Buzzer Beater: Playoff Mailbag [UFA Playoffs 2024]

Division finals are coming up next week

August 5, 2024 by Alex Rubin in Rankings, Recap with 0 comments

Welcome to Buzzer Beater, Ultiworld’s weekly Ultimate Frisbee Association article rounding up the biggest stories from the weekend in men’s semi-pro ultimate.

Without any game action this weekend, we are opening up the mailbag to reader questions. We typically feature one reader question per article, so if you have a question about the UFA you can email it to [email protected] with UFA Mailbag in the subject line. You can also message me on Twitter at @StallSeven, or subscribers can DM me in the Ultiworld Discord.

At the moment, the leading candidates for league MVP are clearly Jeff Babbitt and Brett Hulsmeyer. What players (if any) could put up a strong enough performance at Championship Weekend to force themselves into the conversation? – Benjamin L

I agree that Babbitt and Hulsmeyer are at the top of the list, but a few other names jump out when I think about the season as a whole. So much depends on who makes Championship Weekend. Babbitt has already won the award and has a certain cache because of that–he also earned a signature moment with his buzzer beating grab to knock out his former team last week. If DC beats Boston, Babbitt still has a case for MVP just for getting Boston further than they’ve been before. Hulsmeyer, however, has not had that signature moment and probably needs to make Championship Weekend to have a shot at the award.

So who else could play their way in? Jordan Kerr is Salt Lake’s best shot. He has been on the shortlist for a few seasons now, and a home field championship would help his case a lot. Allan Laviolette and Anders Juengst each put together strong seasons for Carolina and likewise have a good chance at the award should the Flyers prevail. Zeppelin Raunig has been Seattle’s standout offensive player, and if voters consider defense, Lukas Ambrose put together a fantastic season on both sides of the disc. I’m not sure either of their seasons are MVP-worthy, but if Seattle makes it to Championship Weekend, they’ll need to be considered. DC has plenty of players who contribute to a standout offense and could take home the award with a particularly strong playoff performance. Cole Jurek, Rowan McDonnell, Jonny Malks, AJ Merriman, and Thomas Edmonds all have the capabilities, but DC’s egalitarian style of play might ultimately prevent these players from receiving individual honors this time around.¹

Why are the average goals scored/game so different on each coast? Is it the possession oriented small ball style at play? – Charlie Mercer

I’m not sure the difference is just between the coasts, but rather that scores in the East Division are lower than the other three. There are a few reasons. First, New York, DC, and Boston all have very strong defenses (1st, 3rd, and 4th in scores allowed this season). Second, there is not a particularly weak team in the East to beat up on like there are in the other divisions. There’s no Detroit, Portland, or Dallas. While neither Toronto nor Montreal won many games this year, they were not the kind of pushovers against whom a team could run up a score.

When I set out to write this, I didn’t fully buy the play-style argument, but as I wrote more and more, I think there is truth to it. Yes, all three playoff teams in the East incorporate small ball principles heavily in their offense, but so do Carolina, Indianapolis, and Oakland. From the eye-test perspective, games in the East feel more intense and proceed at a slower pace because those teams (especially New York and Boston) are comfortable keeping possession through lateral resets and stall-resetting throws. The other small ball teams I mentioned above along with DC rely more on “dribbling” moves meant to penetrate defenses with quick, fluid motion between backfield players.

The other thing to consider is that when two teams who both play with possession in mind play each other (for example, DC playing Boston), the game moves slower and fewer points are scored. When one team who plays small-ball plays another who likes to move into bigger spaces quicker (for example, Carolina playing Atlanta), the quicker team dictates the pace around half the time and can push the other team to speed up. There is some amount of pressure a team can generate from sideline rolling pulls or a zone defense, but by and large offenses get to dictate the pace of play with the way they choose to move the disc. When two teams are content to value possession of the disc over field position, the disc is going to stay farther from the end zone longer, leading to fewer goals scored.

What made the difference for Seattle this year to get back to the playoffs? If it’s just because of their new additions, which new addition made the biggest impact? – Charlie Mercer

It’s not so much that Seattle has a few new additions (Lukas Ambrose, Mikey O’Brien, and Tommy Li are all in the conversation for biggest impact), but rather that their team is playing more together. In 2023, Khalif El-Salaam only played seven games, Jack Brown played eight, and Spencer Lofink played seven; those three were all top five on the team in +/-. This season the top eight players ranked by +/- on the Cascades all played at least ten games and most played all 13. The difference between last year and this season is that the team’s best players are playing more frequently, and more frequently together.

One of the most underrated aspects of UFA play is roster consistency. The teams able to bring more or less the same starting lines of players to away games and long travel weekends as home games have an advantage as players build chemistry with each other and improve week-to-week with the same group. I don’t know exactly what prompted Seattle’s newfound commitment this season, but it was clearly a major driver of their success so far.

The best center handler on the teams remaining is…? – Lucas Meade

There’s a lot of really good throwers still in contention for a Championship. Forced to give a name, I think Jonny Malks would be my first draft pick so to speak, but I considered (in no particular order) Will Brandt, Austin Taylor, Andrew Roy, Sol Yanuck (yes I know he plays D-line), Leo Sovell-Fernandez, Jacques Nissen, and Ben Sadok as well.

DPOTY rankings? – Lucas Meade

I think it’s Lukas Ambrose’s award to lose. Thirty blocks is really tough to get in 2024 and he passes the eye test, too. Jeff Babbitt and Jake Rubin-Miller both had impressive block-getting seasons as well. Justin Burnett looks great when he is on the field for Atlanta, Matthew Burke has had a few great games for Oakland, and Minnesota rosters a cadre of defenders who could be considered, including Brandon Matis, Noah Hanson, and Matt Rehder.

UFA Power Rankings

1. McDonnell was the league’s MVP in 2018 ↩