By Simon Chen
With the playoffs in sight, the Brooklyn “A” East Division has six of its nine divisional teams guaranteed of a playoff contention slot in the coming weeks. The first three-ranked teams, the Telecommunications Yellow Jackets, Sheepshead Bay Sharks, and Midwood Hornets, have already secured their playoff spots but are still playing for higher seed positioning in the brackets. The Yellow Jackets are sitting atop the division with a 14-0 record and still haven’t clinched a divisional title as of yet. The Midwood Hornets and the Sheepshead Bay Sharks are still fighting for the divisional title and are still tied for second place with a 12-2 record. The Fort Hamilton Tigers and the Tilden Blue Devils, despite being out of contention for the divisional title, their playoff hopes are at the discretion of their own hands. A .500 record at season’ end will ride both teams into the playoffs, no questions asked, both are tied for third in the division with a 8-6 record. Reeling from a disappointing loss to Fort Hamilton, last Friday, the New Utrecht Utes, sitting in fourth place at 7-7, are still alive for a playoff spot with four more to play. In the following column, we’ll preview the playoffs for the six teams alive for playoff contention. HS Of Telecommunications Yellow Jackets (14-0)- Not only does this team want to erase their memories of a year ago, when they were ranked 25th in the “A” bracket and got trounced in the first round by 10th seeded Wadleigh, 73-63 but they should be in serious talks of a title contention. Led by a strong center, in Nikita Davis, who averages a little more than 20 points a game, he sits second in divisional scoring and 26th in the city scoring stats, but its his play on the boards that has packed the most sting in the Jackets this season. He has racked up a total of 142 rebounds, with 84 coming off the defensive glass. This Jackets team is not just built on the backbone of just Davis but its built on a strong core that includes senior guard Rasheed Bility. Bility, has been extremely impressive this year by averaging 11.43 points per game, up from 6 of last season, his 70% on the line, is tops on this Jackets team. Coach Chris Weil will definitely have this Yellow Jackets stinging into the playoffs but they must take care of divisional title matters first. With three of their four upcoming games against playoff contenders, each of these team’s job is to spoil the Jackets’ perfect season. The game that makes the most noise is a February 7-divisional title implication game against Sheepshead Bay at home. This is the same Sharks team that is chomping at the bit for a second shot, at the team that beat them on January 4 on their home floor. Midwood Hornets (12-2)- This is a Hornets team that is led by a pair of guards, Kavon Baker and Stefon Douglas, that has literally powered the sting in this Midwood team. Baker, averaging 14 points per game, is ninth in the division in scoring, has played a keep role on their four-game winning streak, with a keep win against Fort Hamilton last Tuesday on the road. Douglas, another keystone on this team, has averaged a little over 15 per game, has played the role of drawing attention while he is driving to the hoop. His 80.4% on the line has made him even deadlier to foul by opposition since he free throw percentage is tops on the team. Coach Victor Gjecaj isn’t afraid to give Douglas the ball in the paint because he knows that he can draw attention and most likely a foul. For the Hornets to be successful in the playoffs, Douglas needs to pound the ball in the paint and get the defense to be impatient and undisciplined by his play will be the key for the bees of Midwood. The Hornets’ road to the divisional title is also a rocky one as they would face three playoff contenting teams, in Sheepshead Bay, Fort Hamilton, and Tilden. The key game for Midwood will be the January 31 game against Sheepshead Bay, on the road. This game will definitely have the making of an intense match-up of the division’s 12-2 teams. A single loss for the Hornets could mean a Yellow Jacket- division title holder. Sheepshead Bay Sharks (12-2)- Playing their hottest basketball of the campaign, the Sharks still have a great chance to steal the division away from, both Midwood and Telecommunications. Despite losing earlier in the season to the Yellow Jackets, the Sharks still have a key match up at the last regular season game on February 7, on the road against Telecommunications, this is also another game that has divisional title contention written all over it. But another game that proves the Sharks’ bite is another game against the Midwood Hornets, a team that has the identical 12-2 record, on January 31 at home. In their previous match up, the Hornets edged past the Sharks on the road, 82-77 at Midwood on December 15. Looking at the division’s top three teams contending for the division title, the Sharks have the toughest schedule to play, with all four games against playoff contending teams. This strong Sharks team is led by a pair of talented guards, Tyrell Faulcon and Eric Williams, both averaged a little more than 13 points per game has lifted this Sharks team past opponents. Faulcon, eighth in the division in scoring, has proven himself that he can deliver in crucial moments for the Sharks but it is in the next four games that he has to shift it into a second gear, in order to deliver a division title to 3000 Avenue X. Fort Hamilton Tigers (8-6)- The “blue and white” went 5-4 in the first half but since the break, they’ve played slightly over .500 ball with key losses coming against Midwood and Sheepshead Bay. Although their play is quite inconsistent but is consistent is the play of a pair of guards, Tarik Alassari and Nabiel Bader. Bader, who is 16th in the division in scoring, averages 14 points, three rebounds, and nearly eight assists per game this season. Alassari, who is 11th in divisional scoring, has averaged 17 points, four rebounds, and three assists per game on the campaign. There is absolutely no doubt that the play of Alassari and Bader will determine the success of this team in the playoffs, with two of the next four games against playoff contenders, Fort Hamilton will either be a pre-tender or a contender. The playoff destiny of the Tigers is in their own hands, all they need to do is win at least one game and a playoff spot will be theirs. Tilden Blue Devils (8-6)- The Blue Devils own the division’s leading scorer in the division, guard/forward Ashton Pascall, who has averaged a little over 21 points per game, has scored 20-plus in two games, scored 30-plus in four games which included a season high 37 against Lafayette on January 17. The fact that Pascall scores, his bench doesn’t. Despite Pascall putting up huge numbers, the fact that incompetent bench dishes the ball to their star player, the defense will put pressure on Pascall to take unwanted shots from the field. The Blue Devil that needs to rise is forward Nigel Francis, who has only averaged 10 points a game this campaign. Tilden, like their fellow 8-6 Fort Hamilton team holds their destiny in their own hands, win one game and the playoffs is theirs. New Utrecht Utes (7-7)- The Utes are best 7-7 team in the division, with a pair of offensively strong guards, in Amr Red Salem and Ismael Gonzalez, New Utrecht will need to win at least two of their next four to qualify for a playoff spot. With three consecutive losses in the past two weeks to a bad Erasmus team, a crucial loss to Fort Hamilton, and a blowout against Telecommunications, their playoff hopes look slim but not diminished. But the road to the dance isn’t easy for the Utes, as they would play Tilden, Sheepshead Bay, and Midwood, with a game at season’s end against a beatable Lafayette team. Taking the Lafayette game out of the equation and giving them a win, although there are no guarantees in sports, they would sit 8-7 with three to play, the battle with Tilden becomes that much urgent. Since they need a win to clinch a playoff berth but a Tilden team with Pascall, averaging a little more than 20 a game, could be quite a task.
