Hoops League Game 10 Power Rankings

We are already 10 games into Season Four, and the league is finally starting to sort itself out. In this edition, we look at the players who are hidden X-factors to success for their teams, and rank those teams based on their recent performances. I’m Cyclops Inc., and these are the power rankings.

1. Chicago Blues (10-0)

Hidden X-Factor: Scottie Thompson. Let’s not overthink why the Blues are 10-0: Walter Yensid, now 31 years old, is averaging a career-high 24.1 PPG, career-high 6.3 APG, career-high 3.7 SPG, with a career-high 61.7% FG and a career-high 52.4% 3PFG. He’s doing all this with arguably the best supporting cast of his career, something that makes it even more awe-inspiring. But Yensid is not responsible alone for the Blues’ success; that supporting cast has put in great work, and Thompson has been a key element of their success. He’s averaging a career-high 3.8 RPG, and has provided 6.9 PPG on a career-high 55% from the field to bolster the Blues scoring attack. He’s had the type of revitalization that NY hoped he would have last year, something that is a great testament to the Chicago system. He needs to continue to be effective on both ends if the Blues want to win, because Yensid simply cannot do it all himself.

2. Los Angeles Stars (8-2)

Hidden X-Factor: Sebastien Trident. As is similarly the case with Chicago, Los Angeles has been marvelous largely thanks to one player, namely, Polan Stronk. He’s averaging career highs in PPG, RPG, SPG, BPG, FG% and 3PG%, and he put up 48 (!!!) against Chicago on the road to drag LA into 2OT. But Stronk is not alone; much of what has made LA so good this year is defense, something Stronk still lacks in, and Trident is at the forefront of that. He’s put up career numbers in RPG (7.9) and BPG (4.9) up to this point, efforts that have helped the Stars lock down more than a few good-to-great centers. But Trident’s offense is also significant—he’s the third highest scorer on the team behind Stronk and Carl Joseph, putting up 8.0 PPG on 70.2% from the field. The Stars need him to play with that same consistency if they want to truly rule the West this season.

3. Boston Charms (7-3)

Hidden X-Factor: Tone Show. Show, acquired just before the start of the season in a trade with Atlanta, isn’t exactly an X-factor on this star-studded team, but they certainly need his play to be solid on both ends for them to unlock their true potential. He’s averaging a career-high 1.1 SPG up to now, and his 0.6 BPG have helped them out as well. But he is averaging just 1.7 PPG on 29.6% FG, and this offensive underperformance is part of a larger, concerning pattern for Boston: everyone in the starting lineup sans Cedric Hardwicke has a career-low FG% up to this point. Boston’s stellar defense, bolstered by Show, has done more than enough to make up for their anemic offense, but they won’t be able to beat the real good teams without good offense, as the 52-46 loss to Houston proved (Shoffner went 6/14, 1/7 from 3; Jaos was 6/12, 3/9 from 3).

4. Houston Cosmos (7-3)

Hidden X-Factor: Rebounding. The Cosmos have once again looked like a machine at times, and their rebounding, led by the resurgent Maxwell Goodson, has been a big part of that. Despite their ranking 11th in the league in RPG as a team, to date, they are undefeated when outrebounding their opponent. Some of this has to do with the fact that Goodson typically dominates the inside when he rebounds well—case in point, has 12-point, 15 rebound performance that powered Houston over his old team in Boston. He’s currently leading the league in RPG by a wide margin at 12.1, with the next closest being Eddie Dale at 9.9. The next best rebounder on the team, Beef Supreme, has just 1.5, and that’s while playing backup minutes. If Houston – and Goodson – outrebound their opponents, they outperform them. But if they fail to do so, it spells trouble for their chances. With the decline of Joseph Canny becoming rather evident this season, they may have to look outside their organization to get some consistency on the glass.

5. Miami Tides (7-3)

Hidden X-Factor: Lamarr Chambers. Now in his third year in the league, Chambers has been expected to fill a large role for the Tides, a role that has gotten even larger in the wake of the blockbuster deal that sent away Francisco Gerbi: supporting and backing up Anthony Bridges. Having shifted to the bench now that Hanamichi Sakuragi is in town, Chambers will be tasked with filling in for Bridges when he rests, and coming off the bench to replace him in games, a daunting challenge for the young star. In his first game in the new role, Chambers scored 9 points on 4/6, 1/1 from deep, a solid performance, one that was on-par with Chambers’ output to date—he’s putting up 7.8 PPG on a ridiculous 67.3% FG, 66.7% from range, plus 4.2 RPG. Though those numbers are likely unsustainable, if Chambers can put up anything close to that, the Tides’ ascension to contender status will be truly complete.

6. San Francisco Quakes (7-3)

Hidden X-Factor: Car Lo and the defense. Last year’s #1 pick has experienced something of a sophomore slump, putting up lower numbers in PPG, FG%, and SPG, with slightly higher numbers in RPG and BPG. His regression in SPG has affected the team overall—with just 3.5 SPG as a unit, they are middle of the pack, far off from contenders like Houston (11.4), Boston (10.3), Los Angeles (6.5) and Chicago (6.1). Thanks to the efforts of Darth Jor-El, They are 4th in blocks per game with 6.0, but again are behind LA, Boston and Chicago. As one of the most skilled defenders in the league, Car Lo has to step up his play, plain and simple, and the rest of the Quakes could benefit from playing harder on that end as well. Without improved defense, it is unlikely they will be able to make much headway in the playoffs.

7. Portland Roses (4-6)

Hidden X-Factor: Bench play. Because of the shabbiness of the bottom half of the West, particularly in the wake of San Diego’s blowing things up, the defending champs will likely return to the playoffs. However, unless the bench really picks things up, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to do much beyond lose ignominiously in the first round. The starters have mostly stepped it up in the absence of Koality Game and Percy Snow—Vun Brunson is making an early case for MIP with career-highs in FG, 3PFG, RPG, and PPG, as well as a near-career high in APG, Jordan Frazier has stepped it up on both ends, particularly on D, Justin Taylor is setting career highs in PPG, FG%, SPG and BPG, and Jamon Alexander is still Jamon Alexander, yet the Roses are 4-6. The answer as to why only requires a brief look at their bench—from top to bottom, it is entirely rookies, and they have played like it thus far. Zane Cruz has shot awfully, Jerry Platinum has looked invisible at times, Brook Reid has been a defensive liability and has shot terribly on the interior, and while King Ntilikina has been fine, he hasn’t done much. Portland needs the rookies to grow up and grow up fast for them to make noise in the playoffs.

8. San Diego Surf (4-6)

Hidden X-Factor: Chemistry. The Surf ostensibly blew it up by trading Dale and Sakuragi for Garcia and Gerbi, but the front office has maintained that they may still be in contention for a playoff spot, and in the one-game sample size of their 5-point road loss to the Quakes, that may not be a crazy idea. The key, of course, is working together effectively. Joey Bas has to be a real leader on and off the floor for this to work, and his play has to be an example for the younger guys. 9 points on 4/10 won’t cut it. The same goes for Francisco Gerbi, whose 15-point, 7/12 performance was just what the doctor ordered in his Surf debut. The Surf are dogfighters now, underdogs whose best asset is being, as it has been said, “young, scrappy and hungry”. With teamwork and leadership where necessary, the Surf can win some games they have no business being in, and may push for a playoff spot. Without it, it will wind up a lost year.

9. St. Louis Archers (2-8)

Hidden X-Factor: Offensive efficiency. It’s easy to point at the defense, or lack thereof, as St. Louis’ biggest problem, and it probably is, to be frank. Dead-last in SPG and 2nd to last in SPG, the Archers’ lack of maturity has led to a dismal performance on that side of the basketball. But the Archers’ greatest strength, and also their greatest weakness, is truly offensive efficiency. The team with the best 3PFG% in the league right now? Not Chicago, or LA, or Houston, or any other contender. It’s St. Louis, who have shot a blistering 51.7% from deep this season behind the MIP frontrunner Jason Garcia’s breakout year. Yet the Archers are 9th in overall FG%, and 2nd in TOPG. Their offense has been prolific at times, but they haven’t been able to keep their hands on the ball enough to see it truly break out. Given the nature of the bottom of the East, they don’t need to be spectacular to be efficient—they just need to be a little bit better.

10. New York Empire (2-8)

Hidden X-Factor: Time and stability. Before winning two in a row, the Empire were 0-8, and deservedly so: They are 11th in PPG, 11th in FG%, 8th in 3PFG despite being in 4th in 3PPG, 12th in RPG, 8th in SPG, 12th in BPG, and 1st in TOPG. In other words, they’ve been awful. The remedy to this is simply time. It takes time for young players, and young teams, to develop, and the results can often be immediate with time—look at Atlanta last year, rallying from 1-17 to 9-24. Guy Chug’s 30-point breakout performance against St. Louis could be a harbinger of the ideal future for NY. Dan Glisack has been extremely effective off the bench. Aaron Ford is a tremendous passer already. Jesus James has been great as a starter. There’s room for optimism for NY, but they have to be patient and not expect results to be soon forthcoming.

11. Atlanta Activists (1-9)

Hidden X-Factor: Developing a 3-point shot. The Activists shoot well, they don’t turn the ball over quite as much as other bad teams, they rebound fine, pass well, and play some defense from time to time. And yet, they are 1-9. Why? They simply cannot shoot threes, or if they can, they don’t. They’ve actually hit on 50% of their threes this season, but they only make 1.6 per game. Atlanta has long had an inside-first philosophy that works well with Zach Vega, Adobo Flakes and Felipe Santos, but it isn’t working. They’ve lost 3 games by 6 points or less this season, a league-high, and 3 pointers, or rather the lack thereof, have hurt them in all 3 games. Santos, Rahm, Vega, and even Fred Fredericks have shown some ability to shoot the three with consistency. They need to exercise that ability if they want to live up to any of that pre-season optimism.

12. Vancouver Summit (1-9)

Hidden X-Factor: Jamie Spencer and Dizzy Michaels. The league’s youngest, and worst, backcourt is in its second year, and though there’s been some improvement, everyone understands it is going to be a slow process. How fast that process goes will likely determine how many games the Summit win. True, Tyrone Jackson is the real determinant of their performance, but Spencer and Michaels are the future faces of the franchise, and need to start playing like it. Michaels has shown more confidence as a shooter this season than in years past, but it’s come at the price of efficiency—he is turning the ball over a career-high 2.3 times per game, and shooting a career-low 35.1% from the field. Spencer, on the other hand, has shown more tangible improvement, upping is PPG, RPG, APG and BPG, with minor drops in FG% and SPG. Both are the keys to Vancouver’s success at this point, and where they go, the Summit go.