Well 4.5 to me looks more wide open than in the past. Mainly because some teams have decided to branch out and create more teams. There are many teams with as few as 10 rostered players, that could change but it seems like teams are shooting for more playing time which I think is always a good idea. There are some exceptions like the 18 man team at High Point and the 17 man roster out of Hackberry.
I really think this will tighten up most of these races and who knows maybe Branch will take a break from winning the fall or someone might just beat them.
Flight A:
Team Loose and Branch decided to split up and I would not be surprised if they both finish at the top and it will be curious to see their results when they play one another to see if they will have a chance to help one another move on to the playoffs. The two other contenders would be Northwood and Brookhaven to stop the OC party at the top.
Pick to win: OC/Branch
Runner up: Northwood
No surprises but it should be a photo finish between Brookhaven and HP/Loose for 3rd place. Not sure if three will advance but that might be the format.
Flight B:
I guess since TBar retained a lot of players they have to be a favorite but not sure any new names look impressive, heck this whole flight isn't that impressive. No offense but Flight A looks a little stronger. Still someone will come out of this flight and will be used to winning some matches and could be a factor in late November. I guess I have to look to High Point to make some noise not because they got a bunch of bump ups but because they have a lot of guys from their Spring team that did well. I would love to see Royal Oaks keep going strong but without the big three it seems unlikely.
Pick to win: High Point/Pham
Runner up: TBar
Surprise team: Springpark if they get Gene on the team, if not hmm I guess OC Feldman will finish in a close 3rd.
I could be way off but on these but I am going stick with these picks, I will be interested to see if any new names pop up over the next couple of weeks on some of the regular contenders.
Please put in the only level anyone on this site cares about. 4.0!!!!
ReplyDeleteTrue. Most strong 4.5's aren't concerned about Fall. Let the 3.5's and 4.0's talk about their big games.
ReplyDeleteI believe Gene already joined another team, which kind of surprised me.
ReplyDeleteWas that meant to be a pun when you said certain teams were "branching" out?
I agree that outside of the High Point team there is very little new to report in 4.5 this season. I think the offseason was too short for the strong teams to change much and recruiting in 4.5 is very difficult anyway.
I would expect OC Feldman to win or finish second in their flight.
I think the recruiting is tough in our short turnaround Corey, I limited my wish list to guys I decided not to follow up on last Spring.
ReplyDelete"branching" yes indeed but I didn't notice Gene decided to join the evil empire. Oh my! interested to see how he will do. According to anonymous he and Glenn Flora should dominate their new divisions but I am not quite sure of that.
impatient 4.0s, you will get your day, probably tomorrow. I have the house to myself today so no way I am hanging out at this cpu much longer.
ReplyDeleteRoyal Oaks will be much weaker but still competitive with Flores on the team along with a couple of others such as Rauschuber, Smithson, and Webb.
ReplyDeleteNot nearly as strong as Spring but could cause a few upsets if stars align.
Nancy's team is pretty solid top 2 bottom. Plus playing at Northwood is good.
ReplyDeleteAnything going on in 4.5?
ReplyDeleteNot much apparently. This thread is dead. I am surprised that so many of the teams have less than 15 players, mine included. In my opinion, without at least 16 it is very difficult to avoid a default during the season.
ReplyDeletewhy are the numbers so down? I'm guessing a lot of defaults.
ReplyDeleteI think it was too short of an offseason. As soon as sectionals ended, it was already time to sign up again. Plus, I think Saturdays are tougher for most people. 4.5 also has a lot of teaching pros and Saturday is probably the biggest day for teaching tennis. Plus, it is just the fall.
ReplyDelete4.5 needs some of the 3.5 bump ups to whin and cry about players being to good. Who are these babies?
ReplyDeletePlayers on losing teams.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but who are the losing teams? I'm new to tennis:)
ReplyDelete