The Stumptown Footy Over/Under Challenge Revisited: Halfway There

Some of the bets set were good, some were very bad. Either way, most of them are still going.

Here we go:

Kalif Alhassan

Assists: 6.5

Currently: 3

Despite having the potential to explode for a whole mess of assists, the likelihood of Kalif making the over here is not looking very high. This year Kalif has been brought in regularly to hold possession and help the team control the game, not necessarily to get forward and into the sort of positions where he could end up with an assist. That being said, Kalif has still managed three assists in only 606 minutes, so if any of the Timbers attackers are out for an extended spell it is possible he could see a big jump in his playing time.

Diego Chara

Fouls conceded per 90 minutes: 2.6

Currently: 2.1 (36 fouls in 1522 minutes)

Thanks to his partnership with Will Johnson, Chara has not been called upon to make the last ditch foul nearly as often this year. Much has been made of his unleashing as a box to box midfielder after two stifling years of dedication to protecting the defense and with that change in responcibilities has come a corrisponding drop in fouls. With W.Johnson's absence for the Gold Cup we may see this number go up for the next several games, but Chara is looking good for the under on this one.

Futty Danso

Games played: 6.5

Currently: 8 - OVER

Futty looked like the odd man out throughout the preseason and even into the start of the season. An absurd amount of injuries to the Timbers' defense got him into the game, however, and he did admirably there.

Bright Dike

Reserve league goals: 4.5

Currently: 0

Dike has terrorized the reserve league in the past, putting up a hat trick against Chivas USA last year. Although he is working his way back to fitness after a knee injury in the preseason, Dike looks likely to return in time to get some time on the pitch this season. While 5 goals for the reserves is probably a stretch, don't count Dike out just yet.

Steven Evans

Minutes played: 9.5

Currently: 0

I really hope that Steven Evans is not the Freddie Braun of this year, a scrappy little guy (actual size notwithstanding) with some skills who is more of an asset to the team for his locker room presence than he is an actual prospect. Either way, Evans look pretty unlikely to feature at all this year with strong reserves ahead of him on the bench at every position.

Mobi Fehr

Reserve yellow cards: 2.5

Currently: 0 - UNDER

This particular stat was pretty poorly conceived. Best of luck Mobi.

Jake Gleeson

Games started: 2.5

Currently: 0

Not only is Gleeson behind two players who have been starters in MLS, he is injured with no set date for his return. This one is not looking particularly likely.

Michael Harrington

Assists: 3.5

Currently: 0

Since the start of the season the Timbers have significantly reigned in their fullbacks as they seek to maintain their defensive balance, something the team just could not manage in the season's opening matches against New York and Montreal. Harrington still does have occasional forays deep into enemy territory and looks good for an assist or two, but four seems unlikely at this point.

David Horst

Goals against average: 2

Currently: 1.0 (2 goals allowed in 2 games played) - UNDER

Thanks to playing one and a half games then picking up a season ending injury, Horst has cemented his 2013 GAA at 1.0. Even if by some miracle of science or magic he were to work his way back before the end of the season, the Timbers' defense is doing well enough that some truly extraordinary circumstances would need to come around for Horst to see the field again this year.

Andrew Jean-Baptiste

Games started: 27.5

Currently: 11

This once really could come down to the wire. With seventeen games remaining, AJB needs to start each one of them to make the over. Although he looks to have grabbed a hold of his spot in the starting line-up with both hands over the course of the last three games, it is hard to imagine a Timbers defender making it through half of the season without missing a game after the tumultuous first half of the season along the back line.

Jack Jewsbury

Games played: 22.5

Currently: 14

Going into the season it was not clear how Jack would fit into Caleb Porter's plans, particularly after the captainship was given to Will Johnson. However, his veteran presence has been invaluable in stabilizing the Timbers' defense and Jack has only missed three games so far. While it is possible that Jack could be displaced form his right back position, it is looking quite likely that he will see another nine appearances this season.

Will Johnson

Minutes played: 2200

Currently: 1530

Will only needs to go the distance in eight more games to make the over, as well as to make his own personal best for minutes played in a season. At this point is looks like Captain Will could be kidnapped by Quebecois separatists while on international duty with Canada and still find a way to make the over.

Ryan Johnson

Goals scored: 9.5

Currently: 5

R.Johnson is on track to make the over here, but his production has dropped off since being asked to split time as the team's starting striker with Frederic Piquionne. Of course, RJ has a reputation as a streaky striker and with more minutes as the focal point in the Timbers' collaborative offense, RJ could certainly go off again any game now.

Ryan Kawulok

Unused substitution: 4.5

Currently: 0 - UNDER

Although the Timbers did have an injury crisis before Kawulok was waived, it was in the center of the defense so the big defender's services as an emergency back up were never called upon.

Milos Kocic

Saves per 90 minutes: 3

Currently: 5 (5 saves in 1 game)

With Donovan Ricketts looking unlikely to give up his starting spot any time soon, the only way this dips back into under territory is an injury bad enough to stop the Iron Lion of Zion, something that nobody wants to contemplate this year.

Ryan Miller

Starts: 30.5

Currently: 4 - UNDER

Well, clearly I overestimated how well Miller would fit into Caleb Porter's system, and how well Caleb Porter's system would fit, unaltered, into MLS.

Hanyer Mosquera

Games suspended: 1.5

Currently: 0 - UNDER

Not much to see here, although if Mosco was still with the team it seems likely that he would have been injured and unable to pick up a suspension anyway.

Darlington Nagbe

Goal of the week nominations: 1.5

Currently: 1

Nagbe has been scoring nice goals this year, and doing so with some regularity. This one seems like a strong possibility to make the over.

Michael Nanchoff

Games played: 12.5

Currently: 0

It is going to take some serious changes to Caleb Porter's sustitution plans for Nanchoff to make the over here, but he has crept into the 18 in recent games and could see some time as a sub with the midfield missing Will Johnson and Rodney Wallace for the Gold Cup.

Brent Richards

Twitter followers: 1750

Currently: 1952

Once he started posting Vines of the farmer's market, it was all over.

Donovan Ricketts

Shutouts: 4.5

Currently: 8 - OVER

While few saw the Timbers rising as high as they have this year, even fewer saw the Timbers' defense, with Ricketts at its heart, just shutting people down. At this point in the season no team has allowed fewer goals than the Timbers.

Sebastian Rincon

Reserve league assists: 5.5

Currently: 1

This was another poorly conceived stat.

Mikael Silvestre

Assists: 2.5

Currently: 0 - UNDER

It was always going to be difficult for a centerback to get three assists on the season. Even more so when said centerback goes down with a season ending injury eight games in to the season.

Dylan Tucker-Gangnes

Games started: 4.5

Currently: 0

I predicted an injury crisis going into the season, but it looks like I may have overvalued DTG's ability to step in. If he has not made the bench before this point, with the team's signings of Rauwshan McKenzie and Pa Modou Kah, DTG doesnot look likley to do so now.

Jose Adolfo Valencia

Games started: 8.5

Currently: 0

While he could step in while the team is missing Frederic Piquionne or Ryan Johnson, Trencito is still looking like a raw but talented prospect, and not necessarily someone that the Timbers will want in the game from the start.

Diego Valeri

Goals and assists: 17.5

Currently: 8 (4 goals and 4 assists)

While he is not quite on track to make the over, Valeri is still putting up points at a steady clip and, frankly, looks due for a big game. One hat-trick (or Wallace inspired assist hat-trick aka an ass-hat-trick) and Valeri could grab a combined eighteen goals and assists, something only five midfielders did last season.

Rodney Wallace

Goals: 3.5

Currently: 4 - OVER

It is OK if you went with the under. Even the Mike Donovan, president of the Rodney Wallace Fan Club, took the under on this one.

Ben Zemanski

Passing completion percentage: 80%

Currently: 68%

Zemanski's first few games spent as a right back really set him back here. In his twelve games played since, primarily as a central midfielder, Zemanski has put up a 76% pass completion rate, with several games in which he did not mislay a pass in very limited minutes.

Sal Zizzo

Penalties earned: 1.5

Currently: 0

Another poor stat, but still not completely ruled out.

Timbers Team Stats

Number of points: 42.5

Currently: 30

Place in the West: 5.5

Currently: Tied for 2nd

Place overall: 12.5

Currently: Tied for 2nd

Goals scored: 42.5

Currently: 28

Goals conceded: 49.5

Currently: 16

Shutouts: 7.5

Currently: 8 - OVER

Changes in Timbers roster from 3/3 to 11/1: 2.5

Currently: 3 (or 6, depending on how you are counting) - OVER

In: Pa Modou Kah, Rauwshan McKenzie, Alvas Powell

Out: Ryan Kawulok, Hanyer Mosquera, Mobi Fehr

Merritt Paulson's tweets per day as of 11/1: 3.55

Currently: 3.6

Highest minutes played (by player): 2900

Currently: 1530 (Will Johnson)

MLS Stats

Longest suspension: 6.5

Currently: 3 (Alan Gordon)

Number of goals by Golden Boot winner: 18.5

Currently: 10 (Marco Di Vaio, Mike Magee, Jack McInerney)

Number of hat-tricks: 6.5

Currently: 3 (Marco Di Vaio, Robbie Keane, Mike Magee)

Minutes in longest shutout streak (by goalie): 400

Currently: 546 (Jimmy Nealson) - OVER

Colombians in MLS after summer transfer window: 19.5

Currently: 20

Canadians in MLS after summer transfer window: 12.5

Currently: 18

0-0 Ties: 20.5

Currently: 8 (as of 7/2/13)

Average attendance: 18900

Currently: 17,706 (as of 7/2/2013)