NATIONAL TOURNEY PREVIEW: Y-Lie New Jacks from Detroit are pumped up for Vegas | NEUENFELDT: Depth a concern for New Jacks
Can Tyrone Jordan lead his team to a Tournament Championship
FROM THE TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR
Contributed by Joe Neuenfeldt
There is such irony when I think of Y-Lie (New Jacks). They played against Franchise in the opening game of the Chicago tournament in August. Here is this team from Detroit with only five players and Pat Keller gives them the 8 AM game against a good Franchise team. The New Jacks had the lead basically the entire game. Then, towards the end of the second half, Keller took over the scoreboard duties. As much as I love the guy, I am telling you right now that he screwed up the score. He had a bunch of people coming up to him during the game, which I am sure was distracting. The New Jacks had a 4-5 point lead for most of the game. Then out of nowhere, they were down by 3. It sounds crazy and there is really no one to vouch for me since it was early and not a lot of people were there yet. But I swear to God, the New Jacks were hosed out of a win because of scoreboard error.
So why didn’t the New Jacks complain? Well, they only had five guys. They didn’t have a bench guy who could keep tabs on the score throughout the game. They likely just kept their focus on playing ball without worrying about a scoreboard error. It’s really easy to lose track of the score while on the floor.
That was the first game of a double elimination tournament. If you lose in the first round of a double elimination tournament, you have no chance of winning it all. There are way too many games you have to play and win in a row just to give yourself a shot at getting to the title. Then you have to beat that team twice to win it.
Here’s the ironic part. The New Jacks went on a great run after “losing” the opening round game. They lasted longer than Franchise. Had they won the first round game, their iron five squad would have had to play fewer games, which would have meant more rest. They really could have had a shot at winning the whole thing. Instead, they went to the loser’s bracket. And for them to win it all, they would have had to play six games on Sunday alone whereas Saints + only played two. Even Penny’s team couldn’t beat a team for the title if they had already played five games that day.
That kind of twist of fate makes me wonder if there is such a thing as karma. The New Jacks were penalized over an honest mistake. Does that mean they will be rewarded or be on the winning end of that kind of mistake in their next tournament? We’ll find out in two weeks.
TALENT – In a tournament that is going to have a lot of good guards, Johnnie Brown will be right at the top as one of the best. Y-Lie has a lot of athleticism and strength. They should be able to wear down some of the finesse players in the tournament with their speed and pressure defense. These guys aren’t just good basketball players. They are athletes as well.
TITLES – They came up just one point short in the summer season. But they got their title in the fall. And what I like about their title win is that they did it with defense (48-44 over Modern Day Killaz). Those teams that live and die by the 3 almost always die at some point in the postseason. A team that can shut down another almost always has a chance to win it all.
MOMENTUM – If this tournament was being held immediately after the fall season, Y-Lie could be the #1 overall seed. Unfortunately for them, there was a winter season. What the heck happened that this title team went 4-6 and lost in the Elite Eight of the playoffs? With a number of teams coming to Vegas fresh off of a winter title, it will be very challenging to seed this team real high after a below .500 season.
LEVEL OF COMPETITION – We’ve seen the Detroit guys and they have some game. Also, winning a title in one of the biggest Ultimate Hoops markets is a more impressive feat than winning one where there are only a few teams. Detroit has fared decent in the two Regional/National tournaments. It has been clear that they play against other quality players in their own league.
EXPERIENCE – How much of a factor will it be that this team played five games in the Chicago tournament? I think it’s big. They are one of the few teams that know what to expect out of a tournament weekend. They will know the limitations of their bodies after multiple games, how much rest to get on Saturday night and what to eat and how often throughout the day to stay strong. As for their other basketball experience, come on. The majority of the guys played division I or II. Enough said.
DEPTH – They have a roster of seven. Sounds very familiar to Chicago when they had only five show up. This tournament format is more favorable to teams with a smaller roster than the double elimination tournaments. But I still believe that the teams that make it to the title game on Sunday will be the ones with deeper rosters. If Y-Lie gives it all they have for three games on Saturday so they can make it into the top 8 and advance to Sunday, how much will they have left in the tank with only seven (or fewer) guys?
If Pat Keller were in charge of seeding the teams, this squad would be no lower than top three based on their talent (and his man crush on Johnnie Brown). And any other tournament team watching their video probably doesn’t want to be in their pool (seriously, he’s throwing up 225 like it’s nothing). But these out of state late addition to the tournament teams worry me. I won’t feel any relief until Mike Harrington texts me to let me know that Y-Lie has landed in Vegas. Even then, my first question will be “how many guys do they have?”
Bold prediction time. Y-Lie faces Performance Skillz (another team coming to Vegas) this Sunday. My prediction is this:
The winner of this weekend’s game between Y-Lie and Performance Skillz will be eliminated from the National Tournament before the loser. Not sure why I am feeling that. But I think it’s going to happen.
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