31 points. The Pole went through a woodchipper. *Wince(

After changing back to her usual street attire, Narkissa Kassius grabbed her cellphone and snuck out of the Edmonton Totem's locker room to the adjacent hallway in the stadium, finding an open enough spot to lean against the wall. With a sigh, she turned it on and scrolled the small screen through the 'Missed Calls' numbers on her voice mail until one caught her attention.

"What the... how did.." Her eyes frowned slightly as she focused on that number, which had a 602 area code based out of Phoenix, Arizona. After a very tense argument with her father just after the late regular season game against Winnipeg, she had not only changed her phone number but specifically told her father never to contact her again. But here it was in her voice mail, a phone hail from her family household.

Her thumb quivered over the certain green button of her phone with that number highlighted on the screen. It was likely from her mother, one of the most stubborn, persistent ringtail lemurs Narkissa has ever known, and might have grabbed the number after making some inquiry online to nosy fans. But what if she answers the voice mail and instead it would be the voice of her father speaking? The same man that didn't want her in the FBA and didn't even want her playing basketball? Having to hear that voice after a bittersweet series sweep loss against an overpowering Bikers team might set her off an edge and do something she may regret later... already the verbal predictions run through her head as she stares at that phone number on what she expected her father to tell her...

"Should have left the FBA long ago and saved yourself this embarrassment, Kissa."

"If you actually took your father's advice, you would have a comfortable living as a geologist now and not be in shame after being whupped like this."

"I told you so."

"I told you so."

"I told you so......"

"Narkissa!"

"Narkissa!"

"FFFfff--" Narkissa sputtered out the first letter of her favorite cuss word but thankfully left it trailing as she snapped her face to the side to see Victoria Ling approaching. Out of shock, her thumb pressed the button but she lowered her phone as she cleared her throat and gave her full attention to the panda.

"You okay? Coach needs everyone in the locker room."

It took Narkissa a few hesitant moments to calm down before speaking. "Yeah, I'm fine." Her ears twitch at the voice emitting from her phone. Was that her mother or father? Or one of her younger siblings still living in the household? Too difficult to decipher in this noisy hallway.

"Well come on then," Victoria nodded and went back to the locker room. Narkissa sighed and finally looked back at her phone to see the call had already ended. She paused, her thumb hovering over a button to replay it, but after a few moments, the thumb switched to another button and pressed it. The screen showed the 'Message Deleted' window on the screen and with a loud exhale, Narkissa promptly walked back into the locker room.

It's been a nightmare of a rookie season for Kassius. Intense pressure in the media spotlight. The ghosts of her family heritage lingering. A bitter split in mid-season from the team that drafted her in the first round. All that, plus a lot of time riding the pine or watching from the press box. It's hard not to sympathize.

But Narkissa inherited her family tenacity and toughness. Will she prove the critics wrong and emerge to reach her true potential in the FBA? I guess she'll have a busy off-season before we find out!

Oh she'll be busy off-season, alright. XD She still has a lot of mental hurdles to get over, but she's still young with potential to grow.

If I knew more about the court rules and general play, I'd volunteer to help call a game,..but...

I had a blast listening to my first live FBA Courtside Live episode!!! I swear, I'd already listened to games after they were played, but doing it live is ten times more fun! I'm only a little sad that I wasn't able to turn up from the start, since I made a bit of a mistake with the time zones. :( Anyway, congratulations to everyone involved and big props to DAK for making yet another final series!

Two worlds, too far apart
By: Mitch Dunn

Utter dominance. That’s what the Bikers were all about tonight. And it moved them into the 2013 FBA Finals, and bring a few big boos out of the Edmonton crowd. Even I found it very hard to watch. Not just because the Totems, the last Canadian team left in the playoffs, were being defeated, but how they couldn’t hold up against possibly the best team in the FBA this year, left me with a bitter taste.

Hopper and Malone just tore the copper and blue apart like kids tear their presents open on Christmas Day, causing the game to end in a 111-80 slaughter in front of the sold-out Edmonton crowd, who were dead silent after the final buzzer, much like Sturgis Stadium was the year before, when the Minutemen won the championship in cruise control.

Rocky Caracal, who had another good game for the Totems, had to take a few minutes before he could speak with me.

“Honestly, this was a great season, but the way it ended absolutely sucks.” he said, hints of frustration in his speech. “There was showboating and other things the Bikers were doing, and that just hurts inside and out. Maybe they weren’t showboating, or I’m just very very frustrated right now. I just need to get over it.” Afterwards he left for the shower without saying another word.

On the other hand, James Frestrikial, who had a tremendous rookie season, was glad for what the Totems achieved.

“It's been an amazing run, we've seemed blessed through the Playoffs, and then we ran into the brick wall of the Western Conference, the Bikers. I think we did great, even including this series, but we've identified some areas to work to improve for next season.”

Frestrikial is part of the best new FBA team ever and he realizes how hard it’ll be for the Totems to keep up with their great first year, much like the fans will likely demand and from what the coaches will be working on.

“Keeping up this level is going to be hard, fans in Edmonton will expect another solid playoff run, and other teams will have their guards up. We'll need to practice hard and work harder as a team.” He says.

I thought it would be hard to match what the Voyageurs achieved the year before, pushing the Whips to 7 games, only losing by one point. But forgetting this game, and looking at what the Totems did, the Totems brought it to the next level, and it’ll be incredibly tough to beat.
The standing ovation from the home crowd was more than deserving for the Totems. It shows that the fans are in it to win it and here to stay loyal to what shapes up to be one of the great forces of the Western Conference.

Meanwhile, the Bikers are going home with a ticket to the Finals in their hands. I don’t know about you, but I want this year’s final to be really, really good. Nothing less. Make it happen, please.

It left me with a bitter taste too. A really anticlimactic ending to a great season. The Bikers may have been a better team than the Totems, but really that much better? A slaughtering like this on the big stage is hard to swallow. The sheer number of highlight-reel dunks just rubbed salt in the wound.

That's just my opinion though, and I can admit a certain level of bias as a GM. I'm grateful for the chance to build this team from scratch and be a part of the league. Hopefully the Totems can learn from experience and develop into Western Conference heavyweights over the next few seasons. Time will tell.

Great write-up as usual, Mitch.

as an impartial outside observer (to this game), while the blowout was unfortunate and harsh, losing to the bikers even by an uncomfortably wide margin didn't seem that unusual. the totems had already made FBA history in remarkable fashion and had done what i perceived to be less likely than losing so roundly to the bikers. but the totems absolutely deserved to be in these playoffs, and they proved it by out performing top teams in the league. getting stopped at the door during the breakout first season will only make them hungrier. look what it did for WPG!

You should have some bias as the GM. That's a-ok. But at the same time, the fact that they were even against the Bikers was a longshot. They were a team under 500 playing against one of the strongest in the league. The blowout wasn't that surprising, even if it stung like hell.

Great write up, P-Dog! And thank you for pointing out the success of the Totems. For as disappointing as this loss might have been, no one should be saying anything against Edmonton's season. The Totems had the best first season of any FBA team in history, even better than the Voyageurs who took another step toward conference dominance this year.

As for the showboating-- c'mon, it's Hopper. Onca didn't slash him open for nothing, you know.

Mitch: Well, Hopper has a great team around him, but he can step off the gas once in a while, and let the others get some chances. But that's just me.

So you know, I do set NBA 2K13 to a more "arcadey" mode that increases the frequency of showboat plays. I've done that from the beginning assuming FBA fans would appreciate the added action, but maybe I should consider bringing it back down to "sim" mode.

I see. Maybe you should bring that up at the end of season meeting, then that can be thoroughly discussed.

I think the problem is the disparity between players, and possibly between teams. I do think the FBA has taken great strides this year towards more balanced competition (and the NBA2K engine should help that). Still, the only reason an underdog team made it this far was due to extremely lucky circumstances.

It seems like the system is weighted to benefit a team for having one or two superstars though. I mean, a team like the Howlers shouldn't fall apart after losing just one player (as important as that player might be). Does one player really make the entire difference?

I'm also curious about how players "develop" too. Has there ever been a case in the FBA of a scrub or underrated player from humble beginnings rising up as a star? It seems like, to me, the stars are the stars, the bench is the bench, and the chasm between them is huge. For example, is it possible for a team like SAS to "groom" a Crosby Sutters to take the role of an aging Omar Pink?

These aren't criticisms, I'm honestly curious about how the development process has worked over the years.

Ugh. Come on 'Phoons. No need to make it a nailbiter! Finish the job!

I love what a great 'Phoons fan you are, Frosty! :) You know poor Korber is upset at having failed to put this series away!

Hah. If they do win it all, Carl'll definitely be trying to crash that victory party!

Like I always say, hombre, I'm down if no one else steps in.

Really excited for the EOY and Draft!

I was rooting for both DAK and EDM equally, though leaning more towards EDM as the longshot to scoop. But as had been said before many times, they had an easy road compared to most other teams. Heck, DAK almost didn't make it, themselves!

When I think of EDM and DAK, I think of the movie 'Brewsters Millions', with the minor league team playing three innings against the New York Yankees. The minor league team, while talented, couldn't hold back the offensive onslaught. And when the pitcher/owner left the field dejected, the team manager stopped him. "You played great out there. Everyone did. But hey, what do you expect? These are the New York YANKEES."

It didn't lessen the sting, but it was spot on. They were up against a better team, and they should let their individual and team achievements outshine any game losses. The players did well, the team did excellent even with an 'easy road', and they made history. Not bad at all.

As for NWK/TAL - Damn, what a game. THESE are the CSLs I look for. And I didn't mind losing, but I am concerned that 2K hasn't been making his points lately. Perhaps Dixie needs to give him extra incentive... you know, when SHE gets out the newspapers, he doesn't look so unhappy. >:)