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As a brief disclaimer, I didn't know where to put this. Feel free to shove this wherever necessary - but I wanted a space where I could say my goodbyes and reflect upon my time here. It was late into the winter of 2013 when a friend of mine approached me about the idea of joining the SBA. I was 15. I had always been a "sports nerd" type of kid. I played fantasy basketball, tried my best hand at actual basketball throughout high school, and my group of friends spent a lot of time debating NBA hoops. We were in a really unique moment for basketball - especially in my area of the country (Northern California). I still vividly remember lunch-time debates over whether trading Monta Ellis for Andrew Bogut was the right move. If the Kings were going to be able to eventually get pieces around Boogie Cousins. There was something about basketball that was a bit more magical then. Maybe that's age weathering my idealism towards the sport. An avid Warriors fan, you'd think the next decade of success would have made me a modern die-hard NBA supporter. Instead, I find my love for basketball drifting with each passing year. The modern NBA lacks the varying playstyles, personalities, and passions of 2000s/2010s basketball. I find the constant pushing AAU pace to be repetitive and dull. College basketball is another argument to be had entirely as it feels like that gamestyle/focus is beginning to seep into it as well. When I joined the SBA basketball felt perfect. Perhaps there were others who felt that way. Upon joining the SBA, I had zero experience with forum-based sim leagues. Had never heard of one. I was doing some homework in the library when I noticed one of my friends scrolling through what I would come to know as an SBA game thread. All these box scores immediately raised curiosity out of a teenage basketball fan. He explained a bit about how the SBA worked. I won't lie, the concept at first... didn't interest me. Obviously things like 2k MyCareer and Fantasy Basketball where very directly available and widely popular. However, what got me to think about joining was the forum aspect. Really what I was more than anything at that time was an avid sports media consumer. My dream at the time was to do something in sports journalism or broadcasting. The opportunity to write about this online sports league got me curious. When I first joined the league, the forums were CONSTANTLY buzzing. We had a chatbox at the very top of the site that more or less served the purpose the main SBA discord channel serves now. This created quite the chaos and was obviously an outdated concept, but it did thrust you into engagement with other users almost immediately. The league was VERY community focused at this point, mostly due to size. I believe we only had 8 or SBA franchises, with 6-8 D-League teams. So we're probably talking about an active userbase of 50 or so users. With each league member creating content towards the forum, it felt like the perfect amount to stimulate a small but active community. It wasn't a daunting overload of material - but there was almost always an interesting article or two. A constant supply of graphics, quotes, and press conferences to key into. I look back on my first year or so here as really the golden age of my SBA experience that I spent many years attempting to find once again. There were other user players I was genuinely interested in, there were real league rivalries and drama. No "pay to win" which I myself became hugely guilty of. More on that a bit later. It feels like the world continues to change swiftly against the current of online sim leagues such as ours. We are engrained to constant automation. We run from opportunities to explore our creative natures. We used to have a community that was beyond dedicated to the RP aspects of the league, crafting narratives and personalities around players and teams that has been missing for probably 30-40 seasons now. I can't help but feel like there was a specific point where the league became less fun and tried to take a "serious competition" arc. That seemed to work for a new generation of league members for some time, but even those users have now lost the "I'm going to show you how much harder I can work than you" aspect that drove them. Part of what's driving me to write anything is a faint idealistic hope that there is a version of that original league experience that can be found one day. I've never been someone accepted into the "behind the scenes" aspects of the league. I've never been a BOD member, admin, etc so I'm not the perfect person to "pull the lid off" by offering detailed explanations of the decisions that led us away from the original vision of the league to where we are now. What I know is I feel a league that is completely directionless, completely passionless, and verging onto the brink of pointlessness. It's become a league of clicking boxes. It feels like every build type has been made, every storyline possible has been told. What we're left with is this never ending cycle of FBB box scores. Most game threads have zero active user participation. I implore anyone who hasn't to go back into a S1-S20 game thread. It was almost annoying how many people were distracting from the box scores with hype, trash talk, etc. Definitely made you look forward to a Sim. Pay to play became the nail in the coffin. I became a season pass hoarder myself. It was simply far easier to plug in and plug out a couple minutes a day and continue to have the "max earner" status I coveted. What I should gave simply realized is that if I wasn't willing to put time and effort into the league on a weekly basis then maybe something had gone fundamentally wrong within my love for the league in general. What we've (or at least I've) lost all stems back to community engagement. We don't know about one another's players. We don't have off-season events or any official offerings outside of official game threads to see your player in action. We've lost the creative media aspect of our league. I don't mean to be the grim reaper, but it feels like a league-wide slow death. I'll be the biggest fan out there for those who are trying to get the league back to the experience we all fell in love with. This is IT for me from a negative perspective because I really don't want this to read as some form of league manifesto. I want to spend possibly my last moments logged into this site in reflection. I want to reflect on the very real life positive impact this place had on me as a growing young man. In 12 years, it's insane to think about the places the SBA has gone with me. It stuck with me through high school, college, first loves, graduations, failures, successes, times of trial, and times of bliss. I've had the league bookmarked on my browsers since I knew how to do so. I strongly feel that the league has given me everything it can, and I it. I've been blessed to be apart of several championship teams. Multiple HOF players. Varying successes trying to GM on my own. Nothing will outmatch the friendships and companionships I've been able to craft throughout the years. Those perfect moments when you get into an active LR of people you really fuck with. That's what a sim league is all about. I stand today closer to my 30s than ever. My life has gotten extremely hectic. I'm about to start a new career I've been working towards for years. I'm soon to be engaged. When I took the Knights GMing job about a year ago, I had a deep subconscious feeling that this role would be the last role I had in this league. The Knights were where it all started for me. Shoutout @stevowho has always been my Knights brethren and deeply shares that same passion for the franchise. Also a massive shoutout to the rest of my Knights family for the last several seasons in @Pandar, @Nepto, and @woog. I hadn't had the chance to work with them much throughout my career. All 3 are fantastic humans, members, and player creators and shepherding this small little era we've had in Seattle has been a pleasure. One game away from sealing it with the ring we all deserved! Will miss you all!! @TownBizness we crossed paths in Seattle as two hungry player-creators and you quickly became one of my most trusted confidants. You're someone who is extremely easy to rely on for advice. You've always had the right eye for league leadership and it's hard to imagine what this league would look like without you. It's crazy to have watched your journey from that simple user in Seattle to one of the defining users in all of SBA history. Your success is completely deserved and should be openly applauded. @Cuffy@GoodLeftUndone@Theory@Trifecta@Ben @KG21 you are all currently active OGs who I had nothing but pleasant experiences with. I'm sure there are others who I missed. I apologize for that, but you all were some of the first users I thought about when I think about different parts of my journey here. All the best of love going forward to each of you. I hope your SBA and personal lives are full of success and peace. I will miss this place immensely. I am beyond grateful for the lessons I've been able to learn through this league and I will always cherish the sweet moments I had here. Thank you SBA. I join the GOAT OGs in @phillycheese, @Shane Banks, @Sixersfan594, @AZ10 and many others in SBA Nirvana. It's been an absolute pleasure. Goo out. RIP: Jackson Sharp, Senna Sharp, Jackson Sharp III, Jackson Sharp IV, Andretti Roosevelt Sharp, Ambrose Sharp, Hamilton Sharp, Johnnie Fittipaldi.

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen a tournament featuring player agencies all time lineups. Since the PSanchez55 agency has produced 5 SBA players, this idea has begun to intrigue me. I’m contemplating running such a tournament, but also, file work in the sim sounds awful. While it remains to be seen if I attempt such an endeavor, I will type up this article going over many of the users who have enough creates to field a team. Disclaimer: I have no idea how legacy position eligibility worked. Team PigSnout PG: Lemony Snicket SG: Janet Snakehole SF: Johnny Karate PF: Kane Fox 😄 Othello Hawkins 6th Man: Burt Macklin 7th Man: Count Olaf 8th Man: Kane Fox Jr. 9th Man: Morgrim Shadowshield Look, if you’ve been around the SBA very long at all, you’ve come to expect a few things from PigSnout. Loyalty; consistency; and superstar, MVP caliber, HOF bigs a team can build around. So, in a tournament where I’ve decided positional eligibility applies, how does Team PigSnout stack up? Well, Burt Macklin once again finds himself coming off the bench, and Johnny Karate arrived just in time to give this team a small forward. The talent is undeniable, but can all this scoring talent thrive on one roster? Team TownBizness: PG: Hera Hernandez SG: Rasheeda Rider SF: Rasheed Rider PF: YoungBoy SBA 😄 King Kunta 6th: Adebowale Adekoya 7th: Certified Boogeyman Say what you want, but the TownBizness agency produces consistent Hall of Fame talent. The starting lineup alone features 7 MVPs and more positional awards than I feel like counting. King Kunta, considered by many to be the greatest player in league history, leads a team brimming with offensive talent. Critics will likely bring up that many of these players were the beneficiaries of the dreaded funnel strategy and that on this roster, no such team build exists. There is in fact only one ball, but it’s hard to bet against a team with likely 7 Hall of Famers. Team PSanchez55 PG: Javier Ramirez Jr SG: Isaiah Green SF: Jehu King PF: Dovydas Zukauskas 😄 Tavas Zukauskas 6th: Nile Rivers 7th: Medium Rob One First Team All-SBA at the SBA level and only a few seasons being in contention for a positional award – the PSanchez55 agency doesn’t have near the star power of many of the other teams in this tournament. In fact, the bench is made up entirely of fillers, and the starting center didn’t even eclipse 700 tpe. Dovydas is a monster- had he reached 100% of his potential maybe he is a multitime PFoty and perhaps even an MVP. And… Jehu proved he could carry a team in whatever that side season was. But, hypotheticals aside, this team is just not talented enough to compete against the HOF laden teams in this field. Team GoodLeftUndone PG: Sofija Pavlovske SG: Stephen Sheppard SF: Gareth Lennox-Upshaw PF: Marquise Washington 😄 Malik Washington 6th: Dio Brando 7th: Alex Sheppard 8th: RJ Bedard 9th: Marcus Vinson 10th: Ogi Amarou Well, this team runs 10 deep. The Washington’s do a bulk of the heavy lifting in the awards category, but Stephen Sheppard was the first SG to win MVP. The starting lineup features one of the best passing point guards of all time in Sofija, and the ultimate glue guy in, well, GLU. With the team build and insane depth, Team GoodLeftUndone should be among the better teams in the competition. Team Traphag PG: Diego Rossi SG: Elana Rossi SF: Maya Witherspoon PF: Olympia Styles 😄 Robert “Big Rob” Wadlow 6th: Pierre Manslapper 7th: Kitty O’Sullivan Krauss Team Traphag - the agency run by everyone’s favorite former commissioner features some of the best wing(wo)men in SBA history: Elana Rossi and King Kunta in OKC, Witherspoon and Shadowshield in Arizona, and of course the legendary admin superteam in Mexico with Olympia Stiles and Hera Hernandez. It’s a very strong roster despite that Deigo Rossi character. With Big Rob anchoring the paint, and a bunch of old man fillers, anything is possible. Team NothingButNet PG: Jack George SG: Kaleb Grant SF: Quedelle Reaper PF: Johnny Wick 😄 Joey Callaway 6th: Tanya West The playmaking of Joey Callaway surrounded by several exciting scoring threats make Team NBN interesting. This group showed a lot of promise, but none of these guys ever quite broke into SBA stardom. Team DeityofIce PG: Tony Marcedo Jr. SG: Colton Caesar SF: Jevon DeVaughn PF: Darren Oliver 😄 Jonah DeVaughn 6th: Juhani Pakkala 7th: Tony Marcedo 8th: Blocky Maivia Team DOI doesn’t quite have the awards case that some of the other teams will boast. Darren Oliver, of course, retired as the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in St. Louis Battalion history. Despite the lack of hardware, this team does have talent. Jonah DeVaughn was an incredible scorer, but found himself in a tough scoring environment on a very offensive Rail team. TMJ was a great piece for a Monarchs team that couldn’t quite break through in the postseason. History makes for narratives, but all that matters will be how this group plays together when/if this mythological tournament occurs. Team Evans PG: Asher Moxley SG: Ragnar Lesnar SF: Black Lotus PF: DiAngelo DiBiase 😄 Giovanni Owen Allen Tatum 6th: Halo Helmsley Honestly, I am unaware of the legend of Black Lotus or DiAngelo DiBiase. Halo Helmsley means very little to me. But, I am prone to expect great things from Team Evans solely based on the existence of one Giovanni Owen Allen Tatum. Having GOAT for initials is a bold choice, but GOAT lived up to the hype. The 2x MVP and 3x Center of the Year is one of the greatest players of all time: it wouldn’t be a surprise if he led a strong Team Evans on a deep run in this tournament. Team Emidas PG: Cero Miedo SG: Emidas Blair SF: Eikichi Onizuka PF: Lefty Blairtelho 😄 Mr. X 6th: Marc Spector 7th: Emidas Blair Jr. This is the part where my confusion about legacy positions really came into play. Regardless, this roster is incredibly stacked. Miedo won multiple DPOYs as a freak PG, Onizuka won 5 positional awards across 3 positions, Blair won 4, and Mr. X was the league MVP. As with every other team, can this group mesh together and be competitive as a unit? Team Moholt PG: Michael McGrady SG: Magnum McCoy SF: Michael McGriff PF: Moses McAdoo 😄 Marcus McDyess 6th: Monroe McMahon 7th: Dennis Chamberlain Ah yes, one of the favorites going into this tournament will be Team Moholt. Featuring 5 Hall of Famers, the offensive juggernaut, and 3 of the best defensive players to play the game, Team Moholt is serious business. This roster includes a 6x OPoty and a 6x DPoty… Honestly anyone without the initials MM should probably be excluded from the team, but Dennis was a solid enough point guard. Team Fonzigg PG: Cosmo Kramer SG: Jayden Storm SF: Roope Niskanen PF: Ellen Degeneres 😄 Stone Cold Steve Austin 6th: Zander Steele Team Fonzigg has several solid SBA careers. On the FBB3 floor, this team should work great together since Fonzi has created several defensive specialists which the sim... loves. Team Beowoof PG: Hector Fuego SG: Ignacio Fuego SF: Jimmy Bunkie PF: Troy Simmins 😄 Klaus König 6th: Maksimilijan Vlatko Pejić 7th: Sailor Moon 8th: Jurgis Balchunas Team Beowoof’s frontcourt features 2 MVPs, and the backcourt combined for 5 PGoty awards. I’ll have MVP come off the bench as the super 6th man to allow the starters more room to shine. This roster has high end bigs and some of the best guard play one could ask for. Team Beowoof will be a problem in the I haven’t decided what to call this event tournament. Team Zekethatbeast25 PG: Shaka Banks SG: Prince Drake SF: Ezekiel Bridges Jr. PF: Agent Rengoku 😄 Roman Rose 6th: Ezekiel Bridges 7th: Kayin Osei With 2 Hall of Famers leading the way, Team Zekethatbeast25 makes a strong case to contend in whatever this hypothetical tournament is going to be called. Shaka Banks’ career helped the Zeke agency from meme status to genuine threat with a string of top point guard awards. Later on, Roman Rose would help carry Mexico to the first championship in team history. In terms of team fit, like many other of the top agencies, the question does become… will there be enough touches to go around? Team Ben PG: Lexie Royal SG: Ben Schneider SF: Benson Etienam PF: Dyson Royal 😄 Benson Royal 6th: Mo Fen 7th: Jerry Benson Team Ben doesn’t have the glut of superstars on the roster that many of the other teams have. They do however have Benson “How did this guy get MVP votes” Royal. And while this writer may not have been on board with the MVP campaign, it is hard to argue that peak Benson Royal wasn’t a great player to build around. Team Ben has some solid role players around their star big - anything is possible. Team TheNano74 PG: Diego Armando Campazzo SG: Gabriel Nocioni SF: Emanuel Montecchia PF: Fabrico Scola 😄 Walter Herrmann 6th: Tayavek Wolkowyski For a 4 year stretch, Fabrico Scola was the league’s most potent offensive weapon. For Team TheNano74, he is surrounded by a bevy of 3-D wings who didn’t quite embrace the anti-inside mindset. This team isn’t the most flashy, but they’re solid all around and thus dangerous. Team Brentsl PG: Samuel Austin SG: Samuel Austin Jr SF: Darrelle Seether PF: Benjamin Chevelle 😄 Gregor Clegane Back in the good ole days, Team Brentsl players dominated the league. Players named Samuel Austin won 8 PGoty awards. Gregor Clegane won 4 MVPs and a DPOY, and Darrelle Seether won 3 positional awards between SG and PF. Eighty percent of the roster is in the Hall of Fame. Because I don’t know legacy archetype positional rules, I’m not sure if anyone on the roster is actually eligible to play SF. Regardless, Team Brentsl has a ton of talent and will be a scary team to face. Team Schwein PG: Royce DLer SG: Tobias Garret SF: Omar Guiro PF: Jakša Božo 😄 Marc Nύñez Team Schwein barely fields a starting 5 without fillers, but… the group he has is very strong. Obviously Guiro is a rookie and will definitely struggle with the superstar wings in the field, but from a fit standpoint, this team is built to let the 2x PFoty Jakša Božo thrive. The team isn’t among the top contenders, but neither is the team from my player agency, so… Team Okochastar Team MattyLive3k Team JCool Team MSM Team Pandar Team Goosharp01 Team Sixersfan594 Team DB25 Team KDang Team Stevo Team Cuffy Team Cassief6 Team Theory Team Adrest Team Lemorse There are several more teams I want to look at, but we’ll save it for a future article or slowly add on to this one. If you have created enough players to form a team, and want to send me your lineup, that would be outstanding. There is still quite a ways to go to figure out how to put a tournament together including the FBB3 strategy, so if you care what pace or motion your team uses, send me that as well. This is quite an endeavor for someone who doesn’t have much experience in FBB3 besides clicking “sim to playoffs.” The more interest this gets, the more motivation I have to continue.

In an effort to be clear with my thought process when voting, here was my ballot and my logic as to why I voted as I did in as clear of a manner as possible. I want to be able to do the best job possible in future endeavors of voting for awards, so I want to be able to reassess my voting logic if necessary. Thus, feel free to comment on any critiques y’all have or inconsistencies y’all find. Without further ado, here is my ballot (in the order that they were presented in the awards show). Rookie of the Year: 1. Johnny Karate 2. Kawhi Stoudamire 3. Kayson Moore The above was my ballot for ROTY. While yes Karate was one of my players on the Battalion, I felt that he deserved top billing. He entered onto a Battalion team filled with talent and immediately became one of their most trusted scorers. He led rookies in points by a wide margin of 7.9 points and also did so with the 3rd best efficiency (only behind Makhtar Dione and Storm Malone) out of all of the rookies that I heavily considered for ROTY. He also put up respectable numbers throughout the rest of the stat sheet and led rookies in PER, VA, and EWA. Looking at some of the other rookies that had stellar seasons, the main ones that stood out to me were Stoudamire, Moore, Machiatto, Malone, and Dione. I liked the stat totals and efficiency that Stoudamire was able to put up on a team that wasn’t devoid of talent, so it’s not like he walked in and was immediately the best player on offense and defense like some of the other rookies. Also, I had Moore as 3rd on my ballot because he just seemed to on average have better stats all-around than the other 3 rookies that made my top 6. Maybe I should have taken into account usage a bit more in my considerations, but I can’t change that now. Additionally, putting more thought into it, I realize that I was probably undervaluing Machiatto’s defensive impact (especially compared to the other 5 that I was considering for ROTY). However, I left him off of my ballot because of the gap between him and the others in scoring and his significantly worse efficiency at scoring (he had a TS% of .509 and a PPS of 1.10, while the next worst was Stoudamire with a TS% of .588 and a PPS of 1.32). In the same way, I was probably underestimating Malone’s efficiency given he also averaged less minutes than his competitors for ROTY. In the end, I feel like my ballot for ROTY seemed to prioritize the ability to score and score efficiently, while also incorporating the ability of the player to impact the game in more than just scoring (which led to Stoudamire and Moore being chosen over the field, given both of the former averaged 8.5+ more points than Machiatto and stuffed their stat sheets more than Malone and Dione). 6th Man: 1. Clyde Cannon II 2. Hera Hernandez 3. Obsidian Starquake My vote for 6MOTY was a lot more straightforward. In my opinion, there were not a ton of viable players for the award due to not many bench players getting consistent, quality minutes. In the end, I liked the scoring, efficiency, and defense for Cannon put him over the edge for first. Then came Hernandez with slightly lower scoring and defense than Cannon, but improved assist numbers. Last came Starquake because I liked the defensive impact that he made. Most Improved: 1. RJ Bedard 2. Manuel Montoya 3. Tez Wells The next award I will discuss is MIP. This might be a really interesting one given I left the award winner completely off of my ballot. That is because I felt that all of the three players I have on my ballot made larger jumps in their play. RJ Bedard increased his output by 9.4 points per game (ppg), 2.1 rebounds per game (rpg), and 0.5 stocks per game (stpg). He did all of this while making a massive leap in efficiency (an increase of .032 in TS% and 0.14 in PPS) and only increasing his usage by 2.6. Next I had Montoya, who increased his output by 10.6 ppg and 1.6 rpg. However, the main reason why I did not have him above Bedard is because Montoya put up a worse assist/turnover (A/T) ratio and worse scoring efficiency, all while also posting a larger increase in usage (an increase of 8.6). Lastly, I had Wells third on my ballot. This is because his output increased by 12.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.1 assists per game (apg), and 0.9 stpg. Wells falls third because part of his increase was due to a large increase in minutes (with an increase in usage of 4.5), but he stays above the other competitors for third due to how Wells also saw an increase in efficiency (which the major competitors did not show). As for Martin, he only increased his output by 6.4 ppg and 1.0 rpg while posting roughly similar numbers in scoring efficiency and having a usage increase of 5.3. On the other hand, Larrubia (who ended up third in the final tally) posted a decrease in scoring of 6.4 ppg while also posting no major increases elsewhere across the board. GMOTY: 1. Fonzigg 2. Goosharp 3. Jeff I voted for fonzigg first due to their dominance this season (and how they were significantly better than other teams throughout the season). I voted for goosharp second due to the increase in wins from the previous season to the latest one. I voted for jeff third due to the increase in wins and how well he was able to do without any major star players on the team. In an effort to not have this go on forever (and due to not having the time to do so), I plan to be a bit more brief regarding the positional awards. Looking through my ballot again, I am seeing that a few things that stood out to me in my voting was that I definitely had an emphasis on both efficiency and making an all-around impact on the game. So without further ado, here was how I voted for the positional awards as well as the two penultimate awards. PGOTY: 1. Manuel Montoya 2. Sofia Pavlovske 3. Kitty O'Sullivan Krauss I look for PGs that can drive the offense forward and make an all-around impact. Montoya was the best in that manner in scoring (no one else that I was deeply considering was within 10 ppg of Montoya), was among the best in efficiency (only Demirel was significantly better), was the 2nd best PG at rebounding, led all PGs in stpg, and still put up very respectable numbers in apg with 9.4 (good enough for 14th in the league). For second, I leaned towards Pavlovske due to being the next best scorer while also leading the league in apg. For third, I ended up deciding on Krauss due to similar reasons as Pavlovske, just a little bit worse in most stats while having a bit better efficiency and rebounding. I heavily considered putting Demirel at second or third due to the difference in efficiency between him and the other two PGs. However, I ended up deciding against it because Demirel only led Pavlovske in efficiency and by 0.3 stpg. In the same way he only led Krauss by 2.8 ppg, 0.4 stpg, and in efficiency. SGOTY: 1. Kianna Ann Marcoux 2. Folarin Osaze 3. Corey Caius I again seemed to lean a bit towards an all-around impact on the game and scoring efficiency for this award. Osaze led Marcoux in ppg (by 3.1), rpg (by 0.7), apg (by 0.9), and A/T (0.18). However, I chose Marcoux due to having significantly better efficiency (a difference of .040 TS% and 0.12 PPS) and putting up better defensive numbers (0.4 more stpg). Lastly, I put Caius third on my ballot. While he was a better scorer than both Marcoux and Osaze (6.5 ppg more than Osaze and 9.6 more than Marcoux) and had good efficiency (was roughly halfway in between the two players in TS% and PPS), he was a significantly worse passer (he had less than half the number of assist while also having roughly the same number of turnovers) and to me his scoring did not outweigh that. SFOTY: 1. Louis Archambeau 2. Sergio Larrubia 3. James Knight Jr. As has been the case with previous positional player awards, I leaned towards all-around impact once again. This led to Archambeau being first on my ballot due to the best all-around stats and by far the best efficiency. Next I had Larrubia and Knight Jr., but I leaned towards Larrubia due to the better efficiency. PFOTY: 1. RJ Bedard 2. Dovydas Zukauskas 3. Certified Boogeyman This was probably the hardest positional award for me to decide because I felt that there were five standout candidates: Bedard, Zukauskas, Boogeyman, Dawson, and LeftUndone. All five of them were strong candidates and I felt like I was trying to split hairs as I was deciding. However, I decided on Bedard as first due to him being the best all-around player (in terms of non-scoring stats) and having the 2nd/3rd best efficiency (was .003 lower than Zukauskas in TS% but 0.03 higher in PPS), while also being 5th in the league in ppg at 36.7 (which was only 8 ppg behind Boogeyman). Next, I had Zukasukas ahead of Boogeyman due to putting up more non-scoring stats and having better efficiency. Then, I had Boogeyman for his scoring being just a bit too much for the other 2 candidates to overcome in other areas. I was contemplating putting Dawson ahead of Boogeyman due to Dawson being arguably the 2nd best PF in non-scoring stats and having the highest efficiency, but I ended up not doing so due to the sizable gap in ppg. I felt that LeftUndone also deserved recognition, but in the end I left him off my ballot due to LeftUndone not standing out over any of the other candidates in any one particular metric. COTY: 1. Onyeabor Nnamaka 2. Traffic Cone 3. Duke Silver I have Nnamaka first due to stuffing the stat sheet in every way. He was 2nd among Cs in ppg (only 0.6 behind Martin for 1st) while also leading Cs in scoring efficiency. Next, I have Cone due to him being one of the best defensive players in the league, being productive in all facets of the game, and having decent efficiency to go with it. Lastly, I have Silver primarily due to scoring and efficiency, but also from putting up respectable numbers throughout the rest of the stat sheet. I contemplated putting Martin 3rd due to his ppg numbers. However, I leaned towards Silver instead because Martin’s better scoring and rebounding numbers were not enough in my opinion to offset Martin having worse defensive numbers and efficiency. Defensive Player: 1. Legendary D Voltron 2. Traffic Cone 3. Armando Dawson This award seemed pretty simple to me. Voltron led the league by a wide margin in stpg with 6.7 (second had 6.0 and third had 5.6) while also anchoring a top 5 defense in the league. Cone was 2nd because he was 4th in stpg while leading the league’s best defense. Dawson was 3rd due to leading the league in steals per game (which is uncommon for a big), having respectable stpg numbers, and anchoring a top defense. I was contemplating whether I should have Nunez or Adediran third, but I decided against it due to poor defensive efficiency for Nunez and Dawson anchoring a slightly better defense than Adediran. Thinking back maybe I should have had Adediran ahead of Dawson, but I can’t change it now and it wouldn’t have made a difference so I’m not going to worry about it too much. MVP: 1. RJ Bedard 2. Dovydas Zukauskas 3. Onyeabor Nnamaka For MVP, I tried to value both individual statistics and total impact on the player’s team when coming to my decision. This resulted in me having my top 3 as Bedard, Zukauskas, and Nnamaka. I realize that maybe I should have had Boogeyman or Cone on my ballot in second and/or third place instead of one of those three players. On one hand, if I had weighed the impact the player had on their team more than I should have had Boogeyman on my ballot (due to perhaps being more impactful given he had less star talent around him). However I decided against this due to how (in my opinion) both Zukauskas and Nnamaka put up better stats while also leading their teams to similar records. On the other hand, if I had weighed the success of the team more than I should have had Cone on my ballot (due to being the best all-around player on the best team) and Bedard off of my ballot (due to “only” leading his team to the playoffs). However, I leaned against this due to how I would argue that it is not a clear cut decision that Cone was the best player on the Rush and how Bedard led a team that was devoid of talent to the playoffs. Those were just my (not so) brief ramblings about who I put on my ballot for SBA awards and why I voted for them. Feel free to ask any questions you may have about my ballot or point out any inconsistencies in any of my logic because all feedback is greatly appreciated. Word Count: roughly 2322

I'm not gonna disparage your players or at least some of your points in regards to the dearth of content, but I do wanna push back a little on a few of the points as someone that's seen the community go all sorts of ways since coming on in the 30s. Forum participation/chatboxes are the biggest point where I go: "Hmm, that's not right". I don't disagree that people stopped posting in those places as frequently- but isn't the discord literally why? Not to mention- we did away with sim attendances as a task at some point in favor of the activity check. Seriously, go back in the 30s/40s and check how many comments in those threads are just the words "Sim" in some way, shape or form. One sentence comments about how their players may or may not have done just to collect a sweet, sweet TPE. Not that Discord carried everything over perfectly, but I feel like coming in from the forum pre-discord kinda colors your opinion of the lengths of the proverbial decline, nor when it started. The lack of writing content also can't really be put on the league (leadership)? I miss it too, but isn't it all kinda reflection of self? When given an option (pay ~monthly for TPE, or write out your content)- is it really supposed to be on us when the majority of the userbase chooses the payment? We went out of our way to exclude the previous P2P elements! We kicked out the premium bonus/doubles week stuff specifically due to the complaints of pay to play and wanting an even playing field. It's not pay to play at all- it's pay if you want. And I cannot in good faith say it's in our interest to reject the payments that go straight back into Simflow, into hosting the site, into anything we might need in the future. I'm not gonna disagree. The league isn't what it used to be. But half of that's built in truths- there are very specific things I want to hammer out and completely re-define for the league's sake, but half of it is just...time, and how things go. Of course the forum's gonna be dead- we moved to a better platform. Of course we don't have a chatbox, it's built off old forum culture that we moved on from. And, naturally, of course we'll lose some of the people along the way. Things come up, people's priorities shift- just like with yours. At the end of the day, I sympathize with your grievances, I just want you to leave with the most correct interpretation you can.

The Boston Minutemen are going through a transition without their longtime leader. They no longer have the offensive powerhouse in Certified Boogeyman nor the dangerous 3D players of yesteryear. The team is now relying on 4 young players in the last 2 drafts to lead them to a brighter future. Center | Bigger Barda He is a defensive big that has been very efficient with his scoring down low. He was the biggest steal of last season's draft and is turning heads as a successor to the Boogeyman. He is currently averaging 18.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4.6 stocks. He looks to keep improving and taking the next step of being a dominant big man. Power Forward | Obsidian Starquake He is a more dominant defensive presence than Barda. He plays both forward positions, but his ability to stop the top-scoring wings has been impressive this early in the season. He has averaged 8.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 4.7 stocks. The team is looking for him to take the next step on defense while working on his three-pointer to spread the floor and provide more spacing. Point Guard | Orion Skystark Another steal in the draft 2 drafts ago. He is scoring at will, averaging 32.8 points while getting 10.0 assists and 2 stocks per game. He has been elevating his game with his scoring and passing and hopes to fill in a lot of the scoring void for the Boogeyman. He plans to be one of the main scorers on the team going forward and will need a duo to help him out on the offensive end. Bench | Nikola Luffy The newest rookie on the team is looking to be a balanced big man. He has shown some solid promise playing both the center and power forward in limited minutes. He is averaging 4.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.1 stocks in only 16.4 minutes per game and looks to be incorporating his newly improved 3-point shooting to help from the bench. This team has these four young prospects to develop over the next several seasons, and they will see if they can contend for the playoffs this season and how they add to the team going forward in future seasons. Will the new GM next season allow the team to grow together? Or will they look to add via free agency to speed up the development? The team currently relies on three veteran players. Small Forward | Christopher Randle A traditional 3-D forward, he has been a do-it-all sort of guy coming in from Montreal to help support Boston. He has been providing the steady play the team needs and has done a great job in getting the 19.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 7.6 assist, and 3.3 stocks to be the guy the team relies on. Shooting Guard | Kutu Ceesay He has been a Minuteman all his career, and he has not disappointed. His sharp shooting and efficient play have helped his teammates throughout his career, as he is not looking for the spotlight. He averages 20.0 points 8.9 rebounds, 8.4 assists and 3.7 stocks to also provide the steady veteran leadership and presence the young roster needs. Bench | Olufemi Adeyemi The old veteran that plays three positions and provides leadership, maturity, and professionalism while teaching the young guns of the team. He has shown how important work ethic and being focused are while showing the young players how to play off-ball. This most likely is their last season with the team, so the team will look to pick his brain as best as they can. He has played the star to now, bench glue man so he helps lighten the mood during slumps and makes sure people don't get too confident during their winning streaks. Words: 622

Agent Eight forces her eyes open as she hears the alarm of her phone go off with the sound of the default alarm song. She once considered replacing it with one of her favorite Squid Sisters songs, but she had once heard that a good way to start hating a song was to have it as her alarm. She shakes her head awake as she turns off her alarm before checking her schedule. "Hmmm... It looks like a free day for me.." she mumbles to herself as she walks towards the bathroom to bursh her teeth. "So why did I put that alarm on... oh, right!" She quickly brushes her teeth and puts a bit of deodorant on before getting dressed and heading outside to the streets of Thunder Bay, jogging down the sidewalk. Even if she is an Octoling and not a human, she still had to do her best to keep in shape, and jogging is one of her favorite hobbies. However, she wasn't just jogging to jog today, as she had scheduled a Make-a-wish visit with the Thunder Bay Resistance for a kid named Charlotte who survived a really bad flu. Charlotte seemed excited to meet her in particular, and she was not one to like disappointing people. She soon reached the house where Charlotte lived and knocked on the door. A woman opens the door, smiling and holding back tears as she sees Eight. "Oh wow, you actually came here!" The woman says in a bit of disbelief. "My name is Sasha, and i am Charlotte's mother." "Nice to meet you, Sasha." Eight says, smiling "is Charlotte here here right now?" "Oh yes, she is in her room right now! Come on, I'll let you meet her. " Sasha leads Eight through the house until they get to a door with the name "Charlotte" on it "ok I'm sorry, but I have to ask before you go in: is there going to be an SBA expansion into Inkopolis, or are the rumors just rumors?" "I doubt that will happen, admittedly," Eight shrugs "the logistics alone would make it a pain" "Yeah I figured, I just had to ask" Sasha says before Eight enters the room, along with a cameraman. As soon as Charlotte, who was wearing a Thunder Bay Resistance jersey, saw Eight, she gasped and ran up to hug Eight, making Eight giggle a bit. "Agent Eight!" Charlotte says as she hugs Eight "you're actually here!" "Yep, I am!" Eight smiles "now I heard that you were a brave girl when you were sick" "Yeah, I sure was!" Charlotte smiles "can I show you a couple of pictures I took at one of your games?" "Why, of course you can!" Eight says before Charlotte went through a small cabinet before showing Eight a couple of pictures she took from courtside "You are one of my favorite Thunder Bay players!" Charlotte smiles "umm, could you maybe sign it?" "I would be glad too!" Eight giggles before she signs her name on both of the photos. Sh alao reached into a box and gave Charlotte an Agent Eight jersey that she herself signed. "Thank you so much, Miss Eight!" Charlotte smiles "You're welcome" Eight smiles "now I heard that you have a basketball hoop outside, so lt me show you a few moves that I have..."

Nicely done I would like to see more of the ballot work.

The Age of the Small Forward Historically, in the SBA, the Small forward is relegated to the jack of all trades archetype. This makes sense: Big men are more efficient scorers and get more blocks, Guards are better passers and get more steals. This does not mean we have not had MVP-caliber players in the past who have been successful drivers of their team. Henry Tucker Jr., a player I mention probably too much, won 4 SFOTY awards in a row. He was the main force of a perennial contending era of Boston basketball. Throughout this period, he was up in discussion for MVP multiple times. But winning 4 positionals in a row is simply unthinkable at any other position in the modern SBA. PG, SG, PF, C, all of these positions are simply too competitive. You can be in discussions for a long time. And in the case of the greats, you can even make some exceptions. Such as King Kunta winning 4 COTYs, 4 MVPs, and 3 OPOTY in a row. It is only SF that has such a lack of top-tier contenders that would allow you to consistently get positional awards simply by being the main guy. This is no slight to Tucker Jr., but winning 4 positionals in a row in a league that operates on regression and progression rules like the SBA simply should not be possible without an outrageous setup like we saw during the funnel era. The reason SF is different is that most people who take up this slot are meant to be "glue guys". They are active boons to their team and contribute to their team's win % as much as anyone else. But they simply do not put up the numbers to reflect this. Take, for example, Sullivan Teague and Martin Boulerice. These two players both spent significant time at the SF position over their careers, and neither, despite having great earnings and users behind them, won any positional awards throughout. As someone who was around during both these players' times in the league, I can assure you that everyone would have loved to have them on their team. A glue guy is a useful build, and it does suit the SF position quite well. I don't want to make it seem like I'm against this build. But a clear and consistent shift has been taking place over the last few seasons in the SBA. Take a look at Sergio Larrubia and Louis Archambeau, the first and second highest APE SFs in the league presently. Both these players are high enough TPE that they do just about everything. But looking at the builds, you can see differences. Louis is more traditional; they are currently a FA, but on the Knights the main scorer was Onyeabor Nnamaka. His build has 90 passing and higher defense than Sergio, who is what I would call a "New Age SF". Sergio is the main offensive engine of a very successful Ravens squad. He has base passing and 99 jumping. This is a player meant to be built around, not inserted into a lineup. Sergio isn't the only one currently on this trajectory. When it comes to positions, the SF is as popular as ever. I hope that over the next few seasons of SBA basketball, the competition for SFOTY becomes tougher and tougher, until through the grit and grind we manage to throw out a perfectly sculpted diamond that can do what Tucker Jr. never could: Lead a team to a Ring.

After losing in the 1st round of the playoffs to the New York Rail the focus for Storm Malone was to work on his defense as the General Manager and the Coaching Staff want him to be the anchor for the Defense as they feel like Malone is the perfect guy to lead the Prowlers identity on the Defensive side. The Prowlers used the off-season to sign Point Guard Finn McBuckets who played for the Oklahoma City Rampage to a 2 year contract he averaged 16.4 Points, 7.2 Rebounds, 8.1 Assists, 2,4 Steals shooting 47% from the field 70% from the line and 42% from downtown. They also signed Power Forward Keishin Kamado to a 3 year contract who previously played for the Seattle Knights averaging 29.8 Points, 9 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1.7 Steals, 2.5 Blocks Shooting 54% from the field, 88% from the line and 28% from downtown and nearly given the Knights their 5th Title as a franchise losing a tough 7 game series to the Rush. In the Playoffs Kamado averaged 32.1 Points, 10.3 Rebounds, 4.2 Assists, 2.6 Steals and 3.3 Blocks shooting 57% from the field, 92% from the line and 33% from downtown and they brought back Donzila McGuff for a one year deal you have to wonder if this is McGuff last year as he is still looking for his 1st championship in his 11th season. With the roster all set for the Prowlers Malone was able to work on Post Defense, Shot Blocking, Stealing and Perimeter Defense during the off-season and he want to see how much progress he had made from working on it. Malone on the Roster: "We are definitely confident that we made a lot of improvement in the off-season when you added Finn McBuckets who is a intriguing Point Guard that can defend and be a very unselfish Floor General for the team and then you got a Excellent Power Forward who nearly led the Seattle Knights to the SBA Title last year in Kamado. It is a great off-season for us and now it is up to us the players to make sure that we would be able to step up when we get on the court and we are looking forward to see how far we can go as a team." On the Off-Season activity: "I have made sure that I focused on Defense throughout the off-season as the Coaches and the Front Office counted on me to make sure that I would be the Anchor for the Defense so I was worked on every facets of it whether it was Post Defense, Shot Blocking, Perimeter Defense or Stealing. I feel like we have enough pieces that can contribute on the offensive side with Kamado and Montoya leading the way and you can sprinkle in some of McBuckets, McGuff and myself if needed. But on the Defense I have to make sure that the identity of the Philadelphia Prowlers is for us to still be one of the top defensive teams in the league and if we aren't then I know that it is on me because I didn't do enough."

It’s been a while. Feels weird saying that, but it’s true. The Qureshi name has been around this league for generations, and now it’s my turn to carry it forward — Saheel Qureshi VI, a center with something to prove. When I showed up again, I felt that familiar mix of nerves and nostalgia. The locker-room banter, the media buzz, the sound of sneakers on hardwood — it all came rushing back. But what really hit me was the history. This name isn’t new here. It’s been through every position, every storyline, every high and low you can imagine. The first Saheel Qureshi started it all as a PG/SG, the fearless kid who didn’t know when to stop shooting. He laid the foundation — rough edges and all. Then Jr. came along and refined it, turning swagger into results. He was the one who finally brought home some hardware — Shooting Guard of the Year — still the crown jewel of the family. III shifted things inside, playing C/PF, showing everyone that a Qureshi could bang in the paint too. He had grit, and he earned respect the hard way. After him came IV, the dreamer. A talented SG/PG with potential written all over him — but he never made it to the SBA. Life got in the way before he could get his shot. Then there was V, the SG/PF who was supposed to bring the family back to form. He had flashes of brilliance, but let’s be honest — he was sub-par at best. Consistency never came, and neither did the spotlight. That’s where I come in. VI. The reboot. The reset. The one who’s not here to chase ghosts or live off nostalgia. I’m not pretending to be Jr. 2.0 or trying to recreate some old glory run. I’m a Center, and I’m here to own the paint. The goal is simple — dominate quietly. No drama, no excuses, just hard screens, strong boards, and a presence that can’t be ignored. It feels different this time. I’m older, calmer, and honestly more grounded. The league’s evolved — the pace, the talent, the competition — but so have I. I’m not chasing awards anymore; I’m chasing respect. Respect from teammates who trust me to anchor the defense. Respect from opponents who think twice before driving my way. Respect from the league that once saw “Qureshi” as just a familiar last name on another box score. This time, I’m here for the long haul. The Qureshi line has had stars, disappointments, and everything in between. But every version added something to the name — even the ones who fell short. They taught me that legacy isn’t about trophies. It’s about showing up again and again, refusing to let your story end unfinished. So yeah, the sixth Qureshi is back. The name’s got weight to it, and I plan to make sure it still means something. Call it a comeback, call it redemption — whatever it is, I’m here to make it real.

After a grueling freshman season in the SBDL, Craig Pelton has taken no time off before ramping up for the new year. Working hard into the playoff series where the Jackals fell short last season, he says that he was majorly disappointed in his and the team as a whole's performances. He says he took last year as a learning experience and he's going to pick up where he left off, developing his jumpshot, improving his feel for the game, and overall making his skillset more applicable at the professional level. Uncapping alongside defensive menace Magnus Stenberg, Pelton says he's excited to see what the duo can accomplish in the upcoming year. He says that he's ready to be the main man and act as an engine to power the Jackals offense as he works to become an effective scorer at all three levels. On his goals for the season, Pelton had more comments for the media. He said he's gunning for an OPOTY level season and hoping that a scoring input like that can power the team to another playoff berth and hopefully a deeper run. However, he said at the end of the day he just wants to prove himself to be a valuable SBA piece that teams can look at in the draft as a future star. He admits his game isn't polished enough to be looked at yet, but he's ready to put in work and mold to whatever teams may need. He says that he grew up watching highlights of the Rooklyn teams from the 50s and the Bullets are his dream destination, always wanting to live near New York and play for a storied franchise. For that reason he's also mentioned the Rail as a team he'd love to play for in the future. At the end of the day, Pelton just wants to make sure his name is known and people respect his game. He knows that the team comes first, but he's focused on ensuring that whilst getting his team wins that the people watching the games can't ignore him like he was ignored growing up. He wants to be a household name at Greendale Community College in Colorado in the way that alumnus Porter Rose has a hold on the school. It's not easy to get that kind of status at a high prestige junior college like Greendale, but Pelton has repeatedly proven that he's willing to put in the work to achieve his lofty, ambitious goals and anyone who doubts him is likely to regret it with this upcoming season. If you haven't already, now's the time to start paying attention because Pelton and the Jackals are prepared to put the league on notice and run the SBDL this season.

Another week to throw together another beautiful article, this one however, is different. If you’re wondering why I will gladly tell you. Jordan Cook is now a champion, and wow, it is a great feeling. I’d highly recommend if you’ve never won a SBA Championship I’d go get you one, it is the best feeling. The only issue is though, in order to win one you will have to beat the Los Angeles Rush who have been overwhelmingly impressive, but they are starting to age and maybe some other teams will have a chance but it’s not likely. The Rush are run so incredibly well by fonzi that there may never be a fall off, unless of course he was to stop GMing the team but that's not something we want to talk about and not what we are here to discuss anyways. Winning a championship in a sim league is always such an incredible feeling, it means your articles are paying off, it means your weekly updates are paying off, and to be the guy that was the GM or setting strats makes it that much more sweet. Now I certainly wasn’t in that position for the Rush win, but I have been there for other leagues and it is absolutely incredible. It means that not only did you win that ring, you helped a whole team of real people get there and win it. It really makes you wonder what winning a championship in a real professional league feels like. If winning a sim league one is so sweet I can only imagine the feeling of a real championship, imagining winning the NBA Finals or the Super Bowl is just an unreal feeling. Let’s talk Jordan Cook goals for this upcoming season, the goal is to just become an even more overwhelmingly good defensive player. The 3 point shooting has leveled up the offensive production a lot so defense can be the main focus for quite a bit, and maybe I can loop back around to offense a little later in my career, but I guess that remains to be seen. For me, Dame, I’m unsure what the future holds, I have some interest in GMing, I absolutely love GMing in sim leagues and basketball is one of my favorite sports so it would be awesome to GM over here, only issue is my personal life has been incredibly busy as of late, so I wouldn’t have much time to GM in yet another league. It's even starting to get slightly difficult to get these point tasks done each week, when for a while there I was getting them done right at roll over and getting all my earning done almost immediately. I am really looking forward to this next SBA season. I think the Rush have a chance to repeat, and then we will see what the team looks like after that. Maybe next season is the one to test free agency? Maybe not, playing with Tim Bradford makes it hard and he and Jordan Cook are very close friends. I guess we will see when the season is over.

SPORTSCENTER, DUN DA DA DUN. "Report from UCLA, where former alum Austin Evermore played has his nephew declaring for the NBA draft. Jaxson Evermore, son of Kristin Evermore Austin's younger sister who played a few years in the SBDL has hit the declare button. He's an explosive center 7'1 with a touch from the arc, and an ability to block shots. It seems that there is a lot to be discovered about this young man. He has little time played in college due to a career riddled with early injuries. Pinky, thumb, elbow, knee. You name it. This man's had troubles keeping himself on the court. It will come down to conditioning, and off the court rehab to see where he will end up. He has all the faucets of a scorer. Ability to work outside the basket, and stretch the defense, but it's yet to be seen if he can be a back to the basket big, and really dominate the inside too. His rebounding, in the few games played he has in college.. Lack luster. Strength? He's meek at the moment. It will come down to how he develops his body this off-season, before the draft, and where we may see him fall. He's more of a project then the average joe that's hitting the waiver wires, and so it's to be expected that there will be work with trainers, and professionals to keep him in line, and in shape. Rumors are hitting the courts of a "Out of the Park Baseball" simulation addiction this kid has off the court. Can't we ever draft someone normal?" "Much like his Uncle his career has been self-interested so far. Working on personal accolades over team success. Jaxson says he wants team success, but he wants to get where to where he wants to get first. He's expressed an interest in rebounding more, and learning more athletic techniques to keep his body in shape. Resources say he's been working on Zen, and Meditation before games. He blames a busy, distracted mind for the reason he's struggling with injuries. I'd expect a sub twenty pick in the SBA draft at this point in his life. He has expressed he's going to the developmental league like his uncle, but I don't even see him hitting the top ranks of prospects in the D-league. He's too slow, out of shape, and his shot is good, but is that really enough for a big? How is he supposed to compete with the Urbonas's of the SBA, and the elite paint scorers, and rebounders. I just don't see him lasting long. I'll say Jaxson if he makes it to the SBA will be a journeyman floating among many teams filling a niche off the bench role where they may need a bucket in clutch time, or a big to stretch the D, but won't see a lot of time on the court besides that"

In some alternate SBA universe, Louis Archambault flirted with a quadruple double, Kamado or Nnamaka dropped 75 points, and Pope Gregory dropped a zero-point double double, all taking the Knights to victory. You richly deserved that to occur in this universe. And this universe will miss you.

LANIER SABLE JOINS CHICAGO, TALKS OKLAHOMA SBA News After two seasons in Oklahoma City, defensive center Lanier Sable has announced that he has signed a deal in free agency with the Chicago Nightmare. Over his short SBA career, Sable has seen his former prowess as a defensive stopper fall to the wayside as a result of mediocre play and inconsistent training. Even so, there is some hope that he can recuperate some of what made him an effective player at the SBDL level, where he won two consecutive championships. In his second season with the Rampage, he averaged six points and six rebounds a game, along with two blocks and an average of three and a half fouls. While he was effective enough as a defender, he didn't entirely fit the team's scheme, nor was he able to match the athleticism of mainline SBA players. As a result, he was generally a net negative when he was on the floor. In announcing the signing, Sable offered his thanks to those who helped him make it to where he's at today. "I'd like to thank, first and foremost, the Chicago Nightmare for giving me this opportunity. I'd also like to thank the Beaumont Barons for helping get me to the point I was even worth taking a second chance on. I know my time in the league has had its ups and downs so far, but I'm committed to making a difference for the Nightmare and being a part of their climb back to the top. It's an organization with a lot of good people in it, and I couldn't be happier." He also had comments about his previous team. "My lackluster development over the past two seasons is my own fault," he admitted. "I won't say that I'd have been a star if I was drafted anywhere else. But, I found it hard to get much traction there -- and I suppose for that, I should offer my thanks to the management team at the Oklahoma City Rampage, who made no effort to contact me or bring me into the locker room for any meetings, and who generally just assumed that as long as I was under contract, I was bound to show up for them whether they'd ever spoken to me or not." When questioned, he clarified. "I spent two seasons with the Rampage, but I've never spoken to their management team once. I got drafted, the league sent me a contract that I was obligated to sign if I wanted to be in the league at all, and then I was a member of the team. I had to play, but nobody bothered to reach out. There was no human connection at all. Maybe the management team should have to actually offer the contract themselves in the future, if managers can't be bothered to do the most basic functions of their jobs." Clearly, Sable was not enthused with the way Oklahoma City was run. "It's just not how a professional organization should function. Am I supposed to go through the phone-book to find the general manager's contact information and ask him to unlock the door to the training facility? I know my manager in the SBDL reached out to him about me, and even that wasn't enough. But, I have some faith that the organization has some good people in it -- with the right management, someone new, someone other than the guy that drafted me -- they'll be a good spot again."

Storm Malone was playing in his 1st playoff series against the New York Rail he has been working very hard on his game all season long in the regular season he averaged 18.3 Points, 6 Rebounds, 1.7 Assists, 2.1 Blocks shooting 57% from the field and 87% from the line in 30.8 Minutes. In the playoffs the Prowlers put up a great fight against the Rail but unfortunately they lost in 5 games despite a efficient series from Malone who put up 25.2 Points, 4.8 Rebounds, 1.4 Assists, and 1.6 Blocks shooting 62% from the field and 84% from the line. It will definitely be a busy off-season for Malone and the Philadelphia Prowlers as they will have to figure out how they can bounce back from a tough playoffs lost especially losing 3 of them at home. In the off-season the Prowlers signed Finn McBuckets to a 2 year contract, they made a trade getting the 5th overall pick and Tiffany Park from the Milwaukee Maulers for Mystery to Solve and with the 5th overall pick they drafted Sidney Munster who played for the Thunder Bay Resistance averaging 12.8 Points and 14.7 Rebounds. They also signed Storm Malone to a 3 year extension as they was proud of his progress and he didn't hesitate to sign it as he is enjoying his time in Philadelphia. Malone will be focusing on improving his defense as he knows that his offense is efficient but he feel like he need to be a better defender especially on the perimeter side of the court so he is hoping that he would be able to continue to progress. Malone on the playoffs lost: "It is definitely disappointing to lose especially when you had home-court in the series and now you have to re-group in the off-season I did everything that I could to get us to advance to the next round to play the Los Angeles Rush but it wasn't just meant to be. I'm very proud of my stat-line of averaging 25.2 Points, 4.8 Rebounds, 1.4 Assists and 1.6 Blocks shooting 62% from the field and 84% from the line but I got a long way to go as a individual especially on the defensive side of the court. After having my Exit Interview with my Coaches and General Manager we all agree that it is best for me to work on the defensive side as I feel like it is very important for me to be great on both ends of the court." On the Off-Season: "We definitely had a busy off-season so far adding McBuckets to the team on a 2 year contract, acquiring Tiffany Park in a trade with the Milwaukee Maulers along with the 5th overall pick which turned out to be Sidney Munster I'm looking forward to playing with a new group of teammates. It is tough to lose Mystery to Solve as he was a nice front-court partner to have with me on the court as he made my job easier to make me a efficient offensive player on the court I know he will do big things in Milwaukee."

Storm Malone has been focusing on improving his athletic and his Free Throws so that he would be able to keep up with the SBA pace as he knew that it would be much different than the SBDL Pace that he played last year his teammates made it easier for him to transition to the league. In his overall rookie season Malone averaged 18.4 Points, 6.2 Rebounds, 1.7 Assists, 0.8 Steals and 2.1 Blocks shooting 57% from the field and 85% from the line as the Philadelphia Prowlers was able to finish with a 51-31 record and they will be playing in the play-in series against the New York Rail. The Winner of the Series will be playing against the Los Angeles Rush who finished with the best record in the league with a 70-12 record and was a SBA Finalist last year. Malone on the season: "It has been a up and down season we struggled down the stretch as we went from having one of the top record in the league at the start of the season and unfortunately we was on a losing streak that hurt our chances to move up the standings now we are the 8th seed preparing to play the New York Rail. It is a good thing to be at home in front of your fans but we was hoping to be much better than this especially when we was on various winning streaks but the best thing you can do is prepare for our match-up and get by New York." Kawhi Stoudamire biggest issue was staying on the floor because when he is playing he is very consistent as he is already great as far as Athletic, Offense, Defense and Play-Making but he had to improve on his fouling which was a issue all season so he been working on it to step up for his team and it has been showing since he is averaging 23.6 Points, 4.4 Rebounds, 6.9 Assists, 2.2 Steals shooting 47% from the field and 37% from downtown in 40.7 Minutes. The Monarchs was able to finish with a 56-26 Record and will have to play against the Houston Ravens in a tough match-up it will be a huge test for Kawhi as he will be playoff-tested for the 1st time in his SBA Career to see how much improvement he has made. Stoudamire on the improvement: "It was very important for me to get better as a individual I have worked on my Strength all off-season as it was a weakness to my game and knew that the players was going to be stronger when I came in the SBA as far as the season went I had to work on my fouling because I couldn't stay on the floor. Thankfully I worked on it all season and I'm seeing the improvement as I have been getting more minutes on the floor and my stats are starting to show as it is a great sign of improvement from me and the team."

The Boston Minutemen seem to have found their groove and have been marching to their own beat the last several sims. They have been 18-3 since losing 3 in a row to the Aviators, Thunderbirds, and the Rush. It was a wake-up call to the team. Certified Boogeyman is carrying on his one-man MVP-type season late in his career, scoring 49.2 ppg and grabbing 9.3 reb to go with 5.2 steals + blocks. Guards Adeyemi and Ashiro have proven to be solid players, with both averaging 16 points and over 8 assists. Starquake and Ceesay who were the top prized prospects in their recent drafts, have had a positive impact and have scored 5 points and 5 rebounds, doing all the necessary work for the veterans to take control. Nikola Gru IV and Tiny Panda have averaged over 7 points, and the ageless veteran Koally Clarkson has an incredible 11 ppg with 3 rebounds in 20 minutes of play. The team has been more scrappy than in prior seasons and looks to surprise folks as they hope to give their leader, Certified Boogey-man a good last ride to his career.