FMB and Treys 4 Days might have the toughest pool play schedules
FMB captain Fred Basso
Up until August 21, we’ll be releasing the pool play schedule for the 2019 New York City National Tournament. We’re into the second half of pool play, with this game taking place at 3 p.m. on Saturday, August 24.
FMB (NY) vs. Treys 4 Days (NJ)
The bitter rivalry between New York and New Jersey gets put on full display in this one. FMB and Treys 4 Days are both teams that have a good amount of talent on paper, and it’ll be interesting to see which unit will end up making more sense when they’re out on the court.
This will end up being a critical game to both teams in deciding their Sunday fate. I have both of these teams as slight underdogs in their first matchups, with Treys 4 Days taking on Team Classic and FMB taking on DMV Ballers. Both of these teams could come into this game 1-0, as I think both of those games will be close, but this matchup becomes very juicy if my predictions play out and both teams are facing an 0-1 start.
Can you imagine the intensity if this becomes a game to avoid a play-in game? It’s like a lite version of an elimination game before Sunday even rolls around. I think both of these teams have the talent to make a run to the semifinals, or possibly further, and the outcome of this matchup could play a big role in deciding what their eventual fates might be.
Key Matchup
Tunde Ogunleye (FMB) vs. Courtney Fleurantin (Treys 4 Days)
These two could not have had more different tournament performances last year.
Ogunleye led the tournament in PPR by a wide margin and was one of the best players in the tournament. Fleurantin got injured in an 89-59 loss in Treys 4 Days’ first game and couldn’t play from there on out, which contributed to Treys 4 Days having to forfeit on Sunday. Not only did Fleurantin get injured in that blowout loss, but he also scored six points on 3-11 shooting from the field and 0-6 shooting from deep.
Fleurantin
Treys 4 Days will be on a redemption tour this year, and Fleurantin will have to be a big part of that. Their backcourt will be made up of Fleurantin and Ryan McPherson, who averaged a team-high 19.5 points last year. Ogunleye is FMB’s best perimeter defender, and there’s a chance he guards McPherson to try and shut him down; that would open up a chance for Fleurantin to take over in this game. It’ll be interesting to see how FMB will try to defend this dynamic backcourt and also handle the frontcourt of Tom Kokosinski and Chris Hendershot. They’ll have their hands full.
I’m not putting too much thought into who’s guarding Ogunleye, because it doesn’t matter. He’ll get buckets on anyone, and he’s proven that two tournaments in a row. He’ll play well in this game, especially considering Treys 4 Days will have to try and guard Garfield Johns and Spencer Smith on top of guarding Ogunleye. Both teams will give each other matchup nightmares, meaning this could be a high-scoring affair. I’m all for it.
Prediction
This is another game that I can see going either way. What each teams’ record is coming in may have an impact on how this is played, but pool play games have enough significance to them where that shouldn’t really matter. I know whoever I pick to lose would mean I’m picking that team to go 0-2, but that’s more to do with the tough schedule both of these teams will face, not an indictment on the teams themselves. I think the frontcourt of Treys 4 Days is going to be a real problem for FMB, but I still think there’s too much scoring talent on FMB for them to lose this game. I’ll take FMB by two points.