SACBA Week 15 - Palky's getting pointy about the pointy end of the season

 

Of course you knew Palky would be getting excited, he’s been emailing me from a far away land…

 

Well we’ve just had the penultimate game of the minor round (the ‘word of the day’ email rocks all you recalcitrants!).  A few teams were short on players this week for a variety of reasons, let’s all get our respective sh*t together and get out for the last game – and help out another team with scoring if you can - and then let’s get onto the Players’ Player at the Seven Stars.

 

If you haven’t RSVP’d to me yet, it’s not too late – click here smiller@cliftonhall.net.au and simply tell me that you’re coming and whether you want a delicious pub meal.  You know that a schnitty and chips will make a good base for a night of beer fuelled fun.  And don’t worry; someone will eat your side salad.  Thanks to everyone who has RSVP’d so far, numbers are looking good - will be fun.  Count will start from 7.00, but come earlier & to get your meal sorted if you like.

 

The finals schedule will be put up in a blog, the 1st week games for each team are set out in the sections below. Those finals games are for 7 September (election day), make sure you refer to master table at the bottom for this week's game time.

Cheers

Reggie

 

 

 

A’s – yet to receive a full report or scoresheet - didn’t get a full report last week either. The reports must be so awesome they've been whisked off to receive a Pulitzer.

I think Jack delivered his report to me last night at training, all I remember is ‘we fell over the line’.  Thankfully Gateway’s blog has a little more of what we like to call in the blogging game ‘details’. 

Reds up 21-18 on Gateway at the half.  The second half opened with a ‘maroon onslaught’ before a Gateway comeback, drawing to within six points.  Final score a 50 – 39 win
 

  

B’s - Brighton forfeited on Saturday.  Mike probably had an extra cheeseburger as a result.

 

  

A/B GRADE (Split Grade for Finals)

A GRADE

 Prince Alfred Old Collegians A ~ 39pts 59.83%
 Prince Alfred Old Collegians B ~ 37pts 55.64%
 Gateway Baptist A ~ 37pts 51.53%
 St Peters Old Collegians A ~ 36pts 58.92%
 B GRADE
 The Corner Uniting (Yates) B ~ 29pts 53.64%
 Knightsbridge Baptist A ~ 28pts 48.00%
 Happy Valley C of C 'A' ~ 23pts 44.55%
 Brighton C of C 'A' ~ 21pts 42.37%

As Palky wrote tonight on the SACBA Facebook page - 'what a beautiful sight'.

So our A's play Brighton A and just need to field a team to take the minor premiership (as they have superior percentage even if they lost).  First final will be 6pm at Adelaide Arena on 7 September.

The B's play Gateway - massive game - winner gets the double chance and will play the A's in the 1st Semi-Final at 6pm on 7 September. (If the B's lose, they will finish 3rd or 4th depending on whether Saints beat Knightsbridge, and play an Elimination Final at 7pm at Adelaide Arena for the chance to play in the Preliminary Final on 14 Sept for a spot in the GF).

 

C’s – written by Shooter McGavin

 

This week the C’s were up against our old nemesis, The Corner A. The C’s had the chance of pushing them out of the C’s finals and down into the D’s finals. Whilst the C’s can only finish top, this was a game we really wanted to win. We started off well. G hitting a few 3s and Phill and Hendo active on the o-boards and our defence was causing them to take tough shots. 10 minutes in they called a timeout and we were up 11-7. After the timeout they let G get open, another 3 3s and a jumper to Manners. Halftime up 28-16 but they got an extra 2 for no scorer, 28-18. The second half was more great D by us and not so great D by them. We were getting open looks from wherever we wanted. Phill made use of the multitude of holes in the key with 12 for the half and 2 converted “and ones”. With the game no longer in doubt, The Corner A gave up with a few minutes to go and garbage time ended the game. Another great team win, with everyone doing what was needed on the day to secure the W.

 

It should be noted we were 100% from the line. 6/6. Get out and practice them…IT WORKS!!!

 

G had 27, Phill 16, Hendo 4

 

C/D GRADE (Split Grade for Finals)

 C GRADE

 Prince Alfred Old Collegians C ~ 43pts 61.92%
 Unley Park Baptist A ~ 37pts 55.43%
 Holdfast Baptist A ~ 31pts 50.68%
 Southwest Baptist A ~ 29pts 50.33%
 D GRADE
 The Corner Uniting (Cotterill) A ~ 29pts 47.29%
 Cherry Saints A ~ 25pts 45.00%
 Holdfast Baptist B ~ 19pts 35.35%
 Coromandel Baptist A ~ 17pts 37.30%

So the C's have locked up at the minor premiership - well done lads and gives you the double chance.  Good hit out this week against Unley, who you'll face again in the 1st Semi-Final at 5.00pm at Adelaide Arena the week after on 7 Sept. 
 

 

D’s – written by the Enforcer

 

The D's were hit by exams, travelling and injuries this week, to only have 3 of the usual roster available to play Taperoo. Ably filling the empty spots were DMT, Dangerous Stu, James Townsend and Sam Karamoshos. The first half saw Taperoo throw plenty of elbows and whinge to the umpires just for something different, and the umpires obliged them by calling a ridiculous 11 fouls on the Reds in the first half (33 fouls called for the game - basketball is never the winner with Taperoo). Their big guy dropped his shoulder and charged his way in for 10 points, while Mitch Kirkham added 7 and James banked in a 3 to keep us in the contest at 17-21 at the main break. After sorting ourselves out early in a zone we switched to a man D and decided to run at all opportunities to expose Taperoo's serious lack of athleticism. This worked a treat in the second half and the Reds piled on 27 points to just 3 from Taperoo, with Mitch Wildman getting steals and attacking the rim for 11 points in the second half, supported by some nice shooting from Kirkham, and cuts through the key from Stu. Kirkham finished with 13, Wildy tore this one up for 12, and Stu and Lunny had 6 apiece. Thanks to the guys who helped out to get us a 44-24 victory.

 

 

E’s – written by Rough Justice

 

The E's plan for this week was to finally convince Knightsbridge to quit basketball and take up their destiny as Australia's answer to One Direction and the score reflected that. Diamond was out with a case of 'blouse-itis' and Max was playing with his toy cars interstate, so Caldy answered the call.  Story of the game was B-Rad down low.  The teenage popstars had no size and seemed convinced that leaving Brad unattended within several feet of the basket was a winning strategy.  That and 3-pointer attempts from 75 feet... reminiscent of Max Power in his school days.  Somewhat redundant here, as he has told everyone already *, but Bubs recorded the E's block of the season.  Other notable moments were Cam's feet-fixed, hip-shot, bank 3-pointer off an inbound, made to the sounds of gasps from his team mates and RJ's threading a bullet pass through the entire key to find Josh on the way to an easy 2.

 

Final score 51-24. Brad 17, Bubs 9, Moorfoot 8

  
* Editor's note - I heard about the block last night at training - although it was kind of 3rd person - 'someone got a big block on the weekend' - I assumed he meant on the court as I doubt Bubs would have been telling me he got c*ckblocked - that just doesn't happen my friends

 

NE1 GRADE (Split Grade for Finals)

 NE1/A

 Oakden Baptist A ~ 41pts 62.41%
 Dunn Memorial Uniting A ~ 38pts 55.88%
 Prince Alfred Old Collegians D ~ 34pts 53.39%
 Prince Alfred Old Collegians E ~ 33pts 52.85%
 NE1/B
 St Peters Old Collegians B ~ 31pts 51.03%
 St Peters Old Collegians C ~ 23pts 43.19%
 Knightsbridge Baptist B ~ 22pts 39.49%
 Taperoo Uniting A ~ 18pts 41.56%

So Bill's decision to play C players in the B team in the same grade has reversed the D's loss, putting the D's & E's into the NE1/A final, barring any blowouts - and SPOC B vs Taperoo is a chance of that.  The E's just need to beat Saints C to secure 3rd or 4th, and the D's & E's will face off in an Elimination Final at 3.00pm at Adelaide Arena on 7 Sept.

 

F’s – written by Downtown Chris Browne

  

With no Phil, Udit or Brad this week we were down to five for our clash against Golden Grove. After our disastrous, horrible and quite frankly shithouse performance of last week, we knew we would have to lift our game considerably to remain undefeated.

 

We started out strong with a couple of early buckets and some slick offensive play complemented by excellent defence and good talk from all players. Even though our vocal D allowed us to cover their options inside, they were shooting pretty well and keeping pace on the scoreboard.

 

Our ball movement in offence was like nothing we've seen this year so far - fast around the top until an opportunity for a shot, drive or dish to the Road Train (who couldn't miss) opened up. When Road Train didn't have it everyone was finishing consistently well and Stu started busting some unprecedented (and very effective) drives against the defence, exposing them inside giving Jay and Hanzolo opportunities to finish.

 

Our half time lead of 9 didn't grow much in the first minute or two as a result of their defensive shift to a 3-2, making movement a little harder around the top in offence. Despite that, everyone continued scoring early on in the half and we used our 'tactical timeouts' to steady up the game as it suited us. We got the lead out to about 15 but slowed down for the last couple of minutes to win by 9 against a very good team. Everyone played well in probably our best game of the year with a well spread scorecard - god only knows where the players player votes went. It's also worth noting that we had a pretty high score considering we didn't get many buckets off the break like we usually do. Jay got 12, Browne and Road Train 9 each, Hanzolo 8 and Stu 7. Reds won 45-36.

 

 

G’s – written by Hitman

 

This week G-Force faced bottom-of-the-table Spicer, who had not previously presented a challenge this season, but who had a few incoming players who were expected to improve their performance.  They indeed proved sterner opponents than previously, both teams forced to graft buckets against active defence, with Spicer edging into a slight lead that was trimmed to one point at the main break, 13-12.  The second half was a repeat of the first, G-Force taking the lead first but Spicer responding, with the margin never more than a single basket.  With slightly over a minute to go and scores tied, Brendan drove to the hoop and was fouled.  He coolly stepped to the line and made both baskets.  With the seconds ticking down, Spicer rushed forward, jacked up a shot – missed – but grabbed the offensive board and made the putback.  Without barely enough time left to inbound, the result was a draw, 26-26.  As always G-Force scoring was even, Brendan, James and Sam scoring 6 apiece and Reid 5.

 

 

NE2 GRADE (Split Grade for Finals)

 NE2/A

 Prince Alfred Old Collegians F ~ 45pts 67.02%
 Golden Grove Baptist A ~ 35pts 60.55%
 Northgate A ~ 35pts 51.69%
 East All Stars A ~ 34pts 55.15%
 NE2/B
 Prince Alfred Old Collegians G ~ 28pts 41.52%
 St Peters Old Collegians E ~ 23pts 47.57%
 St Peters Old Collegians D ~ 22pts 39.50%
 Spicer Uniting A ~ 18pts 30.15%

So the F's have sewn up the Minor Premiership of NE2/A and secured the double-chance, well done boys. Your Semi-Final will be at 1.00pm at Adelaide Arena against the winner of this week's Golden Grove vs Northgate game. The G's have sewn up the Minor Premiership of NE2/B and also secured the double-chance, good stuff.  If you beat Saints E this weekend, you will play either Saints E or D the following week (Saints D's if they get up on Spicer).  If you lose to Saints E, you'll have the chance to redeem yourself in on the big stage, 8.00pm at Adelaide Arena on 7 September.

 

Lady Reds – written by Purge

 

In a preview of a potential Finals matchup the LRs had to take on the powerful Adelaide missing their entire starting backcourt (Megan – Europe / Palk Tapas & Beer Defense + Jordie – Flu / Potential Hangover??). The girls started ok down by a few before Loz started doing a Matt Bonner impersonation and suddenly it was 9 all – all 3 baskets from downtown 2 from Loz 1 from Alicia. Wans & Georgie were holding the fort inside against an intimidating Adelaide frontline. Georgie continually getting to the line enough to keep the defense honest 20-15 Adelaide at the half. In the second it was more Loz hitting 2 more 3s and a layin. Emma & Tracy got a few steals and it was a Lady Reds lead 30-26. Wans hit a 18 footer the first long jumper in her short, loud but illustrious career and Tracy/Loz started penetrating and hitting Georgie under the bucket where she hit some shots & got to the line for 6 of 11 makes for the game. Loz hit her 5th triple and it was a 37-36 Lady Reds. Adelaide scored a couple of times to make it 40-37 coach Purge called a timeout to stop the clock with 45 secs to play (my sole contribution to the game) and Georgie on the line for 2. She made the 2nd and the girls got a big stop, Tracy then got out on the break and hit a tough layup in traffic to tie the game 40 all. The girls got another stop and got the ball back with 5 to play but couldn’t get the ball in in time. Regardless a huge result given the outs and the competition Loz leading the girls off and on the court with 17, Georgie 10, Wans 6 (2/2 from line – clutch)

 

 

 WA/B GRADE (Split Grade for Finals)

 WA GRADE

 Unley Park Baptist A ~ 41pts 68.81%
 Adelaide Christian Centre A ~ 40pts 62.96%
 Prince Alfred Old Collegians A ~ 33pts 57.00%
 Dunn Memorial Uniting B ~ 31pts 52.20%
 WB GRADE
 Edwardstown Catholic A ~ 31pts 51.05%
 Unley Park Baptist B ~ 23pts 34.80%
 Cherry Saints A ~ 22pts 39.90%
 Trinity Baptist (Rule) B ~ 19pts 30.94%

So the Lady Reds will finish in the A Grade Finals again - fantastic.  With a superior percentage you'll finish 3rd, regardless of results this week.  You've got Trinity this week, and will probably play Dunn next week in an Elimination Final (assuming that Dunn beat Cherry and Unley beat Edwardstown).  Your 1st Final on 7 Sept will be 4.00pm at Adelaide Arena.

Sime’s Super Selections - Week 15

3rd – B-Rad Daniel – E’s

2nd - Mitch Wildman – D’s / Loz Fear – LR’s

1st – Nathan Graham - C's

 

 

Week 16 - 31 August 2013 (last minor round game)

 

Team	Opposition	Time	Stadium	Court
A	Brighton A	5.10	Saints	1
B	Gateway A	1.50	Saints	2
C	Unley Park A	1.50	Saints	2
D	Dunn A	1.00	Cedar	1
E	Saints C	1.50	Cedar	1
F	East All Stars A	4.20	Cedar	1
G	Saints E	2.40	Cedar	1
LR	Trinity A	3.30	Saints	2