Yeah, it was a rough series if you're a Redbacks fan. They had a lot of talent, arguably more than Toronto, but the Hogs just managed to squeeze out a couple of close games. Not to twist the knife too much, but if the ball bounces a little differently in Games 1 and 5, Texas is probably leading 3-2 and heading back home with two chances to win. That said, they kept all of their key pieces around this offseason, so the 'Backs should be ... well, back.

Last edited by ItDoesntMatter (7/22/2019 10:16 am)

The Palms are also making changes, and they're doing something very similar to what Seattle did.

Phoenix also has a new primary logo; I didn't like the odd shape of the palm tree over the sun on its own, so I put it in a box. There was no particular reason for this particular quadrilateral; I just thought it would look good. Additionally, the tree (and by extension, the wordmark) becomes monochrome, only using purple/maroon or yellow/gold (I can never decide what colors this team actually is; I think the team would call it maroon and gold).



The main uniforms don't change much, at least from the waist up. The shorts and socks on the primary and secondary switched colors, so the socks are now copper and the shorts are now the opposite of the jersey. They also wanted to change up their tertiary, and like Seattle, went gradient-themed; unlike Seattle (or anyone else in the league so far), they continued that down onto the shorts. What do you guys think of the nickname "Tequila Sunset"?



The court is also mostly the same, although the lines have been changed to copper to compensate for the almost complete lack of the color anywhere else:



Let me know what you think! C&C appreciated!

40-0, dang! We better win it all now or else that would be an historic loss.

I like those new PHX uniforms and updated logos.

Toronto Hogs vs Texas Redbacks
For a matchup between last year’s finalists, this series was over before it began. When it began with the most lopsided game in playoff history, that really only confirmed wh at most people thought going in. W/C Elide Amigazzi and B/K Ares Preciado dominated both sides of the ball, and defensive standouts B/ZB Thomas Ridley, F/C Tim Edwards, and B/ZB Amando Thomas pitched in to hold the Hogs to a playoff record 86 points. Texas likely would’ve won by more than 73 had both teams not decided to rest many of their starters, and even after they did, it was still pretty ugly for the visitors. To Toronto’s credit, they fought back, and Game 2 was much closer. Despite their best efforts, though, they couldn’t seem to solve Amigazzi or Preciado, and the Redbacks still made it look easy, securing a 21-point win and a 2-0 series lead.

Something changed for Game 3 in Toronto. W/ZB Michael Lawler, who had struggled with injuries most of the year, started to look like himself again, B/ZBs Kris Brantley and Ax Nilsen helped lock down the end zone, and W/C John Gray stepped up as well. Lawler and Gray both scored 11 points in the sixth inning on the way to 27 and 24 overall, while the Hogs’ defense stepped up in a big way . Texas was held to just 119 points, their lowest offensive output of the season (though only by one point), and their record dropped to 42-1. Unfortunately for Toronto, that was about all they had left in the tank. The Redback offense came back alive, and Games 4 and 5 went much like Game 1. To nobody’s surprise, the Texas Redbacks had advanced back to the Finals.



California Sea Lions vs Seattle Sawyers
On paper, these teams matched up pretty well, and they did so in the regular season as well. However, the playoffs are a different animal, and one of the biggest differences between these two teams was playoff experience. As a team, this would be the Sea Lions’ eighth playoff series; in fact, there has only been one round of the playoffs they haven’t been in. The Sawyers, on the other hand, had never been in the playoffs, and only two of their starters (F/ZB Omaro Rubio and W/ZB Zebedeo Perilla) have any significant postseason experience. This showed in Game 1, in which the California offense laid 164 points on the home team and took a commanding 26-point win. B/ZB Steve Gibson put up 24 of those, and rookie W/ZB Jim Choate scored 21 in his first eve r playoff game. Seattle’s defense, especially B/ZB Will Mitchell and breakout W/K Gordie Northern, would step up in Game 2 to earn the split, but the Sea Lions would still have home-court advantage heading to San Jose.

California flipped the switch back the other way, as their offense came alive once more and their defense stepped up as well. F/K Chris Gray’s 27 was the highest of five 20-point games from the Sea Lions, and he made some pretty excellent saves on the other end. Game 4 had slightly less offense, but was more of the same, and the Lions would have a chance to close out the series at home in Game 5. The Sawyers played admirably with their backs against the wall, however. B/C Aciscio Castañeda scored 9 times, all goals, on his way to 29 points, and B/ZB Curtis Blue stepped up off the bench with 19 points and 7 assists, including a 3-point pass to F/ZB Walt Duncan to bring the lead to 4 with just 0.8 seconds left. Unfortunately, the Sawyers couldn’t keep the momentum going after the trip back home, and had their worst offensive performance of the series. They just seemed off the whole night, and what runs they did have were too little too late. For the fourth time in its five year history, the NDLCS would feature the California Sea Lions.

Incredible season for the Redbacks. Not gonna lie, I was nervous they'd blow it big time. Haha. Now the big question is can they turn this into a dynasty!