B Draft Fall 23 Preseason Power Rankings Part II
by Jason on
By IAN CUNDALL
B DRAFT PRESEASON POWER RANKINGS
- Paul
Why they can win: Miller is the best player in the league and I think has another level on offense that he can reach if necessary. With this team construction that likely will be necessary. The Julien’s and Paul will get out of his way and let him cook and step up when needed to add some additional scoring and defense. Paul has shown solid scoring ability and with Miller drawing so much attention could be freed even more. Isaac also showed at the end of last season nice touch around the rim and solid rebounding ability and with as good a passer as Miller is, he should get plenty of easy looks. David, Danner & Taha are all solid role players and can step up if needed giving this team solid depth,
Why they can’t: Lack of secondary scoring. If Miller is off, this team is in big trouble. They don’t really have any ball handlers and they also lack perimeter shooting. Teams will be able to focus on Miller and dare the rest of the team to beat them, which I”m not sure they can do.
- Nate
Why they can win: Nate finds a Time Machine and brings it back to five years ago with him, Ghost and Joel. In all seriousness, that trio has a ton of B Draft experience and you can envision a scenario where Joel is back to his 20 ppg self, Ghost is knocking down every mid range jumper, Nate is making threes and Troy is dominating the glass. Maalouf gives them a rookie with upside and if he’s good that gives them another option on offense and grabbing Silva at 34 was great value given his shooting ability. Are the odds high all these things happen, no, but theres a chance!
Why they won’t: Attendance & lack of a true point guard. Joel is due for a Mexico vacation at some point this year and will miss his fair share of games. Troy is missing the playoffs and without him they have a real lack of size. Also, Ghost is best playing with a true point guard and I don’t see one on the roster so he might be running the baseline to get to his spot to no avail if nobody is looking for him.
- Civale
Why they can win: Kwiatkowski is the wildcard, but if he is anywhere close to what Miller was, with a similar bio last year, he’ll be good value at seven. Him, Remy and Civale has the potential to score a lot of points and provide nice balance with complimenting inside out games. Clarke, Glynn and the Great One are all solid role players and all bring different skill sets to the table, making this a very balanced team.
Why they won’t: Rookie problems and only one ball. It’s a little interesting that Cam brought one of his friends who played in college into the league and then didn’t draft him. He obviously knows more than we do and the fact that he traded up rather than take his friend has me wondering why. Civale and Remy are both best with the ball in their hand and the rookie might be also. We haven’t seen Remy in a few seasons in this league and I’m not sure what his play style will be like so there could be some chemistry issues when it comes to divvying up the shots.
- Harry
Why they can win: If healthy, Nair would have been in discussion for the first pick and that he went before AJ even though he’s out a month, shows how good he can be. Last season, he single-handedly won multiple games for his team and is a threat to drop 40+ in any game. Karim compliment Nair well and could lead the league in offensive rebounds with how much attention Nair is going to draw. Puskas put out an electric workout video and seems like the shooter this team badly needs and Eloi, Harry and Guns are all solid role players. Assuming Nair is healthy they will likely be in every game and most of the time have the best player on the court.
Why they won’t: Attendance and lack of depth. Nair and Guns are out for an unforeseen amount of time so they will be playing with no subs for the foreseeable future. Karim and Harry tend to tire as games go on and Eloi and Puskas aren’t exactly spring chickens either. Harry also constructed a team with two top 10 picks and then the rest of the team came from 30 onwards. Other top teams have far more depth and matchups in some of those games could get tricky.
- Cundall
Why we can win: Koller and Roberts compliment each other really well and should be one of the more dynamic scoring duos in the league. Koller is at his best with a guard that can get him the ball and play a two man game with and I think Roberts can do that. He can shoot from the perimeter and pass which should open things up for Koller. Padavick is a wild card, but he does triathlons, so he must be able to get up and down the court. Everyone on my team can run and we have a point guard to initiate the offense. In a league with not many teams who want to play fast, that contrasting style could be a real advantage.
Why we won’t: Lack of size and reliance on B Draft rookies. Other than Koller we don’t have a lot of size and that will lead to some issues against the bigger teams in the league. Roberts is also on the small side so Packard and Padavick will likely have to step up against the bigger guards in the league. Roberts has never played in B Draft before and Padavick is a true rookie and I have no idea how good he is so that pick might have been a reach.
- Noah
Why they can win: Pollock and Robel is a really solid pairing and compliment each other well. Sam excels coming off picks and Robel screens are among the most difficult to get through in the league. Noah and Angry Ian both have the ability to spread the floor so I can envision a very efficient half court offense with this team. Kenny was great value at 27 as well and will have his go off games where he drops 20+, giving them a wide array of scoring options. Defensively, they will also be annoying to play against with Robel guarding the paint and Sam capable of taking the top guard on the other team.
Why they won’t: Contrasting styles and team chemistry. Sam wants to run and has his best seasons in up tempo teams that like to get out in transition. Unfortunately, this team is not built like that so it’s going to be an adjustment for Sam to get used walking the ball up the court and missing out on those easy buckets. I also have questions about team chemistry here after Noah and Robel’s dust up in the playoffs that ended with Robel throwing a ball at Noah. Maybe those two have worked things out, but if things aren’t going well we could get some fireworks.
- Cam
Why they can win: Cam is more or less running back the same team as last season, but without the MVP and number one overall pick. That’s a bold strategy, but with the talent level down across the league that could work. On defense, this team will be a pain to play against as Lynch has shown he can anchor a defense and DTO and Cam are pests. I like their depth also as Bauman showed the ability to score inside and out and fColin and Gillooly both can shoot and have heat check games where they drop 15+. If these guys are knocking down shots this will open things up for Lynch on the interior. Both Cam and DTO will have to keep up their scoring from last season as well and if they can this is a very balanced team on both ends of the floor.
Why they won’t: Lack of leadership and lack of size. Cam built what was probably the best team he ever will last season and still lost in the championship. He still has to show he can lead a team to the championship and and this team isn’t as good as that one. I also am slightly concerned about the lack of size beyond Nick and Cam. Several teams have multiple bigs and having to put DTO or Bauman on them isn’t ideal and if either of the two bigs miss games the defensive matchups get really tough.
- Etheridge
Why they can win: Etheridge built a heck of a team in his return to B Draft, lucking into a top 4 pick in the lottery and then making a couple of shrewd trades to build a strong team around AJ. AJ is the best point guard in the league and he’s going to have a field day in a lot of these games with how big the rest of the team is. Etheridge, Angelo and Hanks all require big defenders and as a result, most teams won’t be able to put their best defender on AJ unless they have multiple bigs. If Angelo translates his B2 stats to B Draft like we’ve seen past players do then this team could have two of the top five scorers in the league. One of the problems with Etheridge’s last few teams has been a lack of shooting around him, but with AJ and Hanks spreading the floor that really should open the paint up.
Why they won’t win: Attendance and lack of depth. These two go hand in hand, but a hallmark of Etheridge teams is attendance issues. His last team forfeited what felt like half the games that season because of injuries and absences. Because of his trades, this team is very top heavy with a bench consisting of two of the bottom five picks, so any absences by the starting four could create some issues.