East - Week #1 Scores 11.05.09

Friday, 06 November 2009

STYL and Adrenaline were two pretty evenly matched and similar-styled teams but the x-factor in favor of STYL was their big man Stanley who Adrenaline had no answer for. All the attention given to Stanley opened the floor up for STYL's shooters' like Davis and Sinu. In the only blowout of the night, 24 Seven ran the Bulldogs out of the gym from wire to wire. The Bulldogs were somewhat shorthanded and didn't look as cohesive as they did last week against the Lions in pre-season. Every team puts up a stinker every now and again, so no worries. The game of the night was Strong Island versus Desert Eagles. The Eagles only had 6 guys suit up but they still somehow managed to keep pace with the mighty Strong Island bunch, who are one of the early favorites in the East. Strong Island built a 10-point second half lead before the Eagles battled all the way back only to turn it over on the last possession. Lions vs. Force was also a good one, but Lions' depth proved to be too much for a Force team that was carried by all-star Tarek once again. A good sign for Force was that they were able to keep it close.

 

West: Week One Results

Monday, 02 November 2009

Two evenly matched teams in MKA-NY and SWAT battled it out to start the day off. It was back-and-forth throughout most of the game until SWAT, with the help of new addition Sedjo (formerly of Dynasty), managed to fast-break its way to a close victory. Both teams have plenty of new faces from last year who are contributing in big ways. Game two started with the HUMANS absolutely dominating Strong Island to the tune of a 20-3 lead to start the game. SI was completely lost offensively and could not find a way to break the HUMANS' suffocating zone until late in the 1st half. They slowly chipped away and in the second half, SI completely turned the tables on the HUMANS and were in the driver's seat in terms of forcing turnovers and momentum. The HUMANS, down 2 with five seconds left, had a good look which rimmed out to end the game. Game three was a blowout from start to finish with Strictly Biz taking care of business against the undersized and over-matched Rukus team. The Rukus lone big man, out for the season, was their only hope to match up with a bigger team like SB. Rukus goes back to the drawing board. The other blowout of the day was Hitmen vs. the Red Jaguars. Hitmen ran a clinic and destroyed the hapless Jaguars by 30 points. The refs kept asking if there was a mercy rule. The Titans vs. Ravens game was similar to the Strong Island vs. HUMANS game except with a twist. Titans led the Ravens by 25+ points in the first half but somehow the Ravens, who looked awful in the 1st half, managed to chip away with hustle and big three's in the 2nd half to actually tie the game with seconds left. An ill-advised foul by a Ravens player with 5-seconds left in the tie game send T. Job to the line where he was able to hit 1 of 2 free throws. The Ravens last second fade-away rimmed out, preventing them from completing what would have been one of the best comebacks of all time. The 'Ballers vs. Panthers game was a back-and-forth affair with high playoff-intensity basketball being played from start to finish. The Panthers took an early lead, but the 'Ballers' patented resolve and experience helped them take the lead back and build on it. Defense and timely baskets helped 'Ballers build a 10-point lead with two minutes left, but Panthers somehow managed to cut it back down to two with seconds left. The Ballers made their free throws, however, to ice the game.

 

East Pre-Season Recap

Friday, 30 October 2009

The games started out at center court with Stanley/Sijo's team "Styl" taking on the veteran Desert Eagles, led by Adam and Kunal. While Styl has more of a guard-heavy line-up surrounding their big man in the middle, the Eagles had seven forwards to go along with their big man. In this game of speed vs. strength, speed won out in a big way. Styl led by double digits from half-time and didn't look back. It's no surprise that Styl was one of the most cohesive teams of the night since those guys play together regularly. The game of the night was between newcomers Adrenaline and 24 Seven, but it didn't start out that way. 24 Seven jumped out early to a 15+ point lead as both teams looked pretty sloppy at times. But the cavalry finally found the gym and made it in time to help Adrenaline chip away at the big lead and eventually tie it up with 15 seconds left. 24 Seven hit some big shots, but none bigger than an off-balance runner in the lane with 5 second left which sealed the game. The only team that is quite possibly bigger than the Eagles is Simran's Lions. They made short work of newcomer Bulldogs in a game that had Lions leading by double digits most of the way. The Bulldogs showed promise with several 3-point barrages but they got hammered on the offensives glass all game. On the other court, Strong Island made short work of newcomer Force with three's, layups, mid-range shots... you name it. Force didn't do itself any favors by turning the ball over regularly and failing to knock down its open shots.

 

SABL East Pre-Season

Monday, 26 October 2009

Now it's the East's turn to get some pre-season basketball under their belts. There's several new teams lacing it up in the East along with a few veteran teams mixed in to boot. Here's how the schedule looks for Thursday 10/29/09 at Locust Valley: SABL EAST PRESEASON 7:25 to 8:40PM: Eagles vs. Styl (Center Court) 7:25 to 8:40PM: Adrenaline vs. 24 Seven (Court B) 8:40 to 9:55PM- Lions vs. Bulldogs (Center Court) 8:40 to 9:55PM- Force vs. Strong Island (Court B) Captains, please don't forget your paperwork and balances. The gym opens around 7:10 for warm-ups and prep.

 

West Pre-Season Recap

Monday, 26 October 2009

It seems like the Pre-Season worked out well for the teams in the West because you could just see teams working in new players, shaking off the rust/dust, and getting used to playing against other SABL competition (and not to mention getting using to the Refs and submitting the paperwork!). Some teams looked more fine-tuned and ready than others, but what you could immediately notice was that all teams were capable of being very competitive on any given night. There were virtually no blowouts--the likes of which we have all become used to seeing on a regular basis in past seasons. Strictly Business and MKA-NY started things off in the game of the day. It was back and forth all game with plenty of highlight plays. SB played a sound "team" game while MKA lit it up from 3-point land, led by Rahul. With 5 seconds left and his team down one, Rahul launched a contested 3-pointer that rimmed out. Both teams played a high level of basketball. HUMANS and Titans were up next, but both teams were missing a handful of rotation players. HUMANS were able to take advantage, however, and run the Titans out of the gym on their way to a 15+ point victory. This game certainly felt more like an exhibition than a rematch of last years finals. SWAT played the Red Jaguars in game three and, once again, both teams were missing a few rotation players. It was sloppy at times, but the score was close throughout. Tarek and Zeeshan led the way for SWAT with long-range bombs, while Biju and co. of the Jaguars found ways to exploit SWAT's defense all game long. Jaguars won by 4. The last game at Far Rock didn't turn out how people would have expected it to last year. The new-look Ravens jumped on the scrambling Ballers from tip off and didn't let their foots off the pedal until the buzzer. Ballers did cut the double-digit lead to 6 towards the end, but Ravens were just too much. Ravens showed much better cohesiveness and speed as a team than they did most of last season. Ballers introduced two new talents to their already deep squad in the hopes of getting back to "contender" status. Although Ballers know as well as anyone that talent alone can't win championships. The other "game of the night" had to be Strong Island verse Hit-Men. Strong Island came in with a totally revamped and much deeper bench to go along with the quality starting line-up most of us are used to seeing. Hit-Men too came into the game with a deeper bench than last season and brought back Lamba, Harpreet and a new talented back-court mate to take some of the burden off Triggy's shoulders. The game was back and forth most of the way but Hit-Men managed to hold on with a 4-point victory. The last game of the night was Panthers verse the newcomers, Rukus. Panthers showed up one year older and and one year stronger and with pretty much the same talented roster as last year. Once again they looked really tough to beat. Rukus put up a good battle, however, and kept it pretty close throughout. Rukus is gonna win their share of games this year once they get used to playing with each other. The crazy part is that four of these teams will be on the outside looking in come playoff time, and the four that miss it would probably have been good enough to have make the playoffs in the last few seasons. Wow...