Fast Takes with Fast Break: Kansas City vs San Antonio

Authors: Naresh Edala, Christian Barnes, Fiona Wisehart, & Mario Nasta

PC: Major League Quidditch

This week’s series of the week is the San Antonio Soldados vs the Kansas City Stampede and it’s guaranteed to be a nail-biter. The Soldados are favored coming into this weekend, but are missing some key players, while Kansas City has had some huge pickups from last season, but are still a largely unknown quantity as their game film from this season has yet to be posted.

Last weekend, the Soldados suffered a tough 3-0 loss to Austin, playing games 1 and 2 fairly close and then losing game 3 out of range (with scores being 125-140, 120-185, and 50-195, respectively). They are now coming into this weekend with a greatly weakened roster without Eric Reyes, Tim Ngyuen, Daniel Williams, Kris De La Fuente, and Baldemar Nunez, adding up to a total roster size of only 16 players.  

All season, San Antonio has relied on a 2-2 zone on defense, alternating between having a keeper playing point defender and leaving them closer to hoops depending on if they feel the offense is going to look for drives or shots. While New Orleans was not able to take a single game off of San Antonio, they were able to see offensive success in small bursts any time they took San Antonio’s beaters out of the play.

Timestamp 9:17

Any time New Orleans was able to distract the defensive beaters, a quick pass to the wing tended to lead to even quicker goals. It seems that without beater support, the chaser rotations within San Antonio’s 2-2 zone are too slow. However, San Antonio’s aggressive engage beaters; Williams, De La Fuente, and Nunez; rarely gave New Orleans such opportunities. Against Austin, San Antonio’s beaters were not able to dominate, and that allowed Sammy Garza to slice through the 2-2 zone with decisive rotations, sharp passing, and deadly shots.

This bodes well for Stampede’s Darian Mureck-Ellis, who’s dominant athleticism will allow for similar cuts through the zone, opening up not only shots for himself but easy dish oppertunities if San Antonio cannot fix their rotations within the zone. In order to stand a chance defensively in this series, San Antonio will need to rely heavily on Blackwood and David Avila to maintain the high core of the 2-2.

Defense is usually only half the game, but the Soldados use it to generate most of their own goals as well, relying heavily on fast breaks where they can let Miguel Esparza show why he is the fastest chaser in the game.

Without the beater support they usually rely on, Soldados may be forced into more half courts on offense.  While they have incredible athletes across the board at chaser, they often only attempt one or two passes before committing to a drive or shot. This style of offense more often than not leaves Mel Kite and Milena Sousa wide open by a hoop without the ball.  One critical adjustment would be to have Mel Kite run more on offenses. She has been a huge contributor and is a very smart player and decision-maker, maybe she can spark the team to move the ball more, allowing for a better half court offense and easier scoring opportunities against what will likely be another 2-2 zone from Kansas. 

In any close series, games are often decided by who can catch the snitch. Jay Stewart looked strong during the New Orleans series, coming out with two catches, and relying heavily on two handed dives at the snitch.  

When given time he can be a deadly weapon for the Soldados. But, without De La Fuente or Reyes as subs, he will need to balance his effort with his minutes. In games two and three of the Austin series, Jay got almost no looks due to almost complete bludger control resting with the Austin Beaters.  The pressure will be high for the Soldado’s beaters to give Jay quick and consistent looks at the start of snitch on pitch this series. If they can’t, Stewart may need to pass off the yellow headband to Avila or Catherine Hay, or even have Maya Hinebaugh step off bludger and into seeker to maintain as many players as possible in the snitch on pitch quaffle game.

With a full roster heading into this weekend, we would’ve expected to see a 3-0 from Soldados. But, with the players they have, there remains a lot of questions that need to be answered.  Will Maya Hinebaugh be able to step up as an engage beater? Will Katherine Hayworth and Ellen Pandanell be able to continue cleaning up defensive possessions for San Antonio?  Will Miguel Espaza be given the opportunities he has relied on to fast break?  Will the Soldados be able to address their defensive rotations within the zone, and will Mel Kite be able to help lead their half court offense?  

No matter the answers, this series is likely to be full of three hard fought snitch range games, and in our eyes is very fitting to be the series of the week.

Prediction: Kansas City 2-1