With Big 3 Season 3's final regular season week upcoming this weekend, league founder Ice Cube decided to make the final weekend a full blown basketball extravaganza, complete with a full slate of games featuring all twelve league teams, and two musical performances.
From the entertainment side, hip hop artists T.I. and Yella Beezy will be performing at American Airlines Center, home to the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. Then there will be a full day of six games, with those teams that are out of the playoff picture playing for pride, while others grappling for playoff position and needing wins to keep their chances alive.
The Triplets head into the final week in first place at 6-1, with Power right behind at 5-2. After that though, is where it gets interesting. The Killer 3s, Trilogy, Bivouac, and Ghost Ballers all sit at 4-3 from seeds three to six, while seeds seven to eleven - Aliens, 3 Headed Monsters, 3s Company, Enemies, and Tri-State - are all 3-4. The 0-7 Ball Hogs are the lone team that is officially out of the hunt.
Kicking off the Dallas action - with a 2 pm eastern start time - are the Bivouac and the Ball Hogs. Bivouac - one of the league's expansion teams this year that has been impressive all season - would, with a victory, keep pace in the playoff race. They are currently in fifth place, and with a win would be helped with losses from the Killer 3s and Trilogy.
They are coming off of a bye week - their last game coming August 3 when they defeated the Killer 3s 51-42 on the back of Will Bynum's league record 33 points - and outmatch the winless Hogs. The Hogs' Will McDonald is averaging 16.0 points and 8.6 rebounds this season, but it is in the back court where the Hogs will have trouble. Bynum is third in the league at 18.6 points per game, and will be a difficult cover for bigger Hog guards Deshawn Stevenson and Xavier Silas. Bynum's quickness and ball handing ability were far too much for 3s guard Franklin Session to handle in Chicago, which is telling considering that Session is among the quickest guards in the league.
The second game of the day provides another must win, with the 4-3 Ghost Ballers facing the 6-1 Triplets. The Ballers snapped Trilogy's four-game winning streak last week in Miami, while the Triplets last won in thrilling fashion against the 3 Headed Monsters two weeks ago.
The Ballers come into the contest having won two straight, and will need more of what big man Chris Johnson gave them last week (14 points, 7 rebounds), as he goes up against Triplet big Al Jefferson. The problem with the Ballers is that they are guard heavy, whereas the Triplets have - in Joe Johnson - a guy whose size on the perimeter will both them. The Ballers will need a strong outing from guard Mike Taylor, whose athleticism and quickness will be tough for the Triplets to handle. A win in this game for the Triplets means they head into the playoffs as the number one seed, while a loss and a Power victory would slide them to second place based on the head to head match up. The Ballers need the win, and will need losses from the Killer 3s, Bivouac, and Trilogy.
Following that match up is one between the 3 Headed Monsters and Power.
The Monsters - after starting 2-0 - lost four straight before convincingly defeating the Enemies last week in Miami, 50-32. 50-year-old Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf led the way for them with 13 points. Power is coming off of a 50-43 defeat at the hands of Tri-State, who exploded on Power in the second half for 30 points. Corey Maggette led them with 19 in the loss, while Cuttino Mobley - who is among the league's top scorers (17.0, 5th in the Big 3) was inactive.
Power should prove too much for the Monsters in this game, especially with their size on the perimeter. Maggette is 6'6, 225, and will go opposite both Abdul-Rauf and Mario Chalmers who range from 6 foot to 6'3. Power also has another big wing in Quentin Richardson, and if Mobley plays, they will have an even greater advantage.
The Monsters will need a strong rebounding game from Reggie Evans, who will match up on the inside against Julian Wright and Carlos Boozer. Rashard Lewis' length could be a problem for Power, who have more size on the inside than they do pure athleticism.
Next is the Killer 3s and the Enemies, with both teams needing wins - Killer 3s to maintain the 3rd seed, and the Enemies to stay alive.
The Enemies are sliding - after winning three of their first four games to get to 3-1, they've lost three straight - while the 3s have also struggled after starting the season strong. The 3s got off to a 3-0 start to the season, but are just 1-3 in their last four games. They are however currently holding on to the three seed.
Now would be the best time for the Enemies' Gilbert Arenas to have his best game of the season. With a season-high of only 8 points, and scoring only 5 points last week, he has failed to get on track. Perhaps it is the foot injury that caused him to miss Week 1, or perhaps - because of not having played competitively in six years - it is taking him longer to get into a rhythm. Whichever the reason, his team will need him to come up big this week. Outside of him - although Craig Smith has been good all season - they don't have a guy capable of scoring consistently. Against a 3s team that features Stephen Jackson and CJ Watson, Arenas will need to be in top form. Perry Jones will also be a factor for them with his athleticism.
On the 3s side, they could have an interior advantage with Donte Greene, Josh Powell, and Eddy Curry against Smith and Royce White, although it will be tough. Session will also prove to be a tough cover for an Enemies' team that lacks guard quickness on the defensive end.
The key in this game will be whether Arenas can finally get going. If he does, it will give them a needed win as they look to sneak into the playoffs.
The second last game in Dallas features 3-4 3s Company vs the 4-3 Trilogy. Trilogy had won four straight games heading into last week, when a second half comeback fell short as they lost to the Ghost Ballers 50-47. They received a big game from Samardo Samuels - who had 16 points and 13 rebounds - and who will be a load for 3s Company to handle down low. Trilogy's David Hawkins - averaging 15 points per game on the season - scored just 10 last week and will need to be better scoring the ball to match the effort of Company's Andre Emmett, who is the league's sixth leading scorer at 16.9 points per game.
Trilogy's Carlos Arroyo could be a difficult cover for a Company team that lacks perimeter quickness. Arroyo, 39, was known for his quickness and ball handling throughout his NBA career and has shown in the Big 3 that he still possesses quickness.
Trilogy is 4-1 in their last five, with Company 3-1 in their last four after starting the season 0-3. Both teams are in need of victories - Trilogy to maintain their playoff position, and Company to stay in the hunt depending on other earlier outcomes. Both teams came on strong as the season wore along, and this game will likely come down to whose number one option -Hawkins for Trilogy or Company's Emmett - has the bigger day.
The Dallas finale pits two teams fighting for their playoff lives against one another, as Tri-State - at 3-4 coming off of a big time 7 point win over Power where they scored 30 second half points - meets the Aliens, who, coming off of a bye, are also 3-4.
5-foot-9 Nate Robinson played big for Tri-State last week, scoring 20 points. He enjoyed a quickness advantage against Power's bigger guards that he will also enjoy this weekend against an Aliens team that, aside from Shannon Brown, doesn't have much in the way of perimeter athleticism. This also means that Jason Richardson should have a big game for Tri-State once again. He is coming off of his best game of the season (19 points, 10 rebounds).
The interior battle will be one to watch, as Tri-State's Amare Stoudemire locks horns with the Aliens' Greg Oden. Oden is a load down low, but Stoudemire is quicker and could exploit that in their match up.
On paper, Tri-State is one of the most talented teams in the Big 3, and you know that they will come out motivated with nothing to lose as they attempt to sneak into the playoffs. The same goes for the Aliens, who are also 3-4 and playing with nothing to lose. It should make for a very competitive and exciting game to cap the 2019 Big 3 regular season.
The Big 3 prides itself on delivering competitive basketball, and that will be at the forefront in Dallas on Saturday as all six teams will be in action and most have something to play for. It should be the perfect finish to a third Big 3 regular season that has continued to deliver quality, exciting basketball.
Week 9 Picks
Bivouac, Triplets, Power, Killer 3s, Trilogy, Tri-State
Comments