COLORADO SPRINGS, CO: Week 2 Preview | Is Hand Down Man Down The Real Deal?

"Successful Players Are Givers, Not Takers, Of Positive Energy...They Understand Their Personal Success Is Dependent Upon The Team's Success" - Unknown

Well hello Ultimate Hoops Nation! This is your main man Jazz "The Stat Man" Williams checking in with your in depth week 2 preview of basketball in the Pikes Peak region. Since this is the first preview of the season let me give our new readers and a quick reminder to my loyal readers of what they should come to expect. Here you will find the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth (well as I see them) and some occasional, but unbiased motivational jabs to your team or select players. Now that I have the introduction out the way it's time for me to do what I do when I do what I do oh so well...It's The Preview Baby!

(0-1) Team Wes vs. (1-0) Dem Boyz 6:30pm
In the first game of the night we get to see how one of the early favorites to win it all (Team Wes) rebounds from last week’s shootout that resulted in most of the team’s players first loss in almost eight seasons. While on the other side Dem Boyz look to really make a name for themselves and to show the league they belong at the top of the food chain.

For Team Wes it's going to be an uphill battle after it was reported to one of our insiders they would be without Wes "Instant Buckets" McKenzie (37ppg, 56%fg, 47%3p, 8rebs & 5asst) for two weeks as he takes care of some off the court business. Many teams would go into panic mode if they found out they would be without that kind of production for two games, but them knowing National Tournament MVP Anthony Byrd will be making his season debut allows them to sleep a little better at night heading into Thursday. With Byrd suiting up it creates one of the best two man tandems on offense and defense in Ultimate Hoops history when you throw in Marco "Airlines" Clark (27ppg, 56%fg, 75%3p, 6rebs & 4stls) to play Batman or Robin. Now it's been said when Marco plays with that killer mentality he's the best out there on the court, but as we all know those moments normally take place when someone gets under his skin, so I ask who from Dem Boyz is willing to bark up the wrong tree to find out how good he really is?This game of course is played with five guys on the court so it will take the help of the role players Corey Brown (20ppg, 42%fg, 8rebs, 3asst & 1stl) who showed last week he still has that inside/out game ready to put on display if needed, Phillip "Money" Valdez (8ppg, 6rebs & 2asst) stretching the defense out with those three's and Tevin Holt providing his tenacious defense he's starting to become known for.

On the other side you have a young team that seems to follow the lead of rookie Seth "Coach" Hawkins (20ppg, 54%fg, 40%3p & 6rebs) who after playing against him last week showed a great deal of poise, patience and leadership. How well this team plays tomorrow night has me willing to bet it will depend heavily on how well he can keep his team playing relaxed and inspired basketball. At the top of that list of players he has to worry about will be Benjamin Cohn (20ppg, 42%fg & 11rebs) who even though he put up a double double last week took almost a half to get it together. He has the athletic ability to play a stretch four, but will need to bring a bag of confidence this week in the paint or we might see a lot more perimeter shooting which would play into the favor of Team Wes. Another player that this team feeds off of and should be a legit problem for Team Wes is Chance Matlock (23ppg, 58%fg, 8rebs, 4asst & 2blks) who is probably one of the most athletic players (that can actually play) this league has seen in quite some time. It will be interesting to see how he will matchup against Anthony Byrd or maybe Marco Clark and if they will be able to slow him down. The key to pulling this victory out for Dem Boyz believe it or not will be based on if either Grant Morin (18ppg, 43%fg, 60%3p & 12rebs) or Zach Hawkins (15ppg, 46%fg, 33%3p, 6rebs & 3asst) can create a mismatch with their speed and take quality shots. Though if the rim is a as big as it was last week there should be no problem getting buckets.

Prediction: I see size and depth being a problem for Dem Boyz after just finding out they will be without Jethro Wilson for the season with a knee injury of which he is having surgery for his week. 5 on 5 with no subs on either side sounds like gut check time for both teams. Team Wes 64 - Dem Boyz 51.


(0-1) Free Agents vs. (1-0) Hand Down Man Down 7:30pm
Oh how things can change from day to day for a team like the Free Agents that started the season with 9 players and has dwindled down to seven with all of their size gone making them the shortest team in the league, but I mean height isn't everything is it? Hand Down Man Down shouldn't have much to worry about in the size department with another possible pickup of a 6'3" former MVP (name to be disclosed at a later date if signed). Good thing for the Free Agents height doesn't equal consistency, because almost every player on this HDMD team minus one has a track record of tanking following previous big games. Could this be an upset in the making?

In order for the Free Agents to have a shot at pulling off a much needed early season win they will need a repeat performance from Team leading scorer Joel Garbe (31ppg, 64%3p, 5rebs & 2asst) who was just four points shy of tying his career high of 35 points set six seasons ago. Now while his scoring presence is very much needed his team leading five turnovers will need to come down especially against a team that had 25+ points in transition off of turnovers last week. Another key component to the success of this team will be Nikita Smullen (23ppg, 40%fg, 9rebs & 5asst) who posted his career high of 23 points where he previously never posted a double digit performance in his short eleven game career. In this game he will have to show a little more patience in his shot selection as he has a quick trigger finger averaging 25 attempts in just one game thus far. Now it's not all bad as he is the most athletic player on the team and that will be his most prized asset needed to exploit the slower vertically challenged players on HDMD (not to say y'all can't jump it's just not happening on a consistent basis) for some easy buckets. Getting another solid performance out of Rob Lempke (14pts, 45%fg, 4rebs, 2asst & 1blk) will be key giving the fact they have two players in Amelia Yates and DeMarcus Forney making their season debut which will take possibly a half for them to gel. That could be a problem going against a team that meshed well last week.


Hand Down Man Down looked very focused last week and it looked like there was plenty of ball to go around with 3-4 players that need a minimum of 10-12 attempts to be a factor which if their sharing the ball should be a major concern for the Free Agents. When you think of Hand Down Man Down you think of a team that relies heavily on the output of star guard Michael "The Surgeon" Harper (31ppg, 46%fg, 40%3p, 6rebs & 2asst) who out of 100 games has only missed the double digit mark in points 19 times. Now that's not to say all he does is score because he plays pretty solid defense with a 1.7 career average in steals, but scoring is his biggest asset. With that being said the biggest threat on this team and also the biggest problem for the Agents on Thursday will be their off the season acquisition of Seth "Smooth" Thompson (29ppg, 50%fg, 45%3p, 12rebs & 4stls) who has the ability to play on the blocks with his smooth back to the basket game, but can also take most defenders off the dribble not to mention knock down the long ball if left alone. With only one player shorter than six foot they should have no problem dominating the paint unless of course Tim Kohere (16pts, 54%fg, 16rebs, 5asst & 3blks) is still vacationing with the frequent flyer miles he was awarded last week. Are you still seeing blue skies? But on a serious note if he is able to keep up that production it's going to be hard to stop their balanced attack. The funny thing is I didn't even mention the rest of the team (Garet Bohuslavsky, Sam McKenzie & Chuck McKenzie) who if anyone of them catch fire could make this game look like a scene out of The Purdge 2...a straight MASSACRE!

Prediction: All signs point to a lopsided victory for Hand Down Man Down, but anything is possible on any given Thursday. Hand Down Man Down 84 - Free Agents 61.

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