#1 UKnow V2 vs. #3 Young Money
After 9 weeks of play a NEW champion will be crowned in Division 3. The reigning champs were dethroned in the Semi-Finals by the #3 seed Young Money. UKnow V2’s road to the finals has been fairly easy, after a 6-1 regular season (only loss to Young Money in Week 5, 62-50), UKnow took on the Justice League in the Semi-Finals and came away with a 50-47 overtime victory. As matchups go, this Finals match-up is unexpected but very interesting.
SEASON RECORDS
UKnow V2: 6-1 (No. 1 seed)
Young Money: 5-2 (No. 3 seed)
SEASON SERIES
Young Money defeated UKnow V2 in their much-anticipated Week 5 match-up. (62-50)
OFFENSE/DEFENSE RANKING
UKnow V2: Offense 63.6 ppg; Defense 52.1 ppg
Young Money: Offense 60.5 ppg ; Defense 52.5 ppg
THREE KEY UKNOW V2 Players:
- Anthony Cockrell. He is efficient and completely unguardable (for Division 3 standards) His numbers are significantly lower than they’ve been in previous seasons, however don’t let the number fool you Cockrell is a 25+ ppg scorer. Whatever he does, expect a monster game from him. Like everyone else, Young Money will have no good defensive answer for him.
- Albert Suitley. Suitley has been the teams source of “quick offense” in the previous weeks, after leading the team in scoring with 18 points in their semi final win over the Justice League, look for Suitley to come out firing on all cylinders.
- Brandon Kinard. Kinard is the teams defensive anchor. He is agile and as skillful as they come on the defensive end. He has the major task of containing one of the 3 Young Money big men (Ford, Kevorkian, and Aziz) in the post. Kinard shouldn’t have a problem doing so, but the question is will he be fatigued after his Division 2 game?
THREE KEY YOUNG MONEY Players:
- Robel Kevorkian. Young Money’s evolution through the season into a championship contender, parallels Kevorkian’s evolution. Kevorkian was a member of UKnow V2 when the season started but left the team after Week 3 to join Young Money, citing “Playing time became an issue with a growing roster”. Kevorkian has since played his best basketball, averaging 20.6 ppg and 10.1 rpg the past 6 games. Kevorkian is Young Money’s offensive catalyst.
- Zeke “Nico” Benedetti: Benedetti played inconsistent during the regular season, however he has come alive in these playoffs, averaging 11.5 ppg through the teams two games. Benedetti must have a stellar game in order for Young Money to come close to contending.
- Abdul Aziz. He brings a real toughness and energy to Young Money. He is the teams big man patrolling the paint and sending shots back. Aziz should exploit his match-up seeing as he will be the biggest player on the court.
OUTLOOK:
This is going to be one entertaining championship game. These teams are here because they were the teams executing at the end of games. Both sides proved to have “championship pedigree”, with both teams defeating the reigning champs Pantera Legends.
One key so far is that both teams haven’t played fantastic defense, they’ve been just pretty average through the regular season and playoffs. UKnow V2 has won games with their offense and most recently their “defense”. Young Money’s offense, has been impressive these past few games, their perimeter defense has been nonexistent however, this team can defend the post, but their defensive woes lie on their guards who have given up 78 points to their opponents guards in the first two rounds (Jimmy G [23], Jose Vasquez [15] / Richard Hak [24], Francis Vu [14]).
The Numbers:
UKnow will be led into this game by Anthony Cockrell who averaged 13.4 ppg and 3.8 rpg in the regular season. behind Cockrell is Albert Suitley who has quickly become a prominent scorer in the division, Suitley is averaging 12.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, and 1.6 rpg. Suitley’s downfall has been his inconsistent play. Dominique Beebe is the teams third leading scorer with 10.5 ppg. Beebe has slowly but surely recovered from his nagging injury and had a very decent game in the semi-finals while playing the Justice League. Like Suitley, Beebe has had some inconsistent play, most notably his shooting. Intuition tells me both players will be primed and ready for this game.
The Young Money camp will be led into this game by Robel Kevorkian, who is averaging 20.6 ppg and 10.1 rpg entering this game. Kevorkian’s running mate will be Aaron Ford who is averaging 12.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg, and 1.3 rpg. Ford and Kevorkian hold it down for the team in the backcourt while Zeke Benedetti enters the game averaging 11.5 ppg. Benedetti is a very skilled offensive player who has played conservative all season long.
X-Factor:
UKNOW V2
- The teams X-Factor has been and will be the play of Brandon Kinard, Kinard is the teams voice and defensive anchor, Kinard enters the game averaging 9.3 ppg and 6.5 rpg. Numbers however do not show his importance to the team.
- The return of Desean Collins to the teams line up may be a bit noteworthy, Collins is averaging 9.8 ppg through 4 games but seems to be in a shooting slump. Collins has worked on getting out the slump, because his shooting is his greatest asset.
YOUNG MONEY
- Mark Garcia is the teams spark off the bench. Garcia can get hot and quick. In the post season Garcia averaged 7.3 ppg and 2.3 rpg. In the teams semi final game with the Pantera Legends, Garcia finished with 18 points and 4 boards, shooting 7/7 from the field and 3/3 from 3 point range.
- The teams second X-Factor will be the point guard play of Jason Trinh, Trinh is the teams play maker, he facilitates the offense, if he has an off game his team may suffer.
Keys to the Game:
This will be a different kind of test because Young Money loves to pack it in the paint or use the fastbreak to score easy baskets. Either UKnow V2’s defense or Young Moneys offense has to give way, and that will be key.
UKnow needs to exploit the point guard play of Jason Trinh whose primary source of offense is driving to the basket and using his patented “crab-dribble”. Eliminate his driving lanes and force Trinh to shoot jumpshots, his weakness. His passes are like those of Rajon Rondo’s so is his jump shot. They also need to hit the offensive and defensive glass hard, to get the win. Rebounding will be another key.
The key to beating the Young Money is to turn them into jump shooters and not let them get easy baskets in transition and at the line.
Prediction:
If Cockrell, Beebe and Suitley have a great game shooting the 3 ball, then I have to go with UKnow V2.
Since my guess is they won’t, Young Money will be walking away with their first championship.
IBL Full Court Press 