Lariats advance to finals in overtime thriller

Oklahoma City 77, Chicago 73 (Overtime)

CHICAGO -- The balanced scoring attack of the Oklahoma City Lariats outlasted the Chicago Gale 77-73 in overtime in one of the more thrilling playoff contests ever witnessed, disappointing a home crowed that had witnessed an improbable last-minute comeback by their heroes to force the extra period.

Down 5 with 7 time units remaining, the Gale got a bucket by Big Pete Bowmore, then a defensive stop. All seemed lost when Lemon Jell-o of Oklahoma City knocked the ball away from Chicago guard Poppy Poppalucco. But Orange Jell-o of Chicago was first to the ball, unleashed a 3-point attempt, and hit it while being fouled in the process. His free throw put Chicago up by one. In the waning seconds, Oklahoma City regained the lead when Taylor Quackstick was fouled and hit both ends of a one-and-one. But with two time units remaining, Orange Jell-o of Chicago was fouled and went to the line for a one-and-one. He hit the first to tie the score, but fucking missed the one that could have clinched the game.

Chicago led early in overtime by four points when their third starter, Beezow Bop-Bop, fouled out of the game with 12 time units remaining. Oklahoma City's 13-year veteran guard Tubes Mullard tied the game and basically turned things over to Lariats forward Abe Binder. From that point, Binder gave his team the lead with a short jumper, defended Bowmore on what looked like a sure bucket underneath, then scored again as time ran out.

The Lariats will now play the Houston Iguanas for the Season 34 MBA Championship in a battle of East and West division winners. Oklahoma City, which has never won a title, returns to center stage for the first time since Season 18.

But first, a few more facts about this last playoff barn-burner.

* Both teams were led in scoring by substitute guards. Mullard had 16 against his old team, Chicago. The Gale were led in scoring by the notoriously bad shooter Poppy Poppalucco, a defensive stalwart who had the game of his life offensively, leading all scorers with 17 points on perfect 7 for 7 shooting. The Gale needed every one of those points because leading scorer Didger A'doo was hampered by foul trouble throughout, and finally did foul out with just 6 time units gone in the fourth quarter.

* Four players fouled out in this game, three by Chicago and Walt White, the Lariat's leading scorer.

* Oklahoma City had 6 players in double figures.

* Slick passing was featured by both teams, with the Lariats getting 17 assists and Chicago 15.

* The MVP of the Game award went to Chicago center Wayan Garuda, who scored 13 points and was a pillar of strength on the boards with 11 rebounds.

Houston heads back to finals

Houston 91, Sacramento 67


SACRAMENTO -- After easily dispatching the Sacramento River Dogs 91-67, the Houston Iguanas are back in the MBA finals for the second consecutive year...this time as the favorites.

The visitors from Texas started strong and never looked back. The only questions were if they would hit the 100-point mark (they didn't), whether MVP of the Game Ching-Chong Chung would break Dan Mann's playoff scoring mark of 38 (he didn't, scoring 30) and whether the Iguanas would emerge from the series without injury (they did).

The only positive for Sacramento, which has now gone four straight playoff appearances without a win, was the emergence of rookie guard Patchy Fogg, who came into the game in the second quarter and scored 15 points, and finished his team's high scorer with 21. Where the hell was THAT all season?

Lariats outlast Chicago in opener

Oklahoma City 73, Chicago 65

OKLAHOMA CITY--The Oklahoma City Lariats, getting good help from their bench, took Game 1 of this best of three series against the Chicago Gale, delighting the home crowd with a solid 73-65 victory.

The Lariats got 10 points, 3 steals, 3 blocked shots, 3 assists and a pair of rebounds from off the pines. Leading the way was 6-9 third-year center Phuc Mailife, who was on the roster only because starter Achilles Heel was injured and on the court for much of the game because Kevin Mickle was in foul trouble and eventually fouled out. Mailife, a cut pile project, had never scored in the MBA, taking just one shot in the one game he played. But in this important playoff contest, he was 3 for 5 from the floor for 6 points, including a slam dunk on his first shot, while chipping in with a rebound, an assist and a pair of steals, the second one coming in the fourth quarter when Chicago had cut a 10-point lead down to 6. Seldom-used forward Gabba Penton also contributed an assist, a steal and two blocked shots while long-timers Gulemon Mon-Mon and Tubes Mullard played tough in limited action.

Power forward Abe Binder topped the Lariats in scoring and rebounds with 18 and 7, respectively, while point guard Walt White added 16 as the home team shot 57.4 percent for the game while keeping the Gale shooters to 44.2 percent.

Beezow Doo-Doo Zopitty Bob Bop-Bop, the Chicago rookie who played a huge role in getting the Gale to the playoffs for the first time in 17 seasons, had a nightmare shooting game in his first post-season effort. Bop-Bop went 2 for 13 from the field, including 0 for 7 from behind the arc.

The visitors got an MVP of the Game performance from guard Didger A'doo, who led everyone in scoring with 23 points, and center Wayan Garuda, who had 16.

Chicago, the best free-throw-shooting team in the league, also hung around because they were 15 for 17 from the charity stripe, compared to 5 for 6 for the Lariats.

"Beezow Doo-Doo Zopitty Bob Bop-Bop feels really horrible about his performance," said Chicago head coach Uncle Bob Masterson, but his remarks fell on deaf ears since deadline-conscious reporters could not wait for Masterson to complete his rookie guard's name.

Had they stayed, they would have heard the coach wonder aloud about flipping the guard positions for Game 2 in Chicago, which is now a do-or-die affair for the Gale.

Houston's All-MBA guards too much for River Dogs

Houston 68, Sacramento 53

HOUSTON--The first-team All-MBA guard combination of Hall of Famer Hrundi V. Bakshi and Ching-Chong Chung overwhelmed the visiting Sacramento River Dogs and the highly-favored Houston Iguanas won Game 1 of the Season 34 playoffs 68-53.
But although Bakshi and Chung tied for high point honors in the game with 22 each, the MVP of the Game honor went to guard Simar Singh of Sacramento, who registered the first triple-double of his career with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, adding a steal in the process.
The best of three series could conclude as early as the next game, which will be played in Sacramento. The R-Dogs will be getting their best player, forward Alejandro Lemieux, back from injury. But it's doubtful this will help much.

Note: Due to a non-working scanner, we are not currently able to provide MBA fans with playoff score sheets.

Position Rankings for Season 34

Season 34 Summary and Post-Season Preview

SEASON 34 POST-SEASON PREVIEW

Houston Iguanas (9-1) vs. Sacramento River Dogs (6-4)

After finishing runner-up in the finals in Season 33, the Houston Iguanas returned their entire starting unit and took over as the class of the MBA in Season 34.
The 9-1 mark ties the Houston franchise's best regular season record, attained only one other time in Season 26. But that 9-1 season did not result in a championship, so one has to go back all the way to Season 12 for the last time the Iguanas brought home the big trophy.
Houston has titles in Season 1, Season 10 and Season 12 and appears more ready than ever to add another.
Consider the following:
* They were the highest scoring MBA team by almost 10 points per game (80.8 ppg to 72.1 for Charleston).
* They had the stingiest defense in the East, allowing just 63.2 points per game...second only to Oklahoma City's 62.6. But it must be noted that the Lariats did not face the same high level of division competition as did Houston.
* Four teams averaged over 23 rebounds per game, and Houston was one of them.
* They boast the league MVP Hrundi V. Bakshi, who was the MBA's top scorer and 3-point shooter.
* They boast the first same-team All-MBA guard combination of Bakshi and Ching-Chong Chung since Season 13, when Hall of Famers Uncle Bob Masterson and Stu Nod of Philadelphia became the first such historic combo in league history.
* The Iguanas also became just the second team in league history to place as many as three of its members on the All-MBA team. Joining Bakshi and Chung in this year's storied group is third-season center Sanjay Patel. The last time a trio from one team made All-MBA together was in Season 5 when Philadelphia placed future Hall of Famers Uncle Bob Masterson, center Alex Pal and forward Rowdy Ron Clutch.
* This season, Houston led the league in shooting percentage (58.7 percent) 3-pointers made (55), 3-point shooting percentage (48.7 percent), and team free throws made (77).
* Houston was the only team in the MBA to go the entire season without a player fouling out of a game.

The Sacramento River Dogs are easily the surprise team of the playoff squads. Picked in a preseason poll by both prognosticators to finish last in their division, the R-Dogs stayed strong all season long to somehow finish second in the West. This marks the third time they have made the playoffs in the past four seasons, but they have never been bigger underdogs than this season.
Only the lowly Dallas Demons scored fewer points per game than did Sacramento, which scored at a 61.6 per game clip while yielding 64.4. That's right...although their defense was solid, they still gave up more points on the season than they scored.
The franchise has never won a title and has bowed out of the last three playoff appearances without getting a victory.
If the picture is not dire enouch, consider that they will enter Game 1 of the series against powerful Houston without their top player and leading scorer Alejandro Lemieux, who will miss the first contest due to injury.

Favorite in opening series: Houston, 2 games to 0, with Sacramento being a 30 to 1 shot to pull off the upset.


Chicago Gale (5-5) vs. Oklahoma City Lariats (7-3)

The Chicago Gale return to the MBA playoffs for the first time since Season 17. That's half the length of the league's existence. But, believe it or not, among this quartet of championship contenders, the Gale's Season 16 title is the most recent of the bunch. Their other championship was in Season 2.
Chicago is the league's top rebounding team (23.6 per game) and its best free throw shooting team at 83.7 percent. They are the youngest team in the MBA and the only team to beat Houston in the regular season. Tempered by surviving the rugged Eastern Division, the Gale enters the playoffs with a three-game win streak, and overcame the loss of their best performer, forward Nobby Nabob, while making the miracle push from 2-5 to 5-5.
The bad news is that no MBA team has ever won a championship when finishing with five wins or less.

The Lariats of Oklahoma City posted their best season and first first-place finish since Hall of Fame center Diamond Dallas Paige led them to a 10-0 mark in Season 18. They did not win the title that year (thanks to Paige's injury in the playoffs) and have never won a title. The last time they made the playoffs was Season 27.
But like Chicago, their first-round opponent, Oklahoma City comes into the post-season riding a three-game winning streak. They also boast the best defensive average in the league.
The Lariats have good, young forwards and a pair of experienced guards in Walt White and Lemon Jell-o. They will, unfortunately, once again be without the services of their center, the league's oldest player (17 seasons) Achilles Heel, who was hurt for the final three games of the regular season and will miss the first four of the playoffs.
Chicago and Oklahoma City met once in the regular season for a division crossover game and that spirited and hard-fought affair saw the Lariats emerge victorious 76-72, with gunners Didger A'doo of Chicago and Walt White of Oklahoma City sharing MVP of the Game honors.
The Lariats and the Gale were both beneficiaries of the two top players in the Season 34 draft, as Chicago grabbed rookie guard Beezow Bop-Bop and Oklahoma City lured Lemon Jell-o to its squad. Both solidified their respective lineups on the way to playoff appearances.
One final note: Jell-o will be opposing his fraternal twin Orange Jell-o, a starting forward on Chicago's team. It is the first time such a matchup has occurred.

Favorite in opening series: none This one is a 50-50 proposition that promises to go the entire three games.