Phobia methodically mows down Iguanas

Philadelphia 78, Houston 63

HOUSTON--Led once again by its amazing backcourt duo of Cheetos Jones and Cock A. Doodledoo, the Philadelphia Phobia seized control early, then held Houston at bay comfortably to go ahead in this championship series two games to none.
Philadelphia now returns home just one victory shy of winning its fifth consecutive MBA championship.

Jones, the MVP of the Game with a game-high 27 points, looks like he could be nabbing the one great award, Playoff MVP, that has thus far eluded his Hall of Fame career.

If he doesn't get it, it will surely go to his running mate, Doodledoo, who racked up 21 points in this latest win.

Both Jones and Doodledoo put the defensive screws to the usually high-scoring tandem of Ching-Chong Chung and Hall of Famer Hrundi V. Bakshi, who combined for just 21 points on just 36 percent shooting.

Second-year center Sanjay Patel broke free to lead all Houston scorers with 20 points, but his strong outing was just a doggie bone for the home team crowd looking frantically for any morsel of hope on which to gnaw.

Philadelphia flexes its might in finals opener

Philadelphia 78, Houston 65

PHILADELPHIA--Having just returned from "The City of Brotherly Love" with Phobia team owner Tyler Masterson, it's amazing to this reporter that fans of the four-time defending champions are so certain of their team being MBA kings for the fifth consecutive time that there is nary a word exchanged from the citizenry about it; nor is there a banner in sight urging them to victory.
The ease displayed by the champs in the Game 1 dominance over a fine Houston team is indication as to why Philadelphia fans are so smug and self-assured.
With brilliant ball movement (19 assists, two shy of the playoff record) and a shut-down defense that kept the explosive Iguanas 15 points under their first-round scoring average, the home team Phobia was in complete control of this one, winning 78-65.
One can hardly recall the last time the once-boisterous Philadelphia faithful displayed their penchant for booing their own team. And why should they? This may be the best version of this franchise ever.
Two players in their final go-round led the way to this victory. Cock A. Doodledoo, whose leaving cannot come soon enough for Hall of Fame guard Hrundi V. Bakshi, again frustrated his nemesis defensively while scoring a game-high 23 points. It is the second game in a row that Doodledoo has led the offensive charge for the Phobia.
But even his effort was outdone by ninth season forward Tug Hershorts, who registered his second consecutive triple-double of the Season 33 playoffs. The 6-11 match-up nightmare came into this post-season with just three triple-doubles in an excellent nine-season career, and the big lefty showed that he still has it by cranking out two triples in a row. Plus, his 20-point, 7 assist, 6 rebound performance came against one of the best defending forwards in the league in Stone Flinthorn. At one point, when Hershorts registered three consecutive hoops on a slam dunk, a short swish and a medium string-music maker, Flinthorn held arms out in frustration as he ran downcourt, for he had been in Tug's grill on all three occasions.
Ching-Chong Chung, who came into this series averaging 27.5 points per game, continued to sparkle for Houston, getting 22, despite being guarded by defensive genius and Hall of Famer Cheetos Jones.
It's now on to Houston.

Champs look unbeatable heading to finals

Philadelphia 90, Dallas 67
PHILADELPHIA—The four-time defending champion Philadelphia Phobia advanced in powerful style to their 19th finals by rolling over the Dallas Demons in the best of three decider, 90-67.
The super guard tandem of Cock A. Doodledoo and Hall of Famer Cheetos Jones not only kept their counterparts to less than 10 points each, but scored a game-high 28 and 25 points, respectively. Veteran power forward Tug Hershorts registered the fourth triple-double of his career with 11 points and game highs in both rebounds (7) and assists (5). Center Ama Spikie contributed 15 points against Hall of Fame defender Tom Kondla.
Doodledoo was the Game MVP with his 28 points, 3 steals, 2 rebounds and one assist. Additionally, he was 1-for-1 from 3-point range, 12-for-16 from the field , 3 for 4 from the charity stripe and slam-dunked it home three times.
Kondla, said by some to be the best center ever to play in the MBA, scored 18 points, grabbed 4 boards, blocked 3 shots, snared 2 steals and had one assist in the last game of his career.
Philadelphia will now battle Houston in the best of five finals. Each team beat the other once during the regular season. But in the last meeting, the Phobia laid the wood on Houston, with Jones and Doodledoo completely stopping the offensive power of Houston guards Ching-Chong Chung and Hall of Famer Hrundi V. Bakshi.

Iguanas head for championship series

Houston 74, San Jose 65

HOUSTON--Having shrugged off the San Jose Fighting Amigos two games to none, the Houston Iguanas will be appearing in their first championship series since Season 26.

After trailing by two at the end of the first quarter, the Iguanas sent The Terrarium crowd into a hot, sweaty frenzy early in the second as guards Ching-Chong Chung and Hall of Famer Hrundi V. Bakshi dropped four consecutive trey-bombs on the visitors which eventually resulted in a 14-point first-half advantage for the home team.

Chung was the MVP of the Game with a game-high 29 points, matching his five 3-pointers from Game 1. San Jose had no defensive answer for the long-ball attack of the eventual victors, as Houston registered 23 treys in the two games compared to just 2 for the West Division champs.

Schweaty Ballz and Gato Do Mato were the only consistent scorers for San Jose in this first-round action.

Houston, which last won an MBA title in Season 12, now awaits the winner of the third game between Dallas and Philadelphia. It will likely be the four-time defending champion Phobia, which has a 1-1 record against Houston this season.

Champs even playoff series with Dallas

Philadelphia 77, Dallas 69

DALLAS--The four-time defending champion Philadelphia Phobia re-asserted themselves with a Game 2, 77-69 road win to even this best of three series. The finale will be in Philly.

It's nearly impossible to beat the champs when Hall of Fame point guard Cheetos Jones has a 50 percent shooting game like he did in this one. Jones, a co-MVP of the Game, led all scorers with 22. His teammate, veteran forward Tug Hershorts, was the other honored player with an 18-point, 6 rebounds, 4 assists performance.

The Demons from Dallas were, however, not embarrassed in this one getting strong games from their front line and a 9-assist effort from point guard Fat Bob Herzfeld.

The Demons stayed within a decent run away from Philadelphia, but it was a run that never came.

Houston guards shatter 3-point playoff record

Houston 94, San Jose 82

SAN JOSE -- Houston Iguanas' trio of sharpshooting guards divided a playoff record 15 3-point buckets equally on the way to a 94-82 road win against the San Jose Fighting Amigos. Ching-Chong Chung and Hall of Famer Hrundi V. Bakshi each poured in a game-high 26 points for Houston, and Wes Montgomery, playing his final season, subbed for both guards at one point or another and struck for 22 points of his own. All three knocked in 5 treys, shattering the longstanding Season 3 playoff record of 12 3s set by Cappy Gambol and Milwaukee against Charleston.

That they did so against the top defensive team in the league (statistically) was a huge surprise, as was the ease in which they accomplished the rout. In this case, the top 3-point-shooting team in the MBA thoroughly trumped the defensive leader, as Montgomery's trey halfway through the third quarter tied the record at 12.

Only an amazing fourth quarter by San Jose kept Houston from the century mark in scoring, as the home team closed the gap from 24 points all the way down to 8 by game's end.

Bakshi and Gato Do Mato, two former teammates from Milwaukee, now playing on opposite sides of this best of three opening playoff series, shared MVP of the Game honors.

Dallas 74, Philadelphia 73 (Round 1, Game 1)

Demons steal Game 1 at the horn

PHILADELPHIA—With his team looking like it would fall just short of a win, Dallas Demons forward Rogersauras Anderson corralled a full-court pass under his team’s basket with one time unit remaining in the game, turned and scored the game-winner over Tug Hershorts for a 74-73 upset triumph to open the Season 33 playoffs.

It was an incredible finish and an unlikely outcome, especially in view of the first-quarter dominance by the four-time defending champions, who led 22-11 after one. At that point it looked like the Phobia guard combination of Hall of Famer Cheetos Jones and Cock A. Doodledoo would be way too much for the visitors from the West.

But beginning in the second quarter, Dallas began to look like they belonged in this contest as they continually fed the 6-10 Adamson to attack the weakest Philadelphia defender, Tug Hershorts. And with Jones launching 14 treys and hitting just 4, Dallas worked their way all the way back and into 60-57 lead on a 3-point play from Adamson.

The Demons stretched the advantage to seven before Philadelphia recovered and regained the lead 71-70 on a 3-point shot by Jones with 14 time units left.

Nice try, Dallas, was the general feeling at this point, but Philly doesn’t rattle.

But (who else?) Adamson, playing the game of his index-card life, responded with a short jumper to put his team back in front 72-71 with 3 time units left.

Then with 2 time units remaining, Jones was fouled on a shot and went to the line for a pair of free throws. To that point, he was just 1 for 4 from the charity stripe, but the Hall of Famer showed his moxie by nailing both throws to give his team a 73-72 lead.

Then came the long pass, the shot by Adamson and the shocking win for the Demons, who now need to win just one of the next two games to eliminate Philadelphia in what would be an incredible turn of events.

FINAL STATS, REGULAR SEASON, SEASON 33