An eventful 2019 Fall campaign for Entourage Basketball Inc. was punctuated by regular season success for both squads, but neither the reigning Threepeat FastBreak League Champions nor the Weekend-league Squad could come out on top in the Playoffs.
Weekend-Squad, BPL (SE2)
Regular Season: 7-3
Lost Championship Finals Series 0-2
Starting the regular season of BPL’s second season with a 9-Point loss to old rivals Proform, the Weekend League Squad quickly figured things out while closing out the campaign with 2 straight wins, including a contentious regular season-ending blowout win against Team Cut (9-0 till then) and their roster of former National team & Slingers players.
The qualification for the Playoff Final-4, alongside Proform, Cut G. and the young Team Titans, was cemented by the selection of E.B.I players, JB, Raf, Andro and Arnaut to the BPL AllStar game. EntourageBBall Inc player-coach Dave was also chosen as the coach for Team Black of the ASG, courtesy of E.B.I’s 7-3 record.
As is the case between both these teams, E.B.I and Proform had another classic game in the Playoff Semifinals. EntourageBBall Inc. avenged the previous season’s playoff elimination against the same Proform team, winning 100-93 in an entertaining match.
The best-of-3 Finals matchup, the team’s first League Final qualification since 2018 in the defunct Crossover League, was against the youngest team in the league, Titans. Reinforced with their two former pro-player-coaches, team Titans had won their last 3 regular season games and easily handled Cut G. in their semifinal Game.
Playing with a massive handicap in Game 1, all three E.B.I topscorers were abroad, EntourageBBall lost by 20 points, leading to a do-or-die Situation in Game 2. Still missing their 2nd and 3rd best scorers, E.B.I fell behind early in Game 2 of the Finals and couldn’t overcome the 16-point halftime deficit in spite of multiple valiant comeback attempts. Final score: 88-96.
The First Finals Series loss in club history (previously 7-0 in playoff Finals) ended the team’s season on a bit of a sour note, but the departure of stalwarts Raf, Arnaut and Javi was a sad ending to the year, as all 3 fantastic teammates had been instrumental in club successes since 2016.
Midweek-Team, FastBreak Men’s League
Regular Season: 8–4
Won Playoff 3rd place Game
Fresh off their third straight FastBreak League Title, the Midweek-Team roared into the 2019 Fall Season with…. a regular season opening loss to the previous season’s 3rd place team, Schoolers. Then they won their next 8.
It wasn’t as seamless a season as the Spring campaign, where E.B.I was undoubtedly the strongest team that season. Losing topscorer Terence and irregular appearances by league MVP, Jean Baptiste, the Men-in-green were also hampered by scheduling issues from the league ( games at SAS -Woodlands for example) which led to them limping into the playoffs by losing the last three regular season games.
A 3-week break prior to the start of the Playoffs didn’t help the team’s rhythm either, leading to the Champs losing their January playoff semifinal match to eventual Champs, SAS-Eagles; 78-84.
Recovering quickly from the disappointment, the Quadrepeat had been within reach after all, E.B.I-Midweek defeated FastBreak-Black in the 3rd Place game, while also getting two players chosen for the All-League Teams: Chi selected for his 2nd straight All-League 1st team, and Alex made the All-League 2nd team.
ENTOURAGE BASKETBALL INC. 