by Kenny Brown, edited by Matt Rooney and Sam Thayer
With the 2022 season fast approaching, many unanswered questions remain. We have many returning faces, but some of them have taken their talents to the sidelines, as Yagev, Jack, Hammer, Zach, Sam and Aidan have all retired to become coaches and general managers. Nevertheless, the 2022 NSL season should be the biggest and best season of them all. If you are a player/captain who has never won before this could be your opportunity to ride off into the sunset just like Peyton Manning. However, the biggest concern for our players will be breaking their bad stereotypes. Will Henri punch his way through the playoffs for the first time like Matthew Stafford is doing out in LA? Now that he is on a good team, we should see him take a step up. Will Nov be viewed as anything other than a streaky shooter with a bad temper?
Below in this article, I will be interviewing some voices who we have not heard from. They will give us their hot takes, predictions along with which team they fear most and least
Will Brown
The first person I interviewed was Will Brown, the last-round pick for the Jackals. While he loves the team he was placed with, being picked 23rd does not sit well with him. He believes has the ceiling of a number 13 overall pick but understands consistency must come before captains and other league members see him that way. However, he believes Max’s pick was a strategic pick, and believes that the NSL podcasts helped him drop to a spot where Max could not refuse. Will also believes his captain will do what’s best for the team, but thinks he believes that Max focused too much on NSL stats when making draft decisions, and could have drafted better if he watched more games last year. Also, Will thinks that Max was heavily influenced by other people leading to the trading away of Will's favorite person in this world, Andrew Dorval. Sorry, Erik, we still love you.
When it comes to Will's opinion on his team, he is looking forward to playing with Lucas Nathanson, saying “he looks pretty good on tape and he’s pretty tall”. I’m not sure what tape he is referring to, however. Will also believes that the pairing of Lucas and Nathan will work out for a good, old-fashioned one-two NSL punch. Finally, Will believes that the Jackals finish 2nd or 3rd in the standings this season.
Looking at his rivals, Will Brown is most afraid of the DHS/Will Thompson pairing on the Monarchs, and believes that they will be the team to beat. On the other hand, his least feared team is the Roses, and thinks they will have no trouble beating them - partly due to the fact that they have Paul Rodriguez as a sub - “if their third does not show and Paul has to play a full game this might be the Roses final nail in the coffin”. Sorry Roses.
Despite being drafted so low, Will claims he will score more points per game than last year and knows he will top Charlie Lewis in the power rankings this year. Will had a great interview. Let us see if he can cash in on some of these promises.
Charlie Lewis
Charles was the most confident person I interviewed today, and he is incredibly happy with how the draft shook out for his squad. He believes his team has two of the best players in the league in DHS and Will Thompson, and he also has a lot of faith in the third starter on the team, Josh Cooke - known as Rook Cooke across the league. He believes Josh should be called downtown with all the nylon he gets with every shot.
Charlie wouldn't be happy with just wins, he wants his share as well, saying, “as long as I’m getting those boards and putting up a couple of shots, I will be happy with my team."
When asked about where he landed in the draft Charles believed he was drafted appropriately. He thinks he is better than people drafted above him but he also believes he is the best place possible. Charlie praised his captain - Jack Whalen - and thought made the right moves to create a championship-caliber team.
Charlie’s confidence was as strong as Charlie Sheens on the show Two and a Half Men. He does not fear any team. He believes his team will end up #1 in the regular-season standings and proclaims his team is “disgusting”, but when pressed to give an answer on which other team he is worried about most, he said the Bears could give them a good run.
He also thinks that the Tropics - led by Matt Rooney - should be feared the least. Lewis believes it was a bad move for Nuge to trade Hano for Dorval and thinks the Tropics are crumbling even before the season has started. He also thinks Matt was drafted too high and has way too much weight on his back with three project players by his side.
Lastly, Charlies' bold prediction was that Mr. Eric Zhang's perimeter game will be better on both sides of the ball, his offense will improve, but post defense will take a hit.
Mr. Lewis had a great, and entertaining interview. Look for him to play up to the level of his other teammates.
Diego Zuniga
Diggy had the shortest interview of the day.
Diego strongly disagrees with his the team power rankings, which had his squad at #6, and he thinks he can take his team over the top to the playoffs this season. Diego believes he was drafted appropriately, and he loves his captain, Sam Thayer. Look for Sam to be taking prom pictures for Diego, and Tom this spring.
Diggy’s most feared team is the Bears, led by Steven Campbell and Idi Nsbuga. His least feared team was the Jackals. When I asked him to elaborate, he said, “IDK just something off about them." Diego had no bold predictions or call-outs to end his interview.
The 16-year-old ceiling is incredibly high. NSL fans believe the Roses are pushing P but we will see at the end of the season if that remains true.
EZ
Eric Zhang was the second most confident interview of the day. He believes his team will be the 2nd or 3rd seed this year, and that he was drafted higher than he should’ve been. EZ also is very superstitious and believes the number 13 - his draft slot - is extremely unlucky. However, when the second round started, he knew that his captains made a strategic decision picking him to supply defense and hustle - which is all a team led by Spider needs. He believes he is one of the best big men in the league and was the best on the board for his position at the time. Eric believes he was drafted to guard many second options in the league because Matteo simply isn't capable.
Zhang's most feared team is the Monarchs, and his least feared team is the Tropics, who he doesn't think match up well at all with his squad. Also he believes that the tropics have too many x-factors or unknowns, and Dorval will have to ball out for them to have a deep playoff run. When it comes to Nov, Eric sees many negative characteristics coming from that side of the Levi Kingdom - inebriation, physical condition, and mental health. Zhang also went into further detail and said, “Nov is in a terrible physical condition, he can’t play a whole game, he’ll be wheezing two minutes before each half is done. Also he is easy to rattle”.
Mr. NFT himself mentioned a couple of times that he might not be there for the entirety of the NSL season. Could this be another internship, or could he be visiting Zach Goldman to teach Zach about surviving the Cali life?
Zhang’s bold prediction is that he will be much improved, and people have only tasted the new tricks he has up his sleeve. Look for Zhang to have another good year this season, continuing his breakout from 2021.
Paul Rodriguez
Paul was by far the most fun to interview. The chill 6-footer was excited about getting an opportunity to speak to his fans and his haters. In terms of the draft, he believes it went very well for both himself and the Roses. Paul knows that he was drafted for setting screens, grabbing rebounds, and putting up putbacks. He is training incredibly hard for the season, and has been hitting the gym for upwards of 2.5 hours a day.
Paul’s most feared team was Max's Jackals. He said, “it is all up to Lucas Nathanson, I really hope he can ball." Paul generally thinks the Jackals will have a good team led by the players, not Max. Whispers of a Hano captain takeover is in the works seem to be untrue, but you never know what Garcia you will get.
His least feared team was the Tropics because he said, “I don’t know them well”.
Paul’s bold (not really) prediction was that he will be a big underdog, but will pleasantly surprise many. He also would personally like to call out Will Brown, saying, “I will be ready to demolish Will Brown come May."
Lastly, Paul would like to clarify what was said by his captain during the last NSL podcast. While watching the podcast with his beloved girlfriend, they heard a controversial statement from his captain, Sam Thayer. Mr. Thayer stated, “I’ll really enjoy all of the emo girls that Paul brings to the games”. This upset Paul’s girlfriend, and led to a lengthy conversation that lasted for hours according to some sources. The issue has been resolved for now, but looks like Sam will have to keep quiet about the ladies and his underdog center from now on.
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