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Strat-O-Matic ForumIssue 102 May 2003
FROM COMMISSIONER SCOTT ELLIS, 2ND AMER. BASKETBALL LEAGUE
Who's Trading?
May 2003
21. Finney trades B. Grant to Saginaw for B. Jackson & B. Haywood
20. St. Lucie trades M. Curry, Brooklyn's 3rd & East Asia's 3rd to Bettendorf for A. Carter
19. Galactic trades Fox & Bettendorf's 2004 2nd to Brooklyn for R. Strickland, Bakersfield's 3rd & Richmond's 3rd
18. St. Lucie trades Rod Strickland & Richmond's 3rd to Brooklyn for Sabonis
17. Galactic trades R. Patterson, E. Watson & its 3rd pick to Bettendorf for Cassell & Bettendorf's 2004 2nd
16. Galactic trades Davenport's 3rd to St. Lucie for Rick Fox
15. St. Lucie trades Eddie Jones to Chapel Hill for Holcomb's 2004 1st pick & R. Fox
14. St. Lucie trades Ervin Johnson to New Orleans for Jeff Foster
13. St. Lucie trades Bakersfield's 3rd to Brooklyn for Ervin Johnson
12. Finney trades Dampier, St. Lucie's 1st and East Asia's 1st to Holcomb for Ratliff & McKie
Raiders take Game 3 of SABL Finals in Richmond
Our Finals stand at two wins for Galactic and one for Richmond after this one:
Game #3
Galactic 103 - Richmond 114
Galactic had 4 players in double figures. They were led by Karl Malone & Gary
Payton who both scored 19 points (Karl, also had 11 rebounds). T. Brandon had 17
points and a game high 8 assists, Donyell Marshall had 14 points and 8 rebounds.
Derick Coleman had 8 points and 11 rebounds. Galactic shot 43 of 89 from the
floor (48%) and 16 of 20 from the free throw line (80%). Galactic garnered 46
rebounds, Richmond had 51 rebounds, and Galactic dished out 29 assists to
Richmond's 20. Galactic had 23 turnover's to Richmonds 19.
Richmond was led by Baron Davis who scored 25 points & dished out 6 assists. He was followed Dirk Nowitzki who scored 23 points and Predag Stojakovic scored 18 points. Richmond shot 41 of 94 from the floor (44%) and 26 of 35 from the free throw line (74%), we also had 11 steals to 7 for Galactic and blocked 5 shots to Galactic's 6 shot blocks.
2003 SABL Finals are on the air! Thunder wins first two at Galactic
Game One:
Richmond 97
Galactic 107
Raiders scoring was lead by Stojakovic with 18. Nowitzki had 16 with 8 rebs,
Finley 13 with 3 rebs and 4 assists. Clark had 12 with 6 rebs.
Richmond shot 44% from field including 4-21(19%) on 3's.
Thunder was lead by Payton with 21, 4 rebs and 8 assists. Malone with 18, 2 rebs
and 8 assists. Brandon had 18 with 8 rebs and 18 assists.
Galactic shot 52% from the field. Won reb wars 43-34 and assists 36-20.
Game Two:
Richmond 117
Galactic 135
Raiders were lead by Nowitzki with 28 and 7 rebs. Clark and 22 with 5 rebs.
Richmond shot 54% from the field including 6-25(24%) on 3's.
Thunder lead by Payton with 30, 6 rebs and 8 assists. Malone had 27 with 9 rebs,
8 assists and 3 steals. Coleman had 23 with 5 rebs and a steal. Brandon had 11
with 8 assists.
Galactic shot 65% including 6-9(67%) on 3's. Won rebounding 37-34 and assists
34-31. Both teams each had 13 TO while running a fastbreak offense the entire
game!
Commissioner's Note: The best-of-seven series now moves to Richmond where Frank Rowley's Raiders will try and roll Steve Walters' Thunder. Stay tuned!
Richmond sweeps Akron 4-0 to advance to SABL Finals!!!!
The third time was the charm for Raider Coach Frank Rowley who defeated Blimp Coach Dave Scott in four straight in the Royal Conference Finals, winning Games 3 & 4 in Akron.
Congratulations to Frank, who was making his third appearance in the Conference Finals this year. Unlike the other two appearances, Richmond totally dominated this series, setting up a super showdown for our league title with the Royal Conference winner, Steve Walters' Galactic Thunder.
Game 3 - Richmond 104, Akron 94
Richmond's Baron Davis led all scorers with 24 points and he added 9 assists and 6 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki had 13 boards.
Damon Stoudamire had 21 points and 8 assists for Akron. Kevin Garnett had 15 rebounds.
Game 4 - Richmond 99, Akron 75
Nowitzki had 22 points and 10 rebounds. Garnett had 16 boards.
Now, it's time for the really big SABL show, the 2003 SABL Finals. It's Richmond's first time there, while Galactic is making its third appearance. Galactic won the SABL championship in 2000.
Who will win this time? Stay tuned.
Who's Trading?
May 2003
20. St. Lucie trades M. Curry, Brooklyn's 3rd & East Asia's 3rd to Bettendorf for A. Carter
19. Galactic trades Fox & Bettendorf's 2004 2nd to Brooklyn for R. Strickland, Bakersfield's 3rd & Richmond's 3rd
18. St. Lucie trades Rod Strickland & Richmond's 3rd to Brooklyn for Sabonis
17. Galactic trades R. Patterson, E. Watson & its 3rd pick to Bettendorf for Cassell & Bettendorf's 2004 2nd
16. Galactic trades Davenport's 3rd to St. Lucie for Rick Fox
15. St. Lucie trades Eddie Jones to Chapel Hill for Holcomb's 2004 1st pick & R. Fox
14. St. Lucie trades Ervin Johnson to New Orleans for Jeff Foster
13. St. Lucie trades Bakersfield's 3rd to Brooklyn for Ervin Johnson
12. Finney trades Dampier, St. Lucie's 1st and East Asia's 1st to Holcomb for Ratliff & McKie
March 2003
11. Finney trades J. Richardson, Rose, its 1st and McLean's first to Holcomb for Iverson, Weatherspoon and St. Lucie's 1st.
February 2003
11. Finney trades J. Richardson, Rose, its 1st and McLean's first to Holcomb for Iverson, Weatherspoon and St. Lucie's 1st.
10. Chapel Hill trades Garrity & Richmond's 2nd to Good News for Outlaw
9. Chapel Hill trades B. Knight to St. Lucie for Claxton
8. Chapel Hill trades Olowokandi. T. Thomas & St. Lucie's 1st to Holcomb for Kirilenko & K. Brown
7. Bakersfield trades Kidd and its 1st and 2nd picks to St. Lucie for S. O'Neal
6. Holcomb trades E. Jones & Abdul-Rahim to St. Lucie for Iverson & McKie
5. McLean trades Rose & its first pick to Finney for T. Murphy
4. St. Lucie trades House & K. Brown to Holcomb for R. Strickland & Richmond's 3rd pick
3. St. Lucie trades Stockton & Holcomb's 1st to River City for R. Hamilton & East Asia's 3rd
2. St. Lucie trades Nash, D. Johnson, Gugliotta & Chapel Hill's 2004 1st to Good News for Iverson, House, Brooklyn's 3rd & Bakersfield's 3rd
January 2003
1. Chapel Hill trades Bender & Sura to Holcomb for VanExel, Newble, Finney's 2nd & Holcomb's 2004 1st
Time to start the off-season voting barrage!
OK, I know the season is not quite over yet, but I can't wait. We have a lot of votes pending that could affect how you draft and trade this fall. Majority (11 votes or more) will rule on all the proposals. If any proposal does not get 11 votes, then it does not pass. Here we go:
Vote # 1 - To Allow The Drafting Of Any Player On An NBA Roster Currently Or In The Previous NBA Season. This Will Take Effect In 2005 - Yes or No
This is really not voting to draft "uncarded" players, because you can't draft players in the CBA or the NBA Developmental League. What it would mean is that you could draft anyone that is on an NBA roster at the time of our annual draft or anyone that was on an NBA team in the previous season. Right now, we can only draft players that played in the NBA the previous season.
As an example, if this vote took effect this year (which it isn't), we could draft LaBron James in 2003 instead of having to wait until 2004 when his Strat card comes out.
Vote #2 - To Make The SABL's 25% Total Minutes Played Restriction: A - 25% B - 20% C - 15% D - 10%. Vote For A, B, C or D
Currently, the SABL lets you play your players 25% over the total regular season minutes they played in real life during the SABL regular season. So if your player played 100 minutes, you play him 125 minutes in the SABL, at any time you want. If none of these options gets 11 votes, we will revote the top two vote-getting choices to make our final decision.
We have no Games Played restrictions in the SABL and we won't as long as I'm commissioner.
Vote #3 - If Vote #2 Lowers Our Minutes Played Restriction To 15% Or 10%, To Allow Any Player To Play Anywhere, No Matter What Is On Their Card - Yes Or No
Suggested by Tulsa Coach Philip Creider, this would address the concern I have that some teams, especially the ones that are rebuilding, will run out of minutes if our minutes played restrictions are tightened.
Coach Of The Year and All-Star voting is yet to come, but we have to wait until we crown a new champion first. This is enough to get us started.
I need your votes emailed to me by 11:59pm EST on June 8 for them to count.
Aces Thunder-struck, lose Game and Classic Finals at Galactic
Here's Galactic Coach Steve Walters' report:
Galactic rolled to a 161-149 victory to take game six and
win the Classic Conference Championship! Thunder Boomed!! for 81 points in 1st
half after a slow(34 in 1st Qt) to take a 81-78 half time lead after trailing
43-34. Galactic Bolted!! to the Championship with 80 more second half points!
Thunder had 7 men in double figures lead by Malone with 38, 6 rebs, 4 assists, 1
steal and 1BK before fouling out late in 4th quarter. Payton had 31, 7 rebs, 6
assists and 3 steals. Wells had 26 with 4 rebs and 2 assists in 22 mins of
action. Brandon had 15 with 12 assists and 1 steal. MJ added 13 with 3 rebs and
6 assists in 24 mins. Pippen had 11 with 7 rebs, 7 assists and 1 steal. Coleman
had 14 with 3 rebs, 3 assists, 1 steal and 4 BK before fouling out in only 23
mins.
Aces had 6 men in double figures lead by Webber with 40, 9 rebs, 5 assists and 3
steals, Duncan had 30 with 10 rebs and 3 assists, Shaq had 29 with 7 rebs and 2
steals, Kobe had 22 with 3 rebs and 7 assists. Nash with 11 and 15 assists.
Stockton with 6 and 11 assists. Popeye Jones added 11 and 9 rebs.
For the game St Lucie shot 63%(Galactic 61%) from flour but Thunder attempted 19
more shots(106-87). Aces won the rebounding 44-39(both teams had 14 off rebs).
Both teams had 45 assists a piece. Aces were 39-55(71%) to Thunder 27-32(84%)
from the foul line.
The winning combination for Galactic was turnovers aces 7 more(24 to 17), BK
Thunder 5-0, and 3's Thunder 4-9(44%) Aces 0-2.
Gary Wandezel takes over the Miles Bulldogs, menacing the SABL
Another Saginaw coach has snowboarded into the SABL - Gary Wandezel, a good friend of Ed Lynes, the new Coach of the Saginaw Shockwave.
Gary is taking over Tom Jargo's Miles Bulldogs and is renaming them the Mackinaw Island Menace. His vitals:
Gary Wandezel, 1115 Mackinaw, Saginaw MI 48602. Phone: 989-791-6188. Email: wreckingcrew72@msn.com
Drop him an email and welcome him to this obsession known as the Second American Basketball League. Welcome aboard Gary, good luck and have fun!
SABL to have only one divisional swap next season
With two Saginaw guys now members of the good old SABL (Ed and Gary), you know they have to play in the same division. What better way for them to knock each others' brains out, just like the rest of us do?
So, Saginaw (formerly East Asia) will move back to the East Division and Steve Feldheim's Brooklyn Tigers will swap with Saginaw and move back to the South Division. Believe it or not, Brooklyn was in the South Division for the first three years of the SABLs existence, 1994-95, 1995-96 and 1996-97. So he's comin' home.
However, since Brooklyn is obviously not in the South, we will change the name of that Classic Conference Division next season to the East Coast Division. Every team in that conference happens to be on the Eastern Seaboard, so it really makes it groovy, man.
Peace.
Galactic Thunder wins Classic Conference Finals at Galactic
Steve Walters has won his third SABL conference title by defeating Scott Ellis's St. Lucie Aces in Game 6 of the Classic Conference Finals. Steve won the series four games to two and now advances to the SABL Finals where he'll face the winner of the Royal Conference Finals - either Frank Rowley's Richmond Raiders or Dave Scott's Akron Blimps.
Congratulations to Steve and look for his report on Game 6 soon.
Good News Roosters are now New Orleans Roosters
Rooster Coach Jeff Perigoni has changed the front part of his team name.
Raiders take first two from Akron at Richmond in Royal Finals
Indiana's Frank Rowley gives us the report:
Game #1
Akron 105 - Richmond 114
Akron had 4 players score in double figures, but it wasn't enough as the fall in
the first game of the Conference finals.
Leading Akron was Wally Szczerkiak who scored 27 points and had 7 rebounds. He was followed by Kevin Garnett who scored 21 points and grabbed a game high 13 rebounds. Lamond Murray contributed 16 points, and Damon Stoudamire had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists. Akron shot 42% from the field and 30 of 34 for 88% from the free throw line, they grabbed 41 rebounds and dished out 26 assists with only 12 turnovers.
Richmond had a very balanced attack with 8 players scoring
in double figures and a 9th player scored 8 points. Predag Stojakovic led
Richmond with 16 points, he was followed by Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley, and
Michael Redd who all scored 14 points. Keon Clark and Marcus Camby both scored
11 points, with Camby grabbing 9 rebounds to lead the Raiders. Mark Jackson and
Antonio McDyess chipped in 10 points each to round out the double figure
scoring. Richmond shot 52% from the field, shot 16 of 21 from the free throw
line (76%), grabbed 43 rebounds, and dished out 31 assists versus only 12
turnovers.
Game #2
Akron 93 - Richmond 120
Richmond outscores Akron by 16 in the second half to pull away for the win!
Akron has just 3 players who scored in double figures. Ray Allen led all scorers with 28 points (and he also grabbed 7 rebounds). Damon Stoudamire scored 18 points (he also grabbed 7 rebounds), and Kevin Garnett scored 12 points and grabbed a team high 13 rebounds. Akron shot just 32% on 32 of 100, they hit 85% of their free throws 17 of 20. They grabbed 51 rebounds, and dished out 22 assists against just 11 turnovers.
Richmond had 5 players in double figures, led by Predag Stojakovic with 21 points and 6 rebounds. He was followed by Baron Davis who scored 20 points, Michael Finley scored 16 points and dished out a game high 8 assists. Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Redd both scored 12 points, with Nowitzki grabbing 7 rebounds. Marcus Camby led all rebounders with 15. Richmond shot 51% from the field including 10 of 15 from behind the three point line. We shot 24 of 31 from the free throw line (77%). The Raiders grabbed 53 rebounds, and dished out 31 assists versus 18 turnovers. The team also blocked 10 shots (3 each coming from McDyess & Camby).
We take the relatively short drive to Akron for games #3, #4, and #5.
River City Renegades' new email address is . . .
Luckyrez@aol.com. Drop River City Coach Mike Resnick an email to see if it works!
Blimps win all 3 in Akron vs. Tri-City, advance to Royal Finals
Akron's Dave Scott has advanced to the Royal Conference Finals for the first time ever, thanks to a 4-1 series win over Chris Feeney's North Division winners, the Tri-City Blackhawks. Akron won all three at home:
Game 3: Akron 96, Tri-City 90
Stephon Marbury had 36 points and 9 assists for the Hawks, but it wasn't enough as five Blimps scored in double figures to help seal the win.
Wally Szczerbiak had 25 points for Akron and Ray Allen had 21. Kevin Garnett had 10 rebounds. Danny Fortson had 15 rebounds for Tri-City
Game 4: Box Score file is blank.
Game 5: Akron 126, Tri-City 119
Kevin Garnett was all over the Hawks in this one, with 29 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocked shots and 4 steals. Allen scored 24 points.
Marbury had 24 points and 10 assists for Tri-City.
Akron now takes on the team with the best record in the Royal Conference this season (62-20), Frank Rowley's Richmond Raiders. Richmond has been to the Royal Finals three times. This is Akron's first time. Neither team has ever made it to the SABL Finals, so whoever wins will make SABL history.
Stay tuned.
Aces take two of three vs. Galactic at St. Lucie
The Classic Conference Finals are rolling back to Galactic as the Aces win two of three at home vs. the South Division winners. Galactic now leads the series three games to two:
Game 3: St. Lucie 132, Galactic 123
Another wild one between two old rivals that was closer than the score indicates. The Aces' John Stockton went nuts, scoring 27 with 15 assists. Chris Webber scored 23 and Shaquille O'Neal scored 21 with 10 rebounds. Kobe Bryant scored 20 with 8 assists and Tim Duncan had 15 boards.
Karl Malone delivered 23 points and 6 steals for the Thunder. Gary Payton had 15 assists. Grant Hill had 14 points and 9 rebounds in 20 minutes. Donyell Marshall scored 18 points in 24 minutes.
Game 4: Galactic 142, St. Lucie 121
A blowout for Steve Walters' Thunder, as Payton led the way with 27 points and 11 assists. Bonzi Wells scored 23 in 20 minutes and Michael Jordan had 21 in 24 minutes. Scottie Pippen had 10 points, 7 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 23 minutes.
Chris Webber scored 33, had 9 boards and 4 steals for Scott Ellis' Aces. Bryant had 20 points and Steve Nash had 10 assists.
Game 5: St. Lucie 143, Galactic 138
Facing elimination, the Aces hung on to win this one. Webber again lit up Galactic with 38 points and 10 rebounds. O'Neal scored 31. Stockton had 19 points, 14 assists and 2 blocked shots. Bryant had 13 assists.
Payton scored 41 points and Terrell Brandon scored 22 in 24 minutes for Galactic. Wells again did well, scoring 17 points in 16 minutes. Zendon Hamilton scored 12 in 11 minutes.
Galactic needs to win just one more game to return to the SABL Finals for the third time (he's won once). St. Lucie's gotta win two more, three-in-a-row, to make it back to the Finals for the fifth time, which would be a record.
Stay tuned.
Druids name new coach?
By Tom Jargo
SABL Herald Gazette Times Picayune
Upon announcing his resignation as basketball coach at Iowa State University,
Larry Eustachy vowed: "I'll coach again."
Eustachy, 47, whose best pick-up line for 20-something coeds was "they don't
call it the Big Eight for nothing," was confident someone would be stupid
enough to hire him.
"Some blithering idiot will give me a job," he said.
Today, Bettendorf Druids Coach Mark Feeney announced the hiring of Eustachy as
the players' coach and drinking buddy.
"Most men open a can of whup-ass; Larry opened a can of dumb-ass," Feeney said.
"That doesn't make him a bad guy. He's just a pathetic old man who
really, really, really, really, REALLY wants to be 20 years old again. Don't we
all?"
Contract negotiations, which took place at the Tri Chugga Beer frat house, went
well into the wee hours of the morning.
"We told Larry he won't get a dime; instead, he could have all the beer he could
drink," Feeney said. "We're already beginning to regret that decision."
Eustachy was estatic.
"Man, the girls here in Bettendorf are way hot," he said, while crawling to a
taxi. "Even hotter than at Kansas."
Asked why he didn't bother to pursue the local talent at Ames, Eustachy said:
"They don't call it 'Moo U' for nothing. They have natural grass, so the
cheerleaders have a place to graze."
Quad-City Rimrockers owner Kathleen Feeney wasn't impressed.
"He's old enough to be my daddy - Yuck!" she said. "He's, like, ancient. He's
just another old guy sitting around playing games?"
Eustachy immediately hired two assistants to help coach the Druids. Joining the
staff will be Jim Harrick Sr. and Jim Harrick Jr.
"Jim Sr. has a passion for skullduggery," Eustachy said. "And I like Jim Jr.
because skullduggery runs in the family."
Commissioner's Note: Tom Jargo is the former coach of the Miles Bulldogs. He was forced to leave the SABL after partying too much with Former Alabama football coach Mike Price.
Ed Lynes takes over Dragons, renames them Saginaw Shockwave
Paul Bennett's East Asia team has been taken over by Ed Lynes, a six-year veteran of the SCBA/CSBL (Computer Strat Basketball League). The CSBL has folded and Ed has now joined the good old SABL.
Here's Ed's vital info:
Ed Lynes, 1021 Thurman Street, Saginaw, MI 48602. Phone: 989-249-6959. Email: edlynes@chartermi.net.
Drop him an email and welcome him to our league!
Miles Bulldogs franchise still available!
Only one SABL franchise is available and that's the one with Bibby, Walker, Reggie Miller, Mercer, Mutombo, Mashburn & more: Tom Jargo's Miles Bulldogs. Wow! Contact the commissioner ASAP if you're interested! Scott Ellis, Commissioner
2003 Draftable Players link is up!
It's never too early to start planning for our 2003 Draft. Tulsa Coach Philip Creider has once again done yeoman work in providing us with a list of the players that will be available in our fall draft at this 2003 Draftable Players link. Thanks so much again, Philip. Enjoy everyone!
Thunder take first two from Aces in Classic Conference Finals
They've both been here before and they've both won and lost here before. Steve Walters' Galactic Thunder, with the best record in the SABL this year (68-14), are taking on the St. Lucie Aces, who have the second-best record (67-15). Galactic beat the Aces in the regular season, 5 games to three, to win the South Division.
Now the rematch in a 7-game conference final that will no doubt see both teams pull out all the stops in their efforts to make the 2003 SABL Finals.
In Games 1 & 2 at Galactic, the Thunder rolled to victory. Here's Steve's report:
Game One: St. Lucie 148 Galactic 150
Aces had 6 men with 20 or more points lead by Popeye Jones with 26 and 8 rebs in
27 mins. Chris Webber also had 26 with 9 rebs and 6 assists. Stockton had 20
with 17 assists in 31 mins. O'Neal and Duncan each had 22. Bryant 20 in 27 mins
before fouling out. Nash added 10 with 14 assists.
Thunder stormed with 8 plyaers in double figures lead by Payton with 27, 9
assists and 4 steals. Brandon had 20 with 12 assists. Thunder's press produced a
10-24 turnover advantage.
Here are the last 29 seconds of play:
29 seconds left here in the 4th quarter
GALACTIC leads 148 to 146
O'NEAL puts up the foul shot
No good
Rebounded by KARL MALONE
This game is going right down to the wire
Now GALACTIC settles into their offense
Timeout charged to GALACTIC
GALACTIC takes the ball out of bounds.
GALACTIC is trying to get the ball to KARL
MALONE
KARL MALONE is picked up by NASH
KARL MALONE is inside
That's good for two points
GALACTIC is in the press defense.
TERRELL BRANDON is pressuring the ball.
STEVE NASH is looking to set up a play.
TIM DUNCAN goes strong to the hole
TIM DUNCAN SLAMS IT!!
Here's a long shot at the buzzer
It's no good.
And that's the end of the game.
FINAL SCORE GAL- 150 and STL- 148.
Game 2: St. Lucie 136 Galactic 141
Aces lead by Bryant with 33, 6 rebs and 4 assists. O'Neal with 25 and 14 rebs.
Stockton had 16 with 14 assists.
Thunder lead by Payton with 38 and 10 assists, Malone with 19 and 8 rebs, 8
assists and 4 steals. Wells added 21. Brandon with 13 and 14 assists.
St.Lucie won the FG(60-51%), Rebs(40-37). Galactic took Assists(46-36), Steals
(14-7) and TO(19-29).
Galactic moves on to the house that Scott built for games 3, 4 and 5
Akron and Hawks split first two at Tri-City
Game 1 was 117-105, Akron wins.
Ray Allen led Dave Scott's Blimps in scoring with 28 points. Kevin Garnett had 22 points. Stephon Marbury had 10 assists for Chris Feeney's North Divison champion Blackhawks.
Game 2 was 116-112, Tri-City wins.
Marbury led Tri-City with 23 points and 12 assists. Derek Fisher had 20 points. Allen had 32 points for Akron and Garnett and P. J. Brown had 11 rebounds each.
The next three games will be played in Akron. Stay tuned.
Richmond completes sweep of Druids at Bettendorf
The Raiders now head to the Royal Conference Finals for the third time in the last four years, where they'll take on the winner of the Tri City-Akron Round Two playoff series. Here's Evil Druid Coach Mark Feeney with his report of this short, but exciting series:
The third game of the series went to the Raiders, 164-150 in triple overtime. Michael Finley's slam as time expired sent the game into the first overtime. Baron Davis sank a three-pointer as time expired to push the game into the third overtime. After that, the Druids ran out of steam.
The showed little life in the fourth game of the series until Voshon Lenard (I learned how to spell both of his names finally) put on a shooting display in the fourth quarter nailing three three-pointers and scoring 13 of his 28 points. The Druids trailed 113-110 with 35 seconds remaining, but the press could not force a turnover, Michael Finley picked up a key offensive rebound and the Druids were unable to foul. Patrick Ewing, who scored a season-high 14 points, received a standing ovation from the Bettendorf crowd as he left the game late in the fourth quarter. It was his last game in a long SABL career.
Raiders win first two playoff games in Richmond over Druids
Richmond shook off a sluggish start in the first game and continued to sweep the 1st two games at Richmond. Here's a recap from Richmond Coach Frank Rowley on this Round Two action:
Game #1 Bettendorf--87 - Richmond 103
Richmond was sluggish (probably due to the bye in the 1st round) starting out
series with Bettendorf. Richmond led 45 - 40 at halftime, before outscoring
Bettendorf, 58 - 47 in the second half. Richmond was led by Predag Stojakovic
with 25 points and 5 rebounds, followed by Dirk Nowitzki who had 18 points and 7
rebounds. Michael Finley chipped in 15 points on 7 of 10 shooting. and Keon
Clark had 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead both teams in that category.
Bettendorf only had 2 players score in double figures, Sam Cassell with 22
points, and Hedo Turkoglu with 14 points. Richmond shot 49% (to Bettendorf's
43%) from the field and 78% from the foul line, and out rebounded Bettendorf 46
- 37. Baron Davis had a very poor game for him with 1 point, 6 rebounds and 5
assists, he was 0 -10 from the field, including 0 - 5 from 3-pt. range.
Game #2 Bettendorf 104 - Richmond 116
Richmond jumped out quickly in this game grabbing a 60 - 48 halftime lead, and
then playing even with Bettendorf the rest of the way. Predag Stojakovic again
led the way with 27 points and 5 rebounds, he was followed by Michael Finley who
scored 14 points (on 7 of 7 from the field) and handed out a game high 9
assists, and Baron Davis scored 14 points (on 6 of 7 shooting from the field)
with 7 assists. Lucious Harris came off the bench to score 13 points, followed
by Dirk Nowitzki and Keon Clark who both scored 12 points.
Bettendorf was again led by Sam Cassell who scored 18 points, grabbed 5 rebounds
and dished out 8 assists. Horace Grant alos scored 18 points and grabbed 9
rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu rounded out the double figure scoring with 16 points.
Richmond shot 54%, but Bettendorf shot 55% from the field. Richmond out
rebounded Bettendorf 39 to 36 and collected 15 steals leading to 20 turnovers
for Bettendorf