BLOOMINGTON SOUTH, MN: Week 6 Preview

Bloomington South has become a league that is shaped like a bell curve. Four teams at the top, four teams at the bottom and the rest of the league in between. With only three weeks left, are there any teams that will shake up the structure and climb up or down the ladder?

Here are the Week 6 matchups:

Clem's Kidz (1-4) vs. The Bulls (2-3)

The Bulls are a team that had high expectations at the beginning of the season, had a rough start, but are starting to come back around. They had an easy 22-point win over the Raptors last week and have been sparked by the strong play of DeAngelo Purnell and Grant Dudinsky, who are averaging a combined 28 points and 13.5 rebounds per game.

The big men of The Bulls should be the perfect foil for Benjamin Wagner, whose stats would be MVP-worthy if he were playing for a better team. He has been getting help from Scott Ruhsam, who has also had a nice season thus far.

Clem's Kidz has no one who can guard Roderick Powell, however, and it should be a long night for their back court. I expect the Bulls to get another easy win, which will move them to .500 on the season.

Prediction: The Bulls by 34



Tropics (3-2) vs. Timberpuppies (3-2)

The Tropics have been clamoring for respect this season and have a major test this week where they can earn that respect from the rest of the league. The Timberpuppies are coming off of a blowout win over the Huskies and both of their losses this season are to undefeated teams.

The tough challenge for the Tropics will be getting their best player - Mitch Hanson - to produce when he's having to deal with Mike Byrne, Mike Wolf and Luke Sontowski all game.

Mike Bundy and Anton Martynenko will need to step up big time if they are going to have a chance to beat the Timberpuppies. I hate to doubt the Tropics again, but I can't predict them to win this one.

Prediction: Timberpuppies by 10



Panthers (1-4) vs. Riddlers (4-1)

The Panthers showed some moxie with a nice second half against St. Baul last week in which they outscored them by 17. Unfortunately, they'll need more than that to compete with the Riddlers, who are only 3 points away from being undefeated.

Mark Buettner is scoring at an efficient rate, Pete Clark has come back from his injury strong and Nick Roell is stuffing the box score like always (11.5 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds).

The Panthers should hope just to keep this one within single digits.

Prediction: Riddlers by 22



Lakers (3-2) vs. Rebels (5-0)

The Lakers are still one of the most underrated teams in Bloomington South. With only 5 players, and no Justin Martin, they were able to stay with a tough Thundercats team until the final minute. Kevin Craft has been the second best rebounder in the league and GM Scott Nelson has put together a squad full of solid role players.

The Rebels, meanwhile, struggled against the Tropics in last week's game and only ended up winning by 8 points. The main reasons for the close game - outside of the strong play of the Tropics, of course - were the absence of Patrick Magnuson and 12 missed free throws.

I think the Lakers will keep this one close for a while, but the Rebels will do what championship teams do and pull it out in the end.

Prediction: Rebels by 10



Blue Chips (3-2) vs. Huskies (2-3)

One of two exciting primetime matchups in Week 6 has the Huskies and Blue Chips, both of whom are struggling to move from the middle class of Bloomington South into the upper tier of teams.

If Junius Ho is back for the Huskies, their team will have a shot at winning this one. Since Lawrence Barnes appears to be gone for the season, the Huskies will need someone besides Heath Stoll who can create his own shot.

The Blue Chips have relied upon Sam Halverson, Keilon Riddley and Peter Mortenson to lead their team this season through reliable scoring and tough rebounding. Chris Daly has also distributed the ball well with almost 7 assists per game.

I think this will come down to the end, but the Blue Chips should pull out the win.

Prediction: Blue Chips by 5



St. Baul (5-0) vs. Thundercats (4-1)

The Thundercats have been one of the strangest teams to read this season, despite their 4-1 record. They've had 50-point blowouts against the Blazers, but only defeated the Lakers by 3. They took the Rebels to overtime, but let the Panthers stay around in their game until the second half.

St. Baul has defeated the Riddlers and the T-Pups by a total of only 4 points, but nevertheless, are undefeated and have two of the best players in the league this season in Ryan Samuelson and Justin Samuelson.

This game could depend upon who shows up for both teams. Greg Regenscheid and Kyle Radde are important pieces of their respective teams and could play big roles in this game. I'd expect another tight game that will likely be resolved in the final minute.

Prediction: St. Baul by 2



Thunder (2-3) vs. Raptors (0-5)

The Thunder have not been able to beat any strong teams this season, although they have come close against the Huskies (lost by 1) and the Blue Chips (lost by 3). The good news for them is that in both of their games against the bottom rung of the league, they have won by 30+ points.

No one represents the bottom rung as well as the Raptors, who have yet to win a game and don't appear capable of winning a game this season. Three of their loses have been by single-digits, but their losses to the Bulls and Blue Chips have been by 20+ points.

There are some great guys and solid players on the Raptors, but they aren't going to win this one either.

Prediction: Thunder by 17


Blazers (0-5) vs. Inception (2-3)

The nightcap of Week 6 features the Blazers - who have probably had the most disappointing season of any team in the league - and Inception. Inception defeated the Clem's Kidz last week, and if they can beat the Blazers this week, a playoff berth is possible for this team.

Inception has been led by Cardell Poe (17 points and 5 rebounds per game) and Jay-R Ramirez (12 points per game).

The Blazers were down by 40+ points in the first half of last week's game against the Riddlers and the body language of the team seems defeated. Even against Inception, I'd be surprised if they win this game.

Prediction: Inception by 7