Season 31 Summary

SEASON SUMMARY

Cheetos Jones and the two-time defending champion Philadelphia Phobia led the league in scoring capturing the East, while San Jose led the league in defense for the sixth consecutive season to wrap up the West.



The unstoppable Jones and his 26 points per game became the first Phobia player since Stu Nod in Season 14 to win a scoring title and came within 8 points of breaking Tommy Zoop’s 26.7 scoring average record for Oklahoma City in Season 24.

Bull Bunson led the league in assists for a record-tying fourth time and Jimsy Redfern of Charleston and Kuch-Kuch Hotahey of Sacramento tied for the league title in free-throwing, each sinking a perfect 19 for 19 on the year. It was the second consecutive year Redfern did not miss a free throw; he was 13 for 13 the previous year.

Third-year center Tom “the Bomb” Kondla gave the last-place Dallas Demons fans something to watch in Season 31 as he broke his own single-season blocked shots mark with 59 swat-aways. Playing for his fourth team in as many seasons, Kondla also set a new record for most blocks in a game (10) and most triple-doubles in a career (10).

Jones and Milwaukee’s Hrundi V. Bakshi accounted for six of the seven top scoring games of the year, but the biggest single-game scoring barrage came from 5-10 Houston point guard Ching-Chong Chung, who exploded for 41 against Milwaukee.



The MVP campaign by Jones was the first for the dominant Phobia since all-time great Curly Hogbottom garnered the award in Season 22. It marked the eighth time a Philadelphia player captured the honor.

Milwaukee small forward Bruno Pantanal became the fourth Greyhound player to win Rookie of the Year honors, the last being Bakshi in Season 29.

Guards Jones and Bakshi and center Kondla sewed up first-team All-MBA honors for the third consecutive season, while the forward spots went to first-timers Gato Do Mato of Milwaukee and L.B. Damned of San Jose. This was one of the youngest All-MBA teams ever. Not one of the quintet is older than four seasons.


PLAYOFF PREVIEW

PHILADELPHIA (8-2) VS SACRAMENTO (6-4)

The Phobia, gunning for its third-consecutive title, should make short work of the River Dogs, who are making surprised in the West to capture their first playoff berth since Season 24.
The key for Sacramento was their defense at the forward position, where Kuch-Kuch Hotahey and Bisquiero Cutoff made life tough for the opposition. Cutoff, however, was hurt in the final game of the regular season and will only return if the River Dogs miraculously make it past the first round. Starting guard Zingo Mamaluke, who has played on the last three championship teams, will also be lost to Sacramento in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Phobia, in the final season of Hall of Famer Boone Doggle, will attempt to become just the second team in league history to win three title in a row.

SAN JOSE (8-2) VS CHARLESTON (7-3)

No team has been in the finals more often lately than San Jose, with the Fighting Amigos making the championship round four out of the last six seasons, but the league’s best defensive team will have its hands full with the Charleston Mountaineers in round one of Season 31.
San Jose is led by forwards L.B. Damned and Hall of Famer Sagittal Occlusal. Charleston, which beat out the favored Milwaukee Greyhounds for a playoff spot, will be without Hall of Famer Mamadou Zongo, who will likely miss all of the playoffs for the second year, thanks to injury.


OTHER MBA NOTES

To answer the query of MBA fan P. Davia, the record for the longest MBA win streak belongs to (who else) the Philadelphia Phobia, which won 13 consecutive. The Phobia won three straight to capture the Season 5 title, then rattled off a 10-0 season in Season 6 before finally coming up short in the first game of the Season 6 playoffs. The Season 5 and 6 Philadelphia team is generally considered the best in league history, and is the only team to start an all-Hall of Fame lineup. They were: Uncle Bob Masterson, Oscar Mudcat, Alex Pal, Raisin Sport and Rowdy Ron Clutch. Milwaukee would eventually beat them for the Season 6 title.
The Houston Iguanas of Season 26 won 12 games in a row before finally bowing in the championship round to the eventual champs from Charleston.

AND FINALLY

Season 31 marks only the third time in league history that three of Dave’s teams have advanced to the playoffs in the same campaign. The other two times were Seasons 17 and 27.
In comparison, Tyler teams have dominated post-season play in 20 of the previous 30 playoffs. Three of Tyler’s teams made it to The Final Four in 17 seasons. And in Season 19, Season 20 and Season 23 (we refer to those as “the dark years”) all four playoff teams were provided by the Ty guy.