The SABL BS

Volume 2 Issue 63 March 2000

FROM COMMISSIONER SCOTT ELLIS, 2^ND AMER. BASKETBALL LEAGUE

St. Lucie wins Game 6, eliminates Bettendorf Druids

The Aces took Game 6 (116-76) of their first round playoff series vs. the Druids, ending Bettendorf's Cinderella season. Coach Mark Feeney's Druids held the North Division lead for almost the entire season this year before another Feeney, Chris, and his Tri City Black Hawks, caught him. Congratulations to Mark for a really great coaching effort and good luck next year.

In Game 6, Bettendorf couldn't get its offense started as Kornel David led the Druids with only 16 points. The Aces, however, were firing on all cylinders. Shaq had 20 points and Cliff Robinson scored 24. Rapid Rod Strickland scored 17 and had 14 assists.

St. Lucie now goes up against North Division winner Tri City. The first two games are on Coach Chris Feeney's home turf, so stay tuned for this one! The winner of this series will play Galactic in the Classic Conference finals.

Heat fry Gladiators; Raiders plunder Longhorns

The underdog Holcomb Heat have advanced to the second round of the 2000 SABL Playoffs by defeating Garden City 4-1 after sweeping the Glads during Holcomb's three home games.

And, Frank Rowley's Richmond Raiders have eliminated Finney 4-1 in their first round matchup. Finney and Richmond had split the first two games in Finney, but the Raiders of the Lost Brick took all three in Richmond to win the series.

Holcomb now goes up against East Division winner East Asia, while Richmond takes on the Western Kings.

Galactic sweeps Dazzlers, Druids take 2 of 3 at home

The Galactic Gladiators will make their second-straight appearance in the Classic Conference finals after whipping Davenport four straight games in Round 2, while the Aces dropped two of three to the Amazing Druids at Bettendorf.

St. Lucie leads Bettendorf 3-2 as the series moves to St. Lucie for the final two games of the matchup.

Heat and Gladiators split first two at Garden City

Garden City won game one behind Tim Duncan's 27 points and 13 rebounds, 88-79. In Game 2, Duncan again led the Glads with 23 points and 15 rebounds, but the Heat scorched Garden City 100-91 behind 32 points from Nick Anderson. The series now shifts to the three-game set at Holcomb.

Dazzlers beat Nationals at home to advance to Round 2

Davenport Coach Kevin Feeney tells the story of how he beat Storey:

" We should feel good going against these guys," said Coach Jeff Ruland." We've got a perfect ( 0-6 ) record against them. All we have to do is find 10-15 points more offense against them. That and hold them to 10-15 pointsless. If we do that, we've got a good shot."

Davenport takes two of three in McLean

McLean Coach Bob Storey tells the story:

        McLean won the first game -- the only one where they outrebounded Davenport at home 102-97 behing Mourning's 26 and Stackhouse's 20.  Kukoc had 26, including 4 of 6 three's, but a 12-0 run late in the game put it away for hte Nats.
        Davenport turned out the Nats lights quickly in game two, 107-90.  Outrebounded 33-41, outshot 45%-56%, they also contributed 17 turnovers.  Mourning's 24 points were trumped by Olajuwon's 24.
        The third game was the frustrating one.  The Nats were only outrebounded by about 100 boards on the season, but in this game it was 21-48.  Still they were only down by three points with 0:50 left.  Then the bubble burst, and they lost 126-119.  The did hit 59%, and 37-44 foul shots, but it was not enough to offset the 25 extra shots by Davenport.  Olajuwon had 26, and Kukoc 25 with 6 offensive rebounds.  Smits had 14 and four offensive rebounds -- a career high?
        So they return to Davenport to finish the set and probably the season.  The opportunity to play Galactic in the next round is a little scary anyway.  Regardless of the outcome, they will be seeking more big bodies for next year. Jahidi White will help, but plans are being made to seek a rebounder for the forward positions.  Does anyone need a scorer -- Guggliotta, Howard, Harrington -- in exchange for someone who goes after the ball and will be content to leave the shooting to Mourning and Stackhouse?                                                                                                                               

SABL Playoffs started: Aces win, Dazzlers & Nats split

St. Lucie has won the first two games at home vs. Bettendorf, 103-93 and 120-79. Karl Malone led in rebounds (11) and points (22) in Game 2, while Shaq led in boards (11) in Game 1. Rapid Rod Strickland led in assists in both games, with 10 and 11 respectively. Three games on the Druids home court are next, as "Evil" Mark Feeney tries for a coaching comeback.

One of the other three Feeneys in the playoffs, Kevin, split at home in the first two games of his first round match with the Nationals, 92-83 and 98-109. This is the first time all three Feeneys have made the playoffs at the same time. Let's let Kevin tell the tale of these first two games:

"The Davenport Dazzlers opened their 2000 playoff run with a 92-83 win over the McLean Nationals. Behind Rik Smits' 12 points on 6-7 shooting, the Dazzlers built a 48-35 halftime lead, However, Hakeem Olajuwon foul trouble (4th at 8:44 of the 3rd qtr) aided in the Nats closing to 66-62 after 3 quarters. Despite Hakeem's 5th foul with 11:02 to play, the Dazzlers upped their lead to 74-67 with 7:21 left. A 3-point play by Jerry Stackhouse, an Avery Johnson miss, 2 Stackhouse ft's, 2 more Johnson misses, and a Johnson foul, put O. Harrington at the line. With the Nats trailing 74-72, with 6:11 to play, Harrington missed bothshots. The Dazzlers could not capitalize, however, and Juwan Howard tied the score at 74, with 5:52 left.

During the Dazzler's ensuing timeout, Coach Jeff Ruland berated a seemingly oblivious Olajuwon, and inserted him back into the line-up. Toni Kukoc and Mike Bibby swapped baskets, and Kukoc scored again, giving the Dazz a 78-76 advantage. Johnson followed Olajuwon's great defensive stop and rebound with a dazzler to Jeff Hornacek. After an Olajuwon block of Alonzo Mourning, Hornacek and Bibby traded missed fast break shots. An Olajuwon rebound and an assist on Johnson's fast break shot, preceded a Hornacek steal and a Dazzler time-out, with the Dazz up 82-76. Kukoc tossed a dazzler to Rik Smits to put Davenport ahead 84-76 with just over 2 minutes left. The Dazzlers closed out the game by hitting 8-10 free throws.

Despite the win, Ruland was less than pleased with his club. "I don't know how we won, except that they couldn't shoot. Our big guys are stinking up the joint. Rik disappeared in the 2nd half, (2-6) and Hakeem was in foul trouble all night. When they look at the film and see that Zo never touched the ball, they'll know how lucky we were to win."

The Dazzlers did have bright spots. They converted 18-21 free throws. They hauled down 35 defensive rebounds and limited the Nats to only 5offensive rebounds. Otis Thorpe totalled 10 points and 5 rebounds in just 11 minutes of play. "A win is a win," said Assistant coach John Lucas. " We defended pretty well, and kept the ball from Zo. "

" I hope John is right about Mourning," added Ruland, " but I'm afraid that their little guy (Nick Van Exel 2-15 FG 0-7 3-pointers) was more responsible for Zo's lack of numbers than we were."

The McLean Nationals scored a convincing 109-98 win over the Davenport Dazzlers to even their playoff series at 1-1. Fueled by Alonzo Mourning's 28 points , 14 rebounds, 5 blocked shots, and defense which limited Olajuwon and Smits to 7-29 shooting, the Nationals were never in danger.

"We were pathetic in the 1st half," said Ruland. Our main guns (rated shooters) were 6-25. Hell, Phil Jackson used to shoot better than that. Our big guys have got to get it going. They're playing like girls. Contact is a part of the game, and we're not making any."

Lucas added,"Our guards played well (17 assists 3 turnovers). Avery had some points (16) and assists (11), Hornacek scored (23) and Hawk (Hersey Hawkins) had a nice night (10 points 4-4 fg). Toni (Kukoc) played well, too. (10 points, 9 assists, 9 rebounds). It ain't often, but when the big guy (Ruland) is right, he's right. We need production from Hakeem and Rik, and I would not want to bein their shoes when Coach, shall we say "explains" this to them.""

March Madness descends on SABL!!!!

Playoffs are beginning in our own version of March Madness. Who will win this year's SABL World Championship? Check our our Team Summaries link to see some fearless prognostications.

SABL's 1999-2000 Regular Season is completed!

The most successful regular season in SABL history is over. Now the only way to top that is by having the most successful playoff season ever, too!

I sincerely want to thank everyone for staying on time this season. I've pestered the heck out of all of you, but, in the end, it was you, not me, that played the games and had the fun. (Hey, I had fun, too!) There is no doubt that we are enjoying our best season ever and the reason is simple - we have the best coaches in Strat Basketball and we have the most fun!

Dammit, I love all you guys.

Final stats, standings, league leaders, etc., are posted

Check the appropriate links at the top of our webpage to check out all the numbers for 1999-2000!

Congratulations to all our divisional winners!

In the Wild, Wild, West, Deerfield takes its first divisional title with a 44-38 record. Congratulations to steady Kings Coach Doug Crandall.

The Eastern Establishment was dominated by a really Far East Asia outfit, 63-15. Enter the Dragon Coach Paul Bennett, took the title in his first SABL year with the Royal Conference's best record.

Way down yonder in the South Division, Galactic Coach Steve Walters stole the Aces' Thunder by winning his first SABL divisional crown with a league- and team-best 74-8 record. Congratulations Steve, I still hate you.

The Tri City Black Hawks recovered from a slow start to take their first division, 50-32. Congratulations to the latest Feeney, Chris, to win an SABL title.

Good luck to these and all our other playoff teams. Let the post-season begin!

Playoff matchups announced, get instructions out ASAP!

Below is a our playoff bracket/chart for our 2000 "March Madness" Playoffs:

An email is or will be in your computers shortly detailing where to send playoff instructions to. Here is the "Playoff Games" section of our constitution, which details how our playoffs work: 

"PLAYOFF GAMES

Playoff games are to be played by impartial owners decided on by the commissioner. If both coaches agree, they may play their playoff games themselves as per regular season rules. Divisional winners make the playoffs along with the teams with the next four best records (wild cards) in the Royal Conference and the next four best records in the Classic Conference, for a total of 12 teams.

The Royal Conference wild card teams, seeded by won-lost records, will play each other, with the winning two teams taking on the conference divisional winners in Round Two. The same thing will be going on the Classic Conference.

Round Three will be the Conference Championships and Round Four will be the SABL Championships. All series are 2-3-2.

Divisional winners are always given home court advantage. If divisional winners play each other, the team with the best regular season record gets home court advantage. In all other cases, teams with the best regular season records get home court advantage.

Tourney brackets are setup with the best regular season record divisional winners on the top brackets and the second-best divisional winners on the bottom. The same thing applies to the wild card brackets, in reverse. Regular season won-lost records determine who plays who."

The Philly Super Freaks, however, did not make the playoffs because that team's coach is inactive at this time.

And if you wish to play face-to-face or send instructions to each other to play the games, that's fine with me. Consider those requests approved and start playing!

2000 Draft Order

Figuring in penalty points, this is the SABL 2000 Draft Order. It's not final yet because of two things: Late playoff instructions and results could result in more penalty point assessments and we cannot have our final draft order until we have our 2000 SABL World Champion. The World Champion always drafts last:

1. Brooklyn 2. Meade 3. Miles 4. Chapel Hill 5. Great Lakes 6. Akron 7. Tulsa 8. Holcomb 9. McLean 10. Richmond 11. Garden City 12. Finney 13. Davenport 14. Bettendorf 15. St. Lucie 16. Philly 17. Deerfield 18. Tri City 19. East Asia 20. Galactic

This excerpt from our SABL Constitution explains how the draft order is derived:

"DRAFT

Each year a draft of all new and cut players occurs, in October. All coaches must cut their 14-man rosters (12 active players and 2 inactive) by the number of rounds they wish to draft and notify the commissioner of these cuts as per the official Schedule of Events. Draft order is decided based on the reverse order of team records. Worst record first, second-worst next and so on. Only one modification: League champion drafts last and divisional champs draft in the reverse order of their records.

For every three penalty points a coach receives, his drafting order is knocked down 1 place. That means if you were supposed to draft third, and you have 3 penalty points, you will now draft fourth in each round."

Penalty Point report

Lateness kills play-by-mail leagues. It won't be allowed in the SABL. Here's our latest ticker and a reminder: Penalty points follow the draft picks of the affected team, as long as that team's coach stays in the SABL, even if those picks are traded to another team. That means if you own a pick from a team that has dropped down in the draft order, the pick you own from that team drops the appropriate amount in the draft order, too.

Trading drafts picks do not "cleanse" them. You make your trade, and you take your risk, both with players who can get injured and with draft picks that can go sour.

As always, I will accept appeals on any penalty assessments:

Holcomb - 5 points - 1 points for no results for Feb. 1, Deerfield at Holcomb series, 1 point for no instructions to Chapel Hill for Dec. 16 game; 2 points for no results for Meade at Holland series, Dec. 23. 1 point for no results for Dec. 23, Game 4, Meade at Holcomb. Holcomb drops down one place in the draft order this year.

Finney, 5 points - 4 points for no results for Jan. 22 series of East Asia at Finney and 1 point, for not autoplaying Philly and getting its 6-game Finney vs. Philly series played on Jan. 8. Finney drops one spot in next year's draft.

Philly - 3 points for disappearing. Philly drops down one place in the draft order this year.

Garden City, 3 points - 1 point for not paying attention to its opponent's roster in Dec. 8 home series vs. East Asia and 2 points for no results for Jan. 2, Bettendorf at Garden City. Garden City has dropped down 1 place in the draft order this fall.

Chapel Hill - 3 points - 1 point, no results for Garden City at Chapel Hill, Dec. 16; 2 point for no results for Holland at Chapel Hill, Dec. 16 and 1 point for no results for Great Lakes at Chapel Hill series on Jan. 9. Chapel Hill drops down one place in this fall's draft.

Tri City, 2 points for no results for Philly series on Dec. 20

Akron - 2 points - 1 point for no results for Finney at Akron, Feb. 22 and 1 point for no results for its Holcomb at Akron series, Jan. 9.

McLean, 1 point, no results for Meade at McLean, Dec. 17

Deerfield, 1 point, for not paying attention to its opponent's roster in a January home series vs. East Asia.

Richmond, 1 point, for no results for its Jan. 6 game of Chapel Hill at Richmond.

Meade, 1 point, for no results for its Brooklyn at Meade series, Jan. 9.

Brooklyn Coach Steve Feldheim is back at home

Tiger Coach Steve Feldheim is back home from the hospital. He still is waiting for a heart transplant, but he can take your phone calls until 9 pm every night. Why don't you give Steve a call now and wish him well. He may need a transplant, but he has the biggest heart in the league.

The Druids drop from top, Galactic wins division!

The Galactic Gladiators have finished their season 74-8, winning the South Division over arch-rival St. Lucie by 2 games. And in the North, Bettendorf has fallen to second place, 4.5 games behind another Feeney, Tri City, after leading the North all season.

In the East, the Dragons have clinched the East Division crown, while in the West, Deerfield does it again.

Regular season winding down, think about playoffs!

I've posted new standings at our Standings link, but I'm holding off on new stats until everyone gets their final games in. Many teams have either finished or almost finished their regular season, so I'm waiting until everything's in, which should happen any day now. I'll get a regular season review and playoff preview together this weekend, too, along with a playoff bracket grid and schedule.

Get ready for your playoff assignment emails, which will hit your inboxes probably within 2 weeks!