Fast Takes with Fast Break: Toronto v Cleveland

Authors: Joeseph Lombardi & Madeleine Fordham

PC: Major League Quadball

To kick off the 2023 Major League Quadball season, the Toronto Raiders will be traveling across the border to take on the Cleveland Riff. These opening day match-ups cannot be taken lightly, especially in the North Division where teams only play two series before the North Division Championship. The series winner of this battle will be heavily favored to win the Eastern Conference of the North Division, as the only remaining opponent in the conference, the Rochester Whiteout, are looking as vulnerable as ever this season.

This will be the second year in a row that the Raiders and Riff will meet on opening day of the MLQ season. The Raiders completely dominated when the teams matched-up last year, sweeping the Riff over three games with relative ease. Since the Raiders were introduced to the league in 2019, they have never lost to the Riff. But will that change this year?

Upon receiving the Cleveland Riff roster for this series, the absence of Melinda Staup in the quadball game is glaring. Staup received a hand injury in the first practice of the season, and while they are expected to have a quick recovery time, it did not come soon enough for the Raiders series. Staup has consistently been in the top 3 scorers for the past few seasons, and is an all-around stud on both sides of the ball. Not to mention, Staup has naturally been a leader for this Riff team, as they have been for their entire career. This leaves room for other quadball players to pick-up the slack. One of those players will be the ever-constant Peter Bretching, the team’s second best scorer last season, who will be relied upon on both sides of the ball. Another player to fill this hole will be Carrie Cowden, who’s natural scoring ability and positioning will make them a huge benefactor of the anticipated new offensive system in Cleveland. Korey Johnson will also take a step forward this weekend as leading figure and ball handler on this squad. Lastly, expect new Riff additions Jack Moseley and Joseph Lombardi to play a role in the quadball depth this weekend.

On the beater side, this roster features the majority of the Riff’s premium beater core. While the loss of Jillian Dekiel is notable, the plethora of Riff beating talent can fill their absence. With the likes of Rae Barnes, Austin Howe, Aaron Oehler, and others available, expect this beater squad to go blow-for-blow with the rampant Raiders’ beater core. Anticipate the brunt of the workload to be shared by the expected top beater pair of Rae Barnes and Austin Howe, who will need to carry the Cleveland Riff both offensively and defensively in order to have success against the Raiders.

The Raiders roster isn’t anything new, which can be a double edged sword for this team. While this makes developing the team easier, it also causes the team to be more easily scouted by opponents. For chasers, Cleveland could watch the series from last year again to see who the main scoring threats on Toronto the roster were, and how best to shut them down. Returning to the field will be Stevie Vindua and Bryan Melchior, who seemed to have the Riff figured out. However, it might not be the big threats from last year that Cleveland needs to worry about. Younger stars from last season like  Robert Ali, Sarah Dykstra, and Levi Medeiros, will be looking to surprise the opposition and show that it’s not just the old dogs the Riff need to be concerned about. Each brings something different to the table, and the Riff will need to be adaptable if they hope to stop these three scoring threats simultaneously.

For the Raiders beaters, familiarity will certainly breed contempt. With the top line beaters from last year returning for round two, you can be certain that they’ll want to dominate the game even more than they did last year. With a never-say-die attitude, the beater corps for the Raiders will play aggressively with or without dodgeball control to tie up the Riff beaters and give their chasers the drives they love to have. With the vast amount of depth in this Raiders beater core, expect them to cycle through their pairs evenly (to keep them fresher and faster), and to keep the tempo up against the Riff in order to put them on the backfoot.

Last season, the Riff’s offensive style was based around one player, John Gaffigan. Gaffigan has all of the assets of a natural scorer: long-distance range, vision for passing, and smart decision-making. To facilitate his success, the Riff typically ran a high diamond-like style of offense, which gave Gaffigan numerous quadball options up top. Other times, they’d run a box style, where Gaffigan would drive and hit one of two cutting players (usually in the form of Melinda Staup or Carrie Cowden). In the post-Gaffigan era, expect to see much more versatility from the Riff. New coaching staff means new styles and a new playbook, which will ultimately lead to more success this season. Playing time will likely be spread evenly among the top lines, getting the ball in the hands of playmakers Peter Brechting, Korey Johnson, and Joseph Lombardi. Anticipate more ball movement between the front and back of the hoops, as well as more off-ball play than last year.

Defensively, the Riff will look nothing like the exposed team they were last season. While much of the Riff’s formation cannot be exposed until the series, it is expected that the Riff will not exclusively be running the trees hoop zone that failed last season. The Riff are anticipated to play more physically, and won’t surrender space to teams as they have in the past. With the adoption of the 2023 MLQ Rulebook, one major rule change is that no resets are allowed. Naturally, we can expect the Riff to defensively play higher up the pitch to force teams out of the zone. They are more than capable of this considering the ability and depth of their beating core.

The Raiders, on the other hand, thrived when their depth could put up numbers to back up their stars; this year should look no different. Despite the absence of Michael Howard, the Raiders shouldn’t struggle to continue dominating the quadball game. Their stars will remain stars, with names such as Stevie Vindua and Bryan Melchior expected to put up incredible two way performances. Offensively, expect the two to carry up the ball, but also have the confidence to dish out to key depth players like Matthew Bunn and Sinan Keyder, who were vital in the team’s success last year, and will continue to be this year. With confidence in their players across the board, the task will be to move the ball around and get the Riff beaters working.

In the defensive half-court, the Raiders found success in their high court press against the Riff last season. This came in the form of either a mark defense or a two-two zone defense. Expect nothing different in this year’s match-up. The Raiders will look to force the ball carriers into their beaters or off to the sides, where they’ll be looking to devour a potentially scared wing chaser. If push comes to shove and the Riff prove they can play without Gaffigan, the Raiders showed plenty of ability to run a tighter zone around their beaters. In such scenarios, the Raiders will use speed and smarts to outmaneuver the Riff’s ball movement.

Cleveland Riff’s players to watch this weekend are young starlets Dominik Twarowski and Rae Barnes, and MLQ transfers Jack Moseley and Joseph Lombardi. Twarowski enters the MLQ season fresh out of the Bowling Green State University program. In practices and fantasy tournaments leading up to the Toronto series, they have shown considerable driving ability and growing intelligence on the field. Look forward to them making their MLQ debut this weekend. Rae Barnes has only a year of MLQ experience under their belt, but don’t let that limited experience fool you; they are a rare commodity. Their strength, accuracy, and beater intelligence lead them to constantly have the beater advantage. And after one full season of USQ club experience with the Black Swamp Banshees, they are raring to lead this Riff team to victory this season. The additions of former Whiteout tandem Jack Moseley and Joseph Lombardi can pay huge dividends for the Riff. Both players add considerable physicality, which will be crucial against the driving prowess of the Toronto Raiders squad. Both players are capable ball handlers on the offensive end, and are bound to contribute points this weekend.

The Toronto Raiders have plenty to watch, but who better to keep your eyes on than a long-lost veteran and new rookies? Christos Kaldis returns to Toronto after extended time away, having been part of the original 2019 roster. Kaldis will add yet another veteran to the already experienced roster, and a physical, intelligent player ready to make heads up plays. Entering the fold beside him are three players making their MLQ debut in this series: Rebecca Hodder and Noelle Starling as chasers, and Grace Davey as beater. All three of these young superstars earned big minutes for the University of Guelph in the Canadian season. Both Starling and Hodder have shown exceptional game sense and athleticism, constantly breaking away on the offense to be threats, while maintaining a menacing presence on the defense that makes even the largest players think twice about driving into. Davey is quick to adapt to the situation ahead of her, whether she has superiority or not. Able to take initiative in the worst of situations, expect Davey to set up big plays to give her team the advantage.

The X-factor that will determine the victor of this series will be whichever team dominates the beater game. Perhaps this is a bit redundant, as dominating beater play is a crucial aspect of quadball, but never has this been more true than for this season and in this match-up. As alluded to previously, the 2023 MLQ Rulebook adopted a new rule of no resets beyond the midline. From this, we can expect teams to play more aggressive defensively and to force more fast break opportunities. Fortunately for the Raiders, aggressive beating and fast breaks have been their bread and butter over the past few seasons. If the Raiders beater core maintains control in this game, anticipate the Raiders winning dominantly this series. However, if the Riff can stave off the hungry Raiders beaters, this series will be tightly contested.

Looking at the teams on paper, it would be unexpected if the series didn’t go in the favor of the Raiders. While losing top scorer Michael Howard will be a huge blow to Toronto, their remaining quadball players are more than capable of filling that hole. The Raiders should continue to be highly efficient behind their solid beater core which predominantly drove their style of play last season. However, the additions of veteran MLQ personnel and new coaching style will make this Riff team more resilient than in previous years. Expect this highly contested match-up to fall in favor of the Toronto Raiders over the Cleveland Riff.

Prediction: Toronto 2-1