PBL preseason POWER RANKINGS

[Frank Mart]

by Frank Mart

#1 Capitanes de Arecibo:

In my opinion are the most talented team in PBL ... Andrés Rodríguez-Larry Ayuso-Bonzi Wells-Jeff Aubrey-Angelo Reyes is perhaps the best starting five ... Also come shot after playing "Liga de las Americas" (out)... My only question is the motivation of PR team, since its objective is to win BSN ... Also play against the long trips.

#2 Rochester Razosharks:

2 times winner PBL Rochester ... Rod Baker is a good h-coach in minor leagues with great experience ... Baker has maintained a several confidence players last seasons ... Re-signed Keith Friel (last MVP), but lost indefinitely James Reaves... That did have roster cuts.

#3 Halifax Rainmen:

Re-signed h-coach Berry, Bennett and Crookshank and sign Ferguson and to many centimeters and not without talent ... Soon began to make the team and the preseason ... A Livingston went wrong the signing of Jason McLeish and I have doubts in the base station (Deleon / Earvin) and bench players.

#4 Lawton Fort Sill Cavalry:

2 times winner CBA ... Cavs have almost 2 seasons with the same starting five (Brandon Dean-DeAnthony Bowden-Tim Ellis-Elvis Mims-Shawn Daniels)... Cavs play of memory and have a controversial h-coach as Michael Ray Richardson very involved... Cavs bring back once called "Shaq O'Neal minor leagues" Oliver "Big O" Miller (with 39 years and 3 off-court).

#5 Manchester Millrats:

Without Rob Spon (GreenHawks) and Desmond Ferguson (Rainmen) made franchise fell from top places ... However, what I saw in preseason (Rainman 101-Millarts 97) without being defined the roster still has surprised me ... I like your backourt (Brewington-Gibbs-Gilchrese)I doubt its frontcourt ... Anthony Anderson and Alexus Foyle (PF)' arrivals generates expectations ... They lack a big guy like Kanyon Gamble.

#6 Maryland Greenhawks:

Rob Spoon competitive teams always get ... GHawks is a completely new ... It has some talented players like Byron Mouton, Harvey Thomas and Gordon Klaiber ... His season is a concern (for me).

#7 Vermont Frost Heaves:

Without Will Voigt (D-League), Greg Plummer and Benson Callier, among others ... Roster not defined yet ... much work for Strohm h-coach ... I saw Frosties against Rainman and I found horrific ... Jeff said he had little training ... In the Cup Champains defeated Kebs by only 4 so I generate more questions about Vermont... With Cook, Cotton, Jackson and centers Carter 'n' Carter should improve franchise.

#8 Quebec City Kebs:

I like the Canadian franchise ... Despite the limitations, KEBS are a competitive team and give a scare to some clueless franchise... This is the year of Cordell Jeanty and Jonas Pierre (I was wrong with him and do not see why not with Rainmen) and will peer 2 Americans like Ryan Holmes and his ex Rainmen Reggie George ... Charles Fortier announced his retirenment and Jean-Philippe Morin left team for personal cuestions (for studies).


#9 Buffalo Stampede:

News of Buffalo are slim ... Little more can I say about the Stampede ...Unlikely to improve record 1-19 of last season... Buffalo Super Fan will have more news... Tyrone Rayson is now playing in ABA.

Thanks

[nksports]

STOP THIS AND STOP THIS RIGHT NOW. THERE WILL BE NO POWER RANKINGS. Waaay too ABAish.

[CHris902]

I want to see how the Vermont/Manchester game tonight goes before I form an opinion.

edit: Speaking of which, anyone know where I can watch the game online. I can't find the link anywhere on nsnsports.net and the Frostheaves website has a link to @sportsTV which is showing a hunting show.

[CHris902]

Not so much a power ranking as a prediction but:
Regular season:
1. Puerto Rico - More money, more experience, more talent.
2. Rochester - Baker can win and has proven it. I don't like all of their roster choices, but I think they're deep enough to overcome some hiccups. I wouldn't be shocked to see them start slow again, and I think their front line looks pretty worrisome.
3. Halifax - really versatile, intense roster, I think Les Berry is a coach who could surprise a lot of people on this board, and they're going to come out of the gates full guns blazing. Still a lot of question marks but I think that if they can lock into their defense they're going to make waves.
4. Oklahoma (Not sure about who finishes 3/4 but I am going to go with Halifax because I want to be a homer) - Experienced front line, colourful but evidently talented coach. It'll be interesting to see how their CBA roster stacks up in the PBL.

5. Maryland - I think Spon is a good coach and they have a nice looking, balanced roster. May be better than I expect, may be worse, kind of a mystery to me.
6. Manchester - They've gotten rid of the defense and gone with a small ball line up and a lot of shooters. Might be able to beat any team on any given night but I don't think they can sustain it for a season or win a three game series against any of the top four teams. Crazy backcourt with Stewart, Anderson, Gilchrest and Brewington.
7. Quebec - This team just never seems to be able to get over the hump. I love their front line (George, Pierre, Jeanty and Levros) but their guards are going to be shakey and they just don't have a good perimeter scorer to lean on.
8. Vermont (7/8 is another tough call) - I thought they were a trainwreck in Halifax and there isn't a whole lot to show that they improved since then. They just don't seem to have the kind of talent that they've had in previous years, and I think Strohm will be good down the road and will have this year's team running their guts out, but I just don't think they have the horses to get it done. I think they'll do better at home, but their confidence is going to be ruined after that road trip to start out the season. Their body language was terrible after the loss in Halifax and they can't take a month of that.
9. Buffalo - They seem to be the team most heavily leaning on part timers. I just have a bad, bad feeling about them. Who knows? Maybe they'll prove us all wrong?

Playoffs:
Puerto Rico sweep Oklahoma (or Halifax)
Rochester defeat Halifax in 3 games
Puerto Rico defeat Rochester in three games

[sonnie20]

I have to go with Rochester for the simple facts that they won't be outspent number one and number two they can change the rules to suit their team and It's not like they wouldn't do that is it. Bonzi Wells can't overcome that.

[Frank Mart]

Juniper said:

When I have fun looking at the schedule, I notice one thing. It appears that Quebec and Buffalo are going to struggle. Did it just happen, is it business as far as transportation is concerned or is it an easy win? I noticed that Rochester playes those two teams 7 times. Lawton playes them 5 times and Puerto Rico 4 times. Rochester and Puerto Rico for the Championship. League pays PR to play a 1 games Championship in Rochester. Rochester wins a close game.

In line with what you write (Sonnie20) a post Juniper rescued very successful ... I agree with Juniper... PBL's interest Rochester is in playoffs and finals games*... PBL final'09 was a blunder

*http://www.razorsharks.com/arena/

[scrappy]

8. Vermont (7/8 is another tough call) - I thought they were a trainwreck in Halifax and there isn't a whole lot to show that they improved since then. They just don't seem to have the kind of talent that they've had in previous years, and I think Strohm will be good down the road and will have this year's team running their guts out, but I just don't think they have the horses to get it done. I think they'll do better at home, but their confidence is going to be ruined after that road trip to start out the season. Their body language was terrible after the loss in Halifax and they can't take a month of that.

Vermont has played all their preseason games without three of their best players including two Heaves veterans and a rookie point guard who was a much better Division I player than most PBLers. It's an unfortunate way to start the season, particularly with the ridiculously long road trip, but they have a lot more than they've been able to show so far. Supposedly they'll have everyone practicing by Thursday or Friday, so we could see a much different performance against Manchester in the regular season opener.

[Frank Mart]

Vermont has played all their preseason games without three of their best players including two Heaves veterans and a rookie point guard who was a much better Division I player than most PBLers. It's an unfortunate way to start the season, particularly with the ridiculously long road trip, but they have a lot more than they've been able to show so far. Supposedly they'll have everyone practicing by Thursday or Friday, so we could see a much different performance against Manchester in the regular season opener.

Vermont's problem is that best players have joined a few days to start the season...

Thanks

[scrappy]

Vermont's problem is that best players have joined a few days to start the season...

Thanks

I'm talking about the ones who were in camp and injured. Between them and the new arrivals, the Heaves should be a very different team than the one that played in pre-season games, particularly the disaster at Halifax when they had been practicing for 3 weeks less than the other team and didn't have half their camp roster available, plus none of the newbies had arrived. I have no idea what to expect from them at this point.

[ABARedWhiteBlue]

STOP THIS AND STOP THIS RIGHT NOW. THERE WILL BE NO POWER RANKINGS. Waaay too ABAish.

Besides, you can't rank them until you see how well they report their game results (an actual criteria used by the ABA as per this week's release).
:infun:

[CHris902]

I'm talking about the ones who were in camp and injured. Between them and the new arrivals, the Heaves should be a very different team than the one that played in pre-season games, particularly the disaster at Halifax when they had been practicing for 3 weeks less than the other team and didn't have half their camp roster available, plus none of the newbies had arrived. I have no idea what to expect from them at this point.

Lame excuses.

Even the guys they had that were injured aren't good enough to turn around that roster (Marcus Austin isn't a game changer). They still lack size and Brandon Ball is too much of a turnover machine to run Strohm's offense. Besides, it wasn't three weeks. The Heaves opened camp on the 14th, Halifax opened camp on the 2nd but were still bringing in starters and rotation guys until the week of 14th, Manchester just locked down their roster and opened camp on the 12th. Twelve days fewer than Halifax (and the first seven days were nothing more than tryouts) and two fewer days than Manchester.

If the Heave's only problem is that they can't get things to click because of a lack of practice then things aren't going to get much better: the season opens in less than a week and they're on the road for the first month so they'll have very few practice days during the early part of the season. They don't have much more time to practice and need to bring something (anything) to the floor as quick as possible. They should have picked a roster and started camp earlier, I agree. But that's not a problem that's going to go away any time soon, and it's not something that the organization can't be blamed for. The management/coaching staff should have had a better camp with better players in it. It's no one's fault but the Frost Heaves.

You play with the team you've got and you should be judged on that. Every team in the pre-season is an incomplete roster, hasn't practiced enough, and has guys banged up - hell, most minor league teams are in that position all season.

Vermont got blown out twice in the preseason including once at home. Their one win was a squeaker against a mediocre team. I'll judge them on that until they show something different.

Maybe I'm too harsh, but anyone who thinks that the Frost Heaves are looking good at this point is a total homer.

[scrappy]

Lame excuses.

Even the guys they had that were injured aren't good enough to turn around that roster (Marcus Austin isn't a game changer). They still lack size and Brandon Ball is too much of a turnover machine to run Strohm's offense. Besides, it wasn't three weeks. The Heaves opened camp on the 14th, Halifax opened camp on the 2nd but were still bringing in starters and rotation guys until the week of 14th, Manchester just locked down their roster and opened camp on the 12th. Twelve days fewer than Halifax (and the first seven days were nothing more than tryouts) and two fewer days than Manchester.

If the Heave's only problem is that they can't get things to click because of a lack of practice then things aren't going to get much better: the season opens in less than a week and they're on the road for the first month so they'll have very few practice days during the early part of the season. They don't have much more time to practice and need to bring something (anything) to the floor as quick as possible. They should have picked a roster and started camp earlier, I agree. But that's not a problem that's going to go away any time soon, and it's not something that the organization can't be blamed for. The management/coaching staff should have had a better camp with better players in it. It's no one's fault but the Frost Heaves.

You play with the team you've got and you should be judged on that. Every team in the pre-season is an incomplete roster, hasn't practiced enough, and has guys banged up - hell, most minor league teams are in that position all season.

Vermont got blown out twice in the preseason including once at home. Their one win was a squeaker against a mediocre team. I'll judge them on that until they show something different.

Maybe I'm too harsh, but anyone who thinks that the Frost Heaves are looking good at this point is a total homer.

Where did I say the Heaves looked good? All I said was that we haven't seen what they really have yet. In no way am I saying they did a good job of getting organized and prepared for the season... but despite some missteps they have the potential to be a lot better than they have shown in the pre-season. Marcus Austin may not be a big game-changer, but he'll add experience and stability. Aaron Cook adds that plus a higher skill level and Jay Greene turns around that little "turnover machine" problem they have with Ball running the offense (seriously, he was second among all Division I players in assist-to-turnover ratio his junior year at UMBC). No team looks good with more than one of its best players out. They may never gel because of the way things started out, but they may also come on late and prove to be a lot better than people are giving them credit for. There are still way too many unanswered questions to write them off.

[Frost Heaves Fan]

Where did I say the Heaves looked good? All I said was that we haven't seen what they really have yet. In no way am I saying they did a good job of getting organized and prepared for the season... but despite some missteps they have the potential to be a lot better than they have shown in the pre-season. Marcus Austin may not be a big game-changer, but he'll add experience and stability. Aaron Cook adds that plus a higher skill level and Jay Greene turns around that little "turnover machine" problem they have with Ball running the offense (seriously, he was second among all Division I players in assist-to-turnover ratio his junior year at UMBC). No team looks good with more than one of its best players out. They may never gel because of the way things started out, but they may also come on late and prove to be a lot better than people are giving them credit for. There are still way too many unanswered questions to write them off.
Scrappy, no reason to get too bothered by negative talk by some posters about the Heaves. Actually they are correct, that the Heaves are struggling right now. However, because of our experience with the team and the franchise we know that there are better days ahead in a short amount of time. You are absolutely correct that Aaron, Jay and Markus will have a major impact starting in the next few days. So will Juwann Bailey, the new guy that just joined the Heaves on Monday. I truly believe that the Heaves will be a real contender this year.
I am sure that there are fans out there that are almost enjoying that the Heaves are struggling right now because now the "shoe is on the other foot". I remember being at the game in Burlington when the Heaves absoutely embarrased Halifax when they beat them by 58 points, and this was not in pre-season. They also beat the Boston Blizzard in Barre by 52 points. These games do happen..... and the Heaves had one of those this year.
The Frost Heaves will do alright this year. I am actually going to predicit that they will end up in 3rd or 4th place.

[Alumni96]

The Frost Heaves will do alright this year. I am actually going to predicit that they will end up in 3rd or 4th place.

In order for that to happen their front court is going to have to improve SIGNIFICANTLY. Defense and rebounding have been poor thus far.
I have high hopes that Bailey will improve these things. However the two Carter's need to pick up their games or be replaced. I don't like seeing my Centers shooting jumpshots and 3's when they should be inside rebounding.

[Frost Heaves Fan]

In order for that to happen their front court is going to have to improve SIGNIFICANTLY. Defense and rebounding have been poor thus far.
I have high hopes that Bailey will improve these things. However the two Carter's need to pick up their games or be replaced. I don't like seeing my Centers shooting jumpshots and 3's when they should be inside rebounding.

I agree with your comment about the front court and I believe that we will be alright because of another new guy that arrived yesterday and because one of the Carters will be gone and the remaining Carter has been seriously talked to about his role.
You will see a different team in Manchester on Sunday

[turbocamyes]

1. Puerto Rico - More money, more experience, more talent.

I say this with the understanding that I'm terrible at judging potential, but I'm not sure that the Puerto Rico Capitanes are more talented. Bonzi Wells has only played 17 meaningful games since the 0708 NBA playoffs ended (14 in China in 0809, 3 Liga Americas.) Other than Ayuso (NBDL) and Rodriguez (Ukraine) no one played anywhere other than PR, Mexico or college. You'd have to make the argument that the BSN plays at a higher level than the PBL, something we just can’t tell by looking at either league. And remember, the Capitanes (admittedly not this team, but one representing the BSN) split two preseason games with the Millrats last year.

[Frank Mart]

by Frank Mart

#1 Capitanes de Arecibo: 2-0

Captains play very well ... Playing 100% at home are unmatched in PBL ... Another thing is on the road... Angelo Reyes may be the best center in PBL

#2 Lawton Fort Sill Cavalry: 1-0

Cavs beat another contender for PBL' title (Rainmen, +15)... Undoubtedly the most interesting game PBL' opening day weekend... The chronicles written in the superiority of Michael Ray Richardson' team... Unfortunately there was no Internet to view streaming.

#3 Rochester Razosharks:1-0

In line with the previous season, Razorsharks easily defeated KEBS... Razorsharks have a peaceful start to the league of the weakest PBL' franchises (Kebs and Stampede).

#4 Manchester Millrats:1-0

Manchester again face to face with Frosties and beat them again this time in the regular season... This season does not start with the lineup of favorites, in my opinion may be the league capped.

#5 Halifax Rainmen:0-1

Excellent pre-season but has returned to Halifax to face with the reality of the league... I keep thinking that things are doing well at home by Andre, but have suffered setbacks in its initial exits after McLeish, Weaver (excellent replacement for Bennett, Ferguson) and McCarroll... Rainmen takes patience.

#6 Maryland Greenhawks:0-2

Spon's boys went to Arecibo with 2 defeats and with a feeling that could be worse ... They did not play as a team, but competed in both games... These are just two games, but Spon not have enough talent to qualify for the postseason.

#7 Vermont Frost Heaves:0-1

Until the last moment when you're trying to close the team can not expect immediate success and that's what happened to the Frosties in his visit to the State of New Hampshire... How many workouts were with the final roster?

#8 Quebec City Kebs:1-1

+15 Against Stampede and -25 against Razorsharks... Quebec is far from the post-season, but can expect to earn at home Vermont or Maryland... Ryan Holmes, Reggie George and Jean-Philippe Morin joined the team a few dates to begin the PBL.

#9 Buffalo Stampede:0-1

Clearly, the party that provided less expectation was that faced KEBS and Stampede... In its final roster list appeared somewhat experienced players... Should be to sign the best player in Buffalo I know ... Curtis Borchardt :infun:

Thanks

[Precious Roy]

Did Maryland have Harvey Thomas against P.R.?
Knowing that he's coming to Lawton on Friday makes me so happy because he has a long history of getting under the fans skin and vice versa.
Thomas is a stud, but he is a headcase!

[misenern]

Did Maryland have Harvey Thomas against P.R.?
Knowing that he's coming to Lawton on Friday makes me so happy because he has a long history of getting under the fans skin and vice versa.
Thomas is a stud, but he is a headcase!

Yes, he did play.

And nice rankings again, Frank. I completely agree with that order after weekend one. As I said earlier I think LFS and PR are the teams to beat. I think Rochester might be a small step behind those two, but they will still make the playoffs with a solid record because their schedule is probably the easiest in the league and Rod Baker will still make this team a contender. I am guessing that the last spot will be a battle between Maryland, Manchester and Halifax. Vermont looks like they are trying to add some stronger players last minute, but is it a little too late?

And as for Angelo Reyes of the Capitanes, is this guy the Dennis Rodman of the PBL? He's averaging over 22 boards after two games. Insane.

[misenern]

Weaver (excellent replacement for Bennett, Ferguson)

I had never seen Weaver play. Was he actually any good?

[TheStandard]

Yes, he did play.

And nice rankings again, Frank. I completely agree with that order after weekend one. As I said earlier I think LFS and PR are the teams to beat. I think Rochester might be a small step behind those two, but they will still make the playoffs with a solid record because their schedule is probably the easiest in the league and Rod Baker will still make this team a contender. I am guessing that the last spot will be a battle between Maryland, Manchester and Halifax. Vermont looks like they are trying to add some stronger players last minute, but is it a little too late?

And as for Angelo Reyes of the Capitanes, is this guy the Dennis Rodman of the PBL? He's averaging over 22 boards after two games. Insane.

Angelo Reyes is the best center in the BSN and he will show that he is the best center in the PBL. He has had a total of 4 30 rebound games along with scoring over 15 points in those games also. He's always had double figures in points and rebounds he was the 2008 BSN MVP and 1st Offense 1st Team Defense every year. He may be smaller than the rest of the centers he will face but he's scrappy, though and doesn't care who is next to him. In the tournament of the Americas in July he frustrated the hell of Anderson Varejao, Luis Scola and Al Horford. Was invited to the OKC Thunder Camp but he knew that the D League was the relegation so he chose to play for the Captains at 6 figures. I would too.

[Frank Mart]

I had never seen Weaver play. Was he actually any good?

Not a superstar, but he is a sg / sf with more experience than Gallimore or Sepherd... Weaver's videos I've seen show great handball.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6a3wK3P2nU

Thanks

[Precious Roy]

My first rankings are now up at The Lawton Sports Blog. (www.lawtonsportsblog.blogspot.com)

[CHris902]

My thoughts on rankings:
1 - Puerto Rico (Not just undefeated but dominant)
2 - Lawton-FS
3 - Rochester (LFS have played tougher teams thus far)
4 - Manchester
5 - Halifax (Halifax only beat one team, Manchester beat one team, but Vermont are better than Quebec and the Millrats played PR tough)
6 - Maryland (Congratulations, you beat Buffalo)
7 - Quebec
8 - Vermont
9 - Buffalo (is it 22 straight losses now?)

I think we'll have a much better idea of how things shake down in a week, but for now it looks like the top three are dominant, my homerism is unmasked, Buffalo is exactly where we all expected them to be and Quebec and Vermont are still struggling to make something work.

[Buffalo Super Fan]

Buffalo Stampede isn't good enough to be even ranked 9th. What I saw over the weekend for those two games was the titanic. And yes it is 22 straight losses on there way to 39 straight losses they aren't winning a game this year in the PBL with this group what an embarrassment to the city of Buffalo.

Myself as one of the Buffalo Stampede few fans am giving up until the team has new ownership. I am done going to there games at the KAC. They are a total turnoff as a Buffalonian they need to be sold or fold take your pick in my opinion. Let's Go Buffalo

[Frank Mart]

Captains-Cavs will be one of the best minor league games we may see this weekend ... Dispel doubts about both potential... http://capitanes.xsn.net/ 01/16/2010 8:00 PM

Andre Livingston loses patience ... 3 games is enough to cut Shagari and Underwood (Which days before McCarroll replaced !)... Desperate for a big guy ... Days of thunder in the Halifax Metro Center

Millrats waives McCroskey ... Manchester need a other big guy

Thanks

[Frank Mart]

PUERTO RICO CAPITANES 5-0
ROCHESTER RAZORSHARKS 3-0
HALIFAX RAINMEN 3-1
LAWTON FORT SILL CAVALRY 3-1
BUFFALO STAMPEDE 1-3
MANCHESTER MILLRATS 1-3
QUEBEC KEBS 1-3
MARYLAND GREENHAWKS 1-4
VERMONT FROST HEAVES 0-3

Amazing fourth quarter saw in the coliseum "Manuel Petaca higuina"! Cavs came to go ahead by 20 points, but ... Did not have the sublime Larry Ayuso game ... MVP!... It was worth staying up late ... Cavs last quarter was disastrous ... The first three quarters of Cavs liked a lot, play electric (Bowden, Dean, Fountain) accompanied by good big guys (Daniels, Marshall, Davis)... However, today, I think three games (playoffs) Cavs win Puerto Rico in a hypothetical final (apparently seen)...

In the rest of the weekend matches, Razorsharks victories (against Millrats) and Halifax Rainman (against Frosties) has the league match between the candidates and the other teams...

Thanks

[CHris902]

Puerto Rico
Rochester
Lawton Fort Sill
Halifax
Manchester
Quebec
Buffalo
Maryland
Vermont

[Alumni96]

PR
Lawton
Rochester
Halifax
Manchester
Vermont
Quebec
Buffalo
Maryland

[Precious Roy]

My new rankings up at The Lawton Sports Blog. (http://www.lawtonsportsblog.blogspot.com/)

[CHris902]

I think the standings more or less tell the story this week...

1) Puerto Rico - Five games undefeated including victories over Manchester and LFS. I'm not totally sold on them until they manage to beat a good team on the road.

2) Rochester - 4-0, but a weak schedule so far. Their toughest game was a road victory over Manchester. Big test next weekend on the road against Halifax. I almost want to drop them to third, but I don't want to seem like too big of a homer, and I also think that the reigning champions always get the benefit of the doubt. They may be thrashing weak opponents, but look at the insane offensive numbers they're putting up: 126 ppg, 44% three point shooting. Crazy.

3) Halifax - Two wins against tough opponents including a road win on the back end of a two game weekend. Still lots of holes but they're really turning it up a notch in fourth quarters. They are the worst three point shooting team and the worst free throw shooting team in the league and both those distinctions may come back to hurt them.

4) Lawton/Fort Sill - The Cavs started strong but stumbled on the road. Still clearly one of the elite teams in the league, but need some tweaking.

5) Manchester - Have lost to the four best teams and won against two of the four teams below them so right in the middle they go. Crazy smallball line up that could win on any given night but that I don't think will string together enough victories to get to the playoffs.

6) Buffalo - Maybe Maryland are better, but Buffalo won the more recent meeting between the two and pushed Rochester surpisingly hard.

7) Maryland - Beating up on bad teams does not make you good.

8) Quebec - I don't understand what this team is doing and if JP is out for the season with an injury then they're done.

9) Vermont - Even management knows they're cooked for the season and is cutting costs by canning the coach. (Alliteration! **** yeah!) The only winless team in the PBL. In their defense they've had an incredibly tough schedule: three games against good teams on the road.

[LightningMan]

The playoff probabilities chart (which is not a power ranking but does try to project the likelihood of each team making the playoffs) goes thus:

Razorsharks -- 98.7%
Rainmen -- 97.8%
Capitanes -- 96.8%
Cavalry -- 91.5%
Millrats -- 6.2%
Frost Heaves -- 5.1%
GreenHawks -- 2.4%
Stampede -- 1.1%
Kebs -- 0.3%

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/basketball/NorthAmerica/PBL.html

[Frank Mart]

#1 PUERTO RICO CAPITANES 1-0
#2 HALIFAX RAINMEN 1-1
#3 LAWTON-FORT SILL CAVALRY 1-2
#4 ROCHESTER RAZORSHARKS 0-0

SCHEDULE:
HALIFAX RAINMEN@ LAWTON-FORT SILL CAVALRY 87 - 102
LAWTON-FORT SILL CAVALRY@ PUERTO RICO CAPITANES 94 - 101
LAWTON-FORT SILL CAVALRY@ HALIFAX RAINMEN 92 - 102

I have seen several times at 3 of 4 contenders for the title of the PBL (not seen Razorsharks) and with special interest to the games between them (curiously, has not played with them Razorsharks) and I put my first concluisones.

PBL in high positions are more equal than expected.
Arecibo is a strong team at home, but the party most committed to date has shown two faces, one in which he was surpassed by the rival (Cavs) and another in which its success would beat them up to NBA teams (exaggeration). However, it generated in preseason expectations have not been covered in full for several reasons, including not having Bonzi Wells (played with them the League of the Americas) and in the matches in USA and Canada will lose some games .

Moreover, BSN starts in mid-April and the PBL regular season ends April 10. In full playoff for the title and the league started in Puerto Rico (his real goal) ¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?

Cavs started strong and seemed to the rulers of the league, but a loss in PR has made them doubt his game. I'm not excited at Halifax Metro Center before some Rainmen with numerous changes of players.

I think Cavs are short in rotation roster and lack perhaps more than any player off minutes from bench.

In Halifax are always under construction (OUT: McLeish, Howard Weaver, McCarroll, Underwood, Alleyne, Malone, Dobie, IN: Earvin, Plummer, Currie, Thomas, Mazur ...). Andre seems to give much sought after great guy (or Malone, and McCarroll, or Alleyne, nor Underwood ...) and the last to arrive are Thomas and Mazur. I like Mazur, played in Spain and knows PBL (I guess Moneyball recommended it) and is a big PF and shoot good range. Thomas played very little against Cavs and does not feel that is the starting line up center. It appears that another player will replace Malone. Andre, real talent big guy play in overseas (China, Europe, NBA or return to the D-League as Courtney Sims), hardly come to PBL. I would have signed Jonas Pierre as a bench player. Pierre can help on defense, is a Canadian player and Les Berry really took him out more performance than the other centers who have left.
Other interesting centers that I saw last season were Kanyon Gamble (Millrats) and Walt Waters (Panthers).

I have not seen Razorsharks...

Thanks

[Precious Roy]

My new rankings

The Lawton Sports Blog (http://lawtonsportsblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/fast-fall.html)

[CHris902]

1) Puerto Rico - Only undefeated team in the PBL. May not stay at the top for long as I still want to see them play a good team on the road and Halifax definitely made them look quite beatable.
2) Halifax - Went to Puerto Rico with a skeleton roster and almost won and have pulled off big home wins against LFS and Rochester.
3) Rochester - Only one loss on the season, but no wins against any of the top three teams. Beating up on the budget teams will only get you so much respect. I still feel like they're going to get better as the season progresses.
4) LFS - It's like their a totally different team on the road than they are at home. Still missing a piece or two but I definitely wouldn't want any piece of them in the playoffs.
5) Buffalo - There's a huge drop off after the number 4 team. They beat Manchester and Maryland recently so they certainly deserve to be above those teams at least. Have some good players to build on and I would be annoyed but not totally shocked if they upset Halifax this coming week.
6) Manchester - I still think they're dangerous but they released a lot of important pieces on that roster. A good team headed in the wrong direction.
7) Maryland - Have a couple of wins against a couple of bad teams. Yay.
8 ) Quebec - I don't even really think about this team.
9) Vermont - 43 point loss to LFS, only winless team in the PBL and losing by an average of over 18 points per game. There's really no way around it - this is an awful team. They've added some quality players but the roster is still unbalanced and the new players didn't exactly light it up in Oklahoma.

[LightningMan]

The playoff probabilities chart goes thus:

Capitanes -- 99.9%
Razorsharks -- 99.9%
Rainmen -- 99.4%
Cavalry -- 98.9%
Millrats -- 0.9%
Frost Heaves -- 0.5%
GreenHawks -- 0.2%
Stampede -- 0.2%
Kebs -- 0.0%

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/basketball/NorthAmerica/PBL.html

[CHris902]

I was looking at that the other day, it's pretty crazy to see the drop off from fourth to fifth. (It's also pretty nuts to think that it's projecting a zero percent chance of Quebec making it)

The Massey ratings seem to be starting to stabalize now that more games have been played:

PBL Team Rank Power Offense Defense HA Sched
Rochester RazorSharks 1 1 1 7 7 9
Halifax Rainmen 2 3 6 2 4 5
Puerto Rico Capitanes 3 4 7 1 5 8
Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry 4 2 4 3 1 3
Manchester Millrats 5 5 5 6 3 2
Vermont Frost Heaves 6 6 3 8 6 1
Maryland GreenHawks 7 7 2 9 9 7
Quebec City Kebs 8 8 8 4 2 4
Buffalo Stampede 9 9 9 5 8 6

So the statistic based rankings are telling us more or less the same thing we all know - huge gap from the top four to the rest. They also seem to agree with the common sense at the top of the rankings but in the bottom five they seem to give Vermont the benefit of the doubt based on schedule and not at all like Quebec or Buffalo.
It's also unclear how much of Buffalo, Manchester and Vermont's Massey rankings are based on last year's results.

[LightningMan]

I was looking at that the other day, it's pretty crazy to see the drop off from fourth to fifth. (It's also pretty nuts to think that it's projecting a zero percent chance of Quebec making it)
That (and Vermont's showing) has to do with the very very high home court advantage of the league. Right now it's at like 23 out of 30 games have been won by the home team. Quebec must have a remaining schedule heavy on road games and Vermont must still have a decent amount of home games remaining.

[CHris902]

I don't think Vermont have played at home at all yet.

That is definitely a steep homecourt advantage and its something I hadn't noticed (although I should have guessed it since all four top teams are undefeated at home).

[Precious Roy]

Gotta love Mondays

Here (http://lawtonsportsblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/unbalanced-league.html) are my power rankings.

[misenern]

Gotta love Mondays

Here (http://lawtonsportsblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/unbalanced-league.html) are my power rankings.

Nice write up about the balance of the league. Hopefully things don't get too ugly. 40 points blowouts get old really fast.

[bdaly]

Really though, LFW is the only team with wins at over 30 points (2 at home). Even with Vermont, outside of the LFW loss, they've hung around with teams (and they've yet to play at home where they hold a significant advantage). While there's clearly going to be a big split in terms of record between the top four or five teams and the rest, it doesn't look like 40 point blowouts are likely to become the norm unless someone sheds a number of players. Obviously, for the sake of the league, it would be good not to have a group of teams (almost) out of the running early, though.

[CHris902]

1) Puerto Rico
2) Halifax
3) LFS
4) Rochester (Two losses in a row)
5) Vermont (crazy turnaround in the bottom five over the last few weeks)
6) Buffalo
7) Manchester (They're losing, but they're staying in games which is worth something, I guess)
8 ) Maryland (crazy blow out loss to LFS)
9) Quebec

[LightningMan]

Playoff probability percentages as of today:

Team %
---- ----
PR_ 99.8
HAL 99.5
LFS 99.4
ROC 99.0
==== ====
VT_ 1.8
MAN 0.3
BUF 0.1
MD_ 0.0
QUE 0.0

From here:

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/basketball/NorthAmerica/PBL.html

[Precious Roy]

It's getting harder to write these every week because the good teams are just plain good and the bad teams are downright terrible.

Anyway, here are my rankings (http://lawtonsportsblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/monday-again-naturally.html)for this week.

[Frank Mart]

It's getting harder to write these every week because the good teams are just plain good and the bad teams are downright terrible.

Anyway, here are my rankings (http://lawtonsportsblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/monday-again-naturally.html)for this week.

Where is now Oliver Miller? He says in his twitter that will prove to PR... Where is now Oliver Miller? He says in his twitter that will prove to PR
I think Big O help Cavs playoff

[Precious Roy]

Miller played horribly slow and was nowhere near game shape. Miller had zero chance to improve the Cavs. The new guy they brought in, Wayne Marshall, is big, athletic and actually works without too much complaints.

[Frank Mart]

#1 puerto rico capitanes 2-0
#2 halifax rainmen 2-2
#3 lawton-fort sill cavalry 2-2
#4 rochester razorsharks 0-2

schedule:
Halifax rainmen@ lawton-fort sill cavalry 87 - 102
lawton-fort sill cavalry@ puerto rico capitanes 94 - 101
lawton-fort sill cavalry@ halifax rainmen 92 - 102
halifax rainmen@ puerto rico capitanes 101 - 108
rochester razorsharks@ halifax rainmen 99 - 102
lawton-fort sill cavalry@ rochester razorsharks 97 - 90

Bob Matthews
Bob has been a sports columnist for the Times-Union and Democrat and Chronicle and a regular "As the Sports World Turns" contributor to the Gannett News Service since 1978.
The RazorSharks have lost an unprecedented three straight games entering Monday's matinee against undefeated Puerto Rico. They obviously miss James "Mook" Reaves (Edison Tech/Niagara University), out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon. He was solid as a rock inside as a scorer and rebounder.

[LightningMan]

Playoff probability percentages as of today:

Team %
---- -----
PR_ 100.0
LFS 100.0
HAL 100.0
ROC 099.8
==== =====
VT_ 000.2
MAN 000.0
BUF 000.0
MD_ 000.0
QUE 000.0

From here:

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/basketball/NorthAmerica/PBL.html

[CHris902]

I don't know about this 100% business....

[Jimmytwotimes]

I heard last week the top 6 teams will go to the playoffs.

[CHris902]

This was mentioned as a rumour on the rainmen webcast. I can't find anything on the website about it, though. Where did you hear it?

I am torn on it, on the one hand I think it's better to send more than four teams to the playoffs, on the other hand I think it's absolutely stupid to change the playoff format after the season already starts (particularly given last year's debacle).

[LightningMan]

I don't know about this 100% business....
I do. 100% there doesn't actually mean mathematical certainty. What it means is that in >99.95% of the ways it calculates the possible ends of the season, the team makes the playoffs. The 100.0% number comes from rounding. When there is no scenario in the thousands of them run that has a team missing the playoffs, he changes from a percentage to saying IN. This is also not quite mathematically correct, as there might be some arcane way for the team to not make the playoffs. It only means that in no scenario of the thousands run does a team not make the playoffs. Usually his INs show up about a game or two before absolute mathematical impossibility.

I hope this helps.

[LightningMan]

On the one hand I think it's better to send more than four teams to the playoffs.
Last year in a ten team league they sent five, so four is about right, IMO. YMMV.

On the other hand I think it's absolutely stupid to change the playoff format after the season already starts (particularly given last year's debacle).
And this is the real rub. No matter how much sense it may make to add another team, this is probably a bad idea just because of last year.

[Juniper]

Where will the Championship be? Will it be one game or best of 3 or 5?

[sonnie20]

Probably depends on the situation and I bet they don't put the format on their web page like they did last year. I think they should play it in China and Have Mr. Dempsey sing the national anthem for them.

[basketball facts]

I have to admit, that made me chuckle. Add the team members of the Florida Flight as the color guard and you got a party

[Frank Mart]

http://www.thepbl.com/article.cfm?id=240

Thanks

[LightningMan]

Playoff probability percentages as of today:

Team %
---- -----
PR_ 100.0
LFS 100.0
HAL 099.8
ROC 099.8
==== =====
VT_ 000.4
MAN 000.0
BUF 000.0
MD_ 000.0
QUE 000.0

From here:

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/basketball/NorthAmerica/PBL.html

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

...I think they should play it in China and Have Mr. Dempsey sing the national anthem for them.

That will never happen. It's a new day and history has been re-written. Patrick Dempsey has no bearings on the PBL, positive or negative. Give it enough time (and lack of results) and China will be reduced to just another country with too many people. No affect on the PBL. :rolleyes:

[LightningMan]

That will never happen. It's a new day and history has been re-written. Patrick Dempsey has no bearings on the PBL, positive or negative. Give it enough time (and lack of results) and China will be reduced to just another country with too many people. No affect on the PBL. :rolleyes:
[Emphasis added]

You're just sore because preeths proved you wrong on the racing badge and you can't admit it.

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

[Emphasis added]

You're just sore because preeths proved you wrong on the racing badge and you can't admit it.

You're getting much too easy. Thanks for the introduction to my new thread:

Searching for Bobby Fischer and PBL Accomplishments (http://www.oursportscentral.com/boards/showthread.php?p=131493#post131493)