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We get to welcome a new edition to the power rankings! Please welcome: AC Bellem!

Big 8 Power rankings:
1) BPE (11-0)
2) Gators (9-2)
3) WildHoochieKoos (7-4)
4) Big Beavers (7-4)
5) Snake River Panthers (4-7)

Great 8 power rankings:
1)Raleigh Capitols (11-0)
2)Hard2Guard (10-1)
3)The Duck City Ninjas (7-4)
4)The Barack O'Ballers (6-5)
5)Jersey Blazing Heat (5-6)
6)AC Bellem(4-7)

discussion/explanation: First off let's focus on AC Bellem's first game against BPE...Bellem played a pretty good game for it being their first game. As we all know, they're basically like an expansion team: it may not be very pretty at first, but if they play their cards right, they'll get where they need to be, whether that's by signing a guy or two in the transfer market or through setting scouting to its maximum. It was also kind of weird to see BPE's star player Brathen get such little playing time, though he apparently got 4 fouls in the little time he played...as for Hard2Guard, their dominant win came thanks to their huge advantage in rebounding and assists along with simply executing their offense way better, as seen by the giant disparity in field goal percentage. Onto Hooch vs the O'Ballers...despite another great game for the O'Ballers in terms of free throw shooting, the shooting from the floor and the three-point line, along with a not so surprising +17 assist advantage and a very surprising +17 rebounding advantage gave Hooch's team what they needed to come out with the 30 point victory. And finally...the power matchup of the night. I'll be honest...I wasn't expecting the game to be that close. Maybe I should play that lineup more often? Bayramov went the hell off like he tended to at this point last season...problem is, everyone else was slacking. I'm probably going to start working on...mainly Gomez's..passing once I'm satisfied with the post defense levels of certain players...well, mainly Pirhonen...so that Gomez can be more effective when I put him at point guard in the future. Either way, I was surprised to see my team had a rebounding advantage against them, but they had double the assists my team did while also have 3 times fewer turnovers. And, of course, the discrepancy in made field goals. The feeling from this game is much different than last year after getting absolutely clocked by Mof State's defense, but I know this team has a long way to go.

First off, congrats to AC Bellem on their first W! Now, onto the new power rankings

Big 8 Power rankings:
1) BPE (11-1)
2) Gators (10-2)
3) WildHoochieKoos (7-5)
4) Big Beavers (8-4)
5) Snake River Panthers (5-7)

Great 8 power rankings:
1)Raleigh Capitols (12-0)
2)Hard2Guard (11-1)
3)The Duck City Ninjas (8-4)
4)The Barack O'Ballers (6-6)
5)Jersey Blazing Heat (5-7)
6)AC Bellem(5-7)

discussion/explanation: in the first user v user game I look over...despite grabbing an astonishing 17 offensive rebounds and 13 more shot attempts, the Big Beavers were able to win, though it was close. In the end, the disparity in free throws, like in games the past few weeks, brought home a win for the Big Beavers. We also may be beginning to witness a "changing of the guard" in who leads the offense for the Big Beavers, as Wade James, looking at the stats, seemed to be able to get into the paint at will or dish out dimes to open teammates. Onto the next game, though, as Hard2Guard got a convincing victory over Hooch yesterday, thanks to a distinct rebounding advantage and a balanced scoring attack on offense. The emergence of a more post player based offense for Hard2Guard this season is a surprising but seemingly effective one. Daniel Fortin tried his best to keep it competitive, but in the end, no one else on his team could keep up. On to the next game, Gators @ the O'Ballers where the Gators strategy of putting Lackey on the other team's best scorer seemed to be effective, as Gaugl, while leading the O'Ballers in scoring, shot under 40% for the game and only got to the charity stripe twice while Lackey got 3 steals on the night. Other than that, the only thing the Gators didn't a distinct statistical advantage in was offensive rebounds and assist to turnover ratio, both of which was about the same for both teams. And finally...you knew I had to save this one for last...the long-awaited battle of the unbeatens...and...I'm not gonna gas it up anymore, it was over by halftime as Raleigh jumped out to a big lead, then the teams played about even in the second half. Surprisingly, the only distinct advantage Raleigh had was in scoring, though I may have to go check the halftime stats to see if that's really the case. Either way, Jandula and Bouquillon both stepped it up big time in this game, clocking in a combined 67 points.

After checking the halftime stats, it looks like it was statistically more of the same in the first half; in fact, it was probably even more like what I described statistically. It was also interesting to note that the majority of Bouquillon's points(26) came in the first half, while the majority of Jandula's(18) came in the second half.

Here's the new power rankings as we head into the all-star game

Big 8 Power rankings:
1) BPE (12-1)
2) Gators (10-3)
3) WildHoochieKoos (8-5)
4) Big Beavers (8-5)
5) Snake River Panthers (6-7)

Great 8 power rankings:
1)Raleigh Capitols (13-0)
2)Hard2Guard (12-1)
3)The Duck City Ninjas (9-4)
4)The Barack O'Ballers (6-7)
5)Jersey Blazing Heat (6-7)
6)AC Bellem(5-8)

discussion/explanation: we have an interesting story line developing in the Great 8 standings: Jersey just passed up the O'Ballers in the standings, and even though I think heading into the second round of division play the O'Ballers will be one game up, that first game between Jersey and the O'Ballers could determine that 4th playoff spot; remember, when they faced each other the first time, Jersey had the O'Ballers on the ropes. Anyway, getting this past set of user v user games, we'll start with BPE's shockingly large victory over the O'Ballers. Gaugl got a surprisingly low amount of shot attempts, BPE more than doubled up the O'Ballers in the rebound column, including a 23-5 advantage on the offensive glass. The most surprising thing to see was the O'Ballers only hitting 18 total shots! They almost had more made free throws than made shots. The assist to turnover ratio was decidedly in BPE's favor, they dominated in steals and blocks, the only things BPE wasn't statistically dominant in was foul count and free throws. Moving on, next we get to Snake River's dominant victory over the new AC Bellem team(though, he hasn't been on in 8 days). AC Bellem simply couldn't keep up with the barrage of 3's from Snake River, including 6 from Cousido alone who made more 3's than AC Bellem's whole team and in general stuffed the stat sheet. The other big story here was assist to turnover ratio, which was also decidedly in Snake River's favor. The final game of the day was Hard2Guard @ the Gators...and Hard2Guard pulled away in the third quarter for the 15 point victory. Between the combined 8-27 shooting, including 1-8 from 3, of Bayramov and Gomez, the assist to turnover ratio, and the overall balanced scoring for Hard2Guard compared to basically no one outside of Lackey showing up offensively for the Gators, it's no surprise that Hard2Guard won.

AC Bellem hasn't been on here since the team was created...so I'm not counting them back in the rankings until they get back online again. Also, Snake River might be dropped soon...they haven't been online in a while.

Big 8 Power rankings:
1) BPE (12-2)
2) Gators (11-3)
3) WildHoochieKoos (9-5)
4) Big Beavers (9-5)
5) Snake River Panthers (6-8)

Great 8 power rankings:
1)Raleigh Capitols (14-0)
2)Hard2Guard (13-1)
3)The Duck City Ninjas (10-4)
4A)The Barack O'Ballers (7-7)
4B)Jersey Blazing Heat (7-7)

discussion/explanation: Jersey has the lead on the O'Ballers in the standings but their records are the same. At this point, I think the re-match game is a toss-up. Whoever wins it can get 4th outright from then on, barring any upsets or screw ups. Onto the user v user games...since I'm no longer covering AC Bellem for now, there's only 2 games to discuss this time around. Despite 55 points from Cousido, 16 made 3's, and Jersey's leading scorer going 0-14(!) on free throw attempts...Jersey won this game by 20 points. Between 7 players scoring in double digits, a large advantage in both total rebounds and offensive rebounds, and a large disparity of the assist to turnover ratio all in Jersey's favor, they had the recipe for a win cooked up. For Hard2Guard vs BPE...BPE basically got ran out of the gym in the first half and couldn't come close to catching back up. The biggest difference seemed to be free throws, as Hard2Guard statistically didn't dominate any other aspect of the game, unless you count holding Cameron and Oakley to 7-26 shooting, yet walked away with a 19 point victory.

Snake River is no longer on the inactivity watch list, but I was very surprised to see how long the manager of the O'Ballers has been offline. I wouldn't drop them from the rankings until next season, but if they stay inactive...I may be forced to drop a longtime playoff team in this league.

Big 8 Power rankings:
1) BPE (13-2)
2) Gators (12-3)
3) WildHoochieKoos (10-5)
4) Big Beavers (9-6)
5) Snake River Panthers (6-9)

Great 8 power rankings:
1)Raleigh Capitols (15-0)
2)Hard2Guard (14-1)
3)The Duck City Ninjas (11-4)
4A)The Barack O'Ballers (8-7)
4B)Jersey Blazing Heat (7-8)

discussion/explanation: the standings for 4th/5th in the Great 8 flip flopped again, but I'm beginning to think Jersey in their inaugural season just might sneak in that 4th and final playoff spot. We'll save Hooch vs Jersey for last though...the first game I'll get out of the way is the Big Beavers vs Raleigh game...after keeping it close in the first quarter, Raleigh hung almost 50 on the Big Beavers in quarter 2. In the end, despite Brathen Simpson and James's best effort, the three point shooting and ability to get to the basket/get fouls at will for Raleigh was too much for the Big Beavers. Onto Snake River and Duck City...Snake River's back court was absolutely electric in this game, but Duck City's superior rebounding and more quality passing gave them the edge. Snake River's backup center, who was forced to play big minutes in this game, showed a lot of promise, though; maybe that's something to watch going forward? Finally, we get to Hooch and Jersey...assists, turnovers, and made 3's made all the difference in Hooch's 18 point win. Jersey has a lot of positives to take from this going forward, however; Joya showed once again that he's capable of controlling a close game on the boards, grabbing ten rebounds just from the offensive glass(23 overall!). Perhaps focusing the offense around their bigs even more,such as with the "look inside" offense, is the move going forward? It'll certainly be fun to watch Joya and Gaugl, both of whom have come to establish themselves as stars in this league at the PF position, match up when Jersey and the O'Ballers meet up again for the start of round two of division play.

Big changes seem to be on the horizon. Here are the updated power rankings

Big 8 Power rankings:
1) BPE (14-2)
2) Gators (13-3)
3) WildHoochieKoos (11-5)
4) Big Beavers (9-7)
5) Snake River Panthers (7-9)

Great 8 power rankings:
1)Raleigh Capitols (16-0)
2)Hard2Guard (15-1)
3)The Duck City Ninjas (11-5)
4)Jersey Blazing Heat (8-8)
5)The Barack O'Ballers (8-8)

discussion/explanation: wow. You know the slate of games was good when the one I get out the way first is a 2v3 game. So let's get right on it, shall we? The difference in this game seemed to be: the first quarter, rebounds, and free throws. Duck City won assist to turnover margin and dominated the three-point line, but once again, playing through the paint on offense lead to H2G's success. As for Gators vs Beavers, it was very close statistically, but it seemed to come down to the three ball. Other than that and Big Beavers winning the assist to turnover ratio, stats were basically dead even. I'm not even joking. I don't have much else to say. Now for the game that truly flipped the standings for the first time this season. Despite Gaugl dominating the power forward matchup, Jersey won the game, dominating offensive rebounds, assist to turnover ratio, and to an extent 3's. In general, Jersey took and made more shots, and that was the story of the game: pace and efficiency. And that is how they're now 4th in the power rankings in the Great 8.

More drama in the standings on the way, including another upset! let's get into this, shall we?

Big 8 Power rankings:
1) BPE (15-2)
2) Gators (14-3)
3) WildHoochieKoos (11-6)
4) Big Beavers (10-7)
5) Snake River Panthers (8-9)

Great 8 power rankings:
1)Raleigh Capitols (17-0)
2)Hard2Guard (16-1)
3)The Duck City Ninjas (12-5)
4)Jersey Blazing Heat (8-9)
5)The Barack O'Ballers (8-9)

discussion/explanation: this week's slate of games featured both the O'Ballers and Jersey as they jockey for positioning in the standings with both point differential and attempting to pull off upsets along with a mild upset in the Big 8. With that out the way, let's see what went down in said games. Raleigh jumped out to a big first-quarter lead and never looked back, shooting around 60% from the field while Jersey shot closer to 30% from the field. At this point, the only team I see realistically taking down Raleigh in the regular season or postseason is H2G. Onto the next game, despite a monstrous, herculean effort from Gaugl who ended up getting a triple-double, a massive third-quarter effort from Duck City helped them escape with a victory in this game. Assist to turnover ratio seemed to play a role in Duck City's win, along with the 3 ball, which the O'Ballers went 0-11 on while for Duck City the 3 ball was coming mostly from Tilge, the clear first option on this team, who made 6 of his 7 3-pointers. Both their centers also chipped in quite well, Gatto with his 23 points and 8 rebounds in 27 minutes while Thomas played a more facilitating role in his 23 minutes, dishing 6 assists to go with his 6 boards. Finally, we have a rare upset on our hands. A big first quarter from the Beavers was too much for Hooch's squad to handle as they tried to chip their way back in but couldn't do quite enough. Free throws and rebounds played a huge part in general to their win, but a big key to their success: the surprising play from their guards. the Princeton offense they ran caught Hooch, running an inside box and one, off guard, and with Mahoney and Brathen facilitating more than usual while James was scoring more than usual, along with the typical rebounding contributions of Brathen and Jonas, they did just enough to get the win along with both giving themselves a cushion for fourth place and put some more pressure for jumping up to 3, unlikely as it is.

Only 2 games to discuss this week but they were pretty good ones! So, let's get right into it.

Big 8 Power rankings:
1) BPE (16-2)
2) Gators (15-3)
3A) WildHoochieKoos (12-6)
3B) Big Beavers (11-7)
5) Snake River Panthers (8-10)

Great 8 power rankings:
1)Raleigh Capitols (18-0)
2)Hard2Guard (17-1)
3)The Duck City Ninjas (12-6)
4)Jersey Blazing Heat (9-9)
5)The Barack O'Ballers (9-9)

discussion/explanation: there aren't many games to talk about but there are some things to discuss in relation. Raleigh jumped out to a big first-quarter lead and never looked back even as DC found their groove in the second quarter. The rebounding advantage for Raleigh was huge and probably contributed to the margin of victory. The playoff implications...don't really change for either team; Duck City is 3 games ahead of 4th place but now 5 games out of second with 4 games left. The only playoff positioning games that are important in the Great 8 are every game that the O'Ballers and Jersey play and the highly anticipated H2G vs Raleigh rematch on this coming Saturday, the 23rd. Moving on to the next game, the Big Beavers jumped out to a big first-quarter lead and held off a furious fourth-quarter rally attempt from Snake River to hold on for a victory and keep the pressure on Hooch for that 3rd spot. Despite struggling from the charity stripe, it along with rebounds played a crucial factor in the win; Snake River, however, if they heat up like this again at a later game, may be able to sneak an upset in. Snake River has fallen 3 games behind the 4th spot with 4 games to go but could play spoiler in their last game against Hooch; Big Beavers has BPE then 3 CPU teams to close out the season, while Hooch has 1 CPU team then faces BPE, Gators, and Snake River back to back to back; even if they upset one of the first two teams, Snake River could play spoiler at the end; we all know Cousido is capable of dropping 50 with 10 3's on any given night, and if Hooch's team shooting is off that night or Snake River is much more aggressive with getting free throws, that may be all she wrote for that game. With all this in mind...I'm officially changing up Hooch and Big Beavers to 3A and 3B instead of 3 and 4.

Last edited by Rob Da Man at 6/17/2018 10:19:54 PM

Let's get into it...not much to say with the games, but with the playoffs so close, I'll be discussing possibilities in the discussion

Big 8 Power rankings:
1) BPE (17-2)
2) Gators (16-3)
3A) WildHoochieKoos (13-6)
3B) Big Beavers (11-8)
5) Snake River Panthers (9-10)

Great 8 power rankings:
1)Raleigh Capitols (19-0)
2)Hard2Guard (18-1)
3)The Duck City Ninjas (13-6)
4)Jersey Blazing Heat (9-10)
5)The Barack O'Ballers (10-9)

discussion/explanation: let's get into the games...Jersey was dominated from start to finish, as Joya was held to 6 rebounds and H2G dominated basically every major statistical category. The funniest note from this game: all the made 3's came from bigs! Moving along...despite an incredible rebounding output from Jonas including 12 offensive rebounds, BPE's efficiency, evident in assist to turnover ratio and their FG%, gave them the edge in the 20 point victory. Now for the fun part...playoff discussion. This is gonna be a part of the rest of the regular season discussion. I think I'll start a separate forum for the playoffs and include predictions before the game, in addition to post-game analysis like I do now...but that's neither here nor there. The first thing I'm gonna get out the way: the top 2 seed in both divisions are basically locked, and the current number 1 and 2 are both essentially locked into their slots(H2G and Gators, even if they beat Raleigh and BPE, likely won't catch up in terms of point differential). Also, Duck City could theoretically drop to 4th place, but with the O'Ballers, after a CPU team this coming Tuesday, finishing up against H2G and Raleigh, that's not gonna happen. One last thing, because Snake River is facing the brutal stretch run ahead while Big Beavers has 3 CPU opponents left...they mathematically could catch up for 4th place but pragmatically that isn't happening. Now, onto the interesting discussions...3rd and 4th place in the Big 8 and 4th and 5th place in the Great 8...as previously stated, Big Beavers have 3 games left, all against CPU teams...meanwhile, Hooch's last 3 games are BPE, Gators, and Snake River...they likely lose those first two, but they are the favorites against Snake River...that being said, there's always the chance for an off shooting night, and Cousido is the type of player that can lead the charge for an upset single-handedly. Big Beavers' chances of catching up to Hooch's point differential are slim to none, however, so their most realistic shot of passing Hooch is to bank on the Snake River upset while taking care of business on their end and hoping Hooch doesn't pull an upset themselves. If I had to put money on it, though, they end up with a tied record and Hooch maintains third-place on point differential. Now, onto Jersey and the O'Ballers...as previously mentioned, The O'Ballers have a CPU team followed by H2G and Raleigh-yikes! Jersey, meanwhile, has a CPU team, Duck City, and what might as well be another CPU team. Assuming things go as expected, they end up with the same record; now, it comes down to point differential. Presently, the O'Ballers have a 35 point lead on point differential; looking at the schedules, however, I have a sneaking suspicion that Jersey will get back and surpass that 35 point deficit in these next 3 games. Basically...if I were a betting man, I'd put my money on Jersey making it, and it would be the first time I could remember since joining this league that a "first-year expansion team" made the playoffs in this league.

Predictions will be returning for me starting in the playoffs! Been busy to do them.