With group play finally wrapped up, it’s time we turn our attention to the money rounds. Welcome to Slam Open Bracket Play! Our 32 team double elimination bracket returns for another year hopefully bringing as much chaos and fun as they did last season. We have a ton of matchups on Thursday/Friday, so I’m expecting fireworks across the board. Instead of going through every possible matchup, let’s go through 5 teams you should keep your eye on for this week, good and bad.

Nets Gaming Crew – OGKingCurt said he’d start paying attention to my content again  when I spend more than 10 seconds on NetsGC, so this paragraph is for Curt and Curt alone! I loved how NetsCG played this week. Their defense was flying, Steez turned into an offensive rebound vacuum cleaner, and their top of the league assists per game number sees them 4-0 in series and 16-4 in individual games. For me, even with their league leading offense, I think they can get even better. They shot 46% from 3 as a team and Greens was only at 41% himself, so there might be another level this team can hit. I’m excited to see how they do against the best of the best this week, this team is currently as good as we hoped they’d be.

Heat Check Gaming – Similar to NetsGC, Heat Check Gaming had a great week, but also has a ton of room on the upside to get better. They are 2nd in the league defensively, allowing just 17.8 ppg, but offensively, they are tied for the 10th worst in the league at only 19.1 PPG. This stemmed from something very similar to NetsGC. High steal numbers, high rebounding numbers, low 3P%. Just 46.7% as a team for Miami, if they can get that up closer to 50-55%, this team will be very difficult to beat. Ky is still just starting to heat up, this team could be really scary when he gets going.

Cavs Legion GC – I did a small piece on the Cavs offensive issues so far this season, but what lands them on the list this week is actually their work on the defensive side of the ball. They are currently 1st in the league in Opp. FG% at 60.4% and have forced the most turnovers of any team in the league so far at 31 in just 16 games. TBShiftay and DJayTooCold have been getting the job done on that end so far, their chemistry has popped right back into place from where it was2 seasons ago. Once Killeyy shakes off the rust and remembers he’s one of the best 3-point shooters in the world, this team could make a major run.

Dux Infinitos – Variance is a really funny thing in basketball. Take the Celtics-Cavs game from last night in the NBA. Celtics up big in the 4th Q, currently on an 11-game win streak. Then, out of nowhere, Dean Wade goes 5/5 from 3, closes with a 20 point 4th Q, and the Cavs win by 1. That kind of variance is what makes basketball so exciting, you truly never know when something is going to go for you over a stretch of time. You may be asking, why are you bringing this up Harris? Well, sometimes variance can work against you too and in the case of Dux Infinitos, that crazy variance saw them give up 33 offensive rebounds last week!! That’s almost 5 more than the 2nd place team and almost 10 more than 3rd place! Even with that, they are 8-11 in total games and are holding onto a slim positive pt.differential. If they can clean up the offensive glass, I think they’ll be able to flip a few more games in their favor. Maybe some variance the other way can lead to a nice run for them.

Hawks Talon GC – Yes, yes, I know. But, I promise that this year, that team really isn’t that bad. They’ve actually been far better defensively despite what the raw numbers may say. They are top 5 in both Opp. FG% and Opp. 3P% and they are doing well rebounding those misses and turning them into offensive opportunities. The issue is, they can’t shoot to save their lives. They are last in FG% and  3rd to last in 3PT%. It’s the bizzaro Hawks! Now they can defend, but they  can’t score! Hopefully, this team finds some balance, they might actually be okay this year.