Tuesday, April 19, 2011

4.5 League Preview

As I'm sure everyone is aware, the League season begins Thursday. There are 5 4.5 divisions with the top 3 non-division-winners qualifying for the citywide championships. Here's a quick look at the five divisions:

Div I

Clearly, Lakeside remains the favorite in this division. Their roster has not undergone a great deal of turnover from last year, but they did lose Hai Vu and Greg Zachary to 5.0. They have added a couple of players but no true "difference makers".

The Katy Coaches look to be the only competitive team in this division, with the same key roster elements as last year with the addition of Chris Lubrano. They have a chance to win the division but should at least be in the hunt for a Wild Card spot.

The other teams should be also-rans.

Div II

Based on recent history, the Black Sheep should be considered favorites. Every year Tommy Ristau adds a stud or two to his roster. Where are they this year? They've lost Pio Davila and Fonseca and Morgan have not yet signed up. The team looks weaker on paper but I'm sure they'll still be tough. Hal Hale will help.

An aside: Where is the new blood in 4.5 this year??? Am I just uninformed or are there very few new impact players out there? Clue me in.

Ssshhhhwings will be the same type team. A little older, a little greyer, and rumor has it they've lost Giordanelli. It seems like they've been slightly regressing year after year.

Are the Gypsies interesting? Are they a threat? I don't see it, though they have some firepower in Muhala and Li/Regent, if Phong is able to play a full schedule.

Div III

Another lopsided division. Are the Hurricanes the favorites to win citywides? It's not a slam dunk, by any means. How much will Greg Jones play? Is Borkop healthy? Has Phoummarath lost a step? If two of those three play at full strength, this team will be hard to beat in singles. Baer/Jones have been tough in doubles. Foster is hitting the shit out of the ball in practice, but will it translate? Jannuzzi is crafty. The pieces are there, and with Benzon/Freeman running the show an impact addition is always possible/probable.

Ummm...who else is there to talk about in this division? Is Armen Allahverdian the best non-Hurricane in the division?

Div IV

Hmmm...an interesting division. To me, Copperfield looks to be the class of the division. How will they manage their roster of 20 players? Will Kudrick be able to devote much time to Thursday night matches? They've got options if he doesn't. Anderson Kelly is a nice add. McMullan and Martinez can play some singles. The Kents are dangerous. What will the doubles lineup look like in the big matches?

I can't see the Deucebags contending. Goldberg, Schlensker, Chavarria, Bishop, and Morales are all possible number two singles guys. Where's the number one? Tran has become a top doubles guy, and the Dugas brothers have some nice wins, but I don't see the firepower necessary to challenge Copperfield.

The Jedi Knights are exactly what they have been lately. A bunch of older guys who can play some good doubles. Very Shwing-like. Can they take enough lines or steal a win from the Dugasbags to prevent them from getting a wildcard?

Div V

Another fun division with three intriguing teams. As usual, Sugar Creek's roster is not complete, so we will have to speculate that they'll be similar to last year, minus Antoine Ford, a big loss. Word on the street is that Simon Jim is playing some good ball right now. He'll need to, because there is some singles firepower in this division.

Chancellor's will be a fun team to watch. James Dat Bui, Hung Nguyen and Huy Nguyen are all solid singles options. Has Bui elevated his game to the elite 4.5 level? The doubles seems slightly weak on this team. A bunch of ex-4.0 guys who will have to earn their stripes against the big boys. They're capable. Lan Nguyen looks like a player and will help out immensely.

Finally, the JCC Blast will be a threat. Pete Taylor has converted to a two-handed backhand and I hear that his practice results have been good. Has Greg Medford lost a step...you'd be surprised how many different opinions I've heard. Who will be a solid doubles line for this team? There's not much proven 4.5 doubles success and that may come back to haunt this team.

35 comments:

  1. word on the street that james and simon both have improved. however, i pick james to win by grinding it out, while simon tries too much to make the highlight reel.

    ReplyDelete
  2. matchups worth mentioning.

    div1- coaches vs lakeside estates
    singles should be split
    norkus/weaver to win one line of doubles.
    coaches barely pulls it off 3-2

    div2- bs vs gypsies
    singles are split
    regent/li will win one line of doubles
    gypsies barely upsets bs 3-2

    div5- chancellors vs titans
    chancellors win both singles
    titans will win at least two doubles
    the last doubles will be the key
    titans to swept the doubles and win 3-2

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would have to disagree with you regarding Lakeside. What happen to their doubles team. The only one I see that can win is Tommy/Glen. Who else on the roster right now can win?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Save $20...remember you don't have to be a member of the HTA for this season!

    ReplyDelete
  5. lakeside's tommy/glen is not playing for another two weeks. lakeside estates is playing coaches. this is probably the most important match for these two teams, because they will be fighting for a wild card.

    the match to see is chancellors vs titans, james vs simon. two guys that have a lot to prove and both are playing the coke the following morning. simon can win if he attacks jame's one hand backhand. james can win if he keeps the point long.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Is this B.S.? Why don't you have to be a member of HTA for this season? When did they change this rule?

    ReplyDelete
  7. looks like a scam to me to get people DQed

    ReplyDelete
  8. sorry about that last comment i'm not awake yet but what it was suppose to say is "it looks like a scam to get people DQed"

    ReplyDelete
  9. where is sarosh? did ward really send him into retirement? at this time of the year, this blog is would be full of the sarosh hype.

    what happened to chambert, inting, grego

    ReplyDelete
  10. simon who? james will whip that boy. that guy is all show no game.

    ReplyDelete
  11. looks like div2 just got more interesting with callaway on the schwinggggg roster. he's definitely the best singles player in that div. the schwingggggg are a contender now.

    ReplyDelete
  12. james will beat simon............again
    sarosh is no where to be seen after the ward whipping
    callaway will take sccchwingers to playoffs

    ReplyDelete
  13. Freddie will beat james, simon sarosh,ward federer, ferer, nadal, djacovich and everybody else and thier dog

    ReplyDelete
  14. He can beat everybody on Betsies team

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sarosh is a punk, unsurprisingly. It was not a bad loss by any means. It was just that Sarosh's inflated ego can't handle the loss.

    If I was Freeman, Sarosh would not play on a Hurricane team again.

    ReplyDelete
  16. after losing to ward, he abandoned the team and did not play the last two matches.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Chancellors over Sugarcreek 4-1. Chancellor swept singles.

    ReplyDelete
  18. who played singles? scores?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Did Freddie play? Did he win singles against Simon?

    ReplyDelete
  20. Freddie beat Simon 7-6, 6-4. He then teamed with himself to skunk Douds and Marco 6-2, 6-3. Throughly baffled by this turn of events, Ken Lee then proceed to default 2 of the 3 remaining lines due dizziness from the thrashing that he had just received.

    As he left, he remarked "Who is this Freddie guy and how did he get so good?" Be scared my fellow 4.5 brethren! Be very, very scared!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Bui over Cooney in 3, Charles Nguyen over Stockwell in straight. Notable missing was Simon Jim for Sugar Creek, and Huy Nguyen for Chancellors.

    ReplyDelete
  22. If Bui lost a set to Cooney he's nothing special and has not improved.

    Hurricane 4.5 and 4.0 both look terrible compared to other years. Red and Jason might have lost their mojo.

    ReplyDelete
  23. It's across the board, my friends. Say what you want but the USTA was spot on in recallibrating and adjusting the DNTRPs. I took a look at the Women's side and honestly, it's not a cake walk for Hollis either this year. The levels are more even now, moreso than ever before. Having said that there will be the nay-sayers who point out Vu and Kudrick, etc. but if you really study the teams, there are not nearly as many sandbaggers as years past.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Stockwell singles ??? Where was simon?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Ummmm, I'm not sure what you were looking at but Betsie's team should have a cake walk to Sects. Nationals may be a little more difficult but she definitely has the fire-power to make it to Nats for her 4th year in a row.

    As for the Canes, there are a lot more teams in contention and I don't see either 4.0 or 4.5 as the front-runner.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I agree with the previous poster re: sandbaggers and the evening of the levels. It's not just the massive bump-ups, but the rule that players who've sat out for a while must re-self rate at their previous level. That's a huge loophole that was closed.

    HtownHacker

    ReplyDelete
  27. Yes, when the discussions are over the great match-ups and how any team could take it, rather than who is 3 levels below where they should be, I'd say the changes have been for the better.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Good thing Simon sat out of league so he could lose 2 and 2 1st round.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Simon looses to Freddie 2 and 2

    ReplyDelete
  30. That's utter BS. No way Simon would play Freddie in league on a Thursday night before the "Coke". He's gotta get his rest so he can play Open.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Hey Simon, Here's an advice from the wise, Houston league tennis is not for you, These guys grew up as looser and all tennis players wanna bes, They don't have your skills and all are jealous of your game, and lastly All of the guys in the league are twice or three times your age pretending like they have a game like yours. I would really recommend not play in their league so they don't have the pleasure to watch you on Thursday nights.

    ReplyDelete
  32. There's a lot of truth to that previous comment. You have some old guys using you so they don't have to play singles. At least get some more $$ for your time if you're going to take this much crap for wanting to rest prior to a tournament match.

    ReplyDelete
  33. So, what is the going rate for a top singles player in 4.5 summer league?

    ReplyDelete
  34. Don't you mean Simon has to get his rest so he can lose 1st round in open.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Simon is God, and God created Tennis and the best shots in Tennis

    ReplyDelete