BIG3 Week 5: Pivotal make-or-break weekend in Chicago
The weirdest thing about the BIG3 so far is that teams have been allowed to trade players. Following Week 4, The Killer 3s traded Larry Hughes to the Ghost Ballers for Mo Evans. The trade feels like a lateral move for both teams, but you have to wonder what goes through a guy’s mind as he’s traded in a 3-on-3 league in which you’ll see your old teammates on game day every single week.
Week 5 seems poised to make or break a few teams. Trilogy, 3 Headed Monsters and Power can put themselves in great position to coast to the playoffs with wins in Chicago. The biggest game of the week features the Ghost Ballers and the Killer 3’s. If the Ghost Ballers could move above .500 for the second time on the season, it could put them in a position to separate themselves from the five teams not leading the pack at this juncture. Only half of the season has been played and we’re starting to see some player and team trends emerge, but it’s still not too late for a few teams to turn things around.
Ball Hogs (1-3) v. Power (3-1)
Jerome Williams has kind of flown under the radar since Week 1 when he opened up the season with a monster dunk against Tri-State. After Power’s first loss, Williams had a brilliant game recording a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double, doing pretty much everything on both ends of the floor to keep Power among the league’s elite.
The Brian Scalabrine-led Ball Hogs look exactly how you’d imagine a Brian Scalabrine-led team to look: unorganized, disoriented and sometimes hilarious. Xavier Silas was a nice pickup via trade, but still wasn’t good enough to lift the team above Trilogy (in all fairness, who has?).
Prediction 51-43 Power. Jerome Williams attempts to end Josh Childress at the rim.
3’s Company (1-3) v. 3-Headed Monsters (3-1)
The last thing anyone expected heading into this season is that Rashard Lewis and Kwame Brown would become a pro-basketball league’s most dynamic duo. Lewis took over the scoring lead last week when he dropped a smooth 30 on the Killer 3’s, and two of those points came off a gorgeous give-and-go action between himself and Brown, who fed the cutting Lewis with a picture-perfect no-look pass. This is the player MJ thought he was drafting No. 1 overall for the Wizards. Wrong league, wrong time.
3’s Company continued to falter with another loss, this time to Tri-State, a team that entered Week 4 winless. Jermaine O’Neal and Bonzi Wells had a huge second half that only saw resistance from Al Thornton, who had his biggest game of the season with 20 points, five boards and three dimes. Now 3’s Company will enter Chicago in desperate need of a win to have a shot at making the playoffs against one of Big 3’s best teams.
Prediction: 3 Headed Monsters pull off a big 50-38 win off the strength of another big game from Rashard Lewis.
Tri-State (1-3) v. Trilogy (4-0)
Trilogy has run through everyone they’ve played this year, with their closest game coming last week in a 7-point win over the Ball Hogs. Rashad McCants dropped 20 in the Trilogy win and Al Harrington was the player of the week before that. This week, they’ll see the return of their captain Kenyon Martin, who hadn’t played since a Week 1 injury. More talent for the Big3’s best team — which doesn’t seem ideal for a Tri-State team looking to turn their season around.
Last week, Tri-State got their first win of the season, and in the post-game interview, Bonzi Wells said about the rest of the season, “hopefully we can run the table and set ourselves up for a good seed in the playoffs.” While They’re not exactly hurting for talent, they haven’t been able to convert much of it into wins. Wells and Jermaine O’Neal are going to have to have huge games if they’re going to beat Trilogy.
Prediction: Trilogy close out their first close victory of the season with a 50-47 nail-biter.
Killer 3s (1-3) v Ghost Ballers (2-2)
The Ghost Ballers have a bizarre roster that kind of still works out from a basketball standpoint. Mike Bobby and Ricky Davis shouldn’t exist as teammates, but they have moments when they play off each other incredibly well while Joe Smith and Ivan Johnson both serve as selfless proxies to become what the team needs when the team needs it.
The Killer 3s have a ton of positional fluidity and guys who can do multiple things offensively or guard multiple positions on the other side of the ball. They also have the Stephen Jackson’s head shot, which is easily the best in the league. What the haven’t had, however, are wins. This one looks like a stylistic matchup that favors the Killer 3s despite their season-long struggles.
Prediction: Killer 3’s pull off the upset with a 50-45 win over the Ghost Ballers.
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