Jammers Int. Weekend League, SE12
Playoff semifinals, Sat. 23.04.16
UWC Dover Campus

ENTOURAGE BBALL INC vs. IFS: 52 – 66

A week after being called out on obvious manipulation of the Weekend league standings, an allegation Jammers League never clarified, EntourageBBall faced Team IFS in the playoff semifinals.

IFS fielded some players who never played in the regular season (another breach of league rules), and who wore different uniforms from teams allover Singapore.
In an omen of what was to follow, the officiating crew refused to follow through on Jammers league rules, which state to award freethrows for every mismatched uniform on a team.This reluctance to enforce the league rules by the refs at the start of the game was but an appetiser of the fiasco that lay ahead.

The opening quarter was won by EntourageBBall, showcasing strong teamwork on both sides of the court. The starting five, led by point guard and leading scorer Evan, moved the ball well and converted some baskets.
In the 2nd quarter, the IFS reserves, aided by a flurry of whistles by the officials, took the lead.
Troublesome was the fact that the allegedly neutral officials switched from a relaxed stance on making calls in the 1st quarter to an aggressive, and petty whistling campaign, focused on Entourage bigs, Sebastien and Dickson. Both players had 4 fouls mid third quarter.

By the fourth quarter, half the 10 players on EntourageBBall were either in foul trouble or already fouled out! This was blatant favoritism and the statsheet makes it even more obvious:

The many blatantly biased phantom calls were so exasperating, Entourage players never got into any game rhythm in the final period, traiiling only by 7 points with four minutes to play, the wind was taken out of their sails.

The regular season leaders, according to the league standings early April, could not overcome playing 5 against 7 for nearly three quarters and lost their chance to reach a 2nd consecutive Finals.

Incompetence, lack of information and even overt cheating have overshadowed the Jammers League, once the most promising of all League’s in Singapore. EntourageBBall’s team will no longer be supporting the farce that is Jammers “League” by paying fees and diligently following league rules.

After 5 years, the black & green are saying ‘good riddance’ and joining a different Basketball league for the 2016 Summer/fall season.

Performance rating

Backcourt 
Hot start but not enough of a threat.  Terence, Dave J. performed under expectations. Dave O and Evan soldiered on, playing through foul trouble but unable to generate consistent scoring.
Standout players: Evan

Frontcourt 
Got outworked in the paint. IFS got too many And-1 baskets in the 2nd quarter. Defensive rebounding was lacking, leading to second chance points. Focus of the obvious biased ref campaign to cripple the team.
Standout players: Tolga

Overall 
Apart from the 1st quarter, below average performance by the team. Youngsters didn’t contribute much, hectic offense in the 2nd half, and defense was unable to limit IFS forwards or outside shooting.
Standout participants: The two referees