TEMPE, AZ: Week 2 Preview | A New Star is Born
A New Star is Born in Tempe in Weylan Towns.
Between NBA free agency, rosters imploding and exploding (I'm looking at you Cleveland and Miami) and World Cup soccer; all people are talking about is Ultimate Hoops Tempe Week 2! We're trending with more frequency then Brazil and Lebron combined! (The preceding statement may be a weeeeee bit overstated)
Week 2 Predictions
TEMPE FA VS DOWNTOWN 615PM:
The first matchup for Week 2 pits the Tempe free agents against Travis Woodard's Downtown. Downtown is heading into week 2 with confidence having cruised to a 87-73 Week 1 victory over the Monstars. Gerald Williams and Omar Waller combined for 55 of Downtown's points, pouring in 29 and 26 points respectively. Team captain Woodard, added some fire power from beyond the arc going 4-8 from three point land.
A star is yet to be born on the Tempe FA squad but guard Scott Tinagero turned some heads by leading his team in scoring with 24 points. Guard Elward Fuson also made some noise giving his team 18 points and 8 rebounds while shooting 55% from the field. While theses two guards played well this past week, the team still has an uphill battle when it comes to posing a threat in this league. Team Downtown has too much fire power and basketball IQ for Team FA...but as the old saying goes, "Any given Sunday (Tuesday in our case)".
Prediction: Downtown by 15
WHO'S NEXT VS SPLASH BROTHERS 715PM:
The second matchup for Week 2 is definitely the game of the week. At 7:15 Arizona time we will witness Team Who's Next take on Team Splash Brothers. This game is sure to be exciting as these two teams have some bad blood stemming from the fact that nearly half of Splash Brothers current roster played for Who's Next last season! A difference of opinions? Internal squabbles? Who knows what caused the break up but I'm glad we get to watch a game that even if downplayed by the players themselves, will surely be filled with a palpable tension. Splash Brothers are heading into Week 2 with tremendous confidence and swagger after taking down last season's champion Bulls. Tomsick led his team to an 82-77 victory splashing in 44 points!
Who's Next led by cousins Dwayne and Darrell Hunter are coming into week 2 with loads of confidence having wrecked shop in Week 1 with 107 points on the Tempe FA. All five starters were in the double digits while star guard Weylan Towns dazzled the crowd with some show stopping dunks. The off season retooling by Who's Next proved to be spectacular and these guys look poised to make a return to the championship game if they keep last weeks type of assault up in future weeks. The matchup of guards Weylan Towns and Nick Tomsick will surely be worth the price of admission, can't wait to see theses two face off.
Prediction: Who's Next by 5
MONSTARS VS BAD GUYS 815PM:
The third matchup of week 2 puts Monstars and Bad Guys together, it sounds like a script for a Hollywood movie! Team Bad Guys is coming off a frustrating loss at the hands of guard Joseph Hormes and Team Hashtag. Team leader Michael Rose led with an 18 point effort in the bad guys balanced yet failed attempt at securing a week 1 victory. With nearly everyone in double digits for their squad, this game came down to the intangibles. The Bad Guys are a new team to Tempe and for that reason some bumps and kinks are expected, hopefully for the coming weeks they can iron those out and compete at their highest level.
The Monstars Kenny Mahone offered the basketball gods 22 points in his teams sacrifice to Week 1 against Team Downtown. Forward Francisco Ahumada chipped in 11 points and 9 boards but the contribution was ultimately not enough. This team was quite balanced at seasons end during the spring session but the summer sees them struggling to regain that balance. With their athleticism and IQ they will surely rebound and find their way again.
Prediction for Week 2: Monstars by 7
WOLVES VS HASHTAG 915PM:
The fourth and final matchup for Week 2 will be the first game for Tempe newcomer, The Wolves as they take on Team Hashtag. While none of the Wolves roster is new to the ultimate hoops league, the team as a whole is. Having not played in week 1, not much can be said about the Wolves except that they are one of the taller teams this season and are filled with some great pieces. Lifetimes very own Jovan Wright will lead the charge and try to establish some momentum.
On the other side of the matchup, Team Hashtag is loaded with weapons, guards Joseph Hormes and Mike McCoy offer a deadly one-two punch. While forwards Brad Carroll and Jason Williams form a dangerous front court with excellent basketball IQ.
Prediction for Week 2: Hashtag by 219 just kidding... 19 is my final answer.
Week 2 Bye: The Bulls
I think they've got this one...Bulls by a nose hair.
Brandon Walker
Follow me on Twitter (I might be famous one day): @BeeEmDubya
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