DALLAX, TX - MLP moves to Kansas City this weekend. Ten of the twelve teams are in play. New Jersey and Carolina are out. New Jersey probably wishes they were playing, as they were hot; Carolina is certainly glad they aren’t playing, so they can work on their team chemistry. Play begins Saturday and runs through Monday.

 

 

 

Dallas is in action twice, and both are huge matches. Dallas opens Saturday play with DC. Dallas is in first place, while DC resides in sixth, the last playoff spot. However, DC is a better team now that they have added Vivian Glozman. This match will be a battle, as both teams send out four solid doubles teams. After a short break, Dallas has to face St. Louis. St. Louis sits in third in total points, so another difficult match for Dallas. Dallas could use these two matches to pull away from the field; however, if they stumble, they could endanger their change to grab one of the two playoff byes.

 

New York and Jack Sock return to action Saturday, after sitting out MLP Salt Lake City. New York will look to take advantage of last place Utah. New York is one of the seven teams battling for six playoff spots. Every match matters.

 

Texas takes on Arizona on Saturday. Texas is second in total points. Arizona is out of the playoff picture in ninth. If Arizona is to have any chance to get back into the playoff race, this match is a must win.

 

 

 

Dallas again opens the action, this time against disappointing Orlando. Orlando has the most talented team in terms of auction dollars spent on the players. However, they have severely underperformed, and sit in 11th place. The one advantage Orlando has is that they have played the fewest matches of any team. Thus, they have an outside shot to make the playoffs if they can get hot.

 

Orlando follows up on Sunday with a match against LA. LA will once again be missing top player Thomas Wilson. Blaine Hovenier was the MVP of MLP Salt Lake City. Can he continue his hot hand in KC?

 

 

Monday has only four matches, while Saturday and Sunday have six each. Monday will be a big day for DC. DC opens the day against Arizona. Arizona is down in the standings, but has talent. DC will be looking to win to build up their playoff resume; AZ will be looking to string some wins together to claw back into the playoff race.

 

DC has a second Sunday match and it is a tough one against Texas. Texas has three matches in KC; they want to hit the maximum of nine team points, to try to move into top contention for one of the two playoff byes.

 

Kansas City is the fourth of eight MLP events that count for the playoff standings. While that is half of the events, many of the teams will have played far more than half of their 23 matches. For example, after KC, the three top teams of Dallas, Texas, and St. Louis will all have played 18 of their 23 matches. Among teams fighting for a playoff spot, after KC, New York will have played 13 matches, LA and DC 12, and NJ only 9. What this means is that when your team is in action, you need to win, and get team points; you can’t count on other teams losing. NY, LA, and DC all want and need to get six or more points out of KC, to put some space between them and idle NJ. Teams like Arizona and Orlando, well out of playoff contention, need big weekends getting about nine points, or they will find themselves too far behind with too few matches left in the season to catch up.

 

Tune in beginning Saturday morning for MLP play. Again, you don’t want to miss any of the action, as the first match of MLP KC will be a great one.

 

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