Can SUNZ Prove People Wrong?
GREEN VALLEY REC: Week 3 Predictions
By Michael Palmer | Green Valley Media Associate
The Industry (1-0) vs. Urban Air (1-0)
The Industry made a huge statement last week by defeating Houdini and will have their sights set on Urban Air tonight. The matchup that many will expect out of this game will be The Industry's Marciano Brunette and Urban Air's Ryan Rice. Both are big men that grab boards from left to right and will challenge each other all game long. It's going to be a great matchup for sure, but Rice needs to be careful containing Brunette as he's electric from the charity stripe and has some slick moves. Another matchup to look our for will be Urban Air's Seth Gomez and The Industry's Derek Adkins. Gomez is pretty agile and makes tough shots, but Adkins has the same kind of style and is so smooth every time he steps foot on the court. Chris Stroud can't be forgotten about and The Industry needs to keep a close eye on him. This will be a tight contest, but I have to give the edge to The Industry as Andreas Viasiliu will make an immediate impact running the point.
Prediction: The Industry -4.5
Houdini (1-1) vs. Diplomats (0-1)
Houdini lost a crucial game last week to The Industry and will take on Andrew Power and the Diplomats. The Diplomats received a bye week last week and should be well rested for this one. Power simply powers his way down low and is a big-time difference maker. We'll see Houdini's Josh Rollans all over Power and I expect the duo to play down lockdown defense all game long. Houdini's Charlie Farber and Michael Carboni will score from left to right, so the Diplomats need to pay extra close attention to them. The Diplomats, however, can't forget about Danny Lee and Cory Argubright as they make clutch shots all the time. I know the Diplomats have some new faces, but they need to be on the same page when going up against a very tough Houdini opponent. Houdini has my vote, hands down, to win this one.
Prediction: Houdini -9.5
Revolver (0-2) vs. RudeDogs (0-2)
This will be a battle to see who gets their first win of the season as Revolver will go up against the RudeDogs. I feel like Revolver's Brenden Graves and Nick Davis need to be more aggressive and attack at their defenders more. They know how to score, but they just need to show that they can be difference makers. I would like to see Revolver's Devon Sansone be more aggressive in the paint and take what's his at all costs. The RudeDogs were without their sharp-shooter in D'Andre Henderson in last week's loss to the Free Agents, so hopefully he'll make his return tonight and ignite a fuse. If he doesn't play, Ben Carey will just have to score another 37 points like he did last week. James Rice will be looked at like crazy from Revolver down low and Sansone will have a tough task in defending him. This RudeDogs team doesn't seem like a winless team and they should get their first win of the season or else they're in trouble.
Prediction: RudeDogs -6
SUNZ (2-0) vs. Lifetime Lakers (0-1)
How about the SUNZ as they're 2-0 to start the season. They only had one win last season and have made a complete turnaround. I know they've played teams at the bottom of the rankings, but it's still impressive to see what they've done so far this season. Cris Cockrell has been committed to this team and has shown why he's the difference maker for them. He scored 30 points in last week's win against the Buckets and will look to do the same tonight. What's also special about the SUNZ is they're rebounding as they're fifth in the league averaging 44 boards per game. Watch out for Vince Sant and Lewis Ball to fight off a lengthy Lakers squad.
Even though the Lifetime Lakers lost by 16 points last week to the Knicks, it wasn't a horrible performance. They shot 48 percent from the field, had Alex Epstein on board for a game-high 25 points and committed only five turnovers. They love to run in transition and make important shots. Watch out for Shawn Monegan to make a statement early on and challenge the SUNZ to play lockdown defense. If the SUNZ play some zone defense, they will cause the Lakers to take some no-so-open shots. Darius Meyers needs to be on his 'A' game and make sure he's keeping the Lakers in rhythm for sure. The SUNZ will be playing a much better team than they have all season long and if they get the Lakers to shoot a plethora of threes and force them to shoot the ball, they could pull this one off.
Prediction: SUNZ +5
Knicks (2-0) vs. Dyme Pieces (1-0)
This will most likely be the game of the week as the defending back-to-back champion Dyme Pieces will battle it out against Nick Guidice and the Knicks. Guidice scored 33 points in last week's win against the Lifetime Lakers Nick "Beam" Rainey scored a season-high 18 points and shot 73 percent from the field. Rainey will be looked at a lot by the Dyme Pieces and I know that they'll force him to pass the ball. Brenton Van has yet to grab double-digit rebounds in a game, but that may be different tonight as the Dyme Pieces shoot a ton of threes that doesn't always go down.
Speaking of the Dyme Pieces, they barely beat the Gandonians last week, winning by eight points. Josh Ross scored a game-high 30 points and got to the free throw line a lot. I have faith in Dylan Hansel to make more threes and shoot for accuracy tonight. Tom Gibson simply was cold last week as he went 2-11 from downtown, so the Knicks will be vying for him to struggle again. It seems to me that Gibson makes more threes against top-tier squads, so look out Knicks. Watch out for RJ Wojtowicz to also make some threes and Jim Reilly to challenge Van and Rainey down low. Both teams are simply stacked, but if the Dyme Pieces limit the 3-ball, they should be able to win this one. The Knicks have been known to win clutch games from time to time, and they could potentially pull off the 'upset'.
Prediction: Dyme Pieces +6
Gandonians (1-1) vs. Buckets (0-1)
Haroutuin Massoyan and the Gandonians will look for their second win of the season as they'll face Victor Senn and the Buckets. The Buckets lost by three points last week to the SUNZ, and that was with only four players too. Hopefully they get some much needed depth and some length as well. The duo of Senn and Edwin Urbina recorded impressive double-doubles last week as Senn had 22 points on 20 rebounds, while Urbina got himself 17 points on 15 boards. Jason Hill is an electric three-point shooter as always and Matt Burmgardner isn't afraid to take the tough shot.
The Gandonians picked up three-point specialist Mike Anderson and he'll be a big help throughout this season. He scored 13 points on a game-high 15 rebounds against the Dyme Pieces last week, while Eric Akoopie is turning out to be quite the player for the Gandonians. The Gandonians aren't the biggest team, but they sure play like they are. I really like what I'm seeing in this matchup for the Gandonians and they should be able to pull this one off, however, Senn of the Buckets might have something to say about this.
Prediction: Gandonians +7
Bye Week: Free Agents (1-1)
Power Rankings
1. Dyme Pieces (1-0)
2. The Industry (1-0)
3. Houdini (1-1)
4. Knicks (2-0)
5. SUNZ (2-0)
6. Gandonians (1-1)
7. Free Agents (1-1)
8. Urban Air (1-0)
9. Lifetime Lakers (0-1)
10. Diplomats (0-1)
11. Buckets (0-1)
12. RudeDogs (0-2)
13. Revolver (0-2)