Team Worldwide Has an Impressive Debut
SUMMERLIN REC: Week 2 Power Rankings
By L.C. Comine | Summerlin Media Associate
1. Ball is Life (1-0)
Sheer domination in Week 1 for the defending champs as they took care of THRYV 131-87. It was a performance that we are used to seeing from Ball Is Life as they did this almost every week a season ago. Five of the six players scored in double figures for Ball is Life led by Bobby Mears who scored 35 points and Chris Ford scored 32 points. Reigning MVP Mihail Kocevski started the season off with an impressive triple-double with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. The champs got up 104 shots in their victory and shot 50 percent from the field. From the looks of it, Ball Is Life is focused and determined to go back to back this season. Next up for the champs is a date with HYR Life.
2. Team Worldwide (1-0)
Quite the debut for the new franchise called Team Worldwide last week. They had the most impressive win of the week and they showed everyone in the league that they will be one of the teams to beat this season. Worldwide defeated Recspekt 95-78 and really dominated all phases of the game. Max Miller-Hooks IV led Worldwide with 26 points and Grant Lewis had 23 points and 12 rebounds. Thomas Reymond returned to the league and his team really played fantastic team ball. They moved the ball really well as a team and most importantly they should some great chemistry as in their first game. This team will be even more dangerous once Greg Murray joins them. Worldwide has another tough test this week as they take on the Chris’s Angels in our Game of the Week.
3. WTF JR? (1-0)
So how many saw this upset coming in Week 1? The new look WTF JR? squad taking down one of the league’s top teams Chris’s Angels 75-74. JR played some incredible team defense in this one holding the Angel to 37 percent from the field and holding big man Adam Schmitt to 8-23 shooting from the field and also limiting Chris Ward to just 8 points. Sean Breen had a stellar performance for WTF JR? as he scored 34 points, knocking down six treys. Marcus Milner had 16 points, and one of the other new additions to the team Juan Carter had 8 points, but nothing was bigger than his go ahead 3 in the final minutes that helped WTF JR? pull the upset. Make no mistake about this team. They have the perfect mix of offense and defense and the new players added to this team may be exactly what they needed to finally get over the hump. This week they take on THRYV and a 2-0 start should be no problem for WTF JR?
4. Hickory Huskers (1-0)
This is definitely not the same Hickory team we saw a season ago, and that is a really good thing for everyone. Hickory was impressive in Week 1 as they defeated BAR 66-40. GM Kerry Knoll made some nice offseason moves to make his team better and it showed in Week 1. Daniel Warthan, who has played many seasons in GV, made his Summerlin debut last week and did not disappoint, as he scored 11 points and grabbed 21 rebounds. Javon Johnson scored 15 points in his first UH game, and Brent Husson led Hickory with 20 points. Hickory held BAR to 40 points and they were without big man Mike Smiljanic, who missed Week 1. Hickory Is going to be a team to watch going forward and if they have solid attendance all season they should be a team that contends in the upper part of the standings. This week the competition gets a little tougher as they take on Recspekt.
5. Chris’s Angels (0-1)
Tough opening night loss for the Angels as they lost in the closing seconds to WTF JR? 75-74. I don’t think the Angels are too concerned about this though loss. Do you remember last season? They lost the first game of the season and then ran the table to the title game where they just came up a little short. This team is too deep and too talented to let one loss get to them. They will need to shoot the ball better. Despite Henry Nguyen’s 29-point performance last week they still were not clicking on all cylinders. The Angels will need Chris Ward and Adam Schmitt to improve on their 11-33 shooting performance, and there is no doubt they will. The Angels will be in it at the end of the season and they can make a big statement this week as they take on the newcomers, Team Worldwide.
6. Recspekt (0-1)
Wow, have we ever Recspekt this low in the rankings before? Probably not, but after their performance in Week 1 maybe I was wrong about them? Recspekt was beaten up by Team Worldwide 95-78. Once again some of the same issues Recspekt has dealt with in seasons past hurt them, and that was attendance. GM Stefan Hanania retooled this roster so it could defeat teams like Ball is Life, Worldwide, and Chris’s Angels. He will need these guys to show up and play big roles, especially with the void left by Charles Vinson. Despite the loss last week Edward Vaughns did all he could to keep Recspekt in the game, scoring 34 points and grabbing 10 boards. Moving forward this squad will need Tij Von Nieda to play much bigger than he did in Week 1 and they are going to need someone to play big in the paint. Who will that be? Recspekt should bounce back this week against Hickory but it should be a game that is much closer than we originally thought.
7. Free Agents (1-0)
Well I was wrong about this squad in Week 1 and it looks like the Free Agents may be a lot better than we though. The Free Agents knocked off HYR Life 80-64 last week thanks to UH vet Jason Matalon’s 27 points and UH newcomer Robert Gleason scoring 21 points and knocking down five treys in his first career UH game. Looking at the Free Agents, they have some guys that can score which normally Free Agents teams do not have. All of us who have been in UH know Matalon can score but if he has a supporting cast on this squad that will make him and everyone else much more dangerous. I am not saying the Free Agents are going to win a bunch of games, but they did beat a much improved HYR team last week and beat them fairly easily. If attendance is good, especially Matalon, this team could be fun to watch. Next up for the Free Agents they get BAR and a legit shot at going 2-0 to start the season.
8. THRYV (0-1)
This is probably too low for this team, but that’s what you get when you have to play Ball Is Life in Week 1. THRYV got drilled 131-87 by Ball Is Life, and even though they did lose they had five guys in double figures led by Barrington Milner and UH newcomer, and probably the best name in the league, Amazing Sutton; both guys had 20 points. Jonathan Mawhinney also had an impressive game. He scored 18 points and dished out 12 assists. Even though they got blown out, this team has the talent to compete and they have to be pleased they put 54 points on the board in the second half on the champs. This team will get better each week and this week they got another tough task taking on WTF JR?
9. HYR Life (0-1)
I was a bit surprised when I saw the score of this game and I hope it’s just a blurb on the radar for HYR Life. HYR lost 80-64 to the Free Agents last week in a game that was probably the biggest upset of the week. In the loss, Nathaniel Burgess scored 29 points and knocked down five 3s to lead HYR Life, but he didn’t get much help from his supporting cast. David Finn was not in attendance in Week 1, and for HYR Life to take the next step as a team they will need him there to help take some of the load off Burgess. Let’s see what happens in Week 2, but I don’t have much hope for the team I picked to be my team to surprise the league this season. Next up for HYR Life is a meeting with the defending champs, so 0-2 is awaiting them.
10. BAR (0-1)
Well at least No Fly Zone is back in action, right? Talk about a lethargic performance by BAR in Week 1 as they were defeated by Hickory 66-40. BAR shot 24 percent from the field (17-70) and 11 percent from 3-point range. Let’s be honest here, BAR isn’t going to win many games in any division shooting that poorly. As usual, BAR was good on defense, limiting Hickory to only 66 points and 40 percent shooting. If BAR wants to compete in this league, they have to find some offense. This is really becoming a broken record with the squad and hopefully they can figure it out rather soon. This week BAR gets a Free Agents team that is 1-0 and will look to move to 2-0 with a win over BAR.
Predictions
6:30 p.m. - Ball is Life vs. HYR Life | Ball is Life -41.5
6:30 p.m. - WTF JR? vs. THRYV | WTF JR? -13
7:30 p.m. - Chris’s Angels vs. Team Worldwide | Worldwide -5.5
7:30 p.m. - BAR vs. Free Agents | Free Agents -3.5
8:30 p.m. - Recspekt vs. Hickory Huskers | Recspekt -16.5
Good luck to everyone in Week 2. Who will be No. 1 in the power rankings next week?