Remembering the Titans

Wednesday, 02 January 2008

This is the first of our weekly or bi weekly power rankings. This time around we find that the Titans have cemented themselves as the #1 contenders for the SABL crown. Contenders: 1. Titans: probably the most balanced team in the league with a strong inside-outside game and good defense. There's no "I" in this "team”. Titans are playing like the HitMen of last year, where players know what their roles are on the team and each player doesn’t try to do to much. Currently the bigs are clogging the lanes and opening it up for Raman and Pawan to drive to the hoop and hit wide open threes. 2. Humans: started off with a heartbreaking game one loss, but nice bounce back win over Spartans. Haven't really been tested yet. That being said they have the two headed point guard combo of Saad and Kamran who are leading the league in assists. Couple that with Khurram a big man who can go coast to coast at will and you are looking at a potentially lethal team. We haven’t even factored in Suleman who is probably one of the better finishers in the league. They are one three point chuck away from being undefeated to start this season and maybe even taking over the #1 from the Ttitans. 3. Money Crew: With Muneeb playing like Kobe in the early going, can teammates step up once opponents adjust? I mean can someone double team him or what? They lead the league in three pointers made per game which is 9. Can any team keep up that kind of shooting? The two other teams that take as many three point shots as the Money Crew haven’t won a game yet. Unless this team develops an inside game this record of 2-0 may prove to be misleading. They also play great defense, but have they really been tested yet? 4. Basketballers: Were really knocked off their perch a bit by the mighty Titans, but 'Ballers are true contenders once again. Usman is the key to this team. But one can ask have the Basketballers lost the intensity of last season? They had the majority of the team show up late against the Titans game. Against the league leading Titans !!! The Ballers were out of rhythm and didn’t have a full team to start the game, this is a far cry from the team that showed up early and was practicing before the HitMen game. The Baller chants can only take them so far with out some real motivation to compete week in and week out. On the fence 5. SWAT: Davis leading the way with defense and tenacity and teammates responding with back-to-back blowout victories but he hasn’t had that one real break out performance to be mentioned amongst the league elite. This balanced attack has this team 2-1. But who have they beaten? Force and Tigers aren’t really pushing them towards the league elite and it is easy to put up gaudy numbers against 2 winless teams. The real stats are the ones against the Titans in which the SWAT team couldn’t keep it up for the full 40 minutes. Adding big man Raman and Wasiq to the squad gives them much needed size but is this enough against the bangers? How deep is that bench and is there aside from the starters who you can really rely on? 6. Hitmen: Chemistry and guard-play are still big question marks with this powerful team. Will they stop themselves? They may have played their best game against the Triple Threat team with a shortened rotation. Is there such a thing as too many players on a roster? Right now the HitMen seem to be just that, Center and Power Forward heavy with no true point guard. Who wants the ball on this team? The real question may be who doesn’t want the ball on this team? But still when you have the biggest front line in SABL chances are your opponents aren’t going to be getting too many second chance points. 7. Triple Threat: Winning games by closing opponents out late, but where are the stats? Who is on Triple Threat? What is their record, informally they are 2-0 based on the two games that they have played. One thing is for sure captain Abdullah is making a claim to be one of the best all round players in the league. Couple that with the rebounding of Omer, the sharp shooting of Arif “Manu” Hussain and Triple Threat can not be discounted, may have been higher if actual stats were in place. 8. Dynasty: Great chemistry in the early going and contributions from all sides, but we're not forgetting about last season just yet... not to mention, can someone pass the ball? How many swingmen can you put on a team? Does anyone know what their role is yet? Who shoots who passed, and most of all who defends? One thing clear this season is that Bhavind Papaiya is the real deal and Kunal Sra has taken it upon himself to defend the basket. What are the rest of them doing? Has anyone even bothered to tell them? Pretenders 9. Dream Team: Can be deadly when allowed to play fast-break ball. Will someone hit a 3, please?) Have the fastest backcourt in SABL history with Shahin and Shaun. Have a dominating big man with Neil Ramani. Solid chemistry guy is being added with Francisco. Sekander made some major contributions against the Tigers. This team has a chance to really move up in the rankings if they can. But can they shoot or pass themselves out of a zone? Aside from those three players who else is going to step up when someone has an off night? But then again who have they beaten so far? Let’s see them do that again. 10. Spartans: Look good in stretches. More consistent play and W's needed before they can move up. Solid point guard play with Joe and Rex is a solid inside game, the rest of the team needs to step up. Against the Humans, Eapen hit 3 threes and was never heard from again, can he be the missing piece to this team? They have added two more players before the deadline and are looking to make some noise. They have showed some spurts of greatness but that isn’t enough to compete, welcome to the SABL fellas. 11. Force: Started off looking great in their 1st game loss to Hitmen. Have been terrible since, what happened to them? Against HitMen they were looking like contenders and now they are pretenders. This team has some solid guard play with Koshy and Tom hitting the shots behind the arc, but it doesn’t help that much when your second best rebounder is also your best three point shooter. Someone needs to help Sijin down low to grab some rebounds. The team has all of the talent now they have to gel quickly before this season gets away from them. 12. Tigers: Usually get down big before they make runs, then they scream and shout at each other and get back in the game. Why can’t they get in to the game from the get go? Doesn’t look like they have enough size and firepower. Thazul Islam seems to be a monster who can jump for rebounds for a good 40 minutes, but can someone else step up? The run and chuck style is fun to watch but hasn’t resulted in any wins, the schedule doesn’t get much kinder for the Tigers who are now going to be facing the Humans. Against the Humans the Tigers should have their new player Leroy suited up but can one person be the missing piece of this puzzle? How soon before the Tigers self destruct? Someone needs to step up and become the leader of this team. Disclaimer, these power rankings are just meant to be used for entertainment purposes only.

 

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