The Press Box Sports 2018 Big3 Basketball preview and preseason rankings
The Big3 Basketball League is now heading into their sophomore season after a successful campaign last year. The NBA is done and now fans can start getting their basketball fix for the summer. The Big3 founder, Ice Cube has revolutionized the basketball world with his state-of-the-art rules and 3-on-3 basketball action. However, the league features a few changes from last season as well. The biggest change is the games are now live. Fox Sports will now televise all Big3 Basketball games live on FS1 on Friday evenings. That’s perfect due to it being Cube’s favorite day of the week. Seven teams feature some new faces after this year’s Big3 Basketball draft. Defending champions Trilogy had to keep their original team from last year. The teams are set and the players are ready to go. So let’s hit the court and see what to expect from all eight teams this year.
Trilogy
Rick Mahorn‘s Trilogy team is the reigning champions and has the target on their back. They have yet to lose a Big3 Basketball game and look to continue their hot streak over to this year. Trilogy has one of the most balanced teams in the league. James White and Rashad McCants are threats behind the arc and can score from anywhere on the court. Al Harrington is a strong force inside the paint that can both score and snatch up rebounds. Their depth is really good with captain Kenyon Martin, Dion Glover, and Dahntay Jones. Trilogy is still the top dog in the Big3 and will continue to stay there until someone can knock them off. That challenge will be easier said than done with the returning champions ready to make another run.
3 Headed Monsters
The 3 Headed Monsters are back with some new names but have a few guys from last year’s team that’s ready to avenge their championship loss. 2017 Big3 Basketball MVP Rashard Lewis returns and is expected to continue to dominate on the court like he did all of last season. Lewis led the league in points and holds the Big3 record with 30 points in a game. He’s also a top rebounder and will team up nicely with new team member Reggie Evans. Evans led the league with 87 rebounds last year with the Killer 3’s. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf is a well-balanced guard type player and is great at controlling the flow of the game. Kwame Brown will use his size under the basket to give the 3 Headed Monsters more second chances. Overall, the 3 Headed Monsters may have the team to challenge Trilogy this year and could take over as the most balanced team in the Big3.
Power
After finishing .500 and making the playoffs last year, Power underwent some major changes this year. Nancy Lieberman takes over coaching duties as Clyde Drexler has moved up into the Big3 front office. She brings a ton of basketball knowledge and can keep up with the boys. Cuttino Mobley is a fierce competitor and is exciting to watch on both offense and defense. He may be the co-captain, but he’s the leader on the court. Corey Maggette returns after suffering an injury in week 1 last year. He’s a good offensive presence that this team was missing in 2017. Glen Davis joins Power this year as a co-captain and will be an upgrade inside the paint. Newcomers Chris Andersen, Ryan Gomes, and Quentin Richardson will provide much-needed depth and should be excited to watch. Power looks to have made adjustments in all the right places and are in a position to improve upon last year’s successful campaign.
Ghost Ballers
The Ghost Ballers made some changes to help the team defensively this season. Mike Bibby and Ricky Davis return as the team leaders. They both are good offensively, but the Ghost Ballers needed to look for a little more to put them over the top. Lee Nailon comes over from Tri-State where he averaged 11.3 ppg and hit all three game-winning shots last year. A huge addition for the team this year is new co-captain, Carlos Boozer. A two-time NBA All-Star, Boozer will provide an inside presence that this team desperately needs. Bibby and Davis will run the offense, but depth was a key focus in the offseason. Coach George Gervin brought back Marcus Banks who is solid from the outside. Mario West played in the NBA with Bibby and the team hopes the two can find some chemistry working together. Overall, the Ghost Ballers look to be heading in the right direction. They are a mid-tier team still, but one that has a lot of potential to get to the top.
3’s Company
3’s Company will be led by new head coach Michael Cooper this season, replacing Allen Iverson who sparked a few interesting stories in the Big3 last year. The team adds two new co-captains in Baron Davis and Drew Gooden who were solid NBA veterans. Both guys should make their presence known as the Big3 season moves along. DerMarr Johnson takes over as the captain. The big man is capable of racking up a lot of playing time and is steady from the outside. Andre Emmett was the second-overall draft pick for 3’s company and could be a top scorer on the team. Derrick Byars comes over from the Ball Hogs and is a huge addition. In 2017, Byars averaged 13.4 points per game and finished fifth in Big3 Basketball with 13 three-pointers. The talent is there for 3’s Company. The question remains whether they can put it all together.
Ball Hogs
Captain Brian Scalabrine and head coach Rick Barry made some decisions this offseason to get the Ball Hogs on the right track. They snatched up DeShawn Stevenson from Power and made him a co-captain. Stevenson nailed a league-leading 32 three-pointers in the Big3 last season and started every game. The Ball Hogs then added some consistency taking Andre Owens who ranked in the top-five in several Big3 stat categories. Jermaine Taylor and Corsley Edwards are two newcomers to the Big3 and are more on the low-key end. It will be a wait-and-see approach on how they can handle the 3-on-3 action. Both Scalabrine and Josh Childress were a bit of a disappointment on the court last year, so Ball Hogs’ coach Rick Barry set out to get some good, quality talent. The team could see good fortune come their way if they can find a third quality starter and get some help from the bench.
Killer 3’s
Charles Oakley was a physical, gritty player back in his NBA days. He hopes he found those qualities in new co-captain Metta World Peace (sorry, he’s still Ron Artest to me). Stephen Jackson challenged Lewis for the scoring title but fell just short of his quest. Stak is durable and led the Big3 in minutes played last season so expect a similar run this year. Chauncey Billups returns as the captain of the Killer 3’s and is looking to improve upon last season where he missed some time. Billups hit four three-pointers and is an excellent outside shooter. Mike James was drafted after playing for Tri-State last year and the team hopes he can add stability. The depth chart looks better this year with Alan Anderson and seven-footer Ryan Hollins making their Big3 Basketball debut. The Killer 3’s struggled early last season and dug themselves into a hole that they couldn’t climb out of. Things have changed this season and they should improve from their 2-6 record last season.
Tri-State
Captain Jermaine O’Neal played in just three games last season but is now healthy and ready to go. He’ll team up with another big body in Amar’e Stoudemire who was added as a co-captain this offseason. Dr. J didn’t just go after size for this year though as he brought in 5-foot-9 Nate Robinson as the other co-captain. Bonzi Wells returns after he was cleared just a short time ago to play this season after a heart condition. Wells is a top rebounder that will be valuable to Tri-State once again this season. David Hawkins joined the Big3 last year in mid-season and brings a little experience to this team. Robert Hite is a dangerous shooter from the outside which is something Tri-State needs this season. Tri-State is a team that has more questions that need to be answered than any other Big3 Basketball team this season. However, they faced some adversity last year and did a pretty good job at times.
The 2018 Big3 Basketball season will tip-off Friday, June 22, at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX. The first game starts at 5:30 pm local time and for the first time, the Big3 will be aired live on FS1. If you’re in the area, make some plans to attend the games. You will encounter a very entertaining evening that will provide some great basketball action. Check out our 2018 Big3 Basketball preseason rankings below.
2018 Big3 Basketball Preseason Rankings
1. Trilogy
2. 3 Headed Monsters
3. 3’s Company
4. Power
5. Ghost Ballers
6. Killer 3’s
7. Tri-State
8. Ball Hogs
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