Nothing like some good elimination basketball to really kick the season into gear! With week 1 of bracket play in the clear, we now move into Slam Finals week! $30K going to our winner, it’s a great chunk of change to open up the season with. Recap might be a bit shorter this week since we only played 2 days this past week, but without further ado, let’s get into our Standouts from the week.

Simptoms – It’s no longer just a fluke or a random hot streak, Simptoms is legit good at this game mode. His team is just okay, but the 3rd round pick is averaging 11.8 ppg and 2.3 apg all while shooting a nice 67.8% from the field. He’s leading the league in scoring and is top 5 in shot attempts per game, so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! He may end up saving Toronto from themselves.

WhatStick – Knicks Gaming have been weirdly average to start 3v3 so far, but Stick has been the standout so far. 7 ppg, 50% from 3, and he’s the only player in the league average over a steal a game. Throw in half a block a game as well and Stick is keeping this Knicks team from the bottom almost by himself. Malik and Feast woke up a bit this past week so hopefully the results start to show, but man, Stick has been just excellent to start the year.

CB13 – When you think of 3v3, not sure your first thought goes to a 6th year PG who’s primary game mode is 5v5. For me and my nerdom, that doesn’t stop me from appreciating what CB13 is doing this year. He’s scoring and passing well, but his shooting is keeping WGS above water. 91.4 TS%, 72% from 3, his shot making has been excellent to start the year. With KennyGotWork back in the lineup, this WGS team is a sneaky 2nd half pop candidate.

TBShiftay – The whole Cavs team has forgotten how to shoot to start this year, yet this team keeps winning games…Why is that? Well, probably because TBShiftay has been a top 3-5 lock in the league to start 3v3. 3rd in the league in steals, 2nd in blocks among SFs, his defense has defined the Slam so far for the Cavs Legion. Once the shooting comes back, this team is going to be really scary, I will keep saying it until they learn how to hit Square again. Beware the Cavs.

Rankings

Contenders

1. Lakers Gaming
2. Nets Gaming Crew
3. Pacers Gaming
4. Pistons GT
5. Heat Check Gaming

No major changes up top besides the swap of Heat Check Gaming and Bucks Gaming. Really enjoying the Heat’s style of play to start the year. They got thrown a big punch by Isles Gaming Team and responded back very well. 76ersGC is their matchup this week and poses a big challenge for them since they use the Inside Center as well. Outside of Miami, things are pretty relaxed at the top of the league,

On The Bubble
6. Magic Gaming

7. T-Wolves Gaming

8. Bucks Gaming

9. Gen.G Tigers

10. CLTX Gaming

11. Grizz Gaming

12. Hornet Venom GT

13. Warriors Gaming Squad

14. Cavs Legion GC

Taking a page out of Made in India’s book, in stock trading, there is a term known as “buy the dip.” Everytime a stock goes down, you buy it at the bottom since you believe it’ll go back up. That’s me with Magic Gaming. I’m buying the dip. Am I rushing to conclusions and putting them at the top of this group too soon? Probably? But I’d rather be slightly ahead then be slightly behind when they get to where I think they’ll be. This is a very talented group,yet I just can’t convince myself that the best versions of these teams are better than Unguardable, Jboolin, and LowkeyGodlike at their best.

Too Soon To Tell

15. 76ers GC
16. Blazer5 Gaming 
17. Knicks Gaming
18. Wizards DG
19. NBL Oz Gaming
20. Jazz Gaming
21. Raptors Uprising GC

Didn’t move too many teams out of this group yet, I think we need one more week before we know where to put everybody. I like how B5 and 76ersGC looked this week, they seem to have the best chance of accelerating out of this group and into our bubble category. The rest, still plenty to prove and plenty to gain.

Quadrant of Woe
22. Hawks Talon GC

23. Mavs Gaming

24. Dux Infinitos

25. Kings Guard Gaming

Shoutout to the Hawks and Mavs for getting a win this week and staying out of the lower bracket. With a good week, both teams will move out of the dreaded Quadrant of Woe and into greener pastures. Until then, down here they stay.

That’s it for this week, be sure to check out Dirk and I’s podcast, Virtual Courtside, available on iTunes, YouTube, Spotify for more analysis! I’ll be back later this week to preview Round 2 of Slam Bracket Play.