5.9 rpg (6^th, the low man in the top tier of PCTI rebounders), 17 steals (part of four way (pause) tie for 5^th), 9 blocks (5^th), 60 assists (4^th), 42.9 percent shooting (6^th, of the five ahead of him, four would be classified in PCTI terms as bigs), 35.6 perecent from three (2^nd), and the all-important his productivity number: 216 (3^rd)

Lifetime Bests: 24 points (PCTI III, game 1), 12 rebounds (PCTI II, game 1), 5 assists (PCTI I, game 4)

Other Notes: Sabin's stats are among the most consistently good in PCTI. The same can be said for his effort. The irony in looking back at Sabin's PCTI history is that few if anyone is wiling to make the necessary personal adjustments year-to-year, team-to-team to get a W as him. We've seen him as an attacker/tempo maven, a rebounder/defender, a spot shooter/Rip Hamilton type and as a guy who's willing to gladly acquiesce to his teammates. Impressively, he's played each roll well. And yet, still and 0-fer by his name.

Looking at his PCTI's through the years, I saw a lot of big games early in the weekends (With PCTI being a bit of an exception.) This speaks volumes about his talent relative to the rest of us, as those games are often the hardest times to put up numbers, with everyone bringing maximum focus and energy and teams often yet to gel.

One does have to wonder, does Sabin's history of tailing off at the end of the weekend stem from an over exertion of energy (both physical and mental) in those first few games? Certainly his advanced age does not help. Another question to ponder, how much of it is Sabin trying to continually adjust to his team's changing style rather than taking more of the alpha dog approach in hopes that they will adjust to him? For a guy who has been bombarded at times with negative press and uncertain relationships with some of the brethren, perhaps seeing where he stands in the eyes of his peers through this exercise will change that.

Sabin barely registered in the superlatives. The only category where he received more than one vote was in the guy who has played most above his ability level category. He picked up two votes, putting him in a tie for second with Donley and a former player. Of course, Beas, BenWilson, DTOMFS and Wes were the only guys not to get a vote in that category.

Sabin got a single vote in underrated, overrated, best teammate and the guy who you most enjoy seeing lose.

PCTI: Mile High on the 4th of July

Ah hem...

Few would argue to the tumultuous off season
Key players dropping out, some for no apparent reason.

Donley broke his forearm probably jackhammering gaps
And when BC arrives, bitches throw in their cervical caps.

Sabin tore his groin with his son playing soccer
And the Doctor's got more drugs than Michael Irving's locker. 

Skills left to wipe sweat at some community college
And Pitto's absence no one cares enough to even acknowledge.

Ben and Abe both drafted squads mediocre at best
And when Spotlight leaves Denver half that city will need an STD test.

Excited to watch the Brusier perfectly sip on a cold beer,
Or listen to Ben's music which to no mans taste does he adhere. 

Chic Fila cancelled the Honey Biscuit and Wes wrote a letter to corporate
Haven't seen a grown man cry like that since Sabin's Kittens forfeit.

Fruit nearly had a coup on his hands from his lack of leadership on the BORED,
Cross Fit training McKinneys got every muscle in shape except the vocal chord.

Whether Beas takes his shirt off or A Hop pokes holes in his rubbers
NOTHING comes between this band of brothers. 

"They say your latitude determines your attitude, we're mile high as a motha fucka and fly as a motha fucka." - Kanye West

PCTI Players' Poll: #6 Pitto

The Brat's Preamble: The timing of his quitting sucks because it effected everyone.

New Squadrons for IIIII. NO MORE BACKING OUT

To say the past couple weeks or so have been rocky (see what I did there employing our destination?) for all of us here in PCTI would be an understatement.  Injuries and defections have robbed us of 25% of our usual playing partners, which sucks to all high heaven.  The injuries are tough to swallow, and I guess congrats are in order for Brian on his new gig, but couldn't have picked a worse time to make the jump...although Brian seems to be teasing retirement with each passing PCTI, so maybe this is his way of expediting the process and pushing us to excommunicate him instead of him having to come out and actually retire so his bad boy persona doesn't get damaged.  I'm not buying any of Pitto's claims outside of Brian isn't there so he didn't want to come, and that pissed me off (like that weekend is your one chance to ever see your niece).  But whatevs, you don't want to be there you don't want to be there...and not being a member of the BORED, I'm just talking out my ass here but this development probably won't go unnoticed for future years.  I know I don't speak for just myself when I say that the non-injured nonparticipants' reasons for not coming are a much tougher pill to swallow than our injured participants.  I suppose we'll see how it all plays out after IIIII is complete.  I'm mainly just pissed knowing that I'll never see that $40 Pitto owes me for getting my wedge stolen, I could reeeeeeally use that $$$ right about now because I'm the poorest.  END RANT.

But what's done is done, so allow me to introduce you to your final teams for IIIII.  This whole process has just been comical really, but like my main man Kevin Rudolf once said, "I We made it!"  Joshua and I put our nose to the grindstone on Friday and picked our team during a grueling 2 minutes of back and forth, using the other more important 11 minutes of the phone call to talk about things such as time/space exploration and what guard number we both use to trim our ballsacks.  Having only 10 candidates to choose from and missing 4 of the top 9 ranked guys (with another of those potentially hobbled), the decision was made to just go back and forth between selections rather than snake it like we normally do.  I'll go round by round so that Smo and Wes can feel worse about themselves some more.  Without further Freddy Adu:

Round 1, FIGHT:
BenWilson selects Big Brent Carney
JoshStephenson selects Dr. Joe Thompson
Analysis:  A bit of a surprise at the top, but it seems the idea of playing with BBC for the first time was too much for BenWilson to pass up (that's quite the [big] pun, I don't pass you idiots!).  JoshStephenson's decision to pass on his QP brethren to select the Actor will hopefully bring about the spectacular demise of PCTI's most hated group of people, unless he believes he will be able to procure the remaining members with his next picks.

Round 2, FIGHT:
BenWilson selects Nature Boy Beas
JoshStephenson selects Ian Van Horne
Analysis:  JoshStephenson's plan is all for naught as BenWilson scoops up Mikey.  Hopefully the Nature Boy has been cutting back his 1080's to just 360's in an effort to stay healthy heading into IIIII.  JoshStephenson responds with the Stickman, hoping that the rage boiling inside of him at Pitto's betrayal of PCTI will unleash a performance from the Bruiser the likes of which we have never seen.  I personally am hoping for the opposite.

Round 3, FIGHT:
BenWilson selects DTOMFS
JoshStephenson curses and selects Sir Anthony Hopkins
Analysis:  BenWilson's selection of DTOMFS garnered a "fuck!" from JoshStephenson, presumably because he wanted to snatch him up in this round too.  I'll admit I was a bit shocked, as I panicked and reached for DTOMFS here, but maybe I'm onto something if it bristled JoshStephenson that badly.  Still reeling from the blow delivered by BenWilson, JoshStephenson attempted to quell the chaos by going the comfort route and selecting his pacifier and longest tenured friend in PCTI, Ahop.  No surprises here, and judging by the talent in Round 4, it seems we both REACHED here.  Oh well!

Round 4, FIGHT:
BenWilson selects Spotlight
JoshStephenson selects Crossfit Tempest
Analysis:  As noted before, the round 4 selections probably should have gone a round earlier, but that's neither here nor there nor here.  BenWilson's selection of the most handsome individual in PCTI in his opinion gives him an experienced cutter and intensely hyped rebounder, while also further splintering JoshStephenson's plan to unite the QP.  Crossfit Tempest will provide his team with ample energy/soft noises and a mirage of contributing more to games than he really does.  Do not sleep on this guy...he's primed to be this year's breakout player in Danver.  Could be best value in draft when all said and done.

Round 5, FIGHT:
BenWilson "selects" Milky Mike Orr
JoshStephenson hangs up
Analysis:  BenWilson decides to round out his team with Smo in round 5 after hearing from Dallas sources that his game and general pickup game attendance are at an all-time low.  But I'll be goddamned if he's not gonna look like a fuckin' BAWSE out there in his new uni.  We were also once best friends so this will be the first meeting since the split.  Really looking forward to licking those teeth!  Someone print this paragraph out and carrier pigeon it to Wes so he knows what team he is on, thanks in advance.



In conclusion:
TEAM BENWILSON:
BenWilson
BC
Beas
DK
Spot
Smo

TEAM JOSHSTEPHENSON:
JoshStephenson
Joe
Bruise
Ahop
Bmac
Wes

See you guise in Danver!  Can't wait!

PCTI Players' Poll: #7 The Brat

The Brat's Preamble About Himself: As several guys can (Ron) attest, Bratting out is not a new thing. I've done it my whole life. I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise that I acted childish when I was actually a child. There's one especially memorable Brat-out session I can recall from sometime when I was elementary school age. I was in a hotel room during an AAU weekend complaining to my old man about my lack of minutes (despite my team winning.) My dad (the infamous DC) told me something then that is so simple but so often overlooked at every level of sports. By no means a pearl of wisdom from my dad but something that for whatever reason has always stuck with me. That is, for me to go in the game, someone has to come out of the game. In other words, it can make perfect sense that I should be playing more but it also has to make perfect sense that someone else should be playing less.

How does this apply to PCTI? Even though some of my numbers seem to point to a player that is better than seventh, you'd have a hard time arguing that one of the six higher rated players should move down the list below me.

There's also several factors working against me.

-I run funny. I look funny standing around. There's nothing I do that looks even vaguely athletic. Deep down there's probably a lot of people that feel like if they tried like I do they could consistently put up 11 and 7...and if they were 6-4 and left handed? They could do it in their sleep.

-At one point or another, I've picked apart everyone else's game. And really, who am I to talk?

-I'm consistently a high draft pick for reasons difficult to explain.

-As much as we joke, the Brat-outs often are incredibly annoying.

This next paragraph is important: I'm not saying any of this looking for a love fest to breakout in the comments section. I'm not fishing for compliments. As I've demonstrated before, I have no problem pointing out the good parts of my game. In fact, I probably do it more naturally than anyone else in PCTI and I'll do enough of it in the writing that follows. So don't worry, my sense of self worth is just fine. 

Voting Breakdown: highest vote: 3, lowest vote: 15. Fifteen definitely stings but I know I've got my fair share of detractors. In fact, I was a little surprised I didn't register more in the overrated vote, considering the reasons I listed previously. 

Lifetime PCTI Record: 2-2, captained a winning squad in PCTI II and on the right side of the KD

Lifetime Stats: 10.7 ppg (5^th), 7.2 rpg (2^nd, pretty good battle between Skillz and me for top rebounder. I have more lifetime boards but because he missed a few games when he got his face smashed, he narrowly has the better average), 9 steals (T-12 with Bruiser), 18 blocks (1^st), 54 assists (5^th), 45.7 percent shooting (2^nd), 24.1 percent from three (13^th, oooouch) and the all-important Sabin Productivity number: 231 (2^nd)

Lifetime Bests: 26 points (multiple times), 14 rebounds (PCTI I, game 3), 5 assists (multiple times)

Other Notes: I had a monstrous PCTI I. When they create a PCTI Hall of Fame they'll have to build a separate wing for my stats from the second session pf PCTI I: 26 and 14 followed up by 26 and 10, 18-27 shooting and six assists. The problem for me is, since then the hall of fame performances have been few and far between and PCTI I was eons ago. I've been solid since then but few things about what I've done have stood out as elite.

The most pleasant surprise looking back at my PCTIs: I have pretty good assist numbers. Kinda surprising since the game is rarely “played through me.” (Although I have a very pedestrian 1.4 a/t) The most troubling stat: the inability to make a three pointer. I go from (arguably) PCTI's best garbage guy to an actual game changer if I can make a jumper, it opens up other things (read: straight line lefty drives) for me if my defender feels the need to contest my jumper.

As for superlatives, I barely was a factor. I was pretty surprised I didn't figure higher in the overrated (2 votes) or playing above his ability (1 vote) categories considering my ranking. Someone is especially fond of a Brat-out and voted me as the guy he most likes to see lose. Lastly, chalk up a vote for best looking. (← thanks Beas)

Another Shocking Announcement from TA (The Actor).

Hollywood Gazette (a subsidiary of The Burbank Weekly, a subsidiary of The Hollywood Reporter)
Op-Ed Section

June 21, 2014

Emails are overrated and the blog has found new life so I decided to address this on here as opposed to impersonal email to everyone.

Anyways, it's with a heavy heart that I also hate to inform everyone that I will be at PCTI this year. My bad jokes and lackluster puns will be on full display as well as my budding acting ability. It was an rigorously easy decision for me because I like beer, shooting long 3 pointers with no chance of going in, showing off my tan, and talking about how great drugs are and how everyone should try them, and everyone asking me what famous person have I run into (David Spade eats at my favorite Tex-Mex place (JoeQuito Mas or Poquito Mas) in LA every Friday).

It just makes sense for me to spend time with people I like for an extended weekend, sans Hops (who ruined the event for the aforementioned Lost 4 of Eskildsen, Pitto, Donley and Sabin due to "school"). 

To the Lost 4, I truly wish you guys could come. 

Pitto, I respect family first, so enjoy your niece and you will, sadly, be missed.  You should pay Danie for your jersey since your budget just shrunk (from $600+ to $160) and wear it out all Summer in Nashville with Hops. We need you two as Brand Ambassadors for us in Middle Tennessee. Additionally, what better way to greet your newborn niece than by holding her in your Jordan PCTI Jersey. Call me crazy, but that sounds great for our PR and Marketing especially in the 21-45 Female demo.

Scott and Sabin, please get healthy soon. We are definitely going to pour out a few Bud Lights (do I smell a sponsorship coming soon???!!) on your behalf. 

Eskildsen, do your thing in Boston. You will be missed. We are all eagerly excited about getting the Harvard/Rice care package of gear in which Abe always gets the best pair of shorts.

Again, I apologize to the unlucky 11 that are still going that I will still be in attenDANCE. I just learned the Charleston, so prepare yourselves for some annoyingly great dance moves (I added them to my acting resume).

Hopefully, I'll have more fireworks to give everyone once PCTI IIIII gets going. 

Yours in combat,

Dr. Thompson

PCTI Players' Poll: #8 BenWilson

The Brat's Preamble: Perhaps what you remember about PCTIs of years past is how you view BenWilson within the PCTI hierarchy. Either way, frankly, right now it's not very favorable. I think it's fair to say that our (sometimes) bearded hero is at a career crossroads as he faces a winless record and now a pair of unsavory superlatives from the brethren.

In the most lopsided vote of all the categories, BenWilson is the player who has played most under his ability. To put it in a way that really hits home, there are more people who think BenWilson is historically disappointing than who think Beas is the best looking or who derive the most pleasure out of seeing Pitto lose. And PCTI wasn't done piling on. The brethren also picked BenWilson as the most overrated player.

Those who consider him overrated may not remember the monster that BenWilson was in the Kentucky PCTIs. Those who consider him most disappointing may remember those two years (especially PCTI I) all too well  and are wondering where that production has gone in the two PCTIs since then. Either way, the vast majority seem to be in agreement on this: there's all sorts of pressure on Osama Bin Wilson to redeem himself heading in to Denver.

Voting Breakdown: highest vote: 2, lowest vote: 14. This matches the two guys who got a 3-15 (One was Ahop, the other has yet to appear on the list) as the widest variance. This isn't too much of a surprise as BenWilson appears to be among PCTIs most polarizing players at the moment.

PCTI Liftetime Record: 0-4. This stat will take on more significance as the years go by but right now, the only way it matters is if there's a zero on either side of the dash. This is a huge storyline going in to PCTI V and one Ben has to shoulder alone after attrition claimed Sabin. 

Lifetime Stats: 11.7 ppg (2^nd, it's a very close three way battle for PCTI's second best scorer. BenWilson is only 8 points up on fourth), 6.4 rpg (5^th, few probably think of BenWilson as a rebounder yet he's mere three rebounds behind Bruiser for fourth), 14 steals (t-9, with his buddy Danie), 3 blocks (t-11, with his buddy the Swashbuckler), 39 assists (7^th), 34.7 percent shooting (12^th, ahead of the Swashbuckler by a fraction), 26.7 percent from three (10^th) and the all-important Sabin Productivity number: 126 (8^th)

Lifetime Bests: 29 points! (PCTI 1, game 2 second all-time only to Actor's 30 point game in KD 4), 13 rebounds (PCTI 2, game 1), 4 assists (multiple times)

Other Notes: BenWilson has put up some monstrous games. He's a much better rebounder than I realized and interestingly many of his best rebounding games have come when he's been scoring at a high rate. It's clear that Ben's motor runs best at the beginning of the weekends and goes to another notch when he's finding it easy to score. He had 27 points (on 22 shots!) in his 13 rebound game to open PCTI II. He also has a 22 and 11 line under his belt. I'd be remiss if I didn't also point out that in PCTI II, game three, BenWilson put together an 0-11, zero points masterpiece. As far as scoring goes, he has PCTI's second best game and arguably its worst.

Here's the four PCTIs set side-by-side. Obviously if he could ever replicate PCTI I, he'd be a shoe-in top three player. Few would complain about the output from PCTI II, as well. While many guys get absolved from their sins as time marches onward, BenWilson is still seen by many as a scapegoat for the KD and perhaps rightfully so. A guy who had 29 and 27 point games in the first two PCTIs scored 31 points for the weekend after being a lottery pick for Sabin. Then there was last season, 10 and 6 is always a solid contribution but the field goal percentage again was troubling as it showed no signs of improvement from the KD. 

PCTI I: 15/6/44%

PCTI II: 13/8/34%

PCTI III: 8/5/29%

PCTI IV 10/6/30%

BenWilson got a startling 59 percent of the vote for most disappointing and 30 percent of the vote for most overrated. Someone takes special delight in the losing streak and voted BenWilson as the person he most enjoys watching lose. He got one vote for best off-court talents and – unlike his boy DTOMFS – got a vote for best looking.  

News and Note Units

I don't think anyone would question the fact that this has been the most tumultuous off-season in the history of PCTI.  Between the low amount of chatter, to the challenge of finding a date because A. Hop couldn't miss a day of school, to season ending injuries, to a new job that will dilute our earnings per share to a record low... It's been a rough one.

But it really hasn't and here is why.  On the heels of the biggest honor of my life (best teammate in PCTI), I have a new outlook on the situation.  As likable as they are, all Sabin and Donley do are take shots away from the hard working, team first guys like myself, Smo, Pretty Boy BRUISE, Spot, McKinney, and Hops that want the opportunity to stuff stats, but have never been able to because the team comes first.  With any loss comes opportunity.  I expect this to be mine.

With increased responsibilities in everyone's career there becomes less free time.  Although that has hampered my day to day focus on PCTI, it has actually enhanced my excitement for the weekend.  The opportunity to get together with people I hate less than everyone else, and play the sport I love will always be the highlight of my year...

Anyway, a few things I'm looking/not looking forward to:

• Not being able to see Sabin on day 3 look like he just got run over by one of Smo's Robert Tractor Trailers.
• A Spotcut... Still gives me the tingles despite being completely overplayed.
• Joe only hanging with McKinney because he's the only one that will laugh at (or understand) his jokes.
• Wes referring to all cases moved out of a Macy's distribution center as "his cases." Got to appreciate job ownership.
• Someone other than me recognizing that Abe's game has evolved from one handed bounce passes no one can catch to one of the top distributors in PCTI.
• A brat out.
• Smo and Hops.
• Skillz sleeping through the whole weekend.
• Everyone kissing the Stickman's ass telling him he's going to be MVP in hopes he plays less hard the rest of the weekend.
• Ben sulking like a baby when things don't go his way unit.
• Deuce coming in looking even more physically imposing now that he's Mr. Orr's workout partner.
• Hanging out with Pitto all weekend, who I secretly enjoy more than 90% of the people in PCTI.
• McKinney purposely annoying me because he has carved out that ever important niche, and seems to really enjoy it.
• Pushing the Nature Boy around because I feel like it.

Keep em' coming BRAT!

PCTI Players' Poll: #9 Donley/Cock Boy

The Brat's Preamble: Well, this one kind of sucked to write. My reason for doing this project in the first place was to drum up a little motivation for everyone going in to the weekend. I – like everyone else, I assume – felt like this off season has been way too quiet and knew that everyone was aware that 1. it can be unwise to talk too much 2. every storyline is exhausted. I hoped that this would provide some interesting reading and give everyone extra motivation at a time when that can be very valuable.

I haven't really felt too bad about the stuff I've written, mostly because I'm just relaying information, only putting in my two cents where it's needed to clarify or when I simply can't help myself. But the real reason why I'm cool with this entire exercise is that everyone will have the chance to write their own story in a few weeks.

Of course that doesn't apply to Donstick and that's why this sucks.

That feeling is compounded when I talk to the commish and he tells me that nobody cares more about PCTI and looks forward more to that weekend than the Cock Boy. That's praise to the highest degree. 

Voting Breakdown: highest vote: 5, lowest vote: 13

PCTI Lifetime Record: 2-1. First loss was in PCTI IIII. A little history lesson: Cockboy was actually invited to play in the inaugural PCTI but was not able to commit due to a schedule conflict. That means Donley will have missed all or parts of three of six PCTIs. Considering one of his PCTIs was the KD, he's surprisingly only played in 14 of a possible 24 games. Only Skillz can hold a candle to him in the durability concerns department.

Lifetime Stats: 7.7 ppg (T-7 with Beas), 4.7 rpg (8^th), 3 blocks (T-11 with BenWilson. Of course Don is gonna take some hits in the accumulated stats due to what I mentioned above), 17 steals (T-5, this is an impressive number for a guy lacking in games played and is a sign of his athleticism and aggressiveness on defense), 17 assists (14^th, not a great number but Donley is an attacker, that's not news to anyone), 34.6 percent shooting (13^th, considering Don gets layups and shoots at an adequate percentage by PCTI standards from distance, you could make an argument that this number really ought to be higher), 26.9 percent from three (9^th) and the all-important Sabin Productivity number: 71 (13^th, bbbbburn)

Lifetime Bests: 13 points (multiple times), 9 rebounds (KD, game 1), 2 assists (multiple times)

Other Notes: I thought Donley had a bigger high point game in there but alas, 13 it is.

Some of Cockboy's numbers may not look great but there's something to be said for the fact that for much of every PCTI, someone has to try to make something happen. You can say in hindsight that it was a forced play or even a guy being selfish, but perhaps the least selfish team in PCTI history was the kittens. At some point someone has to attack and shoot otherwise you're gonna get a whole lot of pass and screen away with precious little to show for it.

Donley's evolution is the most concrete example of the PCTI career arc. Year one he was a pleasant surprise to his teammates, many of whom had no idea what to expect. He showed up in shape, aggressive and played with a fun loving confident attitude. Nothing about any of that has changed in the two PCTIs since and that's a testament to his commitment and attitude. In the KD he added a wrinkle as a heel with his swashbuckling. By PCTI IIII the expectations were raised even more and like so many of us, that meant the only place he could possibly go in the minds of the brethren was back down. And I think that's where we find Cockboy now, making it all the more tragic that he can't play this year. He'd probably play about the same or slightly better and would start the cycle all over again: pleasant surprise, PCTI upper middle-class, overrated and repeat.

To this point, Donley got 12 percent of the vote for the player who has played most above his ability level in PCTI, the back handed compliment that Bruiser won. Donley finished in a three way tie for second. On the flip side, one voter picked him as the guy who has played most below his potential.

He also got 18 percent of the vote for PCTI's most overrated player. Again, that puts him in second place. On the flip side, one voter picked him as PCTI's most underrated player.

He got a vote for the guy you'd most like to see lose and one vote for best looking. Smart money says he voted for himself on that one.

PCTI Players Poll: #10 DTOMFS

The Brat's Preamble: It's a widely held belief that children crave discipline. It's true that many of us act like children during PCTI. Maybe that explains why the biggest disciplinarian in PCTI, our (not so) beloved commish, DTOMFS was chosen as PCTI's most popular teammate.

Nobody gets on his teammates more than Dan. But there's a chance you may have never noticed.That's because Dan is clearly nowhere near the biggest loudmouth in PCTI. In fact, he's not a loud mouth at all. He NEVER says a word to officials, or to the other team. But you sure as hell better believe he'll say something to you, his teammate if you do. If a full out fight were to break out, my guess is Dan fights against his own team in anger that they are fighting. 

What else do we like about Dan? Certainly the way he plays is the perfect compliment to anyone. He passes the ball constantly, competes on defense, subs himself out of the game regularly and passes the ball constantly. He also passes often.

Maybe the biggest thing going for Dan is that he never, ever, ever goes looking for his. Whether his is his points, his minutes, his credit for a win, his beer, his anything, he makes it about everyone else. Sure maybe the other 51 weeks of the year he makes every big PCTI decision with his own interests in mind but when it comes down to the weekend, it's a different story. 

Also, admit it, when I write these things up and I say something critical about you, you hate me a little. That's fine, I'd be the same way. In fact I think it would be that way for anyone in PCTI, except for DTOMFS. We all know that no matter what he says disparaging about any of us, at his very core he thinks he's even worse. There's something comforting in that and lets him be one of the "voices" in PCTI without ever being the bad guy. 

With all of that said, where could Dan be on this list if he ever turns in a PCTI in which he plays from start to finish even close to his capability? I'd say the sky is the limitstick.

Voting Breakdown: highest vote: 5, lowest vote: 15. Again, a huge variance.

PCTI Lifetime Record: 2-2 with wins in the even numbered PCTIs

Lifetime Stats: 3.7 ppg (T-15 with Smo), 3.6 rpg (13^th), 4 blocks (T9 with Hops, an annual tradition, one block a year), 14 steals (T9 with BenWilson, never seen someone get more steals who NEVER reaches at a ball handler. Every steal of his life is on an entry or outlet pass), 66 assists (2^nd, not sure why I haven't been including this number, I'll start to.) 33.6 percent shooting (14^th), 25 percent from three (12^th) and the all important Sabin Productivity number: 121 (9^th, as the other stats show, statistically DTOMFS is not what you would consider “a producer” but he is a close friend of Sabin, so maybe that explains his middle of the pack finish)

Lifetime Bests: 8 points (multiple times), 7 rebounds (multiple times, the last two games of PCTI IIII), 6 assists (multiple times)

Other Notes: Welp, those numbers certainly aren't blowing anybody away. Statistically speaking, every guy in PCTI has got loose once or twice for a big game, with Dan being the exception.

The Fruit Man hangs his fedora on a sterling assist to turnover ratio. How important is this number to Dan? As several PCTI guys know, he runs a fantasy basketball league that separately rewards points for assists, turnovers AND assists to turnover ratio. An absurdity that seems to suggest that in the world of Dan, a/t is double the importance of other statistics.

But lets give him some credit, his a/t is off the charts. 3.5 is a great number at any level of basketball. In PCTI it is unheard of. It's almost twice that of the second best number.

Clearly this number is a big part of what gives Dan such a great reputation in the eyes of his teammates. It's also an example of how we typecast many PCTI members. There are two guys who have earned (well deserved) reputations for being quality decision makers/assists guys: Dan and Skillz. But there are several other guys who also clearly outshine most of the competition when it comes to assists and ball security who didn't seem to benefit from it at all in the eyes of the PCTI brethren as far as voting in this poll. Likewise, there are some guys who are turnover machines that are near the very top of the list. Largely, we don't seem to care about assists or about turnovers...unless it's Dan or Skillz.

Dan also was voted in a tie for PCTI's most underrated player, getting 18 percent of the vote. So just to summarize, that's a guy who averages 3.5 points and rebounds a game getting votes for underrated. Dan's self deprecating humor must also be part Jedi mind trick. Certainly it would at least make a little sense then that Dan would challenge for the player who has played most below his potential, right? Nope, he only got one vote.

Two people have picked up on Dan's short fuse with his teammates. Receiving two votes, he came in third place for, “guy I most like to see lose.” It's obvious but I'll state it anyways, nobody voted Dan best looking.

PCTI Players' Poll: #11 Bruiser

The Brat's Preamble: Bruiser is the most unique player in PCTI. By that I mean that he least resembles any of the other fifteen. If say Ahop this year organized for Friday night entertainment a guessing game in which you had to describe a player by his physical attributes or playing style – one of those stupid ass games where people are walking around with names stuck to their foreheads - would there be an easier draw than Bruiser? Maybe you could make an argument for Pitto but I'd go with the Stickman hands down (man down.)

Maybe this explains why PCTI seems to undervalue good ole' Bruise. We have little basis for comparison. I can almost guarantee you that when you look at his stats over four PCTIs, they'll be better than you think. Numbers wise he outplays a lot of people who are ahead of him on this list. Yet for many of us, it's clearly an apples versus oranges type of comparison to try to value his game in relation to theirs. This has been evident for years as he's chronically under-drafted. And now, he gets the ultimate backhanded compliment from his bretheren. Bruiser is the pick for the player who's played most above his ability level. Interesting that a guy who has played in all four PCTIs and had very similar stats in all four PCTIs is the guy who now wears this label.

Bruiser's inclusion at no. 11 and his pick as “Most Out Of His Mind” is the beginning of a trend that will show up pretty regularly the rest of this exercise. That is that the ability to single-handedly win a game is greatly valued, while the ability to single-handedly railroad your team and lose a game is mostly overlooked. There's a lot of middle of the pack guys in PCTI who have a history of doing both, depending on the game and those guys are all ranked ahead of a more steady, though perceived lower ceiling player like Stickman.

Of course nobody has ever passed Bruiser the ball enough in the post to have any idea if he could actually carry a team to a victory...but I digress.

Voting Breakdown: highest vote: 8, lowest vote: 13. As I mentioned in the previous post, Bruiser and Spot were nearly identical in where they appeared on almost everyone's ballot. Interesting fact, there were only four players that weren't ranked by someone at ten or lower.

PCTI Lifetime Record: 1-3, Stickman riding a three year losing streak.

Lifetime Stats: 8.2 ppg (7^th, remember when I pointed out that there's three distinct groups of scorers? Bruiser is the top dog in the second tier. Guys he averages more points than: Beas, Donley, Skillz), 6.5 rpg (4^th, 7 rebounds in a game is “elite” for PCTI. Bruise toes that line), 10 blocks (4^th), 9 steals (tied 13^th with The Brat), 43.8 percent shooting (tied 3^rd with Smo), 21 percent from three (only Skillz and of course Smo have attempted fewer threes than Bruiser. Of his 21 attempts I'll estimate 17 of them were of the, “I'm sick of trying to rebound all these misses you bastards are launching rather than throwing the ball in to me, so I'm going to shoot one of my own,” variety) and the all important Sabin Productivity: 235 (7^th, by far the highest number yet! There's an enormous gap between the top eight and bottom eight in this metric. I'd love to hypothesize on why this is but I have no idea what this stat measures or how it measures it.)

Lifetime Bests: 15 points (PCTI I, game five), 17 rebounds! (PCTI II, game 6), 2 assists (several times)

Other Notes: The blood is on all our hands for putting Bruiser low on this list, thus insuring he'll show up to Denver pissed off and ready to break someone in half. Thank God I thought to do this only a few weeks out so he doesn't have proper time to get revenge yoked.

I'm thinking the 17 rebound game is the high water mark for PCTI, we'll see if anyone else on the list tops it. In one of the great moments of PCTI, Bruiser came out wielding a blowtorch in the first ten minutes of the KD but that was not his high point game, as he finished with 14 points (it only felt like 30.) Of course that moment is largely remembered because of the way the Kittens folded immediately after Bruiser stopped making shots/shooting. One other note from the KD as it pertains to Stickman: he finished the weekend with zero assists. Somebody, for the love of God, ANYBODY please make a shot for the Kittens!

Bruiser got 18 percent of the vote for the guy who's played most out of his mind. Certainly not an overwhelming number but just enough to earn the superlative. Somebody completely disagreed and voted Bruiser as the most disappointing player. He also got one vote each for most underrated, best teammate, and BEST LOOKING. If one thing is becoming more and more clear, it's that we have a lot of good looking people in PCTI.

PCTI Players Poll: #12 Spotlight

The Brat's Preamble: The voters have spoken, Spotlight is PCTI's most underrated player. If an outsider looked purely at stats, this might come as a head scratcher. But, I think that's exactly what this vote is out to set straight. I read it as a nod to Spotlight from the league that he above all others, most steadily contributes in ways that don't show up on the stat sheet. Or perhaps, everyone just has an inflated view of his game. I certainly think it is the former.

A-Hop made a good point in the comments of one of the other posts. That we talk a lot about the merits of the supposed “good teammates” when really this shouldn't be given too much credit because it was a prerequisite to be picked for PCTI. It's at the root of why this weekend was conceived in the first place. I certainly agree, but I also think that the longer we play with each other, the more we're able to pick up on the little subtitles about each of our personalities/games that aren't clear at first. I can see now when someone may be pouting a little, too tired, overly frustrated, etc. even if they're taking the high road and not making it front and center. It's a long weekend and it's only natural that everyone is going to have ups and downs.

I think what helps set Spotlight apart is that he is unfailingly positive, upbeat and unselfish even in comparison to everyone else. Couple this with the fact that he does many of the things that are least fun in basketball: moving without the ball, going to the glass and what's that other one...oh yeah, consistently trying on defense.

Interpret the stats how you will but keep in mind that Spot and Beas are our two most recent additions and only have two PCTIs under their belts, one of which was the KD.

Voting Breakdown: highest vote: 8, lowest vote: 13. I'll note that the difference between Spotlight at twelve and the yet-to-be-named player at eleven were separated by a single vote. Also, the two of them had among the smallest variance in voting as far as low to high. Both topped out at eight and bottomed out at 13. PCTI views the yet-to-be-named player at eleven and Spot in much the same way.

PCTI Lifetime Record: 1-1

Lifetime Stats: 5.5 ppg (12^th, when looking at PCTI scoring stats it jumps out that there's three distinct groups. Six guys who average double figures, five guys who average around 7.5 ppg, and five guys who average between 6 and 4 points. Spot is narrowly the top scorer of the third group), 2.1 rpg (15^th, I've tried not to editorialize too much because there's a lot of people who have better observations on how everyone plays than me, that's why I've stuck with the numbers. However, I think Spot crashes the boards at a high rate, which opens up things for more capable rebounders (read: taller, bigger) to get the ball. I'd love to see some advanced statistics on a 'tries to rebound percentage.' Sabin, get on this for next year. Also, I almost when parenthesis inside parenthesis, inside parenthensis on this thought. Wow!!) 1 block (15^th,, anyone remember this occurrence?), 4 steals (15^th, obviously Spot and the other expansion players are going to hurt in the accumulated stats), 38.1 percent shooting (10^th), 33.3 percent from three (5^th, an elite percentage in PCTI (and only PCTI.) 12 makes, 36 tries) and the all important Sabin Productivity Rating: 28 (15^th, ahead of only Wes)

Lifetime Bests: 14 points (PCTI III, game 3), 4 rebounds (multiple times), 3 assists (multiple times)

Other Notes: Spotlight is PCTI's most underrated player and the voting wasn't even close. Paco got 35 percent of the vote.

He also got a vote for favorite teammate and one for the guy who has played most out of his mind, apparently from someone who really remembers and discredits the ANGELIE! Game of the Kittens Disaster (PCTI III, game three.) Spot got 18 percent of the vote for most excelling in off-court activities, putting him in a three way tie for second. Ready to be annoyed? The two guys he's tied with: A-Hop and Beas.

I don't think it's a spoiler to tell you that one guy ran away with the Best Looking superlative. But the only other guy to get multiple votes (two) was Spotlight.  

PCTI Players Poll: #13 BMac

The Brat's Preamble: PCTI can bring out the selfishness in anyone. Maybe it's when you get pissed off reading the blog and decide you (YOU!) are going to show out this year - and thereby you've put yourself ahead of the team. Maybe it's in a game when you feel like you (YOU!) aren't touching the ball enough or on the court enough or having your jokes laughed at enough or going high enough in the roommate draft so you do something to change it, usually something that retrospectively you'd chalk up as a stupid decision. (It goes without saying it's easy for me to draw from personal experience here.)

I don't think there's a selfish bone in B-Mac's body. I've known the guy for around half of my life and like probably 99.9 percent of people who know Bryan, I can't say a bad thing about him. In all honesty, I'm not sure I can say the same about anyone else in this thing (except for maybe Beas and Spot.)

But the thing is, sometimes a degree of selfishness is a good thing. Especially in sports and especially in our sporting weekend where the teams are thrown together anew and it often takes guys asserting their will to get things to function. At the very least, it gets you noticed.

By no fault of his own, BMac just sort of blends in especially early in the weekend when teams are figuring out their pecking order. I think we'd all agree that his lack of selfishness is often a good thing. But for the purposes of this experiment, it probably lands him lower on the list than (at least by looking at past performances) he deserves.

Voting Breakdown: highest vote: 9, lowest vote: 14

PCTI Lifetime Record: 2-2, seems appropriate.

Lifetime Stats: 7.2 ppg (T-10 with Skillz), 3.8 rpg (12th, for BMac loyalists like myself, this stat is most surprising/disappointing), 7 blocks (7th), 18 steals (4th, good showing), 39 percent shooting (9th but for perspective, one made shot away from being tied with Abe), 27.9 from three (8th, three makes away from jumping Beas and being tied with Abe for sixth.) and the all important Sabin Productivity Rating: 108 (11th)

Lifetime Bests: 17 points (PCTI IIII, game 5), 9 rebounds (PCTI II, the deciding game 7), 4 assists (PCTI II, game 5)

Other Notes: Interesting that B-Mac's best scoring game happened in a loss at PCTI IIII. History remembers his performance in the late stages of last year's weekend very differently. It felt like he made one back breaking shot after another in the final games but that's not really what happened, although his play in those last few games was certainly solid.

Perhaps this speaks to a little bit of what is working against BMac's image and standing within PCTI. All of us are hyper tuned in early in the weekend. The biggest impressions are made in the first couple of games. After that, everyone gets tired and more focused on themselves and is less likely to observe what is happening around them. For BMAC, his stats play out nearly the same in all four of his PCTIs. He's very quiet early. With the lone exception (oddly) of a pretty solid game in the very first PCTI game, he's never done anything significant early in a PCTI. All his good games from a statistical perspective have been late in the tournament. This certainly also can be traced back to BMacs infamous stamina (pause) that although has shown signs of deterioration in recent years, is still at an elite level relative to the rest of the competitors.

For instance, to go with his solid play late in last year's tournament, he went for 12 and 9 in game seven of PCTI II and had a nice 15 point game in a critical game five win in PCTI I. Obviously anyone would rather have a teammate deliver late in the weekend than early but it's not good for one's image when the same people who are forming opinions are also the ones trying to survive the physical grind.

One other interesting note. BMac had nine (!!) rebounds in all of PCTI IIII. That would be last place. As I'm sure he'd admit, that's unacceptable for a guy like him who has shown that he has the timing and motor to be an impactful rebounder.

Lastly, true to form, BMAC barely registered in the superlative voting. He got a vote for most overrated player....and a vote for most underrated player. He got a vote for most disappointing player...and a vote for most overachieving player. He also snagged a vote for best looking!

PCTI Players' Poll: #14 A-Hop

The Brat's Preamble: The first thing that sticks out about Hops coming in at no. 14 is this: someone thinks Hops is the second worst player in PCTI, while someone else thinks he is the third best player in PCTI. Believe it or not, he's not the only guy who received a third and a fifteenth vote. With the other guy, the likely reaction is, “wow, who hates that guy?” With Hops, the likely reaction is, “wow, who is in absolute love with Hops?”

Perhaps this was a backroom deal that Hops cut with someone, promising to vote that person high if they did the same for him. Looking at the ballots, if that's the case, that person was either irrationally insecure in where he stood in the minds of his playing partners...or he got screwed. Maybe that was Hops' plan all along, to prove he can move the puppet strings and should not be taken lightly as one of the power players within the Bored of Directors.

Or maybe Hops loves himself a little bit more than we thought. I think for the great majority of us – if not all of us – we generally think more favorably about our games than how the other fifteen view us. It's easy to internalize and justify most of our personal PCTI shortcomings. Plus, we see ourselves play all year, these guys see us play only three times a year. Right? Right? Right? Maybe Hops thinks he's the third best player and if so, I'm okay with that.

Or maybe there's someone who genuinely values Hops' game that much. Hops is a great teammate, a bigger bodied back court player who can cause problems with his defense and – as the stats point out below – a guy who has a very hard to explain (and easy to forget) track record of delivering in a big way for his team once – and historically, only once – every PCTI.

One other thing that applies to others but that the Hops' vote further exemplifies: what you did in the first two PCTI's means nothing. In fact, if you weren't at one or both of them, you're probably in the best shape of all.

Voting Breakdown: highest vote: 3, lowest vote: 15

PCTI Lifetime Record: 3-1, an impressive number for a charter member. This stat will only continue to gain in prestige as the years go by. The lone loss was in PCTI II.

Lifetime Stats: 5.4 ppg (13^th), 4.6 rpg (T-9 with Smo), 19 steals (3^rd that puts him just ahead of one quarter of the league, who all have 17 steals), 4 blocks (T-9 with another feared rim protector, DTOMFS. Fun to think of each of them getting one and only one every PCTI...don't let it be you!), 30.6 percent (15^th, I crunched the numbers: Hops can miss his first three shots before his first make without dropping below the Murray Line – aka 30 percent. So, uh, no pressure, man.), 21.6 from three (14^th out of 15 with Smo throwing everything off by not recording a stat) and the all important Sabin Efficiency Rating: 114 (10^th, pretty decent score)

Lifetime Bests: 23 points (PCTI II, game 2), 14 rebounds (PCTI I, game 6), 4 assists (a few times)

Other Notes: To go with the 23 point gem in PCTI II Hops also had an 18 point effort in PCTI I and an efficient 13 point effort in PCTI 4. The only PCTI where he failed to deliver a game with a significant scoring output was the four game KD.

In those three big games, Hops was a combined 12-of-17 from three. That's 71 percent! With Pitto and perhaps Sabin being the only exceptions, I'm not sure there's anyone else who can take three games and come up with that high a number.

But the odd part is that these games never build on anything. They happened after statistically quiet games and usually were followed by statistically quiet games. My favorite breakdown of these three rogue games: While he shot 71 percent in those games from three, he shot seven percent (SEVEN!) from three in all other PCTI games. All but four of his makes lifetime happened in those three games! I'm not even sure that streak shooter is the right term for that.

Now on to the rest of the poll. A-Hop tied for second in voting for the guy who most excels in off the court activities, picking up 17 percent of the vote. He also is part of a four way tie for second in favorite teammate, picking up 12 percent of the vote. He received a vote for most overrated player, most disappointing player and the guy who has played most above his ability.

I know Hops probably would have liked to make a run at the title of off court activities king. But this year, it's his arch rival Smo that owns that title.  

The Players' Poll: #15 Smo

The Brat's preamble: As you would imagine, every spot from here forward had plenty of variance, with the exception of no. 1. Smo's 15 spot no doubt hurts, but he did capture perhaps the most valuable of all the superlatives voted on by his peers. 

Voting Breakdown: highest vote: 11, lowest vote: 16

Lifetime PCTI record: 2-1, wins in the even numbered PCTIs with the one loss being the KD (kittens disaster)

Lifetime PCTI stats: 3.7 ppg (T-14 with his brother in arms at FreshPoint), 4.6 rpg (T-9, right square in the middle of the logjam in the battle for the title of PCTI's most average rebounder), 8 steals (14^th), 12 blocks (3^rd and behind two guys who have played all four PCTIs), 44 percent shooting (T-3, tied with Bruiser, kind of interesting since the two are often compared), SMO HAS NEVER ATTEMPTED A 3, NOT ONE! (for some perspective, the second lowest attempted threes is 21), and the all important Sabin Productivity Rating: 106 (12^th)

Lifetime bests: 14 points (KD: PCTI 3, game 2), 11 rebounds (PCTI 2, game 4), 3 assists (several times)

Other notes: The fact that Smo hasn't even considered jacking up a three at any point in PCTI, especially in the dumpster fire that was year three, game four may be the greatest display of self discipline this side of A.C. Green's virginity. I hope if the time is right this year Smo lets one fly on a pick and pop, although I'm not holding my breath.

Smo was largely looked over when it came to the basketball related superlatives. He did get a vote for the guy who has played most above his skill level, which comes as a surprise to me. He also got one vote for being a favorite teammate. He probably deserved more here considering he passes constantly and is willing to sit on the bench for long periods of time. In my mind, that puts him well on his way to being the perfect PCTI teammate.

The biggest accolade here is that he captured perhaps the second greatest honor in this entire project (with being voted number one player obviously being the top.) He was chosen as the guy who most excels at the off-court activities. Smo got 23 percent of the vote and he probably deserved more considering there's not one part of the stuff outside of the hoops – big or small - that he doesn't dominate. Considering how much PCTI has evolved to be a social event, I think this is quite an honor and I'm not just saying this because he came in next-to-last in the rankings, though it does make it a less bitter pill to swallow. 

The Players' Poll: #16 Wes-fil-A

The Brat's preamble: Before we begin, let me say that Wes "the caboose" Murray deserves some credit, and I mean this totally sincerely. All of us would be terrified of coming in last and with how equal the majority of us play, it could easily be a lot of us.

 But over the past few years Wes has been cast as the unquestioned Mr. Irrelevant of all PCTI drafts. The fact that he's handled it with humor and grace is something we all probably should be a lot more thankful for than we are. So here's to you, Wes. And remember, while you are unquestionably the worst right now,you're but a few good games away from making this post a year from now really awkward for someone else.

So without further ado, lets see how it breaks down...

Voting breakdown: highest vote: 15, lowest vote 16

Lifetime PCTI record: 1-3, a win in the original.

Lifetime PCTI stats: 3.6 ppg (last by .1), 1.8 rpg (last by a lot more than .1), 2 steals (that's just kind of funny), 2 blocks (tied for 13th!), 28 percent shooting (last and the only person below PCTI's Mendoza line of 30 percent), 25 percent from three (11th) and the all important Sabin Productivity Rating: 25 (last, first is a 235)

Lifetime bests: 19 points! (PCTI I, game 4), 9 rebounds (PCTI I, game 5), 4 assists (PCTI I, game 3)

Other Notes: How about that? Wes had a 19 point game once upon a time. Not only that but the guy who is ridiculed for his lack of physical condition managed to put up that number in the most infamous contest in PCTI history, "the cramp game."

Wes finished second in the voting for the most disappointing player, snagging 11 percent of the vote. He also got one vote for being the most underrated player. I can see this argument, when you consider the point I made above, that he is universally hailed as the worst player in PCTI. Is he really that much worse than others? I'd say probably not, especially if you consider that he was arguably a middle of the pack player for the Kentucky PCTIs.

Training Hard or Hardly Training?

Over the first 4 PCTI’s, there has always been the balancing act of partying versus hooping. Granted we have never had a participant not play because they partied too hard (even though we did have one leave because of a long drive?). We have had plenty of people play hungover and some possibly still intoxicated.  Now, I happen to be one of the biggest culprits when it comes to going out, having a good time and playing with a hangover. To be honest, I like going out with the QuadPod and various members of PCTI as much as I do playing basketball with them.

I also am very competitive and hate losing, especially in basketball. So my question was how do I party and still help my team on the floor? Then I remember a podcast (remember those? AH the memories!) where BC talked about why the FT and overall shooting percentage was low when many of the players are considered “good shooters.” He then went on to talk about how in high school being tired did not affect us as much because we were always practicing tired. Then it hit me! I have to practice like I play.

Sometime last winter I got included in a game at Brentwood high school (sucks) with a group that on average was a little older. It reminds me a lot of Sabin’s game except not ran as well. They play on Saturday morning as well as occasionally on Sunday morning. Because this was the first regular game I had been involved in that I did not have to put together, I thought this is my time to really practice for PCTI. So every Friday I would get nice and toasty w a bottle of bourbon (4 Roses single barrel or Woodford is my taste of choice). Sometimes I would go out, while others I would stay home and watch Shark Tank. Regardless of what I did, I still made sure I was intoxicated (I know you are all thinking how lucky Carrie is at this point).

The real training really started when I got my jobless friend, Benji Wilsan, involved. He craves a competitive basketball game just as I do, but he also enjoys going out on the town. With Osama Bin in town, I knew I could rage with a friend and then get up and hoop hungover. This was just like PCTI minus the stat keepers, refs, and Deuce filming. Ben also loved that we were training hard for both the basketball and social aspects of PCTI.

My play is definitely affected by me going out. Even though I am very competitive and want to win, I also view PCTI as a chance to hang out with guys I enjoy and don’t see much and is also a vacation. My feeling is that the 70-85% of my playing potential I am hitting because I am hungover is not going affect the series to the point of a win or loss. Maybe someone who has more of a scoring burden would cause a bigger affect or maybe I’m just making an excuse to claim I’m still competitive and care about winning. In the end, I have had some of the best times at PCTI and whether I helped win or not, I have a respectable overall record of 3-1. Until one of those changes, I will continue to train the same way I intend to play at PCTI, happily hungover.