LARIATS LEAVE NO DOUBT IN WINNING FIRST TITLE
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The haunting playoff injuries that kept dominant Oklahoma City teams of the past from hoisting a championship banner were exorcised here tonight, as the home team Lariats, this time aided by an injury, won it all with elan.
When point guard Walt White, once an all MBA guard and league's leading scorer, went down to injury in Game 3 and was forced to the bench for the next contest, Coach Benny Gumm looked at the meager cut pile offerings, literally rolled the dice, and plucked the much-maligned Boo Radley as White's replacement. Nobody had any idea at the time what a genius move that it was.
From that point on, a once-close Finals series became all Oklahoma City.
Radley, always an excellent defender, put the clamps on MBA MVP and leading scorer Didger A'doo, and the man who had scored 25, 27 and 18 points in the first three games to give his team a 2-1 series lead, was held to 11 and 13 in the final two games. Radley turned out to be just what the doctor prescribed for the league's best defense. After Chicago kicked off the finals with 82 points, the Lariats tightened the noose on their opponents offense game by game, yielding 65, then 63, then 54 and finally just 51 points on their way to the championship.
The Lariats were led in the championship contest by their two stars, Max Payne and Lemon Jell-o. Payne was the MVP of the Game with a game-high 22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, 1 steal and 1 assist. Lemon Jell-o had 20 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and an assist.
On Top of it all, Max Payne, in gaining his championship ring, became the 38th member of the MBA Hall of Fame and the fourth active member of the Hallowed Hall in the league.
NEXT UP: Naming the Playoff MVP and Playoff Statistics.
No comments:
Post a Comment