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Wednesday, 02 April 2008 |
#1 Triple Threat (11-2): The best regular season team in SABL history, hands down (edit: I forgot about the '07 Hit-Men, they were damn good too!). The Triple Threat keep taking care of business no matter who they play. They'll have to remain sharp throughout the playoffs if they hope to win the championship like they are favored to do, but is the bench deep enough to handle the extended clock?
#2 HUMANS (9-4): Captain Farhan still believes his team should be ranked #1 this season, but instead of letting that fact slow them down, the HUMANS have used it as motivation as they've steamrolled nearly every team since their shocking loss to the Force way back when. The HUMANS are still the deepest team in the league, so the extended playoff clock should work to their benefit.
#3 Spartans (9-4): The Spartans have really come together as a team following their slow 1-3 start to the season. Depth may be a concern in the playoffs, but if they continue their solid all around play, the Spartans can advance quickly through the playoffs because they are a team that seems to excel in grind-it-out playoff-style basketball.
#4 Titans (9-4): Despite the recent loss to the 7th seeded SWAT team, the Titans have proven an ability to dominate when they put their minds to it, as witnessed in their recent blowout of the Spartans in match-up week. The Titans started the season as the most dominant team in the league and now they're looking to end the season that way.
#5 Basketballers (9-4): The #4 seeded 'Ballers have struggled as of late and haven't been able to keep up with the other contenders in the league. They're scrambling to prepare for the playoffs, but they now face a tougher road ahead starting with the #5 seed Spartans. Is it too late for this young group or will the playoffs be when they shine like last season?
#6 SWAT (6-7): SWAT have slowly built momentum as the season wound down, going 3-1 in their last 4 games and defeating the mighty Titans in choice week with a strong performance. Led by an all-star back-court of Davis and Texas, the young group is looking hungry and playoff ready. Will they be able to handle the pressures of the playoffs, though?
#7 Money Crew (8-5): Seem to be spending too much time in the recording studio filming episodes of MCTV instead of practicing on the hardwood. Money Crew were blown out by their 1st round opponent, HUMANS, the last time these two teams played with Muneeb fouling out early. How will they handle the HUMANS depth and pressure in the playoffs? Muneeb has to have his best game of the season for MC to advance.
#8 Hit-Men (4-9): They backed their way into the playoffs, despite going 0-4 to end the season. The talent is there to pull off a shocking upset, especially with the return of Lamba in the middle, but they've got to play a near-perfect game against the battle-tested Triple Threat to even avoid getting blown out, much less win. It's going to take a hoosier-level coaching performance by Arby and Lamba to get this team ready.
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2007 / 2008 SABL All Stars |
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Tuesday, 01 April 2008 |
East vs West All-Star Game (8:30PM)
2 halves of 18 minutes each, clock stops on all out stoppage of play, with official refs.
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SABL All Star Festivities |
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Friday, 21 March 2008 |
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Three Point Shoot-Out (7PM)
Shooting Stars Event (7:45PM)
HitMen (Karan Chawla, Imran Hassan, Gagan Somlock, Naveed ur Rahman, Prince Singh.)
HUMANS (Walid Hakiri, Ahmed Ghumman, Fahad Qamar, Kamran Syed, Suleman Tariq.)
Triple Threat (Zebi Pirzada, Imran Raza, Arfan Arif, Kashif Zeb, John Arif.)
Basketballers (Zeeshan Shaikh, Talha Ghumman, Usman Ghumman, Atif Khan, Nadeem Khan.)
Money Crew (Biju Lukose, Jeet Bhaidasna, Atif Tatari, Taksim Chowdury, Jimmy Dheria.)
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Sunday, 30 March 2008 |
Dynasty vs. Money Crew
In Dynasty's final game of the season before they head out fishing, Money Crew brought the pain in a big way. At times, you almost thought you were watching comedy hour on MCTV (MC's own Youtube programming), but it was actually a basketball game underneath all that madness. MC easily cruised to a 74-21 blowout victory over a short-handed Dynasty squad. The Ahmed brothers, Muneeb and Osama, shot lights out combining for 37 points and 10 assists. Rishi chipped in with 17 points and David had 6 blocks.
HUMANS vs. Basketballers
Basketballers chose Humans in choice week in the hopes of getting a little revenge for their 3-point loss earlier in the season, but what they got was a rude awakening from the hungry Humans to the tune of a 19-point defeat. The Humans blitzed the baffled 'Ballers at every turn, forcing turnovers and easy fast-break points at will. The 'Ballers left the game with heads hung low and walked to the outside courts in the cold of night to hold their first ever team practice. Walid of the Humans had a 13 and 10 game while Special K grabbed a team-high 12 'boards.
Spartans vs. Hit-Men
In a strange game that started off without the officials (who arrived late), the Hit-Men were looking to take their playoff fate into their own hands. About 10 minutes in, the Hit-Men received an inspirational lift as Lamba came into the gym and yelled to his coach, "Put me in coach!" to the surprise of the capacity crowd in a moment that can only be described as the Willis Reed injury-comeback game of our generation. Unfortunately, the Hit-men blew a 2-point 2nd half lead they had built with inspired play to a determined Spartans squad that were relentless. Despite the loss, the Hit-men's playoff hopes were still alive as the entire team watched the next game in anticipation in the hopes that Dream Team would lose, so they could advance.
Dream Team vs. Triple Threat
Dream Team lost. But not before playing some inspired basketball and hitting some clutch 3's to keep it close. Neil was scoring at will in the paint against a small'ish Triple Threat squad, but DT missed at least six gimme layups that would have made the game much closer in the end. Sekandar hit four 3's for the Dream Team and Shaun played solid defense, but ultimately the talent and determination of TT proved to be too much. Dream Team walked away sad about the loss, but happy at the thought of fly-fishing in the anarondacks. TT 51, Dream Team 43.
SWAT vs. Titans
The mighty Titans chose SWAT with the 2nd pick in choice week because they knew chances were good these two teams would meet in the 1st round so a warm-up game was a strategically sound move... or so Pawan thought. Despite Stanley's usual dominance in the paint, SWAT was able to put together a strong effort for the victory. Texas led the way with 22 points and 7 rebounds while Wasik had 13 rebounds to go along with 4 blocks. SWAT 42, Titans 30. Edit: After review, Texas actually came up short of a triple double.
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