With three games left in the Prime Time League’s regular season, The Daily Iowan examines the action to produce its second weekly team rankings.
1. Coach’s Corner/Two Rivers (4-0)
Can anyone beat Anthony Hubbard and Company?
It sure hasn’t looked like it so far.
Coach’s Corner/Two Rivers has wreaked havoc on the Prime Time, and it has handily beaten every squad it has faced. That could change this evening, though, because the team faces No. 2 Falbo/Culver’s in what will likely be the best game of the regular season.
Last week: No. 1
2. Falbo/Culver’s (3-1)
Watch out, Prime Time League: Melsahn Basabe is heating up. The Iowa forward is averaging 30 points per game and has turned in back-to-back 11-rebound performances for good measure.
Basabe’s supporting cast has been superb, too. Matt Gatens is scoring 28.3 points per game, and Aaron White is adding 19 points; the three Hawkeyes have accounted for 74 percent of the team’s scoring in the three games they have played together.
Last week: No. 2
3. Armstrong/Kroeger (2-2)
Armstrong/Kroeger is a prime example of the benefits of an efficient offense. In the team’s two losses to start the season, the Boys in Black shot 42 percent from the floor and just 25 percent from behind the 3-point line (a staggering 16-of-65).
In back-to-back wins, though, the team shot 56 percent and hit 46 percent of its treys.
The squad isn’t as good as Coach’s Corner or Falbo’s, but if it can keep shooting at that rate, Armstrong should coast into the playoffs on July 17 as the No. 3 seed.
Last week: No. 3
4. McCurry’s/Gatens (1-3)
Last week, the main story lines with McCurry’s/Gatens were the re-emergence of Eric May as a terrific all-around player and the lack of support he was getting from his teammates.
Neither one has changed. May continues to be one of the better players in the league; he had 30 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists in a loss to Falbo’s on June 28. He almost orchestrated a huge upset, but didn’t get enough from his teammates and ended up on the wrong side of a 109-106 score.
Things could change in a hurry if Andrew Brommer ever gets well enough to take the court, though. The Hawkeye center sat out the first four games recovering from knee surgery, but Brommer — McCurry’s second-round draft pick — hasn’t been ruled out of participating in the league.
Last week: No. 4
5. Ready Mix/Vinton (1-3)
Ready Mix is underwhelming, but moved up a spot this week anyway because Monica’s/Pelling has been even worse.
Bryce Cartwright appears to be doing everything he can, but it hasn’t been enough. The team is lacking the consistently explosive second scorer that the Prime Time’s top squads have, and it’s showing halfway through the season.
Northern Iowa’s Marc Sonnen has the potential to be that second option, and he has helped to some extent. The St. Paul, Minn., native is averaging 18 points a game, but the guard missed the last contest and hasn’t been exactly consistent; he scored 27 points in one game, and just 8 in another.
Last week: No. 6
6. Monica’s/Pelling (1-3)
Monica’s/Pelling has four players on its roster with names that start with the letter “D.” Until the team begins playing a fifth D, though — defense — it won’t have much success.
The squad continues to allow its opponents to put on offensive clinics, and is giving up a league-worst 104.3 points per game. Opposing scoring has increased every week, starting with 88 in the team’s lone win on June 19 to 120 points on June 28.
Last week: No. 5
Player of the Week: Ali Farokhmanesh
Ali Farokhmanesh shone on June 28, scoring 26 points, dishing out eight assists, and pulling down 7 rebounds. What truly makes him the Player of the Week, though, was that he did all his scoring on 7-of-10 shooting. His performance in Armstrong’s efficient 120-96 win was the first time all season the former Northern Iowa guard has shot above 50 percent from the field and taken fewer than 15 shots.
The DI’s Prime Time Rankings will be published every Tuesday. Teams are ranked by overall record, and tiebreakers are decided by record over the past two games.
