Well, we’re halfway through the 2023 regular season. Let’s take a look at where everyone is at:
TIER 1: HAPPY ON TOP
Power:
Glen Rice Jr. hasn’t been the kind of individual force he was last season, when he finished third in the league in total points and averaged 17.5 points per game. This season, Power has featured a more balanced attack, and Rice has averaged just 12.0 per game – Royce White actually leads the league in scoring through Week 4. However, Rice is averaging more assists per game than he did last year, and when Power needs it, Rice can still grab himself a bucket, which he showed when he scored the team’s final 9 points in their 54-51 win over the Ball Hogs.
Triplets:
Jeremy Pargo is averaging slightly more points per game than 2-time MVP Joe Johnson and shooting it a bit more efficiently, but Johnson has been getting it done in other areas. Johnson is averaging 10 rebounds per game, the 2nd-best mark in the league, and 3.8 assists per game, which is tied for the third-highest mark in the league. It’s going to be very hard to stop Pargo and Johnson if they keep playing like this. By the way, Pargo has made four four-point shots thus far – the rest of the league has made four shots from four-point range combined.
Killer 3’s:
The league’s best defensive team just keeps winning. When Donte Greene looks like a true #1 scoring option, like he has for the past two weeks, everything seems to be in place for Charles Oakley’s team.
Ghost Ballers:
Chris Johnson, who stands at 7 feet tall and is equally capable of dominating the paint and beating teams from the perimeter, is as talented as any player in the league, but he doesn’t always look to dominate. That’s why Mike Taylor and his ridiculous energy level compliments Johnson’s game so well – when Taylor is able to take on the majority of the offensive load, like he did against Tri State, everything gets more comfortable for Johnson and the rest of the talented bigs on the Ghost Ballers roster.
TIER 2: JUST OFF THE TOP
Ball Hogs:
The Ball Hogs really don’t deserve to be 2-2 – their two wins were blowouts and their two losses came by final scores of 51-49 and 54-51. Still, wins are wins and losses are losses, and the Ball
Hogs really can’t afford to lose again if they want to ensure their playoff fate is in their own hands.
Trilogy:
Trilogy will be faced with a tough choice after Ryan “Hezi God” Carter’s breakout performance in Week 4. If they choose to keep Carter and Isaiah Briscoe and team Captain James White both return, it will mean letting go of David Hawkins. Hawkins has played sparingly over the past two seasons, but he’s been a consistent part of Trilogy during their championship runs, and his veteran leadership has been valuable. Nobody said three-peating was going to be easy.
Tri State:
Tri State was too reliant on the three last season, and it looks like there’s danger of the same thing happening to them this season. The team needs to find a way to establish an interior presence. That could mean getting DeShawn Stephens going or using Jason Richardson as a big man more often, but living on the perimeter seems a bit too risky for this squad.
Enemies:
Jordan Crawford might be a dark-horse MVP candidate. He’s leading the league in scoring, shooting 55% from the field, and an electric 64.7% from three. When you consider how many of his shots are long jumpers off the dribble, that’s ludicrous. Of course, he only has four assists through four games, but why pass it off if you can pull up and sink a jumper whenever you want?
Bivouac:
If a 50-24 loss doesn’t make Bivouac realize they need to find more consistent sources of offense, nothing will.
TIER 4: IN MAJOR TROUBLE
3’s Company:
How numbers can mislead you: Michael Beasley is tied with Jordan Crawford for the league lead in scoring, leads the league in rebounds, and leads the league in blocks. However, he’s shooting just 39.5% from the floor and 33.3% from three-point range, which isn’t acceptable for a player who uses as many of his team’s possessions as Beasley does. He needs to sacrifice some volume and focus on efficiency for 3’s Company to have a chance of salvaging their season.
3 Headed Monsters:
This is looking like a lost season for 3HM, but Brandon Moss emerged as a possible bright spot in Week 4. He instantly established himself as one of the best pure athletes in the league, so we’ll see what he can do in the latter half of the season.
Aliens:
It’s time to go back to the drawing board for Aliens. The first step for them should be to find out how to get Dusan Bulut back on his game and start running things through him again – they’ve been content to play through Janis Timma, but that hasn’t gotten them a win yet.