posted Jan 28th, 2016 - The next live NSL Talk follows just a day later, and the logistics were back to online services. The four participants of the latest NSL Talk were at four different locations when the conversation took place: Florida (Sun Path Products NSL News) - Dubai (Gary Smith) - Spain (Andy Grauwels) - Belgium (Jeroen "Bob" Nollet and Dennis Praet).

The names of the participants make it easy to see that the topic was NMP PCH Hayabusa after the Wind Games 2016. Only Inside Center David Grauwels did not make it in time to his computer, and videographer Danny Jacobs is still on indoor vacation.

The topics were on hand, as Hayabusa just completed the next indoor victory at the Wind Games. The 29.2 average was the first time since the World Challenge 2014 (29.1) that Hayabusa did not finish with a 30+ average.

Wind Games 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		7,H,15	12,A,22	O,10,E,G	P,2,D,19	5,21,14	C,4,J,11	L,M,18,6	20,3,13	17,9,1	16,N,8	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH Hayabusa	BE	32	25	33	32	27	32	33	24	28	26	292	29.2
2	Weembi Lille	FR	33	16	30	24	24	29	28	21	25	26	256	25.6
3	Black Cat	RU	29	23	28	25	25	26	27	21	27	24	255	25.5
4	Thunder ISR	BE	26	20	30	27	22	26	28	19	26	23	247	24.7
5	Qatar Tigers	QA	29	21	28	26	21	22	27	20	26	24	244	24.4

The three team members and coach Gary Smith agreed that it was a slow competition draw in Empuriabrava, Spain. In fact, the highest Hayabusa score for a round was the 33-pointer in Round 3 (O,10,E,G) with Block 10 (Diamond - Bunyip) in the sequence.

Weembi Lille matched the 33-pointer in Round 1 (7,H,15) and had a 30 in Round 3, together with Thunder ISR. No other team was able to score 30 or higher in any of the other rounds, and Hayabusa had to work hard to get to the team's 30+ scores in four more rounds.

The competition draw at the Wind Games was probably even the slowest one in the team's indoor history. The Sun Path Products NSL News could not find a leaderboard since 2004 where Hayabusa's highest score for a round was 33 points. The 29.2 average in Empuriabrava looks a lot better after comparing it with previous results and competition draws.

Clash of Champions 2015			Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		J,13,8	K,20,5	9,21,19	C,3,6	7,O,15	A,18,1	2,H,P,D	16,L,11	E,N,10,B	12,Q,F,22	Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	26	32	30	28	33	29	41	28	37	29	313	31.3
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	28	30	29	30	34	27	39	28	34	26	305	30.5
3	Weembi Lille	FR	27	28	30	29	33	27	35	28	30	28	295	29.5
4	Golden Knights	US	24	29	28	27	30	27	33	25	31	23	277	27.7
5	Qatar Tigers	QA	24	25	28	27	28	25	33	26	30	23	269	26.9
5	FLY-IN Women	FR	23	26	28	25	28	24	35	24	31	25	269	26.9
5	Evolution	CA	24	29	27	25	29	26	30	26	28	25	269	26.9
8	Thunder ISR	BE	22	23	27	27	31	27	34	25	28	24	268	26.8
9	Black Cat	RU	22	26	27	26	29	26	33	26	24	23	262	26.2
10	FLY-IN Open	FR	20	27	27	26	31	22	33	21	30	23	260	26.0

Coach Gary Smith confirmed the team's impression that it was a slow draw. He compared Hayabusa's meet average with Thunder ISR's 24.7 at the Wind Games. Thunder finished well below previous results, as well, specifically the recent Clash of Champions 2015 (26.8) where Hayabusa had posted a 31.3 average.

In fact, none of the teams who had competed at the Clash of Champions came even close to the meet averages at Inflight Dubai in December 2015. Black Cat was closer than all other teams (26.2 - 25.5) and was rewarded with the 3rd place at the Wind Games, only one point behind Weembi Lille.

The recent changes in Arizona Airspeed's lineup were a topic of the NSL Talk too, of course. Airspeed had not decided who would be the 4th member when Andy and David Grauwels had the previous conversation with the Sun Path Products NSL News on January 11th. Dennis Praet and Jeroen "Bob" Nollet now provided some insights from the perspective in their slots (Point - Tail).