The SABL BS

2. Aces trade Rod Strickland & Chris Crawford to Finney for Brevin Knight & T. Lue

3. Holcomb trades Penny Hardaway, D. Curry, T. Hill and East Asia's 2nd pick, to Finney for M. Taylor, B. Russell, A.C. Green and Finney's 1st pick.

4. Aces trade Malone, Wells & Pack to Galactic for Cassell, T. Thomas & Miles' 2nd pick.

When you send me your All-Star votes, also send me your choice for SABL Coach Of The Year. Last year, Brooklyn Coach Steve Feldheim won our first Coach Of The Year honor. Who will win this year?

Yes, it's that time again for all our SABL coaches to place their votes for our annual All-Star Games. Pick what you feel are the top 2 players at every position in the Royal Conference (West and East Divisions) and the top 2 players in the Classic Conference, and send you votes to me via email by June 18. Vote for two people in each conference at Point Guard, Guard, Small Forward, Power Forward and Center. Vote in both conferences, not just your own.

I anticipate those Amazing Feeneys will be playing this year's best-of-seven All-Star Series (no wimpy single game like in real-life!), once I forward the results on to them.

Hey, while you're relaxed and watching the NBA playoffs, why not take a second and write that $20 check to Scott Ellis, yours truly, and pay your 2000-2001 SABL league dues? I've kept the dues to the bargain price of $20 ever since I wrested the commissionership from good old Tom Gantert three years ago. Why? Because I like you.

Well, actually, running the league over the Internet is cheaper and that's what keeps the costs down. Still, it costs every year for website space, phone calls, mailings and electricity to run my computer. That's what your dues buy, along with the fun of being the in best national Strat basketball league in America. So go ahead, make my day and pay your dues today!

Figuring in penalty points, this is the final SABL 2000 Draft Order. The only change here is that since we have a new coach for the Philly-Michigan franchise, the three Philly penalty points go away (no new coach ever inherits penalty points he didn't earn). That moves St. Lucie down a notch to 16th and Michigan-Philly up a place to 15th:

1. Brooklyn 2. River City 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. Sublimity 16. St. Lucie 17. Deerfield 18. Tri City 19. East Asia 20. Galactic

Editor's Note: THE FOLLOWING CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY IS NOT CORRECT. PLEASE SEE OUR JULY 2000 NEWSLETTER OR OUR Histories LINK!

In his second trip to the finals, Galactic Thunder Coach Steve Walters has won the 2000 SABL Championship, defeating Paul Bennett's East Asia Dragons 4 games to zero. Bennett's extraordinary first-year trip to the finals ended abruptly when Galactic took two games in Thailand to bring home take our league's sixth championship crown.

2000: Galactic Thunder (Classic Conference) - 1999: St. Lucie (Classic) - 1998: Brooklyn (Royal) - 1997: St. Lucie (Classic) - 1996: Brooklyn (Royal) - 1995: Tony Disibbio (Royal)

I forgot what Tony's team name was, but he was a Strat basketball veteran coach that won in an abbreviated 41-game season, which was our first, under founding Commissioner Tom Gantert. As you can also see, the Classic Conference has now tied the Royals for SABL rings (3-3).

GALACTIC DOMINATEs IN THAILAND TO WIN SABL TITLE

"Powerhouse Galactic Thunder rolled to two impressive victories, 105-84 and 115-89, and took the SABL title for the first time. The league's regular season best team showed the fans in Chiang Mai why they were the best, and then some. Being able to use Sam Cassell to full advantage made a powerhouse team virtually unbeatable.

Game 3 was a great game for three quarters, and then Cassell took over, and took the heart out of the Dragons. Asia had pulled to within 1 point of the Thunder with 1 second left in the third, when Cassell launched a backcourt prayer that swished and stunned the hometeam (coach Bennett fouled the arena with profanity directed at his cursed luck). Instead of being 75-74 it was 78-74 and the wind was out of the home squad's sails. Galactic coasted 27-11 in the fourth to take home the game. Galactic were led by Cassell with 17, Sir Charles with 16 and 15 boards, and Pippen with 14, 9 assists and 3 big steals. Brandon added 16, Kemp 14 and Coleman 13. East Asia shot a miserable 37% with most of the missed shots in the fourth. Ewing had 19 but shot 6-18 from the floor and 7-14 from the line. Jones chipped in 17, Walker 16 and Armstrong 14 for the losers. Asia tried to employ a strategy of posting up Ewing and Jones and then going to the hoop as powerfully as possible. It resulted in early foul trouble for Coleman and Kemp and many missed free throws for the usually steady Ewing. However, Kemp was back in the fourth and the Thunder scored a succession of fast break dazzlers to ice it. This was to be an omen of things to come in Game 4. The Thunder had 43 baskets and 30 assists (70%).

Game 4 was the Thunder from start to finish in one of the most difficult games for a home coach to play. Galactic scored 115, shot 60%, had 39 buckets and 28 assists (72%) and were 36-41 (88%) from the line. Asia shot another miserable 37% (with almost every miss resulting in a fast break basket) and had Eddie Jones foul out in 19 minutes and Aaron McKie doing the same in 18 minutes. Can anyone see a pattern?? Cassell again. The Thunder seemingly drew shooting fouls at will, that is when they weren’t scoring, and scored dazzler after dazzler. “This has to be the best passing team I have ever seen”, quoted Bennett. “When you have Stockton, Brandon, Pippen, and Cassell all playing big minutes, and your big men are Barkley and Kemp, who are excellent passers, well what more do you need to say.” Not much. Asia tried the same offensive strategy as the first game and again it resulted in 28 Galactic fouls, but Asia was a horrid 19-34 54% from the line. They were also cursed by offensive fouls early and often and it resulted in a battle of the benches and this is exactly what the Dragons didn’t want.

Galactic had 6 players in double figures, led by Cassell with 20 and 7 assists in 28 minutes. Brandon had 19 and Kemp 17. Another puzzling factor was the emergence of Coleman as a shot blocking force. He blocked 5 in game 3 and 4 in game 4. “^*&%&$”, Bennett was heard saying repeatedly to the hard drive. Asia was led by big Pat, who can’t get a title ANYWHERE, with 21 and Antawn Jamison with 15. It was a hard end for Ewing, who had an unbelievable season and was in the top 10 in many statistical categories in the regular season. He just couldn’t defend Kemp and Barkley outside, and had no where to play in the post. Full credit goes to Steve Walters for compiling this great team and laying down a truly inspired and fiendish gameplan. A great ending to a great year, for a great team and a great coach. Asia wants to thank Scott Ellis for all he has done and all the other coaches for putting up with so many trade offers (Walker anyone??). See ya next year!"

I think I speak for most of our "veteran" coaches when I say this has been the best and most enjoyable SABL season ever. We finished early, which has never happened in any of the leagues I've played in my 31 years of Strat life. SABL coaches are the best Strat-O-Matic fanatics I've every played with. You are Grade A gamers. Congratulations to all our coaches, playoff participants, divisional winners, Royal Conference winner Paul and of course, the best nemesis a commissioner ever had, 2000 SABL World Champion Steve Walters and his Galactic Thunder.

The Thunder rolled over East Asia 117-100 and 103-92 as the SABL finals got underway in Galactic. Thunder Coach Steve Walters talks about the action:

Dragons were lead in scoring 26 and rebounds 9 by Ewing. E.Jones added 25 points and was 2nd on team in rebounds with 6. Walker threw in 20 points but shoot only 9/26 from field(2/5 on 3's). Armstrong lead team in assists with 9 but only 7 points in 28 min (early foul trouble).

As a team East Asia out rebounded Galactic 45 (including 22 offensive rebounds) to 35 while taking 21 more shots(95-74) but shot only 44% to Galactic 59%.

Dragons also were near perfect from the free throw line 23-24(96%) as well as having fewer TO 17-20 and more Steals 14-10 still The Thunder made more FG(44-42) and more FT(26-23) as both teams made three 3's Dragons 3-13 and Thunder 3-4

Leading Galactic in scoring was Pippen 23 (10-13 FG & 2-2 on 3's), Cassell added 22 points (7-14 FG & 8-8 FT). Barkley lead both teams in rebounds with 11 but scored only 6 points although he did have 5 assists. Kemp added 18 points (5-10 FG & 8-12 FT) with 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Brandon lead team with 9 assists but had the same number of turnovers 6 as points.

Dragons were lead in scoring by Ewing again with 22 points. Walker added 19 points and lead team with 11 rebounds. E. Jones had 13 points with 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Armstrong lead team with 7 assists but had only 5 points(2-10 FG). As a team East Asia was out shot 54%-44% from the field. Dragons put up 15 3's but only made 3. Once again Dragons had least TO(16-20) and more steals (10-8) as well as a slight edge in rebounds 44 (17 Offensive boards) to 43.

Galactic was lead by kemp with 22 points and 12 rebounds, Brandon with 12 points and a game high 10 assists. Coleman had game high 15 rebounds.

The action crosses the Pacific Ocean as our first "International" SABL Finals continue in Chang Mai, Thailand. Can the Dragons comeback to make this a close series? Stay tuned.

In preparation to storm the SABL Bastille, new Coach Matt LaClear has renamed his franchise the Michigan Liberators.

First-year SABL Coach Paul Bennett nailed the Raiders to the wall in four straight playoff games, beating Frank Rowley's Richmond Raiders at Richmond, 106-83 and 106-86. Here's the report from Frank:

"Richmond's improbable playoff run came to end, as the Richmond Raiders fall to the East Asia Dragons in games #3 & #4. The Dragons won game #3 by the score of 106-83. Leading the way for the Dragons was Patrick Ewing with 24 pts. & 8 boards, followed by A. Walker with 21 pts. & 9 boards. Eddie Jones chipped in 15 pts. & Darrell Armstrong contributed 14 pts. For the game the Dragons show 35-83 for 42% from the field & 29-39 for 74% from the free throw line. For Richmond--Michael Finley led the way with 28 pts. & 7 assists, Steve Smith followed with 15 pts & 5 rebounds. Mark Jackson had 7 pts. & 9 assists. For the game Richmond shot 34-71 for 48% from the field & 12-22 for 55% from the free throw line. Richmond was outrebounded by the Dragons 52-38.

In game #4 the Dragons defeated Richmond 106-86. A. Walker exploded for 40 pts. to lead the way, followed by Eddie Jones with 20 pts. & 6 assists. Darrell Armstrong chipped in 15 pts. & 8 assists & Patrick Ewing had 13 pts. for the Dragons. For Richmond--Steve Smith had 18 pts., followed by Michael Finley with 17 pts. & 6 assists. A. Sabonis had 14 pts. & 8 boards, and L. Ellis had 10 pts. off the bench. Mark Jackson had 6 pts. & 14 assists in 29 minutes.

Coach Rowley stated that the playoff run bodes very well for next year & he has seen gradual improvement from many of his players. He also wishes good luck to the finalists."

Congratulations to all our playoff coaches, divisional winners and especially to our SABL finalists, East Asia and Galactic. It's been the best year ever for the SABL and it's not over yet! Will Thunder Coach Steve Walters roll over East Asia or will the red-hot Dragons burn Galactic and give them their second SABL finals defeat. The scene now switches to Galactic for the first two games of the 2000 SABL Championships. Good luck to both Steve and Paul!

With the Lansing LaClears' invasion of the SABL, new divisional alignments will be forthcoming. Here's how it shapes up:

The Lansing LaClears obviously have to be in the same division and the Dragons are so far east that they are really west, so they can move to our West Division. That should set us for the upcoming 2000-2001 season!

New Lansing Coach Marc LaClear has brought his brother into SABL, Matt LaClear, as Matt takes over the Philly Super Freaks from Gary Goldstein, who is unable to compete because of time constraints. Matt's address and phone number are the same as his brother's: 2024 Ferrol St., Lansing, MI 48910. Phone: 517-882-6391. His email, however, is different: mustang_matt86@hotmail.com. Give Matt and Marc a call or email and welcome them to our league!

Now the Dillinghams (Doug and Dad Charlie) and the new LaClear families can gang up on the Amazing Feeneys of the North Division in Strat-O-Matic feuds that could start a Hatfield-McCoy-like triangle in the SABL. Stay tuned for further developments.

Jet lag must've hurt Frank Rowley's Richmond Raiders as Paul Bennett's Dragons won the first two games in Thailand, 99-74 and 95-87. Here's Paul's report:

After a tight first half, East Asia’s defense took over and led the Dragons to a 99-74 victory in Chiang Mai last night. Leading 42-38 at the half, and 72-62 after three quarters, the Dragons finished Richmond with a 27-12 final period. The big difference tonight was the smaller players. Jackson, Smith and Finley shot a combined 9-32 for 23 points, while Armstrong, Jones and Walker were a combined 19-32 for 56 points. Asia out-shot Richmond 54% to 39% while being out-rebounded 42-36. Asia committed only 9 turnovers, and had only 15 fouls to Richmond’s 30, due mainly to Eddie Jones who was a force in the post against the weaker Smith. LaPhonso Ellis scored 16 in 18 minutes, on a perfect 7-7 from the floor to lead the Raiders, while Jones and Armstrong both potted 21, Ewing 16 and Walker 14 for the home side.

The East Asia Dragons defeated the Richmond Raiders 95-87 here in Chiang Mai last night. It was once again the Eddie Jones show on both ends of the court. Jones led Asia with 27 points, 6 boards, 3 steals, 3 assists and 2 blocks while assuming primary responsibility for Michael Finley, and holding him to 11 points. For the second night in a row the Dragons were out-rebounded and out-passed but managed to win it at the free throw line. Jones and Pat Ewing were hacked all night and the result was a 35-40 (88%) effort from the line, compared to 14-20 (70%) for Richmond.

Coach Paul Bennett said after the game, “It will be a lot different in Richmond. At home we can exploit certain Richmond weaknesses using Eddie as the focus of the offence, but when HAL takes over on the road he’s sure to screw it up. Somehow Eddie is totally out of the flow on the road and we live or die on Antione Walker’s 10 treys a night.”

Talk like this caused widespread comments on HAL’s abilities and future here in northern Thailand, most of which agreed with Bennett’s assessment.

Richmond were led by Sabonis with 22 and by their bench, which outplayed the starters in general. Ewing had 18 and Tough Terry Porter 16 for the victors, who were sparked by 12 blocks, 10 steals, and 10 turnovers committed.

Frank Rowley's Richmond Raiders have advanced for the first time to the Royal Conference Finals by beating Doug Crandall's West Division winning Deerfield Kings 101-90 at Deerfield in Game 6 of Round Two action.

Michael Finley lead Richmond in scoring with 22 points and Andre Sabonis had 18 points and 13 boards. Rahim led the Kings with 28 points and Paul Pierce had 25.

Richmond now meets East Division winner East Asia, the team in the Royal Conference with the most regular season victories. The winner of the Royal Conference finals will take on Steve Walters in the SABL Finals.

New Coach Marc LaClear is sharpening his team's image by renaming it the Lansing Razors.

Aces trade Rod Strickland & Chris Crawford to Finney for Brevin Knight & T. Lue

This deal takes effect next season. Also, I'm not adjusting our rosters for next season on our website until this season is over, which should be this month.

Well, actually, running the league over the Internet is cheaper and that's what keeps the costs down. Still, it costs every year for website space, phone calls, mailings and electricity to run my computer. That's what your dues buys, along with the fun of being the in best national Strat basketball league in America. So go ahead, make my day and pay your dues today!

The Galactic Thunder, coached by 38-year Strat veteran Steve Walters, beat the defending SABL champion St. Lucie Aces in Game 6 of the Classic Conference finals in another thriller, 117-115. Galactic thus wins its second Classic Conference title, and awaits either East Asia or the victor of the Deerfield-Richmond series in the Royal Conference as it's opponents in the 2000 SABL Finals.

In Game 6, the Aces abandoned their pressing tactics and inched to a 24-23 lead at the end of the first quarter. But by half-time, Galactic had jumped ahead 56-50. St. Lucie put the press on to start the third quarter, but it wasn't effective as Galactic increased its lead to 90-79. But finally, in the fourth, the press and the Ace offense put St. Lucie on top 115-113 with 36 seconds to go. Galactic's Sudden Sam Cassell drew a foul from Gary Payton and went to line to sink two free throws as part of another stellar performance (27 points, 94% free-throw shooting). The Aces got the ball back, called time, and got the ball to Rod Strickland, who was guarded by the exhausted (5-fatigued) John Stockton. Rapid Rod penetrated, but missed the basket.

An exhausted Stockton then crawled down the floor in the slowest fast break in SABL playoff history to sink a slow-motion lay-up, putting the Thunder up by 2 points with 2 seconds to go. The Aces had one chance left, getting the ball to The Mailman, Karl Malone, who didn't deliver the inside shot needed to tie it and send it to overtime, and Galactic took the series four games to two.

Shawn Kemp led Galactic in scoring with 29 points and 12 rebounds. Terrell Brandon had 13 assists and Sir Charles Barkley had 11 boards. Shaq dunked 22 points for St. Lucie, with 12 boards, and Malone scored 23. Rapid Rod Strickland had 11 assists.

The Aces actually outscored Galactic in the series, 121.8 to 119.5 points per game and had a higher field goal percentage (.574-.536), but don't tell that to Cassell and Kemp, who averaged 26.3 and 26.8 ppg. Where the Aces got beat was at the foul line, being outshot .842 to .738. Galactic made 25 more free throws than St. Lucie.

Galactic has been in the SABL finals before and they got there in 1998, partially by defeating St. Lucie Aces in the second round of the playoffs. Galactic lost in the SABL finals that year to Steve Feldheim's Brooklyn Tigers, who won their second SABL crown.

In 1999, the Aces beat Galactic in the Classic Conference championship series, going on to defeat defending champion Brooklyn in the SABL finals.

Could this be the year that Galactic finally wins the SABL crown? Perhaps, perhaps not. Ace Coach and arch-Galactic rival Scott Ellis was seen talking to John Gotti's lawyer after the game, kissing his hand and giving the attorney a cordovan-colored brief case. Asked about the meeting, Ellis would only say, "The next pair of shoes Cassell wears might be a bit heavier and damper than he's used to."

Meade Jayhawk Coach Leon Rogers, one of the best guys we've ever had in our league, has resigned from the SABL due to family duties. Job and family have to come before hobbies and while we'll miss Leon, I think his desire to spend his time with his family is the right decision. Leon said when some of his kids start moving out of the house in the next couple or three years, he'll give us a call and get another SABL team. Until then, Leon, good luck and don't lay too many bricks!

Taking over the Jayhawks is a 14-year SOM Basketball veteran, Marc LaClear of Lansing, MI. Lansing is the capital of the state. Marc also plays SOM computer baseball. Marc's address is 2024 Ferrol St., Lansing, MI 48910. His phone number is 517-882-6391. His email is mlaclear@hotmail.com.

Give Marc a call or email him to welcome his to the SABL! He'll be renaming his franchise soon.

The Philly Super Freaks, with Allen Iverson and Jason Kidd, need a new coach. If you have a friend that would like to join this insanity we call the SABL, have them contact me ASAP to get this franchise in their mitts.

The defending SABL champions took a dive in Games 4 and 5 at home, as the South Division champion Galactic Thunder showed why they rumbled to their divisional title this year.

Game 4 - This one was wild, with Galactic leading almost all the way until the fourth quarter, when the Aces' game-long pressing defense began to wear the Thunder down. The Aces tied it up at 119-119 with 1:15 to play in the 4th as Karl Malone dunked it. Gary Payton scored a fastbreak basket to give the Aces a 121-119 lead, their first since the early minutes of the 1st quarter. Sudden Sam Cassell sank a couple of free throws for Galactic with 32 seconds left to tie it up. With just 15 seconds left, Rapid Rod Strickland was at the line for two foul shots. He only made one of them and with 8 seconds left, former Ace Shawn Kemp penetrated to the basket for a hoop, giving Galactic a 123-122 lead. The Aces had one chance left, getting the ball to The Admiral with one second left, but David Robinson missed the inside shot and Galactic got the exciting victory.

Kemp (25 points) and Cassell (28 points) continued to cream the Aces and Terrell Brandon added 14 assists. Sir Charles Barkley had 11 boards. Galactic shot 68 percent from the field.

Shaquille O'Neal scored 23 points and Grant Hill had 31. Strickland had 11 assists.

Game 5 - It was the Thunder's turn to blow out the Aces and they did, 143-124, as St. Lucie's press was ineffective this time. Kemp scored 28 points and had 10 rebounds, Barkley scored 17 with 10 boards, Cassell scored 38 and Brandon scored the passing lanes with 19 assists. Galactic shot an incredible 91% from the free throw line, making a mind-boggling 52 of 57 free throw attempts. Cassell was 24 of 25 from the line.

Cliff Robinson scored 21 points in 26 minutes before fouling out for the third time in this series. David Robinson had 23 points and Strickland scored 18 with 11 assists. But Malone flamed out, shooting 31 percent from the floor.

Now the scene shifts back to Galactic for Game 6 and maybe 7. Can Scott Ellis' Aces stage a comeback or is it Steve Walters and the Thunder's turn to go the SABL finals for the second time? Galactic is now up 3-2 in the series.

Round Two action continues in the Royal Conference as Frank Rowley's Raiders won two of three games in Richmond over Doug Crandall's Deerfield Kings. Now the action switches back to Deerfield with Richmond up 3 games to 2.

Game #3--Richmond 94--Deerfield 84. Richmond led by 18 entering the final period as they outscored the Kings by 26-15 in the third quarter.

Richmond explodes in the 1st Qtr. to lead 42-21 after the buzzer. Michael Finley scored 13 points in the quarter & the team went 4-4 from behind the 3-point arc. The team shot 17-23 for 74% for the quarter, in by far away the best quarter for Richmond all year. The second quarter was nearly as strong & by half-time the Raiders led 73-42 & the game for all practical purposes was just about over. Richmond shot 31-44 for the half--70% & by half time had accumulated 23 assists. Deerfield outscored the Raiders 31-16 in the 3rd quarter & 26-19 in the 4th quarter (mainly against the reserves in the 4th to narrow the margin).

Game #5--Deerfield take revenge for the blowout in game #4, with a 100-93 victory over the Richmond Raiders. Sharef Abdur-Rahim & rebounding were the stories for game #5.

E. Snow--with 12 points, J. Williams with 12 points & 7 assits (in 25 minutes), and D. Marshall with 10 points. B Grant had 14 boards!