The Competition is Picking Up

AUSTIN: Week 3 Power Rankings

By K. Scott | Austin League Coordinator

1. Arsenal (2-0)

Arsenal has integrated their new players seamlessly into their lineup. Johnathon Maxwell gives them another mismatch on the court and guard Brandon Wakefield is leading the team in scoring with 22 point. They also have their role players getting involved in the offense. Matt Gaskamp, a defensive specialist shot 2-2 of the bench late in the second half.  They keep getting better.

2. Lifetime Elite (2-0)

Lifetime Elite is running a tight and steady ship. Ryan Huntley took over as team captain and the team hasn’t missed a beat. Tim Keller showed up just in time with the recent departure of point guard Johnathan Garza. The addition of Josh Twine has appeared to provide them an extra layer of physical toughness that they didn’t have enough of in the past. Not much to say except they should keep up the good work.

3. Team Finesse (2-0)

Team Finesse has been the surprise team of the season so far. We knew that that had good pieces, especially when Captain Payton Simon added Dwayne Patterson to the roster who currently leads the team in every statistical category.  We didn’t think that they would be this good as a unit. They have a natural chemistry, but need to clean up the way they close out games. They appeared to take their feet off the gas against the Professors. If this team can play a full 44 minutes, they will be tough to beat.

4. The Blaze (1-1)

The Blaze still seem to be under-performing so far. There is a lot of big names talent on the team, and in moments when they should be dominating, they seem to just skate by. They escaped the N.U.K.s with a win, but if the N.U.K.s hit their free-throws, they would have stolen that game. They need to pick up the intensity if they want to live up to their full potential. The twin towers should be dominating the boards and holding teams to fewer points in the paint.

5. N.U.K. (1-1)

The N.U.K.s lost a really close game that they should have won. This loss will have playoff seeding implications against the N.U.K.s, but in the short-term, it won’t affect how they approach their opponents. They will bounce back and win next week for sure. Jordan Jahr is quietly having an MVP type season leading his team in scoring and rebounding, averaging a double-double, and leading the league with the highest player performance rating (PPR).

6. Professors (0-2)

The Energy on the team is low this season. They still have explosive players like John Scott, Darien Tealer, and Richard E, but they can’t seem to close out games. John Scott’s ejection and technical fouls really hurt them last week. To make things worse, they have Arsenal coming up. John will want to right the ship and show his team that he’s still a leader. Hopefully they can turn things around.

7. Shots Fired (0-2)

Shots Fired finally got their players on the roster and now need to work on their chemistry. Wan Trice is emerging as a great scoring option in the perimeter, and the addition of Fred Richardson and John Duvisien, have made them officially legit. Once they jell, they will be tough.

8. Heat (0-2)

The Heat need to establish Kevin Neal as the full-time point guard and let him run the offense. They also need to feed their bigs and play inside out and communicate on defense. The Heat have a lot of good pieces, but they aren’t using them correctly. These are definitely fixable issues, but time is running out.