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Here are the results from the Week 6 of Remix NCBL 2008 action. All games were played on 20 July 2008 in Pusat Rekreasi JKKK Balakong.

Story of the Week – Swoosh unleashes the “Secret Weapon”, takes 1st seed for Group B

It’s Week 6 of the Remix NCBL 2008, and what an exciting week it was. While 4 teams have booked their Quarter Final spot, namely Pegasus and Cocoro for Group A and Swoosh and Phantoms for Group B, 7 other teams were battling it out to secure the remaining 2 spots per group for the Quarter Finals.

There were surprises, there were teams living up to their standards, then there was Abi.

In a bid to win the the Double (Remix Non Chinese Basketball League title and Selangor MB Cup title), Swoosh introduced their “Secret Weapon” Guganeswaran aka Abi in a very tense yet entertaining ball game versus the First Runner Up of NCBL 2007, Phantoms.

Swoosh won the game 77-69, but the final score line does not reflect the small margins of the game in which any errors were virtually fatal to both teams.

Commented Swoosh’s SF Yasier:

Rushdi, Mislan & Syed (Phantoms) tak turun. Kalo diorang turun mungkin Phantoms lebih hebat. Swoosh pula baru first game dengan Abi. Chemistry Blom ade. Abi pula tak warm up langsung. So both team have the potential to play better.

Translated: Rushdi, Mislan & Syed (Phantoms) were not in the lineup. If they were, Phantoms would be a better team. As for Swoosh, it’s their first game with Abi. Team chemistry is still premature, and Abi did not get the chance to warm up. So both teams have the potential to play better.

Boy, imagined how it will be when the chemistry is there.. and Abi gets a good warmup.

The victory has confirmed the first seed for Swoosh (for Group B) for the Quarter Finals, while Phantoms have booked the second seed.

Another surprise in Group B, the young Leykens defeated the talent-laden Stallions 54-32 to throw the door to the Quarter Final wide open. Frustated with their narrow defeat last week in the hands of Flames, a determined Leykens squad threw everything they had and emerged victorious. The win has lifted their chances to qualify to the Quarter Finals.

The other 2 teams in the Quarter Final mix posted wins to keep their Quarter Final hopes alive. Flames won 43-40 against the Snipers while Cons notched a win against bottom-table KPTM 59-52.

Meanwhile, in Group A, Pegasus has secured their number one seed by defeating ATM 49-35, and Cocoro made sure Seed No. 2 is theirs while cruising to a 50-37 win over Valliers. Scorekeys cemented their third seed in the group by posting a 53-46 victory over Titans.

With those results, Valliers, Titans and ATM are out of the Quarter Final hunt.

The fight for the final Quarter Final spot in Group A gets better when UBSA beats Prinze 48-45 in a very competitive game. While the UBSA and Prinze have the same points in the Standings (9points after 6 games), UBSA has the 4th spot thanks to the 2-way tie breaker ruling (winner of the head-to-head game takes the higher spot).

UBSA will face Valliers in the group finale next week, while Prinze is going up against Cocoro. For UBSA, a victory will see them through to the Quarter Finals. If they lose and Prinze wins against Cocoro, Prinze will take the final Group A Quarter final spot.

With that, expect a very interesting Week 7

It’s week 6 of the Remix Non Chinese Basketball League (NCBL) 2008! This game, and next week’s will determine which team will continue their pursuit of lifting the Remix NCBL trophy.

Here are the fixtures & prediction for Week 6 (20 July 2008) games for Group B. Matches will be played in Court A, Pusat Rekreasi JKKK Balakong, Selangor.

10.00 AM – Snipers vs Flames

Flames are coming off an inspiring victory last week, and they look to continue their hunt for the Quarter Final berth in this matchup. Currently fourth in Group B standings, this week’s victory will confirm their Quarter Final berth.

Snipers on the other hand has an outsider’s chance to squeeze into the final 8. They will need to win both this week and next week’s game, and hope that Leykens & Cons lose out their final 2 games.

Powered by speed and youth, Snipers do have the chances to overthrow Flames. However, Flames’ experience will prove to be the difference in this game. As long as they have the full lineup, Flames will win this game. Their big center, Edward will be the difference in this match.

If the Snipers can use their speed to their advantage, running full court press and denying passing lanes, they should take home the W.

But until then, it’s Flames’ by 5 points.

My Prediction – Flames win by 5 points.

11.30 AM – Stallions vs Leykens

Do or die for the Lykens.

Lykens virtually crushed their own chances of going through to the Quarter Finals when they lost a nail biter last week against Flames, and they will find their going tougher this weekend when they take on the Stallions.

Lykens should have more players on the bench this week. Captain Mior “Sakuragi” reported that a lot of their players were injured or outstation last weekend, thus digging their own hole when they have only 7 players for the game.

Stallions on the other hand is full of confidence. They have made a good campaign out of this tournament, their first tournament after a long hiatus. With a combination of experienced veterans and bright youths, Stallions are a team to beat this season. With HIlmi manning their offense, Stallions are a formidable team, and it looks like this team will be too formidable for the Lykens this weekend.

My Prediction – Stallions win by 10 points.

1.00 PM – Cons vs KPTM

Cons have a slim chance to make it to the Quarter Finals. Facing KPTM this weekend will widen their chances.

After an enlightening display last weekend against Swoosh, Cons have shown that they can stand on their own without superstar Sunil. I may be going full stretch with this statement, but I think Cons play better without Sunil. Each team member cooperates and helps out each other to run the offense, and it was clearly shown last week.

KPTM’s will not stand a chance against Cons in this game. Cons are “too hungry” to lose this one, and to put it in layman’s term, Cons is the better team.

My Prediction – Cons win by at least 15 points.

2.30 PM – Phantoms vs. Swoosh *GAME OF THE WEEK*

A game worthy of a Final.

A decade worth of rivalry, Phantoms and Swoosh have a very good lineup this year with the potential to win the Double this year. Let’s break down the team one-by-one:

Phantoms
They have a strong consistent defense, and with Zunnasri joining the team this year, their offense is even scarier. They now have 2 “Super-Shooters” in Zun and Imran. PG Rushdi is also a big asset to the Phantoms, setting up the offense and drawing guards into foul trouble. Backup PG is Zul, just as good and experienced Versatile swingmen Syed and Budin are also big contributors to the team. They can score, crash the boards, and make your offense miserable. Standing in the center spot for them are experienced Azwan and Fariesz.

In my opinion, the weakest link in the Phantoms lineup are their centers. While experienced and consistent, Phantoms’ center lacks the mobility to be the factor. I think Swoosh may want to attack there. Another weakness that I see in the Phantoms is their scoring if Zun and Imran are off. Swoosh could man the 2 shooters, and the Phantoms will find themselves in trouble to score.

Swoosh
If Zunnasri were added for extra firepower for the Phantoms, Swoosh drafted the best shooters/scorer around in Yasier and Ramesh. The result, a scoring machine with an unlimited resource.

Want proof? In the first 3 games, Swoosh scored at least 87 points in each contest. That is something that you don’t hear very often in the Non Chinese basketball scene or even the Malaysian basketball scene. That is how good this offense is. Unfortunately, Swoosh do rely on Yasier and Ramesh to do their scoring, up to a point that the rest of the team only gets sublime shooting attempts and made baskets. Evident in the game last week against Cons, Swoosh are vulnerable if the two don’t score. The scoreline last week, Swoosh 67 – Cons 64. While the Phantoms have the same problem if their 2 shooters (Zun and Imran) are not scoring, in Swoosh’s case, it’s a lot worse.

Another weak point of Swoosh is their defense. While their defensive schemes are an envy, individually Swoosh’s players are not defense-minded. It is easy to crack down their defense, and their first game against Snipers is a testament to this (Snipers scored 55 points).

Overall, both teams have their strengths and weaknesses. Another factor in this weekend’s game is their game commitments. The question of this weekend – will both teams be at their full strength? Phantoms and Swoosh are both in the MB Cup Quarter Finals, in which the games will be played on the same Sunday starting at 4.00 PM. While this Remix NCBL is an important game for both of them, the MB Cup is just as important.

All in all, this is a game to be watched this Sunday.

My Prediction – Phantoms win by the slightest margin.

It’s week 6 of the Remix Non Chinese Basketball League (NCBL) 2008! This game, and next week’s will determine which team will continue their pursuit of lifting the Remix NCBL trophy.

Here are the fixtures & prediction for Week 6 (20 July 2008) games for Group A. Matches will be played in Court B, Pusat Rekreasi JKKK Balakong, Selangor.

10.00 AM – Titans vs Scorekeys

Scorekeys should have no problems overrunning their opponent in this game. Although the Titans are brimming with confidence after their first victory in the tournament, Scorekeys will prove a handful for them.

With quality leadership in Wan Kamal and the experience and talents from the rest of the lineup, Scorekeys should win by at least 15 points (and I’m being conservative here).

My Prediction – Scorekeys win by 15 points, and a good game experience for the Titans.

11.30 AM – Valliers vs Cocoro

Valliers are desperate for a berth in the Quarter Finals, and they need to win the last 2 games to have a wild card chance of making it through (they will need Prinze & UBSA to lose the last 2 games).

This week, Cocoro stands in their way. Although it looks like an easy win for Cocoro in this match, Cocoro will be conserving their strength for a much bigger game this Sunday afternoon – the MB Cup Quarter-Finals which starts at 4.00PM.

While Cocoro may not be lining up their starting 5 for this game, I will predict that the starting 5 will play sparingly to ensure a Cocoro victory and cementing the number 2 seed in Group A for the Remix NCBL Quarter Finals.

My Prediction – Cocoro win by around 10 points.

1.00 PM – Prinze vs UBSA *GAME OF THE WEEK*

This game will determine the final Quarter-Final spot for Group A.

Prinze is sitting pretty at the 4th spot, and UBSA is trailing them by only one point in the standings. A victory for Prinze will cement their spot at 4th spot, while UBSA will need to win this game and the next (against Valliers in Week 7, 27 July 2008). Even if Prinze lose in Week 7 against Cocoro and UBSA wins this game and the Week 7 game, Prinze will still go through based on tie-breaker rule.

Prinze has had a good run in the tournament, and surprising everyone in the process. They have posted victories when they should, and their persistence is giving them a chance to book their first elimination round in the NCBL tournament history, but I think they will fall short against UBSA.

While UBSA is losing an influential leader & player Farid “Orang Tua”, the younger guns of UBSA should be able to carry the load. With Arif “Naruto” as fast as ever, and strong support from their perimeter shooters and consistent front court, UBSA will win this game.

My Prediction – UBSA will win by around 10 points, and make it to the Quarter FInals

2.30 PM – Pegasus vs ATM

There were talks of the Pegasus’s downfall this season before the tournament started. The reason for the rumours – Pegasus lost to ATM in their pre-season warmup game.

While Pegasus captain Azizul “Jijun” quashed the rumours, citing that Pegasus were shorthanded in terms of “manpower” when they had only 6 players in the game, credit still goes to ATM for playing their hearts out for the game.

ATM has had a dismal campaign in their first NCBL tournament, and they will be going all out to repeat their victory against Pegasus. Pegasus meanwhile will make sure that they win this game to keep themselves glued to the no 1 spot in Group A standings.

Pegasus will also be welcoming back their monster center Thaufiq “John” after a 2 game absence.

All in all, Pegasus should have no problem in winning this game, unless if they line up 6 players for the game.

My Prediction – Pegasus wins by 15 points.