Chicopee Basket Hangers (3-6)
It is not how good you are, it is how good you once were.

Many of the CBH were members of the 2014 PFL Summer League Championship team. If you watch them when they win, you see why. Still, upon receiving congratulations after that championship game, many of them said that it had been a very long time since they had won a trophy. This season, when they lose, you see why. This is a strong and dangerous and lovable, too, team. Some, many, if not all, observers had them as pre-season favorites. They seemed to have everything needed to win. Lots of people named Carruthers. They have an organized crime chief (Tom “The Godfather” Villani.) They have George Mikan’s roommate, Mike Earley (who wears #99 in Big George’s honor) Losers 6 of their last 7 games, they seem to have everyone thinking what they want them thinking: that they can’t win. Yeah, sure. Mickey the Dunce they are. They shoot the ball well (2nd in the league in FG%). They share scoring (5 different scoring leaders in 9 games). Still, they are minus 34 in offensive rebounding and and are dead last in FT% defense. (Anyone know any FT voodoo?) I believe in this team. Two reasons: they got moxie and they got Roxy.

City Of Lynn Sinners (3-6)
It is not how good you are, it is how good you feel.

I have no idea how many of these players live in Lynn, have visited Lynn, and never came out the way they went in. But “sinners”? No, these are saints. Sure they steal the ball (+31) and don’t give it back (TO: -22) but look at all the other signs of generosity: they let the other team shoot better from the field, from the 3 point arc and from the free throw line. Plus they let the other team get their own rebounds at a saintly rate: 95 times (versus 80 of their own). The season of giving is not just Christmas, it’s all PFL season long. Look a little closer at these sinning saints though. Three players shooting above 40%. Hmmm. They block shots. That means they know defense. Yes, they steal the ball more than any other team but they are last in assists. I’m trying to picture this. I got it: you steal the ball, take a couple of dribbles and shoot. This team must spend the off season in Vegas, cuz they come off like gamblers. They are rolling the dice and come playoff time, they could win big! (Pronunciation guide for #42: Yah-roe-shef’-ski)

Lincoln Sharp Axes (7-2)
It is not how good you are, it is how good you make those around you.

How long has Andy Lee been in PFL? Seems like it’s Ten Years After and he’s saying “will you take a little spin with me, baby, out on the floor?” to all his teammates. They’ve got the gym shakin’! 1st in FG%; tied for 1st in FT%. Two players who shoot shots and are over 50% on FGs. And one, Edison Tam, is like 5’5″. (Who has the biggest vertical in PFL? My bet is Eddy Tam.) Am I the only one who thinks this team is the Golden State Warriors of PFL? (Splash!) They have no weaknesses. Plus, they have the best fan and fans in the history of this or any other league. Plan the parade route now.

Medford Rum Runners (5-4)
It is not how good you are, but how good people think you are.

Among that vast sea of teams that is the tide coming in and the tide going out, the 5-4 Rum Runners tickle your toes and tantalize. Out of the deep blue beginning of the season they roared to 4-0. All foam and fury and easy made baskets. PFL wondered: what force in the universe could pull them back? You would think, wouldn’t you, that a team that leads the league in scoring defense and a team that leads the league in FG% defense, and a team that leads the league in rebounding per game (hello Mr Davenport) would be sitting pretty, feet up, lotion on, before the playoffs, watching impassively as the screeching gulls fought over the french fries. Not so fast; put down those Cuba Libres, MRR. Perhaps you should be practicing FTs: a Rondo-like .326 (FT Project) or raking your assist/turnover ratio (57/137, by far the worst in the league) off the ocean floor? There’s talent on this team, athleticism, basketball mojo and they even have their own sticky mat! Easy to see them running away with the title. Yo ho ho and a bottle of fun.

Revere Tornadoes (4-5)
It is not how good you are, but how bad everyone else is that makes you seem good (and rightly so).

Winners of their last 3 games by a total of 48 points all against teams with winning records, the Tornadoes, once a mere menace on the horizon, are coming to sweep you off your feet. #1 in assists in the league makes them #1 with many PFL Garden basketball aficionados. 4 players with at least 10 assists with better than 1:1 assist/to ratio. Be still my bouncing heart! 4 players have led them in scoring and none by the name of Storrs. He could lead them in scoring the rest of the way! All with his left hand. A critique: there are 4 players on the team whose playing time adds up to 716 minutes. They are a combined 0-1 on FTs. Too many Tornadoes settle for jump shots. Championships aren’t won settling for jumpers. And yet a warning to other teams: do not go to the FT line against them: they are #1 in the league in FT% defense.(They are in possession of the FT Voodoo doll.) Greg Herr. Mr Greg Herr. A couple of summers ago he lost his jersey and in honor of his sparkling tenure with Never Too Late Basketball we gave him jersey #33. What’s he do with it? Goes out and leads the league in assists from his small forward spot. (Watch him wipe the bottom of his shoes next game.)

Springfield Hall of Gamers (5-4)
It is not how good you are, it is how good you look trying to be good.

With two guys named Wright (Kayron and “Chief”) it has been suggested we could have called this team “First in Flight”. Well, they are second in scoring. But there is another kind of flight, the one in “fight or flight”. Last in scoring defense and last in FG% defense it seems these Gamers are turning and hightailing it back to the offensive end a little to readily. Where they step up to the line way, way, way more than any other team and make them, too! First in attempts (by a wide margin) and first in FT%. Questions abound for the Gamers: will Papa Hartjes loan one of his made 3s to Son Christian? Will Son Christian loan Papa Hartjes one of his made 2s? Will Scott Galloway and Steven Friedman find their way to the gym? Stevie alone, maybe in one game, could get them out of 7th place in 3pt FG%. “Star Power” Knauer dominates and averages a double-double but he is 2nd in the league in the assists+steals+offensive rebounds category. Needs to up his game and finish first. (Without looking it up, who is first?)

Swampscott Semi-Finalists (5-4)
It is not how good you are, it is the goodness in your good.

Intended as neither a prediction nor a limitation, the nickname Semi-Finalists seems to fall well short of what this team is capable of. Let’s start with Keith Reitman. 49% FG/39% 3pt/73% FT and he leads his team in blocks. While PFL isn’t known for its defense, SSF guards you on the perimeter. They are shooting 38.5% on 3s; they hold opponents to 12.8% beyond the arc. (+ 60pts on 3s.) That’s getting after it! Maybe it’s Charlie Allen running the floor that inspires them; something is. 72 points last game had spectators asking: what’s the scoring record here? One other thing about the Swamps: they have more players who are or could be or should be coaching than any squad in recreational league history. Listen in on their huddles; it’s like a clinic in there.

The Winchester Hoax
It is not how good you are, it is how good you become.

There were purported sightings of a cougar or a mountain line in Winchester a couple of years ago. People swore they saw it. Animal experts verified paw prints. It was a hoax. Or we think it was. What of these TWHs? TWH are dead last in all team offensive categories and and near the bottom in defense. Stats are a hoax! Stats lie! They force turnovers 99 for them, 131 for the other guys. And they block shots. They’ve won 4 games but where are they headed? Maybe to the NTL Shooting Clinic on Monday nights and the FT Project sessions on Sunday at noon and Monday at 10pm. We think they want it badly enough that they’ll be lined up outside the door shadow shooting till they get in the gym. It hurt that Pat Geraghty got hurt. It doesn’t help when Evan “The Pope” Pepe doesn’t show. But it mostly doesn’t go well when the shots aren’t falling in. Like any basketball league, PFL is a “make or miss” kind of place. The Hoax will come out of the darkness and prove to be the real deal soon as they find their range.