Mr. Zbuckley was the only GM who was kind enough to submit a vote this week for my coaches poll. Since he is a leader on one of the most successful APL teams in history, The Lake Opeta Legionnaires, I took the opportunity to talk to him and discuss his thoughts on season 8 and the current teams of APL. This is the interview.
1. SLS
2. DD
3. TLGoT
4. LOL
5. Warrior Kings
6. Angola Dream
7. White Rhinos
8. Cape Verde
9. Sea Wolves
10. Ghana Buffalos
T: I noticed that you ranked your team in 4th place, you did lose to DD very early this year but rebounded nicely. You have yet to play SLS and TLGoT. How do you feel you match up against those teams?
Z: I think with the polls you have to take a prove it to me approach. We're 0-1 against the top 4 teams in the conference so I can't rank us any higher until we prove it. The TLGoT matchup is always a tough one but we've got SLS up first on our schedule and it won't surprise me if hokie is already thinking about the game. In the past SLS has always been a hot or cold team but I think this year they've finally found some consistency. SLS has a very balanced offensive attack and have really improved their defense. It's hard to say how we matchup especially since Bort keeps tweaking the sim engine. Should be a huge game and were looking forward to it. TLGoT is still fuming about that loss to SLS and are always a very dangerous team. Our last post season loss to TLGoT really was an eye opening experience and we've spent a lot of time evaluating our offensive AI and I will guarantee LOL will not be shutout again. LOL
T: The common perception in APL is that Elephant is tougher than Lion. For example, you rank the other undefeated team in the league the Angola Dream in 6th place, behind Dar es Salaam which has 1 loss in Lion. The Dream crushed the 5th ranked team in Elephant, the Pirates 21 - 3, yet they get no respect. Why do you think that is? Is it because the Legos won so much so early?
Z: Great question. Well Dar es Salaam hasn't lost to a Lion team and given the way they've played overall and in scrimmages I think they're the team to beat. The Dream are a tough team to gauge, they live by the run and I don't think a team as one dimensional as they are can be called an elite team. I do think that the Lion conference is closing the gap but I still would still think the top four over in the Elephant conference win 4 out of 5 times against any Lion team. (The title game stats would agree)
T: You ranked DD over the defending champs. TLGoT lost to SLS by 1 point, DD lost to the same team by 17. Who wins their matchup?
Z: Last year these teams split and because DD likes to token boost during the regular season I think you have to give them the edge. How do you think they beat us?
T: Hahahaha great answer!! Thank you very much for your time and doing this interview. Ok last question. Do you and LoL have any message to give to the rest of the league?
Z: Don't sleep on LOL I still think we've have a say in how the top four teams are seeded in the elephant conference.
Thanks Toad I really had fun doing this and maybe we could do a playoff preview.
That's it folks. Thank you Zbuckley for doing this with me, you are a stand up guy and top notch in my book. Great job my friend
I hope this kept the Toad readers happy, I'll see you again in 2 days.
Toad Out
1. SLS
2. DD
3. TLGoT
4. LOL
5. Warrior Kings
6. Angola Dream
7. White Rhinos
8. Cape Verde
9. Sea Wolves
10. Ghana Buffalos
T: I noticed that you ranked your team in 4th place, you did lose to DD very early this year but rebounded nicely. You have yet to play SLS and TLGoT. How do you feel you match up against those teams?
Z: I think with the polls you have to take a prove it to me approach. We're 0-1 against the top 4 teams in the conference so I can't rank us any higher until we prove it. The TLGoT matchup is always a tough one but we've got SLS up first on our schedule and it won't surprise me if hokie is already thinking about the game. In the past SLS has always been a hot or cold team but I think this year they've finally found some consistency. SLS has a very balanced offensive attack and have really improved their defense. It's hard to say how we matchup especially since Bort keeps tweaking the sim engine. Should be a huge game and were looking forward to it. TLGoT is still fuming about that loss to SLS and are always a very dangerous team. Our last post season loss to TLGoT really was an eye opening experience and we've spent a lot of time evaluating our offensive AI and I will guarantee LOL will not be shutout again. LOL
T: The common perception in APL is that Elephant is tougher than Lion. For example, you rank the other undefeated team in the league the Angola Dream in 6th place, behind Dar es Salaam which has 1 loss in Lion. The Dream crushed the 5th ranked team in Elephant, the Pirates 21 - 3, yet they get no respect. Why do you think that is? Is it because the Legos won so much so early?
Z: Great question. Well Dar es Salaam hasn't lost to a Lion team and given the way they've played overall and in scrimmages I think they're the team to beat. The Dream are a tough team to gauge, they live by the run and I don't think a team as one dimensional as they are can be called an elite team. I do think that the Lion conference is closing the gap but I still would still think the top four over in the Elephant conference win 4 out of 5 times against any Lion team. (The title game stats would agree)
T: You ranked DD over the defending champs. TLGoT lost to SLS by 1 point, DD lost to the same team by 17. Who wins their matchup?
Z: Last year these teams split and because DD likes to token boost during the regular season I think you have to give them the edge. How do you think they beat us?
T: Hahahaha great answer!! Thank you very much for your time and doing this interview. Ok last question. Do you and LoL have any message to give to the rest of the league?
Z: Don't sleep on LOL I still think we've have a say in how the top four teams are seeded in the elephant conference.
Thanks Toad I really had fun doing this and maybe we could do a playoff preview.
That's it folks. Thank you Zbuckley for doing this with me, you are a stand up guy and top notch in my book. Great job my friend
I hope this kept the Toad readers happy, I'll see you again in 2 days.
Toad Out
Last edited Mar 13, 2009 21:02:47
