(2) ASPHALT NINJAS vs (3) FINANCIAL VENTURES

Eastern Conference First Round – Sunday (6/12) 11:00am at Graphics HS

Team Notes	Team	Score	Team	Team Notes
The Asphalt Ninjas, with a deep roster, and versatile lineup,  had looked like a contender until a poor showing vs #1 seed, NFZ, late in the season. But, their roster has been somewhat inconsistent in those latter weeks leading up to the NACBA Nationals tournament. It’s hard to say what kind of cohesion they’ll have going into this one, but this is a team with a plenty of guard talent and if (F) Will Cheung is available that will have one of the tougher one-on-one match-ups in the league on the court.	ASN 5-2	58-57	FVG 5-2	Conversely, Financial Ventures had looked like a fringe team all season, just barely winning games against seemingly lesser opponents until a decisive win over NFZ in the final week of the season. (F) Kev Chang has not only been putting up MVP numbers all season, he’s taken the reins and dominated like one as well. There are few players in D1 with his combined ability to shoot efficiently (51% FGs, 48% 3FGs), create off the bounce, and defend. His entire team feeds off of him.
Key Player: (G) Ace Watanasuparp Watanasuparp is high-energy, but also a veteran. If he can get his shot going early on, it changes what the Ninjas can do. When he, (G) Wilson Lew, and (G) Justin Chin can hit 3FGs, it spreads the defense to let ASN’s interior players like Cheung, (F) Chi Ming Pun, (F) Ken Van and (C) Victor Chia go to work.				Key Player: (G) Jason Chin Chang is a constant, so the x-factor is the veteran PG Chin. It’s all about his 3-pt shot. When Chin is hitting 3FGs, it makes FVG very difficult to defend. Chin is clever about getting open and has a quick trigger, but he’s also very good at using his shooting to bait defenders and get his teammates open looks as well.

(1) LACE’O MY ASO vs (4) SK WAR DOG

Western Conference First Round – Sunday (6/12) 12:00pm at Graphics HS

Team Notes	Team	Score	Team	Team Notes
Last season, Lace’O My Aso made their first playoff appearance to face top-seeded SKW in the 1st rd. The seeds are reversed now, but not necessarily the roles, LMA is the younger team, they got trounced by SKW last season, but Lace’O has come a long way, and they don’t appear to have any desire to back slide. (G) Matthew Joshy has been dynamic since returning to the lineup, instantly lifting LMA to contender status, and new addition (F) Kyle Jose has given them the defender in the paint they’ve needed. This team has all the pieces it needs to make a run, it’s just a matter of getting over this hump.	LMA 5-2	62-65	SKW 6-2	Yesterday’s win wasn’t the most convincing effort for War Dog, but in the playoffs, a win is a win, and a win is all you need. This team’s title chances have always rested on having at least 3 of its 4 key players together (G) Pat Youreneff, (G) Kash Miah, (G) Dave Wong, and (F) Sean Zhang. If they have that, they have enough firepower (and guile) to top any team. It’s this same craftiness that eventually throws younger teams off their game, but SKW has now played LMA many times, none of them have been close, but very rarely have they had to play on back-to-back days. For this aging roster, that might make a difference.
Key Player: (F) Mark Promax Promax is a tall, versatile player with a solid handle and scoring ability, but he just hasn’t shown a great deal of consistency this season. If he can get it going on offense, with efficiency, it opens up a lot of things for LMA, particularly in creating mismatches.				Key Player: (G) Kash Miah LMA’s weakness vs SKW has been defending the 3. Which is music to Miah’s ears. In the regular season, War Dog put 18 3FGs on LMA’s head with Miah leading the way with 8. If no adjustments are made, Miah can get this one over with early with another bombardment.

(1) YUNG NO FLY ZONE vs (4) JAY’S ANGELS

Eastern Conference First Round – Sunday (6/12) 2:00pm at Graphics HS

Team Notes	Team	Score	Team	Team Notes
Yung No Fly Zone has been the juggernaut all season, just running through every team in front of them this season, but they will again have to face this first round of the playoffs without their star (F) Michael Reding and sharp shooting (F) Saleem Ahmed has just begun observance of Ramadan. Luckily for them, (F) David Farnham has emerged this season as a more than capable second option. And the team has added depth with (F) Nick Liveris and (C) Michael Meng to bolster a relatively nonexistent front court.	NFZ 6-1	63-58	JAY 4-4	After a big win yesterday, Jay’s Angels may now be thinking this is a road to redemption. NFZ gave them their biggest loss during the regular season, and they would like nothing more than to get an upset here to advance to the semis. (G) Sal Nasser was huge in that game with 21 pts and (G) Ori Damari found the range, knocking down 5 3FGs for 17 pts.  With NFZ’s Reding out of the lineup, they’ll have less mismatches to contend with, and their personnel is actually fairly evenly matched. The trick may just be to get their bigs more involved.
Key Player: (G) Derik Kumagai For the past two seasons, Kumagai has been the starting PG but his offensive numbers have actually dipped as the team has relied more heavily on Reding and Farnham. Kumagai has also dealt with nagging injuries this season, but if he’s healthy, he is a major impact in doing all the little things NFZ needs to get playoff wins.				Key Player: (G) Sal Nasser Again, Nasser is the catalyst for this game. His energy and athleticism is key to JAY’s whole offensive and defensive approach. He played patiently and scored efficiently in yesterday’s win. If he can put up a repeat performance against NFZ’s smaller guards, JAY just might be able to post a big upset here.

(2) SHAWTY LIKES THE WAY vs (3) HONEY BADGERS

Western Conference First Round – Sunday (6/12) 5:00pm at Graphics HS

Team Notes	Team	Score	Team	Team Notes
It seems like every other season or so, Shawty Likes the Way I Ball Out makes a title run. This looks like one of those seasons. They were solid at virtually every pos already so adding another big man (C) Marco Viti last season, and another shooter, (G) Deric Kung has only added to their depth. This is a scrappy, young team with a championship pedigree. And there’s no way to try and stop them. They have a number of weapons and can attack you from every spot on the floor. The question this season has been who is going to be available?	SHA 5-2	65-64	HON 5-2	In contrast, the Honey Badgers are a veteran team that just hasn’t quite gotten over the hump yet to win a chip. But, they are one of the league’s craftiest teams and maybe the toughest defensively. They are led by (G) Alex Tsay aka “The Honey Badger” who can change the entire tenor of a game with his active defense. But the big add this season has been (F) Zach Moretti who is just as feisty on defense, and gives HON the rim protector they’ve needed, even if he is undersized. (F) Sherwin Salar and (F) Young Yu will still provide the offense, but (G) Tommy Wong and new add (G) Will Chu will need to spread the defense from 3.
Key Player: (C) Jack Latta Latta is big and versatile, and he has been solid all season on offense despite some past inconsistency. His presence on D will always be felt, but if he can get some easy buckets in the paint early and get HON focused on protecting the paint that will open things up for SHA’s corp of 3-pt shooters.				Key Player: (F) Zach Moretti Moretti has emerged as HON’s best help defender, but he is also their best finisher in transition and on dump offs created by Tsay, Salar and Yu. SHA is big in the paint, but Moretti also has a nice mid-range jumper which he will have to rely on here.