I’m baaaaaaack. You guys miss me? I see some of you certainly didn’t. Agree or disagree with me, let’s keep this conversation going. I love the engagement and hearing your opinions, even when they’re wrong ;).
Alright, Week 2. Some surprises, some disappointments, some impressive performances. Let’s get into the games.
Force v Mages
Mages eek out a narrow win. Still, I’m simply not impressed with the 2-0 Mages. Twitter seemed to heat up a little over my tweets after finishing Sunday’s games (@neelymars). I thought this was an obvious one, I guess I’ll elaborate.
Before the stats were released, I speculated that you, Mages, had set the record for the most turnovers in a game. You did just that. 29 turnovers. Twenty. Nine. I presume this record isn’t going anywhere for a long time. Unless of course, you break it. This wasn’t against the fiercely aggressive Pack. Hell, the Ducks got PUMMELED by the Pack and coughed it up 17 times. You turned the ball over 29 times against one of the bottom teams in the league, the Force.
Your only bright spot on the team is Ben Cameron, who appears to be too physical and too athletic for much of the league to handle. He had an efficient night (minus 5 turnovers) on 9/14 FG, 17 rebounds (8 offensive), 4 AST, 2 STL, and 2 BLK. Clayton Heineman and Willie Wiley are honorable mentions for their play as 6th & 7th round picks.
The supposed senior Mage, GM Tyler Layton, shot 2/11 FG, 1/8 3P, had 5 TO, and only scored 5 points.
Not impressed.
Swarm v Swift
Despite being out-rebounded, Swift take care of business here. I was impressed with several players from the Swift this game. GM Jake Schmeltz scored 21 PTS on 6/8 FG, 7/8 FT. He seemed to let his guys get comfortable and play ball, but when it came to closing out the game, he knew what he needed to do. Holgate High School’s Dylan Szabo played energetic defense on Dylan Davis the whole game and threw in 10 PTS. Dallas Keifer contributed some crafty buckets as well.
Mad Cherries v Nightmare
The Nightmare continue to struggle and the Mad Cherries have the bounce back game they needed. GM Mike Bennett looked flat out dominant – 33 PTS, 21 REB, 3 STL, 2 BLK, and 1 impressive two-hand slam over Gage Beaber (props to you for going up with him) all on 15/21 shooting.
Mike Bennett is my early pick for MVP (assuming this momentum is carried throughout the season).
#1 overall pick Gage Beaber definitely looked better, much more of what people expected from him. He simply doesn’t have the help he needs for his team to be successful.
Ducks v Pack
Yikes. Pack are tough. Ducks looked mentally abused, perhaps per Josh Williams. Although, Ducks GM returned the abuse in physical form when he leveled Williams, somehow not receiving a technical.
Maybe a positive for the Ducks is that they did make a trade after an absolute beatdown. Maybe this is what they need to emotionally reset from the onslaught. I’m not sold this trade made a ton of sense for them however. Ducks receive #5 overall pick Dave Dehart and Dylan Semler. Swarm receive 2nd Round Pick AJ Wagner and Josh Grissom. This feels like a brash decision from Ayers after pitifully putting up 12 points in a 30 point blowout. We’ll see.
As far as the Pack, they are putting the league on notice. I can’t tell if that notice is that they are ready to win a championship or that they may have a GM vacancy at the end of the season. 7 PPG Williams, really?
Some of you looked a little better this week. I’m proud. Emphasis on SOME.
Neely out.