IBL | Season XI | Division 3 | Final Four Preview

A pair of intriguing contests awaits the crowd that will assemble inside Ontario High School’s gym this Sunday evening for the Season 11 IBL Championship Weekend. The Stage has been set for the Division 1 and 2 finals. However 4 teams will have their eyes set on the Division 3 crown.

In the first game, scheduled to tip off just after 5:10 p.m, the Burger Kings, the No. 2 seed with a 7-1 record, will meet Coast2Coast, a six seed coming in off a win over No. 3 seed Mighty Healthy in the opening round. This weekend, the Burger Kings make their third consecutive trip to the divisions semi finals. This isn’t unfamiliar territory for this battle tested team. The Burger Kings have played in countless semifinal games.  A few players on the roster have even played in the championship game. The last time we seen the Burger Kings in the Championship was Season 9 when they lost to the repeating champion HiiiPower. The Burger Kings defeated the No. 9 seed Skywalkers (69-46)  last weekend in Claremont, behind the outstanding play of Charles Grays, David Aguilera (20 points each) and Vince Pryor (16 pts, 10 rbs) Joshua Payne and Mike Criscione also have made important contributions throughout BK’s season but were not in action last weekend.

Coast2Coast overcame the ever so daunting task of playing on Court 2 to prevail over third seed Mighty Healthy in the quarterfinals last Sunday. Paced by the terrific play of Jairo Lopez (26 pts, 14 rbs)  , they are hoping to clinch the team’s first championship berth. However this will be an uphill climb. After Lopez, you have to scan up and down the roster to find another player on the roster who is a viable offensive threat.

Players to Watch:

Burger Kings: Vince Pryor –  No one on Coast2Coast is capable of keeping Pryor in front of them. If his shot is falling early, it’s going to be a long day for Coast2Coast.

Coast2Coast: Jesus Alvarez – Alvarez will have to do all the dirty work for his team. That means clean up on the boards and make the hustle plays.

Wonton Soup vs. California Raisins

Now it wouldn’t be the IBL playoffs if the Cali Raisins and Wonton Soup didn’t meet. Sunday’s second Division 3 game will feature a the No.1 Seed California Raisins as they take on longtime rival Wonton Soup who finished the regular season as the fourth seed. Wonton Soup is  making their 5th trip to a divisional Final Four since Season 3 . After upsetting last season’s champs the MadVillians in the first round.

The Raisins on the other hand; shot their way past Slaughterhouse in a 79-49 debacle.Both teams met in Week 2 with the Raisins coming away with a 59-52 win. However no matter how many times the Raisins beat the Soup in the Regular season. They always find a way to lose in the playoffs. It’s sort of like a curse.GM Ashwin Sharma’s squad last reached the Final Four in Season 7, when they won it all.

Forward Jamaal Logan (16.2 ppg) leads Wonton Soup in scoring, followed by guard Brandon Taylor (11.9 ppg) and  guard Demetre Smith (11.3 ppg). After two up & down seasons with the California Swag Bears, Jaden Radcliffe jumped ship and leads the Raisins in scoring with (14.3 ppg) Kenny Saldana is the team’s second leading scorer with (13.1 ppg).

Players to Watch:

Wonton Soup: Josh Johnson–  the Honey badger seems to show up in big games and seems to always performs well while playing the Raisins.

California Raisins: Korey Davis –  Davis has been spotty all season, but with a trip to the championship game on the line look for him to have a big game, doing all the little things to help his team win.

IBL | Season XI | Division 2 Finals Preview | H.B.A.M vs. Special Delivery

H.B.A.M. vs. Special Delivery

Special Delivery vs. Special Delivery Jr. last season H.B.A.M took IBL by storm, after a subpar regular season the team got hot at the right time and ran all the way to the finish line to come away with the Season 10 Division 2 crown. Now fast forward 3 months later, H.B.A.M is back in the championship game to defend its crown. However this game means a little more to both teams. Seeing as three of H.B.A.M’s core players (Sammeon Waller (19.7 ppg, 4.6 apg) , Kevin Dunbar (15.7 ppg) & Dejuan Simmons (9.2 ppg) ) were once members of Special Delivery, a win over their former team will make this championship that much sweeter.

H.B.A.M leads the division in three of the four major team categories ( 67.7 ppg, 33.9 rpg, 14.0 apg) they however enter the game with a 8-1 record coming off wins over the Han$um Goonz (58-54) and Mile High (73-62), their lone loss coming at the hands of Special Delivery in Week 4 by 2 points (52-50).

Special Delivery enters the game as the #1 overall seed sporting a flawless 8-0 record. Coming off a blowout (70-49) semi final win over CSB.  This season has been quite an anomaly for Special Delivery. They’ve been a resilient bunch finding ways to win games. They’ve earned the right to play for the championship. Led by Alwyn “Bama” Jordan (13.1 ppg), Lester Cole (16.8 ppg), and David Schex (13.3 ppg), Special Delivery is a team that is hungry. Everyone knows what role they play and week in and week out; they go out on the hardwood and play a physical brand of basketball that has been effective all season long.

Players to Watch:

H.B.A.M: Shavaun Dukes–  as the teams 3^rd leading scorer, Dukes will have to pick up the slack if Waller and Dunbar get off to slow starts, as is more than capable of doing so. Dukes is the teams most efficient 3 point threat. Shooting a mere %42 from downtown.

Special Delivery: Ray Thompson– Thompson is the MKG of his team, a non stop motor, filled with hustle and can knock down the occasional 3 ball from time to time. Look for Thompson to take up the task of guarding the opposing teams best perimeter player.

IBL | Season XI | Division 1 Finals Preview | Cali Raisins vs. UnderRated

 

Led by former Whittier College standout point guard Jordan Ramos (7.6 ppg, 5.8 apg) and former UCSD product Alan Husted (22.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg); the upstart Cali Raisin (7-2) look to capture their first IBL Division 1 crown.   However standing in the way of such feat; are the reigning champions of the Division Under Rated (6-3) who are led by last season’s Finals MVP Jaime Villalobos (16.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg).  The two teams had similar regular seasons, and dominated the first two rounds of the opening rounds, despite what the final score may indicate.

The Raisins secured their spot in the championship game as they defeated the #2 seed Wolfpack after obliterating Dynasty in a high scoring affair (97-81). UnderRated secured their championship berth by taking down the #1 seeded Swisher’s in a 71-68 nail bitter. The Champs led by as many as 20 points for the majority of the game. Under Rated only played one game due to a forfeit by their first round opponent (Most Hated).

Season 11 tipped off with the Raisins coming back from a first half deficit and defeating the defending champs UnderRated (65-61) in Week 1. The teams played well throughout the course of the regular season and opening rounds of the playoffs to get to this point.

Both teams have similar playing styles and match up extremely well with each other. However the game will come down to who can string together defensive stops.  The Raisins like UnderRated are like a well oiled fine tuned machine, the chemistry and comradery between the players are excellent and they let their play do the talking so it is only fitting that they play each other for the division’s ultimate prize.

The X-Factor for the Raisins will be the team’s second leading scorer Jaden Radcliffe (14.7 ppg), Radcliffe is a lights out shooter and if he gets hot, Under Rated will be in for a long day. The X-Factor on the Under Rated side of things will be Luke Finalet. Finalet joined the team in the offseason after his former team had disbanded and has meshed well with his new teammates. After struggling in the first two games of the season, Finalet has since hit his stride and is the teams 3^rd leading scorer with 12.7 ppg.  Finalet can get hot in a hurry so it is important that he gets off to a hot start.  Other players playing key roles, will be Victor Lee (12.3 ppg) for the Raisins and Max Barkeley (9.2 ppg, 2.5 apg) for UnderRated. Barkeley hasn’t had his typical double-digit scoring average as he had during his first couple of seasons, but he is still an intricate part of the team. Barkeley’s play making abilities will be huge as his team looks to capture their second consecutive crown.

 

Players to Watch:

Cali Raisins:  Daryl Jones– in the open court no player is more fun to watch than Daryl Jones of the Raisins, he is a walking highlight reel and shot blocking machine.

UnderRated: Jonathan Kaker– Kaker is the team’s fundamentally sound big man. His array of post moves should get him easy baskets and seeing that Kaker had a terrible 1-8 shooting (3 points) performance in Week 1. He will be fueled to take his team over the top. The Road to the Repeat has been long, but the light at the end of the tunnel is only 40 mins away.