After a phenomenal first week of action, here’s what the BIG3 landscape looks like heading into Week 2:
Tier 1: The Favorites
Trilogy (1-0):
The defending champs kept it going in Week 1 vs. Enemies with a straightforward performance. They missed some shots inside that usually go down for them, but their ability to constantly get into the paint and throw their weight around really frustrated Enemies. This is such an athletic and physical team on both ends; they can get to the rim for a layup or a free throw seemingly whenever they want to break up an opponent’s run, and on defense they’re so solid they almost never give up an easy look. As a bonus, Isaiah Briscoe came out on fire from beyond the arc, hitting five of his six three-point attempts.
There are still some questions about this team’s perimeter shooting and depth (Briscoe and Earl Clark accounted for 46 of the team’s 52 points in Week 1), but Trilogy is still doing everything that allowed them to capture the 2022 Championship.
Power (1-0):
What a mesmerizing performance. Power absolutely played circles around 3HM in a semifinals rematch from last season. They never stop moving, they’re always looking for the extra pass, and they never settle for jumpers. They also go five-deep, and Coach Nancy Lieberman loves to throw different looks out there. At one point during their game vs. 3HM, they were able to throw out a 3-big lineup of TJ Cline, Royce White, and rookie Akil Mitchell. Because of Cline and White’s ability to move the ball, they can make lineups like that work, and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us the rest of the way.
Ball Hogs (1-0):
Break up the Ball Hogs! Their performance against Aliens was nearly flawless. The speed and constant movement of Jodie Meeks and Leandro Barbosa forced Aliens to concede wide-open threes, which they knocked down with ruthless efficiency. The only question for Ball Hogs going into Week 2 is whether they can stick to their fundamentals and keep pressuring the rim when they aren’t red-hot from the field. If they can, this team is capable of doing a whole lot more than just making the playoffs for the first time.
Tier 2: Right on Their Heels
Tri State (1-0):
Really good Week 1 performance from Tri State. They didn’t get as much from new acquisition DeShawn Stephens as some might have expected, but found success playing small-ball with team Captain Jason Richardson taking on the role of de facto big man. I just love how good
Richardson is everywhere on the floor and how professional he is, and you can really see how that rubs off on the rest of the team. BIG3 rookie Devin Ebanks looked fantastic as well – if he can keep shooting the way he did in Week 1, Tri State’s “small-ball” lineups are going to be very tough to handle.
3 Headed Monsters (0-1):
They lost a fairly one-sided game against Power in Week 1. However, there’s still a ton of talent on this team, Power looked like absolute world-beaters, and it’s understandable that the team would take just a bit of time to re-accommodate Reggie Evans, who’s one of the best players in BIG3 history but does have a unique cadence to his game. By the second half of the game vs. Power, Evans seemed much more comfortable on the floor than he did in the first half, and his signature brand of physical play was starting to give Power fits on both ends of the floor.
Bivouac (1-0):
Their win against Triplets wasn’t pretty, but it’s important to be able to grind out wins when everything isn’t clicking perfectly. Garlon Green was a revelation in Week 1, and his stellar play, especially in the second half, was really able to make up for a relatively rough shooting night from team Captain Gerald Green. Look for Gary Payton to go to Garlon Green quickly in Week 2 if the “big” lineup featuring Ryan Hollins gets off to another slow start.
Tier 3: Right There
Killer 3’s (0-1):
The Killer 3’s came up short against Tri State, but there was a lot to like about how they played. Frank Nitty is such an all-around savage, and there’s a lot of size and skill behind him. They are going to make it rough for every single team they play this year.
Ghost Ballers (1-0):
The Ghost Ballers escaped with a Week 1 win over 3’s Company, but there wasn’t a lot to get all that excited about. They’re going to have to do a better job of moving the ball and keeping the floor spaced if they want to get another win in Week 2. Still, props to George “The Iceman” Gervin’s club for keeping its composure despite being down double-digits in the second half, and Jonathon Simmons’ late scoring outburst was very promising.
Triplets (0-1):
A lot of what Joe Johnson and the Triplets were doing was solid; they just had an absolute nightmare of a game from the field. Johnson had some trouble getting to his usual spots, but he also flat-out missed a bunch of shots you can normally count on him to make. Expect him to have his rhythm back and be a lot more efficient in Week 2, and for the rest of the team to follow suit.
Tier 4: Don’t Sleep
Aliens: It was hard to love what they did in Week 1. They were working way too hard for each of their baskets, and the de facto change from DeShawn Stephens to Janis Timma seems to have made them far too dependent on the three-point shot. It was only one week, but the Aliens need to show the kind of ball movement and man movement that got them to the semifinals last season.
3’s Company:
It was unsettling to see 3’s Company return to “Beasley-ball” in Week 1. There was a lot of standing around and watching Beasley isolate and take tough shots. Beasley is talented enough to make a shocking percentage of those, but it’s not a winning formula. Beasley and the rest of the team will need to be more unselfish and creative, like they were in the back half of 2022, to get into the win column.
Enemies:
Enemies actually had a pretty good shot in their Week 1 game against Trilogy, but the team’s inability to get easy baskets can make them tough to love – they’ve got a lot of players very good at making tough shots from the perimeter, but that doesn’t mean they need to rely on tough shots from the perimeter. They’ll also need to do a better job of keeping their composure than they did in Week 1, when three consecutive technical fouls all but defeated them.