12. Ballstars - 2-5
they've kept in decent game shape, which will bode well in interconference play, as some blue sided teams have not. they somehow managed to beat my team, but this early in the season, even though it isn't going as wellas he'd have hoped, he'd be well served to do as his presser suggests and trust the process. still with one of the best starting 5s in the league, and now with a franchise player in pg jean moreau. $2 mil is an enormous amount to pay for a player. i don't pretend to know what carone looks like, but height-wise he could well move to trainee at sf and just go for jump shot for a few seasons. it's an interesting idea, considering that's what has been hurting him the most this season. mismatches at forward due to the red side emphasis on forwards has been plaguing ballstars. the pp100 differential in pf and sf categories has had a big impact in their losses. despite that, they do keep a tight ship in terms of minutes management, and don't have to worry about the cup anymore, so they could very well come on late in the season. truthfully, a lot of their problems stem from teams simply taking them as a serious team.
13. Sparta Hybla Valley - 2-5
it's a deep enough squad, as evidenced by their continued participation in the cup, but i'm not sure they have the guns to keep up pace with the ballstars (or fbc or svj for that matter) all season. if they don't, boy, the relegation series will be an absolute gauntlet as a 7 seed. that's assuming they can stay ahead of crosstown, which isn't a guarantee. moreover, their game shape is slipping a bit. still, 6 seed and a healthy pd lead on 7 is better than i think a lot of people expected out of this squad. they've done very well the first few weeks. had they won that nail biter against svj early in the season, we could be looking at a whole different world on the red side. interconference play will be absolutely key for this squad. the spots they pick to go all out will be critical in racking up a few wins and distancing themselves from the 8 seed, and keeping pace with the rest of the conference. i wonder if they have a goal win total for the next few weeks, and if they've picked out the favorable, winnable matchups. that was pretty much what i did as a rookie, and it worked out just barely. this will be a fun team to keep tabs on.
14. Los Angeles Knights - 2-5
racking up a couple wins is overachieving for the knights, considering they've been healthy underdogs in all but one game, so they've also done well. they're in pretty much an identical situation as sparta hybla. one interesting tidbit about this team is that their shooting guard, dionisio garcÃa-arista, is playing out of his goddam mind. averaging a league leading 35.1 ppg, he ranks in the top 500 players IN THE WORLD in points. shooting guards aren't particularly emphasized in this league, really, so he generally has a favorable matchup. plus, he has a good point guard dishing him the ball, and they play an offense that forces their best matchup to shoot a lot, giving him TONS of shots, many of them open shots. he's already dropped 66 and 67 respectively in games. game shape is hurting, though, so climbing out of that should probably be their next point of emphasis. the knights just about pulled the upset against diamantes, which would've changed this team's odds of avoiding relegation quite a bit, but right now they're on the outside looking in.