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My team stinks this season, so I wouldn't be surprised if my team was low in the PR.

First Power Rankings of the Season

Here our the first power rankings of the season, I'll try to get them up once per week. This is the first power rankings that I've done in quite a while so let me know what you think!

1. Lakers Celts

The Lakers Celts were relegated to D. IV this last season but they don’t look to stay here too long. They have crushed all comers so far, winning games by an average of 39 points. They have done this with a very balanced attack and unselfish play, as they lead the league in assists. They also have benefitted from some stifling defense, only allowing 65.9 points per game, 4 points lower than the next team. With the lack of true top level competition in the Great 8, the Lakers Celts look to be the heavy favorites of making the finals.

2. Winnetka Wizards

The Wizards are looking to finally move up to D.III after a perfect regular season ending in a title loss. The Wizards have displayed a powerful offense so far this season, one that is started by blocks and steals leading to easy fastbreak points. Jonas Janušonis has lead the team on the offensive end. They play the Lakers Celts this week in a game that could go a long way to determining who will advance out of the league this season.

3. Cutters

The Cutters have sat behind the Wizards for a season and a half so far, while they are 2nd best in the division they are still a player or so behind them. They too boast an efficient offense and smothering defense. They force the most turnovers per game out of any team in the league. It’ll be interesting to see if that defense will finally get them over a hump this year.

4. Chicago Thundr

The Thundr get the slight nod over the Lakers after factoring in the cup run they are still on. The Thundr are led by rebounding machine Zach Champion. This team also has the top field goal percentage in the league but their defense leaves a little to be desired. It is more pedestrian and they rank last in opponent turnovers per game.

5. Cincinnati Lakers

The Lakers have transitioned over the past few seasons, they used to live and die by the three pointer, but now they are last in the league in 3pt shooting percentage. Still this team manages to stick around with extremely tough defense, leading the league in opponent field goal percentage. They also share the ball a lot, having two of the top three assists leaders in the league.

6. Indy Superbirds

The Superbirds have the slight edge in the race for the playoffs against 3 other teams that are battling for that spot. They have experienced consistent growth over the past seasons and hope to be rewarded with some post season success now.

7. FC Durham

FC Durham has the highest player salaries in the league but they have not yet managed to translate that to real success. They have come close in several games this year but have fallen just short. Hopefully their luck can change as the season goes on.

8. Scarlet Knight Crusaders

There were three teams that I looked at for the last spot in the power rankings. Ultimately I decided to go with the Crusaders because of super scorer Miguel Pais. He averages 32.5 points per game, a point ahead of the 2nd best scorer and 11 points ahead of the third. This team currently is on the outside looking in on the playoffs by a mere 68 points. With Miguel on their side, they definitely have a chance to close that gap in the season half of the season.

Nice rankings!! Going in to detail about each team in the top 8!!

wtf is up with the name lakers celts LOL im a huge lakers fan (about 16 years now) and i just dont get it....it should be something like lakers > celts LOL

Great job with the power rankings! That takes a lot of time and analysis and your detail per team is impeccable. In D.IV, its always a wild card, however, on where a team is really at. Any team that has been relegated from DIII, or a team that has massive revenue income, or low salaries for staff or team, has different motives. Personally, and I am sure others in our league... could make financial moves and get back (or to) DIII with a click of a mouse. My motives are simple, since I lived in DIII for "X" amount of seasons, is to train younger players, and have FUN..... In DIII, I almost got to DII twice, but, honestly, wasnt ready financially, or from a team roster age perspective. The only way to get there (DII) is to have youth, a big revenue stream (arena size with proportionate ticket pricing), and money in the bank. For me... im having as much FUN at this game as when I started (season 5 I think), just training players and developing a team that could potentially contend in the future. This is a good group of coaches and if anyone ever needs any half-azzed opinion on what/how just PM me and I will be happy to help. I really respect what some coaches have done here with relatively low salaries, especially Minny; it proves that teams with "chemistry" can beat teams with salaries. I learned that the hard way a few times in DIII where I spent cash money near the playoffs, only to come up short to a team that had team chemistry that ultimately put me out. That said, the game engine can also be really harsh sometimes, leaving you scratching your head as to why you lost a game or playoff run. If your not a supporter..... do it.. Im pretty sure these guys have day jobs like we do, and the support could help this game evolve. Which.. while im on a rant roll... is something that would be really refreshing. New graphics during game play? Evolved strategies for situations as presented during your game? Promotion or advertising so more people get exposure to the game? Its pretty limitless considering the popularity of BALL on all levels. Personally, I will be sticking around in this league for a few more seasons to tidy things up, and be able to run through DIII, and ultimately into DII. If you scour the DIII leagues, you will find a ton that are hanging on by a thread, with older players, and very little ability to advance because of financial restrictions.. here.. we have none. Cool to be a part of it.

Coach Wem
Indiana

thanks for the kind words, since if the playoffs started today, id be playing you, better hope i dont find too much success in the post season hahaha. I hust hope to stay here. Ive been in this league/division for a long time, i like it here. as long as i aint getting regulated means i aint losing to badly right?

Wem first of all I appreciate the kind words. Secondly, I agree on a lot of what you say. I have had 2 runs in D.III, one only lasted a season after going from D.V to D.IV to D.III in two seasons and my team wasn't ready. The second time, I lasted five seasons, going from a final four team to relegated in 2 seasons. III is so tough. I actually had planned to make a run at D.III last season but a gamble that didn't plan out led me to where I am, kind of sitting around the middle of the top half of D. IV. I'm happy staying here for right now here too. I'm a little low on money and don't have a whole lot of youth. I've been playing this game since like 10 or 11 and I'm a very competitive person but I'm content here for now.

Week 2 Power Rankings

1. Lakers Celts

The Lakers Celts have stated their claim as the best in the league. They faced a Wizards team on the road and came away with a 15 point win. They seemed to be trying a little bit more than the Wizards, but the win makes a perfect season a real reality half way through. They shut down the best offense in the league, holding them to only 84 points.

2. Winnetka Wizards

The Wizards had a chance to extend a regular season winning streak to over 31 games but they were unable to get the job done against the Laker Celts. The good news is, they only shot 10-27 from 3 and the Celts came up with more fire than this team. They are still not out of it by a long shot although this loss does hurt.

3. Cutters

The Cutters have publicly announced that they are in the business of treading water for the foreseeable future. They have maintained quite a nice cup run while they bide their time. They did pick up a second loss this week though. Super Sentai took advantage of them and pulled out a big 7 point overtime win against them.

4. Chicago Thundr

The Cutters weren’t the only team to fall victim to the Super Sentai as the Thundr couldn’t steal one on the road. There inside offense was shut down by the 2-3 zone of the Sentai. The Thundr also managed to get outrebouned by 11 in the loss. They did manage to right the ship though, beating the Superbirds on tv at home on Saturday.

5. Cincinnati Lakers

The Lakers have transitioned over the past few seasons, they used to live and die by the three pointer, but now they are last in the league in 3pt shooting percentage. Still this team manages to stick around with extremely tough defense, leading the league in opponent field goal percentage. They also share the ball a lot, having two of the top three assists leaders in the league.

6. CHORONG3

This team was upset that I didn’t put them in the power rankings and came out with a vegence this week. I probably should put them over the Lakers after they beat them convincingly on Tuesday, but for now I will leave this team at 6. This team is a dark horse, they gave the Lakers Celts a close game and only have losses against the top 4 teams in the league.

7. Super Sentai

The Sentai move up after having a great week. They beat both the Cutters and the Chicago Thundr. They used the 2-3 zone to perfection, slowing down some great inside offense. They then slowed the game even more with a perfectly ran Princeton offense. They jump into the power rankings, after moving back into playoff seeding and notching two huge wins.

8. Indy Superbirds

Indy couldn’t pull off a big win against Chicago, but they don’t get penalized for that as much as the other teams around them having wonderful weeks. It’s nice to see this team get so far in the cup too although it seems like they will most likely lose next week.

Really nice rankings again. I'm kinda biased since I'm at #1 right now lol! But seriously, all the rankings for each team are nicely written. Excellent!

Does anyone find it ironic he only covers 8 teams instead of the whole 16?

its called power rankings :)