Fast Takes with Fast Break: Austin v League City
Authors: Chase Contreras & Jackson Vaughn
PC: MLQ
Austin (Jackson Vaughn):
The Austin Outlaws travel to Huntsville this weekend to take on the League City Legends. This series was postponed back in Week 1 and is now being played, meaning the Outlaws will be playing their first games of the season. Meanwhile, the Legends took a trip down to New Orleans this past weekend and left with one win, falling to the Curse in Game 3 in a 165-150 Golden Goal thriller. If the Legends want to win this series, they will now have to do it against an Outlaws team that has had three extra weeks to prepare.
The Outlaws will bring a 20-player roster to Huntsville, and many of the new additions to the chaser game will be in action this weekend. Coming over from the Soldados are Jay Stewart and Alex Vega, who are ready to provide a veteran presence in the new Outlaws chasing game. Look for Stewart to use his agility this weekend to cut through the Legends defense, and if that’s not an option, his playmaking for his teammates will surely be a critical part of the Austin offense. The Outlaws rookies will also be interesting to watch, as Ella Jordan, Theron Ratliff and Ian Crowe all make their MLQ debuts for the Outlaws chasers. Keep in mind that rookies make up half of Austin’s chasers this weekend, which the veterans of League City may be able to take advantage of. The returning chasers are sure to make an impact as well. Andrew Axtell will most certainly provide athletic finishing near the hoops, and Jenna Adams-Tracy will always be a threat to make the right reads for an easy dish and dunk.
As for Austin’s beaters, there may not be enough minutes to go around for all of them to see meaningful playing time. The Outlaws have nine beaters rostered for this weekend, the likes of which include a duo of rookies from Texas State: Natalie Kenyon and Nate McCall. While the Major League debut is a large task ahead of them, these new beaters have some great veterans to work with as their teammates. Taylor Tracy has been an Outlaws staple for a few seasons and will look to disrupt the Legends at every opportunity, whereas new additions in Bradley Himes and Trenton Paskero will provide an aggressive look to Austin’s beating game. The Legends have some great beaters in Baldemar Nunez and Gabi Lopez, but I expect the Outlaws to push the tempo and control the beating game for a majority of this series.
Overall, Austin is the favorite in this series. One of the big questions preseason was if the new blood would create enough chemistry with Austin’s championship core before Week 1, but with an additional three weeks of practice for the Outlaws, expect those issues to be ironed out. League City has a lot of great top end talent in Hayden Boyes and Baldemar Nunez, enough so that the Legends will be able to hang with Austin in the chasing game. However, Outlaws’ top beaters, as well as their depth at that position, will be too much for League City to overcome.
Prediction: Outlaws 3-0
League City (Chase Contreras):
Coming off an underwhelming, but surprising outcome in New Orleans this past weekend, the League City Legends are looking to surprise even more people this weekend against the Austin Outlaws. Many did not expect Legends to come out as explosive as they did. Early game performances by Andrew Acosta, Hayden Boyes, and supporting cast caught Curse off guard. The Legends showed their development as a team across the board in their ability to play half-court offense. While it was a little bit shaky at times, they made up for any shakiness with their ability to run in transition. They also also showed their improved defensive ability, but Curse was able to take advantage of cracks in defense and come out of the series with two wins. The Legends largest struggle and hindered them in Game 1 and 2, was Seeker on Pitch. With a very quick catch in Game 1, it seemed like it sucked the life out of the Legends, and Curse was able to capitalize. In Game 2, the Legends were able to get looks, but were still not able to catch, though they were able to come out with the win in their good quadball gameplay. Then in Game 3 the Legends did the right thing by defensive seeking, but were not able to take advantage of it and had some very few costly cards in the last few plays that ultimately sealed the Legends fate. The big question this weekend for the Legends is will they be able to come out swinging like they did against the Curse? Will they figure out their SOP situation? If they manage to fix these problems within a week, don’t be surprised if the Legends are able to take a game off of the Outlaws.
The Legends this past weekend proved that they can use their depth, which is possibly the biggest question for the Outlaws. The Outlaws have their first two lines of experienced players, but with a roster of many new and young players, will they trust their new additions to come out on the field and make an impact? With the notable losses of Bailee Fields, Sammy Garza, Mel Kite, and other roster adjustments for the weekend, this Outlaws team does not look as strong as they could be. If the Outlaws use their top two lines the most this series, it could lead to them being gassed in later games. In that case, Legends could take advantage of this if they continue to play through their lines. Expect there to be a lot of hits, a lot of goals and a lot of excitement.
Playtime distribution is something that Legends will also have to be working to figure out. While captain Hayden Boyes undeniably makes an impact when on the field, his playing with little rest this past series possibly hurt the team when he finally subbed off in Game 3 gassed, and the team seemed to lack leadership on the fields. Who will the Legends put in the role of running the offense, whether that be on-ball or off-ball, while also still being able to play lockdown defense? Andrew Acosta might be their answer to that problem. Acosta showed he can be a crucial part of the offense and defense this past weekend against Curse with a strong rookie debut. Billy Nellums was also able to take on a similar role that Brandon Kubena typically fills of a hard hitting enforcer, but now with both of them being out because of injuries, who is going to fill that role? With outstanding performances from Swathi Mannem and Mallory Hughes aiding the offense and defense against, look for them to keep that same energy going into this weekend.
Minimizing turnovers needs to be a focus for the Legends this weekend. They had a collective fifty-two turnovers in just one series. While the goals, assists and stops all looked great, the team’s turnovers killed them. If they hope to stand a chance this weekend, they have to limit those errors to prevent fastbreak opportunities. Jay Stewart, Louis Sanchez, and company will not hesitate to start fast breaking when they get an open lane from a quick turnover, and one of the things the Legends struggled with this past weekend was stopping Curse fast breaks. The Legends are already on pace to commit more turnovers than last year’s, when they had 172 across all games. If the Legends clean up the little mistakes on offense that caused these turnovers, they have a much stronger chance of keeping games within range of the Outlaws.
SOP is one of the biggest spots for improvement coming into the series. This past weekend Legends’ longtime seeker, Juan Acevedo, was not rostered and it showed. In Game 1 the Legends were unable to get offensive time with the flag runner, so it’s unclear what the outcome would have been. Game 2 however highlighted the need they have an automatic seeker in game winning or losing situations, something that Acevedo brings to the team. Hopefully Acevedo shows that automatic catching ability for the Legends this weekend and brings an extra push for the team during flag runner on pitch.
Prediction: Expect this series to be a lot closer and more exciting than you might expect. While some might think this is going to be a clean, easy sweep for the Outlaws, the Legends are not going to go down without a fight. Outlaws 2-1
