Without any facts to support this statement, I must say that I cannot recall a greater disparity in the number of games played by teams thus far, after 4 weeks.
DVG’s: 17, 17, 13, 14=61
Gator Bait: 16, 15, 15, 12=58
Hardwood: 14, 17, 14, 9=54
Hillbilly: 15, 17, 9, 11=52
Hoosiers: 15, 18, 12, 13=58
House of Sparky: 14, 14, 15, 11=54
KC: 14, 18, 11, 9=52
Maize & Blue Bloods: 15, 19, 13, 12=59
North Pole: 10, 17, 14, 10=51
Prozac: 14, 18, 13, 12=57
Psychos: 13, 12, 13, 13=51
Saluki YRD’s: 11, 11, 9, 11=42
Sam Jacobson: 12, 15, 15, 11=53
The Hoop Guru: 15, 18, 11, 13=57
Vindaloos: 15, 19, 11, 14=59
Virginia Gentlemen: 12, 17, 12, 12=53
As you can see from above, the disparity in games played varies greatly. Shockingly, the YRD’s have only had 42 games in 4 weeks! The only team with less than 51 games, but another gap is that there are a number of teams having had 51-53 games vs. a number of teams having had 58+ games. That means that if you check the team statistics for the league, as I do each week, what team has scored the most points, attempted and made the most shots, gotten the most rebounds, etc., etc., does show a trend for each team, but means nothing as far as comparing how good they actually are at each stat unless you take the time to divide those numbers by the number of games a team has played so you can determine the rate and/or percentage.
Having noted that, let’s look at the teams after four weeks by conference & division. Again, everything below is just my opinion, and, I reserve the right to be wrong-whether that’s now or later.
Big “O” Robertson Conference
Driesell Division (listed in order of their division record and NOT their overall record)
1. Virginia Gentlemen: 7-5 (3-0), 261.50
VG seemed to be almost overloaded with centers and then, of course, that position group began to underachieve. They do have two studs in McCullar & Dillon Jones. They have guard Xavier Johnson, who, at 27.4 is currently performing at stud+level, but I think will not be able to maintain that, although, again, I could be wrong. 22-23 seems like his landing spot but, who knows? Forward Matt Cross is also currently averaging 25 but also should see a correction down, but, like Johnson, should be a good player going forward. That center position? Okay, but, not only not as good as expected but more up and down. “The Clingan” is not rebounding anything close to what he did last year, so, the “Edey wanna-be” is more of an “Edey pretender” at the moment. They don’t have any roster trash to put out to the curb, although they should continue to peruse the free agent center pool and drop frosh Mgbako to get one.
2. Vindaloos: 4-8 (2-1), 230.98
The Vins’ have three starters, another waiting in the wings for conference play. In other words, they are currently out-gunned, as you can tell from their team scoring average. Osobar, Powell, and, Ike should all be solid. After that they have players that are good for positional depth. Traore is the stud in waiting come conference time. Tytan Anderson has been a huge disappointment, as he was expected to take a nice step up. Ditto and more so for Trey Townsend. They need to find two quality starters to be competitive.
3. Hoosiers 9-3 (1-2), 268.00
They are the highest scoring team in the division and will be battling with the VG’s for Driesell supremacy. Adding Mogbo was huge. Ware has been great and Aimaq is pretty much always Aimaq. Guard position is holding them back. Spencer has actually been better than expected but is their best guard at 21.1 and Hall, as expected, has slipped and logs in at 19.8. Not terrible, but they are in it to win it and need to have one guard who can get 22-23 per. They can drop Pope, Mara & Hansberry, that gives them 3 shots at finding that guard.
4. North Pole Fightin’ Reindeer 4-8 (0-3), 234.75
You would think that a team with Hunter Dickinson (yes, there is definitely a “Dickinson factor”) would be able to put up at least 260 points on average even during these first four crazy weeks, and settle in at 280+, but they are way under. Don’t blame Dickinson (33.4). The guards haven’t been particularly good and the forwards have good numbers but are erratic.
I was wrong about: Kevin Cross. I mentioned that I have been waiting on Cross to put up numbers for three years. Well, he’s doing that. There figures to be some “slippage,” but, the main thing is that he’s being more aggressive offensively and that bodes well for NPFR.
I was right about: Youngblood. He’s a non-player.
It’s too early to say they have a freshman problem but it’s a possibility. They do have some trash to take out of the house in Anderson & Hall.
Driesell Analysis: This is probably the best division from top to bottom. Yes, the Vin’s are not much but North Pole is better than their record, the Hoosiers are one guard away from possibly being elite, and ditto the VG’s at center.
Driesell analysis: VG should be looking up at the Hoosiers in January but can climb up. North Pole a dark horse.
Crum Division (listed in order of their division record and NOT their overall record)
1. Maize and Blue Bloods: 7-5 (3-0), 275.50
The recent pick up of Jamir Chaplin was a BIG one! He really shored up the guard position-the one question mark they had. Chaplin & Omier are studs. Scheierman is currently playing like one and that could hold up. They have quality & quality depth at center. They are fine at the freshman position. They need Isaac Jones to step up his game. Another team that is maybe one player away from trotting out an elite lineup.
2. Psychos: 7-5 (2-1), 262.75
No arguably “splashy” names, but I would argue that this is the best job the Psychos GM has done in assembling a solid lineup from top to bottom. I wonder if a couple of players can sustain their early season averages, but they should still be good even if they drop. Jaedon Ledee is their leading scorer and their top steal. Outstanding get! P.J. Hall has all of a sudden decided that he should score more, because he can, and, he’s rebounding better-so, his performance is a nice big plus. Due to Hall and Lahkin, they don’t need Josh Cohen to be their top center anymore, which makes the center position one of strength and depth for them. They added frosh Dillingham as a FA, another great get. They are firmly in the hunt!
3. Hillbilly Maulers: 4-8 (1-2), 228.50
Their four top scorers are all seniors but are not doing enough. Everybody who plays has a good spread, but, again, they don’t produce enough. Their roster is better than last year, it doesn’t need to be blown up, but they began a rebuild last year and are in need of another rebuild to make a move. They do not have enough to make a move with the current roster and while there are a few FA’s left that are good, none of them can move the needle enough to make a difference. Nelson, Thomas, and, Cadeau can all be shown the door.
4. Gator Bait: 4-8 (0-3), 213.50
Gator Bait averaging just 213.50? Yes, it’s true, the numbers don’t lie. The roster is much better than this number implies-they currently happen to be the gang that can’t shoot straight, the worst FG pct., in the entire MML-and, while field goal percentage is not the most important stat, since 46-47% is usually at the bottom, with the DVG’s currently next to last at an even 47%, it shows how awful their 41.6% mark is. Two recent adds should help. They somehow picked up soph forward Sam Alexis before anyone else could move and they re-added Rytis Petraitis. I wish Alexis could consistently get more shots, but he is still a stud. Predictably, Tainamo, another nice FA get, has dropped but is still productive. They actually only need to add two impact players. They are still hurting from having taken Keegan Records with their first draft pick, as he, is having a worse season than expected, and, Florida seems to have decided to go smaller and not use Handlogten as much as expected, while another Gator (ironic, isn’t it), Riley Kugel has predictably flattened like a souffle exposed to quickly to air. Eley may yet turn out to be a good add, but it looks like his role on the team has shifted since returning from an injury. They have some dead weight they need to jettison if they want to fly higher. But it will be a difficult and arduous journey to overtake M&B & the Psychos.
Crum analysis: A two team race between Maize & Psychos, both of whom have the goods to go all the way.
McGuire Conference
Olson Division (listed in order of their division record and NOT their overall record)
1. Deep Valley Grouchos: 9-3 (3-0), 311.75
The DVG’s are the only team averaging more than 300 points a week. They are the only team averaging more than 290 points per week. In fact, they are the only team averaging more than 280 points a week…so, what’s not to like? The DVG’s have an alarmingly high number of games (7 & 10 respectively) of either single digits, or, 14 & under. They do have some high rollers, since 22 games have been 25+. That type of wild volatility does not speak well come playoff time-although, come playoff time, the best lineups are in place and the in-season volatility factor is reduced. To quote Butch Cassidy: “Who are these guys? They have the 3 stud anchors in Soriano, Bacot, and, Pember. Behind that are question marks. Question marks with decent stats, but can they be counted on. We will know more when two FA’s who have not yet played (g/f Jaylon Tyson & g/f Jacob Crews) get in the lineup.
2. Saluki YRD’s: 5-7 (2-1), 200.00
After a poor start in free agency selection, which is really too bad because due to red-shirts they had two “freebies,” the Saluki’s went on a roll, hitting strongly on four of their last five. The problem is that word…last. They are out of moves. Despite scoring the fewest points per week of any team in the league due to having played the fewest games by far of any team in the league, they have a good lineup. The problem is I don’t think it’s good enough to get them extra tomatillo sauce on their chicken enchilada, but they will have a team that can certainly go a round, maybe two, if they max out.
3. Hardwood Heroes: 4-8 (1-2), 237.00
I’m not going to go into why, but they have a really interesting roster to me. That’s both interesting positively & negatively. They return Filipowski the stud and add two possible studs in Boogie Ellis & Keion Brooks. Collier, is making the game easier for Ellis, although I don’t know if what he is currently doing is sustainable. Nonetheless, he should be around 22 most of the time, while Brooks is “the man” for Washington and is more likely to sustain his current average. Frosh Williams has come on a little bit. Last season’s heroes, Ashworth & Dingle are now ineffective and sucking, respectively. Such is the way of fantasy college basketball. They will be in there, although I think they still need more firepower.
4. KC Warthogs: 7-5 (0-3), 264.25
In the post-pandemic world of fantasy college basketball, 264.25 is not a bad average after the first four weeks. However, they do have a weird gap, the likes of which I have never seen-ever. Edey is averaging a blistering 34.6 fppg. But the 2nd leading scorer checks in at 21.7. That would be Shumate and I expect his numbers to jump to 23+. Following him is Freeman, and, while he’s more erratic than Shumate he’s also more explosive and he should be around 23 fppg, somewhere down the line. But except for possibly Trey Alexander, I think the other guys are pretty much operating at their peak. Pre-season, I thought the Warthogs could be a favorite to win it all, and, with Edey (remember he is worth 1.5 players-minimum) they will always have a chance, but the roster needs to add two impact players.
Olson analysis: DVG’s are the team to beat with KC strongly in the chase, Hardwood is a dark horse, but, in good shape to make a move up.
Tark Division (listed in order of their division record and NOT their overall record)
1. The Hoop Guru: 10-2 (3-0), 248.25
With nobody behind them averaging more than 252.75, I don’t know how impressive being in first is, being that it’s by far the lowest scoring division. The best 7 look good. Not formidable, as in, intimidating, but they have Post, who is having the type of season I thought he could. Mark Sears, who I was not high on last season, has improved his shooting, lowered his turnovers, and increased his rebounding a little and is currently a stud! So, right now I have to say I was wrong about Sears. Bigger question marks follow him. Dawson Garcia is a good player if he can continue to get his 7+ rebounds per game-rebounding not being something he has been all that enthusiastic about in the past. R.J. Felton, has fallen some, which was predictable, but he has become erratic-which is scary-particularly at the guard position. Javon Small is back, but has to hit a high percentage of his fga’s, since he doesn’t often get as many as he should. Again, it’s a good seven starters, and, The Hoop Guru should enjoy his best season yet in the MML, but with a couple of additions they can contend for it all.
2. Sam Jacobson Went To Class: 5-7 (2-1), 236.25
They have a decent starting five. Unfortunately, it takes seven in fantasy college basketball. The “Sam’s” are once again going to be among the downtrodden. The NY Jets of our league, if you will. This despite making a few adroit moves. They added soph Caden Pierce-he’s a stud, even if he’s Ivy. Reed Sheppard is going to have trouble maintaining his current fantasy average but he’s a likely starter next year. Center Robbie Avila doesn’t rebound enough for my liking, but, he’s only a soph. Pepper, Timberlake, and, Robertson are all decent players…but, it’s not enough. They are always in perpetual rebuilding mode and that is their current status as well.
3. Prozac Pups: 5-7 (1-2), 251.50
An interesting roster in that they have quite a few “explosives,” guys that can just go off and get big fantasy numbers. They miss f/c Dante, who is hurt. He’s one of their prime explosives. Woolbright, the best non-shooting fantasy or non-fantasy guard in America is another explosive and a stud.
I was wrong: Thus far Aday Mitchell, who could not get a rebound if it had cheese on it last year is rebounding at 5+ and shooting the heck out of it. While he figures to dip a little, it appears he is for real. Jadyn Toppin is one of the top fantasy freshmen. If Dante comes back strong, they will be an interesting team and not one to look forward to facing come playoff time.
4. House of Sparky: 5-7 (0-3), 252.75
Freeman is a bonafide stud. After that they added Thomas, who has a history of huge ups and downs, but, has learned to become a big time three-point shooter. He promises to be better, but is more of an imploder than an exploder. He will get his 25+ games and have those 12–16-point games. I like Tre Mitchell, but it appears he is getting less and less fga’s as we get into December. Fortunately, he is a stat-stuffer, but that also means he has to hit a high percentage to remain a 23+ fppg player. I also like Shemar Wilson, a lot, but, his own college coach doesn’t have a clue as to what he has, so, a guy that shoots near 70% from the field and can hit a trey now and then doesn’t get many looks. He’s a fierce rebounder and if he was somewhere else, he would be getting closer to 30 than 23 fppg. Sharp is good and the frosh Harris, while he has hit a little speed bump, is for real and one of the top fantasy freshmen. So, Spanky, er, Sparky has some pieces but it appears doubtful that a majority of them will show up in the same week. Good but volatile roster.
Tark analysis: HG has the edge over Prozac & HOS with the Sam’s pressing their nose against the glass wondering how to get in.