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Group B leaders Swoosh will be taking on UBSA in another Remix Non Chinese Basketball League 2008 Quarter Final clash this Sunday. Tip-off is at 1.00 PM, and will be played in Court A of Pusat Rekreasi JKKK Balakong, Cheras.

Swoosh continues their quest for a Double this season, after their perfect tournament record in the Kejohanan Bola Keranjang Bukan Cina ke-14 (formerly MB Cup). Swoosh stampeded through the Group stages, scoring an average of 76 points per game. The talk of the tournament has been about their decision to include Guganeswaran (Abi) in the lineup. While Abi has featured for Swoosh for quite some time, this is the first time that Abi is included in the lineup for the NCBL.

Apart from Abi, new-signee Yasier has been a prominent factor in Swoosh’s success. A pure scorer and shooter, Yasier contributes a lot to Swoosh’s scoring.

UBSA has added style and flair to this tournament with their playground style offense. With speedster Arip playing the PG, each offensive play is a highlight reel waiting to happen. Coupled with Shah-mon’s swish-ilicious shooting, UBSA is a team to watch. UBSA has suffered a setback this season with the retirement of Farid “Orang Tua”. Farid is a consistent score on the low post, and while his contribution may not show up on the stat sheet, Farid provides the leadership for the otherwise young and raw team.

Here’s the breakdown of the two teams:

Swoosh

Strength: Score-happy offense, excellent team stamina, deep bench, runs full court man-to-man at will, monstrous front court.
Weakness: Used to be the lack of chemistry on defense, but it has improved over the weeks.
Summary: Swoosh is a very complete team. Abi, Ramesh, Arif (Treys), Razif forms their small corps, while monsters Amarjit and Zhahril anchors down low. Role players Shan and Shahir (did I mention the name correctly? Forgive my ignorance) complete the team on top of the scoring machine - Yasier.

I may have mentioned a couple of times in the past few weeks that Swoosh’s defense is the only blemish in the otherwise perfect team, but my comments were premature. Swoosh’s defense has grown better, and is scarier than ever. It does look like Swoosh is unrivalled, both offensively and defensively this season.

UBSA

Strength: Free flowing offense, lightning quick fast breaks
Weakness: Average defense. Lacks pure shooters.
Summary: UBSA is a team to beat when it comes to fastbreaks. They have good outlet passes, and Arip’s speed is a big asset as he sprints down for the score. Coupled with Sha-mon’s shooting and young and talented backcourt, UBSA’s offense is a treat for any fans.

While their offense is above average, UBSA’s defense needs to be improved. While there’s nothing wrong with the players’ individual defensive skills, UBSA doesn’t work as a unit when it comes to defense.

My Prediction - Swoosh is too much for UBSA to handle, and I have envisioned the game in Swoosh’s favour by 20 points.

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Cocoro and Stallions face off this Sunday (3 August 2008) at 11.30 AM in the third Quarter Final matchup. Cocoro are the number two seed from Group A with 6 wins and 1 loss, while Stallions advanced as the third seed of Group B with a 4-3 winning record.

Cocoro has shown good team chemistry and executed their plays almost to perfection this season. With long time Cocoroans Faiz, Azahar, Pa and Ajiem, Cocoro is a team to beat. Critics would say that their 6-1 record is “assisted” by the fact that Group A is “not that challenging”, but don’t underestimate this ball club.

Stallions have shown resiliency in this tournament, and they have perhaps the best 12 man lineup in this tournament. Old faces Paie, Cat, Pero joins 3 MABA trainees Helmi, Sassi and Andelu. The other 6 players consists of the best J3 project players, trained by Abg Kerol himself. While their record may not seem that impressive, losing to upstarts Leykens in Week 6, coupled with a one way match fixing scandal in Week 4 vs Swoosh, Stallions has yet to unleash their full potential in this tournament.

However, Stallions will really need to step up their game this Sunday as they will be missing their 3 MABA trainees due to Petronas Team commitments. This will put pressure on Coach Paie as Helmi is an influential PG, while team rebounding will sorely miss Sassi’s and Andelu’s contribution.

Here’s the breakdown:

Cocoro

Strength: Good team chemistry, Excellent team hustle, great shooters in Pa and Faiz.
Weakness: Lacks a good ballhandler, cracks under full court defense, average bench talent.
Summary: Cocoro will need to get going early in this game. While their starters are All-Star calibers, they will need more support from their bench to lift the pressure in crunch time. With 3 Stallions key players out this weekend, Cocoro will want to attack the basket often and get the Stallions big men into foul trouble.

Cocoro’s weaknesses were exposed ‘uncensored’ in their Week 4 game vs. Pegasus. While they managed to keep the scores close, even leading at some point of the game, the team simply lost its direction after Pegasus ran a full court shutdown defense in the 4th Quarter. This weakness will definitely be exploited by Stallions in this game.

Stallions

Strength: Talented youths, good defense, excellent game control with “PG Agung” Paie on the helm.
Weakness: Inconsistent play, will be missing 3 of their superstars this weekend.
Summary: Coach Paie’s strategy to start the J3 boys in the Group stages will be paying dividends this weekend. Stallions will be missing 3 players this weekend, and it will be a test for the J3 boys to see if they can carry the team in this elimination round.

Stallions should pressure Cocoro right from the start if they want to bag this one. Throw in the high octane J3 boys for a full court defense, and Stallions will find themselves in a very good position to win.

My Prediction - It’s going to be a tough one, but I would be rooting for Cocoro to win by a very small margin