Fall ’17 Week 5 Power Rankings (All Sunday Divisions)

1ST DIVISION (SUNDAYS)

Rank Team Record Comments
(=) LMA
4-1 LACE’O MY ASO retains the #1 spot with (F) Mark Promax playing solid ball for the team. (G/F) Matt Birtwell hasn’t shot particularly well, but his hustle and tough work on the glass has set the tone for an LMA team that is getting a balanced attack from up and down the roster.
(=) DOR 3-1 DORIS FROM REGO PARK (G) David Weiss and (G/F) Jacob Leizman are as good a 1-2 punch as any in D1, and it certainly seems like Weiss is back to MVP form. (F/C) Jordan Calhoun has played only two games, which is something to watch, they’ll need him to compete for a title.
(=) SKW
2-1 Usually an undersized team, SK WAR DOG now has one a formidable defensive front-line led by (C) A.K. Tewary‘s 4 bpg. (G) Vegas Dave Wong and (G) Kash Miah combine for a ludicrous 50.8 ppg, and now their bigs allow them to be even more aggressive getting up the court. 
(=) PIP
2-3 After winning two straight, PIPPEN AIN’T EASY lost a tough one to a BXB team desperate to stay in the mix. But as much as BXB wanted that game, the Pips probably should have won. This is a well-balanced team with good overall size, they should be even tougher int he playoffs.
(=) NFZ
2-3 To some degree, NO FLY ZONE is still trying to figure out what kind of team they need to be. The one positive from last Sunday’s loss to SKW is that (F) Michael Reding seems to have gotten his shooting rhythm back, but now they’re on a bye this week.
(+1) BXB
2-3 The BRONX BOMBERS are hanging around, and for a team in their first D1 season, that’s good enough. The more games they play, they better they will be at closing out these close games. One thing they need to improve on, 39% FT shooting, since they get to the line a pretty decent amount.
(-1) SKK
1-4 When SHAWN KEMP’S KIDS (G) Donovan Walsh is there, they have a chance to win. But in their last 3 games, all losses, SKK has basically put out a shell squad. All teams will make playoffs this season, so if SKK wants to a shot at making a late run, they should probably start soon.

2ND DIVISION (SUNDAYS)

Rank Team Record Comments
(=) RAR
3-0 Still undefeated, the RAINING ROSEBUDS finally have their bona fide go-to scorer settled in (G) Anthony Williams. (F) Mitch Moxley has been a very solid second option, and (G) Caleb Lui has been a pretty good complement to Williams in the backcourt so far.
(+4) ROC
2-1 This is where we expected the NY ROCKITS to be. This is a young, quick team of guards backed by a solid big in (F) Derek Wong who can rebound and protecting the paint. (G/F) Steven Wong, the team’s most consistent player is one of the toughest, most versatile players in the league.
(=) TAP
2-1 TAP NY has looked a little shaky, particularly in their short-handed loss to NFZ, but we’ll keep them at #3 for now. (G) Will Chu is playing out of his mind right now, and (G) John Hsu is picking up the shooting as well. They will need this kind of effort all season to stay alive in a tough D2 field.
(+1) NFP
1-2 Finally, we got a taste of what NO FLY PANTHERS can look like with a full roster, playing their style. NFP scored 95 pts in last week’s win. (G) David Chu, (G) Ren Hsieh & (F) Marvin Chu are shooting well, if (G) Ori Damary continues to find his rhythm, this is a lot of firepower.
(-3) BOM
1-2 This is the most perimeter depth that BOMB SQUAD has had with (G) Tommy Wong and (G) James Han joining the back court, but they run on the smaller side with (F) Sherwin Salar basically playing center. Still, this is really about (G) Alex Tsay getting healthy. Once he is, look out.
(-2) WOL
1-2 For a team that reached the title game last season, the WOLVERINES are sorting through some chemistry issues. This is a team that historically has relied on defense and hustle to win. But with more offensive weapons this season than before, and aging legs, is it time to shift gears?
(=) ZHU
0-2 JAMES ZHU & FRIENDS have only had 5 roster players show up to any one of their 2 games played. So it’s tough to say what they really have right now. (G) Derrick Shich is as good as any in D2 and rookie (F) Enoch Han has put up some solid #s, but they need some depth here.

3RD DIVISION (SUNDAYS)

Rank Team Record Comments
(=) LIF
5-0 LET IT FLY holds serve as (F) Daniel Mosley, (G/F) Julien Duddley and (C) Ola Oni continue to be the most formidable front-line in D3. As long as that stands, this is where they’ll be.
(+2) JPU
3-0 Guess who’s back? After an uneven summer season, JAPAN UNITED is back in contention with a 3-0 start. (G) Ryota Takahashi and (F) Marc Lashly are solid as usual, but it may be the addition of veteran (F) Toshi Koizumi that glues it all together. Oh and (G) Maou Suzuki is back too.
(+4) TW1
3-1 TAIWAN NO. 1‘s win over NFZ showed a lot. It took good composure in crunch time to pull out a win vs the former champs. TW1 have great size for a D3 team, most notably in (F) Alex Liu and (F) Henry Lin who are both big, versatile scoring options. 
(+2) RIS
2-1 Sleep at your own risk on the 5-time D3 champs, RISE AGAIN. Especially with perennial MVP (G) Leuis Ng playing as well as ever. And (F) Matt Auerbach continues to make solid all-around contributions, but the sooner he gets his shooting stroke back, the better. 
(-2) NFZ
1-2 NO FLY ZONE OG dropped a short-handed heart-breaker to TW1 last week, but they’ll get top scorer (F) Young Wang back this week. It looks like (G) Ren Hsieh is tuned in early, but the regular season won’t be their primary concern though, they’ll make their run in the playoffs.
(-4) LAR
1-2 There can be such thing as having too many players on a roster, and that might be the issue with LARRY THE CABLE GUY’S KIDS right now.  A lot of guys are scoring, but it doesn’t seem like any specific core is getting into much of a rhythm in any game.
(-2) BIL
1-2 BALL IS LIFE dropped two straight, but they have made good showings vs the division’s top teams. They have solid depth at the guard position with (G) Sean He leading the way, but they’re gonna need to score more than 38 ppg to really make the leap to contender status.
(=) CRO
0-4 Oddly enough, the CROSSBOWS have showed real promise despite not having won a game yet. But that blowout loss to TW1 wasn’t pretty. (F) Li Jiayuan is a franchise-type player, but they need at least one more guy to step up on the offensive end. 
(=) GOO
0-4 GOON SQUAD has also had a couple of good showings, but also a couple of blowout losses. The Goons will get consistent scoring from (G) Charles Zheng and (G) Robert Zhang, they just need to focus on defense and how to close out games as a team.