(3) NO FLY ZONE OG

VS

(6) JAPAN UNITED

No Fly Zone is just a season removed from a title but despite having the same core group, they’ve needed a bevy of players to fill in when short-handed. This game will be no different. (F) Young Yu, who led D3 in scoring this fall will again be out, and (C) Kevin Wong is out for playoffs. Luckily, they brought back (F) Saleem Ahmed to pick up slack. And veteran (G) Ren Hsieh, who’s having a strong offensive season, will still be there to man the reins. 

After coming out to a roaring 3-0 start, the United has dropped three straight and is just barely limping into the playoffs. Both (G) Ryota Takahashi and (G) Maou Suzuki are having down seasons statistically, not to mention (F) Marc Lashly. Overall, scoring has gone down drastically, and it’s not exactly obvious as to why. But they do have better foot speed at the guard position, and at MLK, if they can open it up, they may be able to punish NFZ in transition. 

With Wong out, Chu is NFZ’s best and most versatile defender. He hasn’t shot very well this season, but NFZ will need him to pick it up on offense with Wang and (G) Steven Lee out, a combined 34.3 ppg. Either way, his lock down defense will be a major key to NFZ’s success. 

For whatever reason, the typically run & gun United haven’t been very run nor gun. But they have to find a way to get Lashly more involved. His ability to score in the paint will force NFZ’s trademark 2-3 zone to collapse into the paint, which will give JPU open 3s. But they have to make them.

(8) GOON SQUAD

VS

(9) CROSSBOWS

The Goons started the fall season with an impressive effort vs Taiwan No. 1, which earned the #1 seed by season’s end. Then solid efforts vs JPU and LAR, followed by a win vs BIL. It’s not that much of a stretch to say GOO could have been 4-2 this season but that would easily be their best franchise record. Nevertheless, the team is coming in to the post-season on a win. Crossbows won’t be an easy out, though.

Like the Goons, the Crossbows put up some strong efforts this season, mostly early on. But they just never got over the hump to get that first win. The second half of the season hasn’t been kind. But this is as good a chance as any for CRO to pick up their first win. They have some solid pieces on this roster, it’s just a matter of developing the right chemistry, and making open shots.

This season has seen a slight uptick in scoring from Zheng, and he’s been slightly more efficient. The Goons don’t need a big day from Zheng, they just need him to his his averages, and that should help provide enough offense to beat CRO.

Liu isn’t the Crossbows top scorer, that honor goes to (G) Li Jiayuan. But Liu is CRO’s most efficient scorer, which stands to reason that perhaps they should get him the ball more. He shoots 50% from the field, 33% from 3.