As we hit the midpoint of the regular season we found ourselves at the Pioneer in Penrith playing the Jack Daniel boys.
CB wasn't able to play due to some personal commitments and we'd picked up Dux to cover for him. Dux, a mate of Pup's, had performed well for us when filling previously and was a solid potter of the ball.
The ace in the hole for the Jack Daniel side wasn't their 27.5 ranked player Ian, as good a player as he was. Nor was it the fact that they were one of the few venues that still played on the old style pub tables. The not-so-secret weapon for Jack Daniel was that the Jack Daniel tables had amazing rolls, dips, twirls slows, staggers and stops.
This ensured that when a brave or foolish soul forgot him (or her) self and played a slow shot towards a distant ball, they were assured of something quite magical that they were not expecting and usually did not want, often resulting in a ball in hand or even loss of game.
Surprise!!
The reasonably well credentialed Jack Daniel side gave the Cobras a 35 point start at the top, with the Cobras retaining the 7.5 down the bottom thanks to Hooters.
In the first round Dux and Pick started us off with wins. Diddy looked set to do likewise, but nervous to play a soft shot on his last ball before the black, he opted for power, missed his ball, which then performed some amazing moves as it ricocheted down the table, before striking some of his opponent's balls, before they in turn struck the black, which also engaged in some physics defying maneuvers, before sinking itself gently in the corner pocket. At the end of the 1st, the lead was 29.
It was the Dux and Pick Show as they made again picked up wins in the second, but despite their efforts, the losses in that round cut the lead to 19.
Hooters gave us our sole win of the 3rd as things went from bad to worse and we were 2 behind going into the 4th.
Diddy finally got on the board in the 4th but one win was never going to stem the tide and we were 20 in the red as we faced the final round.
We saved the best for last, with Dux, Pick and Diddy all picking up wins, but the damage was already done.
And so the Cobras suffered our 2nd loss as a team taking us to 80% win/loss halfway through the comp, on what was a very frustrating night.
Jack Daniel Pioneer 215 - Eastern Creek Cobras 199.5.
Dux had the best for & against for the night in his 3 wins and Pick was again the best of the fulltime Cobras and the only one who was positive for the night.
While we've hit the halfway point for the comp, we have some tough teams we have yet to play for the 1st time.
In 2 weeks time we're away to the Lucky Breaks (current comp leaders) and the next week are home to the Lucky Commandos (currently second). Both games will be tough games against top teams.
We're also facing 3 games without Pick, including a very tough return bout with Unfinished Biz.
On the flip side, we should pause and acknowledge how well we've done in the first half of this comp.
As a team, we're 8 wins from 10 games. 80% is a fair winning percentage for any team.
We've been in 2nd or 3rd place in our zone thus far and will remain in 3rd even after this loss.
Individually there are some performances worth celebrating.
Pick has led the for & against and the win/loss percentage every week from Week 1 and is every bit the inspirational Cobras leader we expected. Handicaps aside, Pick is indisputably the best Cobras player week in week out.
In terms of for and against, in 10 weeks Pick has scored almost 200 points (197) more than he has had scored against him. Well behind in the land of double figures are Diddy (79) and CB (56).
When you look at games won, Pick has won 80% of his games (same as the Cobras team), followed by Diddy who has won 68.89% and CB who has won 57.50%.
But in this league we all play off handicaps that intrinsically influence everything, so how we play against our assigned handicap is also worth considering. When you factor in the opposition handicaps against our handicaps and then adjust, it reveals the value that lesser lights provide to the team.
On a week-by-week basis, Hooters has led once handicaps are taken into account on 5 occasions, Diddy on 4 and CB has chipped in with 1 as well.
Overall Diddy has managed the most consistency against his handicap with an adjusted total of 106, followed by Hooters on 97 and Pick on 83.
We have some tough games coming, but for now we're probably best to take it one week at a time and our next challenge is hosting the Grey Guns at home. We're due a win, so the Cobras will need to fire up!!
COBRA SCORECARD
FOR & AGAINST
(This Wk) Cumulative
5. Hooters: (-20) -76.
4. Pup: (-33) -10.
3. CB: (0) +56.
2. Diddy: (-10) +79.
1. Pick: (+3) +197.
Opposition Adjusted Handicaps
[Hcp minus Opp Av]
Opp Av = +16.
5. Pick: (+20 minus +16) +4
4. CB: (+10 minus +16) -6
3. Diddy: (+7.5 minus +16) -8.5
2. Pup: (+7.5 minus +16) -8.5
1. Hooters: (-7.5 minus +16) -23.5
FOR & AGAINST (Opposition/Handicap Adjusted)
[F&A minus net OAH] This Week Only
4. Pup: (-33 minus -8.5) -24.5.
3. Pick: (+3 minus +4) -1
2. Diddy: (-10 minus -8.5) +1.5
1. Hooters: (-20 minus -23.5) +3.5.
WIN/LOSS%
[Player Name: (W/L) W/L%]
5. Hooters: (19/31) 38.00%.
4. Pup: (24/26) 48.00%.
3. CB: (23/17) 57.50%.
2. Diddy: (31/14) 68.89%.
1. Pick: (40/10) 80.00%.
Cobras Draw – Las Vegas 1
http://cobras8ball.blogspot.com/2010/02/las-vegas-1-roster-draw.html
Cobra Stats Explained
http://cobras8ball.blogspot.com/2010/03/cobra-stats.html
Cobra House Rules
http://cobras8ball.blogspot.com/2010/02/cobra-house-rules.html
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