HUMANS defeat the Titans 84-81 for the SABL crown

Monday, 13 April 2009

April 12, 2009 This day will live in the hearts and minds for all of those that can say that they were there to witness the best finals game in the SABL history. Video's are in HD and they are being processed so give it some time. Details are forthcoming. This game began with the Titans taking an early lead and the HUMANS looking out of synch. The Titans were led by Thomas Job who launched his way to 36 points. He carried the Titans in the first half along with Lejoe who also hit some outside shots. The HUMANS were down by 7. The Titans had Matthew Alexander on the inside who played lights out, he defended the paint with 6 blocks and 14 rebounds. The HUMANS were led by Co-MVP's Muneeb Ahmed 28 points and 9 rebounds and Muhammad El Fatihi who diced his way to 25 points and 6 rebounds. On the inside the three centers of the HUMANS combined for 21 points 23 rebounds and 6 assist. Mahdi had some huge rebounds over T-Rex and David and Khurram were instrumental in their defense and rebounds. Mid first half the HUMANS went on a run and tired out the Titans who were forced to burn through a time out just to slow down the momentum. The HUMANS led by as many as 13 points. Many in the crowd sensed that the Titans who were only suiting up 6 would be blown out. The pace of the game plus the depth of the HUMANS began to wear on the Titans. When Muneeb's shot wasn't falling he quietly helped the team with 5 steals and crucial put backs on misses from his teamates to keep the momentum in HUMANS' favor. Kamran was able to drive the ball and have some beautiful assists to force the Titans in to taking a third time out. A third time out ala Chris Webber caused the Titans to be hit with a technical foul. Muneeb found a wide open Khurram and David on plays where all of Flushing expected a three, this caught the shell shocked Titans off guard Pawan reformulated a plan and Lejoe began to leak out on the break. Matthew, Rex, and Thomas Job would grab a rebound and hit Lejoe for the easy 2. The Titans went on a 14-0 run to start the 2nd half that not only erased the HUMANS lead but gave the Titans the lead early in the 2nd half. Lejoe had a dominant run during this time. He drew 3 fouls on Muhammad, got Mahdi, and Khurram fouled out and the Titans led by as many as 6. Just like two old prize fighters the HUMANS and the Titans went toe to toe as Muhammad drove to the hole with impunity and was able to foul out T-Rex and get 2 fouls immediately on Jason. Still, Titans were matching every score to maintain their small yet consistent lead through the 2nd half. With a little more than 4 minutes to go and holding on to a 4 point lead, Titans smelled victory and began to kill clock. That is where perhaps the Titans lost their edge and pulled the foot off the pedal. After a long possession, they missed a 3-point shot and subsequently fouled Muneeb. Upon hitting 2 of 2 from the line, Muneeb trapped Pawan after the inbounds, caused the steal, got the pass in return and drained a cold blooded three for an immediate 5 point turnaround. HUMANS bench and Flushing exploded with the noise. Chants of Defense, and Offense filled Flushing High School and HUMANS let their PG go to work. Lejoe was overheard saying "It's Numbers 0's game now" imploring his teammates to stop Mohamed's drives to the basket. He even mustered up enough energy to begin face guarding Mohamed successfully but Mohamed had one final dagger left before fouling out as he utilized Lejoe's aggressive defense to setup a back cut and layup. The HUMANS couldn't hit their free throws to ice the game but in turn played excellent defense communicating at all times where Thomas Job was on the court. The game went down to the wire and with 17 seconds left on the clock, the Titans inbounded the ball down by only 3 getting it in to the hands of Thomas Job. What transpired next was the final blow of this heavy weight matchup. Thomas faked the drive and went for a step back three. As the ball was released Fahad Qamar who was inserted for defense got his entire hand on the ball and blocked the shot straight to Kamran. The block heard around the world Kamran however, missed both free throws and with 7 seconds left the stage was set for Lejoe. Grabbing the rebound, he took the ball the entire distance of the court to the three point line, got an open look and let it fly.....The ball hung up there for what seemed like an eternity. The ball hit the back of the rim and the HUMANS mobbed the floor as they were now the 2008/2009 SABL Champions. For the Titans they could hold their head up high as they were a few inches away from a victory. But for the HUMANS it was the coronation of a new nation, HUMAN Nation. As this team did all of the small things it took to win, and began what should be known as the Human effect in SABL.

 

2009 All-Stars Announced!

Thursday, 09 April 2009

The voting is in and congratulations to all those players who were selected to participate in the SABL's 2009 All-Star game which will be held this Sunday at Flushing High School after the finals (Finals at 7PM and All-Star Game at 8:30PM). Those who were selected earned their right to participate in this "best of the best" competition through their stellar individual play and hard work during the season. If any of the selected All-Stars is unable to participate, please email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it as soon as possible so the next in line back-up could be notified to fill in. **Mark Pollard of Strong Island would have made the East squad had he been available to play. Update: Davis and Lejoe will be unable to participate, so Mathew and Neil are next in line to step in. There is a possibility Thomas Job may not be able to participate as well.

 

Shooting Stars and 3-Point Winners

Thursday, 09 April 2009

Last Sunday, the league's best shooters participated in the annual 3-point contest. While 2-time winner, Arif (SWAT), failed to make it a trifecta, you had a great duel between Shaun (Strong Island) and Angel (Dynasty) in the final round with Angel getting hot late and hitting the clutch final "money ball" to win it all. Take a look: In the Shooting Stars competition where teams had to make a set of consecutive shots as quickly as possible, the Basketballers' team work and fine shooting touch was on display as they came away with the trophy.

 

Titans vs Strong Island

Wednesday, 08 April 2009

Titans vs Strong Island Titans began this game on a nice run and Strong Island had 8 team fouls in 3 and a half minutes. With Strong Island sending Shahin who picked up 2 quick fouls to the bench the Titans took a large lead. Strong Island was not to be denied as Captain Neil bullied his way down low and began to abuse the Titans. Shaun and Richard began to grab every loose ball and the Titans who had led the entire game now were actually down. The Titans themselves found Lejoe with 4 first half fouls and Rex with 4 fouls, and Thomas Job with 3 fouls. But the hole that the Strong Island team had dug for themselves early one was too much for them to overcome as they also had many players in foul trouble. Shahin fouled out, Shaun fouled out, and Richard Reyes fouled out. That left Strong Island with only 4 players to play against the 5 Titans on the court. The Titans played a good game of keep away frustrating the Strong Island team that was set in a 4 man zone defense. With Strong Island in foul trouble and unable to foul, the Titans kept on passing the ball around daring the Strong Island team to make this a free throw shooting contest. Strong Island Captain Neil ultimately acquiesced to his teams demands and gave up, ending this Cinderella run that Strong Island had in the playoffs.

 

HUMANS vs Dynasty Recap

Monday, 06 April 2009

HUMANS took on Dynasty. This game started out with the HUMANS taking a commanding lead. Dynasty didn’t look in synch with out point guard Oliver. Sejdo was running point for the team which wasn’t allowing him to slash to the basket. He was looking to create instead of finish. Tim was trying his best but with out Sejdo slashing to the basket the front line of the HUMANS was focused on pushing out of the paint. HUMANS took a 12 point lead and this game was in danger of becoming a route. Khurram was a monster down low with rebounds, blocked shots and a lot of baskets in traffic. He was able to push out Tim Crane from his comfort zone. Like super man Oliver shows up, Dynasty get pumped up and excited but they are down almost 15 points. Oliver comes in and immediately tosses assist after assist to Tim and Sejdo and Dynasty roars back to not only cut the lead but to take back the lead. The game seesawed back and forth and Sejdo and Tim were able to get to the line 23 times collectively thanks to great dishing by Oliver. The HUMANS looked like they were about to fold when Mohammed made the first SABL 4 point play in SABL history. He was fouled by Oliver as he hit the shot. He completed the 4 point play and on a subsequent miss by Dynasty hit another three to ice the game, this 7 point turnaround proved to be the difference as Dynasty wasn’t able to take the lead after that point and all of the momentum seemed to immediately shift towards the HUMANS.