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Finney wins a 120-117 squeaker. Iverson has 41 and gets unexpected help from Olowokandi, who had 21 points. Rasheed Wallace was near unstoppable for Chapel Hill , hitting on 16 of 19 field goal attempts and 4 of 4 free throws for 36.

Finney wins game 2 105 - 91. Jamison lead Chapel Hill in scoring .
Olowokandi had 18 rebounds to help Finney's cause.

Thunder storm early as Galactic takes first 2 games from Cave Creek.

G1) Cave Creek 112
Galactic 139

Galactic lead by Payton with 27, 6 rebs, 9 assists and 3 steals. Cassell added 20 with 9 assists.

Cave Creek lead by Pierce with 34, 10 rebs and 6 assists. Jalen Rose had 26(13-14 FT's). Jerome Williams had 20 with 10 rebounds.

Stats of game were Turnovers: Longshots had 23,Thunder 13 and FG% Longshots 46%, Thunder 61%.

G2) Cave Creek 100
Galactic 131

Galactic had 7 men in double figures with Eddy Jones leading the way with 23. Malone added 19 with 10 rebounds and webber had 11 and 11 rebs. Payton added 17 with 9 assists.

Cave Creek lead again by Paul Pierce with 26, 11 rebs, 3 assists and 3 steals. Jalen Rose added 22. Jerome Williams had 10 with 11 rebs.

Stats of game again were turnovers: Longshots 24, Thunder 12 and FG%. Cave Creek 45%, Galactic 54%.

For the two games Longshots made 51 FTs(Thunder 35) and Thunder made 112 FGs(Longshots 75).

Big Ben Wallace of the Holcomb Heat broke Dennis Rodman's record of 13.6 RPG by taking down 14.4 rebounds per game this season. Rodman set that record for the Arizona Outlaws back in the first year of the SABL in 1994-95.

When we downsized from 25% to the new 20% limitation rule this season, I said Stephon Marbury's record of 3,419 minutes played would never be broken. Mr. Marbury set that record just last year with Chris Feeney's Tri-City Blackhawks.

Once again, I was wrong. Breaking yet another SABL record, Finney's Allen Iverson played an mind-boggling 3,511 minutes this regular season, once again etching himself and his Coach Doug Dillingham into the SABL record ledger.

That's The Answer's 2nd SABL scoring title. His first was also with Finney in 2001-02.

St. Lucie Tim Duncan won the FG crown at .606 and the Turnovers Per Game thorns at 3.3 per game. New Orleans' Steve Nash took the FT% title at .926, while Brooklyn's Shandon Anderson won the 3-Point PCT race at .514.

In an incredibly close race, Holcomb's Jason Williams took the assist crown at 11.1 APG, with St. Lucie's John Stockton finishing second at 11.0.

Iverson also lead in steals with 2.4 Steals Per Game and Wallace also led in blocks per game with 3.3. Iverson just missed tying the SABL record of 2.5 steals per game set by Gary Payton of Dave Plisko's World Champion 1996-97 squad.

Akron's Kevin Garnett lays title to best SABL defender with a league-leading 206 Defensive Stops.

Chapel Hill Coach Tommy Field, after several years of suffering, is making his first appearance in the SABL playoffs. Way to go, Tommy and good luck.

Holcomb Heat Coach Charlie Dillingham has been in the playoffs before, but this is his first divisional title. Congratulations, Charlie.

Same goes for McLean Coach Rob Storey, after making his escape from the South Division, he won his first divisional title in the East Division. Kudos, Rob.

The Aces (76-6) came within one win of tying the all-time SABL record of 77. And St. Lucie came within .1 of tying the all-time Team PPG record of 126 PPG. Of course, the Aces would have been tying their own records here.

And Akron's Kevin Garnett came within one defensive stop (206) of tying the SABL record (207) set by Tim Duncan, who was playing for the Holcomb Heat in 2001-02.

Iowa vs. Quad City - Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Steve Francis and 3 or 4 other guys like that but just not as good - that's the Tornadoes attack and it's a whirlwind. But there's no big man and there's no dazzlers. Quad City has dazzlers, but the team under-performed this year. But as meager as its big men are - Kurt Thomas & Adonal Foyle - that's more big-man talent there than Iowa has. A close series, but let's go with Iowa by a nod.

Richmond vs. Akron - Richmond incredibly won all 8 of its games against an Akron team with arguably the best player in the game - Kevin Garnett. But with a prelude like, that, you gotta go with Frank Rowley's Raiders here. However, Dave Scott has the talent to beat Frank. Could be a good series.

Finney vs. Chapel Hill - Finney has the best defense in the SABL. (You might be surprised, but the worst team in the league, Davenport, has the second-best defense.) You might be tempted to pick Doug Dillinghams' Longhorns here, but think about this: Tommy Field's Chapel Hill Jams had to play in the same division with St. Lucie and Galactic, the teams with the best records in the league. This is gonna be close, but we'll go with Finney since he has The Answer.

Galactic vs. Cave Creek - Perhaps the most interesting matchup. If Paul Pierce gets hot, Mark Longshot can beat anyone. But Galactic Coach Steve Walters is the master of the cards and strategy. Whatever you think you know about Strat basketball, Steve knows twice as much. With the home advantage, we'll give the edge to the Thunder.

Congratulations to everyone for a super season, especially with our late start and the new game, with its bug-filled lessons to learn. Final standings and stats will be posted very soon.

Divisional winners McLean and Tri-City get byes in the first round of the Royal Conference playoffs.

Quad City and Iowa (44-38) will play in the first round for the right to take on East Division winner McLean in the second round. McLean is the divisional winner with the most wins in the Royal Conference. So the two playoff teams with the worst records, Quad City and Iowa, are playing for the right to play McLean. Iowa and Akron actually tied for the worst record, but since Iowa lost 6 of its 8 games with Akron, that makes Iowa worse.

Richmond and Akron will play in the first round for the right to take on North Division winner Tri-City in the second round.

All series are best-of-seven, with divisional winners and teams with the best records having home field advantage. All series are 2-3-2.

So, for instance, in the Quad City-Iowa series, it's 2 games played by the Iowa coach, then 3 games played by the Quad City coach, then the final two games (if needed) played by the Iowa coach.

IMPORTANT - NOW THAT THE GAME IS GIVING US THE OPTION TO PLAY NEUTRAL COURT, WE ARE GOING TO PLAY NEUTRAL THROUGHOUT THE PLAYOFFS. PLEASE CHANGE YOUR GAME ACCORDINGLY!!!!!

DO NOT PLAY AS THE AWAY TEAM!!!! SELECT THE NEUTRAL COURT OPTION!!!! WE WILL PLAYING THIS WAY FROM NOW ON!!!!

Game 1 The Rimrockers head to the playoffs with a 124-108 win.

Game 2 Rimrockers jump to a 30-14 lead and cruise to a 102-77 win.

Game 3. Tri City hangs on to a 15 point 3rd quarter lead and a 101-98 win.

Frank Rowley's Richmond Raiders and Dave Scott's Akron Blimps have finished their regular seasons. Only Quad City and Tri City have regular season games remaining.

Chris Feeney's Blackhawks have won their 3rd SABL divisional title. Congratulations to Chris on his trifecta.

All Quad City Coach Kathleen Feeney has to do to make the playoffs is win one of her last 4 games with Tri-City. If Kathleen loses all 4, Mike Resnick's River City Renegades are in the dance instead. Stay tuned.

Finney sweeps Bakersfield in a 4 game set from April 20, ending a disappointing season for the Blades.

Iverson scores 29 for the Longhorns. Shaq scores 15 for the Blades and Grant pulls down 10 rebounds.

Iverson leads the Longhorns with 39 points and Artest adds 26. Rahim has a double double for for the Blades with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Iverson leads the way again for Finney with another 39 point effort, with Artest and Christie scoring 24 and 22 respectively. Shareef Abdur Rahim scores 17 for the Blades and Brian Grant collects 10 rebounds.

Finney outscores Bakersfield 17-4 in the 4th quarter to close out this one in the Longhorns favor. Iverson goes for 41 points.

Doug Dillingham's Longhorns and Tom Bell's Blades have finished their regular seasons.

Yep, the regular season is not quite over, but we at least know how half the league's playoff brackets are set - in the Classic Conference:

St. Lucie and Holcomb, as division winners will get byes in the first round. St. Lucie (76-6), with a divisional winner with the conference's best record, will take on the winner of the match-up between two wild card teams with the worst record - Chapel Hill (39-43) and Finney, who will face each other in the first round.

Holcomb, the other divisional winner, will take on the winner of the best two wild card teams - Galactic and Cave Creek, who will also face each other in the first round.

Jordan goes for 49 in game 3 and 33 in game 4. Holcomb has finished its regular season.

And with this split, Philip Creider's Twisters, who have finished their regular season, are eliminated from the playoffs.

The divisional winners in each conference go to the playoffs. The next four best records in the conference also go to the playoffs.

Right now, McLean, Akron, Iowa, Richmond and Tri-City are in in the Royal Conference. The final spot is between Quad City and River City.

In the Classic Conference, St. Lucie, Holcomb, Galactic and Cave Creek are in. The final two spots are between Chapel Hill, Finney, Bakersfield and Tulsa.

Chris Feeney's Hawks (39-35) are trying for another divisional title, while Kathleen Feeney's Quad City (35-39) squad is looking for its first divisional crown. Each team has 8 games to play and guess what - they are all against each other!

Chris already has a playoff berth, but Quad City does not. It's a real important series for Kathleen, so let the fireworks begin!

Bob Storey's Nationals have won their first SABL divisional title. Congratulations Bob! The Nats also have finished their regular season this year.

Akron is now 44-34 with only four games to go in Richmond to finish its season. Coach Dave Scott is playoff bound.

River City will have to wait for Quad City (35-39) and Richmond (37-37) to finish their seasons before Coach Mike Resnick knows if he made the playoffs or not.

Steve Feldheim's Tigers (36-46), however, are now out of the playoff picture this year.

Game 1 goes to Tri City 108-83. Marbury 30 points and 7 assists. ricky Davis 21 points, 12 assists, and 7 rebounds.

Game 2 also to Tri City, 110-94. Marbury 24, Davis, 22, and Hughes 21. Only 6 turnovers and 49% shootong for the Blackhawks. houston had 31 for River City, who shot a miserable 37%.

Game 3 Tri City hangs on for a 112-108 win. Marbury 28 points, 9 assists, Davis 21 points, 9 assists. The Blackhawks shot 58%, but committed 19 turnovers, and shot only
15-24 (.625) at the FT line. Houston had 37 for River City.

Game 4 Tri City completes the sweep with an easy 103-79 win. Davis 24 points, Swift 13 rebounds, and Marbury 12 assists. River City's absence of big man minutes is proving costly.

Game 1 River City, puts 6 players in double figures. stays alive at home with a 104-102 win. Marbury had 34 for Tri City, and Davis 17 points and 13 assists.

Game 2 Home court prevails again, 99-93. Butler 29 and Houston 20 for the winners.

Game 3 River City 99-96. Marbury's 3 at the buzzer misses. Marbury 27 points and 11 rebounds. Butler 26 and Houston 20.

Game 4 River City completes the home sweep, 105-95. Butler 27, Houston 24. Only 6 turnovers for the Renegades, who forced 24. Marbury had 32 points.

Steve Walters and Tommy Field become the next teams to finish their regular 82 games. Galactic is heading to the playoffs, but Tommy has to wait for Bakersfield (31-39) and Finney (35-35) to finish their seasons before the Jams know if their ticket is punched or not.

Gm1: Galactic -- 139 Chapel Hill -- 99
Jams fell behind and then tried to press -- big mistake. Locker room was closed
for almost 48 hours.
Gm2: Chapel Hill -- 141 Galactic -- 135
OT thriller -- Webber had a steal and 2 3's in the last 30 seconds of regulation.
Gm3: Galactic -- 112 Chapel Hill -- 107
Gm4: Galactic -- 143 Chapel Hill -- 138
Wallace fouls out in 12 minutes. Van Exel had 21 in 16 minutes but Payton's 41
for the Thunder was too much to overcome.

Richard Grossman's Iowa Tornadoes have finished their regular season and they are playoff bound!

Mark Long's Longshots have finished their regular season and they are playoff bound!

Missed this one - Steve Feldheim's Brooklyn Tigers also have finished their season. Brooklyn will have to wait and see how Richmond, Tri-City, Quad City and River City do to see if it makes the playoffs.

In his very last SABL regular season game at Galactic, Ace John Stockton delivered the coup de grace. He dished 25 assists, breaking the old record of 24, set by Kenny Anderson of Matt Doran's team in a 1994-95 game vs. Tom Gantert, our founding commissioner. In fact, this record was set 10 years ago, in the first year of the SABL. Stockton did this in a 156-139 win in Galactic.

In the very same game, St. Lucie had 54 assists, another new SABL record. This one broke the previous record of 51, also set by St. Lucie in a game vs. Galactic in 2001-02.

St. Lucie scored 92 points in the second half of a 166-131 victory, beating a record they had tied just two games earlier.

The old record of 91 points in a half was held by River City, which set it in a game at Bettendorf in 2000-01.

St. Lucie tied that record in Game 2 of the Galactic in St. Lucie series this year, also scoring 91 points in a half. The final score of that game was St. Lucie 169-Galactic 138, the highest scoring game in the league so far this season.

In Game 4 of the same series, St. Lucie scored 92 points in the second half of their 166-131 victory over Galactic.

Just one day after getting it, the St. Lucie Aces on April 14 traded off Davenport's 1st pick, the first pick of the 2004 Draft, along with Yao Ming, to Akron for Kevin Garnett and Chris Mihm. Being from Ohio, Dave is a big Cavaliers fan and he's told me that he definitely will take LeBron James first in this fall's draft.

The future Ace power forward and center for 2004-05? Is LeBron really going to Akron? Is Yao Chinese?

6. St. Lucie trades Davenport's 1st & Yao Ming to Akron for Kevin Garnett & Chris Mihm

5. New Orleans trades Louisiana's 1st and New Orleans' 1st to Davenport for Bettendorf's 1st

4. St.Lucie trades Shaquille O'Neal to Davenport for Davenport's 1st pick

3. St. Lucie trades Zach Randolph to Bakersfield for Shaquille O'Neal & Brent Barry.

2. New Orleans trades Terry, Welsch, Ervin Johnson, Samaki Walker, its 3rd pick and its 2005 1st pick to Louisiana for Boozer, Bibby and Louisiana's 2004 1st pick.

St. Lucie became the sixth team so far to finish it's regular season, winning all four games in Galactic:

St. Lucie's Tim Duncan led all scorers with 35 points and 12 rebounds, while Kobe Bryant added 24 points. Jason Kidd scored 21 and John Stockton had 10 assists and 5 steals. Karl Malone led Galactic with 26 points and Gary Payton had 25 points.

For St. Lucie, Duncan scored 44 points with 17 rebounds and Yao Ming scored 21 points with 11 boards. Stockton had 14 assists. For the Thunder, Payton and the Mailman each scored 25 points.

Duncan again led St. Lucie with 29 points and 12 boards. Next up, Kobe, with 22 points. Stockton had 17 assists. For Galactic, Payton scored 25 points with 10 assists. Malone had 10 rebounds.

St. Lucie poured on the points, with Kobe getting 40 and Duncan getting 37 with 12 boards. But real story was John Stockton, who, in his last SABL regular season game, set a new all-time single-game assist record with 25 assists. The Aces also set a new all-time single-game team assist record with 54 assists.

For Galactic, Malone scored 24 and Payton scored 21 with 14 assists. Sudden Sam Cassell also had 14 assists.

The top four draft pick placements were determined this morning, on April 13. By this evening, all four of those picks had been traded!

Currently, St. Lucie owns the first pick, New Orleans owns the second and Davenport owns the 3rd and 4th picks.

The top 4 drafting order is now set: 1. Davenport 2. Bettendorf 3. Louisiana 4. New Orleans.

Tri City hangs on 100-97

Tri City escapes again 104-103.

Mo Pete missed a 3 at the buzzer and Tri City wins, 89-87.

Tri city cruises, 119-95

McLean takes 3, but the Tigers were scratching until the end in every game. For the 1st time in 5 years the Brooklyn faithful are looking forward to next season. Gasol, Martin and Odom, give the Tigers a reasonably formidable frontline, and McGinnis, Mobley and Ginobili offer solid support in the backcourt. Can .500 be in the air for 2004-5?

The Druids become the third SABL team to finish its regular season. And by losing their last 4 games, we still don't know whether Bettendorf or Davenport is first in the draft order.

But we do know now that Louisiana is third and New Orleans is 4th - both those picks are currently owned by New Orleans Coach Jeff Perigoni. Could those picks be Wade & Bosh? Will those picks get traded? Is the theory of relativity for real?

I'll be so glad to get some help doing this next year! But, I think I've finally gotten this right on the third try:

Davenport is 17-61 right now. Bettendorf is 21-57. Both teams have four games to play. If Bettendorf loses all four of their remaining games and Davenport wins all four of its remaining games, Bettendorf and Davenport will tie for the worst record in the SABL. Since Bettendorf lost 6 of its 8 games with Davenport this season, that scenario would give Bettendorf the first pick in the draft.

Davenport Coach Kevin Feeney owns both of those picks right now, though, so Kevin's got the first pick in the draft no matter what - unless he trades those picks and coaches are definitely talking to him about it, including your friendly neighborhood commissioner.

Three blowouts and one that went down to the wire! The Blimps started the series with a 138-110 victory, hitting 60 percent from the field and controlling the boards 43-29. Zydrunas Ilgauskas led the was with 31 on 13 of 17 shooting, while Jerry Stackhouse led the Nats with 29. McLean ran away with game two, 114-91 and did the job on the boards 50-40. Gilbert Arenas had 25, as the Blimps had 37 fouls including seven players with four or more. Kevin Garnett led the Blimps with 25. Akron pulled away in the second half of game three to win 124-108. Ray Allen had 30 and Corey Maggette had 25. Game four was the exciting game. Down by eleven with seven minutes to play, the Nats put on a furious end game rally to win 115-113. Garnett, having played 46 minutes was completely fatigued at the end of the game and it was Ray Allen that missed the jumper with under a minute left that allowed Andre Miller the chance to score the winner with five seconds left. Stackhouse had 25; Allen had 33. For the series, Garnett averaged 20.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 7.5 assists, with four double-doubles.

Akron Coach Dave Scott is moving soon and his other two emails will not be operational. Please make a note of it!

In Game 4 of the St. Lucie series below, Steve Walters' Thunder tied a league record for most turnovers in a game - 44. It was originally set by Charlie Dillingham's Holcomb Heat in a game against the Thunder in 1996-97.

Ex-Ace Rip Hamilton ripped St. Lucie, scoring 22 points in 23 minutes. Gary Payton had 19 points and 11 assists. For St. Lucie, Yao Ming scored 21 points and Sabonis scored 20. Jason Kidd had 12 assists and Tim Duncan had 15 rebounds.

Another Ace explosion, as Kobe Bryant scored 37, Ming 26 and Duncan 24. John Stockton had 15 assists. Payton scored 22 for Galactic, with 10 assists.

In addition, the Aces set an all-time record for most points in half when they scored 92 points in the second half.

G1) Galactic 114
Chapel Hill 119

Jams lead by Jamisons with 39(15-31 from floor). Thunder lead by Hamilton with 28.

Killer stat, Galactic 24 turnovers (Malone 10) Jams had 5.

G2) Galactic 112
Chapel Hill 99

Thunder had 7 men in double figures lead by Payton ith 18 and 8 assists.

Jams lead by R.Wallace with 21.

G3) Galactic 136
Chapell Hill 112

Galactic lead by payton with 36, 11 assists and 6 rebounds. Webber added 28 with 8 rebs and 4 assists.

Chapel Hill lead by Jamison with 31. D.Anderson had 20 with 6 assists and R.Wallace had 19 were the only players to score in double figures for Jams.

G4) Galactic 138
Chaple Hill 118

Thunder had 8 men in double figures lead by Payton with 23 and 11 assists. Galactic made 29-32(91%) free throws.

Jams lead by Jamison with 30 and R.Wallace with 29(10-27 from the floor.

Gm4 Tulsa rolls to a 118-95 win over Bakersfield. Another poor shooting night for the Blades, only 40% from the field. The Twisters were hot again shooting 51% on field goals. For the Twisters, Marion scored 22 points and Jermaine O'Neal had a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards. Mike Miller, Elton Brand and Gordan Giricek all scored 15 for the Blades and Brian Grant pulled down 10 rebounds.

Holcomb wins game 1 103-94
Holcomb wins close game 3 107-103
Bakersfield wins game 3 on a Barry 3 with 6 seconds left 105-103 Holcomb wins game 4 easily 123 - 92

Gm1 Bakersfield 98 Tulsa 94
A close contest down to the wire taken by Bakersfield 98-94. Tony Parker scored 23 for the Twisters and Shaq, Brent Barry and Brand had 14 apiece for the Blades.
Gm2 Bakersfield 112 Tulsa 105
Shareef Abdur Rahim led the way with 26 points as the Blades rolled to a 112-105 victory. Elton Brand scored 9 points and pulled down 12 rebounds and Brian Grant collected 10 boards.
Gm3 Tulsa 119 Bakersfield 93
Jermaine O'Neal racked up 32 points and Shawn Marion added 22 as the Twisters made a laugher out of this one. The Blades only shot 38% as a team and were led by Shaq's 26 points and Brian Grant had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Finney's Allen Iverson (31.9 ppg) appears headed for his second SABL scoring title. He scored 34.6 ppg for Finney in 2002, when he last won. The Answer also leads in steals per game with 2.4. Finney is coached by Doug Dillingham. Finney is fighting for a playoff spot this season.

Holcomb's Ben Wallace (14.7 rpg) appears on his way to break Dennis Rodman's SABL record of 13.6 rpg, sent in the SABL's first season 1994-95, by the Arizona Outlaws. Holcomb is coached by Doug's Dad, Charlie Dillingham, who also has won the West Division this year.

St. Lucie's Tim Duncan (.606) leads in FG%. Duncan also leads in turnovers with 3.4 per game and is tied with Big Ben Wallace for most blocks per game at 3.3. St. Lucie has won the South Division

New Orleans' Steve Nash (.926) leads in Free Throw% and is coached by Jeff Perigoni. Brooklyn's Shandon Anderson (.515) leads in 3-PT% and is coached by Steve Feldheim, who is fighting for a playoff spot. Holcomb's Jason Williams (11.3 apg) leads in assists.

Akron's Kevin Garnett leads in defensive stops with 160. Garnett is coached by Dave Scott, who also is fighting for a playoff berth.

In an April 20 game against Steve Walters' Galactic Thunder, St. Lucie scored 91 points in the first half of the game, tying a record set in 2000-01 by River City in a game vs. Bettendorf.

If Bettendorf wins two of it's last four games, Louisiana and Jeff Perigoni gets the second pick in the draft - Carmelo Anthony - unless, of course, he trades it off.

Holcomb (54-20) is the second team to win an SABL division this season. Congrats, Charlie!

In second place and heading for a playoff spot are the Cave Creek Longshots (49-29), run by Mark Long. Doug Dillingham's Finney Longhorns (32-34), Tom Bell's Bakersfield Blades (25-29) and Philip Creider's Tulsa Twisters (28-38) are duking it out for third and playoff spots.

Kevin Feeney's Davenport Dazzlers (17-61) will get the first pick in the draft this fall. Losing the most games is no fun, but Kevin, congratulations at least on getting LeBron James.

Of course, Kevin doesn't have to pick LeBron (yeah, right) and he can always trade the pick. It's many months before our annual rookie draft, which will probably take place in early November this year, due to the expansion draft that will precede it. Player Agent Director Mark Long will be working out the draft dates this summer, though.

As to the second pick in the 2004 Draft - Carmelo Anthony - that's still up for grabs between Bettendorf (20-54) and Louisiana (22-60). But since New Orleans Coach Jeff Perigoni owns LA's number one pick and Kevin owns Bettendorf's 1st, this is really between them. Kevin will end up getting both the first and 2nd picks, if Bettendorf wins only two more games.

Winning only two more games will tie Bettendorf with LA for 2nd-worst team in the league this year. And LA and the Druids split their season-series at 1-1. Following SABL tradition, we next look to who has the worst offense to break the tie. That will almost certainly be Bettendorf, with the second-worst offense in the league this season at 87.6 ppg. Unless Bettendorf scores tons of points in its last eight games, it would be hard to better Louisiana's 99.8 ppg.

If Bettendorf wins only 4 more games, it would tie with New Orleans for third-worst record in the league. Since New Orleans lost both of its two games against Bettendorf this season, New Orleans would get the third pick instead of Bettendorf.

Still, remember that the top four picks will be going to Jeff Perigoni and Kevin Feeney, unless they trade 'em off. The first pick has been decided - it's going to Davenport and Kevin. The 2nd, 3rd & 4th picks have not, although Jeff Perigoni will get two of those three picks.

I posted some misinformation last night (April 8) saying Kevin already had the first two picks - both Carmelo and LeBron. I apologize for that error.

After escaping from the South Division this year, Bob Storey's Nats are making a late-season push for the divisional title, opening up a 5-game lead over Akron (35-23) and 6-game lead over Iowa (38-28). Richmond (33-33) is starting to drop out of it. Brooklyn (35-43) is still in playoff contention.

Chris Feeney's Tri-City team (28-30) leads by three games over Mike Resnick's Renegades (33-41) and Kathleen Feeney's Quad City Rimrockers (31-39) in the North. All three teams are fighting for the playoffs, too.

With six games to play, St. Lucie (71-5) has a slight chance to tie the SABL record for most wins in a season (77), also set by the Aces in 1998-99. The Aces won the first of their two championships that year. To do that, though, the Aces must sweep all 8 games from our defending World Champions, Steve Walters Galactic Thunder (48-20), not a likely prospect after they stupidly traded Chris Webber to Galactic in mid-season. These two teams have dominated the South Division, but Tommy Field's Chapel Hill Jams (37-37) are still in playoff contention.

Jeff Perigoni's squad is the second SABL team to wrap up its season. Way to go Jeff!

Game 2 Dav 95 Tri City 82. Dazzlers had lost 11 in a row to Tri City

Game 3 Tri City 106 Dav 81

Game 4 Tri City 96 Dav 82

Gm1 -- NO 119 Jams 96
Gm2 -- Jams 109 NO 96
Gm3 -- NO 92 Jams 98
Gm4 -- Jams 98 NO 93

Game 1: Pierce goes for 21 points and 6 boards IN THE FIRST QUARTER, as the Longshots jump out to an 8 point lead. But a miserable 2nd quarter dooms the Longshots as they fall 103-97. The Longshots, used to going to the line much more than their opponents, got a taste of their own medicine as Bakersfield shoots 14 more foul shots.

Game 2: Jason Richardson comes off the bench for 18 points and 10 boards, and compliments Pierces 28 points and 12 boards. Still, Cave Creek barely holds on for a 104-102 victory. Shaq had an anti-Shaq kind of day. He was 3/14 from the field and 14/17 from the line! Strange stuff in his Wheaties I guess.

Game 3: This game was close for 3 quarters as Cave Creek takes a 4 point lead into the fourth. Then Bakersfield takes over and demolishes the Longshots 109-98. E. Thomas came off the bench to score 8 points and grab 11 boards in only 17 minutes, but it was not enough. Nobody shined for Bakersfield, but a total team effort wins the game.

Game 4: With about 3 minutes left Cave Creek leads 96-93. The only scoring the rest of the game was some late foul shots by Jalen Rose. In the last few minutes Bakersfield missed several 3 point shots and 2 offensive rebound chances. Richardson leads Cave Creek with 22 points, and O'Neals 31 points and 12 boards go to waste as the Longshots earn a split.

Thanks to Galactic Thunder Coach Steve Walters and Cave Creek Coach Mark Long, I don't have to give up the Aces.

Steve and Mark have agreed to help me share responsibilities and power next season by becoming part of a three-person Executive Committee that will be in charge of running the SABL beginning July 1. In fact, Mark, a former commissioner himself, proposed this idea and I like it. Mark will represent our league's "new blood" and old veteran Steve Walters will represent "the Establishment."

I don't need to give up my team. I just need help in running our great league. We will have more details soon about this, but this summer, our SABL Executive Committee will basically be this:

Commissioner - Scott Ellis, still the final idiot in charge of acting "in the best interests of the league." I also will continue to run the website, etc.

Player Agent Director - Mark Long - Responsible not for making the rules, but the keeper of the rules, and the one who new members suggest new rules to and brings it to a discussion forum, recruits and orients new members, coordinates draft dates and times. Responsible for enforcing rules and penalties associated with misuse of players, responsible for overseeing any trade or rule disputes between players. Maintains rosters and trades.

Operations Director & Statistician - Steve Walters - In charge of overall league operations. Setting up the schedule, and making sure people are on schedule, maintaining the master league file, coordinates trade deadlines, etc.

While this will be a three-man committee that will vote on things and propose things, our league's rules and direction will remain the same - it's not a trade committee and our Constitution will still be basically the same. It's just a division of responsibility and work that needs to happen this summer so the SABL can continue to grow and prosper.

You will still be free to be the best that you can be in the SABL. That will never change as long as I run this league.

Phil Russo's team is done for this year. Congratulations, Phil, on being the earliest coach to get 'er done in 2004!

By scores of: 128-108, 129-115, 120-112 and 132-118.

Four game series highlights:

Buzz went 39-93(42%) on 3's and 46.4%(Gal 56.9%) from floor.

G1) Payton scores 28 with 8 assists

G2) Payton had 15 assists to go with 18 points.

G3) Thunder had 4 players score over 20 points(Hamilton 22, Webber and Jones 21, Payton 20. For Buzz A.Walker scored 36 making 10 3's out of 22 attempts.

G4) For Thunder Malone came close to triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebs and 8 assists. Webber scored 29. For Buzz Harpring goes for 32, Mashburn 25 and Bibby 24.

The Tigers were their own worst enemies as they committed 141 fouls (35+ a game) in dropping four games to the Nats in McLean. Gilbert Arenas had 30 to lead the Nats to 102-91 victory in game one. Jerry Stackhouse (20) led seven Nats in double figures in game two, a 112-95 win. Andre Miller and Corey Maggette each had 20 and again seven Nats were in double figures as game three went to the Nats 126-118. And, in the only real contest, the Nats came from ten down in the fourth quarter to win game four, 107-105. Stackhouse led six Nats in double figures with 24. Cuttino Mobley led the Tigers in scoring in every game with totals of 15, 17, 20, and 20.

Galactic led the entire game, until the Aces squeaked by in the fourth quarter. St. Lucie Tim Duncan was the difference, scoring 37 points and grabbing 10 boards. St. Lucie had to pass to Duncan because Kobe Bryant was double-teamed the entire game and only scored 18. Old Man Karl Malone led in scoring for the Thunder with 25 points. Gary Payton scored 21 with 12 assists.

The Aces blew this one out with their largest score of the season. This time, Kobe wasn't double-teamed very much and he scored 46 points. Another old man, John Stockton, had 16 assists for the Aces, while Yao Ming scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Duncan scored 36 points and Jason Kidd scored 25 points. Robert Pack and Stockton both fouled out for St. Lucie, and Brevin Knight and Kobe had 5 fouls each as the game ended.

Also in this game, St. Lucie tied the league record for most points in a half when the Aces scored 91 points in the first half.

The Nats held on to win three of four tightly contested games played in McLean due to the unavailability of the Iowa home court. Jerry Stackhouse (33), Richard Jefferson (27), and Corey Maggette (24) led the Nats in games one, as they held off the Tornado 124-122. Tracy McGrady had 24. Iowa won game two 127-118, as Juwan Howard's 22 led six Tornados in double figures. Gilbert Arenas led the Nats with 25. McLean finally started to play some defense, winning game three 109-101 as Andre Miller led six Nats in double figures with 19. McGrady had 31. Game four went to the Nats 97-86 behind Maggette (24) and Arenas (23). A lot of double teaming held McGrady to 18.

Many of you have emailed me since I announced that I was giving up my team to be a full-time commissioner, asking me either to keep my team, take an expansion team, or dissolve the Aces into next year's draft. I really appreciate all your comments and support. You guys are the best.

As Richard Nixon would say, let me make this perfectly clear - I will never break up the Aces. Maybe another coach will, but I won't. I can't.

Nor will I break up any other SABL franchise. It's never happened in our history and I ain't gonna do it.

And running an expansion team would actually take more time than running the Aces, because I'd have work harder to build it up. I play to win, and I'd be working harder over the next two or three years to make an expansion team into a contender. One of the reasons I was giving up my team was to give you all my time as commissioner. So an expansion team for me is not logical. I just don't have the time.

I've made a few more mental mistakes this year as your commissioner than I have in past years. I really apologize for that. Aging is hell.

Those mental mistakes led me to announce for the second time in 10 years that I was giving up my beloved Aces. I guess in my heart, I don't really want to give 'em up. I am too competitive not to be the best coach that I can be.

But I also want to be the best commissioner I can be, too. Can a commissioner fairly govern the coaches he is trying to beat?

The Tigers came into this series needing to take 3 games to reach .500 for the 1st time since the 98-99 season. After dropping the 1st game 111-106 they came back to even the series with a 96-86 win in game 2. The Blimps took game 3 101-93 as the Tigers choked and after pulling within 1 point missed 7 straight shots down the stretch. Game 4 also went to Akron (114-111), Brooklyn pulled in front by one point with about 2 minutes left, the lead see-sawed until the buzzer, when after a time out Cuttino Mobley missed a trey.

Great series.

Holcomb won 3 of the 4. All four could very easily have gone the other way-now for the details and such.
Game 1: Holcomb wins 100-98
Holcomb has 11 point lead after one, Cave Creek cuts it to one at half.
Holcomb hangs on in second half for 3 pt win. Each team had 5 players in double figures. Pierce led Cave Creek with 25, but on 26 % shooting (5 of 19).He was perfect from the line 14 of 14.Jordan and Billups both had 20 for Holcomb.

Game 2:Holcomb wins 104-98
Cave Creek jumps out to a quick 13 point lead after one. Holcomb cuts it to
2 by half and takes the lead half way thru the third, stretches it to 12 midway thru the fourth. Cave Creek cuts it back to one at one point. Cave Creek has five players in double figures led by Rose with 19.Hilario goes for a triple double-18 pts, 14 rbs, and 10 to's. Holcomb is led by Billups with 38 and Jordan with 29. Cave Creek attempted 34 Ft's to Holcomb's 11.
Holcomb took 104 shots to Cave Creeks 76.

Game 3: One word to describe this game ---UGLY -Cave Creek wins 80-77 Holcomb has 7 pt lead at half, 10 pt lead at end of 3. Cave Creek outscores 'em by 13 in fourth to take win. Williams had 20 to lead Holcomb. Pierce had 22 pts and 14 reb. to lead Cave Creek Both teams were horrid from the field Holcomb shot 36%, CC 35 %, Holcomb shot 29% on 3's,CC 29%, and both shot 67% from the line.

Game 4:Holcomb wins by 3, 93-90
Cave Creek makes a valiant comeback, but falls short. Pierce scores 29 to lead Cave Creek. He attempts more free throws than the Hocomb team (21 to
20) and makes more (17 to 16).But Cave Creek shoots only 38% from the field to Holcomb's 46 and makes 10 less field goals and 6 less three's.
Wallace had a lot to do with the Longshot's shooting woes with 9 blocks.Billups led Holcomb with 22 points

Unless the SABL morphs into another dimension, this is one record that can never be broken. But it can be tied and it was by Knox Bardeen's Bettendorf Druids in a game vs. Iowa this season - the Druids made no free throws in a game against the Tornadoes. That ties a record set by Tri-City in a game against the Holcomb Heat in 1997-98.

Holcomb's Wallace did it in a Feb. 17 game vs. Akron, while Finney's Iverson did it in a March 25 game vs. St. Lucie.

That ties the 53 minutes played in a game by St. Lucie's Shaquille O'Neal in 2001-02.

The East Division is completely nuts now. Richard Grossman's Iowa Tornadoes (38-24) have inched into the lead, a half-game over Bob Storey's McLean Nationals (36-23). But Dave Scott's Akron Blimps (32-33) are only 2 games out. And Frank Rowley's Richmond Raiders (33-33) and even Steve Feldheim's Brooklyn Tigers (34-36) are in the playoff hunt. Steve will have to forgive me for counting him out - all 5 East Division teams could make the playoffs, because . . .

. . . all the teams in the North Division, including Chris Feeney's leading Tri-City Blackhawks, have worse records than the last place team in the East Division, the Brooklyn Tigers. The four divisional winners in the SABL always make the playoffs, but after that, it's the teams with the four best records in the Royal Conference and the teams with the four best records in the Classic Conference - 12 teams in all.

And Tri-City isn't even at .500 (25-29). If they win the division with a sub-.500 record, that will be an SABL first. And it's possible.

The Amazing Feeney named Chris, who has won 3 North Division titles already, has snuck into the lead, a couple of games over Mike Resnick's River City Renegades (33-41) and Kathleen Feeney's Quad City Rimrockers (29-27), who are tied for 2nd. Only Bettendorf (17-50) and Davenport (16-58) are out of the playoffs.

St. Lucie (69-5) has the South crown already and defending champ Galactic (44-18), coached by our other Steve, Steve Walters, has second. Tommy Field's Chapel Hill Jams (35-35) have third place sewn up and might earn a playoff berth. Louisiana (22-55) and New Orleans (22-56) are the only teams out of the Classic Conference playoff run.

In the Wild West, all 5 teams are in the hunt, but only two are fighting for the division - Charlie Dillingham's first-place Holcomb Heat (51-19) and Mark Long's Cave Creek Longshots (46-24). Doug Dillingham's Finney Longhorns (32-34), Tom Bell's Bakersfield Blades (22-27) and Philip Creider's Tulsa Twisters (28-38) are all still fighting for third place.

St. Lucie's Kobe Bryant is next at 28.7. Leading rebounder - still Big Ben Wallace of Holcomb, at 14.9 rpg. St. Lucie's Tim Duncan leads in field goal percentage at .605 and in blocks at 3.3 per game. New Orleans' Steve Nash leads in free throw percentage at .926 and Brooklyn's Shandon Anderson leads in three-point percentage at .532. Holcomb's Jason Williams leads in assists at 11.4 apg, with old man John Stockton of St. Lucie right behind at 10.7 a game.

Iverson also leads in steals at 2.4 per game and Akron's Kevin Garnett leads in Defensive Stops with 150.

Best offense - still St. Lucie, scoring 123.8 per game. Best defense - still Finney, allowing only 97.3 ppg.

Tri-City's Ricky Davis had one in a Feb. 10 game against Galactic, scoring 30 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.

Kevin Garnett of Akron had two - one in a March 2 game vs. River City and another March 23 vs. Davenport. Against River City, KG scored 20 points, had 16 rebounds and 12 assists. Versus Davenport, Garnett made 16, had 14 boards and dished 11 assists.

The other belonged to St. Lucie's Jason Kidd, who, in a March 31 game vs. Louisiana, scored 24 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists.

Game 1: Holcomb does everything better than Cave Creek but go to the line. Cave Creek goes to the line 30 more times than Holcombe, in route to a
102-88 victory. Paul Pierce leads the way with 36 points, and Jordan's 42 for Holcombe's are not enough.

Game 2: With 17 seconds left, Cave Creek trails 101-100. They try in vain to get a foul but are not successful and Holcomb essentially runs out the clock (yeah-that's realistic!!!). Pierce again goes for 36, and Holcomb is lead by Billups with 32 points-many off passes from Jayson Williams who finishes with 15 assists.

Game 3: Cave Creek again wins this at the line, shooting 19 more foul shots. Snow drops in 24 points and 10 assists. Jordan again leads Holcomb, but even outscoring Cave Creek by 11 in the 4th quarter is not enough to make up for a horrible start.

Game 4: With about 30 seconds left, Holcomb has the ball and a chance to tie, but Jerome Williams steals the ball. Richardson sinks two free throws and Holcomb's hopes as Cave Creek goes to a 99-95 victory. Pierce goes for 31 points and Rose has a solid 20.

Game 1 Brooklyn uses a 28-9 3rd qtr to win 100-79.

Game 2 Brooklyn 102-89. Martin 25 Gasol 14-11.

Game 3 Brooklyn 109-86. Ginobili 21 Mobley 20 Gasol 19 Martin 18 C. Butler 23 for Riv.

Florida Strat World Presents The:

Second American Basketball League

SABL

League LeadersPast NewslettersRecords All-Stars 2003 Draft Preview Message/Chat Board/Yahoo!2004 SABL Minutes

Standings MembersRosters2003 Draftable Players Basketball Resources 2003-04 League Disk Team Highs Home & Away Records

Email The Commissioner 2004-05 Constitution2004-05 Schedule Line Scores 2003-04 Team Preview 2004 Available Players

Past Draft Results Trades2001 Draft 2002 Draft Team Stats 2003 Draft 2003 Post-Draft Analysis 2004 Regular Draft Order

League Totals2000 Draft Histories SomWorld Strat-O-Matic Players Cut 2003-04 Season Preview Won-Loss Grid Scoring Grid

Florida Strat World Presents The:

Second American Basketball League

SABL

League LeadersPast NewslettersRecordsAll-Stars2003 Draft PreviewMessage/Chat Board/Yahoo!2004 SABL Minutes

Standings MembersRosters2003 Draftable PlayersBasketball Resources2003-04 League DiskTeam HighsHome & Away Records

Email The Commissioner 2004-05 Constitution2004-05 ScheduleLine Scores2003-04 Team Preview2004 Available Players

Past Draft Results Trades2001 Draft2002 DraftTeam Stats2003 Draft2003 Post-Draft Analysis2004 Regular Draft Order

League Totals2000 Draft HistoriesSomWorldStrat-O-MaticPlayers Cut2003-04 Season PreviewWon-Loss GridScoring Grid

League LeadersPast NewslettersRecords All-Stars 2003 Draft Preview Message/Chat Board/Yahoo!2004 SABL Minutes

Standings MembersRosters2003 Draftable Players Basketball Resources 2003-04 League Disk Team Highs Home & Away Records

Email The Commissioner 2004-05 Constitution2004-05 Schedule Line Scores 2003-04 Team Preview 2004 Available Players

Past Draft Results Trades2001 Draft 2002 Draft Team Stats 2003 Draft 2003 Post-Draft Analysis 2004 Regular Draft Order

League Totals2000 Draft Histories SomWorld Strat-O-Matic Players Cut 2003-04 Season Preview Won-Loss Grid Scoring Grid