GREEN VALLEY REC: Week 4 Predictions

By Michael Palmer | Green Valley Media Associate

The Industry (3-0) vs. Lifetime Lakers (2-1)

The Industry is coming off a no-brainer win last week against Artsakh and will face the Lifetime Lakers, who also coming off a win against the Free Agents. Let's see if the Lakers' Chris Mellor makes it back-to-back games that he plays as he had a great performance last week against the Free Agents. He'll be a vital player in this one if he suits up. Austin Welch is going to have to be on his 'A' game and knock down his threes for sure. Shawn Monegan was absent last week and will could be The Industry's top target to defend if he suits up.

The Lakers' Luke Swearingen had a great debut last week and if anyone of the Lakers is absent in this one, he'll have to be a leader and contribute in a lot of ways. I would like to see The Industry Terry Cress and the Lakers' Mellor battle against each other all game long as both of them are strong, pure and agile. Watch out for Marciano Brunette to be guarded like crazy, but he should be up for the challenge. GM Derek Adkins is having himself a great season and I expect him to score at least 15-plus points for sure. This may be closer than I originally anticipated, as I have The Industry remaining undefeated. 

Prediction: The Industry -5

Dyme Pieces (2-1) vs. Wynners (1-2)

I know the Dyme Pieces will be ready to battle it out against the Wynners as they lost last week in somewhat of a shocker. They just gave up a lot of threes to Houdini last week and will look to defend from downtown a lot against a sharp-shooting Wynners unit. Nick Guidice will of course be a top target for the Dyme Pieces and it's going to take a lot from Guidice to get by them. I'm really excited to see Guidice and the Dyme Pieces' Dylan Hansel battle it out and challenge each other all game long.

This is a matchup I've been waiting for and it's going to be a good one. Let's see how many treys Tom Gibson knocks down. Hopefully Julian Cohen can have an impactful performance going against a larger Dyme Pieces unit. Matthew Darcel will be another key player for the Dyme Pieces to look out for as he made seven threes last week and shot 64 percent from the field overall. The Dyme Pieces really need to step up their game, but I have faith in them in winning this one.

Prediction: Dyme Pieces -7

Sweet "D" (1-2) vs. RudeDogs (3-0)

This will be the RudeDogs' biggest test yet as they've been starting to climb the ladder in playing top tier teams. Khalid Cannon is going to be an absolute beast in this one as Sweet "D" (and pretty much the entire league) doesn't have a guy even close to Cannon's size to guard him. It's going to take every they can to stop Cannon and we'll see how well they defend him. Let's see if Sweet "D"‘s Kenny Oakley can have a bounce-back game as he scored 11 points last week. He's a pretty good players and an even better athlete.

The one guy that may have a chance at stoping Cannon s Cody Howard, who leads the team in 12.5 RPG. An edge that Sweet "D" has over the RudeDogs is their speed. I would like to see the duo of Adam Rellah and Ben Carey drill three after three, and to tell you the truth, I think they will and they will carry the RudeDogs to four consecutive wins.

Prediction: RudeDogs -6

Artsakh (0-3) vs. Free Agents (0-3)

The battle of 0-3 teams as Artsakh will face the Free Agents for the right at capturing a first win. Artsakh is last in the league averaging 50.3 PPG and are 10th at 67 PPG. The duo of Joseph Roselle and Joseph Perez will be a key factor in the momentum of the Free Agents. Both are pretty accurate shooters and I'm looking forward to see how well they do from downtown.

The Free Agents have to improve their rebounding as they only grabbed 18 rebounds last week against the Lifetime Lakers. That's certainly not going to get you wins. The one that that Artsakh needs to improve on is scoring as they only scored 45 points last week against the TD Rayuns. Haroutuin Massoyan had a decent performance last week and will run in transition against the Free Agents. I was kind of surprised to see Brenden Graves only score four points last week and something needs to change out of this low-scoring team. I expect the Free Agents to have a fine game and solidify they're case as not being the lowest ranking team in the league.  

Prediction: Free Agents -3

TD Rayguns (2-1) vs. Diplomats (2-1)

This has the making of being a very close game as the TD Rayguns will be looking for their first quality win of the season when they face the Diplomats. I wasn't surprised by the Diplomats losing last week to the Wynners: I was surprised to see them losing by 19 points. Patrick Guerrero scored a season-low 15 points in that game and he'll need to have his best game of the season going against a fast-paced TD Rayguns team.

Andrew Power will be going up against Brian Stanton and watch out for them two to battle it out down low. Joshua Watson needs to have plenty of energy to potentially contain Guerrero as both of them can run in transition so well. Watch out for Dominic Pedotto to dual it out all game long and make some tough shots. Let's see how many threes the TD Rayguns' Joe Paulk and the Diplomats Johnston Daniels make in this one. At the end of the game, I believe the TD Rayguns will somehow pull off the win.

Prediction: TD Rayguns -4

SUNZ (0-3) vs. Houdini (2-1)

The struggling SUNZ will face the surging Houdini in what may be a lopsided contest. Even though the SUNZ lost their first three games, their first two losses were by an average of 10.5 points. Perhaps this may be the game for Matthew Diedrich to have a bounce back game and deliver some quality minutes.

Juan Rodriguez is coming off of back-to-back games scoring in doubles figures, but it won't be easy for Rodriguez to do it again against a tough Houdini defense. Houdini is feeling really sharp now after they beat the Dyme Pieces last week. The trio of Michael Carboni, Charlie Farber and Josh Rollans will explode on offense and perhaps all record double-doubles. Enough said, Houdini all the way. 

Prediction: Houdini -18