TUNE IN ON SATURDAY ON CBS AND PARAMOUNT PLUS AT 1:00 PM EST FOR POWER VS. ENEMIES, WHICH WILL BE FOLLOWED BY KILLER 3’S VS. TRI STATE AT 2:00 PM ON CBS/PARAMOUNT PLUS. AT 3:00 PM EST, TRIPLETS VS. BALL HOGS WILL FINISH THE DAY – THAT GAME WILL BE AVAILABLE ON THE STREAMING SERVICES LISTED BELOW.
ON SUNDAY, THE GAMES WILL START AT 3:00 PM EST WHEN THE 3 HEADED MONSTERS PLAY 3’S COMPANY. AT 4:00 EST, THE ALIENS WILL PLAY BIVOUAC. AT 5:00 EST, THE GHOST BALLERS WILL PLAY TRILOGY TO CLOSE OUT THE WEEKEND. YOU CAN WATCH THOSE GAMES ON VYRE OR DAZN, TWO STREAMING SERVICES THAT HAVE PARTNERED WITH THE BIG3. YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THEM HERE:
VYRE: https://vyre.tv/downloadvyre/
DAZN ON APP STORE:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dazn-stream-live-sports/id1129523589
DAZN ON GOOGLE PLAY:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dazn&hl=en_US&gl=US
YOU CAN ALSO WATCH TRIPLETS VS. BALL HOGS AND ALL 3 OF THE SUNDAY GAMES ON THE BIG3 YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
SATURDAY
GAME 1: POWER VS. ENEMIES
This game will be a homecoming of sorts for Power coach Nancy Lieberman, whose first female pro team was the Dallas Diamonds and was later the coach of the Texas Legends, the G-League affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks. In Week 2, Lieberman’s Power (1-1) squad continued to show an impressive blend of size and passing ability.
Royce White and TJ Cline can really move the ball for guys their size. Cline also has a soft touch and a sixth sense for where to find soft spots against the defense, and White has the strength and willingness to play straight-up bully ball when the moment calls for it.
Glen Rice Jr. continues to look like a good use of the #1 overall pick in the 2022 BIG3 Draft, as he’s shown the ability to score from anywhere on the floor at any time, even when his shot is heavily contested.
In their Week 2 showdown with the 3 Headed Monsters, it was Power’s shooting that let them down. They finished the game 1-7 from three-point range and just 3-7 from the free-throw line, which under FIREBALL 3 rules meant they left eight points on the charity stripe. The key for them in this game will be getting those shots to fall and providing more space for their players to go to work around the rim.
The Enemies (1-1) had a Game of the Year contender in Week 2 against Bivouac. Both teams were absolutely on fire from the field, and they traded blows until the Enemies came away with the 52-49 win.
The Enemies did get some bittersweet news this week. After his absolutely jaw-dropping Player of the Week Performance against Bivouac, Elijah Stewart earned himself an invite to the Pelicans’ Summer League squad. That’s obviously great news for Stewart (and the Pelicans), but the Enemies will be without Stewart’s services for the next two weeks. Filling in his roster spot will be Jordan Crawford, the former first-round NBA Draft pick who’s been known to be a walking bucket himself from time to time. The loss of Stewart won’t be easy for the Enemies to overcome, but there’s still enough talent on the team for them to come away with a win on Saturday.
GAME 2: TRI STATE VS. KILLER 3’S
Tri State (1-1) turned things around in a major way in Week 2. With Captain Jason Richardson back in the lineup to provide leadership and spectacular play on both sides of the floor, Tri State was able to essentially nullify Week 1 Player of the Week Michael Beasley and come away with a convincing 51-35 victory.
Tri State’s execution was on point for the entire game, with consistent and purposeful off-ball movement leading to open shot after open shot for Dr. J’s team. If they can play like that again on Saturday, I like their chances.
The Killer 3’s (1-1) are coming off a hard-fought 48-51 loss to Trilogy in Week 2. Frank Nitty and Co. played hard, but they didn’t have an answer for Trilogy’s size – Amir Johnson and Earl Clark finished with a combined 33 points on 15-20 shooting from the field, and the ultra-slippery Isaiah Briscoe added 16 points of his own.
This should be a pretty evenly-matched game. If Tri State can execute on offense the way they did in Week 2 and contain Donte Greene the way they contained Beasley, I like their chances. However, Frank Nitty’s club isn’t in the business of making things easy for their opponents on either side of the floor.
GAME 3: BALL HOGS VS. TRIPLETS
The Ball Hogs’ (0-2) couldn’t secure a win in Week 2, but they looked a lot more dangerous with Captain Leandro Barbosa back in the lineup and putting constant pressure on the defense with his speed and passing ability. Barbosa’s shot was a bit off, but he’s still a major difference-maker in this league.
Meanwhile, the Triplets (2-0) stayed undefeated despite an off day from Joe Johnson, one of the rarest occurrences in the BIG3. Fortunately, with the two-time MVP struggling, his Co-Captains the Pargo brothers put on a show in their hometown of Chicago. Jeremy and Jannero combined to score a combined 35 points, make seven combined three-pointers, and a four-point shot just to put a bow on things.
I still like what Rick Barry’s squad showed with Barbosa back in the lineup, and they definitely have a chance to get off the schneid but if Iso-Joe can get cooking again or the Pargo brothers do anything vaguely resembling what they did in Week 2, I’d expect the Triplets to remain undefeated.
SUNDAY
3’S COMPANY VS. 3 HEADED MONSTERS
For me, the story of this game is which Michael Beasley we’ll see. Will it be the player who scored 26 points, including 19 in the first half, in a Player of the Week Performance against Bivouac in Week 1? Or will it be the player who struggled mightily against Tri State in a blowout loss? (Also, Beasley did leave the game against Tri State with an injury, so it would be a good idea to keep an eye on that when his team plays 3HM.)
Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush are both steady presences, Alex Scales can still shoot it, and Julian Wright is a physical presence down low, but I think 3’s Company (1-1) is a team that goes as Beasley goes.
As for 3HM (1-1), they’ll likely need to shoot better than they did against Power, when they made a grand total of zero shots from beyond the arc. Fortunately, as mentioned above, Power couldn’t make a basket from outside either, and 3HM going 9-10 from the line was likely the difference in the game.
Kevin Murphy has a knack for both making tough shots and getting himself to the line (where he was 7-7 against Power), and Rashard Lewis still has that enviable combination of size and touch. Jonathan Simmons didn’t have his best game against Power, but he’s a versatile player with a big body capable of stepping out and shooting it or bullying smaller players down low. As neither team gave their best performance last week (even though 3HM won their game), this matchup is a tough one to call.
ALIENS VS. BIVOUAC
I like this game a lot. Bivouac (0-2) still hasn’t won a game this year, and in fact have not won a game since 2019, but the new-look Bivouac still look like they’re playing well to me. (They made yet another change this week when they released Ike Diogu and filled his roster spot with Garlon Green, team Captain Gerald Green’s brother.) In Week 1, it took a Player of the Week performance from Michael Beasley to beat Bivouac. In Week 2, it took a monstrous Player of the Week performance from Elijah Stewart to rob Bivouac of their first victory of the year. (If an Aliens player is named Player of the Week after Week 3, Bivouac may have to take a look at their defensive execution.) Still, their two losses have come by a combined six points. This team has been much, much better than their record shows.
Captain Gerald Green has been borderline unstoppable as a scorer. Corey Brewer is still playing fearlessly at full speed at both ends of the floor. Jeff Ayres is a true big man and a solid presence in the middle. Will Bynum is quick as they come and has to be respected from the perimeter. Expect this team to bounce back, and don’t be surprised if it happens against the Aliens.
Then there’s the Aliens (1-1). Their constant movement made them perhaps my favorite team to watch in the league when they beat the Enemies in Week 1. However, when they went up against the Triplets in Week 2 without Co-Captain Karlis Lasmanis, they struggled to contain the Pargo brothers and the absence of Lasmanis caused their offense to stagnate, and they found themselves on the wrong end of a blowout loss.
The good news is that this should be the first week of the year we’ll see all three of the Aliens’ players with a FIBA 3×3 pedigree play with each other. Co-Captain big man Tomislav Ivosev missed Week 1 due to Visa issues, and the aforementioned Lasmanis, who was such an important component to their motion-based attack in Week 1, will be returning after playing for Latvia in the 3×3 World Cup during Week 2. I’m excited to see what Ivosev, Lasmanis, and Captain Dusan Bulut, who are all very familiar with each other’s games, will do when they finally get to share a FIREBALL 3 court. I’m extremely excited to see what both teams do in this one.
TRILOGY VS. GHOST BALLERS
Finally, we have the defending Champions Trilogy (1-1) taking on Ghost Ballers (2-0), one of the BIG3’s two remaining undefeated teams. As I said above, Trilogy are coming off a game where their size up front and the ever-elusive Isaiah Briscoe were able to carry them to victory despite a rare off shooting night from James “Flight” White.
I don’t expect them to be able to overpower the Ghost Ballers the way they overpowered the Killer 3’s in Week 2, as the Ghost Ballers have both the 253-pound Darnell Jackson and 6’11 shot-blocking dynamo Chris Johnson on their roster. So far, it’s been Jackson’s combination of speed and size, the shot-making, energy and pure confidence of Mike Taylor, and the unmatched pure talent of Johnson that has allowed the Ghost Ballers to get off to a 2-0 start. I like this matchup for the Ghost Ballers, but it’s never a good idea to count out the champs, especially since I’d expect White to have a bounce-back game.
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