UnderDogs' John Loyd Sparking the Open League
GREEN VALLEY OPEN: Week 3 Predictions
By Michael Palmer | Green Valley Media Associate
JYD (0-1) vs. Villains (1-1)
Jerome Williams and JYD will face Chase Skinkis and the Villains and man will this be quite the game. We have ourselves a unique matchup in store as Williams may got up against London Schneider if Josh McCarver doesn't suit up. I'm not sure who else would fill in for McCarver other than Schneider, and it's going to take a lot to stop Williams regardless. JYD played their first game of the season two week ago and I know they'll click once the season gets going. Anthony Livingston be a huge factor for JYD's success in this game and will run like a mad man in transition.
Watch out for Adam Rellah and Victor Senn from downtown, but what about Eric Readeaux? He will be a huge presence for JYD and will make a big impact all game long. The Villains Andreu Johnson and Jon-Ross Campeau will find the open shot and look for some clutch threes. Hopefully Schneider can shot for accuracy and get to the charity stripe quite often. I feel like the difference in this game will be the impact of JYD's Livingston and if he has a monster performance early on, JYD could get the win. I like the speed and flair the Villains have, and perhaps they'll wear out the JYD in transition.
Prediction: Villains -6.5
Flight Vegas (1-0) vs. RudeDogs (1-1)
The debut of Ali Sabra of Flight Vegas was impressive to see and I can't wait to see what he does in this one. Ken Peters will be looked at a lot as well and he'll pull up from downtown for sure. David Murtha will go up against the RudeDogs' Khalid Cannon and even though Cannon is bigger than Murtha, it's still going to be anyone's game down low. The RudeDogs' Lamond Murray will have another great performance, but Flight Vegas has a great looking defense that can wear teams out, especially when they play man-to-man defense.
Flight Vegas can easily win this one, but if Murray starts off red hot, the RudeDogs could win this one. Travis Sobers of the RudeDogs will battle it out against Vernon Clemens in what will be a very close game. Flight Vegas somewhat plays fundamental basketball and relies a lot on going inside the paint and backing down defenders. Cord Ford of Flight Vegas plays smart basketball and will only take shots when the timing is right, otherwise, he's a true facilitator every time he steps foot on the floor. It's going to be a tight game, and I have Flight Vegas winning this one, but winning it in the final three minutes of the game.
Prediction: Flight Vegas -4.5
Ball 4 Life (0-2) vs. UnderDogs (2-0)
What a fine debut for the UnderDogs' John Loyd as the former Oregon Duck is having himself a historic season so far. In just two games, he's averaging 40.5 PPG, yes 40.5. It helps when you're a former Division 1 player in both basketball and football (two-sport standout). He's fast, strong, agile and simply automatic. His UnderDogs will face Ball 4 Life in a fast-paced game and I expect Loyd to have another 30-plus point performance. Duelle Thomas Gore is a beats down low and can also run in transition very well. Adam Rellah and Dylan Hansel always make clutch threes and play exceptional defense. I'm sure Hansel will be guarding Mark Trevino or even Josh Ross and watch out for this matchup.
The matchup of Loyd and Ball 4 Life's Taurean Green will be the matchup of the season and it will be a battle all game long. Green is actually one of the more agile players in the league, so it's the best of both worlds here. I like what I'm seeing out of Eric Redeaux and Ball 4 Life will take good look at him from the get-go. Ball 4 Life could be 2-0 as they lost by five points in their first game and six points last week. Milos Knezevic grabbed 16 boards last week and was the only member of Ball 4 Life to grab double figures in rebounds. I know Zach Dean will grab more than six rebounds this time around, but it won't be easy trying to out-rebound Williams. Watch out for Ball 4 Life's Trevino to spark them from downtown. Knezevic will be aggressive from the start and Gore should be just fine guarding him. It's going to be a tight game, and I have the UnderDogs taking care of business.
Prediction: UnderDogs -5.5