TEMPE, AZ: Summer Team by Team Preview | Brandon Walker Edition

Here we are on the brink of the Ultimate Hoops Summer season of 2014! The start of a new season brings plenty of questions, expectations, hopes, roster changes and a palpable excitement as the league builds steam prepping itself to be the most competitive season to date.

The first and obvious question is will our defending champion Bulls charge back and defend their title or will they relinquish the throne? The Bulls started the Spring season of 2014 with a rather dominant run for 6 games until they were stopped short of having an undefeated season by The Monstars. They headed into the playoffs with two consecutive losses and a couple of key injuries that looked as though they would permanently derail any hopes of going deep into the playoffs. But they were able to pull it all together and come out victorious in an exciting, down to the wire Championship game.

Having made some offseason moves reminiscent of the Los Angeles Lakers trade for Pau Gasol, the Bulls have managed to poach a potential all star in Tyler Labrum, the 6’6” former center for the Monstars. Adding Tyler’s height, athleticism, and constant motor to their run-and-gun style of play can prove deadly for opponents. The Bulls will now have twin towers in the middle with Tyler Labrum and Josh Hunter rounding out their front-court arsenal. The addition of “Mr. Energy” Marcus Atkins should also prove to be very valuable for the Bulls and he will fit nicely with their style of play.

A question remains about the health of star point guard Mark Hanoosh and whether or not he will be at 100% after suffering a fractured foot during the spring season. Even if Mark Hanoosh isn’t completely healed come season start, talented and efficient guard play from Donald Didlake, Tim House and shooters Brandon Walker and Andrew Lebowitz should be enough to keep this team in contention for the repeat.

Who’s Next? Who’s Next. The veteran heavy team run by Dwayne Hunter; turned what started out to be an abysmal season into a run for the title and was just one point shy of the title. Spring 2014 MVP Nick Tomsick led this incredible turnaround. Teaming up with league big man (and other half of the “Splash Brothers”) Mark Price, Kristopher Hennen, Darrel Hunter and Dwayne Hunter rounding out the starting five. Who’s next had arguably the best big in the league in Mark Price who unfortunately won’t be joining his team for the summer season due to injury. Along with the big half of Splash Brothers, Who’s next also loses point guard Nick Tomsick who has formed his own team called…Splash Brothers. The loss of these two dynamic players will definitely be felt but with some superb offseason moves the team has acquired point guard Weylan Towns and veteran forward Tralix Strickland. Towns’ explosive speed will fill the gap that Tomsick left open, and although he is undersized for the forward position, Strickland adds a veteran savvy around the basket. I recently caught up with Who’s Next captain Dwayne Hunter and he informed me that the team is ready to have a great season.

The only logical next step is to look at Team Splash Brothers…

Team Splash Brothers is one of the new additions to Tempe for Summer 2014. Led by a “big three” of Nick Tomsick, Kristopher Hennen and Chris Davis. Hennen is the former center for Who’s Next whose skills at rebounding and effectiveness around the hoop will surely be an asset to his new team. Chris Davis is an explosive guard with strength to match. Size may prove to be an issue for this team due to the fact that no one on the roster is listed over 6’1”. Also, not much is known about the remaining three players on the team but the big three are sure to keep things competitive. Who knows, maybe center Mark Price will come off the injured list and help his other half out…

The Monstars are definitely a team to watch having nearly gone undefeated during the spring 2014 season. This well-rounded team handed the Bulls a serious beatdown during the regular season and routinely handled their opponents with ease. They are led by standout Kenny Mahone, a physical guard that was a contender for MVP last season having turned out some impressive numbers on the offensive end. Guard Michael Caviness also in the backcourt is an outstanding outside shooter able to stretch defenses. Forwards Francisco Ahumada and Matt Alvarado are a frontcourt pairing that routinely wreak havoc in the paint. Hopefully new addition Jason Osborne can solidify the guard play and provide another threat beyond the arc. Size may prove to be a concern for the Monstars having lost 6’5” Tyler Labrum to the Bulls, but Ahumada and Alvarado are definitely capable of picking up the slack.

#HASHTAG will that trend on twitter? Only time will tell for the team formed by merging teams Echelon and Head Bustas. Team Hashtag could prove to be a serious contender for a championship run this summer. Three-point assassin Joseph Hormes, a former walk on at Arizona State University whose lights out jump shot is arguably the most dangerous in the league, leads this team. The frontcourt is filled with size, skill and athleticism with Ryan Brown, Archie Woulard and Jeremia Nelson. Brown is a 6’5” center with great skill around the basket and he can also pull out an effective jumper when necessary. Woulard is an impressive outside shooter as well; don’t let him get on a roll! Nelson, formerly of the Bulls is an athletic forward with great defensive abilities and an intensity that the Bulls will surely miss. With an average height of 6’3” these guys are stacked with size but may lack enough ball handling guards to help Joseph Hormes out. If cooler heads prevail, I like the odds of this team making a run for a championship.

Bad Guys…Bad Guys…come out and plaaaaayy!

Electrifying guard Michael Rose leads this team of Bad Guys into battle. Rose is considered to be a sleeper at the point position. His high scoring games last season with Team Gilbert catapulted him into all star discussions. Some would argue that Rose did not have the right pieces around him to make a title run last season. This may not be the case for summer 2014. Rose is joined by veteran Sam Stephens an intelligent and physical forward with decent range on his jump shot. He is also joined by forwards James Braxton, Josh Henderson and center Reginal Johnson. Johnson is a 6’5” center with a wingspan that looks like it’s about 15 feet! It will be interesting to see what the Bad Guys can do with the weapons they’ve got.

Next up we have the Tempe Wolves. Led by Lifetime’s very own Jovan Wright. This team is definitely not short on size! With 6’8” Alex Schmidt (a fortunate offseason acquisition) 6’6” Joseph Huber at center, 6’4” Jovan Wright, 6’3” Sean Eddy playing the swing guard opposing teams may have some matchup issues. Matt Shahin aka Matty Ice and guard Brandon Amaro will team up to provide backcourt support. Matty Ice is a tough guard that can play physical and disrupt the flow for opposing point guards. Look for the Wolves to make some noise!

Team Downtown is led by a familiar Tempe Lifetime face in Travis Woodard. The man with more mouth than game! Ha ha! Just kidding…sort of. Travis has an undeniable outside jump shot and if left open he can really put up some points. At press time the roster for the team was not complete but rumors are abuzz that Woodard has enlisted the help of an NBA veteran and former Slam Dunk Champion in JR Rider. The addition of Rider will make for a lot of fun for guys to see how they stack up against a former NBAer. Without a complete roster I cant imagine this team making a significant impact but Travis is quite the statesman and will no doubt find a way to be competitive.

Lastly we come to the Tempe Free Agent team. No disrespect to the fellas on this squad but you have a tough road ahead of you in terms of making any waves. The free agent team frequently lacks chemistry or balance has mostly been used as a springboard to get your name out there. Play well and you’ll probably get picked up with an established team for the following season.

This season of Ultimate Hoops in Tempe will surely be competitive and fun to watch. I can’t wait to see how it all plays out!

Brandon M. Walker
Follow me on twitter: @BeeEmDubya