MONTVALE, NJ: What Hurts The Most?

With a significant injury that is certain to change the landscape of the season, it begs the question – What one player could each team least afford to lose?

Last week, RUNt lost leading scorer Mike Kern when he messed up his ankle. After going on to lose the game, the defending champs fell again to the Ferrall Ballerz. Now at 3-3, RUNt’s future is certainly dicey.

Given a choice, Kern would probably be the one guy his team wouldn’t want to go down…probably. Check out Ferrall interviewing Rob Cohan, who may or may not miss his teammate. Oh, and a special thanks to Mike Kern for toughing it out to make an appearance on our video.



So what about everyone else? Are leading scorers the most important? All-around players? Bigs?

The Ballerz, still unbeaten, are rock solid on D. They have yet to give up 50 in a game. They’ve got several guys who can put it in the hoop, but what would happen if they lost Dan Gavagni, he of four blocks per game? A paint protector is a big deal. There aren’t many in our league.

Lane Train, perhaps most likely to take the Ballerz down (if anyone does), might say that Nick Bigos is most crucial to their success. In fact, after Kern got injured, Bigos killed RUNt, who had no answer for him down low.

Old School has as much balance as anyone. If you get a lead on these guys, though, they don’t have the easiest time scoring. Would shot-makers like Billy Allen or John Cotton be the single-biggest losses?

We just saw Just Ball struggle to beat the turbulent Tropics. They didn’t have the versatile Reed Johnson out there to help make things easier for his team. Perhaps that’s a telltale sign of his importance.

Lane Train just handled USDA Prime, who was without Tucker Diestel and Hayden Duffy. But let’s be honest. We probably wouldn’t have seen a different result Thursday if USDA was at full-strength. Does it really matter who USDA is missing? Actually…yes. They might have just one win, but we may be looking at a playoff team! Six of eight make it, and we still have two winless squads.

Speaking of…Who would the Bergen Tropics least like to lose? Or is that squad already a lost cause as it is? For now, let’s nominate Alexis Drullinsky. He’s a scary dude if nothing else.

Finally, last and most certainly least, the Super Splash Brothers. Actually, forget these guys. They aren’t exactly fielding a team right now, so it doesn’t even make much sense to figure out who would be missed the most. That thing is already a total wreck.

So what say you, boys and girls? Now is the perfect time to use our oft-ignored comments section. Yes…there is one! It won’t hurt (pun intended) to join the discussion.