1971 First Half East Division

Bangor Farmers 18-8
Expected to have a bit of a resurgent season, the Farmers have lived up to the hype, that is except C Adam Lowe. While a new core 4 seems to be developing (PG Santos Garza, SG Dom Byrd, PF Cary Joseph, C Cristo Ventura), Lowe under-performed yet again in a first half of the season that almost saw him benched for the first time since he's been a member of the team. There've been many questions about the possibility of Lowe's retiring this offseason. The Riverlands native has also indicated interest to retire with SF Eugene Shaw, so there's a chance he re-signs. In other news, the Farmers brought their scythes to the fight, cutting the competition with a ruthless guard duo and a ruthless frontcourt. It's looking like Joseph made a great decision in signing a 1-year "prove it" contract. He looks to be at the least a top 5 option in this free agent class. Garza, Shaw, Joseph, and Ventura are to be considered for the All Star team. Byrd will not be considered due to a minor injury late before the All Star break. This continues the trend of this happening to pretty important and talented players, and I'd be surprised if the SBA doesn't change the rule in the offseason.

Rivers End Rowdies 16-10
I think most Rowdies fans were pretty satisfied with this start. It wasn't perfect, but the defending champs played pretty well. Team legend Edgar Carroll retired in the offseason and I think there was some fear that they may miss him, not to mention the more serious problem of an aging team. Despite these overlying concerns, the Rowdies continued their pattern of good play. You know the routine for Rivers End at this point, PF Ira Diaz is their clear leader. PG Del Davis and SG Gregoire Fabien were about average by their standards. It was SF Johnny Hume who disappointed the most. All three are 32 and over though so, there's a little concern regarding the longevity of their wings. C Pete Murphy continued to be one of the league's best defensive bigs, adding a little hook shot into his game which has boosted his scoring numbers a little from 11.7 to 14.3. The preseason major injury of backup SF Rickey Waters didn't do much, but cause a little controversy. However, the bigger injury news came with Fabien, who also suffered a major injury, but late in the first half of the season. Of course this will rule him ineligible for the All Star game, but more importantly will likely keep him out the rest of the year. Davis, Diaz, and Murphy are to be considered for the All Star game.

Sherborne Whalers 13-13
The Whalers were bound to struggle a little with PG Bobby Ellis. We've all seen what SG Brent McCormick can do at the 1, and he does shine there sometimes, but he's also a turnover machine. Thankfully, despite the weak roster around them, McCormick and even more so at this point SF Clarence Ward played well. McCormick was about as good as you could expect him to be averaging over 5 assists a game and about 2 turnovers a game. Ward, a top 5 defender in the SBA, continued to lock down opposing top players. He even added a 15-foot jumpshot to his game that signified his rise past Bangor's Eugene Shaw at SF. SF Sylvester Carr and PF Harvey Lynch struggled mightily down low, and a lot of the bigger teams could just man handle them, but at least they weren't as bad as Carr and backup C Jeff Davenport. There's going to be a lot interest for this team in getting a respectable big man. Sources have linked them to C Tony Peters (Stars) and C Javi Blanco (Happies), who both have contracts expiring at the end of this season. Only McCormick and Ward will be considered for the All Star game.

Haydon Hounds 13-13
Another team with possibly hard-to-meet expectations, that has met to those expectations just about as much as you could hope for. They still don't quite look like a contender, but much improved, yes. They even made it through a bit of a rough patch when PG Noah Foster was out. But, of course this team was led by the young, but uber-talented SG Rufus Simon and the recently signed older, but also quite talented C Kenneth Tate. If Tate can stay productive for a couple more years, at 31, the Hounds could really be something. No one looked really bad on this team. PF Allen Davies looked a little out of place amongst the starting lineup, but still played okay. Even backup SF Isaac Ross, coming off a major injury last year, got better throughout the first half's games. Even the defense was decent in Haydon, which was not expected going into the year. Foster, Simon, Lachance, and Tate are to be considered for the All Star game.

Wells Phoenix 8-18
Wow. Who knew a change in PG would make this much difference for the Phoenix. SG Johnny Jackson struggled mightily at the 1, running into the usual problems with a shoot-first PG. Backup PG and 6th man, Cesar Manfredonia, played pretty well in Jackson's stead, but he still lacked in terms of competing against the SBA's best PG's. Manfredonia later went on to come down with a minor injury, but should return after the All Star break. That was pretty much the story of this team, which is quite similar to the Happies. The narrative is certainly transforming into, "You need a star to win in this league." I don't think that's something we quite saw in Silveria before the foundation of the SBA, so that could be a good sign for basketball in the country. But, Wells had a lot of games they would've had a better chance in last year, particularly with Stratford and Haydon. PF Emanuel Fields finally is starting to look like his old self before a major injury in his time with Sherborne, and with C Rick Howell up front, they're the main thing the Phoenix have going right now. SF Gerri Vinci and PF Larry Hester struggled to play with each other in one of the league's biggest starting lineups. Fields and Howell are to be considered for the All Star game.

SBA Announcement
The 1971 SBA All Star Game is to take place in Hamstead, Rivers End, home of the Rowdies. Instead of like the three prior years, the league wants to align the All Star teams by division. This may be a disadvantage for individual players in the East, as some deserving players may miss the cut, but it also indicates the East team may be a bit better.

Last edited by jxhnhvhn (5/05/2020 5:00 pm)

1971 SBA Trade Deadline

Stratford receives: PG Carroll Murphy
Silver Point receives: PG Olaf Frye

Two rivalries led the way at the trade deadline with Silver Point fans still feeling especially salty at Grant McCoy’s exit. And, It’s clear Murphy is the better player in this deal, what the Captains are getting him is more about their future. The Stars get a solid scorer off the bench, not to mention a former Star himself. Murphy is rated the #10 PG in the SBA and in his age 30 season with only the remaining 1971 season left on his contract. It was rumored the Captains originally asked for Stratford SG Doug Averill (#13 SG 23 YO) in return, but gave in when the Stars refused.
Olaf Frye definitely isn’t going to do much for the Captains now as the #17 PG in the SBA. But, the hope is that the 26-year-old can be a solid backup or step into the starting lineup if needed. Essentially Silver Point did this to get younger, also Frye is on a 2-year contract.

Rivers End gets: PG Cesar Manfredonia
Wells gets: SF Bernie Zhu

While continuing to profess their hate for each other, the Rowdies and the Phoenix managed to complete a trade. Wells sent Manfredonia to be a very solid backup for Del Davis. Manfredonia has shown to be one of the SBA’s best bench players this year. However, even as the #12 PG, the 29-year-old only has a 1-year contract. Again we’re seeing a trade between a contending team and a team stockpiling young talent. Zhu, the league’s first Chinese-Silverian, stays in Rivers End which traditionally has had one of the highest percentages of Chinese and Asian as a whole due to its Oil and Railroading industries. The marketing potential almost makes this trade worth the risk as Zhu is only the #21 SF. But, he is 22-years-old with 3 years left including the 1971 season.


Sherborne gets: C Javi Blanco, PF Ari O’Neil
St. Patrick gets: PG Bobby Ellis, SF Sylvester Carr, PF Harvey Lynch

And finally, the only trade that could truly be called a blockbuster. Recently appointed SBAPA PPR Bobby Ellis (#4 PG, 27 YO, 1 YL) was traded mainly in return for Javi Blanco. There were some concerns Ellis wouldn’t return to form after his major injury this year. There were some rumors the Whalers were trying to blackball him. In the end, it ended somewhere in between, with Brent McCormick’s decent play at PG allowing for the move. The Whalers were desperate for a big man and they got one of the league’s best in #6 C 29-year-old Blanco, albeit on a 1-year deal. The Happies wanted to add some more veterans, so they received Carr and Lynch. #14 SF 35-year old Carr (2 YL) will likely come off the bench, as a sort of defensive specialist, while #12 PF 29-year old Lynch (2 YL) will likely take over one of the starting big spots. Lastly, #17 PF 24-year old Ari O’Neil (1 YL), is probably only looking at garbage minutes. He could turn into something, but we’ll have to see.

Last edited by jxhnhvhn (5/06/2020 5:15 pm)

1971 Second Half East Division

Bangor Farmers 14-12 (32-20)
After being held out of All Star game due to a minor injury, SG Dom Byrd came back with a vengeance. Proving himself a clear top 10, possibly top 5 player in the SBA. Unfortunately for the Farmers, the rest of the team was kind of hoe hum and Trent, Stratford, and Sherborne outplayed them in the second half. While pretty undeniably the best PG in the league, Santos Garza didn't seem quite himself converting the highest turnover rate in his career, which still managed to be middle of the pack amongst other PG's. SF Eugene Shaw and especially C Adam Lowe are probably getting a little too much attention in terms of shots if this team wants to win an SBA championship. I think it's finally the right time to get backup C Cristo Ventura into the starting lineup, but coach Bryan Harris has been resistant thus far. It'll be interesting to see, in the case that the Farmers don't win the 1971 championship, if the fans will begin to jeer the defensive liabilities of Lowe at 35. If they do win the championship, we could even see Adam Lowe retire in glory. The Farmers did need Lowe when Ventura suffered a minor injury late in the regular season. There are concerns Ventura could miss a maximum of two games in the series vs. Sherborne. Backup SG Toby Dunn was injured pretty close, but a few games earlier than Ventura, and the two injuries overlapped for a period of time, leaving the bench pretty weak. Dunn is expected to be ready to play all games in the playoffs. One player I forgot to mention, I think this kind of goes for the SBA as a whole, PF Cary Joseph, just keeps doing Cary Joseph things. None of it really looks very impressive, but a smooth touch and solid defense is hard to argue with. This team is still stacked, and you wouldn't be crazy to think they could make it 3 in 4 years. Regardless of who their first opponent was going to be this year, I think they're still the most well-rounded team in the East, although Stratford at times looks like it may take that place in terms of the SBA. So, that's what I'm predicting here. Against the Whalers, I'll take Bangor in 5 or 6.

Sherborne Whalers 16-10 (29-23)
Even though they may have the disadvantage on paper against the Farmers, the Whalers did just enough to get past Rowdies and secure a playoff spot. The teams wound up finishing with the same record, Whalers won 13 Rowdies won 16 in the first half, and vice versa in the second. The SBA talked about changing the rules regarding ties to possibly having tiebreaking games instead of using head-to-head and most recent win, but the talks with SBAPA never really went much further than that. This time Sherborne had won 5 of 8 games with the Rowdies. Again the defending champs end their run without making it to the playoffs, and it's hard to blame them. If this continues to happen a new rule could be much more plausible. After getting who looked to be "their guy" before the trade deadline, in C Javi Blanco, the limping frontcourt played noticeably better, but had an very apparent weak spot. C Jeff Davenport was initially slated to start at the 4 alongside Blanco, but PF Ari O'Neil had to step in for Davenport more than you'd like. SG turned full time PG, Brent McCormick, continued his stellar play, especially after SG Tomas Carlson was moved back to his 6th man role around the middle of the second half. SF Terrance Burris while arguably a little bit worse overall than Carlson, fit the starting lineup much better with his defensive, rebounding, and passing skills. Carlson just needed too many shots. On the bright side, the move has worked great and Carlson has been a 6th man for awhile now, so you don't have to worry about his feeling any disrespect from the move. Clarence Ward was one of the league's best defenders once again, his not needing to always have the ball on offense helped too, as McCormick and Blanco can certainly dominate the ball. Don't get me wrong they are coming into this fight with some pretty good momentum, and they are better matched up against Bangor now than they were earlier this season, but just don't quite trust them to get very far.

Rivers End Rowdies 13-13 (29-23)
Year 2 of 4 team SBA playoffs and a curse has already developed. The defending champions, specifically those from the East Division, both bowed out to another of this big three that has been in place in the East Division since the SBA's inception. You have to think the Rowdies will lobby for a change to the no-tiebreaker rule. They continued to play decently throughout the season, but could never really get past that. The change in record I don't think signified too much change in how well of the players were playing, with it more so being correlated to once again other teams playing well at the right time and the major injury to SG Gregoire Fabien. Fabien was able to a pretty consistent player across the board. But, I don't know if I expect him back next year and the Rowdies certainly missed him in the second half. PF Ira Diaz and C Pete Murphy, even backup PF Dario Hurst dominated other teams. It's mainly on the wings where the struggled, often were undersized or not quick enough because they had to play somebody out of position in the starting lineup. It was either that or bring in a Jeff Davenport/Ari O'Neil type player, just shouldn't be starting in the SBA. In the end, I guess the Whalers got the last laugh in that debate. PG Del Davis and SF Johnny Hume were both showing some aging signs in their productions as 33-year-old's. Let's put it this way, any team not making the playoffs is going to have uncertainty, but the Rowdies have a pretty old core. There's a world where Fabien (French-32) and Hume (Silverian-33) both decide to leave the team. Even if neither of them are world-beaters, it could be hard for the Rowdies to put more talent than that on the wings, especially if they aren't trying to spend money. The oil wells used to provide money to burn, but there are concerns among some that they may be exhaust the supply in the next 5 years, optimistically around 10. Don't get wrong Rivers End and Wells are still bathing in oil-greased franklins, but the tycoons are starting to look at corporate diversification here. Either way, I don't know if the Rowdies are quite prepared to challenge for another SBA championship. If they can get younger on the fly, Carlton Bates should stay, but the event we see a small rebuild he could prefer to coach a contender.

Haydon Hounds 11-15 (24-28)
Haydon's in a really weird spot right now. It's the kind of split in philosophy when your two best players are 11 years apart. There have been rumors they want to make a move for that third guy that can really propel them to a championship. It's probably closely contested between PG Noah Foster and SF Stefane Lachance right now, but they continue to not quite break the top 3 in the division. SG Rufus Simon did have a minor injury, which scared most diehards, but wasn't too serious. Backup PG Davey O'Gallagher was also injured, but didn't affect too much. While many consider Foster to be up in consideration with Lachance, he did not quite live up to his play in the first half. As is true with many of the SBA's PG problems right now, I think he's just a little too ball dominant for a team where he's the 3rd or 4th best player. Simon even faded into the background for awhile and you know the Silverian prodigy is not going to be happy about that. C Kenneth Tate was his typical reliable self, but at 31 the Hounds need to work quick if they want Tate on the championship roster. Foster (Silverian-29), Simon (Silverian-20), PF Allen Davies (Silverian-25), and SF Isaac Ross (Australian-31) are to be free agents this offseason. If the Hounds want to find a third All Star, they may find it at PG or PF. In either case, you'd want to re-sign the guy at the other position. Simon is almost a lock at this point, there were some concerns he might international just because of his pure talent as a 20-year-old, but his recent woes will probably see him wait. Ross is an interesting case, you've got a guy who's previously shown to be a quality role player not quite back up to strength from a major injury. If anything sign him to a short and cheap deal, see if there's something left in the tank. Otherwise, the Aussie may be headed home. There's no reason to think coach Len Hess' job is at risk right now, but as this experiment to be aggressive continues, expectations will rise.  

Wells Phoenix 11-15 (19-33)
Having a Chinese-Silverian player, is a pretty big deal right now publicity wise. Although immigration from East Asia has slowed in recent years, with more immigrants coming from Southeast Asia nowadays, Chinese people still make up the largest minority in Silveria. One place Chinese people have immigrated to in higher concentrations has been the Rivers End corridor, featuring its eastern cities of Bristol, Hamstead, Wells, and Carlisle. SF Bernie Zhu unfortunately has yet to see the court much, but there's hope the 22-year-old will be a productive player soon. In other news, the Phoenix played a little bit more like you'd expect than in the first half. PF Emanuel Fields and C Rick Howell continue to look like the centerpieces going forward. The bench depth wasn't great with Cesar Manfredonia's minutes not really being able to be replaced by Bernie Zhu, but SF Gerri Vinci and PF Larry Hester looked more like themself as Wells was able to out muscle some teams with their size. It's not going to make much of a difference in a league led by star players though. This offseason Vinci and backup SG Reggie Thorne are to be free agents. The Phoenix could decide Vinci, the 33-year-old Italian, is slowing down maybe too expensive and let him walk. Thorne (American-29) has been a non-factor on this team and it's almost certain he won't be re-signed. With little to lose this offseason, maybe the Phoenix try to go out and land a big piece, but like we mentioned with Rivers End, it's tough to measure where these oil-owned teams are at financially. Glen Massey will remain coach for now, but another year like this and management could lose faith.

East Division Championship

Bangor Farmers Roster
Starters: 1 Santos Garza, 2 Dom Byrd, 3 Eugene Shaw, 4 Cary Joseph, 5 Adam Lowe
Bench: 6 C Cristo Ventura, 7 SG Toby Dunn, 8 PF John Hall, 9 SF Pierce Cochran, 10 SF Malcolm Nichols

Sherborne Whalers Roster
Starters: 1 SG Brent McCormick, 2 SF Clarence Ward, 3 Terrence Burris, 4 C Jeff Davenport, 5 Javi Blanco
Bench: 6 SG Tomas Carlson, 7 PF Ari O’Neil, 8 C Ozzie Brant

Game 1 @ Bangor W 84-83 (Farmers 1-0)
Even with the addition of Javi Blanco, the Whalers still struggled to keep up w the Farmers trio of big men in Cary Joseph, Adam Lowe, and Cristo Ventura. Blanco’s help came from Jeff Davenport who was largely ineffective. Brent McCormick and Clarence Ward, Sherborne’s two best players, both played pretty well and having Terrance Burris out there helped with limiting the production of the Bangor backcourt. But, they came up just short as  their lacking frontcourt, especially on defense, cost them. Cary Joseph’s moment to shine was capitalized on as he led by containing Blanco’s offensive skill set and although he may be the Farmers 5th option on offense, he let the Whalers know Davenport was not a sufficient defender against All Star level competition.

Game 2 @ Bangor L 87-100 (Tied 1-1)
Game 2 saw a lineup change for the Whalers. Instead of having converted C Jeff Davenport starting at the 4, recently acquired Ari O’Neil would join his trade partner Javi Blanco in the starting lineup. It worked a little better with O’Neil being able to better keep up with Cary Joseph’s quickness. This is the game where I think we finally objectively see that Clarence Ward has risen to become the best SF in the SBA, over the likes of Bangor’s Eugene Shaw. Shaw is a legend, but there’s no denying Ward is shutting him down in this series. McCormick, and a little bit more surprisingly Ward, dominated the game offensively. Both found themselves matched up against top tier players at their position, but the Farmers have certainly begun emphasizing offense more than defense. That can be a huge problem when it plays to an opponents strengths. McCormick can score toe-to-toe with anyone is the SBA. Clarence Ward was the best player, though with his patented defensive prowess, and consistent ability to get to the hoop. Adam Lowe has been trending in the wrong direction for the Farmers all year, and he has yet to make much of an impact, rumors swirl of a move to the bench and his impending free agency that may result in retirement.

Game 3 @ Sherborne W 95-86 (Whalers 2-1)
The Whalers continued their momentum with McCormick and Ward leading the way. One difference from Game 2 was their strategy on Adam Lowe. Instead of gaurding Lowe closely within the standard 15 feet, they chose to sag off him unless he got to the paint. Lowe, a decent jump shooter for a big man, was content to routinely take those 10-15 foot jumpers. The first quarter saw him score his series high for a quarter with 9 points. However, it became clear in the 2nd he could not keep up that pace. He wasn’t so much bad as he was mediocre. It was in the second half where the Whalers strategy came into greater effect. With a higher usage rate than normal, Lowe began getting bodied on defense regardless of the offensive opponent. A combination of Javi Blanco and an overachieving Ari O’Neil spelled a pretty shocking advantage for the Whalers down low. Due to Lowe’s struggles late, Cristo Ventura took over his crunch time minutes playing okay, but not quite getting into a rhythm. Dom Byrd has probably been the best for the Farmers offensively speaking so far. However, Cary Joseph has impressed most, which plays perfectly into his plan to get a long term contract this offseason. It’s close, but Blanco’s very evident impact put him over the top as the game’s best player.

Game 4 @ Sherborne L 83-89 (Tied 2-2)
Bangor made the controversial decision to continue starting Adam Lowe who had been exposed in Game 3. Lowe started off playing pretty well once again, before stagnating into halftime. This saw Cristo Ventura play the entirety of the 3rd quarter, giving Lowe much needed rest. It resulted in a much more effective 4th quarter Lowe, although you could still argue Ventura might’ve be better in those minutes. Cary Joseph anchored the defense in the game, often cheating off his man to help Lowe/Ventura down low and Eugene Shaw on the wing. This kept both Javi Blanco and Clarence Ward from being very effective. Ari O’Neil showed his inexperience, with this game showing he’s not quite up to the talent level of the other starters on either team. Jeff Davenport wasn’t much better and Sherborne even went as far as to not play either big man in crunch time, favoring Tomas Carlson. Santos Garza was probably the best all-around player for the Farmers, limiting Brent McCormick and setting the defensive tone with 4 steals. He also managed to step up offensively while Dom Byrd didn’t quite play to expectations.

Game 5 @ Sherborne L 94-95 (Farmers 3-2)
Game 5 was close from start to finish. The most notable narrative continued to be with Bangor’s aging stars Eugene Shaw and Adam Lowe. Both have seen their fair share of struggles in the East Division Championship thus far, especially Lowe. Shaw’s decline, however small, puts him as probably the 3rd scoring option for the team. It’s weird this series is one of the first instances where we see perimeter focused teams having a lot of success. Terrance Burris did a good job not giving Shaw much room to breathe. While Dom Byrd continued to be controlled by the the defensive mastery of Clarence Ward, Santos Garza did a good job scoring against the not as defensively talented Brent McCormick. A pretty high-scoring duel played it’s way into the Farmers hands. It was close between Garza and another good game from Cary Joseph, but Garza ultimately proved to be the MVP as he hit a clutch 15-footer to seal the game.

Game 6 @ Bangor L 91-100 (Tied 3-3)
Up 3-2, all the Farmers needed to do was win 1 of 2 home games. That rather simple plan got off to pretty rough start, as the Whalers made the radical decision to play only 1 real big man for most of the game. This allowed the Whalers to tie their series high for points at 100. Clarence Ward, while undersized at the 4 played some pretty effective defense against Cary Joseph. This change necessitated some concessions to Dom Byrd, now defended by Terrance Burris, and Eugene Shaw, defended by the defensively lackluster Tomas Carlson. Fortunately, with some highly disciplined rotations from Ward they were able to minimize the effect of those shortcomings. Eugene Shaw continued to disappoint shooting 4/11 from the field. Ward was widely considered Game 6’s best player for his continued role as a dominant defensive presence.

Game 7 @ Bangor L 96-99 (Whalers 4-3)
Who would’ve thought Tomas Carlson would start before Cristo Ventura. But, with a live or die Game 7, the Farmers finally made the move to start Ventura. Hopefully this would sure up their defense against the quick Sherborne frontcourt of Clarence Ward and Javi Blanco. Unfortunately for the Farmers, this didn’t quite solve their problems. Behind a transcendent performance from Brent McCormick the Whalers torched the Bangor defense, almost tallying 100 yet again. For their part, the Farmers were able to keep up pretty well, but the game continued to call into question the legitimacy of the Farmers as a title contender. Yes, they are very talented, but do they have the it factor to get over the top again. After, a few very solid games Santos Garza was exposed for overplaying McCormick, time and time again failing to recognize pump fakes. McCormick was named MVP of Game 7, but it was Clarence Ward who repeatedly proved to be the key to the Whalers Success.

Offseason Preview (Bangor Farmers and Trent Engineers)
The Farmers have a league-high 6 free agents this offseason. Among those are Santos Garza, Cary Joseph, Adam Lowe, Toby Dunn, Pierce Cochran, and Malcolm Nichols. Bangor would love to re-sign both Garza and Joseph, but with Byrd and Shaw already weighing heavy on the books it’s likely they choose one or the other. Although Garza has more potential to leave the SBA, you’d have to think his pivotal role at PG may see him stay around. Many fans have speculated on Adam Lowe’s retirement, thinking it may come at the end of the season. But, after Game 7 Lowe continued the spectacle saying he hadn’t made his mind up yet. As far as the bench goes you’d have to think the Farmers will at least try to keep Dunn, Cochran, and Nichols. If anything the may lose one of them, but prices aren’t too high for these guys. As for the Engineers, PG Ciaran Levy, SF Fred Love, SF Geoff Owens, PF Sheldon Underwood, and SG Robin Serrano are set to be free agents. Underwood has already announced his intentions to retire from basketball. The 34-year-old Silverian, played the majority of his career in his home country. With Levy, Love, and Owens all being free agents, Trent is in a familiar place for SBA teams. Are they willing to cough up the money to keep all 3 and risk financial freedom in the future. Owens is likely their primary target, being the youngest and most talented of the group. Serrano has not played a whole lot for the Engineers, it’s players like Serrano who make you wonder if Silverian basketball needs to start allowing loans. Because the contending Engineers can’t risk putting a player they’re unsure of out on the court right now.

SBA Championship Preview (Stratford Stars v. Sherborne Whalers)
On paper you’d have to think the Stars have the advantage in this series. We knew when Grant McCoy left the Captains for the Stars that his frontcourt duo with Randal Franklin could be lethal. And, although Clarence Ward surprised us a little and had some success playing at the 4, I wouldn’t expect that to be a long-term solution, especially against McCoy. Ari O’Neil and Jeff Davenport would be their other options, but both have shown opposing weaknesses, O’Neil with offense and Davenport with defense. While Sherborne decided to go pretty small in the East, the Stars remain one of the the SBA’s biggest teams. The victor could be contingent on who forces the other to play to their style.

jxhnhvhn wrote:

Rivers End Rowdies 13-13 (29-23)
Year 2 of 4 team SBA playoffs and a curse has already developed. The defending champions, specifically those from the East Division, both bowed out to another of this big three that has been in place in the East Division since the SBA's inception. You have to think the Rowdies will lobby for a change to the no-tiebreaker rule. They continued to play decently throughout the season, but could never really get past that. The change in record I don't think signified too much change in how well of the players were playing, with it more so being correlated to once again other teams playing well at the right time and the major injury to SG Gregoire Fabien. Fabien was able to a pretty consistent player across the board. But, I don't know if I expect him back next year and the Rowdies certainly missed him in the second half. PF Ira Diaz and C Pete Murphy, even backup PF Dario Hurst dominated other teams. It's mainly on the wings where the struggled, often were undersized or not quick enough because they had to play somebody out of position in the starting lineup. It was either that or bring in a Jeff Davenport/Ari O'Neil type player, just shouldn't be starting in the SBA. In the end, I guess the Whalers got the last laugh in that debate. PG Del Davis and SF Johnny Hume were both showing some aging signs in their productions as 33-year-old's. Let's put it this way, any team not making the playoffs is going to have uncertainty, but the Rowdies have a pretty old core. There's a world where Fabien (French-32) and Hume (Silverian-33) both decide to leave the team. Even if neither of them are world-beaters, it could be hard for the Rowdies to put more talent than that on the wings, especially if they aren't trying to spend money. The oil wells used to provide money to burn, but there are concerns among some that they may be exhaust the supply in the next 5 years, optimistically around 10. Don't get wrong Rivers End and Wells are still bathing in oil-greased franklins, but the tycoons are starting to look at corporate diversification here. Either way, I don't know if the Rowdies are quite prepared to challenge for another SBA championship. If they can get younger on the fly, Carlton Bates should stay, but the event we see a small rebuild he could prefer to coach a contender.

Man, sounds like we're in for some rough waters. Retooling on the fly is difficult to do successfully. With Fabien being injury prone, this team just doesn't have the juice for shooting anymore.