WESTMINSTER, CO: Week 1 Preview | A team by team season outlook

The 2015 summer season is upon us in Ultimate Hoops Westminster. Which of these four teams will earn a berth in to the state playoffs later this season?

Big Trouble in Lil Westy

This team has a lot of nerve to call Westy “Lil” considering Centennial hasn’t been able to produce a league for years now.. Cough cough.. All that aside, this team is going to be pretty much the same squad that has played in leagues past. They are a much better team than they played last season and are loaded with talent. Led by Sam Stoveall, this team has players that can flat out score. The only knock on this team, is their effort of the defensive end of the court. It has been their Achilles heel and if they can put together a solid defensive effort this year, this team could be in contention for the title.

Bro Science Life

The real “OG’s” of Ultimate Hoops are back and are looking to pick up where they left off. A lot of these players have been around since the first days of Ultimate Hoops and each player has a few championships under their belt. Led by Justin Meineke, this team is going to be very disciplined and will likely not make many mistakes. If teams want to beat them, they will have to get out and run and hope that age plays a factor. Justin Meineke talks a big game, but he also backs it up. There will be a lot of teams gunning for these guys early on in the season.

FireSquad

The youngest team in Ultimate Hoops this season, Fire Squad is loaded with young talent. Led by Richard Peterson, this team is one that will be a big question mark this season. They certainly have the youth and talent, but do they have the veteran leadership needed to calm things down at pivotal points in games and during the season as a whole. It will be interesting to see how well these guys play together, but with their athleticism and skill, they should play a fun tempo of basketball that could give some other teams some trouble.

Life Time Legends

The Life Time Legends are either hit or miss and with an assortment of unknown players it will be hard to give a preview of this team.

Long Shots

Long Shots were the surprise team of the season last league and will look to continue on that success. Captain Brad Elliot has brought pretty much the same squad with a few adjustments here and there. This team plays physical and loves to get out and RUN. If the Long Shots play like they did last year, then you can expect a pretty good win/loss record for them come playoff time. It will be interesting to see whether their new players indeed help them get better or set them back. Chemistry is a tough thing to master in the game of basketball, and it certainly can be the culprit between winning and losing.

Scorgasm

Beau Barney will be without costar Jimmie Binnie for the first time in several seasons. Joining him will be a variety of older lifetime hoops players that have been around the league for a long time. This team will have good chemistry right off the bat and will certainly be a contender this season. Some how Patrick Dudley always manages to pull good players out of his sleeve and puts together a good team each and every season. This team will play a slower paced style of basketball, but will be very methodical in their play. Discipline will be this teams strong suit.


Slam Drunk

Slam Drunk played like they were drunk the first half of the year last season, but they finally figured it out towards the end of the season. If they can get it together from the get go this season, it could be very beneficial when it comes to playoff seeding. This is the first time they will be without their big man Gherrick Dixon and that is a huge loss for them. They will need to adapt their style of play to make up for the loss or they could be in trouble this season. I expect this team to move to a more up and down pace of basketball and will look to score points fast in order to get their wins this season.

Splash City

Splash City is a brand new team branching off of last year’s champion Hard Work. Arguably, Hard Work's two best players in Carlos Matos and Ruben Rivas are joining up again with a slightly different cast at their side. With the addition of Mason Clements-Thompson, this team has trio of good point guards. The only problem however is we are only allowed to play with one basketball.. Will their be enough basketballs to go around for this star studded team. That is the real question. If they can get their chemistry on point and have trust in each other, then this team could be very dangerous come the post season.

The Bad Boys

The Bad Boys completely blew up their team from last season and went and added some serious size. Matt Lloyd is back and will be looking to help the Bad Boys bounce back from two terrible seasons. Kyle Norman is probably the biggest player in the league and his size will help lots on the defensive end of the court and in rebounding. Matt Rice did a good job recruiting this offseason and there is no doubt they will be better than they have the last few seasons. Expect this team to play very physical and hard nosed basketball. There will certainly be some ejections this year and with the passion this team has, it's hard to believe it won't come from one of their games. They should be exciting this season to say the least.

The Gladiators

Saul Chavira and his Gladiators are at it again but with a whole different assortment of players this season. The Gladiators typically play up and down basketball with a lot of 3 pointers shot in between. Looking at this roster, I dont know if that will be this teams strong suit however. A lot of these players we are unfamiliar with, so it will be interesting to see what kind of team the Gladiators end up being. Grant Pachner was solid last season and if he gets a hot hand, this team can be hard to beat. Keep an eye on this team this season, they should be interesting to say the least.

The Kardashians

A midst all the drama and scandles last season with Kim, Kanye, and the rest of the crew, this Kardashians team managed to put together a very impressive season last year. Rookie Michael Skinner dominated the league from the get go and will look to do the same before heading back to school in the fall. The Kardashian’s big man, Marquise Scott has been getting better and more dominant every game and this season will be no different. He is the best big man in the league and you can bet the Kardashians will use that to their advantage. After losing Josh Ralphs, the Kardashians added two very good players in Daniel Herrera and Ken Choi that will not only help make up for the loss of Ralphs, but also add some serious depth to this squad.

Young Bucks

These kids are young and are looking to make a name for themselves this season. A lot of these players played on the free agent team last season and will be eager to get some wins under their belt. This team wont be considered favorites by any means but they can use that to their advantage as many teams will underestimate them early this season.