BBL Starting Five – Week 2
It’s time to make sure you have got your BBL Fantasy Team in over at the official site as the players start scoring from this weekend. Here are some pointers as we look back to week 2 and name our Starting Five.
You can join our BBL Fantasy mini league with the code 0ad3fd2094a1 – get involved!
OleDJ attended Newcastle Eagles v Worcester Wolves
Darius Defoe (Eagles) – Eagles’ big man, Darius Defoe, racked up 26 points and 8 assists in an impressive performance against a physically imposing Wolves side, including 7ft centre Arturas Masiulis. Darius was consistently a thorn in the visitors’ side and he is shaping up to be the dominant centre the Eagles always hoped he would be.
Alex Owumi (Wolves) – After a disappointing start to the BBL season with a home defeat to last season’s strugglers Durham Wildcats, Worcester Wolves were in need of a morale boosting performance in Newcastle. New signing, Alex Owumi, was the key man for Wolves throughout and a catalyst for the thrilling fight back that gave his side a brief lead in the final quarter. His numbers were impressive too; 16 points, 5 assists and 2 steals. He went on to post even better stats the following night in the defeat of previously unbeaten Manchester Giants. He’s definitely one to watch this year.
Juma attended Manchester Giants v Sheffield Sharks
James Jones (Giants) – The Giants sharp-shooter was once again in irresistible form as he revved his team up in the second half. Once he had led them past the visitors in the third quarter he made sure they stayed ahead with 11 points in the 4th quarter. He also distributed the ball extremely well; putting his teammates in positions where they could score whilst showing great movement off to ball to spot up for his 3-point bombs.
Dave attended Sheffield Sharks v Surrey Heat
Sam Cricelli (Heat) – Has the much-travelled forward finally found his natural home in Guildford? A Neapolitan by birth, stopovers at Worthing, Worcester, Plymouth and Merseyside may have been mere calling points as Cricelli seems to fit the Heat work ethic to a tee. Against Sheffield, sixteen points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals were a piece of the Surrey jigsaw that has never-say-die at its core. Cricelli uses his full 6’ 7” to finish in the paint as well as anybody in the BBL and utilised his five fouls to perfection to shut down the Sharks free-scoring Americans Gage Daye and Micah Williams. Expect to see the trademark top-knot elegantly bobbing round the upper echelons of the statistical charts. A Rolls-Royce performer in a team with VW reliability!
Rob attended Leicester Riders v Cheshire Jets
Chez Marks (Jets) – Difficult choice between Chez Marks for Jets and Zaire Taylor. Both impressive, but edging it out slightly is Chez Marks.
He was instrumental at critical times keeping Jets in the game from what many saw as being a potential blowout. 28 points in his first competitive game for well over a year, without really any preparation (or ‘desired’ prep one should say) going into the match.
Chez’s promotion to the role of co-captain alongside Shawn Myers means there will no doubt be a leader on court throughout. And after Saturday’s performance – inspired decision Mr Hamilton.
And we know it’s a starting five, but here’s a shout out to another player who caught our eye (Dave Bell’s eye) in week two.
Morakinyo Williams (Giants) – Whilst the Giants win over the Sharks was ultimately engineered by the shooting of James Jones, the Mancunians have an awesome unit of big guys who contribute equally to their success. It was hard to separate Aliu, Bernard, Watts but the 7′ 0″ presence of Williams is an imposing one. Dominant under either basket, Williams is a man-mountain who allies work rate with his undeniable physical attributes.
A team is the sum of its parts and the fact that Jones gets so many shooting opportunities is attributable to the work that Williams et al put in along the way. Often under-used by Mersey, the Solihull-born centre will add greatly to his basketball education alongside Aliu and Bernard in the patriotically British side assembled by Coach Jeff Jones. Williams eleven point, ten rebound double double against the Sharks on Friday was the glue in a performance that allowed Manchester to overturn a ten point half time deficit and unleash their full array of scoring talents on the way to a 99-87 win. The Giants won’t be accused of falling short in terms of point-scoring this season and the work undertaken by Williams will be a major factor in that.
On to week three! Check out this week’s podcast for more fantasy basketball talk.
