I Got LOYALTY Inside my DNA
SAN ANTONIO: Week 2 Power Rankings
By Pat Fridley | San Antonio Co-League Coordinator
One of the most exciting opening night’s in league history took place last week. With all the buzz surrounding the Draft League, the gym was filled up with players and fans alike, curious to see how these newly formed teams would pan out. Some teams impressed, while others underwhelmed. Here’s where we’ve got them after the first week of action.
7. Reasonable Doubt (0-1)
A lot of hype surrounded this team on opening night. They boast a sizable roster with a championship-caliber front court. Yet they just couldn’t get it going the right way against Ether. There were a few bright spots, like the 20-plus point game from rookie Darius World in his debut, and the timely buckets from captain Keso Shands, but the rest of the roster underwhelmed to their standards. Chemistry looked to be this teams weakness, as is the case when you put together a bunch of talent. We’ve got to give them, and really all teams a light pass this week, as last week was the first time a lot of them have played together. They’ve got a date with Sicko Mode in Week 2.
6. Sicko Mode (0-0)
They’ll make their debut this week against Reasonable Doubt. Hope they’re ready….
5. Pain (0-1)
Not the way they wanted to start their season, but like a lot of teams last week, they had some trouble feeling each other out. We fully expect Pain and others to improve over the course of the season, at least from a chemistry standpoint. Josh Linson had a tough go, as the players he’s most familiar with found themselves on the other side of the ball with #LOYALTY. Even after a tough loss, with a backcourt of two sharp shooters in Linson and Molina, they still have untapped upside.
4. Bigger Than You (0-1)
Not so big in Week 1, they made their debut with five guys. In reality, they stayed in it, just trading buckets in the first half. But with only five guys, the fatigue started to visibly show in the second half. They missed some key players in their first game, resulting in a loss; not to mention, they’ll be losing their number three draft pick Joe Jackson due to conflicts in his schedule. However the captains have agreed to let Chris Johnson replace him. Though 0-1, we still expect this team to make a lot of noise, especially when fully rostered. They’ve got the 1-0 Ether next week.
3. Hit Em’ Up (1-0)
Hit Em’ Up starts their season with a BIG win over Bigger Than You. We got to witness the new Double D duo: Devin Moore and Durrell Norman, who both finished with 20-plus point games, while Agustin Zurita delivered 18 points off the bench. Rookie Carlos Villamil was a nice surprise, as he provided an 8-point boost, and stellar play. They noticeably didn’t give 100 percent effort in their first game, but that’ll need to change as they take on the impressive #LOYALTY in Week 2.
2. Ether (1-0)
As predicted, Ether had an advantage with established chemistry on their team which led to a victory over Reasonable Doubt. Another huge factor however, was the inspired play of LA Tumblin, who feels he has a lot to prove this season. Acquired by Ether in a steal a few days prior to Week 1 in a trade with Hit Em’ Up, LA had the highest plus/minus on his team with a well-rounded performance that resulted in 21 points/7 rebounds/5 assists. If LA continues to play like this, with a great Ether core around him, this team could be Finals bound.
1. #LOYALTY (1-0)
It looked like an almost effortless victory for #LOYALTY as they secured their first win against Chris Cho’s Pain. A glorified layup line is what it looked like as #LOYALTY rebounded and threw full court passes en-route to easy layups. #LOYALTY was in full control for most of the game, enabling their starters to have fun, put up numbers, and allowing the bench to play a good amount of minutes. They sure took advantage of Pain’s lack of chemistry, but it shouldn’t be this easy the entire season. In fact, we expect Pain to be much improved as well the next time these two meet. As of now though, #LOYALTY is number one.