SAABL ROUND 10

   DATES

•    December beach day at Glenelg (5th of December)
•     Player's Player x Club Lunch 21st of November 

SAABL DIVISION 1

A's ROUND 10 by Brandon

Reds vs Schvitz 56-44 

Coming off a bit of flop the previous Saturday after an intercol we came up againsr a beatable side in the Schvitz. Whilst they were beatable, we knew going in that almost of the teams im this Div are competitive every single week. They went into a zone for most of the game giving their bigs enough time to rest and exert their energy on O. It started off slow with as we weren't used to facing zones on Saturday's. Lachie called a time out and told us in no uncertain terms...'What the f*ck are you guys doing'. That's all we really needed, we went out to and got ourselves in positions we knew could get us open spots and it worked. Dario was hitting his open shots all day whilst Golding was hot from 3. With those guys hitting shots and it opened up the lane for Foo and Selfy to attack. B was a massive bright-spot for us too, showing a lot of intensity on D and crashing the boards hard knowing full well we didn't have the type of size to beat them on the boards. Whilst we were getting a head of steam on offence, the was because of our communication on D and our intensity to help each other out..we had been missing this in previous weeks. We kept a lead for most of the 2nd half, hitting timely shots when the Schvitz made runs. Liam hit a huge 3 deep into the fourth to seal our victory with Dario and Foo knocking down a couple freethrows at the end of the game to make sure of it. Overall, a great performance by the team after a shaky start and hopefully we can keep this going to finish out the season strong. A slight chance of making the playoffs..we shall see.

 Points: Foo 16, Dario 15, Golding 12

         SAABL DIVISION 2/3

B's

ROUND 10 By Mike
Reds vs AUB 77-47

Note: If you love Harry Potter I apologise, I’m going to get needlessly angry about the first book and try use that to describe the game. 

Harry (Sibly) was not an ordinary boy at all. Living under the stairs of his Aunt and Uncle’s house, Cousin Dudley (Mike) was spoilt whilst Harry was treated like a slave*. After Dudley taps and annoys a Snake (Baker?) enclosure, Harry disappears the glass and has chat (Mike through up junk against the glass and relied on people to bail him out, whilst baker made an appearance which will hopefully be plot fodder in the Cinderella Story that unfolds).  

On his 11^th Birthday (Game in the B’s if you include intercol and the weeks he missed) he gets accepted to a school that he has not applied for, nor has he even heard about… What is their policy on accepting people? I have seen the grounds in the film, there is no way this is a publicly funded boarding school. This is absolute Rubbish! (Adelaide University started the game with only 4 players. One can only assume budget cuts have hit higher education harder than all boys Colleges).

Harry then gets taken to Diagon-Alley by Hagrid (Phil), showing that wizards like puns as much as the next muggle, where Harry gets a Wand, an Owl and a cheeky family fortune whilst Hagrid delivers all of the backstory for the reader to digest (Phil brought along a spectator that would probably need a lot of background information to decipher who was who, whilst the team also finally started understanding how to beat a team of 5). 

Then Harry goes to platform 9 and ¾ and has to walk through a wall. Lets hold the script right there. Let’s go to one of the most travelled places in all of London and put a secret passage in the gosh darn column? Like no one out of the thousands of people that go past that station would every see? HAVE YOU BEEN TO THAT STATION? Platform 10 and 11 are the long distance trains, so you have time to people watch, YOU WOULD NOTICE KIDS RUNNING AT A WALL! (Despite results, AUBC continued to try 3-point attempts to little avail and Phil just kept rebounding. There was a plot whole in their offence but people believed the books so darn much that they injured themselves in real life).

A supporting act of Ron and Hermione rock up, Ron immediately paying off whilst Hermione seems a little force (Stu subs in and goes for 6 points in 30 seconds, whilst Baker does baker things and will at least be bad ass in the end). Harry shows off he’s loaded to complete strangers because he’s never had friends and assumes correctly that they can be bought with candy that he so politely buys them. You then realise that Wizard chocolate is god damn insane that you wonder why they invented it. What is your marketing pitch when you suggest a chocolate frog that can bounce right out of there and bails on the train entirely? Did they just accidentally introduce a new species of frog to an unnatural habitat? Do they know how risky that could be (Why did this team nominate for B’s with this line up? After Mike scores 6 straight points, Reds up at the half 41-18). 

Upon arriving at the school, Harry and the crew get bullied by Malfoy and his two henchmen, which is incredible considering the age of him and how you’d probably not want to start your boarding house lifestyle (Reds switched to a man just to practice it and it didn’t go too well, allowing black to score a few times).  Harry also gets properly introduced Dumbledore (Angus), who is the most powerful wizard around (Angus will win Players player this year because he’s the best of us most of the time). 

After a sorting hat and some Leviosar bullshit, Harry takes to the air on his owl delivered broom and starts to show he’s the real deal in a game that has the worst scoring rules ever created in a game with roles that barely make sense (Tim starts scoring a ton of points late in the second half and the idea of quidditch is dumb). 

After being a badass for quidditch, Harry receives an invisibility cloak anonymously and doesn’t respect how powerful this is despite it being a nursery rhyme for wizards with this being the best of 3 powers** (Sibly after a sweet effort gets zero stats for the last 5 minutes).  

Harry and the crew sneak through corridors when Neville Longbottom tries to stop them from causing more harm to the Gryffindor house (Nick suggests changing back to a zone and subs Mike out so he doesn’t worsen his injuries).  

The crew then encounter some rare obstacles that only they can surpass. So convenient! Where Ron finally shows his worth is actually to sacrifice his body so that others might succeed (I feel like Baker throws his body at things better than anyone, and he scored 6 points in this time). 

Turns out that Harry had just what it takes to then look into a mirror and discover he now not only is a rich trust fund baby but he also has a rock that grants him immortality and alchemy to turn metals into pure gold. Seems legit. Then plot fodder rubbish and you realise Gryffindor score like a bazillion points out of no where and someone win the house cup (this will be Reds winning the next two games and another team losing the next to have B’s finish 4^th). Then Dumbledore changes the colour scheme with the wave of his wand and no words?!! IT TOOK SO MUCH EFFORT TO MAKE A FEATHER MOVE EARLIER, HOW CAN HE HAVE THIS MUCH POWER!!! Stupid fucking books. 

Reds win 77-47 

Sibly 17, Angus 14, Stue

Reds need 2 wins and whoever loses out of one matchup next week to also lose the week after that in order to come 4^th. 

*Mike gets treated amazingly well when he visits the Sibly house to Tutor Nic. Tim often complains the food is better than what he gets. 

** Also why is courage Link’s best power in the triforce? Maybe that should be the next theme? 

SAABL DIVISION 4/5

C's

ROUND 10 by

Reds vs 

Points: 

D's
ROUND 10 by

 Reds vs **

Points: **

E's
ROUND 9 (Sunday game) by RT

Reds vs D's 39-30

 Fresh (haha) off the previous day’s drawn game we trekked to St Clair for the rescheduled “dance with your sister” against Max’s C team.

There was a slight change to our lineup, Hendo back on deck after his successful grading day and G pulling on the colours to help fill in.  B-Rad and Caldy were both out (engagement party and dairy visit?).

Joining us again was Shae, this time able to make the post game beers (scotch as was the case for him).

With no play by play to refresh my memory the report will be shorter than usual.

Trev nailed a three early, but then went quiet with that being the sum total of his points for the game.

Shae once again lit up the stadium with 4 threes and great ball handling skills. A couple of foul shots also added to his total.

G nailed a three showing that you can’t leave him unguarded outside the arc.

Pachuca worked hard inside for 6 points off the deck and 4 from the line.

Hendo was also strong inside for a hard won 6 points.

RT managed 3 points (no, not a three, one foul shot went in) and Nele once again the bridesmaid rather than the bride with no points, just a thumb injury to take home.

Final scores showed us the clear winners 30-39, our slow climb up the ladder continues. The short season is probably going to rob us of a finals berth.

As is usual in these derby games pride was on the line and the effort put in by both teams reflected what was at stake.

Thanks to Magic Mike and Frangers for reffing.

Trev with the post game beers and RT with Doritos to go with them.

Points: *

SAABL Round 9

    DATES

•     Midseason Pub Crawl: BOOKED FOR THE 4TH of OCTOBER  (Sunday of Long Weekend)
•     Mid-December beach day at Glenelg (Specific date TBA)
•     Player's Player x Club Lunch 14th of November 

SAABL DIVISION 1

A's ROUND 9 by Brandon

Reds vs SPOC 53-75 

As you can guess, the Reds didn't particularly come out to play much against these Saints because we had won the important one the night before so they can jog on. Anyway, we started off well in terms of our team ball movement but some of our shots just weren't falling. Our transition D really hurt us through out the game which was to be expected. We made a run in the second-half with all guns blazing with every single player doing what they do best. Dario and Selfy led the scoring charge with Foo getting some transition buckets. Jang was great in this game crashing the boards, assisting and hitting his elbow J, a bright spot in an otherwise dull performance overall. We got it within 8 but fell away in the last 10 minutes of the game. Hopefully for next week against The Schvitz we can sustain that type of effort we experienced for that part of the 2nd half. (We did, we played a lot better I'm writing this after both games and it was great effort from all the guys..Good signs)

 Points: Jang and Dario 11, Self 10

         SAABL DIVISION 2/3

B's

ROUND 9 By Mike
Reds vs SPOC 40-40

 The Dark Lord Sauron (Bill), had deceived man, and suited many bench players as starters in the grades below at Intercol for years passed. It was only when the Dwarves (Palk), humans (Sean Heylen) and Elves (Liam Golding) united they were once able to thwart the Dark Lord. However, his power was still tied to the Ring (Strangways Cup), and he would muster his forces once again. 

The cup now resides with the most unlikely of underdogs a hobbit by the name of James Baker, a simple being with unmown lawn and out of date milk would treat this cup as a plaything. But wise Gandalf (Phil) knew the ring would need to be destroyed, once and for all. The collected a team of champions, Legolas (Sibly), Gimli (Angus), Boromir (Krantz), Aragorn (Noah) and Hobbits Mary, Pippen (Baker), Frodo (Mike) and Sam (The whole team) to escort the cup and put an end to the evil Orc (Saints) empire.

The Dark lord has ghostly servants (Ben Bishop is pale as hell), once lords of men, now tied to the same fate as Sauron. They also had once ring bearer, Gollum (Ali Mac) who choked his chance at keeping it last year. 

The trek to Mount Doom (St Claire 4pm timeslot victory) would be a treacherous one, and they would need to outsmart Saruman (Will Good). Would Reds take the high road across the mountains (play man on man), or would they take the path underneath through the Mines of Moria (play hungover zone defence and hope for the best). 

The Mines seemed like the best option, as the fellowship was exhausted and small in number. Despite being outnumbered, the fellowship took advantage of skill and the tight environment, Aragorn showing his prowess in many forms (fast breaks and jump shots) defeating a troll (Ed Gilmartin), Gandalf causing some damage up close whilst also getting a number of blows (free throws) to the unsuspecting goblins. Despite a long distance polearm attack from the Troll, Frodo had a few surprises of his own, showing mithril amour (Mike hit a couple 3’s and some other jump shots). 

The fight was won, but not the war, as the fellowship would now try and outrun the Balrog that was unearthed by the dwarves (Saints rallied and had momentum in the second half). The escape from Moria was altered in the movie as the writers seemed to be deciphering the book in different ways (The referees were inconsistent and difficult to play to). Gandalf did his best to rally the group, “fly you fools,” as Boromir, Gimli and Legolas would get the rest of the team out safely (Krantz, Gussy and Tim would all hit shots to keep us in the lead). Unfortunately an ambush lakeside would have the fellowship split, The ring got escorted across the river (to the pub) to safety but at what cost? 

Frodo would escape to the other side of the river “I’m going alone” (to the pub).

Sam (the whole team), “I know you are, and I’ll come too.” (almost drowning).

Points: Tim 11, Noah 10  

 SAABL DIVISION 4/5

C's

ROUND 9 by Morgan

Reds vs Pick and Pop 49-43

It was a odd game. Odd in the way that everyone on the PAC squad was hung over or spent from the night before. So far from being our usual running ADD selves as we all played INTERCOL. I was nearly asleep for the whole game so I don’t recall much but I know I didn’t jump once. One of the Higham brothers hurt his foot before the game so the other felt the need to sprain his ankle so they could be more like the other again I am sure. Harry played more great defence and hit a couple of three’s. John once again hit toe over two’s Pritchard had many steals and ran the ball well. Lachlan worked hard under the ring getting rebounds and hitting a few two’s. Morgan was to lazy and just pushed people around until getting up to four fouls. Any other Saturday we would have beaten them but our turn overs particularly in the second half and our out of character lazy defence let us down. So a sleepy loss.

Points: Morgan 10, John 8, Lachlan 7

D's
ROUND 9 by Mark

 Reds vs Punjabi Lioms 40-35 

The D's were down a player in the first minutes of the game with Reggie straining his calf and leaving us with 6 to play on. Damien got off to a quick start with a trio of 3 pointers in the first 10 minutes. The D's were getting it done inside as well with Cam and Connor helping the D's out to a 17-8 lead with 7 mins to go in the first half. The D's encountered some foul trouble with Max racking up his 4th with still six minutes to go. In the final minutes and with the D's over the foul limit SPOC had opportunities from the free throw line and pulled back slightly. D's were ahead 22-15 at half time. 

SPOC made a run after half time to pull within 3 points until the D's pushed their lead back out to 8 points 34-26, with Max and Cam contributing on the scoring. SPOC wouldn't give up and scored 8 points in a row to level things 34-34. The D's called for a timeout and emerged to get a couple of quick buckets including a nice little short range jumpshot from Manners. The rest of the game was a bit of a scrapfest, the D's were victorious with final score 40-36. Damien had 15 points, Max with 10 and Cam with 8. 
 
Points: Max 10, Cam 8

 E's

 ROUND 9 by RT

Reds vs Pick N Pop 55-55 

 With two wins and seven losses under our collective belts for the season things didn’t look particularly good on Saturday as we suited up against ladder number 2 position holders Pick’N’Pop. The smart money would have been on loss number 8 being chalked up in an embarrassing fashion. The smart money would have felt even more secure knowing that both Hendo and Flair were unable to play (martial arts grading and general malaise respectively).

The smart money would have been feeling a bit crook after watching the first 10 minutes of play. Trev knocked down 3 three pointers in that first 10 minute slot, ably assisted in the second quarter by fill in (and possible recruit) Shae with 4 three pointers. Points also to RT, B-Rad, Caldy and Lachie (Pachuca) saw us go into the long break up 35-41. At this point in time the smart money would probably have packed up and left.

Luckily for us our spectators are made of sterner stuff, as is our team. Knowing that there was only 20 minutes to go until the final whistle and car park beers (let’s face it, the real reason we come out and play!) we came back on court for the grind to the finish.

In the second half the scoring for both teams slowed right down. From our perspective it was probably accumulated years taking their toll, for the opposition it was running into (quite literally on a few occasions) our solid defence. It was observed after the game that they are probably used to having their way when it comes to cutting and driving, however we mount an impressive defensive wall that many have found nigh on impenetrable.

The final whistle saw the scores tied on 55 apiece, however it could truthfully be said that we were the real winners on the day, coming extremely close to handing a defeat to an opposition who should have walked all over us. Definitely one of which to be proud.

Shae top scored with 15, all from outside the arc.

Trev with a solid 12, also from outside all day.

Pachuca, B-Rad and Caldy with 8 points each, all working hard inside.

RT with 4 and Nele not troubling the scorers in either points or fouls (but contributing on other ways nonetheless).

Caldy with beers well received post game.

Points: Trev 12, B-Rad and Caldwell 8