Hello everybody, I’m back!!! Have you missed me? I am sure everyone has except the Mages. Lets dive in! Week 3, Mages are starting to grow on me but still lack enough talent to win the league, Swift sneak by the new look Nightmare, Pack win a physical battle against the Mad Cherries (even though Josh Williams continues to just run around), and Force beat a Dylan Davisless Swarm.
Mages v Ducks
A good game to start week 5. Ducks came out hot and built a really strong lead, but struggled to keep the lead. Mages continue to win games without a lot of talent on the team. Tyler Layton shooting struggles continue, looks like he really lacks the stamina to play the entire 32 minutes.
I will say there a few bright spots with this team. Ben Cameron and Willie Wiley, both in consideration for individual season awards. Cameron continues to show he is one of the best big men in the league and has been showing some outside touch. Wiley may be the best defender in the league, and out hustles 90% of the league.
Now, the Ducks… Ayers did not look like a top 10 player this past Sunday. They will need him to be if they want to win games and also make a run in the playoffs. Dible continues his strong rookie season and puts himself in the MVP conversation. Depth also seems that it will be an issue for the ducks going forward.
Swift v Nightmare
Swift continue to win games behind playing really good team ball. They have a lot of guys who can score and are not afraid to shoot it. The biggest question mark with the swift is do they have a take over guy when they need a bucket. Jake Schmeltz is one of the best shooters in the league but has not had a takeover game yet. When they need that game, can and will he do it?
Nightmare… Where do I begin??? Still baffled at the trade of Gage Beaber… They are playing better team ball but that doesn’t mean they are a better team. They don’t have one player on the team that can be the guy and they will struggle to win another game not having that. Dom settles continues to shoot even though its not going in. Jacob Faycosh is the only bright spot of this team.
Mad Cherries V Pack
This was clearly the game of the week! A lot of energy on both benches and from the crowd. Pack show they are the best team in the league. Mad Cherries show they have the physicality to beat the Pack. Riley, Williams and Flipse shoot 9 for 39 combined and they still win. Credit to Williams for drafting the depth that he has. My biggest question with the Pack is can they go undefeated and potentially win it all with that kind of shooting from your big 3. Disappointing game from Riley who finished with 9 points on 3 of 18 shooting. Williams does more complaining than scoring at this point…
Cherries started out really slow and got themselves in too big of a hole that they could not dig themselves out of. Cherries also shot the ball terribly, but gave themselves a chance to win. Bennett finished with 24 and 15 but also shot 11 for 26. His biggest downfall will be poor outside shooting. Cole Williams did not play well at all but showed no give up in this game. Beaber finished with 17 and frankly locked up Josh Williams. Cherries have the most talent on paper in the league. We are now 2 weeks post trades, we will see if they can work out the chemistry to win games or will they continue to stink…
Force V Swarm
Force get their first Win! Swarm fight and almost come up with a win without their GM Dylan Davis. Sean Watson makes the case for best shooter in the league. He continued his hot shooting scoring 21 points and making 6 threes. This is coming off a week in which he scored 32 and made a Pro Rec record 9 threes. Hagemyer had 21, 13 and 6 on eight of nine shooting. Surprise of the of the game is Noah Brian with 18 points (6 threes).
Swarm showed a lot of fight with out Davis. Naraly tied the game at the end on a missed game tying shot by Anthony Jones. Adam Bevier looked like the old MVP we have seen. Anthony Jones continues to be the second guy behind Davis. Swarm coming off the strong win over the Cherries are starting to come around as a solid team.
I have said from the beginning that I am not here to be your friend. If you don’t like me change the way you are playing. To those teams and players that are playing well, keep it up! Looking forward to this Sundays games!
Neely Out!