Balance Team Registration Open!

Balance Gym announced that team registration has opened for the Summer 2008 basketball season.

For more details, see the league's registration website.

http://www.balancegym.com/sports/leagues.htm

Spring 2008 Champions: Cougar Hunters

Well, Cinderella's glass slippers never did break as the #8 Cougar Hunters pulled off back-to-back-to-back Overtime upset victories in the playoffs and finals to win Balance Gym's Elite Hoops League for the Spring of 2008.

In the final, the Cougar Hunters, who were missing 2nd leading scorer Phil Jackman (18.5), established an early lead at the half 33-32. Moose, missing leading scorer Frank Perry (22.7), took the a 5 point lead midway through the 2nd half and held that lead til there were 14 seconds remaining. A blocking foul & accompanying technical foul allowed the Hunters an opportunity to save the game. Three of four free throws and a circus shot with seconds left by Doug Osborne tied the game at the end of regulation at 59.

In OT, the Cougar Hunters got hot in Overtime despite fouling out their 2nd player and playing down a man 4vs5 and were victorious 78-65 on 17-18 free throw shooting in overtime.

Congratulations to both teams in what was the best final in Balance history.

Moose
Matt Rozier - 23
Pat Rien - 13
Mike Hochman - 8
Mark Wehling - 8
Chris DeMulder - 6
Bereket - 4
Zack Fried - 3

Cougar Hunters
Byron Hall - 30
Rob Williams - 19
Doug Osborne - 11
Sergey Kuz - 10
Shawn Jackson - 8
Ryan Webb - 0

Finals ... and Playoff Results (Elite 8 & Final 4)

In what was a frenetic last weekend of upsets, #3 Moose and #8 Cougar Hunters stand alone to face each other in the Elite Balance League Finals on Saturday, May 17th. Moose and cinderella dream, Cougar Hunters (O/U avg. 153 & 158, respectively) put up more points per game than the rest of the competition, so expect a legitimate shoot-out in the finale, Saturday at 12:45.

The Elite Eight featured upsets in every game except #3 Moose vs. #6 Warriors. The #8, #5, and #7 seeds respectively outlasted their competition.

Cinderella #8 seed, Cougar Hunters, won two exciting overtime playoff games in route to their 3rd finals appearance in 4 seasons. In the first, they bested #1 seed, Five Guys, by coming back from a 53-46 1st half deficit. In the second, Cougar Hunters led most of the game until a costly technical and and a rush of three's allowed #4 Night Cap to take the lead late in the game. The Cougar Hunters' Shawn Jackson made a driving circus shot to send the game to OT where they eventually won by 3.

High flying Moose faced a less dramatic road to their 1st finals appearance by beating the #6 seed Warriors by 30+ and the seasoned veterans of #7 Old School by 15. In their semi-final game, Moose made 8 first half threes to take a 46-24 halftime lead. Old School found a way to wean the lead down to 8, but Moose, behind another flurry of threes by Mike "Sam Perkins" Hochman put the game out of reach.

Elite Eight Odds

Playoffs begin Saturday after the most complex playoff seeding process in Balance Elite League history. The #1, #2, #5, and #6 seeds were determined by the 3rd variable, point differential. The #8 seed was settled after a 3-way tie between the Cougar Hunters, Lights Out and Critical Mass. The Cougar Hunters took the #8 seed with heads up victories vs. both former playoff contenders.

-#1, 5 Guys get a rematch vs. Cougar Hunters, whom they came back to beat in the reg. season by eleven. 5 Guys have not lost since April 12 while dominating the competition, and losing only then by 2. Cougar Hunters find themselves on a Knick-like slump losing their last few games by an avg. of 30 points. Teams have seemingly found the weakness to this early season offensive juggernaut.
Keith Holden (19.5 pts/gm), Sean 'Dale Davis' O'Connor (15.1pts/gm) and Brian 'Steve Blake' Cunningham (14.9pts/gm) should lead 5 guys to victory.
Byron 'Iverson' Hall (25.7pts/gm), Phil 'Villenueva' Jackman (20.5pts/gm) and Shawn Jackson (16.1pts/gm) hope to make Cougar Hunters the next Balance cinderella story.

-#4, Truth and #5, Night Cap face in a rematch of last season's classic Finals match where Night Cap came back with a 2nd half flurry to beat Truth. Truth heads into the playoffs on a 3 game slump. Joby 'John Starks' Ryan has had an unresolved return to the team after a midseason disappearance, while 'Mr. Consistency,' Nick Freshman has consistently put up 19.8gm. However, Andrew 'Ginobili' Huling seems to be the team's bellwether. During their 6 gm. winning streak, Huling's 20pts/gm led the squad. During their 3 gm. skid - 10pt/gm.
Night Cap has found a variety of ways to win all season. After losing former league MVP, Ebong Eka, to an arm fracture, they went 3-1 to secure a spot in the playoffs by spreading the scoring around and enhancing their stars' output. Since Eka's injury, Casey 'half-court' Craig, Mark 'See...I'm good' Vugrinovich and Matt Vankoski (22, 24, 20 per gm. respectively) have proved a dangerous 1,2,3 inside/out punch.

-#2, most improved, Swag faces the hottest team in the league, #7, Old School. Swag and Regular season MVP, Robert Stevens, have proven themselves throughout the season with the league's most dominant defense (58.1pts./gm). Old School's aging star, Mark Awantang, can take most of the credit for their 5 game winning streak, as he was not there for the team's early season losses and has averaged 25 pts/gm during their improbable late season return to the playoffs. This is Swag's first foray into the playoffs in several years, Old School's playoff experience may play a part in this one.

-#3, Moose take on #6, Warriors. Moose's fortunes have been up & down all season with a variety of personnel filling out their gametime spots. A lot of victory & loss credit can be directly attributed to Frank Perry, who has been absent in the team's only 3 losses. His team leading 23.8pts/gm seem to come in handy. Mike 'Sam Perkins' Hochman and Mark Wehling also generate 20+pts/gm for Moose. If all three show up, look for Moose to take this one easy.
The Warriors have an unusual defense formula that has gotten them into the playoffs in their inaugural Balance season. Their leading scorer, George McCullough, (17.6/gm) has put up single digits in losses and broken 20 pts. in wins. However, offensive balance is the Warriors game with 8 players averaging 8 or more pts./gm.

Final Regular Season Standings

Final Regular Season Game Scores

Final Regular Season Statistics

Week 11 Odds

Week 11 is clearly framed to be the most dramatic of the season with the top two teams facing off and six teams fighting for spots 5-8 of the playoffs!
-Moose and 5 guys may decide the #1 seed in a game that looks to be a shootout.
-The Agents face the Warriors in what for them, is a make-it or break it game. The Warriors, while heavily favored, take on the Agents coming off their first big win.
-The Truth have an outside shot at a #2 seed, and take on Chuck's Fave 5.
-Cougar Hunters and Night Cap battle in a game with obvious playoff implications. Teams across the league have expressed concern regarding these two streaky teams and their desire to not have to face them in the playoffs. Both teams are on the playoff bubble and look to fix some regular season problems. Cougar Hunters come off a 40+pt loss to Moose.
-Old School, on the bubble, needs a win to improve their playoff chances. They are out with a loss. The Sons look to unseat a former powerhouse.
-Lights Out, another bubble team, face Swag, which is looking for its first #1 seed in recent memory. Both teams are expected to put out an extraordinary effort.

Week 11 Standings

Week 11 Full Schedule and Scores

Week 11 Scoring