This Weekend

Wednesday, 01 April 2009

10:30am HUMANS vs Dynasty 12:00pm Strong Island vs Titans Followed by the All Star Events !!! 1:30 PM Shooting Stars 3-5 players are asked to participate in this event. It will involve making a layup, a free throw, a corner 3, a wing 3 and a half court shot under 2 minutes. The team with the best time wins a trophy! 2:30 PM 3 Point contest participants: Defending Champ: Arif Hussain Desert Eagles: Zeeshan Hazara Assassins: Kashif Zeb Ravens: MKA: Farhan Ahmad Strong Island: Francisco De La Cuesta Titans: Thomas Job Hitmen: Basketballers: SWAT: Tarek Yasin Dynasty: Angel Hernandez Panthers: HUMANS: Osama Ahmed Don't see your name next to your team? Have your captain email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it to put you on the list.

 

Opening Round Results

Wednesday, 01 April 2009

SWAT vs Strong Island At game time Strong Island was ready to go while SWAT still had some players coming in and getting ready and others that showed up after the game started. SWAT who ended up missing Stanley and Steven this game didn’t seem in synch from the get go. Strong Island took a 8-10 point lead early on with Neil posting up and Shaun hitting some mid range jump shots. SWAT never really got in to a flow offensively as aside from a few post ups by Kunal and Davis down low nothing seemed to be working. Strong Island was also aided by a career game by Shahin who was easily the best player on the floor. He hit his free throws, threes in bunches, and had the crowd going ooh and aah with his lay ups. Every time SWAT made a mini run Shahin with some crazy drives to the basket was able to provide the dagger. Dynasty vs Basketballers Dynasty started this game with Angel scoring the first 14 points for Dynasty. Tim grabbed a lot of rebounds but was not able to block any shots. Sajeel of the Basketballers had floater after floater go in over Tim. The second half Sejdo heated up and got Dynasty on a roll. They were up by 15. The Basketballers lost Usman early on to 5 fouls. But Basketballers as they have always done fought back and took the lead. Sejdo went to work with slashes to the basket. Tim was grabbing rebound after rebound. The backcourt of Sajeel and Nabeel though were forcing turnovers and timely threes by Talha and Nabeel got Baller Nation in a frenzy. Usman was doing the baller dance on the sidelines, and it looked like one of many famous Basketballer comeback victories. But Tim Crane was not to be denied he hit his free throws and the game was tied with seconds left. The Basketballers turned the ball over but stole the ball from Dynasty, but Dynasty stole it back, and then the Basketballers stole it back, but Dynasty stole it again! Dynasty tried to get a shot off at the buzzer but we were going to overtime. In overtime Varun fouled out and from there Tim and Sejdo were able to punish the Basketballers inside. Dynasty in their first playoff game in SABL history were able to hold on and move on to the final four. Titans vs Panthers Rumors had swirled this match up. Will the Panthers have Jasjit and Ditar? Some insiders were making assurances that they would be there whereas others were whispering that it's possible that they wouldn't be at the game. Once the clock hit 1:30 it was clear that the Panthers would be playing with out two of their leading scorers. The Panthers fell behind early as Lejoe was able to score at will and draw fouls against the Panthers. This game looked like it was going to be a rout. Something happened to the Panthers they got the ball to one of the most unlikely heroes of the day Jagdeep. Jagdeep the diminutive point guard found himself open from the corners repeatedly and began to hit three after three after three. Every three he hit seemed to energize the Panthers even more. Soon Gurpreet began to steal the ball Amarjit began to grab every rebound and block some shots and the Panthers looked like they were going to pull this out. Lejoe picked up his 4th foul and was on the bench and so was Rex. Harjit was slashing to the paint and getting in his bank shots, but a few missed layups by assorted Panthers in crunch time was their undoing. It was apparent that the lack of a go to scorer in the last few minutes undid an otherwise phenomenal rookie season for the Panthers. The Titans Matthew Alexander had some huge rebounds in the end and was able to negate the size that the Panthers brought in to this game. HUMANS vs HitMen In this David vs Goliath match up the undermanned HitMen took on the entire HUMANS squad. Triggy and Maz match up vs Mohammed and Muneeb but it was the play of Mahdi grabbing 18 rebounds and Saad who had some big and 1's. The HitMen couldn't get Sinu going and he sprained his ankle midway. He did get double digit rebounds, but the HitMen just didn't have the firepower to match up against the HUMANS who just wore them out. Muneeb looked like he was on cruise control and still managed 39 points.

 

SWAT vs Strong Island

Friday, 27 March 2009

VS. ITS PLAYOFF TIME BABY!!!!! Coming into this year, SWAT had a lot of questions marks. With almost their whole team leaving or not playing at all, Solyman had to find some talent to fill his roster and he certainly did by adding Tarek Yasin, Ahmad, Arif and Sijo to name a few. To solidify their inside presence, Stanley and his brother Steve were added mid season to give them the toughness and tenacity they were lacking. With all the different players and different strengths, Solyman has had to juggle the lineups to find players who played well together, prompting the creation of complete line changes. When SWAT is fully armed and loaded they are a deep team with big men that can wreck havoc inside. These teams have played each other twice with the new SWAT team facing Strong Island and losing 65-77, but in that game Tarek went off for 35pts and 20 rebounds. The second time they played, both teams were virtually at full strength with most of the stars playing in that game. It was a close game that came down to the end, but SWAT was able to pull it out by pounding the ball inside with Stanley and Tarek. SWAT has been known to deploy a press which lead to easy points but Solyman has backed off of that in the recent weeks. Will Solyman try to challenge the ball handing and decision making of the SI guards by employing his press? SWAT has had poor attendance which has hurt their chemistry and they haven’t help the situation with continued poor attendance leading into the playoffs. Does SWAT have the talent to win a title, I don’t see why not, but do they have the chemistry and cohesiveness to win a title, that remains to be seen. SWAT's Keys to Victory: 1. Establish the inside game with Stanley and Tarek 2. Stay out of foul trouble 3. Control the glass Strong Island’s season is a tale of 3 parts. Early on, Strong Island looked like an early favorite to contend for a title by smoking their competition and starting off with a 6-0 record. With some inconsistent play and Neil getting injured, they dropped their next 7 games, going to 6-7 and fading fast. Back from injury came Simran (who is hurt again) but more importantly Shaun Ramani who has provided a spark, swagger and toughness to this team that they were severely lacking. It came just in time as Mark announced that he could not play for the rest of the season(serving our country). With Richard Reyes doing his thing on the glass and scoring, and with Franciso’s shooting, Shaun’s defensive intensity SI was able to win 3 out of their last 5 games. They also have barely played with a full squad this whole season so it will be interesting to see how they all play together. Franciso, Richard, Neil and Raman have been staples all season and they have been getting contributions from other players such as Shahin. In this game, they will need to be able to crack the defense of SWAT and try to get Tarek and Stanley in foul trouble to give them an easier time on the defensive end. Strong Island certainly has the players to win this game as well as future rounds but these teams are very evenly matched so it’s going to come down to the nitty gritty plays which may determine this game. Strong Island's Keys to Victory: 1. Ball Movement – get Richard, Shaun, Neil, Shahin enough shots 2. Get SWAT in foul trouble, 3. Don’t settle for the three point shot

 

HUMANS vs HitMen

Friday, 27 March 2009

VS. ITS PLAYOFF TIME BABY!!!!! The HUMANS which was overhauled during the off-season has been infused with a massive amount of talent which has resulted in the deepest and most versatile team in the league. Farhan has done a great job of preaching defense as they are by far the best defensive team in the league with excellent team defensive as well as leading the league in blocks and steals. The primary scorers are Muneeb and Mohammed(aka The Scientist) who have the ability to break anyone off the dribble, finish plays for themselves or set up their teammates. With the HUMANS incredible depth and versatility, they are able to adjust defenses and exploit certain match ups on offense as well. However, the HUMANS are prone to have a drop off when Muneeb and/or Mohammed sub out. They have lapses of bad turnovers and stagnant offense which has gotten them into trouble at times during the year. Also, the HUMANS are not known as a team that shots a lot of 3’s, which could potentially be a problem if they find themselves behind or can’t hit open shots after breaking down a zone. With such a deep team, Muneeb has not been asked to carry the team on his back like last season, but everyone is aware (especially ppl from SABL season 2) that he is as clutch as they come and can deliver in crunch time if need be. The last time the HUMANS played Hitmen, it came down to the very end as the HUMANS won on a tip in by Mehdi with seconds left on the clock. The HUMANS have to keep Triggy contained who went off on them in the second half. They also must not allow Maaz to get hot as he dropped 50 points this season during a game. The HUMANS have a clear advantage inside which they must exploit on the glass as well as on the offensive end. They say “defense wins championships”, now is the time for the HUMANS to prove that montra correct. HUMANS' Keys to Victory: 1) Make sure Triggy doesn’t take over the game for Hitmen 2) Exploit the size advantage and dominate the paint 3) Limit the silly turnovers and stagnant offensive possessions The Hitmen came into this year with its star players of last year moving to different teams or not playing this year. In came Triggy, who from week 1, has shown to be one of the best players in the league. Although he is small in stature, he is a tough as they come, and wills his team to victory. With the midseason acquision of Maaz, Triggy was able to do more as the pressure wasn’t solely on him. Sonu rounds out the big 3 on this team with his good toughness on the interior against bigger opponents and his ability to hit some big 3’s has helped his team eminsely. Although the Hitmen are devoid of a plethora of bigmen, Prince and Sinu have done an adimirable job of holding the interior down. They are almost dead last in rebounding, but they got scrappers and hustle players whom have provided the Hitmen with the spark and energy they need. Hitmen have shown the potential to light it up from the field with Triggy pulling up and draining 3’s or Maaz and Sinu draining 3’s as well. In this game the Hitmen must come out with a lot of energy and not be intimidated by the Humans, which they did a good job of last time they played them despite losing at the very end. Hitmen need Triggy to get “Triggy with it(patent pending)” and take over by scoring and setting up his teammates and getting the HUMANS in foul trouble. The Hitmen have a tall task here, but if they get hot from the field and don’t get dominated inside, they got a shot at pulling this one out. Hitmen's Keys to Victory 1) Let Triggy do his thing, and get his other two primary scorers the ball in places where they can do damage 2) Try to contain the bigmen of HUMANS and not let them go off inside 3) Capitalize on bad/silly turnovers of the HUMANS and turn them into points

 

Dynasty vs Basketballers

Friday, 27 March 2009

VS. ITS PLAYOFF TIME BABY!!!!! Dynasty whose roster was overhauled during the off-season as well as during the season have had an up and down year. After getting Sedjo(MVP candidate) and Angel to compliment Tim “the undertaker” Crane, Dynasty has been on a roll winning 6 straight games. There last lost was to… you guessed it, the Ballers, who beat them week 12 by the score of 81-79. That game went back and forth until the end where the Ballers were able to make the necessary plays to win. Since that game, Dynasty has rolled thru teams such as the Humans, Hitmen and the Titans by scoring 98.3 ppg during that stretch. With Tim attracting so much attention inside, Sedjo has been posting SICK numbers this season, making a strong case for MVP honors. Angel has played solid defense and has the ability to knock 3’s down as well as well as take it to the rack. When Sonu and Oliver are given a chance to step up, they are doing so, which makes Dynasty a VERY dangerous team. The Ballers with their great defensive intensity and communication were able to slow down Dynasty by focusing on slowing down Sedjo which forced other guys to try to beat them. Sedjo(30.1 ppg, 5.1 apg, 8.6 rpg) has been making teams that play 2-3 pay, by getting the ball at the FT line, and driving it to the hole or pulling up for high % shots. Tim(22.2 ppg, 18.8 rpg, 2.9 bpg, 81.08 ft%) also needs to be a beast inside and intimidate the Ballers when they go inside. The jury is still out there on whether or not Dynasty can defend well enough in tight games to pull out a victory. Dynasty's Keys to Victory: 1) Get Sedjo the ball so he can break down the zone and make plays for his teammates 2) Limit turnovers 3) Avoid getting into foul trouble as after the starting 5, there is a significant drop Its playoff time and that means only one thing… it’s the BALLERS time to shine. The defending champions are coming into the playoffs a little under the radar which is the way they like it. The Ballers are the most cohesive unit in the SABL and it shows. Whenever they take punches, they are able to roll with it and deliver counter punches. They have tremendous balance and with the mid-season pick up of Varun, they have sured up their one apparent weakness. They now have a dominant bigman down low. The Ballers have played in tight games all season and they certainly are battle tested. They will probably employ their 2-3 (like their fellow "Orange" men, Syracuse) which was able to slow down Sedjo last time they played. The Ballers are lead by potential all-star Sajeel da real deal Haque and Talha who is providing the bombs from down town. The Ballers must play good defense in this game to have a chance. With the multiple guards they have with their superior speed they should run whenever they get the chance to get easy baskets. They will need clutch shots and contributions from the likes of Suleman, Ali, Usman, Nabeel and Omair to pull this one out, probably in…. yeah you guessed it, a squeaker. Ballers' Keys to Victory: 1) Contain and slow down Sedjo 2) Take advantage of Dynasty turnovers and run the fast break before Tim can man the paint 3) Keep the game close till the end, and make the clutch plays like they have all year