1972 SBA Regular Season First Half: West Division

Stratford Stars (18-8)
Owner: Lou Burton
Coach: Neils Van Der Vennen
Starters: 1 Carroll Murphy, 2 SF Bob Bass, 3 Jan Holt, 4 Grant McCoy, 5 Randal Franklin
Bench: 6 SG Doug Averill, 7 C Tony Peters, 8 PG Denny Hamilton, 9 SG Coleman McKee, 10 PF Bernie Kitchens
***Injuries: Bob Bass (games 1-10), Denny Hamilton (games 16-21)

As expected, the defending champion Stars started hot out of the gate. It's yet to be shown that the other West Division teams can even keep up. While continuing to impress on offense, thanks in large part to the grit and soft touch of Grant McCoy, they've excelled defensively. Even without arguably their best defensive player during the first 10 games of the season, the Stars still rallied behind their other top tier defender, Randal Franklin, en route to being the best defense in PPG so far this season. Carroll Murphy was about the only player that really didn't quite meet expectations. His new contract is only this year and next, but definitely looking like a little bit of an overpay after a pretty fantastic postseason from Murphy in 1971. The Australian signee from this offseason, Denny Hamilton, did a decent job in his minutes and ended up playing 15 minutes a game. However, he suffered a minor injury in game 16 and Bob Bass had to step in and take the backup PG duties. The other re-sign this offseason, Tony Peters, continues to be one of the best bench players the SBA has seen. He and Doug Averill don't get enough credit for their contributions to the Stars first SBA Championship last season. Both allow this team to be very versatile, almost always only having starting caliber players on the court. Jan Holt also went under-the-radar averaging 12,5, and 3. Other than their struggles with Murphy not quite playing to the bar he set last playoffs, another struggle came against the Farmers. While the Stars led or tied every other series so far this season, they're down 0-2 to East Division leaders. All Star considerations are Bass (despite being out 10 games), Holt, McCoy, and Franklin.

 O’Connor Chiefs (14-12)
Owner: Ozzie FitzsimmonsCoach: Blair Darwin
Starters: 1 Chuck McLaughlin, 2 Brian Morris, 3 SG Grant Goodwin, 4 Randal Lennon, 5 Sidney Wade
Bench: 6 SF Norman Peck, 7 SF Harvey Griffiths, 8 PF Jerry Hennessy, 9 C Ely Cox, 10 SG Zeke Cleary
***Injuries: Ely Cox (games 1-14)

I think the general consensus on the Chiefs is that we still don't really know if they're ready to be contenders. They continue to be decent not great, but they do have a top offense in the SBA. The backcourt of McLaughlin, Morris, and Goodwin has been hyper-efficient when compared to the rest of the league. There's certainly an argument to be made that Bangor and Haydon have better offenses, but they also are more talented teams. So, in other words O'Connor continues to do the most with the least out of the teams that have a shot of making the playoffs. It doesn't look like that's going to win them championships right now, but it definitely earns them some respect. Coach Blair Darwin should be careful though, this is the third season in a row they've been hanging around .500, and while that's better than being in the position of St. Patrick or Wells, 1970 expansion teams yet to even get close to playoff basketball, it's not the most secure position to be in either. Brian Morris had a bit of a down start to the season shooting only 37% from the field. However, McLauglin and to a lesser extent were still able to carry the offense. On defense the Chiefs rely on their big guys, and it was Sidney Wade who really flourished in that role. As far as the bench goes, Ely Cox missed the first 14 games, but not having a huge role on the team, his absence didn't affect much. Norman Peck and Harvey Griffiths probably didn't get as many minutes as they'd like, this team is just a little small especially in terms of where the bulk of their talent is located. This meant both played the 4 at times, but neither really showed much potential of staying their long term. Mainly due to their mismatches with bigger guys, Randall Lennon continued to get a lot of minutes despite being the least talented of the three. The Happies finally aren't last in the division, but they shouldn't be much of a challenge, leaving the Chiefs and Engineers as the main competitors for 2nd place in the division and a playoff spot. The Engineers have the best player of the two teams in Sal Banks, so the Chiefs are going to have to continue playing good team basketball, and maybe with some better shooting from Brian Morris they can hold on. McLaughlin, Morris, Goodwin, and Wade are to be among the All Star considerations.

Trent Engineers (12-14)
Owner: Jackie McCarthy
Coach: Ervin Fowler
Starters: 1 Ciaran Levy, 2 Sal Banks, 3 Fred Love, 4 SF Geoff Owens, 5 Alonzo Doyle
Bench: 6 SG Leon Mack, 7 C Milton Massey, 8 PF Curt Osbourne, 9 SG Ramiro Villa, 10 Connor Ingham
***Injuries: N/A

Despite having no injuries the Engineers struggled in the First Half. The blame can't all really be put on the best player here either, it was largely his teammates who underachieved. Ciaran Levy had probably his worst season in the SBA thus far. Not to mention, Alonzo Doyle is showing some pretty heavy aging signs, and you can see Fred Love isn't quite the same player either although still very useful for his shooting. Geoff Owens is probably the best undersized guy playing the 4 right now, his ability to guard 4 positions is almost unmatched in the SBA, Bob Bass is another name that comes to mind. Make no mistake though, with a top 5 player in the league in Banks, even at 31, owner Jackie McCarthy wants championships. The Engineers are a storied club, and they've been good with Ervin Fowler at the healm, but haven't been able to quite get over the hump. Fowler is definitely trending toward the hot seat, but it's not unrealistic to expect Trent back in the playoffs, the real question is if they can still keep up with the Stars. Levy, Banks, Love, and Owens are to be considered for the All Star Game.

St. Patrick Happies (10-16)
Owner: Wally O’Leary
Coach: Hayden Briggs
Starters: 1 Bobby Ellis, 2 Tommie Fowler, 3 SG Ed Harrington, 4 Cary Joseph, 5 PF Darrell Crawford
Bench: 6 PG Marlon Young, 7 PF Harvey Lynch, 8 SF Sylvester Carr, 9 SF Eddie Janowski, PG Claude Webb
***Injuries: Bobby Ellis (games 9-18)

It's a miracle. Two years after their acceptance into the SBA, the Happies have finally crawled out of last place. This offseason was huge for St. Patrick as they were able to re-sign Bobby Ellis who was acquired in a trade from Sherborne, and sign Cary Joseph from Bangor. Joseph earned a lot of respect from his peers last year in signing a one-year "prove it" deal and thus St. Patrick signed him to the biggest deal at PF outside of Grant McCoy. The Happies have chosen to keep coach Hayden Briggs around despite some awful years, but he hasn't had much star power to this point. And, there's definitely some improvement to be seen with this team. Bobby Ellis has been solid, but has yet to really return to his past self after a major injury which continued into the first half of last season. His playmaking ability is still evident however, and having good shooters in Fowler and Harrington around him is always a good idea. Unfortunately Ellis suffered a minor injury in his opposite knee to the one previously injured, while minor it's left many critics skeptical of the PG's ability to stay healthy. Being the SBAPA player representative, Ellis was still the vocal leader of the Happies even in his absence, but Joseph led them on the floor. He comes into the all star break averaging a team high 18ppg to go along with 8rpg, as well as fulfilling his reputation as a defensive stalwart. Overall, it's been a pretty good season for the Happies, but they may want to move in a new direction at coach if they want to contend in the future. Darrell Crawford struggled for the most part as the starting 5, whether it was the reduced role on offense or the inability to stay in front of some of the league's best Joseph may need to move to C. Young and Lynch a both pretty solid bench guys and for the most part were positives for the team. Sylvester Carr really hasn't played all that much and I wouldn't be too surprised if rumors begin to swirl of his impending contract expiration and possible retirement at 36. All Star considerations are Ellis, Fowler, and Joseph.

Silver Point Captains (8-18)
Owner: Aubrey Sherman
Coach: Mart Tracey
Starters: 1 Jamie McFarland, 2 Nathan Lloyd, 3 Tom Griffin, 4 Saul Rodriguez, 5 Shane Conway
Bench: 6 PG Ed O’Mooney, 7 C Heath O’Toole, 8 SF Bill Ziegler, 9 PG Olaf Frye, 10 SF Lynton Underhill
***Injuries: Nathan Llyod (games 17-26, expected to be out a few more games)

Although the Engineers were the most disappointing of the playoff contending teams, the Captains were certainly the most miserable team. After losing two star players in consecutive offseasons, they're pretty barren in terms of talent. Quite frankly the only guys they have on their roster that are pretty good are Saul Rodriguez and Shane Conway, the rest are largely young guys they hope might turn into something. Even at just 20 years old it's clear Rodriguez is the key to the Captains future. The Spaniard is easily one of the highest potential players in the SBA. But, as is the case with most of the guys on that list, there's some concern he may leave for a better league and that would put the Captains in an even worse position. When his contract expires this offseason they'll have to be ready to overpay if they want to keep him. Not much went right outside of Rodriguez's play. Even Shane Conway struggled offensively, but was a respectable defensive leader. Secondary scorer was largely taken on by Nathan Llyod who has been hot and cold all season long. He did get injured at the tail end of the first half though, which left the Captains even thinner at scoring. Not a great start for new coach Mart Tracey, I wouldn't rule out us seeing possibly the first SBA coach to be let go after one season. Rodriguez and Conway are to be considered for the All Star team.

Last edited by jxhnhvhn (6/25/2020 2:35 pm)

1972 SBA All Star Game

East wins 106-97
MVP: Santos Garza

West Starters:
PG Chuck McLaughlin (Chiefs) 1 start, 3 apps
SG Sal Banks (Engineers) 1,3
SF Bob Bass (Stars) 1,4
PF Grant McCoy (Stars) 3,5
C Randal Franklin (Stars) 5,5
West Bench:
PG Bobby Ellis (Happies) 2,4
SG Grant Goodwin (Chiefs) 1,2
SF Geoff Owens (Engineers) 0,5
PF Cary Joseph (Happies) 0,5
C Shane Conway (Captains) 0,2

East Starters:
PG Santos Garza (Farmers) 3,4
SG Dom Byrd (Farmers) 5,5
SF Clarence Ward (Whalers) 5,5
PF Ira Diaz (Rowdies) 5,5
C Pete Murphy (Rowdies) 5,5
East Bench:
PG Jordy Jensen (Whalers) 0,3
SG Brent McCormick (Hounds) 3,5
SF Eugene Shaw (Farmers) 3,5
PF Cristo Ventura (Farmers) 0,1
C Kenneth Tate (Hounds) 2,5

Biggest Snubs:
1. C Rick Howell (Phoenix)
2. SG Rufus Simon (Hounds)
3. SG Brian Morris (Chiefs)
4. PF/SF Dario Hurst (Rowdies)
5. C Sidney Wade (Chiefs)

Other News
-Eugene Shaw became the oldest player to play in the SBA All Star Game (35)
-Wells Phoenix didn't have a single player in the SBA All Star Game
-St. Patrick Happies announce plans to rebrand this offseason including the introduction of a primary logo other than their classic script, the first time in team history

SBA Regular Season Second Half: East Division

Bangor Farmers 16-10 (35-17)
Owner: Colin Burns
Coach: Bryan Harris
Starters: 1 Santos Garza, 2 Dom Byrd, 3 Eugene Shaw, 4 C Cristo Ventura, 5 Adam Lowe
Bench: 6 SG Toby Dunn, 7 PF John Hall, 8 SF Malcolm Nichols, 9 C Vytautas Paulauskas, 10 PG Willie Angus
***Injuries: N/A

I haven't mentioned this, but the injury column only shows injuries 3 games or more, so if you were wondering why there aren't a ton of injuries. But, shockingly one of the SBA's oldest teams got through the second half of the season without any significant injuries. The story of the season for Bangor was of course the retirement tour of SBA legend Adam Lowe. Although Eugene Shaw has continued to tip toe around the question of his retirement, he and Lowe were honored together throughout the season especially at home. Aside from their aging stars, their new core trio of talent continued to guide the Farmers. This time around finishing with a 16-10 record after the All Star break, not quite as dominant as their first half, but still the best record of any team in the second half and in total. The Farmers will face the Hounds for the first time in the playoffs, an interesting matchup especially offensively, this could be a rivalry reborn if both continue to contend for the SBA Championship. 

Haydon Hounds 15-11 (29-23)
Owner: Carson Singleton
Coach: Len Hess
Starters: 1 SG Brent McCormick, 2 Rufus Simon, 3 Stefane Lachance, 4 Allen Davies, 5 Kenneth Tate
Bench: 6 PG Noah Foster, 7 SF Beau Whittle, 8 C Eddie Duarte, 9 PG Davey O’Gallagher, 10 PF Pep Cassano
***Injuries: Davey O'Gallagher (games 43-51)

The Hounds came firing out of the gate in the second half. And, the traditional 2nd place team in the East, the Rowdies, had to pay for it. A mediocre second half for Rivers End let the potent offense of McCormick, Simon, and Lachance to sneak into the playoffs, making the Hounds the second of the 4 SBA teams that joined in 1970 to make the playoffs. I think it's generally understood that while Len Hess uses McCormick a PG a fair bit, he's not quite as comfortable playing a natural scorer at the position as Sherborne coach Walt Ramsey was. This played a part in the injury of Davey O'Gallagher, but it didn't slow the Hounds down much at all. Hess being maybe not the most forward looking coach, but more in the middle of the pack in that sphere really makes Noah Foster a great guy to have as their 6th man. When they did struggle it was with their backcourt defense, but two solid defenders down low was able to produce a decent defense. It's hard to say what the strategy of the Hounds will be against the Farmers in the East Division Championship, as they are relatively similar looking teams. Although both teams have elite offenses, which should make for a very entertaining and close series, you'd have to think the Farmers have a little bit of a defensive edge, although having a 35 and 36 year old in the starting lineup would indicate that their defense isn't impenetrable either.

Rivers End Rowdies 12-14 (27-25)
Owner: George Castile
Coach: Carlton Bates
Starters: 1 Del Davis, 2 PG Cesar Manfredonia, 3 PF Dario Hurst, 4 Ira Diaz, 5 Pete Murphy
Bench: 6 PG Neil Harlow, 7 SF Rickey Waters, 8 SG Lars Johnston, 9 C Juan Quintana, 10 PG Hector Perez
***Injuries: Del Davis (games 31-37)

Make it two years in a row the Rowdies kind of choked away a playoff spot. With their best player in Ira Diaz being 31, it could get worse before it gets better. And, although coach Carlton Bates has an SBA title under his belt, he should be on the hot seat going into next year. The biggest disappointment came in Del Davis, who's game is really getting up their as a 34 year old. Whether it was poor play, his injury, or the solid play from Manfredonia and Harlow, it'd be a surprise if the Rowdies don't move on from Davis in the offseason. Manfredonia will also be a free agent this offseason. You'd have to think they'll want to re-sign the Argentine, but as is usually the case with international players, there's a significant risk he'll return home or play elsewhere abroad. There hasn't been much change in how the Rowdies have operated around Diaz, with the ball being pounded down low on offense, and the team being a consistent defensive stalwart. Once again, their failure came in their inability to get over the hump. Both Bangor and Haydon's strongest offensive players are on the wings which suits them nicely against Rivers End, who's best defense is played inside the paint.

 Sherborne Whalers 13-13 (24-28)
Owner: Carl Patterson
Coach: Walt Ramsey
Starters: 1 Jordy Jensen, 2 SF Terrance Burris, 3 Clarence Ward, 4 Ari O’Neil, 5 Jeff Davenport
Bench: 6 C Andy Haas, 7 SG Tomas Carlson, 8 C Ozzie Brant, 9 SF Eric Kimball, 10 PG Otto Vincent
***Injuries: Tomas Carlson (games 26-52, should be ready next season), Jordy Jensen (games 39-43)

Despite injuries to two of their top 3 scorers the Whalers managed to finish with a better record in the second half than the first half. Whether you attribute that to good coaching or players just getting more used to playing with each other is up for debate. Jensen did only miss 4 games though. Coach Walt Ramsey going with another one of the SBA's more score first PGs is no coincidence. And, Jensen was great fit alongside defensive superstar Clarence Ward. Unfortunately for the Whalers, it was their usual problem that has plagued them, that being the lack of really good talent in the frontcourt. Carlson being hurt thee entire season has also really limited where they can get points from as Terrance Burris is more of a defensive option at the 2. The biggest name free agent for the Whalers this offseason is without a doubt Clarence Ward, it's a huge decision for the future of this franchise, Ward is still only 26, but can they build around him right now. Tomas Carlson is also an interesting situation as he will be coming off a major injury at 32, but was once of the SBA's best shooters. Jeff Davenport doesn't have quite the same name recognition, but being a starter they could bring him back, but Haas is also waiting in the wings if they want to move away from Davenport.

Wells Phoenix 12-14 (21-31)
Owner: Levi Phillips
Coach: Glen Massey
Starters: 1 Ian Emmett, 2 Johnny Jackson, 3 PF Larry Hester, 4 Emanuel Fields, 5 Rick Howell
Bench: 6 SG Marcelino Tapia, 7 SF Bernie Zhu, 8 C Louis MacGillen, 9 PG Oscar Jordan, 10 SF Colin Duffy
***Injuries: Ian Emmett (games 28-38), Rick Howell (games 43-50)

The Phoenix were another team that probably did a little bit better than you'd expect in the 1972 season's second half. The SBA was more compact in terms of records though, with East Division continuing to outshine the West. Despite not playing the most exciting brand of basketball, Wells was able to make it through two injuries to their starters and a respectable second half. Coach Glen Massey was given a lot of credit for making his pretty traditional style work well. Similar to the first half much of the gameplan revolved around Rick Howell and to a lesser extent Emanuel Fields, but he did take the biggest role when Howell was out. During Emmett's missed time, it was Johnny Jackson and Marcelino Tapia who manned the backcourt and they did a solid job having already done so last season. It'll be interesting to see if the Phoenix decide to keep Emmett in the future as his signing was largely an experiment with a more tradtional PG than Jackson, and having a really good option at the 6th in Tapia. The three biggest free agents for the Wells this offseason will be Jackson, Larry Hester, and Tapia. All three are internationals, so definitely some increased risk of their leaving. But, at the very least Jackson and Tapia should be considered as the two younger options. Hester is only 31, but hasn't quite lived up to the expectations made when he got to Wells.

Other News
-Chiefs coach Blair Darwin let go after 3 decent/mediocre seasons, 1 playoff appearance
-Happies coach Hayden Briggs let go after 3 pretty bad seasons, looked better this year, but the team wants to move in a different direction to really get better
-Other Silverian basketball championships to begin including those for the WBA (2nd division), EBA (2nd division), UBC (university club), SAAL (academy), and NSL (high school club)

Last edited by jxhnhvhn (7/06/2020 5:33 pm)

USC Background

The WRC (Western Rugby Coalition) was a collegiate club rugby division founded in 1904, a year before high school level sports were introduced to the relatively new nation of Silveria. It's original members were Winters University, Stratford's Protestant school, Ferdinand University, Silver Point's Catholic school, Silver Peninsula Mining University, located in O'Connor, and Westbury University, the only of the four that was public. In 1905 the name of the league was officially changed to the WSC (Western Sporting Coalition), with its introduction of soccer. Abbot University, another Catholic school this time based out of St. Patrick, joined in 1908. In 1911, the ESC (Eastern Sporting Coalition) was formed between Three Rivers University, a public college in Dover, Riverlands, Dudley University, also public, but in Traders Bay, and Oil Tech University, a private college in Wells. John Paul University, Stratford's catholic college joined the WSC in 1916. Ridgeview University joined the WSC in 1918, as Silver Point's Protestant College. In 1920, the first URC (United Rugby Coalition) was held between WRC champion Abbot and ERC champion Dudley. This would be the first step in creating the USC we know and love today. In 1923 the WSC saw its second public school join that being Silver Point University. Along with their entry came the split of the WSC into North and South Divisions. Abbot, Westbury, Winters, and John Paul in the North, and SP Mining, Ferdinand, Ridgeview, and Silver Point in the South. In 1925, Stratford University joined the WSC, this is when the first private/public split happened with the WSC now being split in three division, North, South, and Public. The North no longer featured Westbury, and the South no longer featured Silver Point, with both joining Stratford in the WSC Public Division. However, during the Great Depression funding especially for uniforms and travel dried up and the WSC had to suspend operations from the end of the 1929 season to the beginning of the 1932 season. Its return featured only private schools with their being much more old money institutions, and SPMU being the only of the 5 not sponsored by religion. Winters, John Paul, Ferdinand, and Ridgeview joined them. In 1934, Abbot re-joined the WSC. Although the ESC continued their inability to return, another league sprung up. This time the public schools would be separate from the private schools, forming the WPSC (Western Public Sporting Coalition), failing to realize that the WSC could fit the same acronym. The WPSC of course featured Westbury, Silver Point, and Stratford, but also a newbie in Aldborough. This also meant the return to having a USC Championship game between the winners of the WSC and WPSC. With competition on the rise, the ESC made a desperate attempt to get back and were successful in 1936. This time they also featured 4 teams, adding Hamstead to a group of Three Rivers, Dudley, and Oil Tech. In turn the USC playoffs would have 4 teams for the first time, with all three division winners as well as a selected wild card team facing off. In 1938, New Dublin University joined the WPSC, bringing them to 5 teams. And, the ESC followed by adding St. Peter's University, the East's Catholic school based out of Wycombe, Traders Bay, in 1941. In 1946 the WPSC tied the WSC for most clubs at 6, adding Trent University. But, in 1947 the ESC topped both western leagues with Bangor University and Granite Bay University (Sherborne) joining. Baseball was introduced as the third sport to be sponsored by all university clubs in 1948. Hastings University (Green Coast) joined the WPSC in 1951, bringing the league to 7 teams. Basketball was introduced and the fourth and final fully sponsored sport in 1952. The year after, Highlands University, located in Woodsborough, joined as the eighth WPSC team. The WPSC would split into North and South Division as well. Aldborough, New Dublin, Hastings, and Highlands in the North, and Westbury, Stratford, Trent, and Silver Point in the South. The same idea was used in 1954 by the ESC when they added Salisbury University (Traders Bay). Instead the division were West and East, although it was much more Traders Bay and everybody else, with the West featuring Dudley, St. Peter's, Granite Bay, and Salisbury, and the East featuring Oil Tech, Three Rivers, Hamstead, and Bangor. The divisions within a league fad continued on in 1955 with even the WSC opting to go this route, Winters, Abbot, and John Paul in the North, and Ferdinand, SP Mining, and Ridgeview in the South. In 1958, along with the introduction of Nottingham University (Silver Peninsula) to the WPSC, the USC changed the playoff format to feature 8 of 23 teams. With the WPSC now being at 9 teams total, they switched over to 3 divisions, New Dublin, Hastings, and Highlands in the North, Stratford, Aldborough, and Nottingham in the Central, and Westbury, Silver Point, and Trent in the South. In 1960, the ESC added the most recent team to the USC, bringing in Brackley University. With them at 9 clubs, the put Dudley, St. Peter's, and Granite Bay in the West, Oil Tech, Hamstead, and Salisbury in the South, and Three Rivers, Bangor, and Brackley, in the North. In 1961, interleague clubs began playing each other during the regular season for the first time. Traditional rivalries, specifically Westbury vs. Winters, were really brought back to life. However, in USC Basketball there had always been interleague games and there had never been any divisions within leagues, it just wasn't that practical for a 20-30 game season. In addition, while considered a fully sponsored sport in 1952, universities were given some leeway in regards to if they had to create their respective clubs right away, with younger universities being especially reluctant. The next big change for basketball in terms of the USC playoff format came in 1968. Now the league and non league seasons would be separated. 16 league games would come first determining if your club would be placed into USC League One or League Two and in what group for the non league season. With 24 teams in total, both USC League One and League Two feature 12 teams, 3 groups of 4. In each group, a club plays the other 3 clubs twice, this is their non league season. Clubs do end up playing teams from their own league, but no group is allowed more than two from any league. The top 7 League One teams as chosen by the USC committee, based on performance in the league and non league seasons, advance to the playoffs.  The top 4 League Two teams have a play in tournament for the 8th seed. After, that the playoffs continue as normal.

1972 USC Basketball
Championship 

Semi-Finals 

Quarter-Finals
Hamstead v.
Silver Point v. Stratford
Winters v. Salisbury
John Paul v. St. Peter’s

Play In 2 

Play In 1
Trent v. Dudley
Three Rivers v. Oil Tech 

UBC League One
A
Winters 4-2 (14-8)
Salisbury 4-2 (13-9)
John Paul 2-4 (14-8)
Aldborough 2-4 (12-10)
B
Silver Point 4-2 (16-6)
New Dublin 3-3 (13-9)
Highlands 3-3 (12-10)
Bangor 2-4 (14-8)
C
Hamstead 6-0 (19-3)
Stratford 3-3 (13-9)
St. Peter’s 2-4 (14-8)
Ferdinand 1-5 (10-12) 
UBC League Two
A
Oil Tech 5-1 (9-13)
Trent 4-2 (11-11)
Hastings 3-3 (7-15)
Granite Bay 0-6 (6-16)
B
Three Rivers 4-2 (12-10)
Nottingham 3-3 (8-14)
Ridgeview 3-3 (8-14)
Brackley 2-4 (6-16)
C
Dudley 5-1 (9-13)
SP Mining 3-3 (9-13)
Westbury 2-4 (7-15)
Abbot 1-5 (7-15) 

Conference Season
WBC
John Paul 12-4
Winters 10-6
Ferdinand 9-7
SP Mining 6-10
Abbot 6-10
Ridgeview 5-11 

WPBC
Silver Point 12-4
Aldborough 10-6
New Dublin 10-6
Stratford 10-6
Highlands 9-7
Trent 7-9
Westbury 5-11
Nottingham 5-11
Hastings 4-12 

EBC
Hamstead 13-3
St. Peter’s 12-4
Bangor 12-4
Salisbury 9-7
Three Rivers 8-8
Granite Bay 6-10
Oil Tech 4-12
Brackley 4-12
Dudley 4-12

January Tournaments
The NSL Silverian Six and the USC Tournament are two of the 6 championships that will take place in January 1973. The hope is that the spectacle can bring a lot of attention to the sport. I think I'm going to roll out day by day results. For reference too, remember the major event that won't be in January, the Silver Open features, 1 NSL team (high school club level), 2 SAAL (AAU club level), 3 UBC (college club level), 8 WBA/EBA (semi-pro club level), and all 10 SBA teams.

Last edited by jxhnhvhn (7/16/2020 2:55 pm)

After the 1972 Regular Season, the inaugural Silverian Basketball Championships are to take place in the month Janurary. Keep in mind Silveria is in the Southern Hemisphere, so it'll be the middle of the summer. This will be the first time in which these championships are marketed as a single event. The Silverian Basketball Championships will lead up to the Silverian Open, which will take place before next season, in July. In the case of the UBC (College Club), SAAL (Academy), and NSL (High School Club), the Silverian Basketball Championships will determine which of their team(s) will be eligible for the Silverian Open. All SBA teams and the EBA/WBA (Second Division) playoff teams are automatically eligible. In the month of January, basketball will be played on 27 of 31 days in Silveria. The SBA Playoffs start January 8th. But, all other leagues will start on the 1st. In connection to the new events, a new publication, Day One Sports, has taken over the primary storytelling role from the SBA magazine. The owner of Day One Sports, Gil Davies, previously played for the Trent Engineers and Stratford Flames of the WBA.

The first games of the day take us to Silveria's capitol, Stratford. Rivers End Division champ, Edgar Hamstead, is set to play Traders Bay Division champ, Coburn Salisbury, at 10am, in the first NSL Silverian Six matchup in history. The Silverian Six format is that of a round robin in which each team will play all 5 opponents and the two teams with the best record in said games will play in the Silverian Six final.

Edgar Engineers vs. Coburn Bulls (10:00am)
The Stratford National Coliseum was rather empty to get the events going, with just 1,500 fans in attendance, a 21% coverage of the arena. In fact, Edgar v. Coburn was the least attended game of the 3 NSL games. Aside from the NSL, all other teams will be playing on home courts, so you'd have to think that attendance number will hopefully be the lowest of the whole month. Obviously for two eastern teams it's going to be hard to get a lot of fans to come, when you're in the west, not to mention the west's reputation for having better basketball, certainly at this level. Edgar and Coburn were picked to finish 5th and 6th respectively by Day One Sports writers. Edgar was founded in 1925, but this is the first time they've won the Hamstead League since basketball's full adoption in the NSL in 1965. Coburn was founded in 1955 after the split of Salisbury High School, they play in the Steppe League where they've already tallied 3 championships in 8 seasons. You may be asking why the Engineers are ranked ahead of the Bulls then, and the answer simply put is that the Hamstead League continues to be an elite league out east, whereas the Steppe League is considered to be pretty mediocre.
The game got off to a pretty fast start however, with Mikey Ferrera hitting two quick three pointers to get the Bulls started. It was his teammate Graham Gardner who took the torch next. His playmaking ability went largely unmatched throughout the game. Edgar tried to slow it down a bit in the 2nd quarter, but coming out of the half the Bulls got rolling again. Only up 2 at half time, the lead expanded to 15 before the Engineers were able to get in the groove again. Eliott Reeves led the way for Edgar on offense and in rebounds. But, it was Coburn who rallied yet again, keep in mind they had never lost the lead since the 1st, with Graham Gardner himself catching fire from the mid range before hitting Ferrera in the corner for the dagger. Despite the 3 three's of Ferrera, a pretty astronomical number at this point, Gardner was awarded MVP of the game for his efforts. The Engineers come out of this game looking a little slow, not an ideal start. Edgar is set to play Jamison St. Patrick tomorrow with Coburn squaring off against Silverian Six favorite Nelson.

Jamison Lancers vs. Dover Millers (12:00pm)
Given their proximity to Stratford, it was expected quite a few Jamison fans would make the hour-long trek to Stratford. The attendance was counted around 2,250 for game 2, significantly more than game 1, but maybe not the best turnout. Jamison hasn't been very good historically though, with the school just coming into existence in 1965, this is their first championship regardless of sport (full NSL sports include Soccer, Baseball, Rugby, and Basketball). Dover on the other hand has won many an East Riverlands title, now coming up on 4 basketball championships in 8 years, being probably the biggest city in Silveria with only one high school. Day One Sports writers picked Jamison and Dover to finish 3rd and 4th respectively. Yet another multiple time league winner being ranked lower than a title newbie, this time more so because of Dover's 5th place finish in the larger Riverlands Division, making them the lowest seed to win a division tournament this season. The St. Patrick League and East Riverlands League are pretty comparable in terms of general talent with the latter often being considered the best Eastern league.  As for the game itself, it was a nail-biter.
Neither team shot the ball very well coming out of the gate. Both reverted into a lot of isolation ball as you can tell by the high in assists being only at 4, the lowest high of the three games. This was surprisingly especially for Dover who had made a name for themselves in the RDC by shooting the ball. In fact, Jamison flat out shot the ball better than the Millers. Much of the Lancers scoring duties were put on the shoulders of 2 gaurd Glenn Hensley. His efforts were enough to get him nearly 40% of his team's points to go along with MVP of the game. Dover was in it until the end, but a late mid range miss on the part of Mel Sanford resulted in the Millers being forced to foul. From there they ran out of time making a meaningless jumper to put Jamison at a 2-point win. Jamison plays Edgar next and Dover will play Northrop.

Nelson Navigators vs. Northrop Knights (2:00pm)
The nightcap, if you could call it that, took place between the Day One Sports ranked first and second place teams. In first, Nelson High School based out of the South Stratford League and founded in 1905, their first league championship, breaking up the chance of a 5-peat by league rival McCoy. In the 8 years the NSL has fully sponsored basketball they have consistently been a 2nd or 3rd place team in their league. However, the basketball in Stratford is highly respected a huge reason they get the nod over Northrop. Also founded in 1905, Northrop has won 4 Trent League championships in its 8 years of play, making it tied as the winningest team in this year's Silverian Six, along with Dover. Game 3 of the day saw by far the biggest attendance at 5,500 due in large part to having a hometown team playing a team from another very close city in Trent (about 15 miles).
It was the hometown team that came out ice cold. Projected MVP of the Silverian Six, Gio Antonelli, could not make a shot to start. Northrop had never been known as the fastest playing team though, so the Navs were still in it. That being said they dug themselves quite a hole going down 13-2. Big man Tommie Hart led the scoring for the Knights, with his often being their only big man on the court. Pretty revolutionary for the time despite their lack of shooting prowess. It wasn't until the 3rd that Antonelli got it going scoring 8 of his 14, after just 2 in the first half. This made the final score seem not too bad, although Nelson put up a below average 46 points in 40 minutes. But, Northrop never gave up the lead controlling it the entirety of the game. Many have questioned the ability of the Navs to come back from this loss and we will almost certainly see that reflected in tomorrow's rankings. Nelson is set to play Coburn tommorrow at 12, while Northrop will play Dover at 2.

Silverian Six Standings
Coburn Bulls 1-0 +8
Northrop Knights 1-0 +7
Jamison Lancers 1-0 +2
Dover Millers 0-1 -2
Nelson Navigators 0-1 -7
Edgar Engineers 0-1 -8

Next up for day one will be the SAAL games. I'm going to try and do this in real time, in terms of the days at least. I may be a little bit slow sometimes because I haven't finished designing all the teams that will play. But, there will be less games toward the end of the month, so hopefully I can catch up a little bit then.