SABL Season III - Week 4 Preview

Monday, 17 November 2008

Dynasty v Basketballers Attendance issues will may play a role in this game as Ballers will hope a full squad shows up to work towards their first win. Dynasty may also be missing a key scorer or two. If Abdullah is able to make it, we could see him often going up against last-year teammate and tenacious D-fender Arfan Arif. Tim Crane gets another crack at a team with no true rebounder to box him out. Will Zeeshan Shaikh be up to the task? Zeeshan has always played bigger than his frame down low and against other bigs, but they haven’t been as big as Tim Crane. Muhammad's ability to run a more efficient point guard and improving his assist to turnover ratio will be key for Dynasty. If Dynasty is missing some guys, Ballers make be able to advantage with Abdullah, Sajeel, and Suleman drawing many fouls due to their quickness in getting to the hoop. HitMen v Desert Eagles This is the battle of two very improved teams. The teams that we saw in week 1 aren’t the teams that we are seeing come week 4. HitMen eeked out a victory against the struggling Ravens despite an off-nite from the perimeter and Desert Eagles come off an inspired performance taking a solid Strong Island team to the brink. It will be interesting to see if the HitMen additions include any big men able to matchup with Walid Hariki as well as how the Desert Eagles offense meshes with another game under their belt. HitMen on the other hand look to come in improved yet again but will need to learn to play together on the job so to speak. They were able to do it last week and look to do it again. Should be a good matchup and potentially the game of the week. Assassins v Titans Titans come in as now the elite team in the SABL after 3 games. They held off the talented HUMANS and now face off against the 1-2 Assassins. Titans are the heavy favorites but so were SWAT last week against Assassins and were almost upset. Assassins have made enough changes to now be able to compete with the good teams but whether they can compete with the top of the class remains to be seen. They haven't shown to have any defender that can check Tom Job or stop the tallish PG Lejoe. Kashif and Tim will look to keep the treys falling trying to go blow for blow with the Titans. If Tom is off and Assassins catch fire, this could be very exciting for the safe route is Titans going up big early and maintaining the lead throughout. But with the outside shooting of the Assassins you have to at least give them a punchers chance. MKA-NY v HUMANS MKA so far has only lost to Titans and even that was a respectably close game after they went down big. Replace MKA with HUMANS in the previous sentence and you have another true statement. Both also have solid wins against the Abdullah-less Basketballers and each also beat a 1-2 team pretty easily (SWAT v Dynasty respectively). They also matchup well in terms of each others weaknesses. HUMANS are susceptible to the 3 point shot and MKA leads the way in that department with a whopping 9.7 3s made per game. MKA has shown some susceptibility to pressure and HUMANS lead the way in causing turnovers with a whopping 14 steals per game. Farhan of MKA feels his team will make the adjustments needed to win. Farhan of the HUMANS, the coach, will not be present. That may be the difference in a matchup where something’s got to give Strong Island v Ravens Strong Island didn't play up to par with previous performances last week against the Desert Eagles and in the season of ups and downs the Ravens also hit a valley last week playing poorly against the undersized HitMen (albeit they were missing Koshi and Tom John). Both teams will look to play much better basketball that observers know they are capable of given the talent on each team. Still, Strong Island is 3-0 looking to keep pace at least in terms of record with the Titans and a Strong showing here again, lead by Mark Pollard, could also put them alongside the Titans in the power rankings debate. Joe on the Raven's has something to prove as the other stellar PG in this matchup and will look to get his side off to a good start. Lookout below as Neil bangs with Alfie and Sijin. Unless Lamba makes his comeback, Ravens should win the inside matchup. Whether Joe, Nelson, Koshi, and Tom can matchup with Mark, Raman, Shaun, and Rich remains to be seen. SWAT v Panthers SWAT so far has had a tough schedule and a rough start. Panthers have had a relatively easily schedule an although played very well last week against Dynasty, have so far caught teams still shuffling rosters or on bad days. But that could just be a result of better defense than they are being given credit for. One way or the other, this is a better matchup than the records 1-2 vs 3-0 would indicate. SWAT have something to prove and have their chance against a solid Panthers team that will be missing some key players. SWAT has a chance to go 11 deep on their bench and will come out with something to prove. Tarek faces a team with as solid a defensive front line as he has seen so far with Davinder leading the way. Jagdeep has run a solid PG so far with 2.7 apg so it will be interesting to see how the rest of the Panthers are able to replace that production of the guys Jagdeep has been passing to. SWAT will counter with Sijo and Davis to make sure the Panthers guards don’t get easy drives and dishes to their bigs. Expect a defensive low scoring game.

 

All Games on Sunday November 16th canceled

Wednesday, 12 November 2008

The SABL has received confirmation from Jamaica High School that due to some school renovations they are shutting down the entire school for this weekend. So all games this weekend are canceled. These games will be pushed back to week 12 and permits will be adjusted accordingly to still allow for an 18 game season + playoffs.

 

Week (3) - Game of the Week - Log on to the message board to vote

Wednesday, 05 November 2008

Sun 11/9/2008 10:30 AM Basketballers vs MKA New York Jamaica High School Basketballers are off to a rough start at 0-2 and will look to rebound against a solid MKA NY team looking to go 2-1. Ballers were missing MVP Abdullah in game 1 and had him for limited services in game 2 due to foul trouble so he will be poised to light up the Jamaica HS gym for a breakout game. MKA's solid team offense with crisp passing has been tearing up zone defenses and now they face one of the best in the Basketballers. At the same time, based on last week's performance, a 3/4 press seemed to show a weakness in MKAs ball handling. Will Ballers break away from their tried and tested 2-3 zone? Will MKA NY come in improved in an ability to secure the ball? This is a battle of two well balanced teams and the scoring of Abdullah vs. Farhan (#23) may make the difference. Sun 11/9/2008 12:00 PM Desert Eagles Strong Island Jamaica High School Desert Eagles are winless and Strong Island is undefeated. The trend looks likely to continue with this matchup unless the Desert Eagles can show some improvements. Having Walid and Zeeshan play their 2nd game together should give them a better output but it will have to be the defense of Hani and Walid trying limit the inside passing lanes for the Mark Pollard to Rich Reyes combo if the Deagles wish to pull off the upset. Sun 11/9/2008 1:30 PM SWAT vs Assassins Jamaica High School The self-proclaimed SWAT storm touches down in Assassinsville this Sunday afternoon. The lack of size on the Assassins will be an issue all year and this game is no different. Who will stop the leagues leading scorer, Tarek Yasin on the low block? Furthermore, when defensive minded Sijo and Davis lock horns with Tim and Kashif, will Assassins have other options to turn to for scoring? Will Bassam, Rafeh, or Allen step up? These teams could very well have identical records once this contest is over. Sun 11/9/2008 3:00 PM Ravens vs Hitmen Jamaica High School HitMen improved in week two with Prince returning in action and the addition of Mohammad Begawala but that wasn't enough. They are 0-2. This week should see further improvement as the younger Begawala brother, Maz, joins the team in their matchup against the Ravens. Ravens have the distinct advantage with Sijin and Alfie's inside game but Ravens may not have have a quick enough guard to stay in front of Mohammad. The Begawala brothers can typically eat any zone alive with their shooting. This will be an exciting matchup with HitMen poised to get their first win against a Ravens team which seemed to get its groove back last week. Sun 11/9/2008 7:00 PM Panthers vs Dynasty Flushing High School Dynasty comes off a poor showing from last week and this week they will face the lefty trio on the undefeated Panthers. A lot is still up in the air regarding the make up of the Dynasty team but they should have 6'7 Tim Crane patrolling the paint which will be a hand full for any team. Panthers will look to keep their momentum going as the league awaits to see who the Panthers premiere go to guy is. Will it be Ditar or Jasjit...Dynasty might find out this Sunday. Sun 11/9/2008 8:30 PM HUMANS Titans Flushing High School The HUMANS are one of the hottest teams in the SABL right now. They are third in the league in scoring and on the defensive end they are blocking on average 8 shots a game. So this team is playing some great two way basketball. Their next opponent are the all new Titans. We mention the Titans being all new because of their roster. One thing that isn’t new is the Titans winning ways. The Titans just happen to be ahead of the HUMANS in scoring. How are the Titans winning? Well they pass the ball better than any other team, they are leading the SABL with 17.5 assists a game. In addition to passing the ball the Titans get to the line a great deal. The addition of Rex has really helped solidify the inside game of the Titans once again.

 

New Entrance for Jamaica High School

Monday, 03 November 2008

New Parking Lot to be used for Jamaica High School This parking lot is for the exclusive use of SABL participants. You have to drive to the other side of the gym. 1) After getting on 168th street Grand Central Parkway turn right on 84th avenue 2) Make a left on to 164th Street 3) Make a left on to Chapin Parkway 4) Follow that along until you see the entrance of Jamaica High School. 5) Park there and use that entrance to go to the third floor where our gym is located. Make sure that you don't go in earlier than 10:30 as our permit doesn't begin until 10:30 Do Not Go In Earlier

 

SABL Season III / Week 2 - Recap

Monday, 03 November 2008

SWAT vs. MKA Both teams were coming off losses on opening day and both featured key guys missing in the first game. SWAT saw the season debut of star guard Davis and MKA showed off their new forward Hani. For MKA this was a reversal of sorts as last week they got down early but clawed their way back into the game with great shooting. This week SWAT looked sloppy from the get to and MKA's crisp give n' goes were tearing SWAT's zone to shreds throughout the game. Between Furhan, Nadeem, and Khurram, easy layups were abound. But when SWAT put on pressure, a weakness appeared in MKA's game as turnover after turnover, many in the backcourt allowed SWAT to get back into the game in the last 5 minutes. Towards the end though, more crisp execution once in their half court set by MKA and just a complete inability of the SWAT team to finish their 'gimme' layups on turnovers allowed MKA to pull out the victory. Strong Island vs Assassins Big bad Strong Island came in to their week 2 match up against the young gun Assassins with identical 1-0 records and the result was as expected. Some long range bombing from Kashif Zeb and Tim Ahmed kept Assassins in it through the first 10 minutes and the Tim/Allen combination tried to keep up the pace but Richard, Mark, and Shaun were just too much for the Assassins to keep in their scopes. Score could have been more lopsided had we not employed the running clock with 20 point lead rule. This game was a blow out with Richard taking player of the game honors. HUMANS vs. Dynasty Another matchup of 1-0 teams. Yassine Rhaffor got his shot at his former team, the HUMANS, and Hasim got his chance to back up claims that he would score 50 points this week. Despite the great start by Hasim in the first few possessions, it was the HUMANS who collectively scored 50+ in the first half and halted Hasim's penetration and scoring on their way to the blowout victory. Tim Crane did provide his inside pressense and offensive rebounding but Mahdi and David were able to contain him in the second half. HUMANS 88 - Dynasty 50 Ravens vs. Desert Eagles A matchup of 0-1 teams. Ravens coming off a disappointing and lackluster performance the week prior and Desert Eagles losing a winnable game due to foul trouble came in hoping to achive different outcomes in week2. Eagles brought in 2 new players Zeeshan and Walid (formerly of HUMANS). Zeeshan did much of the ball handling but outside of a few 3s, was not as effective a PG as Tim had been the week before. Despite some solid play on both ends, Walid was kept on the bench much of the time as he worked his way on to his new team. The result was not good for the Deagles. Too much Sijin inside, Joe V. back in mid season form at PG, and solid outputs from Koshi and Tom John got the Ravens team right back to .500. Titans vs Basketballers In a finals rematch, the titans outlasted the ballers 70-62. It was a back and forth battle until the final 10 minutes. The ballers up-tempo play was countered by strong inside play by the Titans and deadly 3 point shooting as well. The ballers kept it close throughout the game; unfortunately, 3 of their players fouled out including Abdullah who fouled out with 10 minutes to play. With a depleted bench and shaky half court defense from the ballers, the Titans took control late and eventually went on to win by 8. Hitmen Vs Panthers This game might have been the most entertaining game of the young season with both teams going back and forth. It was the sharp shooting Hitmen led by Mohammad vs the quick and youthful Panther team. It seemed as though Panthers had taken a solid lead, at times even by double digits, but the guard tandom of Mohammad and Triggy w/ the dominating rebound by Vik and Prince helped the Hitmen climb back into this game. Panthers displayed an extremely solid all around team game, with crisp passing and shooting. In the second half Hitmen eventually took a late lead, but the panthers kept clawing back and eventually got it tied up. With about 20 seconds left and the game tied, the ball was in the hands of Mohammad of Hitmen, who was the man with the hot hand. With about 10 seconds left, in an attempt to make his move, he was stripped of the ball and the panthers were able to take it the other way for the winning basket. Great game by both teams who showed tremendous fight through out the game.