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Monday, December 26, 2016

Pala--La Liga Kutxabank--Week 9--end of League Phase

La Liga Kutxabank competition began on October 29, 2016 at Bizkaia Fronton, Bilbo (Bilbao) (1)(2). This tournament includes the entire InnPala roster, divided into 5 teams which will participate in a double round robin League competition, followed by a semi-final between the 2nd and 3rd place teams. The winner will face the League winner in a final on January 7th, 2017. Most of the matches will be at Bizkaia. There will also be matches at Sopela and Gallarta. For more on the tournament see the tournament page at InnPala.

Week 1--October 29, 2016

Week 2--November 5, 2016

Week 3--November 12, 2016

Week 4--November 19, 2016

Week 5--November 25-26, 2016

Week 6--December 2-3, 2016 

Week 7--December 10, 2016


Week 9 (Source for match and individual joko scores: Diario Vasco Cartelera (Dec. 24, 2016). This was the final week of the League phase. 

December 23, 2016

Chiquito de Gallarta (1)(2)(3)

Gaubeka--Ibai-Perez defeated Necol-Ibargarai 3-1 (10-5, 10-8, 8-10 ,10-7). 

Fusto-Gordon defeated Landeta-Imanol 3-2 (10-7, 8-10, 10-5, 1-10, 10-9)

Match article (InnPala Facebook page). Auto-translate may be available at the site. (Added Dec. 26, 2016).

When Fusto-Gordon came out to play their match against Landeta-Imanol they knew that Gaubeka--Ibai-Perez had given them the smallest opening to a possible semi-final appearance by holding Necol-Ibargari to 1 joko (set). A win for F-G would give them 17 points, equal to N-I and Zubiri-Brefel, who had finished their schedule a week ago. And F-G were able to win their match, but just barely. They squandered 1-0 and 2-1 leads before coming back from a devastating 1-10 4th joko loss to win their match--the final point of the final joko (after trailing 7-9). That point propelled them into a semi-final match at Bizkaia December 30 v...Necol-Ibargari.

Final League Table:

Key: Team, Match record, Joko (set) record, League points

Gaubeka--Ibai-Perez.. 6-2....(3-2, 3-1, 3-2, 3-2, 3-1, 2-3, 1-3, 3-1)...21
Necol-Ibargari:...........3-5....(3-1, 2-3, 2-3, 3-2, 1-3, 3-1, 2-3, 1-3)....17
Fusto-Gordon.............5-3....(1-3, 0-3, 3-2, 3-0, 1-3, 3-0, 3-2, 3-2)....17
Zubiri-Brefel...............4-4....(2-3, 3-1, 3-0, 2-3, 3-0, 0-3, 1-3, 3-1)...17
Landeta-Imanol..........2-6....(1-3, 1-3, 2-3, 0-3, 0-3, 3-1, 3-2, 2-3)....12

Let's stop for a moment and examine this table. This is the order that the teams are listed on the InnPala home page (although, as of Dec. 26, InnPala has Z-B and L-I with only 7 matches instead of the 8 they have actually played). How is it possible that a team the won 3 matches of 8 finished above a team the won 5 of 8 (though for purposes of the semi-final, there is no advantage in coming 2nd rather than 3rd)? More importantly, how is it possible that a team that won 3 of 8 is in the semi-final and a team that won 4 of 8 is not? The key to this is the fact that the entire system is based on jokos  won. Matches won have nothing to do with anything (except as a reflection of jokos won). I wondered how ties would be broken in the League phase, as the rules of the tournament (see the InnPala Tournament link above) are mute on this point. The way this standing was determined, as far as I can tell (which may or may not be correct), based on number of jokos won, was determined by N-I, F-G, and Z-B jokos in matches against each other. Again, the only thing that matters is number of jokos won. One of the reasons I keep track of match wins-losses is that I think that statistic is important to the players, though it may mean next to nothing in determining positions on a League phase ladder. This tournament didn't really consist of 8 matches per team, but rather anywhere from 24 to 40 jokos, interrupted 8 times by a match happening to be won or lost. A team winning all 8 matches could score 24 points. Under this system, a team losing all 8 matches could score 16.

Necol-Ibargari v Zubiri-Brefel

N-I 3 Z-B 2 (November 26, 2016)
N-I 3 Z-B 1 (December 10, 2016)

Necol-Ibargari v Fusto-Gordon

F-G 3 N-I 2 (November 25, 2016)
F-G 3-N-I 2 (December 16, 2016)

Fusto-Gordon v Zubiri-Brefel

Z-B 3 F-G 0 (November 12, 2016)
F-G 3 Z-B 0 (December 3, 2016)

Total Jokos: N-I 10; F-G 9; Z-B 6

N-I, by losing their 5 matches more closely than Z-B lost their 4, were able to accumulate enough joko points to be part of the three way tie that gave them an advantage at the end. If one only looks at match results of the three teams against each other one sees: F-G 3-1, N-I 2-2, Z-B 1-3, which also knocks Z-B out of the semi-final.

As far as any prognostications go, I would look closely at Fusto-Gordon. Since their poor (0-2 (1-6 jokos) start, they have gone 5-1 (16-9 jokos)). They have played better than anyone over the last half of the League phase, and when the "money was on the line," i.e. their survival in the tournament was at stake in the last two matches, they won both. They beat N-I (their semi-final opponents) after being down 0-1 and 1-2. Then they beat Landeta-Imanol, the team that finished at the bottom of the table, but a team that had won their previous 2 matches (6-3 jokos), including an upset of the League winners Gaubeka--Ibai-Perez. Over the past 8 weeks, G-I were clearly the best team. But right now, F-G are the most in form.

===================================

Table of wins and losses for the 2016-2017 season.

Key: Player, Position (d=delantero (front court), z=zaguero (back court)) match wins-losses, joko (set) wins-losses, winning-losing streak, championships won. Matches that are single partidos will be noted. Table will be according to match winning percentage. 1st tie breaker will be number of wins. 2nd tie breaker will be joko win-loss differential.

December 23, 2016

Gaubeka(d)..6-2....21-15..+1*
Fusto(d).......5-3....17-15...+3
Zubiri(d)......5-4....20-14..+1*
Necol(d).......3-6...17-22....-2
Landeta(d)...2-6....12-21...-1

Ibai-Perez(z).6-2....21-15...+1*
Gordon(z).....5-4....17-18...+3
Brefel(z)........4-4....17-14...+1
Ibargari(z).....4-5.....20-19...-2
Imanol(z).......2-6....12-21...-1*

*Does not include the result of Nov. 25, 2016 independent match Gaubeka--Ibai-Perez v Zubiri-Imanol. The result is unknown at this time. I will add it when I find it.

Includes Nov. 19, 2016 independent match: Zuberi-Ibargari defeated Necol-Gordon 3-0 (10-8, 10-3, 10-9) at Bizkaia.

For cumulative accounting of this player table see the InnPala Player win-loss table under the Pala page on the right side of the blog.