In an attempt to revive our national forum, here is a short report on all of the big happenings in the Australian BuzzerBeater realm...
Dunkers rising, Rimmers firing blankshttp://www.buzzerbeater.com/league/1041/overview.aspxIt's been a frustrating season for defending ABBL champions Rimmers as, even if the addition of a Ho (no, not THAT sort of ho!), they find themselves losing the close games they really need to win, and with a 6-7 record, are having trouble earning a spot in the play-offs, let alone competing for the title. You Should've Dunked's fortunes this season have gone the opposite way, bouncing back from a season where they missed the play-offs, and an opening night loss against the Resurgents, to be 11-2 going into the break, two games clear of any other team in the league.
The mid-table positions are very closely contested this season in the ABBL, as no less than 11 teams across the two conferences find themselves sitting on somewhere between an 8-5 and 6-7 record. The battles to secure the lower play-off seeds and to avoid the relegation play-off's are sure to get competitive when we come back from the All-Star break...
D3 giant killers feature in Battlers Tournament final 16http://www.buzzerbeater.com/country/17/cup.aspx?season=32Dark Passenger, C-Webs, and Chitown all caught out their ABBL opponents who risked running an under-strength line-up in their respective cup games, and with two other division 3 teams also surviving the Russian roulette of the cup draw to make the final 16, this marks the largest representation of lower division teams in the final 16 of the cup since season 20, and we're also sure to have our first D3 quarter-finalist since Season 26.
However, a team from outside the ABBL has not won the Battlers Tournament outright since the Drunken Masters did it from D2 way back in Season 7, so the remaining 5 ABBL teams in the tournament will surely fancy their chances of winning a trophy...
A first time for everything in D2?http://www.buzzerbeater.com/league/1042/overview.aspxhttp://www.buzzerbeater.com/league/1043/overview.aspxhttp://www.buzzerbeater.com/league/1044/overview.aspxhttp://www.buzzerbeater.com/league/1045/overview.aspxMany of the title favourites in the second tier of the league pyramid are teams that have yet to experience a season in the ABBL. Hazmolympians, who spent 12 seasons trying to get out of Division III.7 before finally succeeding in Season 31, now find themselves 13-0 in II.1 and on track for back-to-back promotions. The Generous Men are 12-1 in II.2, but the Stingrays are only a game behind in the opposite conference on 11-2. Whompas Donkeys, sitting on 12-1 in II.3, are the only D2 league leaders to have been in the ABBL before. They have conference rival and long-term fixture in II.3 Cunning Linguists attempting to chase them down with an 11-2 record. And in II.4, Team Lordy All-Caps is 13-0, with one season wonders in the ABBL, West Island Tigers, just behind on 12-1.
Favourable draw helps National Team in Consolationhttp://www.buzzerbeater.com/country/17/nt/overview.aspx
Mickyster hasn't had much to worry about so far in the campaign to secure home court advantage for next seasons Asian Championship. The team sits 5-0 thanks to a string of easy games, and could even take the top seed for the knock-out rounds with sufficient PD from the last three games...
U21 National Team safely through in first round robinhttp://www.buzzerbeater.com/country/17/jnt/overview.aspx
Whitewind has likewise had no problems so far in the U21 Asian Championship. Previous iterations of the U21 team have won the Asian Championship in Seasons 28 and 30, and this new generation will be hoping to do the same. The first big test of the campaign will be against China on September 28...