Back to the Basics
DALLAS: Week 2 Power Rankings
By Travis Hill | Dallas Media Associate
1. Backyard All-Stars
The Backyard All-Stars are back to doing Backyard All-Star things as they completely annihilated the Bench Warmers in Week 1. The outcome was secured well before the final buzzer as BYA took a 15-point lead into halftime, and ultimately prevailed with a 69-37 victory. Mike Swisher led the way with 21 points on 83 percent shooting, while also grabbing 8 rebounds. Swisher was backed by a balanced scoring attack provided by Jake Vines (17 points), Bryan Walls (11 points), and Dave Flaherty (10 points). Team captain, and one time triple-double threat Nick Scrivens continues to take on a lesser role in scoring as he only took two shots on the night. But he continues to find ways to be efficient as he led the team in rebounds (9) and assists (7). If BYA wants to hold onto their spot atop these power rankings they will want to shake off the rust from the 3-point line as the went 1 for 17 on the night. They face off against Side Hustle in Week 2.
2. Scoregasms
The Scoregasms were able to provide the excitement for the Week 1 match ups as they were able to ink out a tough one-point win against Side Hustle in what very well could be a preview of this season’s potential championship match up. Anson Bartlett, who missed a significant amount of games last season, showed up big time in Week 1 as he led the Scoregasms with 28 points. Meanwhile, Nick Chote posted 19 points while also leading the team with 8 assists. Austin Smith struggled from the field (0 for 6) but managed to make up for it elsewhere as he pulled in a team-high 11 rebounds. The team shot it well from all over the court except from the free throw line where they were 8 for 19 (42 percent), but look for that to improve as the season progresses. The Scoregasms have a Week 2 match up against the Morning Crew who just pulled off a surprising upset against Dem Boy, so it could get interesting against for Anson and crew.
3. Side Hustle
Side Hustle kicked off the season in a fashion painful for any team: a one-point loss. It was another case of “live by the 3, die by the 3” that this team has become know for as 38 of their 64 shot (60 percent) came from beyond the arc. The problem, they only hit on 13 of those attempts. Now, 34 percent is a quality 3-point percentage for your average team, but when shooting 3s at the rate Side Hustle does, that will need to come up as the season goes on. Especially since they shot 54 percent from 2-point range on the night. As always, Side Hustle was led in scoring by Spencer Barrett (21 points) and Chris Martinez (20 points). However, Barrett only had 4 rebounds and 1 assist, while Martinez had no other positive statistic on the evening - no rebounds, assists, steals, or blocks. Both players log heavy means and as their team relies on their abilities for wins, they are going to have to find other ways to effect the game or each week it might be more of the same: heartbreaking losses. Side Hustle will look for their first win of the season in Week 2 against the Back Yard All-Stars.
4. The Morning Crew
The Morning Crew appears to have regrouped in the offseason and are now serious about being taken serious in this league as they embarrassed former champions Dem Boyz on the way to a 21-point victory. Scott Dreiling led the squad in scoring as he posted 24 points off the bench! TMC also had four other players score at least 14 points, including Carson Liesfelt (14 points), Connor Henry (15 points), Jerod Frank (16 points), and Ty Penson (16 points). The offseason acquisitions of Henry and Liesfelt are proving to be just want TMC needed to make a push forward in this league. Also, Henry opened the season showing why Dem Boyz should have made a better effort to keep him in this routing of his former squad. Now, it needs to be said that overtime TMC pulled off a quality win last season they followed it up with an embarrassing loss. Hopefully with the balanced nature of this group that won’t be the case next week against Scoregasms.
5. Dem Boyz
Dem Boyz continue to be in free fall following their banner hanging season just last summer. Free agents like Henry leaving in the offseason, Jemarri Gunn apparently retiring every other week, and where is Tone? This team just is not the same. And yet Maxx Nakwaasah continues to soldier on like a Jordanless-Pippen as he posted 28 points and 10 rebounds in the losing effort versus the Morning Crew. Will the addition of Jarron Jones - who added 23 points and 18 rebounds of his own - be enough for Dem Boyz to figure it out and make it back to the Promised Land? Does Parris Curren have enough left in the tank to look like Jason Kidd in Dallas in 2011? Or will he be more like Kidd with the Knicks? This team has a lot of questions and not enough answers at the moment. Dem Boyz look to a less opponent and hopefully an easy win against the Bench Warmers in Week 2 as they look to start figuring it out.
6. The Bench Warmers
Welcome to the league, young fellas! The Bench Warmers took a beating from BYA in their inaugural game. I imagine it can only get better from here, but for that to happen TBW is going to have to find some scoring from somewhere. If it’s going to come from Andrew Aiken - who had a team-high 13 points - then he will need more than eight shots in order to lead this team. They are also going to have to get more shots as a unit as they only shot 46 field goals to BYA’s 63. That means they need more rebounding and less turnovers across 44 minutes. This teams has a long way to go, but hopefully over the course of the season they can figure it out starting with their Week 2 match up against Dem Boyz.
Predictions
Scoregasms 81, The Morning Crew 76
Backyard All-Stars 89, Side Hustle 83
Dem Boyz 85, The Bench Warmers 41