1972 SBA Offseason

Another caveat of the SBA's Free Agency rules is the infamous Hocking Law. It was pioneered by the original owner of the Haydon Hounds, John Hocking, who by coincidence happened to pass away during this offseason. Rumors are the Hounds are trying to honor him in some way with new uniforms coming soon. Getting back to the Hocking Law, it allows International players to have freedom of movement increasing the likelihood that they'd sign with an SBA team. However, Silverian players are not afforded that same right, and often have to be bought out by international squads if they hope to play abroad. This decreases the likelihood of their being signed by an international team, and generally hurts their value overall. 

West Division
Stratford Stars
1. SF Bob Bass (American-27) re-signed 4 years---One of the big three they've got going right now, they were doing anything and everything to keep him
2. PG Neil Harlow (Silverian-30) left for Rivers End Rowdies---After his playoff failures and relative mediocrity in his time with the Stars, they weren't willing to match a Rowdies team in need of a 6th man.
3. PG Carroll Murphy (Silverian-31) re-signed 2 years---The consensus was the Stars needed to keep at least one of their PG's if they hoped to reach the same level of play next year, Murphy was cheaper and proved his worth
4. C Tony Peters (American-28) re-signed 2 years---Another solid role player, easily one of the SBA's best backup big men, the Stars had to spend a bit more on him than they'd probably like
5. PF Martin Noguera (Spanish-34) left for Spain---In alignment with many other international players, Noguera returns home to spend the last year or 2 of his career having fun.

Trent Engineers
1. SF Geoff Owens (Avonian-25) re-signed for 3 years---There were the usual rumors of international free agency, but Owens is the key to the Engineers future
2. PG Ciaran Levy (Silverian-27) re-signed 3 years---Trent may have overpaid a bit, especially considering its a 3-year contract, but Levy is definitely a respectable option 
3. SF Fred Love (American-31) re-signed 2 years---Love has had his ups and downs after being placed in the starting lineup, pretty cheap deal for someone this blatantly talented offensively.
4. PF Sheldon Underwood (Silverian-35) retired---Underwood had grown to be a fan favorite among Engineers fans after 5 seasons with the team (4 SBA), he could be one of the better old role players to ever do it. 
5. SG Robin Serrano (Pacifico-26) left for Pacifico---Serrano never did much in his time with Trent, he returned home a better player than when he got here, but he hopes to make a name for himself in the Pacifico 2nd Division

O'Connor Chiefs
1. PG Kent Reeves (Silverian-37) retired---After being chosen in the expansion draft, the former Trent Engineer mentored their young dynamic backcourt of Grant Goodwin and especially Chuck McLaughlin.
2. SF Norman Peck (Silverian-28) re-signed 1 year---Peck has been a solid shot creator for the Chiefs since he first signed in 1970, maybe he's hoping to get a little bit of a more secure contract after this year
3. PF John-Lee Coles (American-32) left for USA---Coles is generally a pretty solid player, but could just never fit in right with the Chiefs
4. PF Randall Lennon (American-25) re-signed 2 years---Some of the pressure of having to replace a starter is taken off shoulders as Lennon is considered an overpay, but definitely has potential 

Silver Point Captains
1. PG Jordy Jensen (Silverian-30) left for Sherborne Whalers---Once thought to be headed for SBA Championship along with Grant McCoy, the Captains realized it might be time to move on after a poor season time to rebuild
2. SG Nathan Lloyd (American-28) re-signed 3 years---In wake of Jensen leaving, the Captains spent their money on Lloyd who should take on a much more significant scoring role, some pointed to it as too generous
3. PF Hugo Ortega (Pacifico-34) left for Pacifico---A similar player to Sheldon Underwood in terms of his role on the team, Ortega will be playing one more season in his home country before retiring
4. SG Courtney Simon (Silverian-33) retired---Simon was at best an inconsistent scorer, and later in his career largely sat at the end of the bench

St. Patrick Happies
1.PG Bobby Ellis (Silverian-28) re-signed 2 years---Getting Ellis to re-sign after their trade was huge part of their deciding to do that trade, the general consensus was that they just needed to ensure Ellis they wanted to contend
2. PF Cary Joseph (Silverian-28) signed from Bangor Farmers 4 years---With both Ellis and Joseph being prominent SBAPA spokespeople this could be a controversial duo, but Joseph gives them muscle and legitimizes them
3. PG Claude Webb (Silverian-25) re-signed 1 year---Webb has some potential at a strong position for the Happies, he's not going to see a ton of playing time and may need to go somewhere he can get it soon

Before we fill out the rosters in preparation for the 1972 SBA season, I wanted to unveil the three teams and the changes they made to their uniforms this offseason. First, the defending East Division champion, Sherborne Whalers. They opted to return to sporting navy blue for their secondary uniform. The lilac color drew attention when it was introduced for its sheer embrace of modern uniform design, however it wasn't necessarily the most popular among its own fans with many preferring the traditional navy blue. This time they will feature the staple of the Whalers primary jersey, the 4 stripes. These will retain the lilac color used for the previous secondary uniform.

Old

New

The Hounds are starting what looks to be a prosperous era with the talents of former Whalers Brent McCormick and Kenneth Tate, as well as young talent such as Rufus Simon and Allen Davies. As such, they wanted to simplify their look a bit, but also brighten their colors, opting to get rid of the previously used navy blue. They changed both their logo, becoming the first SBA team to designate a secondary logo, and their uniforms. The primary H logo features 3 H's as opposed to the two in Haydon Hounds. As previously mentioned their original owner John Hocking passed away this offseason and they wanted to include him somehow, adding the yellow h in between the gold and baby blue. The secondary is a single Haydon Hound made up mainly of half of the old logo. In addition to their removal of navy blue, the Hounds changed their primary color from gold to baby blue, making gold the secondary.

Old

New

After pretty much fully committing to a rebuild this offseason, mainly in letting Jordy Jensen leave for Sherborne, the Captains wanted to do something new with their uniforms and get away from long-used mismatching shorts. In turn they wanted to focus their brand by giving it a bit more of a nautical feel. The logo used since their inception, was dropped in favor of a C logo featuring the three lines of the nautical flag C as well as the top and bottom of the C being correlated with the S and P flags. The top middle part features a banner that stretches down featuring the Captains founding year, 1950 and a golden anchor. Needless to say the Captains went pretty modern with their uniforms. The primary has alternating s and p flag striping and the secondary has c flag striping. One controversial point was the choice to make the primary jersey numbers black. While blue could work too, the wanted to do make them pop a bit more considering the presence of blue already. 

Old
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Last edited by jxhnhvhn (6/03/2020 1:41 am)

The first four champions in SBA history. I'll get them all out eventually, but if y'all want a particular one let me know.
 

Silverian Open Preview

Who? All 10 SBA teams, 4 WBA teams (2nd division), 4 EBA teams (2nd division), 3 UBC teams (club college), 2 SAAL teams (pro team academies), 1 NSL team (club high school)
When? During the offseason between the 1972 and 1973 SBA seasons, March and April
Where? Semi-Finals and Open Championship to be held in Stratford, other games on home courts
What? single elimination 24-team tournament, top 8 seeds get bye game (teams to be seeded based off regular season performance)
Why? Obviously an SBA team has a 99.9% of winning the Open, but it allows for greater unification of basketball in Silveria. With this move the 30 sec shot clock, 40 minute game, and three point line will be implemented across the board. Another benefit of the Silverian Open is exposure for the lesser known players who will play in its games.

WBA (4/7)
Defending Champs: Stratford Flames
Other Teams: New Dublin Hatters, Aldborough Tigers, Manakakwa Pines, Tri Cities Hammers, Barton Bandits, Portsmouth Gamblers

EBA (4/11)
Defending Champs: Salisbury Kings
Other Teams: Brackley Bulls, Lovell Explorers, Dover Dukes, Dudley Penguins, Wycombe Woodsmen, Derby Redwings, Hamstead Athletics, Carlisle Sixshooters, Kheka Swans, Bangor Packers

UBC (3/24)
Defendings Champs: Winters (Stratford-UBC,WBC), Stratford (WPBC), St. Peter's (EBC)
Other WBC: Ferdinand (Silver Point), John Paul (Stratford), SP Mining (O'Connor), Abbot (St. Patrick), Ridgeview (Silver Point)
Other WPBC: Silver Point, New Dublin, Trent, Westbury, Aldborough, Hastings, Nottingham, Highlands (Woodsborough)
Other EBC: Bangor, Dudley, Hamstead, Salisbury, Granite Bay (Sherborne), Oil Tech (Wells), Three Rivers (Dover), Brackley

SAAL (2/28)
Defending Champs: N/A
Teams: SBA, WBA, and EBA academies

NSL (1/100+)

Last edited by jxhnhvhn (6/05/2020 1:45 pm)

1972 SBA Preview East Division
Bangor Farmers
Owner: Colin Burns (Silverian-64)
Coach: Bryan Harris (Silverian-52)
Starters:
#1 PG Santos Garza (Puerto Rican-30) *3 years remaining
#2 SG Dom Byrd (Avonian-31) *2
#4 SF Eugene Shaw (Silverian-35) *1
#4 C Cristo Ventura (Pacifico-29) *1
#9 C Adam Lowe (Silverian-36) *1
Bench:
#12 SG Toby Dunn (American-26) *2
#15 PF John Hall (Silverian-23) *1
#16 SF Malcolm Nichols (Silverian-22) *2
#18 C Vytautas Paulauskas (Lithuanian-24) *1
#21 PG Willie Angus (Silverian-26) *1

While it was considered a possibility that Adam Lowe would want to play with specifically his longtime co-star teammate Eugene Shaw one more time, few thought he had the motivation to keep going after back to back disappointing seasons. Both of which finished with the Farmers failing to win the SBA Championship. However, he defied this logic and officially announced that he will be retiring after this season regardless of Shaw's decision. Expect some pageantry, even at away games for Lowe, he'll go down as maybe the second best player in team history after Shaw. The biggest loss for the Farmers came in Cary Joseph's move to St. Patrick. The Happies have not been spending very much thus far, Joseph was their first foray into big name free agents. Unfortunately for the Farmers this means losing their starting 4 man and one of the best in the league. In response, Bangor chose to slot Cristo Ventura into the starting lineup finally. Over the past two seasons, Ventura has been a premier bench big man and would've started at C for a lot of SBA teams. His move to the starting lineup also means losing some bench production, but Toby Dunn ensures they still have a quality 6th man. After a sub par year with few minutes and poor production, the Farmers chose not to try sign SF Pierce Cochran, instead the 27-year-old will return to Brackley Bulls of the EBA, half of the second division of Silverian basketball. Re-signings include Garza, Lowe as previously mentioned, Dunn, and Nichols. While Garza was linked with some Spanish teams, the veteran Farmer was extended for 3 years. He of course hopes this isn't his last big contract, but we'll have to wait and see. Lowe signed on for one more year in his longtime home of Bangor. Dunn is definitely an underrated pickup, while not usually in the conversation for best scorers in the SBA, he's certainly one of its best shooters. He also is the best of the players not quite yet in their prime for the Farmers. Nichols is an interesting case. He clearly has some potential, and the Farmers will need a 3 once Shaw retires, but he hasn't done that much on the court yet. Although they are looking pretty old, expect Bangor to be firmly part of the contention for the SBA championship. 

Rivers End Rowdies
Owner: George Castille (Silverian-74)
Coach: Carlton Bates (Silverian-48)
Starters:
#9 PG Del Davis (American-34) *1
#11 PG Cesar Manfredonia (Argentine-30) *1
#6 PF Dario Hurst (Silverian-27) *3
#2 PF Ira Diaz (Pacifico-31) *2
#2 C Pete Murphy (Silverian-24) *4
Bench:
#6 PG Neil Harlow (Silveria-30) *2
#13 SF Rickey Waters (American-25) *1
#16 SG Lars Johnston (American-28) *1
#19 C Juan Quintana (Pacifico-25) *1
#19 PG Hector Perez (American-32) *1

After a disappointing season in which the Rowdies failed to make the East Division Championship despite winning the SBA championship the previous year, Rivers End needed to make some changes. Questions came up about the safety of Carlton Bates' job, but George Castille firmly shut them down urging the media not to forget the heights which Bates had brought them to. However, the Rowdies let SG Gregoire Fabien walk in attempt to get younger, he chose to return home to play in the French first division. Fabien also had a tendency to take too many shots when he was frustrated. Another of their older players, SF Johnny Hume, a native Silverian, retired after two seasons with the Rowdies. With two of their larger salaries off the books, the Rowdies had some room to make some moves. Neil Harlow signed on from Stratford Stars, and looks to be the 6th man before taking over for Del Davis. The Rowdies re-signed Pete Murphy first and foremost, a pretty hefty 4-year contract for the 24-year-old. When Ira Diaz can't be the guy anymore, expect Murphy to take over. They were also able to lock up Dario Hurst for the next few years and convince Argentine Cesar Manfredonia to make another run at the SBA Championship. The fit with 3 PG's of this level should be interesting, but Manfredonia is definitely the purest scorer of the three and Davis was kept in the starting lineup due mainly to legacy and a big contract, think Adam Lowe last year for the Farmers. Harlow, Manfredonia, and Davis are likely to play pretty similar minutes at the end of the day. With the Whalers weakening quite a bit this offseason, a bounce back season is a possibility for the Rowdies.

Haydon Hounds
Owner: Carson Singleton (Silverian-54)
Coach: Len Hess (Silverian-51)
Starters:
#3 SG Brent McCormick (Silverian-30) *5
#4 SG Rufus Simon (Silverian-21) *1
#6 SF Stefane Lachance (Niveau-30) *1
#8 PF Allen Davies (Silverian-26) *3
#5 C Kenneth Tate (Silverian-32) *2
Bench:
#7 PG Noah Foster (Silverian-30) *1
#10 SF Beau Whittle (American-24) *2
#13 C Eddie Duarte (Brazilian-28) *1
#13 PG Davey O’Gallagher (Silverian-26) *1
#16 PF Pep Cassano (Silverian-22) *1 

While Len Hess doesn't have the greatest record as head coach in his first two years, it's pretty clear he's been a huge part of their getting better and the Hounds will certainly be playing at their highest level yet this year. Quite frankly this top 4 in the East could form in just about any way and I wouldn't be too surprised. But, it was a huge offseason in Haydon this year. Veteran Noah Foster, as well as young stars Rufus Simon and Allen Davies, all looked to get sizeable contracts. And, yet the Hounds still made room to make possibly the biggest move this offseason. First, SF Isaac Ross would return home to Australia, his time in the SBA was marred by injury, but he still managed to be productive at times. Simon was the priority for the Hounds of course, but with Simon considering oversees options, possibly even in the USA, Haydon was able to keep him on a relatively cheap 1-year deal. This ended up being huge as the Hounds re-signed Allen Davies and then surprised everyone in signing longtime Whaler Brent McCormick, to the richest deal in SBA history. Noah Foster was signed at the last moment to a pretty team friendly deal. Simon and Foster's deal were somewhat controversial as it was evident both took pay cuts relative to their value in order for the Hounds to make a push for the SBA Championship. In terms of their chance to win, I wouldn't say it's super high in their first year with this pretty loaded roster, but making the playoffs for the first time is a reasonable expectation. If Rufus Simon decided to stay longer this could be the team of the future.

Sherborne Whalers
Owner: Carl Patterson (Silverian-63)
Coach: Walt Ramsey (American-56)
Starters: 
#2 PG Jordy Jensen (Silverian-30) *4
#8 SF Terrance Burris (American-29) *2
#1 SF Clarence Ward (American-26) *1
#11 PF Ari O’Neil (Silverian-25) *2
#14 C Jeff Davenport (American-25) *1
Bench:
#12 C Andy Haas (American-32) *2
#14 SG Tomas Carlson (Silverian-32) *1
#16 C Ozzie Brant (American-24) *1
#18 SF Eric Kimball (American-31) *1
#22 PG Otto Vincent (Silverian-21) *1

The Whalers surprised many in winning the East Division Championship despite their very evident weakness in the frontcourt last season. They were able to trade for Javi Blanco and that helped a lot, but the Stars were still able to exploit the Whalers and swept Sherborne in the SBA Championship. It's a theme Whalers fans are getting a little too used to, being good but not quite good enough to get over the hill. They're firmly seen in 4-5 range in terms of the success of SBA teams. And, this season with the loss of Brent McCormick to Haydon, it looks like they may drop out of the 4-year long top 3 in the East. However, it should be pretty close. Javi Blanco followed McCormick in leaving, opting for the first division of his home country, Pacifico, despite what looked to be a bright future in Sherborne. Both of these losses are crucial and Carl Patterson knew he had to make a move. However, the Whalers weren't quite able to replace that level of production with both gone. They did sign Jordy Jensen from the Captains after he became disgruntled with the team in the wake of Grant McCoy leaving. This means Walt Ramsey will have a more traditional PG this time around, but make no mistake Jensen can still score. As far as big men go, the Whalers definitely would've liked to bring in someone like Blanco that could solidify their frontcourt. They re-signed there remaining 3 big mean, O'Neil, Davenport, and Brant, but none had shown to be at starting level yet. In turn they made one of the bigger international signings with addition of Andy Haas. Haas provides a veteran presence and someone the Whalers can rely on if their young bigs can't live up to their competition.

Wells Phoenix
Owner: Levi Philips (Silverian-70)
Coach: Glen Massey (American-52)
Starters:
#15 PG Ian Emmett (Silverian-28) *2
#10 SG Johnny Jackson (American-24) *1
#9 PF Larry Hester (American-31) *1
#5 PF Emanuel Fields (Silverian-24) *2
#3 C Rick Howell (Silverian-27) *3
Bench:
#15 SG Marcelino Tapia (Pacifico-27) *1
#17 SF Bernie Zhu (Silverian-23) *2
#15 C Louis MacGillen (Silverian-24) *1
#18 PG Oscar Jordan (Australian-20) *1
#21 SF Colin Duffy (Silverian-23) *1

Despite a pretty similarlily sub par season in 1972, coach Glen Massey was kept on and is going into what many pundits are considering a make or break season. The Phoenix are still quite young, but greater signs of improvement will certainly be Massey's primary test. Wells was one of the least active teams in free agency despite having some of the SBA's richest owner. You could argue they're saving money in preparation to switch energy resources as the oil fields in Rivers End look to be on their last leg, or that they are trying to figure out the direction they want to go before handing out big salaries, in reality it's probably somewhere in between. SF Gerri Vinci and SG Reggie Thorne both left for their home countries where they likely plan to retire. Vinci's loss definitely leaves the starting lineup without much shooting. Larry Hester while a decent shooter at the 4 can't really hit from distance, nor can Jackson or Emmett. This leaves Marcelino Tapia as possibly the best wing shooter, and while he's a nice bench piece, I don't know if you can rely on him for backcourt scoring. Without a doubt the Phoenix will be pounding it in to the paint on every possession. Fields and Howell are both pretty young too, so it's possible Wells could go to playoffs soon, but not this year, not with the four teams in front of them.

Last edited by jxhnhvhn (6/15/2020 1:27 am)