Week 6 of the Big 3 season will look a little different, with 6 of the 12 league teams receiving a bye week. The remaining 6 will play this weekend in Salt Lake City at Vivint Smart Home Arena - home to the Jazz - while the 6 with a bye play next week from Allstate Arena, just outside of Chicago. The teams with a bye this week are:
Power (4-1), Trilogy (3-2), Enemies (3-2), Tri-State (2-3), Ghost Ballers (2-3), 3 Headed Monsters (2-3).
This has been a very competitive season so far - with the exception of the winless Ball Hogs - as there are six teams with 2-3 records who will scrape and claw over the next five weeks to get into that number four spot in the standings to secure the last playoff berth. They all sit one game back of Trilogy and the Enemies - who are both 3-2 - with those two teams behind the top three seeds, the 4-1 Power, Triplets, and Killer 3s.
In the first two games of the night, two 4-1 teams will look to keep pace with the first place Power, as the Killer 3s face 2-3 3s Company, and the Triplets look to keep the Ball Hogs winless and rebound from last week's loss at the hands of Power. The final game of the night - between two 2-3 teams - will see Bivouac and the Aliens square off. With a win, either team will elevate themselves in the standings, while the other - dropping to 2-4 - will see their playoff chances take a serious hit.
Game 1: 3s Company (2-3) vs Killer 3s (4-1)
3s Company is coming off of a big 16 point victory over Bivouac, and will look to ride that momentum into their clash with the 4-1 Killer 3s. 3s Company - who received a great game from Andre Emmett last week (23 points, 9 rebounds) - will need similar output if they are to hand the Killer 3s their second defeat. Accounting for 46% of his team's points, Emmett will look to match the scoring of the 3s Stephen Jackson, who is 7th in the league in scoring at 16.8 points per game.
The 3s Frankin Session - who had 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists last week - will be a tough cover for a Company team that lacks great quickness on the perimeter. If Company is to win this game, they'll need big contributions from everyone who sees floor time.
Drew Gooden - who scored 7 points last week - will need to be better, as will Dermarr Johnson, who was scoreless. Company would benefit from another solid output from big Jason Maxiell (9 points/4 rebounds/3 assists last week), as he goes up against Eddy Curry, who had his best game of the season last week, scoring 10 points.
Game 2: Ball Hogs (0-5) vs Triplets (4-1)
If what may turn out to be the most lopsided match up of the season, the Ball Hogs will look for a big upset over a Triplet team that will be motivated after being handed their first loss of the season last week.
The Triplets boast the league's top scorer and assist man in Joe Johnson (21.8/4.2), and a big man in Al Jefferson who is starting to find his groove (averaging 14 points, 7 rebounds over the last two games), while the Hogs only have one consistent scoring threat in big man Will McDonald (17.8 points/9.2 rebounds). If Jefferson is able to slow McDonald down - which is entirely possible - then it will be a long day for the Hogs. DeShawn Stevenson - who is averaging 11.4 points per game - will need to have his three point shot working.
New Triplet Jamario Moon makes his team debut, and he will definitely add some scoring punch (13.2 points per game) to compliment Johnson and Jefferson. The Hogs were competitive last week vs the Killer 3s until a 16-2 run put them away, and they will need more of the same effort for the full duration of the game if they are to pull a major upset.
Game 3: Bivouac (2-3) vs Aliens (2-3)
Two teams needing a win to keep pace in the playoff race will clash in the week's final game, as Bivouac will need to find a way to stop the Aliens' Greg Oden.
Coming off of a disappointing 16 point loss last week to 3s Company, a Bivouac team that lacks interior size will need to somehow contain Oden. They would also benefit from Will Bynum's return, who would give them back court scoring to match the 18 points that the Aliens' Shannon Brown put up last week.
Josh Smith, who had 9 points and 7 rebounds last week, will need to be better, and they will need continued scoring from sharp shooter Anthony Morrow (15 points last week). Smith could see time on Oden and use his athleticism to bother the bigger center.
On the Aliens' side, they will look to utilize Oden as their focal point again, just as they did last week against the Ghost Ballers. Oden was unstoppable early, scoring 6 of the Aliens' first 8 points. They also received solid contributions from Andre Owens (14 points, 5 rebounds), and Brandon Rush (9 points, 7 rebounds) in last week's 51-35 win.
Anticipate that Oden will be a problem for the smaller Bivouac, and that Bivouac will look to counter that with an emphasis on Bynum and Morrow.
Game Picks: Killer 3s, Triplets, Bivouac
コメント