Issue 88 March 2002
FROM COMMISSIONER SCOTT ELLIS, 2ND AMER. BASKETBALL LEAGUE
2002 Playoff brackets are set
In the Classic Conference, Good News will take on Holcomb for the right to play South champ St. Lucie, while Galactic and McLean will tussle to see who plays West Division winner Finney.
In the Royal Conference, Akron (45-37) will meet Tri-City in the playoffs and the winner of that series will face the mighty Dragons, who won the East. Richmond (53-29) will play Miles in the first round and the winner of that series will take on Iowa, the North Division winner.
The SABL playoffs officially start April 1!
Good News gets last playoff berth
Congratulations to Roosters Coach Chris Gertridge. After finishing his season at 41-41 several weeks ago, he's been on pins and needles waiting to see if that was good enough to make the playoffs. It was.
McLean (45-37), Tulsa (31-51) and Chapel Hill (40-42) have finished their regular seasons. It was a heartbreak for Jams Coach Tommy Fields, as he missed the playoffs by just one win. Still, Chapel Hill improved tremendously from past years and should be in the hunt again next season.
The only regular season suspense left is the Bettendorf-Brooklyn series, which will decide who has the worst record in the SABL and who will get the first pick in this fall's draft. Both the Tigers and Druids are in contention for that, along with Davenport.
Welcome to the newest member of the SABL family . . .
On February 20, Tulsa Coach Philip Creider's wife Lynn gave birth to son Nicholas.
Congratulations to both Mommy and Daddy!
Druids set record for fewest points in a quarter & half
Set March 16 at Tri-City, Mark Feeney's Bettendorf squad beat a record set by Garden City vs. St. Lucie in 1998-99 of just 4 points scored in a quarter. The Druids only scored 3 points. That same game also saw the Druids score the fewest points (20) in a half in SABL history, beating the old record of 22, jointly held by three teams.
Heat and Finney finish season, both make playoffs!
Finney (50-32) and Holcomb (44-38) have finished their regular seasons. Doug's Dillingham's Longhorns once again win the West and his father's Heat have made post-season play. Congrats to both!
Only one Classic Conference playoff spot is open and either Chapel Hill or Good News will get it. Stay tuned.
Only Brooklyn, Bettendorf, Chapel Hill and Tulsa have yet to finish their regular seasons.
Nats clinch playoff spot
Bob Storey's Nationals (42-36) have earned a playoff berth. Two of these three teams will make it, too: Holcomb, Good News or Chapel Hill.
Stay tuned as SABL March Madness continues!
River City, Galactic, Garden City, Blades, Akron, Richmond finish season, Finney clinches playoff spot
Several teams have finished their regular seasons: River City (22-60) will not get the first pick in the draft and neither will Garden City (21-61). Although Garden City and Davenport have the same won-lost records, the Dazzlers have no penalty points while Garden City has two. That means Davenport will draft higher than Garden City. Brooklyn and Bettendorf, who finish the season against each other, are still in the running for the first pick along with Davenport.
In the Royal Conference, the playoff picture is set. Akron (45-37) will meet Tri-City in the playoffs and the winner of that series will face the mighty Dragons. Richmond (53-29) will play Miles in the first round and the winner of that series will take on Iowa.
Nobody in the Classic Conference is eligible for the first pick, especially Bakersfield (35-47). But Doug Dillingham's Longhorns are in the playoffs again for sure, joining the Aces and Galactic (52-30), even though Finney (45-29) still has not clinched the West. The divisional title will be decided when Finney and Holcomb (41-33) play their final eight-game series against each other. Chapel Hill (38-40) is just barely in playoff contention.
Another triple-double makes it 11 for the year
Richmond's Baron Davis turned a triple-double vs. River City to increase the SABL record to 11!
All games not played by Apr. 10 will be autoplayed
ON APRIL 1, I WILL BE ASKING OPPOSING COACHES TO AUTOPLAY ANY GAMES THAT I DON'T HAVE. IF I DON'T RECEIVE GAME RESULTS BY APRIL 10, I WILL PLAY THE GAMES HERE AND THEY WILL BECOME OFFICIAL.
Once games get three weeks late, I usually give out penalty points. Once games results or instructions are 30 days late, you are free to autoplay the games, per our Constitution. Most of you have been doing great in keeping up with your schedule, but some late games are still hanging out there like sore thumbs:
March 1, Day 89
BRK vs. BET (Bettendorf is on autoplay for the rest of the season)
I've been telephoning many of you about these games. If these or any games aren't played by the dates shown above, either I or the opposing coach will autoplay your team or teams and get 'em done. Also, penalty points will be assessed where appropriate. And if these games get 30 days late, an opposing coach can autoplay your team, too, under the SABL Constitution.
Again, most of you are doing great so, keep up the good work and keep swishing the SABL nets!
Nats split with Galactic at McLean
Here's the report from McLean Coach Bob Storey:
Steve Walters' instructions for
Galactic present lots of problems for a coach. He plays a Rueben Patterson
inside at a guard position and everyone else outside. It took me a while
to figure out how to play his team. First, always press. This
somewhat reduces the number of assists for Stockton, and also increases the
number of turnovers. Second, the computer ("let computer suggest") will
often leave one of his big men open to be the block man. When this
happens, use that player to double team Patterson. Third, sag against
Malone when he plays outside. He has a wonderful outside card, but he only
draws 60 of the fouls (off his card) compared to when he is inside. At
least, he doesn't get your big guys in as much foul trouble that way. The
trouble is I don't know how to send instructions to make the computer play that
way for away games.
Anyway,
Galactic won the first game 97-96 when Stackhouse went 3 for 22 from the floor
(he was 36 for 66 (55%) in the next three games). The Thunder hit 65
percent from the floor to win game two, 127-121. They had 37 assists on 49
baskets. Kemp and Pack both hit threes, and I wasn't leaving them
open. The Nats took a thrilling game three, 130-126 in overtime.
Karl Malone hit two free throws for the lead with five seconds left in
regulation, but Stackhouse drove for a layup to tie it. This completed a
Nat comback from 21 points down in the third quarter. Malone had 44,
hitting 19 for 20 free throws. McLean won the final game 131-115 behind
Stack's 30 plus 34 points and 17 rebounds from Brad Miller and Jihidi
White. Malone fouled out with 29. In the last two games - with the
press on most of the time - Galactic committed 51 turnovers.
Tigers lose all 4 in Richmond
Heat 114, Raiders 112 in Richmond
Raiders beat Finney in Richmond
Garden City beats Raiders in Richmond
Raiders sweep Akron in Richmond
Galactic (50-28) clinches playoff berth
Steve Walters' Thunder will make his perennial trip to post-season play again, but only he and the Aces have earned playoff spots so far in the Classic Conference. Stay tuned as the SABL's March Madness continues!
Raiders roll over River City, take all 6
Richmond takes two from Bakersfield
The race, or stumble, to last place . . .
The Un-Amazing Davenport Dazzlers (21-61) closed out with a miserable eight straight losses to fellow Feeney Chris (Tri-City). That suddenly puts Coach Kevin Feeney in contention for the worst record in the SABL this year and the first pick in the 2002 draft. Other contenders include Brooklyn (18-54), Bettendorf (19-57) and Garden City (18-59).
May the worst team lose . . .
Tri-City, Miles, Dazzlers finish season
Three more teams have finished their regular season and now the playoff picture in the Royal Conference is clear:
In the Royal Conference, Tri-City's (41-41) late-season surge puts the Amazing Chris Feeney into post-season play again. Frank Rowley's Richmond Raiders (46-24) are in, along with Miles (47-35) and Akron (45-33). The Blimps are making only their second SABL playoff appearance. The last time Dave Scott's team made it was in 1999.
Of course divisional winners East Asia (73-9) and Dennis Derby's Iowa Tornadoes (43-39) are in. Iowa is making it's first-ever appearance in the SABL playoffs.
In the Classic Conference, Chapel Hill (37-37) has dropped to .500, but is still in the playoff hunt, as is McLean (40-31), Holcomb (38-31) and Good News (41-41). St. Lucie (73-9) is in and it's looking more and more like Finney (42-28) and Galactic (45-27) will make return visits to the post-season.
Roosters (41-41) take 7 of 8 from Blades, finish season
But, will that .500 record be good enough to make the playoffs? Despite the fact that Bakersfield will not be in the playoffs due to an entire season of autoplaying, only the South Division winning Aces have clinched a playoff spot in the Classic Conference.
In the Royal, East Asia and Iowa, the East and North winners, are in post-season play for sure, although it's looking more and more as if Akron, Richmond and Miles, all from the East, will be in the playoffs, too.
McLEAN SLICES THE BLADES TWO OF THREE
In Bakersfield, the Nats dropped the first game but took the next two to stop a three game losing streak. Glenn Robinson hit for 34 and the Nats had 21 turnover in the Blades 122-109 win in the opener. But they came back to take the next two, 107-104 and 112-89. The Nats 45-30 rebound edge and 30 Blade fouls made the difference in game two, and Stackhouse's 42 points offset Kidd's 16 assists in game three.
Jams drop two of three to Heat at Chapel Hill
After routing Holcomb in Game 1 (139 - 115) the over confident Jams dropped the final two games of the series 115 - 111 and 115 - 103. It's all about shooting as Chapel Hill shot 56% in the victory and 47% and 45% in the losses. Tim Duncan had his best game in the loss (25pts 11 reb) as Rasheed Wallace held Duncan to 35% shooting for the series. Antawn Jamison averaged 34 pts/gm for the series.
East Asia (73-9) finishes season, ties for best record
Paul Bennett's Dragons took 3 of 4 from Frank Rowley's Raiders in Richmond to finish the regular season tied with the Aces for the year's best record. St. Lucie and East Asia also split their season series, 1-1. So who will draft last and who will have the home court advantage throughout the playoffs?
Well, if you look at the two games East Asia and St. Lucie played against each other, you find that the Dragons scored 230 points and the Aces scored 227. So, by a three-point margin, East Asia will draft last and have home court advantage in all it's playoff games this season.
Congratulations again to Paul!
Plethora of triple-doubles
Another record set this year is the most triple-doubles ever: 10. Bakersfield's Jason Kidd has four of them and McLean's Andre Miller has two.
St. Lucie and Galactic have new Area Code
It's changed from 561 to 772.
TULSA STICKS KNIFE INTO NATS AT McLEAN
And after they stuck it in, they twisted it.
"Boy, we looked at their record, and didn't think they would give us a hard time. But they took three of four. I guess we just weren't ready," said McLean coach Bob Storey.
Tim Hardaway was the star, playing a key role in each win. He had 21 plus 9 assists in the first game 115-113 win. He hit the winning three point shot in the 96-95 win in game three, while holding Andre Miller to 1 for 11 from the field.
"The scouting report did not indicate he played much defense. Is his contract up for renewal?"
And he added 17 points and 9 assists the Twisters 115-102 win in game 4. The Nats took only game 2, 104-90. Stackhouse averaged 35 in the series on 52 percent shooting, but the frontcourt played sporadically, and Hardaway held Miller to 35 percent shooting over the series.
Iowa (43-39) wins North, finishes regular season
Coach Dennis Derby is leading his Tornadoes to the playoffs for the first time by winning the North Division. Congratulations to Dennis and to East Division winner Paul Bennett of the East Asia Dragons. Dennis' achievement is remarkable when you consider that last year, his team got off to the worst start in league history, 0-11.
Way to turn it around, Dennis!
Aces sweep Jams in Chapel Hill, finish with 73 wins
Here's the report from Chapel Hill Coach Tommy Field:
"No surprise, the Jams get crushed in four but the star of the series was not Payton or Shaq or Kobe or Webber or any of those Aces. Antawn Jamison had an incredible series as he totally dominated Kobe Bryant by scoring 32, 44, 60 and 34 points. He also had 19 boards in game 1 and hit 57% for the series. The 60 point game started with Jamison getting 20 of his team's first 22 points. The Jams lost 125 - 106 123 - 108 126 - 106 and 100 - 93. Oh yeah, Shaq was unstoppable."
St. Lucie (73-9) has now finished its regular season, but if East Asia (70-8) wins all four of their remaining games, Paul Bennett's Dragons will have the best regular season record in the SABL and home court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Stay tuned!
East Asia wins East again, could have best regular record
With four games to play for both the Dragons and Aces, East Asia is poised to have the best regular season record in the SABL this season. It's gonna be close as Paul Bennett's Dragons have really poured on the gas this year.
Also of note is the Chapel Hill Jams, the league's perennial doormat that isn't a doormat anymore. Tommy Field's Jams are playing above .500 and Tommy could make the playoffs for the first time ever.
More stats have been posted, along with new standings, so check 'em out. Finney's Allen Iverson has slowed down a bit in scoring, so will The Answer break Patrick Ewing's PPG scoring record? Stay tuned as another exciting SABL season goes into its March Madness homestretch.
Autoplay Bakersfield for March, too
David Squires is still having trouble getting his game going on his new computer, so we will have to autoplay his team for any regular season games on the entire schedule. Play him, both home and away, on autoplay, and send me and him the results ASAP.
This also, unfortunately means the Blades will not be in the playoffs. Any team that has its entire regular season schedule autoplayed, which is what happened with Bakersfield, forfeits its spot in postseason play. The team with the next best record will take Bakersfield's spot.
Let's hope David gets his computer lined out for next season, or better yet, let's hope Strat gets their game lined out so everyone can easily install and play it by next season.
Penalty point report
Now the part of my commissioner's duties that I like the least, assessing penalty points. Please let me know ASAP if I've made an error, which is more likely the older I get. I will rescind them if you can prove me wrong or cry enough. Here's the current tally:
River City - 11 points total. River City drops down three places in next year's draft:
4 points for no results for Day 7, Dec. 9, Good News vs. River City. Good News was on autoplay for the month of December and that had been announced several weeks ago.
2 points for no results for Day 14, Dec. 16, Holcomb at River City.
2 points for no results for Day 16, Dec. 18, River City vs. Bakersfield. Bakersfield is on autoplay for December and January and this was announced over a month ago.
1 point for no results for Day 20, Dec. 22, Finney at River City.
1 points for no results for Day 22, Dec. 24, Garden City at River City
1 point for no instructions for Day 30, Jan. 1, River City at St. Lucie
Tri-City - 7 points total. Tri-City drops down two places in next year's draft:
4 points for no results for Day 14, Dec. 16, Tri-City vs. Bakersfield. Bakersfield is on autoplay.
2 points for no results for Day 16, Dec. 18, Finney at Tri-City.
1 point for no results for TriCity vs. Good News, Day 22, Dec. 24
Finney - 6 points total. Finney drops down two places in next year's draft:
5 points for no results for Day 4, Dec. 6, Bakersfield vs. Finney. Bakersfield is on autoplay for December and January and this was announced over a month ago.
1 point for no results for Day 20, Dec. 22, River City at Finney
McLean- 2 points total.
2 points for no results for Day 84, McLean vs. Bakersfield. Bakersfield has been on autoplay for February games for weeks now.
Bettendorf - 2 points total.
2 points for no results for Day 14, Dec. 16, Finney at Bettendorf
Garden City - 2 points total.
2 points for no instructions for Day 14, Dec. 16, Garden City at Davenport.
Good News - 2 points total.
2 points for no results for Day 71, Feb. 11, McLean at Good News
Iowa - 2 points total.
2 points for no instructions for Day 45, Jan. 16, Iowa at Galactic.
Holcomb - 1 point total
1 point for no results for Day 20, Dec. 22, Davenport at Holcomb.
East Asia stays hot in Chang Mai, sweeping Raiders
Game 1 Asia 108 Raiders 98
A close game all the way. armstrong had 27, McKie 22, Jones 20 and Robinson 19 and 15 rebounds. Finley had 18 to lead 6 Raiders in double-digets.
Game 2 Asia 113 Raiders 111
Super-close game with a basket by the Admiral with 24 seconds left and then a defensive stop by the Dragons for the win. Both teams had 6 players with at least 10 points. Jones had 33, Armstrong and Baron 24 and Mashburn 23.
Game 3 Asia 99 Raiders 90
Another thriller for most of the game, with richmond leading by 1 after 3 periods before the Dragons pulled it our in the 4th. Jones had 29 and 10 boards and was the only player with more than 20 points. Asia won it by making 31 free throws to 11 for Richmond.
Game 4 Asia 136 Raiders 95
Asia's top game offensively of the year. Asia shot 63% (50-79) and had 37 assists (10 turnovers) while out-rebounding Richmond 37-22. Jones had 34, Mason 22, Armstrong 19, Robinson 19 and 10 rebounds and Jerome Williams had 17 in 18 minutes. mcKie also had 13 and 10 assists for asia.
Dragons top Dazzlers at home
Tigers taste life in fast lane, take 5 of 6 from Renegades
McLean stays on top of Longhorns
The Nationals swept their series from Finney, winning 109-100, 107-77, and 114-94. Allen Iverson lit up the place as usual, scoring 110 points in the series (on 82 field goal attempts). This topped Stackhouse's 101 points (although he had only 51 attempts). The difference was Jerry's 18 for 28 in three point attempts (you'll get burned if you sag, everybody) and 23 of 26 field goal attempts (you'll get burned if you don't!). The other difference was in the supporting cast, where several Nats chipped in (Scott Williams was 10 for 10 from the floor with a three pointer in the series), while Atkins (10 for 33) and Mike Moore (7 points in the series) were disappointments.
Bulldogs humiliated by Akron in Miles
The team of Mike Weinstein and Nate Burns are likely fit to
be tied when they discover what funloving Tom Jargo has done to their
legacy.
The Miles Bulldogs, once the pride and joy of Team
Weinstein/Burns under another franchise name, scored just 69 points in a 112-69
loss to Akron in one of four games at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester,
Minn.
"Team Weinstein/Burns had the Patrick Ewing of old; We just have an
old Patrick Ewing," Jargo said.
The debacle occurred after Miles had
taken two of the first three games of the series against Akron. In the finale,
Miles shot just 35 percent and committed 32 turnovers. The Bulldogs managed just
31 points by halftime, trailing 58-31.
"It was Free Cheese Day at the
local Salvation Army and our guys got a little too excited; they overdid it,"
Miles Coach Hayden Fry quipped.
"We must have thought we were the
Druids," Jargo said.
Miles won Game 1 and Game 3 behind the duo of
Antoine Walker and Mike Bibby.
In Game 1, Bibby scored a season-high 36
points and added 6 assists, while Walker pitched in 25 points and 7 rebounds as
the Bulldogs won 112-95. In Game 3, Walker took scoring honors with 37 points
while Bibby added 23 points and 11 assists in a 115-104 win.
"Obviously,
we go as Walker and Bibby go," Fry said.
Kevin Garnett was the star for
the Blimps, averaging 30 points a game during the series. Garnett scored 32
points as Akron took Game 2 of the series 105-98. And Garnett led the Blimps
with 37 points in the fiasco of a finale.
Miles is now 46-32 with four games left at Akron.
Dragons sweep Brooklyn in East Asia
More SABL records smashed this season!!!
Records are made to be broken and the St. Lucie Aces set a new team assist record with 51 in an incredible triple-OT game this year, face-to-face at home vs. Galactic's Steve Walters. This just eclipsed the old record of 50 team assists set by the Thunder vs. the Brooklyn Tigers in 1997-98.
Another record broken in that epic was by the Aces' Shaquille O'Neal, who played a record 53 minutes of that 58 minute game. That beat the previous mark of 51 set by Patrick Ewing of East Asia in 1999-2000.
In a December game vs. McLean, Shaq also set another mark - 12 blocks in a game, beating out the 11 blocked by Garden City's Tim Duncan vs. Brooklyn in 1998-99.
But topping that was the fabulous 63 points scored by the Longhorns' Allen Iverson at Finney in a Feb. 24 game vs. St. Lucie, breaking a record set in the very first year of the SABL, in 1994-95: 59 points in a game, by Patrick Ewing on the old Mike Weinstein/Nate Burns franchise, vs. the Brooklyn Tigers.
Iverson, who is so far averaging more than 36 ppg, is set to break another of Ewing's SABL records - the all-time season ppg average of 34.5, also set in 1994-95 for Weinstein/Burns' team.
Incidentally, Mike Weinstein is a good friend of Brooklyn's Steve Feldheim. The Weinstein/Burns franchise is now owned by that fun-loving Miles coach, Tom Jargo and Ewing, after being traded around to a few other SABL franchises, is now back on the Miles franchise once again.
Stats and standings updated with February results
Check 'em out and enjoy.
Aces clinch again, but Asia could win more games
As the regular season heads into the March homestretch, St. Lucie has won the South once more and East Asia is about to clinch another East title. In fact, the Aces may not have the best record in the league this year. The Dragons have more games to play and could end up winning the most.
It also looks like four teams from the East are making the playoffs - East Asia, Richmond, Miles and Akron. Iowa has almost won the North and dominated it so much that it is the only team in that division above .500. This is only the second time in league history that only one team in a division had a record above .500.
In the Classic Conference, the playoff picture is less clear, although the Aces are in and Tulsa and Garden City are out. The rest is still up for grabs.
TULSA SALVAGES ONE VICTORY FROM GALACTIC HOME SERIES
After dropping the first three games of the four game set, the Twisters found a way to win Game #4, 106-102.
Tulsa relied on the their three-headed offensive weapon of David Wesley (19 pts); Shawn Marion (25 pts) and Antonio Davis ( 15 pts) to pull out the narrow victory. The Twisters had led 33-21 after the first quarter, but backed by the strong play of Chris Gatling (18 pts) and Rueben Patterson (19 pts) the Thunder fought back for a 56-56 halftime tie.
One key element to the game was that the Thunder’s Karl Malone’s minutes (23 minutes) were reduced due to foul trouble. Even so, the stud still earned 19 pts and 10 boards before fouling out late in the 4th quarter. Another key element was Galactic’s poor 3-pt shooting (0-11).
"Victories over the best teams in SABL are very sweet indeed," remarked Tulsa Coach, Philip Creider. "I sound like a broken record but we need to continue to build upon games like this."
Games # 1- # 3 went to Galactic: 113-91; 109-83; and 101-95.
Autoplay Bakersfield for all February games
Blades Coach David Squires is having trouble getting his Strat basketball game to work on his new computer. Please autoplay his team for all your February games with Bakersfield, both home and away, and send both me and him the results.
David says he's been trying to get through to Strat tech support for assistance for weeks but hasn't been able to get through. He is going to keep trying. We'll keep you posted.
Bulldogs take two of three from Iowa at Miles
Miles weathered the storm, taking two of three from the
Iowa Tornadoes before a stormwatching crowd at the Mayo Civic Center in
Rochester, Minn.
The Bulldogs rode perfect performances from Johnny
Newman and Antonio Daniels to win the opener, 127-118. Newman hit all seven of
his shots, including five beyond the arc, and hit both free throws to lead Miles
with 21 points. Daniels drained all six of his shots, including four from
three-point land, to add 16 points. Miles shot 58 percent as a team. Iowa, which
shot 51 percent, wasted a 41-point performance by Tracy McGrady. Steve Francis
added 22 points and 13 assists.
In Game 2, Miles jumped to a 14-point
lead at halftime -- only to see the margin reduced to three points heading into
the fourth quarter. But the Bulldogs finished strong to take a 110-99 victory.
Mike Bibby led Miles with 17 points and 11 assists. Antoine Walker chipped in
17. Steve Francis scored 24 for Iowa, which managed only 12 points from its
bench.
Miles had a letdown in Game 3. Iowa built a five-point lead after
one quarter and extended the margin to nine at halftime.
"We got down early and just couldn't catch up," Miles Coach Hayden Fry said.
Vince Carter led Iowa with 30 points, while McGrady chipped
in 24. Keith Van Horn added 16 off the bench for the Tornadoes. Walker paced the
Bulldogs with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Bibby added 20 points and 12
assists.
Miles is now 43-28 with road games at Iowa and Akron and home
games against Akron.
McLEAN CUTS BLADES DOWN TO SIZE
Well, somewhat. The Nationals took two of three at home from Bakersfield, winning the first game easily and then splitting two close contests. The Nats found the key in game one: getting Balde starters in foul trouble. Brand, Houston, and Campbell each sat for more than half the gme and the Nats prevailed easily 114-91. Glenn Robinson's 32 wasn't nearly enough to cope with five Nats with 15 or more. In game two, the Nats won when Campbell missed the second of two foul shots which would have tied the contest with less than five seconds remaining. Two Brad Miller foul shots iced it 101-98. Stackhouse's 29 led all scorers, while Brand's 27 points and 11 rebounds led Bakersfield. It iwas the Blades turn to pull out a close game three, 112-106. Robinson had 40, and more help from his teammates than Stackhouse had to complement his 45. If the Nats had hit more than 25 of their 38 free throws . . . .
Richmond takes three of four at Miles
Richmond takes three of four before a weary crowd at the
Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, Minn. Game 1 -- the only game Miles won -- was
great, but the Bulldogs looked tired the rest of the series.
Miles came
back from a 10-point deficit in the first half to win Game 1, 136-128. Nursing a
one-point lead, Miles scored the final seven points of the game to win. Antoine
Walker had five of the final seven points. The final three games were uneventful
and proved Richmond to be the better team.
The Bulldogs fall to 41-27
with Iowa and Akron on the horizon.
McLEAN WAKES UP; TAKES TWO OF THREE FROM ROOSTERS
After three quarters of the first game, the Nationals were behind Good News by 21. "These guys are pretty good," they may have thought. "Can we beat them?" Well, 28 turnovers in that game were too much to cope with, but they did get within two points before falling 95-91. They did win the next two games, 102-87 (holding a twenty point halftime lead into the final minutes) and 106-92 (another fourth quarter rally - 37 to 11 - to pull away. Stackhouse outscored Paul Pierce for the series 85-71, and the Jihidi White-Brad Miller tandem at center averaged 17 points and 18 rebounds.
Druids autocoach leads Bettendorf to slaughter
Asia took all 6 games with the Druids, mainly as a result of HAL coaching, and not the Evil One. Final results for the series ended all in favour of the Dragons: 103-77 ppg, 51%-39% shooting (45%-27% 3pts), 46-33 rebounds, 23-17 assists and 10-5 on assists. Hopefully HAL will retire after this season is complete.
Raiders beat Galactic in Richmond
Aces ace Raiders in Richmond
Raiders top McLean in Richmond
Raiders beat Chapel Hill in Richmond
Tulsa tops Raiders at Richmond via last minute three
Rowley's Raiders sweep Iowa in Richmond
Raiders take two of three from Tri-City in Richmond
Miles muffs it in Richmond, losing all 4
Raiders rip Druids, taking 5 of 6
Roosters ring Rowley's Raiders in Richmond 96-94
Leading the way for the Roosters was P. Pierce with 32
points, 8 boards and 4 assists, followed by S.
Abdur-Rahim with 17 points
& 16 boards, B. Grant chipped in 16 points and J. Williams rounded out the
double figure scoring with 13 points.
For the Raiders:
Michael Finley had 24 points, 8 boards
and 4 assists, Jamal Mashburn had 17points, 10 boards and 5 assists, and Baron
Davis rounded out the double figure scoring with 10 points, 5 boards and 6
assists.
Key Stat: Good News shot 38 free throws, making 31, while Richmond shot 10 free throws, making 7.
Jams take 2 of three from Glads in Chapel Hill
The Jams took 2 of 3 from Garden City.
Game 1: 103 - 95 Jams win behind Jamison's 32 points.
Game 2: Garden City leads all the way in a 102 - 82 rout. Garden City ruled the boards 45 - 38 and held Antawn to only 10 points.
Game 3: Jams come back to rout GC by 20, 115 - 95.
In a post-game press conference, Jams head man Frank McGuire laid out a few line up changes for the last half of the season. "Rasheed Wallace is through playing center. I hate to sit Lynch but Wallace is much more effective at PF. We will be playing Olowokandi, Harrington and even Gugs with Jamison and Wallace. Also Bobby Sura will be sitting in favor of Glen Rice behind Christie. Rice still has his stroke."