Bugatti Boys vs. Unruly

Well well well... expect a thriller to kick off the On Point playoffs. These two teams just went at it last week and it was a nail biter. BBB won 53-57 with maybe their most balanced attack of the season despite only having 6 players. Unruly uncharacteristically struggled on the offensive shooting a season worst 27.8% from the floor with only 1 player scoring in double figures.

This game is completely up for grabs and the game could look a lot like the one last week. I expect both teams to play a bit better offensively and for it to be a grind it out kind of game. For Bugatti, the major concern is will the offense be there? They play a lot of ISO so can they generate enough points that way? For Unruly, will they be able to get production like they normally do? 3/31 from three point range is really bad for a team that has been pretty good from deep.

This will be the 1st playoff appearance for GM Norman Penola and he’ll be taking on a seasoned GM Nima Baeidfar.

Grind Time vs. Investment Academy

You gotta love this. They’re 1-1 in the regular season 4 and 5 in the standings. It doesn’t get any closer.

Grind Time has suddenly found their offense and that’s how they went from the basement of the league to the middle of the pack. Grind Time not only get scoring but have also been putting in work on the glass. Aaron Martin is the player that needs to get going for Grind Time. He’s been scoring the ball as of late averaging 18 PPG in his last 3 and the team is undefeated when the hits at least 3 three pointers. Get him going and it will open up the floor.

For IA, they’ll go into this game as a slight underdog. They’ve had their issues this season didn’t build any momentum going into the playoffs with 3 straight losses. It sounds simple, but they just need to score the ball with more consistency. In their last 3 games they’ve averaged 51.6 PPG. In their 2 games prior, they averaged 68 points per game and won both. So simple, but won’t be easy against a team that hangs their hat on the defensive end. They’ll need someone to step up with a huge offensive game.

Box Out vs. SWISH

They may have finished in 2nd, but you might look at SWISH as the most dangerous team. They kept things competitive last week against the #1 seeded Kawhi Not with only 5 players and without their top 3 scorers (Jacobs, Colorado & Sigua). WHAT!?! Needless to say, Box Out will have their work cut out for them but knowing Box Out’s roster, they look at this Monday as, “New season, let’s get one W”.

With proven players who have come thru in clutch situations SWISH can’t feel too confident going into this game. D’Andre Hospedales the former #1 draft pick fresh off his best game of the season going for 35 points, Nicholas Cruz who is notorious for big time shots in the playoffs is always a threat and Zac Bendahan who has quietly come along and finished as the top rebounder in the league. You can’t count them out. Box Out needs to focus on putting in a strong 44 minutes and containing the league’s best scorer Jevon Jacobs.

For SWISH, they’ve gotta keep doing what made them successful this season. They run, they gun, they pull up, they get steals and they get easy buckets in transition. The only weakness they might have is rebounding the ball and that might be an area of concern as Box Out is the best in the league at rebounding the ball.

These two teams went head to head a few weeks ago and it was close. SWISH won 57-52 which was their 2nd lowest scoring game of the season. They were off from three point range going 2-19 while Box Out has impressive dishing out 18 dimes on 20 made field goals. In the end, Colorado, Sigua and Miller had great all around games to get the victory.

It should be wildly entertaining. Get ready!

Rapchaz vs. Kawhi Not

If the Rapchaz were to pull off an upset here it would be like winning the chip. Kawhi Not is the heavy favourite entering the game with an 8-0 record, however the only game between these two teams was close. Kawhi Not won a closely contested game 50-41 going on an 8-0 run to close it out.

What has hindered the Rapchaz all season has been attendance and consistency on both ends of the floor. They rank #8th in points scored, field goal percentage and three point percentage. Bottom line is they’ll need the team to be at full strength and have a few other guys step up with their best game of the season to pull off an upset that would break our Instagram.

For Kawhi Not, it’s not time to take it easy. They’ve cut a few games pretty close when they have taken it casually. Rapchaz really have nothing to lose and guaranteed they’ll be amped to try to pull off maybe the greatest upset ever. The easy formula is give the ball to Dover and have guys around him knocking down shots. Kawhi Not sometimes gets into scoring droughts but have always been able to rely on their outstanding team defense to get out of those situations.

This is the first playoff appearance for both GM’s. Good luck!