Switch Open Group Play is officially in the books and has left us with plenty to discuss heading into next week. Teams both impressing and disappointing as the squeeze towards the playoffs gets tighter and tighter. Let’s hop right in to a few standouts from this week along side our usual Power Rankings!

Ryan1of1 – I thought his series against NetsGC was maybe the best series that Ryan has played in 3v3 since he got drafted. He was in control, hitting shots, making the right decisions, played good defense, he was everywhere and got Dux a huge sweep over NetsGC. I’m not sure how far Dux will go in 3v3 or 5v5, but the best sign for Dux is Ryan looking like this right now. They’ve been sneaky good in 3v3, but brutally unlucky with missed shots at bad times to lose series. Maybe this is the start of a real turnaround for them. Either way, it starts and ends with Ryan.

Icy/OhDonn – Vandi is a deserved MVP candidate and one of the best  3v3 players in the world. However, it’s unfair to ignore the impact that Icy and ohDonn have had since we swapped over to the Switch Open. Icy has consistently been one of the better 1v1 defenders I’ve seen on a weekly basis and OhDonn is money from the corner now. 27/41 from 3 is exactly what this team needs from him to take some pressure off of Vandi. This Grizz team can start dreaming a bit, as long as this defense can hold up.

Kaze – Their are a lot of signs that I look for when a player is making the leap. Most of them are difficult to put into exact words, but a big one for me is taking responsibility for your team being bad. Sometimes, you just have to put the team on your back and get them back to an even playing field. I think Kaze has hit that point the last couple of weeks. His defense and shot making have been tremendous and he’s really dragged this Jazz Gaming team back to life. Justin and Miamiers have both been very good in this revival, but I think Kaze really stood up and made it his mission to get them back on track. Utah has a good one on their hands.

Contenders

1. Lakers Gaming
2. Magic Gaming
3. Heat Check Gaming
4. Gen.G Tigers
5. Pistons GT
6. Nets Gaming Crew

No new additions to the group for the 2nd straight week, but NetsGC is officially on the hot seat. Getting swept by Dux in Round 1 is exactly what this team didn’t need coming out of a tough group stage. My belief isn’t totally shattered after a nice win against a good Isles Gaming Team, but still, their promise seems to be wearing off their shine. For the other 5, business as usual this week. Really hoping we get to see a few heavy weight fights between these 5 coming up soon.

On The Bubble 

7. Grizz Gaming
8. Pacers Gaming
9. Hawks Talon GC
10. CLTX Gaming
11. T-Wolves Gaming
12. Knicks Gaming 
13. Jazz Gaming
14. NBL Oz Gaming
15. 76ers GC
16. Cavs Legion GC
17. Raptors Uprising GC
18. Warriors Gaming Squad 

We’re eliminated one of our groups because our bubble si about get very small very fast as we steam towards the Steal Open and the Playoffs. A little mixing up in this group, but nothing too crazy. Grizz Gaming and Pacers Gaming are starting to heat up a bit, let’s see if they have the gas to move into the top group. For the bottom teams, I was very close to having Warriors Gaming Squad join the Quadrant of Woe. Probably my biggest miss this year alongside Bucks Gaming, was hoping both would be very fun teams, but it just hasn’t worked out. They aren’t dead yet, so we’ll see what they have left in the tank.

Quadrant of Woe

19. Bucks Gaming
20.  Blazer5 Gaming
21. Dux Infinitos
22. Hornet Venom GT
23. Mavs Gaming
24. Wizards DG
25. Kings Guard Gaming

This group is difficult to move up and down, but we do have three new entries in Wizards DG, Bucks Gaming, and Blazer5 Gaming. Wiz DG and Blazer5 are heading to the Steal after a brutal close to their regular seasons. Wiz DG especially crashed and burned to close the year, featuring a lineup with Benzo at PF then one with Type in at C. They just never took that big step they needed to and the rug just got pulled out from under them. B5 had the issue we all thought. They have no lockdown on the roster capable of playing good enough defense to win them series. It was obvious after the draft and it’s even more obvious now. Just bad roster building. For the rest, their seasons are still alive, but just barely. Dux and Mavs still being in the upper bracket as we head into next week is huge.

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 the Switch Open!