COMMERCE OPEN: Power Rankings | Pre-Season thoughts

Last season’s champion Shelby’s Finest returns, but under a new name, Dat Aint Fair. This may be due to missing a few key cogs, Johnnie Brown and Juwan Watson, from last season’s championship run. With McKinsey Golfin and Vaughn Gray running the show, Dat Aint Fair will enter as the team to beat in the Winter season of Ultimate Hoops Commerce.

1) Dat Aint Fair – Led by Ultimate Hoops Legend McKinsey Golfin and last season’s MVP Vaughn Gray, DAF comes in at the #1 spot in the pre-season power rankings. Gray averaged 21.8 ppg and Golfin 20.9 ppg in leading last sessions champion Shelby’s Finest to a 9-1 record. The rumored addition of athletic wing Darryl Foster adds to the intrigue of DAF this session, however, is there enough ball to go around for all 3 of these stars?

2) C4 – Any season that does not end in a championship is a disappointment for GM Joseph Kassis. C4 came in runner-ups last session and will be without and will be without leading scorer Jason Rennie (26.4 ppg) this session. However, with one of the quickest guards in the league in Brandon Nafso, the best shooter in the league in Jeff Jayson, and a solid big man in Kassis, C4 has all of the pieces to make another run at a title. This session C4 added Mike Hand and Rich Katona from the Weekend Warriors, a franchise which is not playing this session. They should mesh well with a team that likes to move the ball around and knock down 3 pointers.

3) Running Rebels – Coming off of a season where the Rebels missed the playoffs, GM Rashodd Ross is back with his star Steven Reynolds to make another run at an UHoops championship. Reynolds average 15.7 ppg and 9.0 rpg last session and will be surrounded by big man Omar Zeigler and a host of talented guards. Jermaine Kilbourne (14.9 ppg), Chris Dado (41% 3pt), and Damon Dowdell, provide the steady guard play any team needs to be successful.

4) Sons of Basketball – After an 0-8 season that GM Darius Statum would just assume forget, he is back with defensive stopper “JD” Joel Simpson to get the bad taste of a winless season out of their mouths. To help, they have recruited 6’8” Brian Mills who has averaged 14.8 ppg and 7.4 rpg in his Uhoops career. With Simpson and Mills in the post, this will be one of the tougher teams to defend down low, and one of the more intimidating teams defensively around the rim.

5) Squad – GM Ben Kil has brought some excitement and intrigue into this session of UHoops basketball by bringing a team for this session. Kil has averaged 20 ppg, 5.9 rpg, and 3.5 apg in his Ultimate Hoops career and brings a rather unknown roster into play this session. This team could end up in last or end up winning the championship, and neither would surprise me. We will find out a lot about them in week #1 when they face Dat Aint Fair and UHoops Legends Golfin and Gray. Hopefully Kil and his boys are ready to ball.

6) Rock City – Rock City is led by GM Julio Alvarado. The current roster for Rock City is relatively unknown in the Ultimate Hoops world and like “Squad,” we will find out a lot about them in week 1 after playing perennial powerhouse C4 in the opening game of the session. Alvarado’s teams have never had trouble scoring but defense has always been a concern. Julio has lost his last 31 Ultimate Hoops games but with a squad full of new and fresh talent, there is hope in the Winter season for Rock City.