Basketball is back. Eight teams. Sixty-four players. One Pro Rec Championship.
This past Sunday saw the return of plenty of talented (at times) basketball players from Northwest Ohio. I will attempt to break down last week’s draft, this week’s games, the teams, and give you my unfiltered opinions and predictions.
But first, allow me to introduce myself. I am Neely Mars, the Pro Rec’s first official beat writer. Fans – I hope that I can engage you on a weekly basis with an in-depth analysis of not only what takes place on the court, but off the court in the Pro Rec as well. Players – I am not here to be your friend. I’m also not here to not be your friend. I call it how I see it, plain and simple. If you’re playing like hot trash, don’t worry, I’ll let you know. On the other hand, if you’re absolutely dominating your competition, I won’t be shy in dishing out some praise. So, let’s get into it.
The Draft
Nightmare: Grade – D+. They took the right pick first with Gage Beaber. After that, plenty of mistakes.
Mad Cherries: Grade – C. Drafting Cole Williams second overall seemed like a good idea (Tall athletic forward with college experience) and it still might be, but GM Mike Bennett didn’t draft the right guys around them in the following rounds.
Ducks: Grade – B. Jevon Dible proved Week 1 why he deserved to go #3 and made a case for why he could’ve went higher. The Ducks second round pick was another solid one with Patrick Henry’s AJ Wagner, giving the Ducks a solid top 3 in Ayers, Dible, and Wagner.
Force: Grade – C-. GM Sean Watson took a familiar face Round 1 with Julian Hagemyer. I haven’t seen too much from Hagemyer but he has a lot of upside with his size and athleticism. The Force’s later round picks weren’t strong enough to make them a contender however.
Swarm: Grade – C+. The Swarm took Dave Dehart with the #5 pick. Solid. And then Adam Bevier in the second round giving them a top 3 of Dylan Davis, Dehart, and Bevier. Three solid players individually, but age and lack of speed is definitely going to hurt them in this young league.
Mages: Grade – D-. The worst draft I saw. Every player was taken at least a round too high and no pick possesses the athleticism needed in this league. If Jarvis Hines can become the equivalent of prime Rajon Rondo, then MAYBE the Mages surprise me.
Pack: Grade – A. Solid draft overall from a first time GM in Josh Williams. Taking Mike Flipse and Khari Riley gives the Pack a tough and athletic top 3. Add to that sharpshooter Erich Wolfrum, physical Antoine Jackson, Moon, Ali, and Reyes. I don’t see a lot of weak spots with this team. Clear favorite to me.
Swift: Grade – B. GM Jake Schmeltz, known for a high basketball IQ, somehow always gets his teams to be competitive no matter who is on it. I think this was a solid draft for the Swift. If they can form some consistent cohesion among this group, they will be contenders.
Week 1
Gage Beaber. The number one draft pick from the first season. The pick of the litter. There’s already chatter around the league that the Nightmare may have drafted the runt of said litter. He did have a pretty underwhelming debut on Sunday (12pts, 3reb, 2ast, 5/17 FG). While certainly he didn’t put up #1 overall pick type numbers, I’m still high on Beaber. He’s a sturdy guard with solid ball handling, great vision, and is a bulldog going to the rim. I’ll chalk this one up to Covid rust.
Mages take down the Mad Cherries. I was surprised by this one. Mostly, I’m disappointed in GM Mike Bennett’s lack of coaching late game. #2 overall pick Cole Williams also didn’t live up to the hype whatsoever.
Ducks looked decent in their win over the Swarm. That’s right, just decent. Dible looks like he might be MVP caliber, but Wagner and Ayers didn’t produce much scoring wise. Swarm only lost by 7 despite playing without their second round pick Adam Bevier and getting heavy minutes from later round picks Xavier Francis and Diarre Hamilton. Ducks should have ran away with this one in my opinion. Decent.
Week 1’s in the books. Drink some water, watch some film, and for the love of God, shake the rust off before Week 2.
Neely out.