Sunday, July 30, 2017

Season 39 Post-Season Preview

SEMIFINALS: Dallas (6-4) vs. Milwaukee (7-3)
The caliber of these teams makes this semi match-up as good as many finals have ever been. Kind of a toss-up, but Milwaukee gets the favorite nod.

The teams met in the regular season one time with the Greyhounds overcoming a 10-point first quarter to win 62-57. Lemon Jell-o of Dallas was Player of the Game, harassing Hall of Famer Hrundi V. Bakshi of Milwaukee into 4 steals.

The Greyhounds, still the MBA team with the second-most titles, make their first playoff appearance since Season 32, breaking the longest current post-season drought. They have captured seven championships, but the last came in Season 18, which is the longest time without a title among the Final Four.

Dallas was the overwhelming favorite to win the West before the season began, but had to struggle to make it back to the playoffs. They are the only repeater from last season's Final Four.

The Demons are the league's most dominant team on the boards in the MBA, by far. They killed Milwaukee in that department during their cross-over meeting, 27-18, but still lost the game.

Dallas has three titles to its name, the last coming in Season 28.

One tidbit to remember...no team has won an MBA championship having won less than seven regular season games since Season 9. That's 30 seasons ago.





THE OTHER SEMIFINALS: Charleston (6-4) vs. San Jose (7-3)
Charleston has the most All-MBA players in the post-season, with J.J. Gargantuan and B. Quiet, and their 6-4 record belies the addition of Beezow Bop-Bop, who returns to the starting lineup after missing 30 percent of the regular campaign due to injury.

Although San Jose won their division, they are the underdogs here, and the longest shot to win it all.

Even without Bop-Bop at season's end, the Mountaineers led the league in shooting percentage, filling it up at a 60.3 percent clip.

The Fighting Amigos held teams to 69.1 points per game, second in the MBA and best among the Final Four teams. They also led the league in free throw percentage, shooting 81.7 percent.

San Jose has won one championship, in Season 25.

Charleston has three championships, the last coming in Season 36, which is the most recent title among the four teams still in the running. Bop-Bop led the team to glory that post-season and won Playoff MVP.






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