Full Court Press - Criminally Good

Week 6 Power Rankings

Don’t look now, but the defending champions are quietly beating their wives competition all the way back into the playoff picture after a rough start to their title defense.

Tijuana GM Saul Smith sat in his office high atop the Matador Cantina, the smoke and stench of his Philly Blunt cigar filling the office while he let the ash slowly burn near his fingertips. Seated in his tall, leather chair, back to the desk and the reporter sitting in front of it, he sat quietly for some time before addressing the voice on the other end of his speakerphone. “Make the deal,” he said quietly but firmly. Then he hung up. And with that, Smith set off the chain of events that would directly contribute to the rejuvenation of his team’s season.

Defending a title can be a tricky thing. Players get complacent, fan expectations rise dramatically, and everybody wants more. We saw this last year in Montreal when the DeathPiggys stormed out of the gate last year before falling victim to the title defense swoon. Although they were able to claw their way back to the title game, it wasn’t enough as a new, hungrier upstart was looking to make their mark.

The key to the DeathPiggys’ run to the title game last year was a late season trade with Las Vegas. Fed up with his team’s lack of toughness on the boards and poor shooting percentages, Montreal GM Jackie Moon made a blockbuster deal for Pau Gasol, Tim Duncan, and Brandon Roy. The cost was steep, as Montreal lost two of their franchise cornerstones in Danny Granger and Al Horford, in addition to two valuable first round picks, but the trade had the intended effect on the team and jolted them out of their slump and built momentum for the playoffs.

Realizing his team needed a kick in the pants, Smith made a controversial trade with Peoria, sending team captain Deron Williams and last year’s playoff hero Troy Murphy packing, in exchange for enigmatic point guard Baron Davis, injury-prone forward Caron Butler, and breakout Center Channing Frye. Many around the league derided the trade when it happened, pointing out that Tijuana was trading away cornerstones of a championship team for a bunch of players who have never won anything. But Smith knew something had to give.

“You don’t really understand the situation until you see it firsthand,” Smith explains. “Those guys, Deron and Troy, they’re great players and the people of Mexico will always respect and appreciate what they gave us last year. That said…” Smith trails off, looking into the distance and taking a long, appreciative puff of his delicious cherry-flavored Philly. “With that said, some people around the team just didn’t think they were giving it their all out there. We can’t have that. We’re trying to build a dynasty, not be just some one and done paper champion. We’re in this for the long haul. And if everyone isn’t committed to that common goal, then we’re not afraid to bring in people who will be. My dad taught me that,” Smith says, gesturing to a picture of his father, college coach Tubby Smith, on his desk.

Smith is no stranger to making waves in the trade market. After a sluggish start last year, Smith acquired point guard Jason Kidd, who helped turned the team’s season around. He then made a series of deals that ended up with Murphy, who was a key contributor in getting the team over the top for a title. Since his controversial move this year, the Matadors have ripped off three wins in a row, including a big 6-3 victory over then-first place Tokyo. While no one was looking, Tijuana has worked their way only a half game out of the final playoff spot with plenty of games left to go. While it’s never easy to repeat, Saul Smith has shown that he won’t let his team go down without a fight.

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Power Rankings:
1. Las Vegas (+1) – Light upcoming schedule could ensure that they don’t give this spot up anytime soon, despite injury to Granger.
2. Tokyo (-1) – Dominating in some areas, but problems (TOs, FG%, Assists) starting to loom larger.
3. Montreal (-) – Always nice to get a win on a subpar week.
4. Weymouth (-) – Back-to-back losses means the honeymoon is over on the island of Weymouth.
5. Colorado (-) – Solid win over Colorado East. True test comes this week against Tokyo.
6. Tijuana (+1) – Huge win over Tokyo shows the champs aren’t down for the count yet.
7. South Carolina (-1) – Easy portion of the 1st half sked is over. Their first tests against contenders haven’t gone well.
8. Bridgewater (+1) – Have quietly ripped off 3 in a row. Two hottest teams square off against each other this week in Tijuana.
9. Rakeville (+2) – Getting healthy, getting better results.
10. Fitchburg (-) – Statistically still strong, but they’ll need to show something against Peoria and Rakeville these next two weeks to save their season.
11. Dublin (-3) – Injuries are killing the youngsters.
12. Peoria (-) – Another week, another blowout loss. Look to break their own (shared) record for longest winless streak this week against Fitchburg, as Fitchburg tries to remove their name from the ignominious record.

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League Notes:
-Las Vegas forward Danny Granger is expected to miss at least a month with a heel injury. He incurred the injury while playing hop-scotch with team GM and renowned hopscotch enthusiast Charles Barkley.

-Dublin Center Greg Oden broke the patella on his left knee and will miss the rest of the season. Oden is the second player to injure a knee after a pre-season trade with noted injury enthusiasts Colorado. Bears GM Mike Comtois could be heard laughing all the way from Hawaii, where he is “working,” the lucky bastard.

-Rakeville has won two games in a row. After ripping on them all season, I’m contractually obligated to congratulate them on this feat. Does that count? I think that counts.