Prompt 2:
I think no matter which of Texas/Chicago Minnesota drew in the first round, it was going to be an uphill battle. With the current format, Minnesota would likely have to beat both of those stacked teams to start making a deep playoff run. While the team has been improving(including winning their first playoff game since S46), there is still a long road ahead for the Monarchs I think if Minnesota made it past the Central Division, they would actually stand a decent shot at winning the Western Finals regardless of who wins the Pacific. Some teams would for sure make it interesting but if the Monarchs would be able to top Texas and Chicago, then the sky is the limit. From there it becomes a lot more tricky to win it all. I think the Monarchs match up badly against BAP/TBB/HAM based on the regular season series, but in 7 games anything can happen.