Western Conference

• Jazz Gaming (5-0, +11.2 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 2)

This team is ridiculous. I was worried for the rest of the league in the preseason if Splashy and Ria ended up being the two best players in the league at their position and it happened faster than I could’ve expected. Add Gen being the best SG in the league and Follow and Compete being top 5 at their position so far and you have a bonafide title contender. As it stands, they should be considered the favorite to win The Tipoff Powered by AT&T. What a great first 2 weeks of the season for Utah.

• Warriors Gaming Squad (4-1, +8.2 Point Differential) (Last Week: 1)
• Lakers Gaming (4-1, +5.4 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 5)

I didn’t write about Lakers Gaming last week because I honestly wanted to see if it was a fluke. It wasn’t. This team is legit good. We can talk about how good Krazy looks at Center or how Reese looks like himself again after a pretty terrible Season 4, but this team revolves around the resurgence of Regg. It’s easy to forget just how good he was when he won Rookie of the Year in Season 3 because of how horrible last year went, but at the top of his game, he’s a top 5 player in this league. His game has changed a lot, he doesn’t really do the 30 ppg, dominant scorer thing anymore, but he’s becoming more of an on-court leader. A true point guard that facilitates an offensive system, gets everyone involved but will find his spots and shoot efficiently. We’ll see if extends into in-person play, but a great start to Season 5 for LA.

• DUX Infinitos ( 4-1, +1.4 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 4)
• T-Wolves Gaming (3-2, +9.0 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 3)

Something feels…different, about this T-Wolves Gaming team. Maybe it’s the new league build or them trying to find chemistry with the two new guys on the team or even me having Season 4 too stuck in my mind, but something is different. This team is good, don’t get me wrong, they are 4th in the league in point differential, but that’s largely due to their 30-point thrashing of Cavs Legion GC. Their offense is near the top of the league, the defense is top 10 as well, so why can’t they pull away from teams? Their last 3 games were all decided by less than 5 points and while a 2-0 finish is certainly inspiring, you can tell they haven’t hit their stride yet. Maybe a 1st round matchup against Dux will pick them up, but the reigning Tipoff champs have yet to hit their full potential.

• Pistons GT (2-3, .4 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 6)
• Bucks Gaming (3-2, 2.8 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 8)

This Bucks team is weird but in the best way. Their self-belief and confidence is infectious. Every time we get a listen-in or some sort of post-game video clip, you can see just how much they believe in their team and in each other. It’s really special to watch this early in the season and it’s helping them make up for some of their on-court deficiencies. Seriously, they are middle of the pack in almost every major statistic and they haven’t had one guy really stand out on their team quite yet, (though Plondo dropping 24-17 in a must-win game vs. Kings Guard was awesome.) They are this year’s “Nobody believes in us” team. We’ll see how long they can ride that wave, but so far, it’s gotten them into the bracket stage.

• Mavs Gaming (2-3, -.6 Pt. Diff.)  (Last Week: 9)
• Kings Guard Gaming (1-4, -3.8 Pt. Diff.)  (Last Week: 7)

Well. Not quite what we expected right off the bat. Many people, not including myself, picked this team to win the Tipoff and now they haven’t even made it out of the group stage. Why? Here’s my take: The team has a clash of styles. The absurd pick-and-roll attack of Mama and Walnut is back and it’s easily the best thing the team has going. But the problem is, that only works when your perimeter scorers are hitting their 3s, that way you have a balanced attack and can keep teams off balance. Mama and Ant are notoriously high volume shooters, which is great when you have a guy like Walnut. The problem is BOTH of them are shooting poorly. On top of that, Crush is having a weirdly down season shooting the ball from the corner as well. So now you have THREE below-average perimeter shooters. The amount of stress that puts on their defense to be absolutely perfect just isn’t sustainable. This isn’t a one-guy problem, they all need to play better. Slow starts happen, let’s just hope this isn’t a repeat of S4 for Kings Guard.

• Pacers Gaming (1-4, -8 Pt. Diff.)  (Last Week: 10)

• Blazer5 Gaming (1-4, -5.6 Pt. Diff.)  (Last Week: 11)
• Cavs Legion GC (0-5, -20.4 Pt. Diff.)  (Last Week: 12)

Eastern Conference

• Gen.G Tigers (5-0, +10 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 1)
• Wizards District Gaming (4-1, 4.6 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 2)

Well, it’s been 2 weeks, let’s check in on Wizards DG. Lowest PPG and FG% allowed in the entire league. 3rd slowest Pace in the league. Yep, they are still the Wizards. But seriously, they are almost the exact same regular-season team as they were last year. Slow you down, kill you with defense, execute in the 2nd half, and send you home packing. It’s a great formula, but what won them 2 titles was the elite play of JBM in huge games. That will be the true test for them. Can Ty and Brich live up to the moment and perform when the money is on the line? Awkward-Newdini-Dayfri remains the best trio in league history and they are putting up another great season, but it’ll be up to the backcourt to take them home again.

• Nets Gaming Crew (4-1, +14.4 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 5)

It’s a bit hard to explain how absurd this Nets team is. By almost every metric coming into the year, they shouldn’t be good. They lost an MVP caliber player, they didn’t have a draft pick until late in the 2nd round, their starting PG was drafted in the 3rd round, and their best player doesn’t defend the pick and roll as a big man. This should equate to a bad team! Instead, we got the opposite. 5 guys all playing in sync on both ends and despite losing to Knicks Gaming in their final group stage match, they were the team that impressed me the most. I think the most absurd part of this team is their starting PG, Tate. PGs drafted outside of the lottery have historically been very, very bad, they have never been good. But, here he is. Averaging 20-10 on 66% TS%, just doing his thing. Low turnovers, high assists, good shooting decisions, he’s been really fun to watch so far.

• Raptors Uprising GC (4-1, +6 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 4)
• 76ersGC (2-3, +1.6 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 3)

This is the most confusing team in the league so far, I don’t know if anyone comes close. They cannot decide if they want to be good or not. 2 straight wins followed by 3 straight losses including one to Hawks Talon! Offensively, this team has been good. Dre is having a sick sophomore season, Reizey is playing like the SG we thought he could be, and Yusuf is putting up career numbers at Center. But their defense, it’s weird. They go through stretches where they look like the prime cut of the Eastern Conference then others as if they have never played together before. The switch will happen by quarter too, you can tell when this team has it and when they flat-out don’t. 2-3 isn’t acceptable for a team with this much talent and I’d bet they’d tell you the same thing. 76ersGC historically dominates this tournament in the bracket stage, so let’s give them a fair shake at it before we get too worried long-term.

• Knicks Gaming (3-2, +4.4 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 7)

• Heat Check Gaming (2-3, -.8 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 6)
• Grizz Gaming (2-3, -5.8 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 11)

*Stands and Applauds* The Grizz!!! How did they get in!! Truly, how did they get in? Even with a 2-1 week, their stats are pretty terrible. Middle of the pack in almost every offensive statistic and their defensive numbers are pretty brutal. But hey, 2-3 is 2-3, and they had to beat Hornets Venom and Magic Gaming on back to back days to get in. I don’t know how much a chance this team has against Gen.G in Round 1, but props to them for rallying and at least getting there. Anything can happen on stage.

• CLTX Gaming (1-4, -2 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 9)

• Hornets Venom GT (1-4, -6.6 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 8)

• Hawks Talon GC (1-4, -13.4 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 12)
• Magic Gaming (1-4, -12.4 Pt. Diff.) (Last Week: 10)

I’m going to try and be as nice as I can towards Magic Gaming, but last week might’ve been the worst week in franchise history. They had one of the easiest routes to getting into the group stage of any team in the league. All they needed to do was win 2 games. They won 1, got thrashed by 30 against NetsGC then lost to Grizz Gaming. What makes it so disappointing is that they should be the 2nd best team in this group. 2 retained players, 2 1st round picks and they got a great value pick by grabbing BigReign in the 2nd. And yet, they finished last in this group. Last! Their offense, for the 3rd straight year, is just flat-out bad. 45% from the field (lowest in the league), 37% from 3 (2nd lowest in the league), 58 ppg (3rd lowest in the league), it’s a mess so far. The new guys they brought in are not on the hook for the issues this team has had in the past, but something has to give. You can only stay a bubble team for so long until you pop.