34th MBA All Star Game

WEST 74, EAST 68

SACRAMENTO--The West won its 12th all star contest and sixth star-studded affair in the last eight outings with a 74-68 effort.
Smokey Talisker of the winless Seattle Stampede was the game's MVP with a 21-point effort that included 5 boards, 2 steals and an assist.
High point man in the contest was Hall of Famer Hrundi V. Bakshi, who had his best all star effort with 22 points.

Moving up on individual all star game lists were:
**Retiring Hall of Famer Cheetos Jones of Philadelphia, who passed Link Lennex on the scoring list to go into sixth place all time with 89 points. (Uncle Bob Masterson is the all time leader with 158 points.) Jones also added to his 3-point leading total by tossing in one more for a grand finishing total of 24.
**Ching-Chong Chung of Houston moved into ninth place all time, with 85 points, passing Stu Nod and Cappy Gambol. Chung's 3-pointer in this game pushed him past Tommy Zoop into third place all time with 16 treys, two behind Momadou Zongo.

Next Up: Back to regular MBA action where some important games await. First up is a battle of the top two teams in the East, where undefeated Houston (5-0) visits Milwaukee. Bakshi and the Iguanas dispatched the Greyhounds 83-67 earlier this season.

SEASON 34 HALFWAY MARK REPORT

5 POINTS OF INTEREST ON FIRST HALF

-- Scoring is down from previous year, with only two teams scoring at least 70 points per game as opposed to double that number last season.
-- Veteran guard Ching-Chong Chung of Houston is having a career year, leading the league in scoring at 22.8 points per game, and that's saying a lot. The 9-season star has led his team in scoring six times. Best year, 20.2, S-31.
-- Home teams have won 15 of the 25 games thus far.
-- East again dominant over the West, winning four of five games thus far.
-- To no one's surprise, Houston has been the dominant team, but Sacramento winning its first three and in contention thus far for a playoff spot, has surprised everyone. They've dropped last two but still have two to play against winless Seattle.

ALL STAR GAME SELECTIONS AND NOTES



ALL STAR GAME POINTS OF INTEREST

-- Although Seattle has zero wins, it has two starters on the West All Star Game team.
-- The 5-10 Ching-Chong Chung of Houston is tied for seventh place all time in All Star Game appearances with seven, and ninth place all time for most All Star Game starts with five.
-- The East has a 22-11 advantage over the West in All Star Game wins.
-- Only one rookie made the All Star Game and it is not highly touted Bop-Bop of Chicago. Art Vandelay of Milwaukee not only leads the league in rebounding, but has earned a starting spot on the East.
-- Four first-time all stars in this season's game and three are in the Eastern Division.
-- Center Achilles Heel of Oklahoma City is by far the oldest all star, currently in his 17th season. Heel made the All Star Game team as recently as three seasons ago (Season 31), but has not earned a starting spot in the game since Season 19, his second season in the league, which is a full 15 seasons ago.
-- Cheetos Jones of Philadelphia, is in seventh place all time in All Star Game scoring and first in 3-point baskets.
Ching-Chong Chung of Houston is 9th all time in All Star Game scoring.
-- The hardest position for making the All Star Game is an East Division guard. Four guards from the East who did not make the East team, would have supplanted the two substitute guards from the West who did make the team. They are: Chuckie "Swishcat" Sellegren of Charleston (21.2), Didger A'doo of Chicago (19.6), Bop-Bop of Chicago (19.4) and Funsy Van Slochum of Charleston (19.2).
-- With the game being played in Seattle, this marks the second season in a row the hosting city does not have a representative in the game. Chicago hosted last season without a player on the squad.
-- Others with 20 or more Game Value Points who did not make the All Star Game (in addition to Sellegren, mentioned above): Houston forward Looky Whos (21.4) and Charleston forward Jimsy Redfern (20.8).
-- Only one All Star Game performer will be retiring after this season (see next entry), but he's a doozy.

RETIREMENTS FOLLOWING SEASON 34



OBSERVATIONA ON RETIREMENTS
-- Philadelphia's Cheetos Jones, the lone Hall of Famer to retire and the only member of this season's All Star Game to retire, currently ranks as the 12th greatest MBA player of all time and the 6th greatest MBA guard to ever grace a tabletop.
-- 13 players will retire after this season, four being starters.
-- The West lost just three players to retirement and just one (questionable) starter, while the East lost 7 players, including 3 starters.
-- Philadelphia, with the loss of Jones and his running mate at guard, Pismo Beach, was the hardest hit by retirement of all franchises. Plus, they lost two others for a total of four players, twice the number lost by the next hardest hit team.
-- Seattle lost both of the centers on their roster...but we use the term "lost" very loosely.