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- S8 INITIAL POWER RANKINGS -

WRITTEN BY: PROFESSOR X

Welcome to ETBL Elite – Where some top-level ballers play!!! It's the official 8th season of ETBL Elite and so let the showcase begin. A special shoutout to everyone this season who took on the challenge and wanted to compete with some of the best guys in ETBL. Those that play this season are truly some of the best competitors we will see. With that being said, I will say the Commissioner has done a great job in establishing two other lower tiers for players to experience the best organized basketball. I am super excited and we have so much to discuss but let's start with the initial Power Rankings!

1. RAPTORS: This team has a combination of talent, skill, IQ, leadership and a Championship pedigree that will be tough to match. First you add in the defending Champions, Janath and Sujeevan, from the Thunder squad who went undefeated. Might I add that this has NEVER been done in ETBL history. Add in Christian and Kareem who are the Champions from ETBL Season 6 (shoutout to the Bobcats). Add in the addition of the GM of the Year from Season 7 (Witness, who sold his soul at an opportunity at a championship lol) and throw in the ETBL league leader in points in Anthony aka Casper! How do you stop this team??? Now throw in a bunch of young kids who can run the floor and play their role...this team is going to be a problem!

2. PISTONS: Pistons are #2 for one reason and one reason only: Chemistry. The core of Mike, Kendall and their GM Shaun have been through this dance many times before. This is the only team that kept their core intact and added minor changes to improve their roster including 'Lefty' Theodore who will give them a spark of offence whenever needed. This team will be playing a brand of basketball that might be boring but it is effective. Zone defence, quality looks on offence, and a whole lot of Kendall running in transition. Kudos to the Pistons and GM Shaun for embracing an identity and building around the core! 

3. NETS: Solid team built around Mithun, Knucks, Omar and Jahlove. Mithun is the transition guy, Knucks is the shooter, Jah is the lockdown defender and Omar does a little bit of everything including some quality trash talk. That being said adding Arish, Harrson and Roheel are underrated moves and it is something we should all keep our eyes on! A deep team but can they figure out rotations and minutes? Who is going to step up as the vocal leader when things get tough? This is a playoff calibre team (top 8) no doubt...but what will they do when they get there is the question. If you are not sure about some of these guys google them!!!

4. BULLS: Anand, Zaid, Shang and Davion are looking like a solid core of basketball players. Only problem is that they lack a legitimate big and there is only one rock. They’ve got some holes to fill on the defensive side but they will be fun to watch on offence. Davion went crazy in game 1 and Shang hit the clutch game winner. The top three bring a lot of talent to this team and should give them the spark to make a run.

5. HEAT: In a dramatic turn of events, the Heat have imploded and pretty much a whole new team will be be replacing them. Ben and Hasan are the only remaining pieces while former ETBL Champion Camby, Allan and Omar are all joining the fray. Rumors are swirling about the last couple pieces to their squad and even though they are 0-1 to start the season...they are going to be pretty damn good. It will just come down to chemistry.   

6. BLAZERS: This team has former MVP Michael Mines along with the MVP's from the other tiers (Duzan and Garan). Duzan and Michael playing together is wild but can they figure out their chemistry? They can very well be a major problem for this league once they figure it out. I have the Blazers ranked at 5 due to size being their weakness. Not sure how this team will go up against the Big Mike's, the Kareem's, the Ben's of the world. The strongest asset this team has is it’s speed, IQ and quicknes

7. LAKERS: I’ve got this team in the lower middle pack for a reason. I am rooting for the Lakers to win the championship as Tristan is the real deal and has had some epic performances in ETBL already! He looks to be in incredible shape and that means the league will be on notice to stop this guy. It also seems like GM Brett dumped most of his dead weight and added better fitting pieces around him. I'm expecting some big wins all season from this team, if they show up!

8. ROCKETS: A lot of unknowns on this team but the only guy you really need to know is ROMAIN MCALLA. He gon put on a show but can the rest of the team find their spots and hold it down on defence? They got a little bit of everything and I expect them to be in the mix for the playoffs. Romain, Lush, and Harvey gon lit it up from outside all season! This team will probably produce some entertaining games but down the stretch they may become predictable. Just pass it to Ro and clear out ain't gonna work against the good teams.

9. MAGIC: I’ve got this team just outside the playoff picture. GM Alvin brings a dynamic team that could surprise many as Nena aka 'Oneil' is a beast. This team can shoot, rebound and score a bunch. They can also go extremely cold and not score many points. They are not to be taken lightly on the defensive end. This will be the blue-collar team of the league so bring your hard hats. Alvin is gon have his hands full tryin to coordinate everything and a lack of structure may lead to their downfall.

10. WOLVES: A team that should probably be way higher (maybe in the 5th spot?) but with no Mayo in the first week they got punished badly. Mr Spencer will be counted on to put this team on his back but what will the rest of the guys give him. Jonathan Ibula was solid in week 1 and he will need to be big for this squad. Vishnu and Jahlani's defensive intensity will be key as well as Jonathan Fry. After being snubbed for the MVP last season...I have a feeling Mayo is going to be on a revenge tour so stay tuned!

11. KNICKS: I do not put much stock in this team but let's break down some positives. They are super athletic so watch your head. Move pretty well on defense so watch your pockets! I just don't think they can score more than 50 pts a game which is an ETBL standard. At least we will get a lot of highlights and jerseys are a classic! Bronson looks to be solid and Drew Sanderson had a major effect on the game. They could use a star or high level player to make things interesting and put themselves in the mix. 

12. WIZARDS: Shak, Shavaughn and the young star Christian Overholt could be very good once the chemistry gets going. GM Lewmar put a lot of defensive pieces around them so don't expect them to score many points on this team. Hopefully, this team can figure out rotations fast in order to rack up wins before it is too late. They also need to get healthy fast.