B1 5v5 TUE PRESEASON PREVIEW
by Jason on
BY JAY SHAH
Welcome back to the Tuesday B1 CAC League! Very excited to get a new season underway with a couple of returning teams and as many newcomers. Several teams have seen their rosters undergo massive changes as they attempt to become more competitive - namely, last season’s Markit Basketball changing the name of their club to reflect emotional totem pole Ian Shang, and replacing basically their entire roster outside of Victor and Peter Chang in the hopes that it will put them squarely in contention for a spot in the postseason. The reigning B1 unification champs, Men’s League, aren’t resting on their laurels either however as they return nearly every significant contributor from their championship season and add a couple players hungry for rings of their own in Matt McDonough and Louis Dale. Every team in the league expects to be in competition for the postseason and the Tuesday B1 title, but by the time the 10-week season has ended 2 of the 6 squads will already have those expectations changed drastically. While Men’s League sits on top for now, every team in the league is coming for their spot.
Team-by-Team Previews
Treys for Days
After finishing last season 6-3 (just a game behind the top 2 seeds in Skelton’s Boys and Men’s League) and comfortably grabbing the 3rd seed in the playoffs despite an inexplicable -17 point differential, the Treys will return an identical roster from their last season and hope to rely on consistency and a growing, flourishing team chemistry to finish a bit higher in the standings this time around. Overall, though, Treys for Days is coming off a successful season, having pulled out a thrilling 70-67 win in the semifinals against Skelton’s Boys before falling off in a big way against Tuesday and eventual Unification champs Men’s League, getting smoked 48-65, clearly missing team captain Dana Flood despite standout performances from returnees Wes Schroll and George Thissell. The Treys have to view themselves as the primary competition for the champs and have a good chance to knock them down a peg.
Miyagi-Fang
B2 champs Miyagi-Fang are moving up a division, feeling ready to shed the lower competition and dominate a whole new slate of opponents. Excited to get to know the players on this squad, as I’ve only had the opportunity to watch a couple of them in game action thus far in Djordje Vlajkovic and Spencer Schneider, with each sliding in as valuable archetypes for any team. Vlajkovic is an energetic bruiser in the paint, more than willing to put in the dirty work to pull down tough rebounds on either end of the court and possessing a soft enough touch to make opponents pay for playing him soft. Schneider, meanwhile, classes as a do-it-all 3-and-D player, consistently putting up stats in the steals and blocks category while always being willing to make the right pass, but still able to put up points in a hurry where the situation demands it. It will be interesting to see how these two fit into the architecture of the team, and who on the team ends up being most critical to its success.
Men’s League
The B1 Unification champs return a nearly identical roster in the follow-up to their fantastic fall season, adding only the aforementioned Matt McDonough and Louis Dale to the roster in their quest for back-to-back championships. George Schultz returns to captain the team once again coming off a 7-2 regular season with a healthy +80 point differential, finishing as the #1 seed. Last season only saw the team see a little bit of adversity, as they dominated most of their regular season opponents with ease and even their postseason had only one game with any sort of competition near the end of regulation, with their semifinal game against CCC Studios going down to the wire with Men’s League obviously coming out on top, up 54-52. Men’s League went on to dominate absolutely from there, winning the Tuesday finals 65-48 over the Treys and winning the unification game by a similar margin, defeating Big T by stifling them 52-37 to claim the crown. Men’s League will look to go back-to-back and continue their dominance this season.
Ian Shang
Though this team has the same star players as last season’s 2-8 Markit Basketball squad (-39 point differential) in Peter and Victor Chang, nearly the entirety of the rest of the roster has been changed in the hope of better competing in this league. While Peter and Victor will look to bring back their brand of high energy basketball punctuated by pull-up threes and fastbreak layups set up by high-risk, high-reward steals, respectively, the teammates around them are completely changed. Yinhao (Ian) Shang, the team’s namesake and most fiery player, also returns, but is surrounded by newcomers in Sean Connor, Chris Denham, Dom Paris, Austen Moye, Jake Wallack, and Jacob Abarbanel - only time will tell if the roster changes will bring with them more wins and a more sustainable style of team basketball.
Jelly not Jam
Jelly not Jam will come into the league facing off against fellow newcomers Ten Cent Finishers, looking to make an immediate statement by getting off to a hot start in their new league. As I haven’t had the opportunity to watch any of these players participate as of yet, I can’t prognosticate too wildly on what this team’s fortune will be - but seeing Nathan Nebiye, Andrew Lamarche, Drew Dodakian, Nyindu Kabangu, Gabriel Gerhske, Sam Boyles, Corey Page, and Danny Wang out on the court will quickly show how well they can stand up to the competition in the B1 Tuesday League.
Ten Cent Finishers
Also in their first season in the Tuesday B1 League, the Ten Cent Finishers bring an excellent squad name and new talent into the mix on Tuesdays at JFK. Ryan O’Neil, Matt O’Neil, Ryan McCarthy, Kyle Mak, Joe Shaughnessy, Elijah Friedman, and Brian Mullen will all look to make an immediate imprint on the league as they face off against Jelly not Jam tomorrow in a matchup that should rapidly elucidate which of these two fresh-faced squads will have a shot at showing they belong in B1.
Preseason Power Rankings
- Men’s League
- Treys for Days
- Ian Shang
- Miyagi-Fang
- Jelly not Jam
- Ten Cent Finishers