ASAS BLOG

Shanghai, CN – The Championship match of the SIBL Rec. League between the 9-0 Chicks That Spit and the 6-3 Lightspeed Pepsi was a classic battle between the old guards and the young guns. On the face of it, LP6 with it’s veteran players of Bruce Robinson (age 46), Sean Liu (age 45), Gin Chao (age40), and Cezar Cezar (age 32), would not have much of a chance against a team that had dominated the league with their 4 scorer combo of Geoff Harry, Greg Kitt, Rob Genovesee, and Lucy Lindel. All in their 20’s except for Geoff.

Besides missing LP6 leading scorer, Paul, LP6 was also without Ron “the Smooth” Cao, Harry “The Style” Hui, Alvin “the Nasty” Wang and Juergen “The Coach” Spriewald.

LP6 started the game setting the tempo of the game, with hard drives to the hoop and drawing fouls. While, CTS used their outside speed with Greg Kitt driving and dishing. With 4 minutes before halftime, CTS had a solid 8 point lead, however, before the half ended, the Brazilian Assassin had a highlight play of the day. Greg Kitt of CTS was on a fast break drive, dribbling behind a visibly tired Cezar. Like an antelope, Cezar sensed Greg, turned around suddenly and trapped the ball on the floor. Cezar immediately took the ball back the other way and scored on Geoff and Rob with a driving bank shot and foul. In that sequence, LP6 was able to cut the game half time score to 23-22.

In the second half LP6 continue their drives to the hoop with veteran guard Rich “the In” Lin, and with Cezar, and Rich shooting from the outside, and Stanley Ng and Bruce Robinson scoring inside. The game went back and forth, with LP6 holding a staggering 4 point lead with 4 minutes to go. The nervous boys from CTS called a timeout and regrouped, with D3 Hobart state guard Robert Genovese taking the lead with a one hand dunk and two big 3 pointers from the top of the key to go ahead by 3. CTS sealed the victory, when LP6’s Cezar nearly hitting tying 3 pointer with just seconds to go.

CTS ended the season with a perfect record of 10-0, while the old guards of LP6 came within 4 points (67-63) of upsetting an undefeated team, ending with a respectable 6-4 record.

Sports Insider

Shanghai, CN – The SIBL Finals was a match of the top 2 teams and a show case of the top 2 point guards in the league. Wreckin’ Crew, the defending champions, are looking to grab a Back-to-Back championship, and The Elites, appearing for their first Challenge League Finals, are the team who’s got something to prove.

The first opening minutes of the first half, both teams started slow. This was unexpected from the Wreckin’ Crew as they’ve been in the Finals of SIBL number of times, as well as last season’s champion. The Elites, obviously emotional without one of their star player Michael Johnson from an ACL injury, showed first time jitters. The Elites made many early turnovers and missed layups in the first few minutes of the game. However, it wasn’t until Emil Buccilli (#0), The Elites top guard, ignited the fire for his team. Buccilli pick-pocketed a ball, 1 of 7 totals for him, and drove all the way for The Elites first point since of the game. Daniel Prunty (#7), co-captain, and Marco Stifel (#4) of The Elites followed suit, use their speed and crisp passing that got The Elites to the Finals, to break down Crew’s bigger and slower post men. Prunty and Stifel finished the game with 10 points and 8 points respectively.

The experience of Crew wouldn’t let the Elites out do them. Using their size, the Crew capitalizes on second chance opportunities. The Crew’s offensive rebounds edged The Elites 8-6 in the first half, 15-10 the entire game, not a huge difference considering Crew’s size. However, unlike The Elites, majority of Crew’s offensive rebound turned into easy put backs and points from the perimeter. Joey (#0) of the Crew came off the bench in the first half triggering his ammunition, briefly shifting the momentum from The Elites. Joey made quick 3 point and 2 point buckets, both coming off from offensive rebounds of Crew’s aggressive big men. The Elites, however, continuously rotating their bench and utilizing every player’s energy, kept their momentum and built a comfortable lead for the first half.

After the half time rest, the Crew, fully energized, came out running and gunning in the early minutes of the second half, showing The Elites that the champs are here to play and it’s not gonna come easy for the first timers. The star guard, Murat (#10) of Wreckin’ Crew, piloted the come back and Murin(#8) sneaky plays provided a huge boost in the first 5 minutes of the second half. Murat hitting an emotional 3 pointer to start off the run, then quickly came back hitting another long 2 pointer, then following that up with a heady back to back assist to Murin and Luke Lister (#9) underneath the basket for easy buckets. Murin also contributed with a number of floor burns and offensive boards during the huge 10-0 run by the Crew. Lister finished the game with a team high 16 points and 5 rebounds.

But Buccilli wouldn’t let his team throw in the towel. Buccilli, being vocal all year, gathered his teams to stay focus and to “keep attacking and don’t wait”. After the menacing spurt of the Crew, Buccilli took it upon himself to get the offense re-energized even when he was charged a 4th foul at mid of the second half. At one point, Buccilli scored a 3 point shot with an “and 1″, putting an exclamation point to the Wreckin’ Crew that The Elites are here to take the ultimate prize from the champs. Buccilli finished with a Finals game high of 20 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assist and a consensus Most Valuable Player award.

The Elites are now amongst the elites, SIBL Champions. Final Score 59-44.

ASAS Sports Insider