IBL's Bellingham Slam Head to Playoffs Ranked First, but Hardly Favorites

Published on July 2, 2011 under International Basketball League (IBL) News Release

BELLINGHAM, Wash. The Bellingham Slam enter tonight's International Basketball League Championship tournament as the #1 seeded team but they are by no means considered the favorites to win.

The Slam, who received a first round bye as one of the leagues top two teams late Wednesday night, will play their first game tonight in a semi-final match-up against the winner of a first round game featuring the Vancouver Volcanoes and Portland Chinooks on Friday (Volcanoes won this game by 8 points).

Bellingham, who was ranked as low as third last week, ascended to the top seed thanks to late season losses by the Albany Legends and Edmonton Energy, who had been ranked first and second, respectively. Edmonton finished with a 3-2 record in their last five games to earn the second playoff seed, while Albany struggled to a 2-3 record, earning their two victories by a total margin of just three points.

The Slams path to their second IBL championship and third title game appearance wont be an easy one, as the six-team tournament will feature some of the best talent the league has seen in recent years. In their semi-final game Saturday, the Slam faces the unenviable task of trying to defeat either the tournament hosts, the Vancouver Volcanoes, on their home floor, or the Portland Chinooks, whose talent level no longer matches their seeding as they completely retooled their roster with Division-I talent following a string of early-season losses. Vancouver enters the tournament with a 10-0 record at home this season, while Portland finished the season with a seven-game winning streak (Vancouver won this game so Bellingham will play tonight versus the Vancouver Volcanoes).

On the other side of the bracket, the Edmonton Energy, also with a first round bye, will await the winner of a Friday match-up featuring the third-seeded Albany Legends and the sixth-seeded Olympia Reign (Albany Legends won this game over Olympia). With three losses in five games to close out the regular season, the Albany Legends dropped from first to third place in the seeding, and lost out on receiving one of the two first round byes. Despite their late-season struggles, Albany is sure to be considered a contender as they come to the tournament as the defending IBL Champions, having defeated Bellingham in the 2010 title game.

Bellingham heads to the playoffs tonight with a three-game winning streak and winners of eight of their last ten games. The Slam, who ended the regular season with a record-setting 170-100 victory over Kankakee, has benefited from the most balanced offense the team has seen in its six-year history. Remarkably, ten of the 12 players on the Slam roster averaged at least ten points per game during the regular season. That group was paced by the 19.5 points per game average of guard Jacob Stevenson, but guards Paul Hafford and Morris Anderson were not far behind at 16.7 and 16.1 points per game, respectively. Anderson also finished with a team-high 6.6 assists per game, which ranked as fifth-best in the entire league.

In the frontcourt, center Blake Poole enjoyed a fine rookie season, averaging a double-double with 12.8 points and a 10.9 rebounds per game, while veteran forward Lukas Henne posted averages of 13.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and a 1.7 blocks per game. Poole's 10.9 rebounds per game average ranked him third in the IBL among players appearing in at least 15 games. Forward Tyler Amaya, who joined the Slam late in the season after recovering from a knee injury, also figures to be a factor. He averaged 14.3 points and eight rebounds in three wins for Bellingham to end the regular season.

Bellingham's semi-final game against Vancouver will tip-off at 8 p.m. tonight at the OConnell Sports Complex at Clark College in Vancouver, the site of every tournament game. The game will be radio broadcasted live on KGMI 790 AM and online at www.kgmi.com.

If the Slam win their semi-final contest on Saturday, they would advance to the IBL Championship game, set for 1 p.m. Sunday. Should the Slam participate, that game would be broadcast live on KBAI 930 AM and online at www.930kbai.com.

International Basketball League Stories from July 2, 2011

• IBL's Bellingham Slam Head to Playoffs Ranked First, but Hardly Favorites - IBL
• Albany Legends Win, Go on to Play Edmonton Energy in 2011 Ibl Playoffs - Albany Legends

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