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

 

SAABL ROUND 8

    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 
•     End of the Month Drinks @ the Stars 26th of Sept 6pm

SAABL DIVISION 1

A's

ROUND 8 by Brandon

Reds vs SPOC 50-54 

It was a tidier performance from the A's this week with much better ball movement and team play. We started the game off well jumping out to a 7 point lead. Selfy was attacking the ring with Dario and B hitting their mid-range jumpers to keep Saints at bay. Liam 'the wise' Golding spoke before the game about simply going out there and enjoying ourselves after a couple of bad performances by the team and it worked. The key for the Reds is sustaining a 2-half effort and not letting it get away from us if things start to go the other way. Seriously, every single team in this division is so even every single week is a tight game. We maintained our lead for most of the 2nd half but Saints grabbed the lead off a couple offensive rebounds whch turned into a 3. Pretty typical if you ask me - 75% of those guys have the potential to be complete hacks who throw bull shit at the ring and cross their fingers for an O board. Now that my little whinge is over - we pulled back the lead but Saints were able to hit a couple more timely 3s after a couple of Dario iso buckets to get them across the line. It's as simple as that in this div, it's make or miss and the games suddenly over. It was as much better performance this nevertheless - and hopefully we can carry this type of basketball into our next couple of games.

 

Points: Dario 17, Jono 13

         

SAABL DIVISION 2/3

B's

ROUND 6 By Mike

Reds vs RAVTASS 36-46

The B’s have hit a bit of a slump this season and the game wasn’t great. But I watched Star Wars in the morning so I will intertwine the two. We are of course the evil empire and far more interesting than the rebel opposition.

The empire is attacking the rebel fleet as Darth Vader captures the princess and almost thwarts any chance of the rebellion has by capturing the plans beamed out at the end of rogue 1. Reds hit an early lead through fast breaks and Noah being strong with the force.

Luke barely knew his parents, growing up with his aunt and uncle in a desert helping his uncle’s farm until a chance encounter with 2 droids at the markets leads him to meet Ben Kanobe (Obi Wan), who would lead him through an adventure and lead to Obi wan sacrificing himself and granting his power to Luke. The Ravens continued to change defences but they were unsuccessful at stopping the Reds as there were a lot of mismatches. Eventually a few players from Ravtass forfeited their court time to better match up against the Reds and play a man. The reds hadn’t really played against a man before, and with storm trooper like accuracy, didn’t have much luck hitting anything from anywhere.

Luke Meets Yoda, doesn’t listen properly, falls for a trap and loses a hand and finds out Darth Vader is his father. The centre of The Ravtass defence was high and long jumping Luke, despite having to sacrifice his offensive game which was abysmal, he summed up 9 or so blocks for the game, really keeping the reds out of the paint where they score the best. Tim, Mike and Noah managed to find some baskets here and there, but we otherwise struggled to finish off the rebel alliance.

Despite Hahn Solo being captured most of the game by our defence, we forgot occasionally to close out on Princess Leia who befriended the Ewok’s and ran amok in the forest of not paying attention defence.

The emperor had some solid ideas but sadly they struggled to follow through as he fouled out of the game when trying to do a little too much too late rather than spreading the workload across the trilogy of the game.  

Reds down by 10 in a game they’d rather forget, much like Episode 1,2 &3.

Points: Tim 11, Noah 10  

 SAABL DIVISION 4/5

C's

ROUND 6

Reds vs Top Heavy 49-43

Big match-up for Team Red against Top Heavy – a mob that had scored 74 the week before (a blistering score for the lockdown defence of Division 4/5).

We came out early with some nice ball movement getting easy scores for John, Morgan and Sam K. Lachy C and Sam H came off the bench, made some nice cuts and the team went on a rapid 12-0 run. This was capped off by the Reds collecting a number of charges against the beefcake on Top Heavy. Some poor defence to finish the half allowed Top Heavy to get back into the game – only down 2 at the break.

The second half was similar to the first with Morgan and Sam H finding holes in the sieve that was the Top Heavy defence. The boys continued with the soft touch of a St Peters Reverend around the rim and put this one beyond reach with one of our best performances of the year. Reds win 49-43 with even contributions across the scoreboard.

Points: Morgan 10, Crawf 9

SAABL ROUND 6 & 7

   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 
•     End of the Month Drinks @ the Stars 26th of Sept 6pm

SAABL DIVISION 1

A's

ROUND 6 by B

Reds vs Kings Park 32-50 

The A’s started out strong with Dario finding Aaron on the baseline who was subsequently fouled, Jang & Dario started crashing the offensive glass giving us second shot opportunities. Dario, Selfy & Frangers scoring off well timed cuts to the basket, Aaron started to get free on the baseline for jump shots & Rens hitting midrange pull ups. The second half started off with Selfy & Frangers crashing the offensive glass & Aaron walling off an opponent for an easy block, A’s down 23-25 at half time. In the second half things started to head south with untimely turnovers plus a drop in defensive intensity & focus ultimately leading to easy scoring opportunities for the Royals. A’s 32 Royals 50

 

Points: Dario 9, Jono 7 B's

         

ROUND 7 By Foo

          Reds vs Franchise 47-58

After coming off a disappointing loss last week, the As were looking to bounce back against the Franchise. The first half was tightly contested, Brendon got the scoring going early with a putback after grabbing the oboard and Liam hit an early 3. Number 10 for the franchise started hot and made several tough midrange jumpers in the first half. Self and Dario scored inside and Brandon hit a couple floaters in the paint. At the half the game was tied 28 a piece.

In the second, the franchise started to mix up their D jumping between a zone and man. Self, foo and Brendan scored early in the half and the score was 44-44 with 7 minutes to go. Franchise pulled away in at the end of the game scoring the next 6 points. Jang scored a 3 to keep the As within reach, but some later turnovers hurt us at the end of the game.

         

Points: Jono 12, B 9 B's 

 

SAABL DIVISION 2/3

B's

ROUND 6 By Mike

Reds vs Campbelltown 69-72 

 

After a cruisy win the week before, the reds were looking to back themselves against the ever high-scoring Archers. A fitting team for a name that prefers to do damage from range, the Reds Swordsmen knew they’d have to score 3 baskets to every two of Campbelltown if they were going to be in with a shot. They were an interesting uniform, sporting 4 different sets of also red, but fortunately reds looked shiny clear in red and gold. (no uniform points were offered, and uniforms are supposedly very important to the integrity of the league). Reds could see that a young headstrong team would need to play from the front, and if reds could get enough of a lead, Campbelltown would drop their heads and/or implode.

The game started well for reds, finding some open looks down low, punishing some lazy team defence. Campbelltown made a few long baskets, Perry Twins combining for a lot of successful 2v5 basketball. Reds couldn’t quite get enough ahead at any point to dishearten the young fellas, leading at the break 38-36.

The second half was a battle, Reds trying 3 different defences but none of them stopped the bleeding of points as the twins mismatched from the arc and in the lane and all points. The lead blew out to 7 midway through the half and whilst reds were able to close the gap, they never quite got the lead back. An amazing man on man defensive effort allowed them a shot to draw it, but unsuccessful.

Game highlight was Noah taking off from the centre circle, catching the ball in the air, taking his two steps and board tapping a lay-up, “I knew if I bounced it I’d have stuffed it up”.

Reds down 72-69. Lol 69!

         

Points: Gus 23, Phil 11  

 ROUND 7 By Mike 

           Reds vs Eagles 55-63

After a tough loss to almost 20 threes the week before, the B’s new they had to step up this week to bring home the bacon. Coming up against Forestville Eagles and a former red, they knew they had their work cut out for them. Unfortunately Forestville and former red Brad Haydon didn’t look like missing this particular Saturday, finishing with a whopping 31. Yet again, Reds ended up conceding 10 shots from the arc. Whilst they got everyone involved and chipping in to scoring, only Ollie Fox had double digits. Reds Offense is looking largely fine, but they will need to concede less points for the rest of the season if they are to win. 6/8 turned up at the pub afterward.

 Points: Foc 11, Mike 9

 SAABL DIVISION 4/5

C's

ROUND 6

Cs vs Es 27-36

 This was a key game for the C’s coming off a couple of wins in a row and looking to move into one of the top spots on the ladder. 

The Gold team came firing in this with Brad scoring inside early and Troy hitting a couple of threes. Meanwhile, Red team was struggling and couldn’t buy a basket. Morgan managed to get us going inside with some slow steps throwing off the defence. Some hot shooting from John and Pritch towards the end of the half got us to within striking distance at the break. 

Gold were great at controlling the tempo of the game in the second half and Lachie C was in his groove running point. In what was a foul-heavy second half, Reds never really got going. We struggled against the size of Train and Brad inside and they limited our easy baskets. Gold too good in the end, taking this one 36-27.  

Points: Stewart 7, Pritch 7

ROUND 7 

 Cs vs Ds 49-29

After a poor showing against one PAC team, we were keen to get back onto the winners list against another. This game was a scrappy affair with some dubious calls going both ways. John and Sam H got us off to a reasonable start with some good shooting before Lachy ran the break and found Pritch under the ring for a layup about three plays in a row – taking us into the break with a handy 12 point buffer. 

We pulled away a bit in the second half with John continuing to cook, finishing with 14 for the game including 4 threes. BB was getting to the rim and Manners and Reggie were hitting some mid-range shots to stem the bleeding but the damage was done. Reds run away with this game 49-29. 

 Points: Stewart 14, Pritch 8 

D's

ROUND 6 by Mark

Reds vs Punjabi Lioms 40-35 

The Lions got out to a quick start going up 7-0 in the first 2 minutes. Damien responded with 6 straight points of his own including a 3 pointer, followed by another 3 from Jimmy. The Lions were keeping in touch with a number of uncontested shots, so the D’s responded by switching to a man defence. The D’s were looking good attacking the basket and pushed out to a 28-21 lead by half time. 

The second half was more of a grind with the Lions hustling hard on defence, racking up their 7^th team foul with more than 12 minutes to go. Meanwhile, BB put his body on the line to draw 2 big charging fouls. The D’s free throw shooting was mixed, allowing the Lions to stay in the game until Connor hit the dagger with a strong move inside to put the D’s up by 7 with 2 mins to go. The D’s were winners in the end 40-35. 

 

Points: Cam 10, BB and Damo 7

ROUND 7

Ds vs Cs 29-49

Points: Wong 10, Damo 8 

E's

ROUND 6 by RT

 Es vs Cs 36-27 

There was something in the wind on Saturday afternoon, the wind of change. With a Reds vs Reds clash, pride was on the line (plus a chance to score the first win of the season!).

Maybe it was the warm weather, maybe it was the capacity crowd (allow me some artistic license), whatever the reason for once the Gold team was ready to play when the game started. It made a refreshing change from previous weeks where it took a good 10 minutes to find some rhythm.

By halfway through the first half it was looking like a possible blowout game, Gold up 12-2.

B-Rad moving freely inside, and Trev knocking down back to back threes helping to break the spirit of the mostly younger opposition.

The second quarter saw more even scoring from both teams, the long break seeing Gold up 22-15. RT and Nele managing a single point each, Lachie knocking down a mid range jumper and a sweet 3.

After a few words from the Ref regarding back chat (actually shouting, we all looked at Hendo…) the second half got underway.

5 quick points from the Reds Red team saw them well back in the game with only a four point margin. It was time for the old Gold team to pull it together and work hard to maintain and build the lead. B-Rad and RT worked hard inside for points, Lachie and Hendo had back to back threes and all of a sudden the score was back out to 34-22 in our favour. A couple of quick fouls from RT to assert dominance saw another 2 points from inside and we had enough margin to start a bit of old man keepy-offy to run the clock in the dying minutes of the game.

Final scores showed Gold the clear winners, 39-28. And what a pleasure it is to write a winning report for the first time this season.

The scoresheet showed Lachie and B-Rad tied up with 8 points each at the final buzzer.

Trev’s pair of threes netted him 6 points for the game. The Red team must have seen him as a real threat, because they did start to play a lot harder D on him when he was on the perimeter, which ultimately opened up the inside for more scoring options.

RT with 5, although he thinks a vicious headbutt (chin actually) to his arm in the act of shooting was a foul call which should have gone the other way. The shot dropped so there was a robbery of two easy points and a possible “and one”.

Hendo, Nele and Caldy all with three points each. Uncharacteristically quiet for Hendo, some cheap niggling from the opposition possibly having a negative effect. Both Nele and Caldy ran hard and contributed unselfishly, points scored not a true reflection of input.

Thanks to Cam and G for scoring half the game each and Auraelia (RT’s eldest) for scoring the entire game.

Points: B-Rad 8, Campbell 8

ROUND 7 by RT

Reds vs SPOC 39-28  

I wouldn’t want to make assumptions about breeding, privilege and onomastics, but I was struck by the names of some of the opposition players this week.

I could be wrong, but if you took a random sampling of 4 non Saints men you would be unlikely to come up with Benedict, Jackson, Hugh and Harrison. Or maybe I am showing some different upbringing bias. If so, I apologise.

This week breeding and privilege took a back seat to gritty determination and a desire to succeed. For the second week in a row the Gold team finished on top at the end of the 40 minute tussle.

Saints fired first with a 2 pointer that was immediately answered by a three from Lachie. A couple more twos by Saints gave them the lead again, but then Hendo stepped in with a three of his own, evening things up.

We then went on an 11-0 run, uncharacteristically (for this season at least) giving us a nice early buffer. They scored a few in the last few minutes of the half, but we took a handy 11 point lead into the long break, 28-17.

The second half saw us continuing to score at a reasonable rate, which coupled with a steady defense allowed us to finish the game with the same 11 point margin as the half time break. I guess you could argue that the second half was a tied game, but we never panicked or lost control of the game. Scoring from the get go certainly has made a positive difference for us for the last two weeks, hopefully we can keep this form going.

B-Rad topped scored for us, 13 points in total, 5 from the line showing the typical Saints hack and slash defense.

Hendo with 10 points. 3x3 point shots showing great form from outside.

Only a single point difference between RT and Caldy. 6 and 5 respectively.

Lachie with his early 3 being his only scoring shot, but still looking dangerous and certainly running plays with authority.

Flair’s season is going from strength to strength. Another two points this week, in typical Flair fashion, spinning off the top of the backboard to drop in.

Flair also scoring points in the carpark by providing post game beers.

Thanks to G for scoring and possibly giving some half time hints and tips, but who on our team really listens?... 

Points: B-Rad 13, Hendo 10 

SAABL ROUND 5

   DATES

•     Midseason Pub Crawl: October 3rd (Saturday of Long Weekend)
•     Mid-December beach day at Glenelg (Specific date TBA)
•     Player's Player x Club Lunch 14th of November 
•     End of the Month Drinks @ the Stars 29th of August 6pm

SAABL DIVISION 1

A's

ROUND 5 by Liam

Reds vs The Schvitz 55-51 

After vanquishing Peev on the back of the mighty dragon that is Jang last week, the Reds looked to back it up against the Schvitz. Excited to have a win on the board, the Reds looked to repeat the formula by getting out to a big early lead. 

At 2-0 the Reds considered the early phase of the game complete and gave up a few scores to the Schvitz as the unfamiliar zone D and slow down inside play took some time for the Reds to get used to. Down 5 or 6 as the first quarter wound down, the Reds finally got their volume up on D and found the gaps on offence. 

Multiple 3s from Selfy combined with open inside shots for Aaron and Dario off massive improvements in passing flipped the scoreboard to a comfortable Reds lead at the half. Actually, it was only three points, but it felt a lot bigger…

Such was the improvement in hitting the open high post and picking the right option off that spot, the Schvitz changed their D for the second half. The change up slowed the Reds scoring, but the D stood firm and the Schvitz only hit four shots through the third quarter. 

Slowly, the Reds made their offence click back into gear, again finding the open players to hit shots on clean looks, Brendon and Brandon converting well. 

Throughout the game Jang battled hard against the Schvitz’s primary offensive plan, get the ball to the massive guy who’ll try to push through to the basket. To be fair to them, he converted some really tough looks, Jang made it very hard for him and came out ahead on the day. All the more impressive considering his hangover.

Dario continued to control the game down the stretch. While we let it get tight again, and the Schvitz even got a small lead, we kept our heads. We took the lead back converting some good looks on opposite corners from Rens and Liam and Dario iced the game from the line with two foul shots in the last 30 seconds.

A less controlled win than the previous week, but arguably one to be more proud of – challenged, we responded and got it done.

Points: Dario 15, Jono 12. 

SAABL DIVISION 2/3

B's

ROUND 5 By Gus

Reds vs RAVTASS Leprechauns 62-30

 

The Bs were coming off the back of two tough intra-division losses and needed a steadier to hold onto one of the Red Division playoff spots. We were playing a winless RAVSTASS Leprechauns team, so were well placed, to notch up our 3rd win. The team was missing Noah to injury (who very selfishly chose not to jeopardise his elite ivy-league athletics career for a social game of Saturday basketball…)We started the game switched-on and it quickly turned into a blow-out. One hungry Reds player scored the first 11 points of the game before letting someone elsehave a turn. Finishing with 19 points at the half, that player led the team to a 41-10 half-time lead. The boys put the cues in the rack at half-time and didn’t push the lead too much further finishing with a healthy, percentage boosting 32-point win. Sibs cashed in on his jumpers and at the free-throw line and Phill crashedhe boards hard as per usual. A personal highlight was overhearing one of Phil’s lads proudly boasting about his dad’s point total mid-game. In typical fashion, Phill replied: “Son, I don’t care about the points. It’s about getting back, crashing the boards and releasing to ball to my teammates!” You won’t find a more selfless teammate than big Phill and he makes every team he plays on that much better. 

Points: Gus 21, Sibs 13, Phill 11. 

 SAABL DIVISION 4/5

C's

ROUND 5 by Morgan

Reds vs SPOC 22-26 

Let me tell you a story. A fable we all heard when we were young. The Tortoise the Hare and the drunk drunk Count. Red’s with a roster of nine players started the game well. Karamosh scoring the first points of the game with two points followed by Seb, Harry and Andrew with the same almost as if they were taking turns in a training drill. Next Lachlan hit a free throw. Meanwhile Saints still with 0. Reds defence was superb with Andrew swatting balls away as if he was playing the Dubbo under 9’s from the centre and Harry Playing with perfect defensive fundamentals from the top. it was not until after 15 minutes had passed before saints scored with a pair of free throws. Half time scores 15-2. Not long into half time Reds went to sleep and our over sized roster worked against us also. We just stoped scoring. We just could not get into rhythm with so many subs. We stoped paying attention to the score board to. 15-4 turned into 21-8 then something happened it was 22-18 at the eight min point. Back to 22-16 then 22-14 back to 22-19 clearly the count was off. At this point we paid attention with only a few minutes left. Morgan then hit clutch put back with contact had a free throw to go with it that missed. Score should be 24-19. But to our astonishment 22-24. Reds see this and get very upset. Saints then hit a pair of free throws. Offical scores Red’s 22 Saint’s 26. After discussing with team we had far more points so we get the moral win and the lessons of keep pushing even when winning don’t start coasting. Also to keep a proper eye on the scoring so far we have determined we missed out on at least 7 scored points.

Points: Tidmarsh 6 

D's

ROUND 5 by Mark

Reds vs Adelaide Brothers 32-52

The D's looked good in the first couple of minutes with Cam and Damien both getting early buckets. It didn't last for long though with Adelaide Brothers going on a 12-0 run to go up 13-4 mid way through the first half. Adelaide Brothers were accurate from 3 point range, capitalising on the spacing from the D's zone defence. Damien scored 7 points in the last couple of minutes to keep the D's in touch at half time down 39-21. 

In the second half the D's switched to a man defence to attempt to tighten up on their shooters. Adelaide Brothers responded by running isolation plays however committed charging fouls against the quick feet of Reggie and BB as they attempted to get to the basket. With limited open looks the Adelaide Brothers struggled to score only adding 13 for the half. Unfortunately the D's offensive struggles continued and could only manage to add another 11 points.   

In the end Adelaide Brothers had a comfortable win 52-32. Damien finished with an efficient 18 points. Next game is against near bottom of the ladder Punjab Lions - Jimmy has promised to retire if we don't win - so we may be farewelling him at the Seven Stars on Saturday night!  

 

Points: Damien 18, Cam 6 

E's

ROUND 5 by RT

 Reds vs Punjab Lions 40-45 

It is getting hard to come up with reasons as to why we can’t score in the first 10 minutes of a game, but it happened again. Maybe it is the lack of warm up time. Maybe it is the lack of skills. Whatever the reason, it is always going to be very hard to win a game if you don’t score for a quarter of the time available.

B-Rad finally got our scoring underway with a foul shot going in after 9 and a half minutes of play, bringing their 11 point unanswered run to a halt.

Things actually improved a lot from that point onwards (they could hardly have gotten worse!).

Trev nailed a couple of nice threes, Flair got one to drop as well. Lachie worked his way in for a couple of 2 pointers and Caldy managed one as well.

At half time the scores were tied, then scorer points (thanks Ainoa!) gave us a four point lead going into the second.

Nele started our scoring in the second half with a handy 3 followed a few minutes later by 2 points from Caldy.

Things then went awfully quiet for us for about 8 minutes. These long blocks without scoring really need to be addressed if we are going to move upwards as a team this season.

B-Rad started moving inside (and getting hammered) Trev dropped another 3, RT finally managed to make one stick, but in the end we went down by 5.

Once again the real winner was beers in the car park over the road after the game.

Points: B-Rad 11, Tirrell 9s