The SABL BS

Issue 112 March 2004

FROM COMMISSIONER SCOTT ELLIS, SECOND AMERICAN BASKETBALL LEAGUE

Commissioner confused, but still only two coaches in LeBron James race

Yep, I didn't count right! Jeff Perigoni's New Orleans franchise (22-56) is still in the running to finish last in the league, along with Louisiana (22-55), Bettendorf (16-47) and Kevin Feeney's Davenport Dazzlers (16-58). The Dazzlers currently have the league's worst record and have had that distinction almost the entire season.

But, since Davenport owns Bettendorf's 1st and New Orleans owns Louisiana's first, only Jeff or Kevin will get LeBron this fall. That's a 50-50 chance at this point, since they currently will own the top four picks in the draft.

Unless they trade them off, of course.

Playoff bulletin - Brooklyn still in the running

Frank Rowley's Richmond Raiders (31-32) have slumped lately and Steve Feldheim's Brooklyn Tigers (31-36) have surged, putting Brooklyn into playoff contention again. Look for new standings and stats around April 1.

Iowa (38-24) takes 4 of 6 from Tri-City (22-28)

Game 1 Tri-city prevails 87-81.
Game 2. Iowa outscores Tri 10-19 in the 4th to win 105-92. McGrady has 34.
Game 3 Iowa prevails 107-105. McGrady 32.
Game 4 Iowa wins 108-98. McGrady 23 and VanHorn 21. Davis 25 and Marbury 23.
Game 5 Iowa converts 26-29 FT and wins 114-97. McGrady 37.
Game 6 Marbury and Davis each score 30 and Tri City wins 114-98.

River City (33-38) loses 2 of 3 in Brooklyn (31-36)

Brooklyn takes 1st two, Renegades win easily in game three.

Game one - Brooklyn 106-87: Mobley leads Tigers with 26, Odom and Gasol add 17. Pau also had 11 boards. Tigers were also 6-16 from 3 point land. Houston 25 and Anderson 14 were the only Renegades in double figures.

Game two - Brooklyn 108-98: Gasol led the way with 30 pts. and 12 rebounds. He also had 3 blocks for the 2nd game in a row. Houston again led River City, this time with 22 points, but four other temmates contributed double figures accounting for the tighter game. Tyson Chandler had 16 boards and 6 blocks.

Game three - River City 117-102: Seven Renegades poured in double figures led by Allan Houston again with 22. Mobley 25, and Gasol 22 led the Tigers.

Brooklyn wins two of three in Tri-City

Game 1 Brooklyn prevails 106-103 with 6 in double figures.

Game 2 Brooklyn wins 107-103. Gasol 25-11. Brk shoots 53% to overcome 21 turnovers.
Marbury 29-10.

Game 3 Tri City salvages game 3, 116-105. Marbury 37 and Davis 30. K-Mart 27.

LA (22-55) wins first two games in Bakersfield (22-26)

Game 1 Louisiana 108 Bakersfield 102
Matt Harpring led the way for the Buzz with 25 points and Jamal Mashburn scored 21 in the Louisiana victory. Shaq scored 19 and Brand 18 for the Blades.

Game 2 Louisiana 115 Bakersfield 112
Gordan Giricek could have sent this one into OT, but missed a 3 pointer at the final horn to end a close contest. Jamal Mashburn scored 26 and Harpring 25 for the Buzz. For Bakersfield, Shaq and Brand both had double-doubles with Shaq scoring 30 and collecting 10 boards, and Brand netting 20 and pulling down 16 rebounds.

Chapel Hill won 2 of 3 from Tulsa (28-35) in Chapel Hill (32-35)

Game 1: Jams 128 Tulsa 120
Key Stat: Chapel Hill FG% -- 59%
Star of the Game: Rasheed Wallace 22pts/10 Rebs
Game 2: Chapel Hill 118 Tulsa 102
Key Stat: Rebounds -- Chapel Hill 70 Tulsa 40
Star of the Game: Rasheed Wallace 26 pts/13 Rebs
Game 3: Tulsa 114 Chapel Hill 99
Key Stat: Turnovers -- Tulsa 6 Chapel Hill 20
Star of the Game: Shawn Marion 39 pts/8 Rebs

Confusing LeBron James sweepstakes narrows to two coaches

Since Bettendorf (second-worst in the league at 16-47) has traded its first round pick, it's not in the running for LeBron James. And now, Jeff Perigoni's New Orleans Roosters, currently holders of the fourth-worst record (22-56), are mathematically out of the LeBron sweepstakes, too.

Well, his team is out of it, but he isn't. Jeff has shrewdly traded for the Louisiana's Buzz's first draft pick. The Buzz, owned by Phil Russo, can still finish last, although the Buzz has the third-worst record right now (20-55).

Kevin Feeney's Davenport Dazzlers are worst in the league currently at 16-55. Kevin also owns Bettendorf's first pick, too! So Davenport, with the fortune of good trading, now has two of three chances to nail LeBron James this fall. Jeff has the other chance, also via a good trade.

Unless they trade those picks, too, before draft day! Wow!

Akron (31-19) sweeps Quad City in Quad City (25-35)

Game 1 Garnett's 31 and 3 turnovers in the last minute doom QC, 104-98.

Game 2 Allen scores 23 and Garnet 17-11 as Blimps win 112-101.

Game 3 Blimps overcome 42% shooting and 20 turnovers to win, 88-85.

Divisional races exciting!

As we come down to the last few regular season games, we have some very close divisional races:

In the East, Bob Storey's McLean Nationals, who just moved to this division from South this year, is just 1 game ahead of Richard Grossman's Iowa team, 4 games ahead of Dave Scott's Akron Blimps and 5.5 games ahead of fourth-place Richmond, last year's Royal Conference Champs, coached by Frank Rowley. That division is still a total toss-up, with only last-place Brooklyn now out of the running.

In the North, Mike Resnick's River City Renegades are just percentage points in front of Kathleen Feeney's Quad City Rimrockers and just 2 games ahead of defending divisional champ Tri-City, run by another Amazing Feeney, Chris.

In the South, St. Lucie has it sewn up, with Steve Walters' Galactic Thunder, our defending world champions, having a lock on second place and the playoffs. Hovering at the .500 mark for the first time ever, Tommy Field's Chapel Hill Jams look to have third-place and an outside shot at the playoffs, too.

Sneaky Charlie Dillingham has reclaimed his SABL title as the Trader King this year, with his Holcomb Heat pulling off some masterful moves enroute to a sure playoff spot and probable West Division crown. He's 7 games ahead of Mark Long's Cave Creek Longshots, who look playoff bound, too. Charlie's son, Doug, with his Finney team, Tom Bell's Bakersfield squad and Philip Crieder's Tulsa Twisters are fighting for third place.

Playoff races exciting!

The playoff picture has some certainties and uncertainties.

In the Royal Conference, three teams are out - Brooklyn, Bettendorf and Davenport. But the other 7 teams are still in for the 6 playoff spots. All but two will make it and it's too close to tell who those two will be right now. It could be that four teams from the East will get in - McLean, Akron, Iowa and Richmond. If that happens, that means only the divisional winner in the North will make it. And that division is up for grabs at the moment.

In the Classic Conference, St. Lucie is in and probably Galactic, Holcomb and Cave Creek. That leaves two more spots between Tulsa, Chapel Hill, Finney and Bakersfield.

Cave Creek (43-23) beats Iowa (32-22)

As a summary, looks like a huge 3rd quarter keyed a Cave Creek victory. The star of the game was Jerome Williams who finished with 12 boards and 16 rebounds. Pierce added 17 points and 9 boards, and Richardson added 15 off the bench. For Iowa, their undoing was the shooting of Francis (3-13) and Carter (8-20).

Nats Take Two of Three from Bettendorf (16-47) in McLean (36-23)

The McLean Nationals, just back from a cruise, seemed to be playing in knee deep water as they fell to the Druids in game one, despite 30 points by Corey Maggette. Drew Gooden led five Druids in double figures with 18 and Bettendorf had only nine turnovers to offset a 34-42 disadvantage in rebounds. Game two was exciting as Bettendorf, trailing 100-97, had a chance to tie with four seconds left. Steven Jackson missed the three and Gooden put in the follow but time ran out and the Nats prevailed 100-99. Maggette led seven Nats in double figures with 18. Radmanovich led all scorers with 26. Game three was all McLean as their lead stretched to thirty at times in the third period before a late "rally" cut it to 107-86. Jerry Stackhouse had 29 and Gooden 22.

Iowa (33-21) wins 5 of 6 from Davenport (16-55)

Iowa and Quad City (25-32) split six-game series

St. Lucie becomes first team this season to clinch a division

Mathematics are inevitable. Scott Ellis' St. Lucie Aces have won the South Division. This makes 7 divisions won by St. Lucie in the league's 10-year history, an all-time record. The team also is tied with the Dave Plisko/Blocher Bomber/East Asia franchise for most divisional wins, also at 7.

St. Lucie (69-5) sweeps Twisters in Tulsa (27-33)

Longshots beat Roosters (22-56) in 3 close ones in Cave Creek (42-23)

game1: Paul Pierce finished 6/20 shooting, but a penetrating basket as time ran out led Cave Creek to an 88-86 victory. Stoudemire did his job for New Orleans scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 boards, Nash also added 19. Not only the score was close, but stats as well. Shooting: CC 37%, NO 39%, Both took 34 foul shots and had 46 rebounds.

Game 2: Hilario, Rose, and Pierce all score more than 23 points as Cave Creek holds on for it's second straight 2 point victory 118-116. Nash poured in 25 and freaking Harrington added 19 points as New Orleans almost pulls the upset.

Game 3: New Orleans out-shoots Cave Creek 55% to 44%. They out rebound Cave Creek by 12. They make 2 more three point shots, and have 6 more assists. However, it was the 19 less free throws and 11 more turnovers that allowed Cave Creek to win 104-102 in an unprecedented 3rd straight 2 point game. Rose hit some clutch last second free throws to seal the game and finished with 21 points.

St. Lucie sweeps Longshots in Cave Creek

River City (31-34) takes 5 of 8 from Davenport (15-50)

Dav 88 Riv 71
Dav 108 Riv 102
Riv 98 Dav 93
Riv 99 Dav 85
Dav 102 Riv 72
Riv 82 Dav 75
Riv 105 Dav 87
Riv 92 Dav 82

Nats (34-22) sweep Renegades in River City (31-34)

Game 1: The Nats put 7 in double figures and score an easy 109-88 win.

Game 2: Stackhouse pours in 44 as Nats win, 129-116. Houston had 31 for River City.

Game 3: The Nats complete the sweep, 119-92. Stackhouse 29. Houston 25.

New stats, standings posted

Many games have been played and much has changed in the last two week, so more numbers are up there for ya', including a new category - Home & Away Records, so you can compare home and away records.

Chapel Hill's Rasheed Wallace sets new SABL turnover record

Sheed threw the ball away 13 times in a Feb. 25 game vs. Louisiana, beating the old record of 12 turnovers held by Tim Duncan (when he was with Garden City at Meade, 1999-2000) & Gary Payton (when he was with St. Lucie at Miles, 2000-01).

I don't think Sheed wants to be congratulated on this. Calm down Sheed, or we'll have to give you another technical.

Two triple-doubles so far this year

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

McLean, River City, St. Lucie & Holcomb lead divisions

Only one team has mathematically clinched a playoff spot already - the St. Lucie Aces. And everyone else is still mathematically in the running at this point, although some teams are looking much better than others.

In the East, McLean has a two-game lead over Iowa, with Richmond and Akron close behind. Even last-place Brooklyn is still in the race, so that means all five East Division teams are still in the running for the playoffs.

In the North, River City, Tri-City and Quad City are all fighting for the lead, with River City on top of Tri-City by just a half-game. Bettendorf and Davenport are sinking out of contention.

In the South, St. Lucie is still cruising in the lead, with second-place Galactic 17.5 games behind. Chapel Hill is third, but New Orleans and Louisiana are dropping out.

In the West, Holcomb has opened up a 6-game lead over Cave Creek, while Finney, Bakersfield and Tulsa battle for third place.

Race for LeBron James still undecided

Davenport still has the worst record in the SABL. Bettendorf is close behind, but since that franchise traded off its first round draft pick, its not in the hunt.. Louisiana has the third-worst record and New Orleans has the fourth-worst tally. Any one of these four teams could finish last.

League's best offense - St. Lucie. Best defense - Finney

St. Lucie still pours in the points at 124.6 ppg, while Finney only allows 96.5 ppg.

Finney's Allen Iverson leads scorers with 31.8 ppg

St. Lucie Kobe Bryant follows with 28.6 ppg. Holcomb's Ben Wallace leads in boards with 14.8 and in field goal percentage with .629. River City's Allan Houston leads in FT % with .927, while Bakersfield's Brent Barry leads in three-point percentage with .497. Holcomb's Jason Williams leads in assists with 11.2 per game, followed closely by St. Lucie's John Stockton with 10.8.

St. Lucie's Jason Kidd and Allen Iverson are tied for the steals lead with 2.3 per game. In fact, the top five stealers are from Finney and St. Lucie. Kobe Bryant, Finney's Doug Christie and Finney's Ron Artest all average 2.0 each.

St. Lucie's Tim Duncan leads in turnovers with 3.5 and Kobe Bryant leads in defensive stops with 120.

New Orleans (22-53) takes 2 of 3 in Bakersfield (22-24)

Jams drop 2 of 3 to Cave Creek (39-20) in Chapel Hill (30-34)

Chapel Hill outscored the Longshots by 4 points in the 3 game set but lost 2 of 3 -- 106 - 108 108 - 99 and 100 - 103. The Jams could not stop Jalen Rose who hit 91 points in the series.

Holcomb (50-16) beats Tornadoes in Iowa (20-15)

Penalty point report

Now the part of my commissioner's duties that I like the least, assessing penalty points. Lateness kills leagues and it won't be tolerated in the SABL. However, please let me know ASAP if I've made an error. Here's the current tally:

Richmond - 16 points total. Richmond drops 5 places down in our 2004 Draft

4 points for no results and no instructions for Feb. 9, Richmond vs. Holcomb

4 points for no results and no instructions for Feb. 11, Richmond vs. Bakersfield

4 points for no results and no instructions for Feb. 13, Richmond vs. Cave Creek

4 points for no results and no instructions for Feb. 15, Richmond vs. Tulsa

Akron - 4 points total. Akron drops 1 place down in our 2004 Draft

2 points for no results for Feb. 11, Akron at Cave Creek

2 points for no results for March 2, Akron at River City

Remember, when you are two weeks late, you can get penalty points. Make sure you send out your instructions. Make sure you send out your results. Make sure you contact the opposing coach to ask why they are late with results or instructions. Let me know if mitigating circumstances, such as a death in the family or vacations, are gonna make you late. If you do all of these things, you won't get penalty points.

Remember, these are your draft picks at stake. Don't blow 'em.

Longshots take 2 of 3 from Jams (29-32) in Cave Creek (37-19)

Cave Creek wins 2 of 3 from Chapel Hill, and if not for the most incredible comeback ever may have swept Chapel Hill.

Game 1: Cave Creek takes a 86 to 67 lead into the fourth quarter and is dominating every phase of the game. Slowly Chapel Hill chips away at the lead. At one point, with about 4 minutes left, the score is 103-93. From that point on Chapel Hill outscores Cave Creek 20-5 to win 113-108. Overall in the fourth quarter Chapel Hill scored 46 points! Sheed went for 31 points and 11 boards, and Jamison added 28 points. Cave Creek was led by Pierce's 26 points, and another solid effort by Snow (16 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists).

**As a result of this game, Jalen Rose enters the official Longshot doghouse. His 8/22 shooting, and late game TO's pissed me off. Rose would play a total of 23 minutes the rest of the series.

Game 2: Cave Creek again enters the 4th with a huge lead-13 points, but holds on for a 97-84 victory. Pierce had 30 points and 11 boards, and Jerome Williams added 17 and 11 boards.

Game 3: Cave Creek wins 107-85 behind 29 points by Paul Pierce. Jamison and Wallace combine to shoot 13-44 for Chapel Hill who never had a chance.

Longshots take 2 of 3 from Galactic (41-18) in Cave Creek (35-18)

Game 1: An overtime affair that was a result of a 17 point 4th quarter comeback by Cave Creek. The final is Cave Creek 120-118. Snow goes for 20 pts and 10 assists, and Pierce is solid with 34 points and 14 rebounds. Webber leads Galactic with 26 points, but a deficit of 17 rebounds to Cave Creek is the key.

Game 2: Cave Creek again strong in the 4th, outscoring Galactic 27-15 on the way to a 110-103 victory. Cave Creek has solid performances from Rose (28 points), Snow (22 popints), Pierce (24 points) and Williams with 16 boards. Galactic also has three players with 20 or more points - Cassell, Payton, and Hamilton.

Game 3: Galactic gets revenge with a 20 point blow out, and a 61% shooting performance. Galactic outshoots Cave Creek 61%-39%, outrebounds Cave Creek 45-37, out assists Cave Creek 34-18, and has 10 more blocks in a game that was a real bore to play.

Thunder takes 2 of 3 from Tulsa (26-30) in Galactic

Game 1) Galactic 115
Tulsa 101

Thunder lead by Hamilton with 33. Cassell 18, 7 rebs and 10 assists.
Twisters lead by Marion with 27 and 10 rebs.

Game 2) Galactic 139
Tulsa 125

Thunder storm shooting 57% from field with 41 assists. Lead by Payton with 26 and 13 assists. Webber had 28 and 9 rebs. Malone 18 with 10 rebs and 5 assists.
Twisters lead by Marion with 35 and 12 rebs. Jermaine O'Neal had 24 with 8 rebs and 3 blks.

Game 3) Galactic 125
Tulsa 106

For Galactic Payton lead 7 men in double figures with 24, 8 rebs, 11 assists and 3 steals.
Tulsa lead again by Marion with 26, 8 rebs. O'Neal had 14 and 11 rebs. A.Davis had 6 with game high 13 rebs.

Autoplay any team that is 30 days late with results or instructions

Most of the games this season are getting played quite well and on time by this point in the season, despite the craziness associated with the release of the new Windows basketball game and its subsequent patches. With all we've had to learn, you guys have proved this year that you are the best Strat basketball coaches in the country.  No doubt about it. Almost of you all are doing a great job this season.

But, we've gotta keep the ball rolling, and one of those balls is playing games that are 30 days late. If you look in the SABL Constitution, this is what it says about games and instructions that are 30 Days Late:

"30 days late, autoplay opponent's team

If any coach is 30 days late with either instructions or results, autoplay their team, play the games and get me the game files (.gfl). Before doing so, however, try and contact the offending coach twice. If he has not, or cannot get you the goods before the 30-day deadline, autoplay the late team, play the games and send the coach and me the game files. Please let the commissioner know if the games are autoplayed."

Many of you ask all the time when I can autoplay games, etc. Well there is the ultimate deadline and it's been in our Constitution ever since I took league over, about 8 years ago. If you have any games that are 30 days late, and there are some of you that definitely do, get 'em played now. No need to wait, if they've reached this stage.

Hawks take 2 of 3 from McLean (31-22) in TriCity (19-22)

New Orleans (20-52) splits with Thunder in Galactic (37-16)

G1) Galactic 100
New Orleans 114

Galactic lead by Cassell with 25 and 6 assists.

New Orleans lead by Terry with 27, 5 rebs and 6 assists.

Roosters outshot Thunder 59%-45% from the field and dominated the boards 43-27.


G2) Galactic 99
New Orleans 110

Galactic lead by Payton 26 and 9 assists.

For New Orleans Harrington and Garrity lead 8 men in double figures with 17 each. Stepania had 10 with 12 rebs in only 18 mins of action. Nash added 16 with 7 assists.


G3) Galactic 109 OT
New Orleans 104

Galactic lead by Hamilton with 25. Webber had 21 with 12 rebounds. Payton 15 with 17 assists.

New Orleans had Stoudemire with 23 and 6 rebs. Harrington 20 and 6 rebounds.


G4) Galactic 119
New Orleans 94

Galactic had Marshall leading 8 men in double figures with 18 and 9 rebounds in only 23 mins. Cassell had 12 with 7 assists in 19 mins. Payton had 13 and 7 assists in 28 mins.

New Orleans lead by Stoudemire with 20 and 9 rebounds. Terry had 12 with 13 assists.

Thunder finally roll, shooting 63% from the field with 39 assists .

Richmond (27-25) takes 2 of 3 in TriCity

Chapel Hill (28-30) wins 2 of 3 in Bakersfield (21-22)

Game 1 Chapel Hill 117 Bakersfield 98
Chapel Hill led by 20 at halftime and didn't let up, rolling to an easy victory. Antawn Jamison was on fire for the Jams with 43 points on 16 of 28 shooting. Also for Chapel Hill, Rasheed Wallace had 25 points and 9 rebounds. Rahim and O'Neal scored 17 apiece for the Blades.
Game 2 Bakersfield 112 Chapel Hill 98
Elton Brand led the way for the Blades with 22 points and Gordan Giricek scored 20. For the Jams, Rasheed Wallace had 31 points and 9 boards, and Jamison pumped home 20.
Game 3 Chapel Hill 118 Bakersfield 102
This was a one point game at halftime, Chapel Hill took control in the second half and coasted to another easy win. Christian Laettner had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Jams, and Antawn Jamison once again ran wild scoring 38 points. Rasheed Wallace added 21 for Chapel Hill. Elton Brand led the way for the Blades with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

Galactic (35-14) sweeps Twisters in Tulsa (26-27)

TriCity (16-19) takes 2 of 3 in Brooklyn (24-33)

Three good tight games.

Game one - TriCity 107-105 in OT. Davis 30p, Marbury 27p and 13a. Gasol had 37pts, 12 reb to lead Brooklyn,

Game two - Brooklyn 123-121 in OT. Mobley hits 3 pointer to tie at buzzer. Odom score 8 points in 1 minute with three fast break assists form Strickland to pull away. The Blackhawks fought back but couldn't make it all the way. Martin 23p-12r and Odom 23p lead the Tigers. Marbury led TriCity with 38p-13a, Davis had 20 pts.

Game three - TriCity 106-102. The Tigers clawed there way back to within two points late in the 4th, but no miracles this time. Marbury 35p, 10a again led the Blackhawks, Ricky davis contributed 29p. Pau Gasol 23p, 13a led the Tigers.

Chapel Hill (26-29) takes 3 of 4 at New Orleans (18-50)

Roosters complete their home schedule. The Rooster coach expressed displeasure with his team's performance and hopes to improve next season.

Who's Trading?

March 2004

THIS DEAL TAKES EFFECT NEXT SEASON. DO NOT ADJUST YOUR ROSTERS.

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.

February 2004

THIS DEAL TAKES EFFECT NEXT SEASON. DO NOT ADJUST YOUR ROSTERS.

1. New Orleans trades T. Hassell to Louisiana for Harpring

Twisters sweep LA (20-52) in Tulsa (26-24)

Richmond (25-24) wins 2 of 3 in River City (26-28)

Finley's 32 lead Richmond to a 109-99 win in game 1. Richmond captures game 2, 108-95. Stojakovic had 25 and Finley 22 with 11 rebounds for the Raiders. A. Houston was held to 11 points, but dished out 8 assists. River City takes game 3, 116-103. houston bounced back with a 28 point performance and C. Butler added 22.

Galactic (32-14) sweeps 4 in New Orleans (17-47)

Cave Creek (32-16) wins 2 of 3 in New Orleans

Bakersfield (20-20) sweeps three from Jams in Chapel Hill (23-28)

Bakersfield swept three from the slumping Chapel Hill Jams:
Game1 -- 132 - 118 Shaq hits 12 of 16 FTs and Brand goes 25 pts 18 boards
Game 2 -- 121 - 116 Shaq dominates with a 35/11 double double
Game 3 -- 115 - 107 another Shaq double 33/13
The Jams hung close in all 3 games but could never establish a solid lead. Antawn Jamison averaged 26 pts/gm for Chapel Hill. Brian Grant hardly played for Bakersfield. He would average 30+ minutes for the Jams. Which sums up Chapel Hill's problems in the middle.

Brooklyn (23-31) sweeps Rimrockers in Quad City (22-26)

Bakersfield wins two of three in New Orleans

Commissioner to step down next year as St. Lucie Aces coach

Been thinking about this for several years, almost did it once, now, I think I'll go through with it. After this season, I'm gonna give up my St. Lucie Aces team so I can devote all my time to running the league as your Commissioner.

Several reasons:

1. Just wanna have more time with my family. I don't think I have the time to run both my team and the league any longer.

2. I've had my run and enjoyed the hell out of it. 35 years of Strat gaming and I've always had good teams. It doesn't get much better than that. Time to let younger guns take over.

3. With expansion coming up, there will be more commissioner work than ever for me to do. It would be hard to field a winning team like mine and do a good job as your commissioner, too. I believe that my doing this will help ensure the long-term survival of the SABL. At this point in my life, that's what I want more than anything. (And nope, none of you are getting my team. I'm giving it to a new coach in the off-season, maintaining our SABL tradition of not swapping teams.)

4. Though it's not usually the case, it's ideal that the commissioner of a league does not have a team in the league that he runs. Especially a team as good as mine. Those of you that have been in the league for years and know me well know better, but folks that don't naturally get suspicious. With the new coaches we are gonna get next year, that suspicion would only increase, perhaps to intolerable levels. This is the best way I know to squelch that suspicion and take away any conflict of interest doubt. Since I will have no team, no one can accuse me of making rulings that would benefit my team. It's the best way to do it.

5. This will enable me to continue steering this league in the same direction that I always have - giving all coaches the freedom to be the best that they can be. It's how I won all my games and as long as I run the SABL, I will make sure all its coaches get the same opportunity I had.

So, for as long you guys want me to do it, I will run this league, as long our founding principles of freedom survive. As long as I run the league, that ain't gonna change. I don't want and will not run a league with artificial rules enforcing an artificial parity that creates artificial champions. That's the way 90% of Strat leagues do it and I firmly believe that's why 90% of Strat leagues fold after a few years.

If you win the championship in the SABL, it really means something. I will keep it that way.

I serve at your pleasure. The SABL is truly your league. It's the best because you make it the best. You are the best. I'm so proud to be a part of you all. Thanks so much.

-Scott Ellis, SABL Commissioner

New stats, standings are posted! Enjoy!

McLean, River City, St. Lucie & Holcomb lead divisions

Rob Storey's Nationals have crept into first place in the East Division, 2 games up on Iowa and four games up on Richmond. Akron is still in the running, too, just 6 games out.

In the North, Mike Renick's River City team is in first by just a half-game over the Amazing Kathleen Feeney's Quad City squad, with Chris Feeney's Tri-City Blackhawks creeping up and only 2.5 games behind.

The South is still St. Lucie's domain, as that juggernaut has opened up a 22 game lead over Steve Walters' World Champion Galactic Thunder.

And the big story is Charlie Dillingham's Holcomb Heat, which has a big 7.5 game lead over Cave Creek's Mark Long.

Kevin Feeney's Un-Amazing Davenport Dazzlers are still the worst team in the league, but right behind are Knox Bardeen's Iowa Tornadoes, Jeff Perigoni's New Orleans Roosters and Phil Russo's Louisiana Buzz. Any four of those teams could get the first pick in the draft and LeBron James this fall.

The Answer still leads all scorers, Aces best still best offensive team

Finney's Allen Iverson still leads in scoring with 31.7 ppg. Big Ben Wallace of Holcomb leads in boards with 10.5 rpg and field goal percentage with .631. Akron's Ray Allen leads in FT % with .938 and Bakersfield's Brent Barry leads in 3-Point FG % with .527. Holcomb's Jason Williams leads in Assists Per Game with 11.2, while St. Lucie Jason Kidd and Iverson are tied in steals with 2.3 per game. St. Lucie's Tim Duncan leads in blocks per game with 3.4 and St. Lucie's Kobe Bryant leads in Defensive Stops with 120.

The Aces still maintain their offensive dominance, scoring 124.6 ppg. The best defensive team is Finney, allowing only 96.7 ppg.

Brooklyn (20-31) sweeps Dazzlers in Davenport (12-45)

Brooklyn uses balanced scoring (5 in double figures) to down Davenport, 98-89 in game one. The dazzlers committed 26 turnovers, and the Tigers enjoyed a 16-5 advantage on FT.
The Tigers held of Davenport 89-87 in game 2, behind Gasol's 27 points and 12 rebounds. Mo Pete had 21 and hudson 20 for the Dazzlers. The last 9 points of the game came from the FT line, including 5 from Gasol.
Brooklyn completes the sweep with an easy 103-86 win. Mobley had 23 and Gasol 22 with 12 boards. Peterson had 20 on 7-22 shooting, and d. Harvey 18 and 10 rebounds.

Galactic (28-14) sweeps 4 from Buzz in Louisiana (20-55)

4/7 GAL 112 vs LOU  93 C.WEBBER 30 M.HARPRING 11 G.PAYTON 10
4/7 GAL 118 vs LOU 100 A.WALKER 21 K.MALONE 10 G.PAYTON 9
4/7 GAL 126 vs LOU 101 R.HAMILTON 30 C.WEBBER 11 G.PAYTON 7
4/7 GAL 113 vs LOU 112 M.HARPRING 22 C.BOOZER 12 G.PAYTON 15

Holcomb (46-16) sweeps Thunder in Galactic (24-14)

Galactic defense evaporates.

G1) Galactic 116
Holcomb 127

Galactic shot 59% from the field, 46%(6-13) on 3's but it wasn't enough as Holcomb out rebounded Galactic 42-28 and made 17 more free throws.

For Thunder Payton had 21 and 8 assists. Webber 16, 10 rebs and 6 assists. Malone had only 10 with 0 rebounds in 31 minutes.

For Heat Jordan had 32 with 5 rebs. 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blks. J.Williams had 14 with 13 assists and 2 steals. Billups added 21. B.Wallace had 18 with 14 rebounds.


G2) Galactic 112
Holcomb 123

Holcomb shoots 60% from the field and 50%(6-12) on 3's as well as out rebounding Thunder 48-29 and wins easily dispite 31 turnovers.

Thunder had Payton and Cassell combine for 53, 14 assists and 6 steals. Only other player in double figures was Kukoc with 11.

Heat was lead by another great performance by Jordan with 44, 6 rebs and 5 assists. G.Robinson added 20. Billups had 15 with 7 assists. J.Williams had 12 with 12 assists and Big Ben totaled 16 with 17 rebounds.


G3) Galactic 124
Holcomb 127

Holcomb shoot 60% from the field again and dominate the rebounding(42-31) for the 3rd time. Holcomb had 40 assists on 54 Fg's.

Galactic had 7 men in double figures with Payton leading the way with 24 and 9 assists. Malone had 20 with 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Thunder shot 55% from the floor and made 19 more FTs but shouldn't stop the Heat on offense or overcome Holcomb's great rebounding.

Heat was lead by Jordan (who else) with 38, 5 rebs and 4 assists. Big Ben goes for 22 with 13 rebounds. Billups added 18. J. Williams had 9 with 15 assists.

For the series Jordan averaged 38 points. Wallace 18.7 and 14.7 rebounds. J.Williams 13.3 assists. Heat averaged 125.7 points, 44 rebounds, 34.3 assists and shot 57.6% from the floor and 41.5%(22-53) on 3's.

Heat wins two of three from Galactic in Holcomb

Game 1 not as close as score would indicate. Galactic had little trouble.
Karl Malone played like Mailman of old, torching Ben Wallace for 33 points to lead 6 Galactic players in double figures. Galactic wins 128-112.
Game 2, Billups, Robinson, Jordan, all go forever 20 as Holcomb wins 112-101.
Game 3, best of series. Billups goes for 34 to lead Holcomb to a 115-113 win. Lead changes constantly. Galactic missed two chances within the last
11 seconds to win or put game into OT. Webber was solid with 30 to lead 6 Galactic players in double figures.

Galactic wins two of three in Finney (31-31)

Finney wins game 3 in OT. Galactic held Iverson to his season low, 12 points in game 1.

Renegades (24-24) take 2 of 3 in Richmond (23-21)

Allan houston scored 8 of his game high 30 points in the final 65 seconds, lifting the Renegades to a 106-100 win over Richmond. River City outscored the raiders 14-3 in the final 2:46.
River city takes game 2, 104-88. Houston had 24, and Drobnjak 20 with 10 rebounds. Finley paced the Raiders with 20.
Peja scored 27, and Finley had 22 points, 11 reb, and 7 assists, as Richmond salvaged game 3, 105-103. Houston had 35 for the Renegades.

Hawks (14-18) sweep Raiders in Richmond

Tri City takes game one 118-101. R. Davis scores 34, Marbury adds 27 and 9 assists. S. Bradley 11 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. Finley topped all scorers with 37.
Tri City captures game 2, 112-96. Davis had 27 and Marbury 21 with 11 assists. Dirk topped all scorers with 21.
The Hawks make it a clean sweep with a 110-98 point win. Marbury had 28 and 12 assists. Peja had 27 for the Raiders.

Tigers sweep Davenport (14-42) in Brooklyn (17-31)

Game one - 104-91
Game two - 100-80
Game three - 97-92 (Dan Gadzuric fouls out in only 8 minutes of play)

Akron (15-17) takes 2 of 3 from Renegades in River City

River City overcame a 39 point 1st quarter output by Akron, and downed the Blimps 115-110. Houston had 28 points and 7 assists. C. Butler added 24 points. Garnett paced Akron with 29 points and 12 boards.
The Blimps held River City to 38 second half points (after allowing 37 in 2nd qtr) to defeat River City 114-103. Garnett had 21 points and 24 rebounds.
Akron exploded for 134 points en route to an easy 134-111 win over River City.

Aces take 2 of 3 from Tulsa (21-24) in St. Lucie (63-5)

St. Lucie loses its second home game of the year to Philip Creider's Twisters.

Richmond (22-16) sweeps Bakersfield (15-19)

Game 1 at Bakersfield, Raiders 106 Blades 102. Baron Davis and Dirk Nowitzke both scored 18 for Richmond. Shaq led the Blades with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Game 2 at Richmond, Raiders 117 Blades 102. Nowitzke had 28 points and 11 rebounds, and Peja Stojakovic scored 28. Elton Brand led the Blades with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Aces sweep LA (20-45) in St. Lucie (61-4)

Game 1 - St. Lucie 145, Louisiana 124

Kobe Bryant pumped in 42 points and John Stockton had 22 points and 11 assists. Jason Kidd had 24 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists. Tim Duncan had 12 boards.

For LA, Jamal Mashburn scored 23; Matt Harpring scored 33 with 10 rebounds.

Game 2 - St. Lucie 140, Louisiana 106

Kobe Bryant again led all scorers with 38 points. Tim Duncan had 26 points. Stockton had 18 assists.

Mashburn led the Buzz with 23.

Game 3 - St. Lucie 133, Louisiana 101

Duncan and Bryant both scored 22 each. Yao Ming had 12 boards, while Stockton had 14 assists. Kidd had 11 assists.

Harpring led LA with 19 points.

Game 4 - St. Lucie 120, Louisiana 98

Duncan led all scorers with 30 points. Kobe had 20 points.

Mike Bibby led LA with 21 points. Antoine Walker scored 20.

Twisters (20-22) sweep Buzz in LA (20-41)

Louisiana 90
Tulsa 93

O'Neal with dbl dbl 20pts and 15 boards

Louisiana 98
Tulsa 116

Marion led all scores with 34

Louisiana 100
Tulsa 117

O'Neal with dbl dbl 21pts and 12 boards

Quad City (22-23) sweeps Tigers in Brooklyn (14-31)

Richmond (20-16) wins 7 of 8 from Brooklyn

Aces (57-4) sweep Cave Creek (30-15) in St. Lucie

Game 1 - St. Lucie 138, Cave Creek 109

Kobe's 38 points and 12 rebounds dominated this one. Jason Kidd added 23 points for the Aces, John Stockton had 12 assists and Brevin Knight had 11 assists. St. Lucie had 46 assists to just 26 assists for Cave Creek.

For Cave Creek, Paul Pierce scored 36 points and Eric Snow had 12 assists.

Game 2 - St. Lucie 125, Cave Creek 83

Kobe Bryant again led all scorers with 25 points. Tim Duncan had 20 points, 17 rebounds and 7 blocked shots. Kidd scored 22 and Stockton had 11 assists.

Jalen Rose led the Longshots with 22 points. Erick Dampier had 13 boards.

Game 3 - St. Lucie 126, Cave Creek 117

Duncan led the Aces with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Stockton had 10 assists. Kobe scored 25.

Pierce led the Longshots with 23 points.

Aces (54-4) take all 3 from Finney (30-29) in St. Lucie

Frank Rowley ill, autoplay Richmond for all games through March 16

Richmond Raider Coach Frank Rowley is sick with a real bad cold/flu. He has asked me to tell everyone to autoplay his team for all games through March 16, to give him time to get well.

This means you should play both the HOME and AWAY games in your series with Richmond and let the computer pick Richmond's lineups for all of the games. Please send me and Frank the results.

Holcomb (41-15) sweeps Jams in Chapel Hill (23-25)

The Holcomb Heat had little trouble sweeping the Chapel Hill Jams: 115 - 109  120 - 104  104 - 84.  Why did MJ retire??  3 games -- 90 points for Jordan.  Fellow Tar Heel Antawn Jamison was overwhelmed in the SF matchup, in spite of a 14 year advantage in age.

Galactic sweeps Cave Creek (30-12) in Galactic (21-8)

G1) Galactic 117
Cave Creek 91

Thunder lead by Payton with 19, 5 rebs and 11 assists. Chris Webber, in his Thunder debut and 8 points(4-15), 8 rebs and 5 steals.
Longshots were lead by Pierce with 27 and a game high 11 rebounds.


G2) Galactic 119
Cave Creek 108

Galactic lead by Payton with 31. Cassell added 22 with 7 assists. Malone had 15 with 10 rebs. Webber had 12 with game high 15 rebs and game high 8 assists.
Cave Creek had 6 men in double figures lead by Pierce with 23. Nene had 15 with 10 rebs.


G3) Galactic 110
Cave Creek 98

Thunder had Cassell with 20 and 8 assists. Payton with 18 with 9 assists and 5 steals. Jones added 18. Webber had 10 with 6 rebs and 6 assists.
Once again leading the way for Longshots was Pierce with 31(1-8 on 3's). Nene added 23 with 8 rebounds.
Big story of the series was Turnovers Cave Creek had 74(Galactic 43) Longshots were not so good on long shots, shooting 14 for 51(27.4%) on 3's.

Aces (51-4) sweep Bakersfield (15-17) in St. Lucie

Aces take 2 of 3 in Finney (30-26)

St Lucie wins game 103-95, close game all the way with the lead going back and forth. Bryant has 26 for the winners, Duncan 20. Iverson goes for 27 for Finney, Jackson 20.
Second game no contest as St Lucie opens up an 11 pt halftime lead and extends it to 22 at the end of three and blows the game wide open outscoring Finney 40-20 in the fourth. Turnovers and poor shooting killed Finney the entire game. Bryant led five Aces in double figures with 37.
Game 3: Completely different game. Finney finally shows why they may be the best Defensive team in the league. Artest steals the ball with 3 seconds left and St Lucie leading by three, he pulls up shoots the three and sends the game to OT. Iverson takes over in OT leading Finney to the 107-105 win.

ROOSTERS (15-39) WIN FIRST HOME SERIES, 2 OF 3 FROM HEAT (38-15)

Game One
Holcomb wins 106-90 as Michael pours in 28 points. Wallace had 17 rebounds and Williams dished out 13 assists in an easy win.

Game 2
Roosters win a defensive struggle 85-75. Jordan scores 33 but New Orleans prevails.

Game 3
Heat started out hot in first quarter but could not keep the lead as Nash torched the nets for 30. Al Harrington had a double-double for the Roosters.
New Orleans wins the rubber game 94-88 to take their first home series of the year.

Check your 'Rules' tab, make sure current rules chosen

We are not replaying any games because of this, but check your game's Rules tab under League Options and make sure current NBA rules are chosen. Just checked mine right before I started playing my first March game and 1994 rules were chosen for me by the new patch.

Beware the Ides Of March, especially if they are from Strat.

McLEAN (30-20) TAKES 2 OF 3 FROM RIVER CITY (21-21)

In McLean, the Nats took two the first two of the series from the Renegades by 109-114 and 102-87 before being blown out in game three 137-103. Jerry Stackhouse led five Nats in double figures in game one with 26, as Alan Houston couldn't find his shooting rhythm and was held to eight point on two for 14 shooting. Stackhouse also had 26 in game two, with six Nats in double figures. Houston had 23. In game three, Caron Butler (33), Houston (31), and Tyson Chandler (29) all went wild. Chandler was 11 for 12 from the floor. Arenas led the Nats with 20.

Akron (13-16) sweeps Dazzlers in Davenport (12-39)

Akron takes game one easily, 95-72. Garnett had 29 points 13 rebounds, Ilgauskas 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Ray Allen 19 points. The Blimps also converted 25-27 FT.
M. Peterson had 23 for Davenport.

The Blimps trailed by one at the half but exploded to a 53-33 2nd half advantage to down the Dazzlers 106-87. Ray allen had 31 points. Ilgauskas added 21 and Wally Z 18. Garnett was held to 13 points but added 18 rebounds. Peterson again topped the Dazzlers with 25 points.

Ray Allen drained 2 3's in the final minute to lift the Blimps to a 95-91 win over the Dazzlers. The Blimps, who overcame a 9 point deficit heading into the 4th quarter, were paced by Garnett who had 23 points and another 18 rebounds. Troy Hudson topped the Dazzlers with 23 points.

NATS SWEEP TRI-CITY (11-18) IN McLEAN

McLean swept three games from the Blackhawks by scores of 101-95,134-103, and 126-116.  Jerry Stackhouse averaged 35.3 in the three games including 31 of 33 free throws.  Stephon Marbury led Tri-City in each game as well, averaging 25.7.