TWOAHH PREDICTION TOURNAMENT

It is that time of the year again folks, a new season creeps just around the corner. The team will be without their clutch superstar this season, following a game 7 disaster, and their former starting center. Guys like Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, and Jay Huff will be tasked with contributing significantly more on the court than they have in previous seasons as their roles are evolving to fit the needs of this Pacers iteration. Among them, I would argue, only Nembhard has established himself as a quality starter in the league. While I have high hopes for the others, I wouldn't say I'm confident they will definitely succeed in their new roles. Positively, their production this year will provide important and necessary information that will help the team decide how to progress moving beyond this season. Looking at our recent lottery picks and centers specifically. Really, REALLY hoping Carlisle does not miss the forest for the trees.

Regardless of who plays, the margin for error this year is sure to be smaller and a myriad of things could further exacerbate problems that turn the season into a dumpster fire. As such, the Prediction Tournament this year figures to be a more volatile one than last year and it will be interesting to see how confident each person is in the remains of the Finals squad.

As a reminder, last year's winner was Dwaink, who got a real slick jersey as the prize (pictured below).

This year the Prediction Tournament will be slightly different than the previous season but let's first talk about what will remain the same. Anyone who wants to participate simply needs to follow the instructions in the next image and go to the provided google sheet (link will be below). The sheet will be open until October 21 at 10 PM EST at which point I will close the sheet to everyone else, SO IF YOU WANT TO PLAY GET IT IN BEFORE THEN. Your total predicted wins will be updated automatically just after the last game in the schedule if you want to check how many wins you have predicted. I will check the sheet regularly so if problems arise I should see it but if you want to bring my attention to it you can leave a comment here on TWOAHH.

Now we get to the new additions to the tournament.

FOUR SEASON SEGMENTS:

I've decided that I'm going to break up the season into 4 segments [2 sets of 20 games and 2 sets of 21 games]. The players who finish in First, Second, and Third place for each section will earn extra points for how well they predict the outcomes within those sections (scoring will be in the rules section below).

Pop-Up Prediction Games

Randomly throughout the season I will pick out a specific game about a week in advance and ask for competitors to predict something with regards to that game. It will be a specific question like "Who will be the leading scorer for the Pacers in (x) game?" or "What will the final score be for the Pacers?", etc.... So, keep an eye out as the season progresses in the comments for these little Pop-Up games. I will make sure that they are hard to miss.

Scoring Rules:

1 point will be awarded for every correct game prediction

10 points will be awarded for a correct season W/L record

7 points for missing by one game

4 for missing by 2 games

2 for missing by 3 games

1 for missing by 4 games.

0 for missing by 5+ games

If the season goes horribly wrong or terrifically right and no one is close to predicting the correct number of wins, I will consider making changes to address the situation.

For the 4 season segments the scoring will go as follows:

First place in each segment will receive 5 extra points

Second place in each segment will receive 3 extra points

Third place in each segment will receive 1 extra point

If people tie for a placement (as they are likely to), I will just give them the same number of points for the placement. i.e., If two people get first place they will each receive 5 points and second place will still get 3 points and so on.

Pop-Up Prediction Games:

1 extra point for correct predictions

Link for the Prediction Tournament Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17toImCucol28IirmTFeZvvBDonz2CFppGSuEaV8ioek/edit?usp=sharing

Again, the sheet will be open until October 21st, 2025 when it will close at 10 PM EST.