Photo: NUIM.net
The winter intramural season’s playoffs are fast approaching, and while some of IM basketball’s best teams are on a bye for the last week of the regular season, there’s still plenty of jockeying to be done in week five.
With that said, now seems like as good a time as any to remind you what the rankings you see below are all about.
The teams listed are a reflection of what we think are the best teams in intramurals as of this moment. So while your team might be 4-0 and ranked in the top 15 of the NUIM web site’s power rankings, that’s no guarantee that you’ll be mentioned here. Take White league’s Minority Report for instance. Their week one loss to Dynamic Mechanisms (who is now 3-0, and a pretty good team in their own right) has them hovering around 20th on the IM web site’s ranks. But in reality, they played that week one game with 4 players for the first half, including a girl they pulled of a treadmill at Blomquist. At full strength, they are potent offensively and pesky on D, a team that will be a nightmare second-round match-up for one of the league’s top seeds.
So, again, if your team is ranked in the top ten via the mathematical power rankings, congratulations, that’s no small feat. But the point of The Post’s rankings is to sort out strength of schedule and give you an overall look at who’s record is deceiving and who the hottest teams are, even if they have a loss on their record. With that said, drink in this week’s White league Top 10 (Purple league was off due to Super Bowl hi-jinks, so refer to last week’s Post ranks in anticipation of Sunday’s games.)
WHITE LEAGUE RANKINGS
Dropped out: Deep Friars (4-0, Last week: W 49-34 vs. Pike All-Stars)
On the Bubble:
JKFLB
Dynamic Mechanisms
Maybe She Likes It
E3
The Sun Wah Ducks
News & Notes:
• When we tell you about the Games to Watch, it’s no casual selection of match-ups. Take last week, for instance, when the #1, #4, and #10 seeds in White league all lost, all in games we suggested you keep an eye on.
• Footprints in the Jungle continues to be the most underrated team in White league, and will probably stay that way after a hard-fought loss to The Fighting Chabraja’s, a team with size and length but little firepower in the backcourt. The key to beating Footprints, though? The Chabraja’s went to a 2-3 zone in the second half, holding the Jungle boys to 3 points in the first ten minutes of the half. The zone neutralized Footprints’ superior cutting, screening and passing, and forced them into settling for outside looks.
• Evans Scholars looks like the real deal this year, but don’t read so much into Family Institute losing. They rarely bring their full complement of players, but you can bet your ass they will be there come playoff time. Still, the Scholars are a feisty bunch, and will outwork you to death. If Justin Smith and Daniel “D Speedz” Spedale are hitting from the perimeter, ES is tough to stop.
• Beta A-Sigma Chi was one of the best games of the week, but it ended in surprisingly anti-climactic fashion. Beta will be scary as a middle-seed in the postseason, because they play great defense and have exceptional balance. As for Sigma Chi, if they had a scoring threat at point guard, they’d rank much higher. Even without one, they dominate on the boards and play stingy enough D to beat about anyone.
This Week’s Games to Watch:
White League:
#5 The Family Institute vs. Pike-Gold, Sunday @ 2PM
Can the Institute right the ship down the stretch and play spoiler to a top team in the postseason? Is Pike Gold legit? Word on the street is Pike’s top White league team guaranteed a victory vs. either Evans Scholars or TFI. So far, 0-for-1.
#1 Dazzling Rainbows vs. Sigma Kill, Sunday @ 7PM
The Rainbows last chance to impress before heading into the postseason as a #1-seed. Are they quick enough to blow past teams with size? Or do they lack an inside presence? We shall see on Sunday, even though it should be an easy win.
DU me in the asquatch 1 vs. Blandpandas, Tuesday @ 7PM
Two fringe teams sit at 2-1 (both teams lost to powerhouse SAE) and want to make a push into the postseason. One will likely end up a 5-seed in the 64-team White League tournament, but which one? And does either have a shot to make a run?
Purple League:
#2 ZBT vs. North Pole, Sunday @ 6PM
ZBT can lock up the two-seed in the Purple league playoffs with a win over North Pole, meaning a potential ZBT-Perculatin’ championship game at Welsh-Ryan in a few weeks. On the other side, North Pole needs to win in order to avoid the 8-9 play-in game, which, even if they win, would mean an almost-sure thrashing at the hands of Perculatin’ in the 1-8 match-up.
#3 Pike Garnet vs. #4 Lodge, Sunday @ 6PM
Pike still has a shot at the two-seed in Purple, and is coming off a monster win two Sundays ago. Lodge is playing just its second game this season, and would hate to go into the playoffs with only a forfeit win to their name. This game’s winner is at least the 3-seed, which means avoiding Perculatin’ until the finals, should they make it that far.
After all the chatter I got going on your blog post last week I was at least hoping for a “Not As Good As They Look On Paper” nod for Twine Flu. Not even a single mention? Cold as ice!
Dazzling Rainbows rely too heavily on the long ball. A 3-2 zone with 2 decent sized guys down low would neutralize their offense.
Jersey Shore Blowouts haven’t played anybody worth mentioning, and neither has Minority Report.
Beta’s only offense comes from points off turnovers from their 1-3-1, which won’t be a problem for any top playoff teams (Sigma Chi had some trouble with it, but that game wasn’t as close as the score suggests).
The Family Institute and Sigma Chi are my top 2 teams. When FI has all their players, the 1 on 1 matchups are usually too tough on teams with only 1 or 2 good defenders, and they move the ball really well against any zone. Sigma Chi is probably the most athletic team, and if they can just improve their outside shooting and free throws, they’ll be tough to beat in the playoffs.
When are we gonna get some floor hockey love?