Week Five

Tuesday @ 7pm - Freedom [4-0] vs Straight Shots [1-2]
After dismantling Dead Strokes, Freedom looks to continue their surprising start and knock off another top team in their mid-season gauntlet run. While an easy start to the season may have boosted their confidence, a four week stretch against DS, SS, BNR and FTW will show us if Freedom are for real or not. Freedom were able to bring their best roster of the season last week with the old school duo of Andy and Nish able to go a combined 3-0, while DJ pushed his overall record to 5-0. These guys will be key if Pete keeps this run going. Straight Shots never played last week, but were still dealt a large blow with the dismissal of Mike from their team. With no Pita, and Charlie seeming to not be as consistent as he once was, Straight Shots have no back bone and will instead lean to the likes of Cam, Dustin and Kenny to show and hopefully together, win it for the team.

Prediction - 5-3 Freedom

Wednesday @ 6pm - Harley Hustlers [2-1] vs Pool Hall Pros [2-2]
While Omar was open about attempting to recruit everyone under the sun, it seems that there is a new water cooler for everyone to flock too. With recent additions in Croz, Maria, Thomas and now Mike, Brice & co. are looking mighty solid. Those 5 names alone are looking like they would be good enough to beat out a now undermanned SS and under-performing DS squad to the playoffs, and with the added depth of Frank, Steve and Dana, things are looking up for those Hustlers. While hustlers seem to make their living in pool halls, this match sees two ex-PHP'ers now playing for HH in Croz and Maria. Will there be bad blood? I doubt it, without Trio, PHP is pretty calm and as far as I can see there are a ton of good people on both sides of the match. While HH now has vast talent, PHP can try and get back above .500 with their current talent with the likes of Candi, Tommy and Raz leading the way. It'll be interesting to see if the new talent at HH can play well together and if Brice can keep them all happy, while we'll see if PHP are a team that have the ability to consistently battle top-tier teams.

Prediction - 5-4 Harley Hustlers

Wednesday @ 6pm - Pool Dragonz [1-3] vs For The Win [3-1]
In this match we see an undermanned PDZ squad face off against a Danielle led team that has had to squeak out some key wins this season. For PDZ, Joe hasn't been able to get a full team to the table, and in PRO you don't have much of a chance if you can't bring 5. He needs to get his team together if they look to have any shot at the playoffs before they dig themselves a hole they cannot get out of. They're only a game back of the playoffs so nothing is lost at this point, but back to back weeks of only showing with 4 players is not a good sign for the self-proclaimed pool stud. For Danielle & co., it's been a rough start despite their 3-1 record with the unexpected slow starts by Ant, Dante and Stephen. Brian has been able to save a few days but this is a week where everyone in FTW should be able to get going.

Prediction - 5-1 For The Win

Thursday @ 6pm - Rack Dem Up [0-4] vs Break and Run [4-0]
Despite Break and Runs newest star Craig being just 2-2 for Break and Run, they have shown that they are star-studded and are ready for another title run. The usual suspect in Jordy is carrying the load at 6-0 and should only increase this week. Both Gus and Mina have shown that they are able to show consistently again, helping Ross lead his squad to a perfect record thus far. For Tim & co., certainly a rough start and it doesn't get any easier this week, but they do have some talent and on any given night they can break out. If the likes of Tim, Jess and Sterlo can get going together on any night, only good things will follow. They're up tough this week, hopefully they are able to keep it close.

Prediction - 5-2 Break and Run

Thursday @ 7pm - 8Ball Crushers [1-3] vs Dead Strokes [1-3]
The final match-up of the week shows a mismatch despite their records. 8BC were able to get a big win last week over an undermanned PDZ squad while DS were just out-matched despite showing with their most talented roster to date. With the likes of Joey, Omar, Rocky, Ogges and Roy, DS would have no issue winning this week but Omar has shown his inability to get a consistent roster at the table beyond himself and Rocky, though this week those two should be out and firing looking to take out their early season frustration on anyone that shows. Andrew & co. were given new life last week after Andrew and corn were able to carry the team to their first victory of the season and despite it being early, have an opportunity to jump a few spots in the standings. Andrew will need a similar outing out of himself and corn and others if they look to have any shot at an upset this week.

Prediction - 5-3 Dead Strokes