Jay-Z vs NAS Beef is Back?
SAN ANTONIO: Week 1 Predictions
By Pat Fridley | San Antonio Co-League Coordinator
An exciting opening night awaits us this week, as we tip-off the inaugural UHSA Draft League. Rumors of potential trades, game plans, and player-made rankings have been all the talk around the gym recently. With six of the seven teams getting a taste of their first action, let’s take a look at what we’ve got.
7 p.m. - Ether vs Reasonable Doubt
With the theme for team names this season being (Rap Song Titles), we re-visit the hip hop beef that engulfed the late 90’s in Jay Z/NAS. Jay Z’s “Reasonable Doubt” (yes it’s an album, but we made an exception as it has a nice ring to it) is an all-time classic, while Nas dropped his Ether track in response to Jay Z’s “Takeover”. A huge story within itself, we hope this game will be just as good.
Reasonable Doubt has the makings of a possible best defensive team in the league. Rookies Demitrius Davis, Darius World, and Ryan Steed put defense first in the pick-up games at the club, while Travis Matthews has already proven his defensive worth season after season. Couple that with MVP nominee Malik Harris, veteran point guard captain Keso Shands, and the sharp shooting Harlen Londrie, and we have an early favorite to win it all despite where they’re ranked on the Power Rankings.
Half of Ether is composed of BND franchise players. That chemistry and familiarity will be huge in a league full of guys playing together for the first time in Week 1. Rumor has it, their starting 5 has already been playing together at the pick-up games on Saturday mornings at 281.
Prediction: #1 Draft Pick Jayquan Anderson has his work cut out for him against the front court of Malik Harris and Travis Matthews, but the chemistry Ether has seemingly already put together gives them the nod in this one, even against the talented Reasonable Doubt.
8 p.m. - #LOYALTY vs Pain
We’ve got a slew of players from the Summer championship game in this one; however some of them find themselves on opposite sides of the ball this time around.
#LOYALTY looks to run, move the ball, get out in transition and fire from deep from their team make up. Rivals turned teammates in Dee Jackson, Raul Aguilar joining with former opponents DaShun Dixon and Matt Kallead. A rumored “group chat text” between them has Captain Jack on record saying he’s running a tight ship, and nobody is untouchable in trades should they not perform up to standards…
The bulk of Pain’s scoring looks to come from the sharpshooting backcourt of Josh Linson and Chris Molina. Should these two get hot at the same time, you might be in trouble. Throw big Joe Snyder in the mix down low, opening up even more opportunities for open shooters, and the Real Ones trio of Efren Rodriguez, Sean Evans, and Devon Richards bringing in added intensity, and you’ve got a great team.
Prediction: This looks to be a great game from the jump, but just like the last prediction, chemistry is a huge advantage on opening night, and between Vegas, leagues, and pick up games, #LOYALTY seems to have the upper hand.
9 p.m. - Hit Em’ Up vs Bigger Than You
Another game involving a chunk of participants from last season, this looks more like a Kingdom Come reunion.
Paul Segreto’s Hit Em’ Up boasts great penetrators ….er, guys that can really get in there….(no that’s not much better), ….guys that like to get to the hole…(I give up). Basically Durrell and Devin like to drive a lot, and when you have multiple attackers on offense, especially ones that are willing to make the right pass, that should open up seams for guys like Jake Schifani to operate, and opens up shots for Paul Segreto, Chris Williams, and Agustin Zurita.
Brian Byers’ Bigger Than You might just lead the league in scoring. The high motor back court of Justin Brickman and Joe Jackson should handle the bulk of the scoring, while familiar addition Kai Johnson should find his form as he continues to improve from a knee injury. All World complimentary pieces Abram Gomez and sharp shooting Aaron Villarreal should really round out the starting five. Chaos favorite TJ Telfare and Wayne Dismuke will look to hold the bench down in their roles.
Prediction: If you haven’t figured it out by now, chemistry is the theme and advantage of Week 1, and with Bigger Than You boasting 4 Kingdom Come players, and self-less players around them, they should have the advantage in this one.