Power Rankings 8/7: New Goals for Each Team

We are 12 games into the HLA’s second season, meaning we are already nearly 43% of the way to the end of the regular season. As such, each team’s goals for the year may need a little bit of adjusting, as the season has brought many an unexpected twist and turn. Here in this edition of the power rankings, we assign new goals to each team while discussing their recent performance. I’m Cyclops Inc., and these are the Power Rankings.

1. Houston Cosmos (12-0): Win the HLA Finals. Before the season, almost no one would have predicted the Cosmos would be Finals contenders. Even fewer would have predicted they would win 12 games in a row to start the season, a fitting reversal of last year’s 0-12 start. Yet here they are, atop the league, with arguably 4 All-Stars in the starting lineup and the MVP frontrunner in Joseph Canny. The time is now for the Cosmos to go all-in. After having lost out in the Hardwicke sweepstakes, they ought to continue to pursue a quality forward, as Daiki and Brodeur are too young and inexperienced, in my opinion, to play the four on a championship team. Perhaps they can put together a deadline deal to acquire Cacio Way, or Samuel James, or another forward on a tanking team. Doing so might be just enough to put them over the top.

2. San Diego Surf (9-3): Acquire more depth. The Surf are a very good team, as shown by their excellent play in the last week (4-2, with the only losses to the Cosmos and Blues), but they are not a championship team and may not even be a playoff team yet without more depth. They only have 7 players on the roster, and they paid the price for their small bench in blowout losses to the deeper Cosmos and Blues. With Ben Allen out, they have struggled with the young Joey Bas at the point. They need more depth, especially at the forward and center positions, if they want to compete. Thomas Shoffner is an MVP candidate, Dale is again in the running for DPOY and Iceberg may be the ROTY, but all of it is for naught if they cannot acquire some veteran help for the crew. Perhaps they can acquire some pieces from the Empire, Tides or Quakes, all of whom look sure to go full fire-sale sooner rather than later.

3. Chicago Blues (8-4): Get a quality vet. 0-3 seems like so long ago, and the Blues have gone 7-1 since then, with the only loss during that torrid stretch a narrow one to the Cosmos at home. They look like they may be the most legitimate challengers to the Cosmos for the HLA title, but they still look shaky at times and clearly are missing the bench leadership and support of last year’s 6MOTY Leeroy Smith. Rajah Rose is improving, but he is not consistent enough to play at the 2, and Sergio Fric’s inability to shoot limits his viability at the 3. In order to defend their title effectively, they need a veteran, a guy who can play either the 2 or the 3. Personally, I’d like to see them acquire Cacio Way, but they would do well to get their hands on Percy Snow.

4. Los Angeles Stars (9-3): Find an offense. The Stars may be 9-3, but they often don’t look it. They were hammered by the Chicago Blues, mustering only 36 points in the 17-point humiliation, and barely beat New York with just a 42-38 win. Polan Stronk continues to plug away, averaging 17.5 PPG and shooting 63.9% FG, 47.1% 3PFG, but he cannot do it all himself. The issues are Jacob French and Julius Carter, who together are averaging a paltry 5.3 PPG combined while shooting roughly 40% from the field and only shooting 1 three-pointer the entire year. They are defensive pluses, but not enough so to merit their complete lack of offensive contributions (in particular Carter, who is averaging just 0.8 SPG and 0.7 BPG). They need an upgrade somewhere on the offense outside of Stronk and Trident. Whether that comes from within or from the outside (Cacio Way in purple and gold??) remains to be seen, but they are clearly not title contenders and maybe not even a playoff team without it.

5. Portland Roses (7-5): Get a backup center. The Roses, at 7-5, are still very much in the West’s heated race for the #2 playoff spot. Jamon Alexander is once again playing like an MVP candidate, Mikey Williams and Justin Taylor have been among the league’s best rookies, and veterans Koality Game, Vun Brunson and Jordan Frazier have all stepped up in the absence of Thomas Shoffner. The Roses are still clearly missing a backup center, however. Jay Da God is a great defender, but is young and unpolished and cannot provide offensively, and Rhys Kaneko has good potential on both sides of the ball but is still young. With their forward depth the envy of the league, they have plenty of options to acquire a good backup 5. Perhaps they can use their considerable assets to pry Tyrone Jackson away from St. Louis, or they might be able to get Ed Higgins off the Quakes or Raihan Rizky out of LA. In any case, they will struggle to compete for that second spot without a decent backup.

6. Boston Charms (5-7): Win the Eastern Conference. In acquiring Cedric Hardwicke, the Charms have gone all-in on the now. Whether or not this was a good decision remains to be seen, as they have only a 2-game sample size, but Hardwicke is undoubtedly an upgrade on Tyler Moore, and raises Boston’s ceiling. How high does it raise it? TBD, but a starting line-up with three of the league’s brightest stars and a young but talented bench behind them means that the Eastern Conference ought to be in reach. They’ll have to keep all three healthy, of course, but they look ready as ever to take on the Blues—and perhaps the Cosmos beyond.

7. St. Louis Archers (3-9): Make the playoffs, or blow it all up. The Archers’ current roster makeup is unmistakably mediocre, but so is the East. Despite their putrid 1-8 record after their 2-1 start, they have a legitimate shot at making the East playoffs. Making it with a roster of Leeroy Smith, Jason Garcia, Piotr Vesely, Hanamichi Sakuragi and Tyrone Jackson doesn’t seem too far-fetched, and it’s certainly not as hard as out-tanking the Miami Tides and New York Empire. Alternatively, they can trade the expiring contracts of Smith and Sakuragi to playoff-bound teams needing to stack up, and they could even flip Tyrone Jackson to a title contender in need of a big, like the Surf or Roses. One of the two will have to happen, as treading water in mediocrity is not a viable option.

8. New York Empire (2-10): Tank as hard as possible. The Empire did the right thing by trading Cedric Hardwicke, and it paid dividends immediately, as Jesus James went for 17 points in a gutsy road win for the Empire over the Quakes. Jasper Calandra has shown promise, as have Jon Rahm and Fred Fredericks in their short spans on the floor. They have a logjam at guard, however, with the newly acquired Marcus Nobles and Kyle Mason on the squad, and should flip at least one to a contending team in need of depth (see: Blues, Surf). All of this, of course, leaves out Carl Joseph, who is set to return from his torn groin later this week. Joseph may be the single most coveted player on the market, provided he can stay healthy. In order to tank effectively for the future, he has to be traded as well.

9. Miami Tides (2-10): Get another first round draft pick. The Tides traded disgruntled Jason Garcia to the St. Louis Archers for a second round pick this past week, and it was the right decision—he was not a good fit and they need as many picks as they can get. But Garcia was a quality young piece, something they have a few of, but not enough for an effective rebuild. Cacio Way needs to be traded to a team where he can be a second option, and Kacey Cunningham should go as well. With them off the squad, the Tides can build around the young core of Felipe Santos, Lamarr Chambers and Zach Vega, all of whom have shown promise this year (particularly Chambers recently, who dropped 18 on the Quakes in an encouraging performance). They need another first rounder to truly round out the line-up, and surely Way and Cunningham can be packaged in such a way that they acquire one.

10. San Francisco Quakes (3-9): Build around Samuel James and Darth Jor-El. The pair are just 22 and 20 respectively, something easy to forget considering their level of play. The Quakes have lost 9 in a row, yes, even to other horrible teams, but there have been significant signs of hope. Lamarcus Howard has shown promise, Daws 20 has taken a big step forward this year, James is arguably the game’s best scorer at just 22 and Jor-El, before his injury, was a lock for ROTY (and may still be). Harry Mason and Dizzy Michaels are not parts of the backcourt of the future, however. They need young guards in a big way, and with plenty to speak of in next year’s draft, they should look to nab some more picks. Percy Snow has to go on the block, and perhaps Ed Higgins should follow him. It’s a lost year in the Bay Area, but the future remains extremely bright if they play their hand right.