Week 4 Rec Ball Power Rankings: A New Team Enters the Top 3

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Colin West '22 and Brady Volin '22

      1. Tam/Chattopadaya (4-0)

Tam/Chattopadaya took care of business this week against Seymour/Billinsky, edging out a win by 4 points. Similar to last week, Ayush and Sean shone, combining for 30, while Tito Nair hit 3 3-pointers to complement the duo. Kevin Nunes continues to be a defensive presence and will score more once he saves up enough VC to upgrade his finishing. Amir Hameed is also a capable scorer, rounding out one of the deepest teams in the league. The only thing that can knock this team out of the top spot is a loss to a top 5 team.

2. Nagi/Steinberg (4-1)

Team Nagi has exploded onto the scene this weekend taking good games against Team Seymour and Team Collins, putting them at the second spot in the power rankings, their highest of the season. The combination of Connor Nagi and Adam Steinberg is scary as they seem to just scoop up every single rebound no matter who is near. They also have had good offensive contributions from Greg Steinberg and Alex Nunes Martinez. Ryan Bentley rounds out this roster as a scary, good, and strong team coming into the back half of the season. Look for this team to take the one spot in future weeks.

3. Seymour/Billinsky (3-2)

Seymour/Billinksy had two tough matchups against the top 2 teams this week and lost both of them. They lost Elliott and Brady for the Tam game, which was a huge blow. It seems they have found themselves a shooter in Thomas “Tyler Herro” Gagnon, who contributed a respectable 21 points on 7 3s. Jacob Billinsky is beginning to lose steam in his MVP race and needs a great game to assert himself back into the conversation. Seymour/Billinsky will look for a bounce-back week to remain near the top of the league.

4. West/McDermott (3-2)

Team West scarily reminds me of the Rec Ball Champions from the last season. Team Kaplan from two years ago is very similar. They are led by two chippy and skilled players in Colin West and Brendan McDermott, the seniors. The main reason they remind me of Team Kaplan though is the underclassmen’s depth. Mikey Ku, Andy C, and Luis are all dangerous scorers and are all Sophomores. They also have a former team Kaplan member Cooper Hagen who already has championship experience and pedigree, this will prove very helpful for this team as they look to make a deep playoff run.

5. Henderson/Levesque (3-1)

Henderson/Levesque suffered their first loss this week to team Townsend/Warner and was held to only 29 points as a team. Brady Henderson led in scoring with 16 points in the paint, while Gray Sasetti complimented him with 5. The main weakness this team has is scoring, and they need Jay Mekala to help Brady on the offensive end. It will be interesting to see where this team ranks going forward after they face more difficult competition.

6. Collins/Xu (2-2)

Team Collins took two losses this week. One on the basketball court versus Team Nagi to put them at a .500 record. The other was in the news that third option and young stud Eli Wawersik was announced out for the remainder of the season. That is a crushing blow to a team that is already playing with a semi-injured star in Will Collins. Kevin Xu and his supporting cast will need to make up for a lot for this team to reach the success level we thought they would have at the beginning of the season. Their roster is full of talent though so it definitely is possible.

7. Townsend/Warner (3-2)

Townsend/Warner upset Henderson/Levesque this week in a low-scoring 37-29 affair. Cooper Armstrong had a great week after missing last week’s loss against West/McDermott, pacing scoring with 12 points. Aiden Warner continues to dominate by slashing, and Tim Breen is a presence in the paint. This team has a great core and could certainly move up with more wins against proven opponents.

8. Lombardo/McGinn (2-1)

Team Lombardo tacked on another win this weekend against the Charlie Snowless Team Meyer. This puts team Lombardo at only a 2-1 record, having the least amount of games played and counted. The team has a very even scoring attack with Micheal, Tommy and Basim all putting up double digits on a weekly basis. This team’s even attack will prove critical in close games as they have many scorers to choose from during those stretches. The only thing that may hurt them is if any of them gets too ball-hungry, but that hasn’t really happened this season.

9. Meyer (2-4)

Team Meyer stays at the 9 spot in this week’s rankings. After a loss to team Barry and a loss to Lombardo, the only thing that doesn’t drop them below Barry/Barr is the fact that Charlie Snow didn’t play this weekend, and Jackson Bohn didn’t play Monday. This team simply just all needs to be there for them to win, as they are 2-1 when both Charlie and Jackson play. Charlie Snow is having a great year on both ends of the court and Jackson is a menace in the paint so having them both together will continue to be dangerous, with their nice young supporting cast including David and Ryan.

10. Barry/Barr (2-4)

Barry/Barr has been a pleasant surprise this year and could easily have 3 or 4 wins. They lost to West/McDermott on Sunday but bounced back to defeat team Meyer on Monday night. Led by Desmond O’Reilly and Big Mike Lelacheur, this is a defensive-minded team that can compete with the top dogs of the league. Colin Barr and Sean Barry also provide solid shooting, but this team could use a dominant big man to be considered a contender.

11. Pisciotta (3-2)

In his Facebook post to recap the game, Addison Last mistakenly labeled this team Ritacco. However, he’s not wrong: this is Jake Ritacco’s team. Tacco had another great performance, dropping 29 in a win against the last team. Owen Fiedler also had a good week, with a season-high of 10 points. If Fiedler can be a weekly contributor, he might be what Tacco and Cashman need to get this team over the edge.

12. Sullivan (2-2)

Sullivan/Burke had a big bounce-back week against Calderone, routing them by 27 points. There is definitely a big gap between the 12 and 13 spots, and Sullivan can contend with many of the teams ranked above them. Hayden is a top-10 player in the league when he’s on, and the combination of Hugh and the Sullivans is formidable. Depth and streaky performances are the main things holding Sullivan/Burke back, but they have a chance to get back on track in the coming weeks.

13. Calderone (0-5)

Team Calderone has the same storyline as team Last: Winless. We are not sure if there is a matchup between Team Last and Team Calderone but if there is that would be game of the week. Steven led the way in scoring this past week in their loss versus team Sullivan, which is a good sight to see but there doesn’t seem to be enough talent overall to win many games this season. Matt, Steven, Rahim and Co will need to have a great performance to take a game later this season.

 

14. Last (0-4)

Unfortunately, not much has changed for Team Last this season as they find themselves last in the ranking once again. It is hard to write more about this team as every game we see the same thing, Brendan Martin and Richie continue to shine and the rest of the team just continues to foul. This team once again is very fun to watch but doesn’t seem put together enough to actually win a game.