3 weeks down, 1 to go in the Coinbase 3v3 Slam Open. Another great week of 3v3 action saw massive upsets, huge comebacks, newfound stars, and about as intense of an elimination week as the league has ever seen. These intros always go too long, let’s just get into the 5 headlines from the wek.

 

1. Double Elim Bracket gets a 10/10

 

The new format has been hitting different. Its a fresh and has brought a lot of new life into a structure that needed more intensity. The group stage definitely had some slow moments, but if it all leads to the week that we just had, I will take it. Every series had so much riding on it, even with the teams without a loss yet. Being sent to the dreaded lower bracket just one loss from elimination is quite the motivator. It definitely caught some of our top teams off guard, Bucks Gaming went from being 9-0, the best team in the league, Cooks MVP favorite to out of the tournament in two series. In fact, only two of our top 5 seeds are still even in the tournament with #4 Cavs Legion and #5 Knicks Gaming keeping the top tier hopes alive. Excited to see how the bracket finishes next week, reminder that if the  team in the lower bracket beats the team in the upper bracket in the Grand Finals, we’ll play a second series to decide the champion! Chaos, I love it.

 

2. Wacky Group of Teams Remain

 

I wouldn’t call it a downside of the bracket, but it’s certainly interesting looking at the teams that are still around. I’ll split them up into three categories.

Top contenders: Pistons GT, Jazz Gaming, Cavs Legion, Knicks Gaming

I think these four should be considered the favorites heading into next week. All four have multiple ways to win and play a unique style that makes them very difficult to beat in a 5-game series. Interested to see which of these teams fold on stage. We always end up with 1-2 big surprises, but for now, they are in pole position

Dark Horse Winners: Hawks Talon GC, Nets GC, T-Wolves Gaming, NBL Oz Gaming

These four teams all have one thing in common. They are VERY reliant on their guard for scoring. All four have guards ranked in the top 7 in usage rate from the last 1.5 weeks of games. The quality and performance of the role players will decide who fights out of this group. NBL has a mountain to climb being in the lower bracket, but I think we can all agree they belong in this group. All four of these teams have a banner run in there somewhere, just have to execute on the biggest  stage.

Not Out of it Yet: Glitchy, Glo Navy, CLTX Gaming, Wizards District Gaming

All four of these teams have fought tooth and nail to stay alive. They’ve all had to play multiple five game series to avoid elimination and while they haven’t been eliminated, it’s been a little close for comfort. The two community teams have really impressed. Glitchy has been a fantastic cinderella story and Glo Navy are finally starting to show off the dominance we saw during the Qualifier tournament. I’d be surprised if our winner came out of this group, but I’ve been surprised so many times the past three weeks, I wouldn’t put it past any of these teams to make a run for the top.

 

3. Who is the best player in the league?

 

We talked a lot this offseason about who was going to step up in the retirement of Dayfri to become the “best player in the league.” We had a lot of great candidates across the board with a good mix positions and options and honestly…no one has really talent the mantle yet. We’ve had some great performances and we have some options, but I don’t think there is one guy in the league that you can point to and say “yea, they are the best player in the world right now.” I think we have a couple guys who are definitely the top of their POSITION right now. I look at ShiftyKaii at SG or Just_Awkward at Lock, Ria at Center as a few guys who would probably get a lot of love if we did public polling to rank this stuff, but even with those three included, I’m still not sure we have a true #1 guy yet. Maybe we will after this tournament, but the parity of the league has extended to its player base.

 

4. Who is the best team in the league?

Same argument here, but for teams. I thought Bucks Gaming were really going to take the mantle, but hey, that double elimination bracket takes no prisoners, even for undefeated teams. This season has featured a lot of good teams, but no great ones yet. There are a few potential ones. I put a notice out for Jazz Gaming after week 1 and am still feeling good about that call, but we’re still quite far from calling them a “great” team. I would be surprised if we went the whole season without a team truly taking that #1 spot, but the parity of this league can’t be understated. For better or for worse, any team can beat any other on any day…at least in remote play. The all-time greats in this league have always been made on stage so we’ll get to see what these squads are truly made of in Washington D.C.

 

5. Community Teams are Outstanding

 

It truly might be one of the five best additions ever made to the  league. Making 3v3 an open competition has allowed for so many great stories and new faces. Last season, amateur teams were automatically put into on-stage play. This season? Thrown to the wolves, either you make it on your own volition or you go home. Glitchy and Glo Navy answered the call. Having two community teams make bracket play from busting up league teams is a really special thing. Handlez set the stage last year, but could never get over the finish line. Imagine the chaos if one of those two teams win the Slam Open banner? Can’t wait, I might actually be rooting for it. One last thing before we close, I saw a post saying we should have the same “Open” style for 5v5 and on that, I actually disagree quite strongly. 5v5 should exclusively be for NBA 2K League teams. If you’re good enough to play in league 5v5s, it should either come from you being drafted or being picked up by a professional team. I know it’s a bit counter to the whole paragraph above, but I like having the set division between the two modes. I think it elevates both that they are so different from each other.