Even though Europe has always been considered North Americas little brother in terms of Call of Duty, the European Stage 2 playoffs promise to be an action-packed event. Six of the best teams in the Call of Duty World League (CWL) will descend upon Burbank, California on July 14-17 to face off for a chunk of the $200,000 prize pool and earn a handful of all-important World League Points; these points can help guarantee a spot in the upcoming Call of Duty World Championships in September.Unlike their North American brethren, the top two teams (based on their records from Stage 2) will get a bye in the first round, with seeds #3-6 duking it out in a best-of-seven quarterfinal bout to determine who will advance into the semifinals. From there, the remaining teams will fight for their chance at a finals berth.Heres a look at the opening round matchups as well as the future opponents for the teams that advance to the semifinals:#3 Splyce vs. #6 SupremacySplyces record: 12-6 | Maps W/L ratio: 57.4 percentRoster: Benjamin Bance Bance, Joe Joee Pinnington, Joshua-Lee Joshh Sheppard, Rhys Rated PriceSupremacys record: 10-8 | Maps W/L ratio: 48.5 percentRoster: Eddy Malls Maillard, Maxime mAxxie Ebran, Brandon Vooortex Gomes, Arthur Zayrox ChabasWinner faces #2 Team InfusedTeam Infuseds record: 14-4 | Maps W/L ratio: 64.3 percentRoster: Mark MarkyB Bryceland, Adam Peatie Peate, David Urban Marsh, Trei Zer0 MorrisAfter coming out of nowhere to take second place during Stage 1, Splyce were at one point head and shoulders above the competition in Europe. It boasted an 11-1 record in Stage 2 and won a surprise finals berth at ESWC 2016 COD Zenith; Splyce managed to upset the North American team, Rise Nation, in the semifinals before falling to the invincible OpTic Gaming 3-0.Fast-forward two months, and the team look to be in chaos, as its lost five out of its last six matches. So which version of Splyce will show up in Burbank? With a potential trip to the World Championships on the line, my bet is that the good Splyce will show up and at least handle business against Supremacy.Should it advance, its potential matchup against Team Infused might not come so easy. While Splyce did split its season series against Infused, its most recent matchup in Week 9 ended with Infused securing a 3-2 win, as Joee in particular struggled to do much in the series and sported a miniscule 0.77 KD. Splyce must be more effective, particularly in the Search and Destroy department, if it plans on making a second straight EU CWL finals appearance.#4 Epsilon Gaming vs. #5 MilleniumEpsilon Gamings record: 10-8 | Maps W/L ratio: 56.5 percentRoster: Thomas Moose Handley, Jordan Reedy Reed, Matthew Skrapz Marshall, Gurdip SunnyB BainsMilleniums record: 10-8 | Maps W/L ratio: 56.3 percentRoster: Callum Swanny Swan, Tom Tommey Trewren, Jordan Jurd Crowley, Dylan MadCat DalyWinner faces #1 HyperGamesHyperGames record: 15-3 | Maps W/L ratio: 65.8 percentRoster: Brian Braaain Fairlamb, Nick Nolson Nolson, Shea QwiKeR Sweeney, Zach Zed DenyerIt would be easy to predict a Millenium victory in this matchup. After all, it won the Stage 1 championship, managed to finish Stage 2 on a 6-2 run, and boasts two of the top ten players in EU in terms of KD (Swanny 1.11, MadCat 1.09). But easy doesnt always mean right. Epsilon Gaming may not have the pedigree of its more-established competition, but what it lacks in achievements it makes up for in strategy and cunning use of the map.Of the six European Stage 2 playoff teams, Epsilon sport by far the lowest DT/R mark (distance traveled per round) and trails only Supremacy when it comes to shortest average kill distance. All of this is to say, when a team is lacking the necessary slaying capabilities of an upper echelon team, it can make up for it by letting its opponent approach and by winning the engagements via strategic positioning on the map.This kind of pace-and-play strategy can take advantage of an oppositions over-eagerness to gobble up kills, turning a weakness into strength. And, if all else fails, it helps to have a player like Skrapz on the team, a slayer who won critical engages all throughout Stage 2 en route to the second-best KD (1.20) mark in the league.I pick Epsilon to earn the surprise victory over Millenium, but it doesnt seem like either team will advance past HyperGames. A model of consistency, HyperGames has shown it can adapt to any style put in front of it, with its entire team ranking in the top 20 overall in terms of KD ratio. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . John Lucas, signed as a mentor for rookie Trey Burke, showed he can score if required, scoring 12 points of his 16 points in the second quarter as Utah built an 18-point lead. Wholesale Jerseys China .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. https://www.wholesalejerseysaaa.com/ . Paul Pierce couldnt believe he missed at the end. Young scored a season-high 26 points to spark a huge effort from the leagues most productive bench, and Los Angeles beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-94 on Wednesday night after blowing a 27-point lead. Cheap Jerseys . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. Wholesale Jerseys 2020 . Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year, the Impact announced the appointment of their new head coach. With Kobe Bryant gone and the team in desperate need of mature leadership, the Los Angeles Lakers are turning to Luol Deng for help on the court and in the locker room.The Lakers and Deng agreed to a four-year, $72 million contract Saturday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal cannot be signed until Thursday.The 31-year-old Deng averaged 12.3 points and 6.0 rebounds for Miami last season. The high-energy forward has made the playoffs seven times, with the Bulls and Heat, and commands immediate respect with his work ethic and ability to relate to teammates.Thats exactly what Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak sought to help shape an impressionable roster of intriguing young talent for first-year coach Luke Walton. Those youngsters went wayward last season while Bryant concluded his farewell tour. Deng will now join fellow new signee Timofey Mozgov and holdover Lou Williams to provide veteran stability.The Lakers finished at 17-65, the worst record in the franchises proud history, and were plagued by salacious headlines and speculation over how the players responded to the old-school leadership from Bryant and former coach Byron Scott.And the core of the team -- DAngelo Russell, Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. -- got only younger last month when the Lakers drafted 19-year-old Duke forward Brandon Ingram with the second overall pick. Deng is a fellow Blue Devil, and both players are 6-foot-9.Kupchak entered free agency with a huge amount of salary cap room, but little hope of attracting top free agents determined to win championships now. Instead, the Lakers hoped to place an experienced supporting cast around Russell, Ingram, Randle and Clarkson. Clarkson agreed to a four-year, $50 million deal Friday to stay with the team as a restricted free agent.I think history tells you that a bunch of young guys on a team is probably not a good thing, Kupchak said last month.dddddddddddd They look around for leadership and advice from somebody whos been through this a couple of times, and if theres nobody to talk to, then they really dont know how to handle the situation. So I think we will look to add some veteran leadership, and hopefully not only leadership, but guys who can help us win games.A few minutes after free agency opened, the Lakers committed $64 million over the next four years to Mozgov, the 7-1 Russian who mostly sat on Clevelands bench during the Cavaliers championship run this summer. Mozgov doesnt seem an obvious fit for Waltons up-tempo approach, but the Lakers value his size, defense and experience.Although Deng finished last season with his lowest scoring average since his rookie year in Chicago in 2004-05, he is a hard-nosed defensive forward who can play multiple positions and deliver solid offense. He is also known for his diligence in practice, a quality that can only help this team.For the third straight summer, the glitzy Lakers have been on the outside looking in as the biggest names on the free-agent market have taken meetings and agreed to deals.They never got a meeting with Kevin Durant, while Los Angeles native DeMar DeRozan chose to stay in Toronto. Al Horford appears to be headed elsewhere, and the Lakers failed to attract Nicolas Batum or former Lakers forward Kent Bazemore before closing their pursuit of Deng.Thats why the Lakers didnt hesitate to go to a fourth year on the big contract for Deng. He will be entering his 13th season, but has proved durable during his career with the Bulls, Cavaliers and Heat. And he had several other suitors lining up for a crack at him, including Tom Thibodeau, the former Bulls coach now with the Minnesota Timberwolves. ' ' '