FAMILIAR STAR GOES DOWN AGAIN TO INJURY
PHILADELPHIA -- The East Division All Stars, trailing for three quarters, finally caught, then bested their West counterparts 77-75 in this thrilling All Star contest in The City of Brotherly Love.
Chicago center Magnus Dragonhof drilled the only 3-point shot he took in the game to give the East their first lead, 68-67, with 38 time units remaining in the affair. From there, the two star teams traded leads until Milwaukee forward Baba Brinkman put the East up for good with a 3-point play with just 6 time units left, giving the East a 75-73 lead.
Oklahoma City wunderkind guard Naf Naf had a chance to tie it up one time unit later, but he missed two free throws. Sven Marquardt of Dallas then hit a short jumper with 4 left to increase the East lead to 4 with 4 TUs left, all but sealing the deal.
A Pippi Pippistrelli put-back following an offensive rebound for the West accounted for the final score.
Finally, a blocked shot by Blue "Rondo" Alaturk of San Jose on the final time unit gave the West a glimmer of hope, but time ran out without another shot being fired.
The East now holds a 25-15 edge in this event.
The injury
Last season he was hurt prior to the All Star Game. This season, veteran guard Ginger Vampire of Seattle re-injured that same right knee during the Star Contest.
In both cases, Seattle came into the All Star Game contending for a playoff berth. They were a surprising 4-1 and in first place last season, but finished short of the post-season without Vampire, who missed the remainder of the campaign. This season they are again befuddling the experts, who picked them for last, as they chugged into the break in second place at 3-2. Vampire, who had 10 points when he was felled in the second quarter, will be out the next three games, and will return for the final two if his mates can hold the fort in his absence. That will be a tall order in the West, where Seattle currently has the same record as San Jose and Los Angeles.
The Stampede picked up guard Verbal Kent from the league rejects to take Vampire's spot on the roster. Kent, a well-known hacker, last played for Charleston two seasons ago and shot a fine 61.5 percent while scoring 3.6 points off the pines. He can rebound, too. Although slow and slovenly, he has quick hands.
PLAYER OF GAME
Charleston guard BEEZOW BOP-BOP became the first player from that franchise to be named MVP of the All Star Game, and he did so coming off the bench. Bop-Bop led his team with 16 points, tied for game-high assist honors with 4, pulled down 3 rebounds and blocked 2 shots in the victory. Equally important was the defense he played on Naf Naf of the West.
Other 20-plus GVP performances
-- Magnus Dragonhof of Chicago helped the East cause with 15 points, while tying for team-high in rebounds with 6. He also blocked 2 shots and dished out 1 assist.
-- Five-year vet forward Sven Marquardt of Dallas, playing in his first All Star Game, gave the East 14 points, tied for team-high in rebounding with 6 and had 1 assist.
-- Last season's All Star Game MVP Naf Naf of Oklahoma City had 17 points at the half, but, hounded by Bop-Bop, finished with 19. That was still high in the game. He added 1 rebound.
-- High-flying rookie forward Sloppy Dollop of Oklahoma City showed off his multiple abilities, scoring 10 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, dishing 2 assists and blocking 3 shots.
NEXT UP; Tallying the All Star stats and updating the all-time records. Then the second half of Season 40 gets off to a bang with a pair of 1-4 teams clashing as Chicago travels to Philadelphia.
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