Preview: Game of the Week?

Friday, 20 February 2009

Looking at the schedule, all the games are very important in their own ways cept the MKA(6-7, 5 seed) vs Desert Eagles(0-13, 6 seed), MKA definitely shouldn't let the game slip from their grasp... MKA since the addition of Rahul have gotten rejuvinated and at the rate they are knocking down 3's they can be a very dangerous team. MKA is on the outside looking in, but they are only 1 game out of a playoff spot, Can they edge out a falling Hitmen team to get into the playoffs? The last time the HUMANS(12-1, 1 seed) played Dynasty(7-6, 3 seed), Tim Crane was still trying to find his groove in the SABL and they didn't have Angel or Sedjo, so this dynasty team is completely different from the one the HUMANS beat earlier. Dynasty has shown the capibility to fill up the scoreboard, but the HUMANS boster the beast Defensive team which has gotten them a 12-1 record up to this point, they say "Defense wins championships". We will have to wait and see if that will hold up. This game should be a physical battle with Dynasty having the Beast Big man in Tim Crane as well as Sedjo, but the HUMANS have plently of quality big men to counter, gonna be an interesting match up. The Ballers (8-5, 2 seed) vs Hitmen (7-6, 4 seed) game will be the 1st actual time they will play againist eachother as Hitmen got a forfeit vicotry over the Ballers. Hitmen has played well the past 2 weeks but their lack of size is coming back to haunt them. They have a sick backcourt with Triggey and Maaz (droped 50 last week) as well as Sinu but it remains to be seen if they can get back on the winning track. Basketballers after starting the season slow has started to pick it up which has been sparked by the addition of Varun to help beef up their frontcourt. The Ballers are doing it once again, they look to be clicking and geting into their vaunted championship form, SABL beware. The Assassins (3-10, 6 seed) vs the Ravens (4-9, 5 seed) probably doesn't have playoff implications, but this pits the Assassins who as they showed last week can light it up if they get going, their defense needs work. It seems the Ravens are the exact opposite, they play good tough Defense but their offense definitely needs work, so something has to give. The Ravens are still in the hunt due to the free falling of Strong Island so this game can definitely help their cause. The Assasins have won 2 straight, can they use that momentum to possible gain a playoff birth? The 4-9 Ravens are looking to stay ahead of the 3-10 Assassins. Preatty even match up here so its probably gonna come down to which team utilizes their strengths the greatest. The Night cap games are gonna be VEry Exciting as well... The 1st game is Titans(9-4, 2 seed) vs SWAT(7-6, 3 seed) which will be a rematch of a great game between the two teams which took place a couple of weeks ago. SWAT w/o Tarek, Davis or Sijo in that game ended up losing in a great back and forth game 91-85. SWAT this season has been a very streaky team it seems, they lost their first 2 games, won their next 6, then lost to the HUMANS starting a slide losing 4 outta the next 5, with those loses coming to Title contenders such as the HUMANS, Ballers, Panthers and Titans. Can a full SWAT squad show up to the games and get some chemistry 2gether on the court? If they can get chemistry they certainly have the talent to turn it around in a hurry. The Titans have definitely been taking plays out of the D'Antoni playbook, who have 2 guards Lejoe and Thomas Job who can drop 40 on any given day, and yeah they can both shoot really well. The titans have Rex patroling the paint directing the Defense which has been giving up alot of points recently but that may be due to the up-tempo style they are employing. In this particular matchup, it may come down to the bigs of SWAT to pound the titans inside and get their bigmen in foul trouble. Gonna be a high energy matchup, it will be interesting to see if Solyman will employ their patented press which has bothered most teams. The last matchup of the night is between the Panthers (9-4, 1 seed) vs Strong Island (6-7, 4 seed). Panthers with their up style tempo have been playing great transition basketball and they are getting contributions from many different players. Panthers are definitely 1 of the deeper teams in the league and it shows how they wear down teams in the 2nd half. Jasjit, who has been a scoring machine for the Panthers didn't play when Strong Island beat them week 6 77-63. Both teams are changed, the Panthers are playing more team oriented basketball while Strong Island has had various lineup changes due to injuries and attendence. Strong Island was of the best teams in the league going into their showdown(6-0) with the HUMANS but have lost 7 straight games. The injury to Neil has hurt the team alot and it seems that mark will not being playing for the rest of the year either. Just as those 2 left the lineup, Strong Island welcomed back from injury SABL veterans Shaun Ramani and Simran Lamda, unfortunately their contributions on the court haven't been able to help Strong Island get into the win column again. Strong Island will miss mark running the point and will need Francisco to knock down more shots in order to prevent the biggest SABL collapse. They have the pieces to get on the right track, a win here againist a top tier team could propel them back to the winning ways they were so accustomed to...

 

Power Rankings - 2/18

Wednesday, 18 February 2009

#1 HUMANS (12-1) The HUMANS were one of the clear favorites going into the season and they have backed up the predictions thus far. With arguably the best defense in the league and a highly balanced offensive attack at their disposal, HUMANS are the clear team to beat. Their biggest weakness could possibly be their overall lack of playoff experience past the 2nd round as compared to the finals experience of teams like the Titans and ‘Ballers. #2 Panthers (9-4) Panthers have overtaken the Titans in the Eastern Conference standings as the #1 seed via the tie-breaker. They’ve been on a tear lately, winning 6 out of their last 7 games. It’s no surprise that the two deepest teams in the league (Panthers and HUMANS) sit atop the power rankings as the season winds down. Jasjit has proven to be a consistent all-star caliber player and he’s getting plenty of help. #3 Titans (9-4) Thomas Job is a young Glen Rice reborn in the SABL. He’s burning up the nets from downtown on a weekly basis and there are few things his opponents can do to stop him. Lejoe has proven to be a versatile 2-way player in the league and has become Robin to Thomas’ Batman in many ways. Two of the team’s losses were by way of forfeits and one other loss could be attributed to attendance issues. That’s how good this team really is. #4 Basketballers (8-5) The Ballers sleepwalked their way through most of the regular season so far but as of late they have been tightening up their signature chokehold defense and have been using their lightning quick backcourt to slice up flatfooted opponents. The reigning champs look at the attention teams like the HUMANS, Panthers, and Titans are getting and they just shrug and keep thinking to themselves, “Playoffs, baby, playoffs.” #5 Dynasty (7-6) This team has been on life-support the past two seasons, but Sonu brought together a group of unfamiliar players and it has worked out. Crane has proven to be one of the best bigs in the league and Sedjo and co. have been providing support for the big fella in many of their wins. The depth is pretty good here and the talent is unquestioned, but will they buckle under the pressure of success or once playoffs start? #6 MKA-NY (6-7) The mid-season addition of Rahul has proven to be the shot this team needed to get it going after a disastrous stretch earlier on. Before they had just enough talent to be competitive in most games but not quite enough punch to pull out consistent wins, but with Rahul, they can make a lot of noise. It’s an exciting 3-team race for the last two playoff spots in the West and right now the momentum is on MKA’s side. #7 SWAT (7-6) SWAT has the talent to compete with any team in the league, but attendance issues and an inability to play with a consistent killer-instinct that many of the top teams play with has led to an average season so far. As the season winds down, the team is running out of excuses. Going 1-3 in their last four games against the best of the league really puts this team’s place in perspective. #8 Hitmen (7-6) The Hitmen are on a two-game skid and have won the two games prior to that by way of forfeit. Despite having one of the best back-courts in the league in Maaz and Triggy, a lack of depth has been killing this team all season long as witnessed by their recent short-handed, heart-breaking overtime loss to Dynasty. If they’re not careful, they may find themselves on the outside looking in come playoff time. #9 Strong Island (6-7) What happened here? After a 6-0 start to the season, Strong Island finds itself in the midst of the worst collapse in SABL history with their recent 7-game skid. Not only have injuries and attendance issues played a part, but chemistry problems seem to have taken hold. At this rate, can they hold their 2-game lead on the Ravens with only 5 games to go? How badly do the top Eastern Conference teams want that #1 seed? #10 Assassins (3-10) After the committee called the Assassins nothing but “little kids,” they go and reel off two straight victories to keep their ever-so-slim playoff hopes alive. They seemed to have grown up in a hurry and chances are they’ll at least be competitive the rest of the way, which is something you couldn’t say before. They’ve got Panthers and SWAT coming up as well as an important game against the Ravens. “Improbable,” you say? Pfft, Assassins are too young to know the meaning of the word. #11 Ravens (4-9) Ravens find themselves 2-games back of the final playoff spot in the East with time running out and at a further disadvantage with Strong Island holding the tie-breaker over them at the moment. The bottom line is that the Ravens can’t afford to do what they’ve been doing all season long: lose. No teams’ are going to hand the Ravens wins, that’s for sure. Their defense is respectable but they’re one of the worst scoring teams in the SABL. Paging Mike D’antoni! #12 Desert Eagles (0-13) These guys were buried in the sand long ago. The team has yet to give up, but some individual players have unfortunately. This team is proof that without the right chemistry or execution, you can’t just throw a few fairly athletic or tall, but ultimately raw, ball players together and expect to be good overnight. Winnin’ ain’t easy, that’s for sure.

 

Week 13 Results (2/15)

Monday, 16 February 2009

Basketballers vs Desert Eagles As has been the case in most of their games, the Desert Eagles, despite beginning to show signs of what losing can do to attendance figures, played up to par with Basketballers in terms of execution. What they could not control or predict was that Sajeel would come out scorching hot as he hit 5 three pointers in the first-half helping Basketballers build a 37-29 lead going into the half. Second half early on was all Ballers as they built a 19-point lead. Starting the game with only 6 and now only 5 strong as Walid pulled himself out of the game due to some "substituation" confusion, Desert Eagles again showed no quit and brought the game to within 10. That's as close as they would get as some solid execution from the Ballers down the stretch put the game away for the 62 - 78 final. Dynasty vs. Hitmen A close, fun, entertaining game would certainly not have surprised anyone with these closely matched teams but what ended up transpiring was one of the best games in SABL history; well, that is if you don't care much for defense. Maz from Hitmen was on fire in the first half and exposed his defender as Dynasty chose to stay in Man to Man. Sejdo was unable to contain Maz but wasn't to be outdone as he was excellent in the mid-range game in his own right and continued to show great chemistry with Tim Crane setting him up for layups inside. The half ended with momentum on Hitmen's side leading 49-41. Early in the second half Aman of Hitmen fouled out giving them now only 5 players to contend with a deeper Dynasty team and Dynasty took advantage taking the lead 7 minutes in. From then on there was very little defense as Triggy from Hitmen and Angel/Oliver got involved in the offensive mix. With 4 min. left in the game, captain Prince fouled out leaving Hitmen with only 4 players from that point on down by 5+ points. With 3:04 to go, they actually cut the lead to 91-94. From then on it was Dynasty getting easy layups with the 5 on 4 advantage every time down the court and Triggy going berserk with a 3 almost every time down the court. With under a minute to go and the game tied, Hitmen actually began to foul Dynasty because they knew they couldn't afford to go into OT down 1 man. Dynasty didn't convert on enough free throws and Hitmen took the lead 108-107 after a another crazy three by Triggy. Down one, Dynasty drew another foul and tied up the game with 20 seconds to go. But Hitmen had the ball. On that possession though Harpreet rushed a long pass down-court which went out of bounds, Dynasty took the ball down court but were unable to convert. The game went into OT tied 108. In the OT though, it was all Dynasty as they pulled away out of the gate to an 8 point lead, Triggy fouled out half way through leaving Hitmen with only 3 players and no chance of coming back. The game saw some crazy offense lead by Maz from Hitmen who dropped the first 50 point game in SABL history. Titans vs. Ravens Far Rockaway- The game started out looking like a competitive matchup between two teams who have lost the last couple of games. Both teams tried to run the game at their own pace; with Titans moving at a high pace and Ravens circling the ball looking for a quality shot. Ravens kept up for the first 10 points... and then Thomas Job started draining three's. Titans pulled away by as much as 25 in the first half and looked as if the biggest challenge they would face all day was just getting to Far Rockaway. That is, until they started letting up and giving up easy baskets in the paint. Ravens cut the lead down to as much as 10 midway through the 2nd half, but Thomas Job drained more three's and Raven's weren't able to find their offensive groove. Titan's held on for an easy win over the Ravens. SWAT vs. Panthers Panthers came into this one ready to go several hours before tip-off as they were looking to avenge one of the few losses they suffered earlier in the season at the hands of SWAT. SWAT came into this with only 6 players but managed to keep things close (44-42) until the 14:00 minute mark of the 2nd half. At that point, the Panthers turned up the heat and energy which led to frequent fast-break and 2nd chance points. It got so bad that at one point a SWAT player was seen being taken away on a stretcher due to exhaustion and that player may or may not have been Zebi... though we're still waiting on confirmation from the scorekeeper. Jasjit (31/13) and Ditar (25/10) were both pretty much unstoppable on their way to double doubles for the Panthers. Davis put up 33 points in a losing effort. Strong Island vs. Assassins Assassins are playing the role of spoilers late in the season as they've just put together a 2-game winning streak against better-ranked teams. Their slim playoff hopes were kept alive in a high-scoring victory against the reeling Strong Island squad. Despite having three scorers with 20 or points (Simran with 27, Shaun with 27, and Shahin with 21), Strong Island had no answers for the Assassins' barrage of 3's and hustle on the other end. The loose balls seemed to be gravitating towards the Assassins' players all game long and in the last 5:00 minutes, the young team managed to keep a 5+ point lead throughout by answering each time Strong Island scored. MKA-NY vs. Humans MKA-NY started off very hot, jumping out to an early 20 to 8 lead. HUMANS however, made a run towards the end of the half to cut it down to a two point deficit. The second half belonged to the HUMANS as they hit timely shots to ice a victory. Muneeb scored 14 points and grabbed 9 boards while his back-court mate, Muhammad, scored 15 points and pulled down 9 rebounds as well. HUMANS keep rollin'...

 

Foul Out Rule Change

Friday, 13 February 2009

If a team has 5 eligible players remaining and one or more foul out, the game will continue with that team playing short-handed. As per NCAA rules, the game can continue from that point on as long as the team has at least 2 eligible players (allowing one player to pass to another). Fouled out players will no longer be eligible to play. Once a team is down to one player, the game is considered a forfeit loss for that team. Note: This has no bearing on the 5 player requirement by the 10 minute game-time mark to start a game. That rule remains in effect with no change.

 

Sunday 2/15 schedule

Wednesday, 11 February 2009

Sun 2/15/2009 10:30 AM Basketballers __ vs __ Desert Eagles Jamaica High School Sun 2/15/2009 12:00 PM Hitmen __ vs __ Dynasty Jamaica High School Sun 2/15/2009 1:30 PM Strong Island __ vs __ Assassins Jamaica High School Sun 2/15/2009 3:00 PM SWAT __ vs __ Panthers Jamaica High School Sun 2/15/2009 5:00 PM Titans __ vs __ Ravens Far Rockaway High School Sun 2/15/2009 6:30 PM MKA New York __ vs __ HUMANS Far Rockaway High School **Please see the adjusted game times for the evening games. We are playing at Far Rockaway starting at 5:00 PM**