The Industry Uses the Charity Stripe to Stay at No. 1

GREEN VALLEY REC: Week 5 Power Rankings

By Michael Palmer | Green Valley Media Associate

1. The Industry (4-0)

You would think that a team that's ninth in the league in scoring (68.8 PPG) may be ranked near the bottom half of the rankings right? Wrong! The Industry deserves the honor of being ranked on top as they've shown all season long that defense wins games, and it showed this time around against the Lifetime Lakers with a 63-56 final. They're first in the league averaging a mere 58 PPG and to them, it's not all about scoring. It's about stopping teams in pressure situations and and forcing them to take shots.

What really impressed and shocked me was that The Industry took more free throws than made field goals. Think about that for a second. They went 20-27 from the charity stripe and made 17 field goals. GM Derek Adkins and Riccon Buckles scored 17 points apiece, while Terry Cress and Andreas Vasiliu (Vasiliu played his first game in a while) both scored 12 points. They also beat the Lakers without Marciano Brunette and Joseph Soto. Cress had the responsibility of stopping the Lakers' Chris Mellor and he did a fine job. Excellent work The Industry.

2. Houdini (3-1)

Too easy of a game for Houdini as they had three players earning themselves a shot at being the player of the week in their 120-75 win over the SUNZ. Daniel Bower had the highest PPR of the week as he recorded a PPR of 47.2, scoring 34 points on 10 rebounds. He also had a game-high four steals while the SUNZ had a combined two steals.

Josh Rollans was a beast down low, grabbing 21 rebounds and scoring 21 points. Charlie Farber recorded his first triple-double of the season with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. Let's not forget about Cory Argubright's 22 points on 10 assists. Houdini will have some tough competition coming up, with The Industry next on the schedule.

3. RudeDogs (4-0)

Well, well, well Dan Orozco. Orozco is back to his stellar recruiting as he brought along the open league's Vernon Clemens of Flight Vegas to join the RudeDogs party. Clemens scored 11 points on 12 rebounds in a 105-87 win against Sweet "D". D'Andre Henderson is truly a big-time player as he scored a game-high 26 points, shooting 53 percent from the field. Khalid Cannon was a cannon in this one getting himself 17 points on 14 rebounds.

Adam Rellah is a clutch player and makes tough shots as the point guard scored 23 points and made three shots from downtown. How about Ben Carey getting back-to-back triple doubles! He recorded 16 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists and man what a season he's having. Let's not leave out Nick "Beam" Rainey's performance as the veteran recorded his second straight double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds. If all goes according to plan next week, the RudeDogs will 100 percent move up to the No. 2 spot in the rankings.

4. TD Rayguns (3-1)

The TD Rayguns have shown that they belong in the top half of the rankings based on the explosive players they carry and by the margin of victory too. In the three games they've won, they've beaten their opponents by an average of 26.3 points per game. It was a no-brainer from the start of their most recent win against the Diplomats that it was all TD Rayguns. 

GM Dominic Pedotto scored a game-high 22 points on 10 rebounds, while the duo of Joshua Watson and Gerald Meggett each scored 17 points. Watson even made a quartet of threes, which he never does in a game. Joe Paulk also recorded a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds and even though he only made one three-pointer, it was all worth it because as long as the team gets the win, that's all that matters to the TD Rayguns.

5. Wynners (2-2)

It looks like the Wynners' Nick Guidice is back to his 30-plus point scoring games, as he picked up 37 points on eight made 3s in the Wynners' 100-79 win against the Dyme Pieces. He also had 11 assists as his guys were clutch all game long. They shot 53 percent from the field, while the Dyme Pieces shot 37 percent.

Brenton Van is truly a valuable asset for the Wynners as the power forward scored 21 points on 13 rebounds. Angelo Giordano scored a season-high 19 points after picking up only two points in his previous game. Julian Cohen played exceptionally well against a bigger Dyme Pieces and got himself 16 points and even made a pair of threes. Two of the final four games for the Wynners are against top tier teams, so this will be a crucial second half of the season for them.

6. Dyme Pieces (2-2)

Not sure what is happening with the Dyme Pieces, but they've lost two straight games, with their most recent one coming against the Wynners. Not only did they lose, they lost by 21 points. In their two losses, Jim Reilly didn't play, but in their two wins with him, they've won. Marvin Campbell scored a team-high 23 points while Josh Ross and Zach Dean both scored 15 points apiece.

The Dyme Pieces simply haven't been able to make their shots and have now allowed the second-most points per game with 89.5 per contest. Even though the Dyme Pieces are ranked sixth in the league, I know that all of them are thinking that it's not how you start, it's how you finish the season that matters and it certainly helped having this motto last season as they won the title.

7. Diplomats (2-2)

It always sucks when one of your best players sits out a game, and that's what the Diplomats had to deal with. Andre Power was absent in the Diplomats' 32-point loss to the TD Rayguns. They were simply out-rebounded and worn out in this one. Aldo Sibal scored a team-high 21 points (all on 3s), while Johnston Daniels recorded a double-double of 17 points on 14 boards.

GM Patrick Guerrero managed to score 16 points, but as a team, the Diplomats shot 32 percent from the field. If they want any shot at being in the top half of the rankings, they need their accurate shooters to step up when down in games.

8. Lifetime Lakers (2-2)

I know the Lifetime Lakers can score a plethora of points, but that wasn't the case this time around they only scored 56 points in a loss to The Industry. They could really use Alex Epstein, as he's an explosive player and a tough guy to defend down low. However, he hasn't played a game this season.

Normally the Lakers take a ton of 3s, but only went 6-18 from downtown. Luke Swearingen did manage to score a game-high 18 points, while Chris Mellor got himself 12 points. The problem for the Lakers was they fouled The Industry a lot, and when I mean a lot, I mean 19 times. The Lifetime Lakers have some tough games in the last half of the season and they have to be all in to get the job done.

9. Sweet "D" (1-3)

I kind of had a feeling going in this week that Sweet "D" would have a tough time stopping the RudeDogs' Khalid Cannon in the paint, as they were out-rebounded 70-47 in an 18-point loss. They were without their leading rebounder in Cody Howard and had to rely on Kenny Oakley and to somehow stop Cannon.

Another tough opponent they had to deal with was D'Andre Henderson, as the big man also provided an extra spark. Oakley led Sweet "D" in scoring with 22 points, while David Farris got himself 21 points. What's it going to take for Sweet "D" to get some quality wins in the last half of the season?

10. Artsakh (1-3)

Artsakh almost blew it against the Free Agents as they had a comfortable lead heading into the second half against the Free Agents. The Free Agents forced the game to go into overtime, but Artsakh got the job done, winning 65-63. Haroutuin Massoyan took care of business and scored a game-high 30 points, also his season high in scoring too.

Artsakh was lucky to pull off the win as they shot 26 percent from downtown, but the Free Agents only shot 18 percent from distance. Andrew Sookiassian had a solid performance recording a double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds. Well done, Artsakh.

11. SUNZ (0-4)

The SUNZ simply were out-played the entire game against Houdini as they lost by 45 points. Morvell Singh played his first game since Week 2 and scored a team-high 24 points, while Cris Cockrell got himself a double-double of 16 points and 19 boards. Blake White made seven shots from downtown, scoring 21 points, and they'll have a strong chance at beating the Free Agents next week for their first win.

12. Free Agents (0-4)

This might've been the Free Agents' best shot at getting a win this season, but they fell to Artsakh by two points in overtime. They only scored 17 first half points, but came back in the second half to force overtime. Craig Sutter scored a team-high 27 points, while Joseph Roselle got himself 15 points on 11 boards. Better luck next week as they'll face the SUNZ in possibly another game where it will be a very close game.