Season 44 at the All Star Game Break

RETIREE FACTOIDS
-- There are 19 retirees after Season 44 is complete, meaning the league will be losing three players overall...six of those retirees are starters

-- Among the retirees are Bob Kittle, who was the point guard for Seattle as a rookie when they won their one and only title. He is the last active member of that championship squad.

-- Three teams had no retirements: Charleston, Dallas and Philadelphia...all powers in the East.

-- Ugatta Noluvfer Spikie, the 7-1 center and brother of Hall of Fame center Ama Spikie, will retire after starting all eight of his active seasons for Milwaukee. He is currently sporting the longest active consecutive game streak...now at 75. Unlike his brother, who acquired enough honors to gain Hall of Fame entry, this bigger Spikie has no honors on his card. None.

-- Steve Carter, the 6-6 shooting guard for Los Angeles is retiring after 16 MBA seasons. He is currently the oldest active player in the MBA and is tied for 9th place all time for most seasons in the league. Carter currently has 1,623 points scored in his MBA regular season career, which is currently the eighth most points ever accumulated by one player. He is just 25 points behind Naf Naf for 7th place all time in points scored.

-- Top honorees among those announcing their retirements are:
Pippi Pippistrelli, San Jose 8 honors
Bang-Bang Reiner, Chicago 6 honors
Dayshotta Leo, San Jose 5 honors
Steve Carter, Los Angeles 5 honors
Bill Cull, Chicago 5 honors
Jesus Moron Joseph, San Jose 4 honors
YourMajesty Lumpkins, San Jose 3 honors

-- The San Jose Fighting Amigos, with starting guards Dayshotta Leo and YourMajesty Lumpkins and number one guard off the bench Jesus Moron Joseph as well as longtime superb center, Pippi Pippistrelli (now a back-up for All-MBA pivot Hunk R. Down) was hit the the hardest by retirements. Beginning with Pippistrelli's Rookie of the Year season in Season 38, with Leo and Lumpkins joining the team shortly thereafter, San Jose has never experienced a losing season. They made the playoffs three times, were division champs twice and made the finals last season.

-- The Chicago Gale was hit the second-hardest, not only losing All-MBA forward Bang-Bang Reiner, but his back-up, also a one-time All-MBA forward and one of the most prolific scoring forwards ever, Bill Cull.



ALL STAR TEAMS FACTOIDS
-- Three rookies made the All Star Game this season, all three in the East Division.

-- The entire front court of the first-place Sacramento River Dogs will start for the West Division.

-- Fifth-season players who were all part of the the Rookies Class of Season 40, account for the most All Stars.

-- Just three players who accumulated an average of 20 GVP did not make the All Star teams...all are forwards...Peter Pizza of Oklahoma City, Al A. Orden of Dallas and Ape Con Myth of Milwaukee. Seven forwards in the East had 20-plus GVP averages, making that the position with the toughest competition to make the All Star team.

-- Amazingly, Chicago is one of five teams to place three players on the All Star Team. They did so without winning a game thus far.

-- Charleston center J.J. Gargantuan is the most veteran All Star Game player this season, having made his seventh contest in as many seasons. That is tied for 8th place for most All Star Game appearances. Baba Brinkman of Milwaukee was named to his 6th team...tied for 20th all time.

-- 10 members of the this year's team were members of last year's teams.

-- There are six first-timers.



With his selection to his seventh consecutive All Star Game, Charleston center J.J. Gargantuan has accumulated the necessary 10 lifetime honors to become a member of the MBA Hall of Fame. He is currently the only active member of the Hall.

--He is the 48th member of the Hall.

--He is the 11th center to earn Hall of Fame status and is currently tied for 28th place on the All-Time player list. The other centers, and their current ranking are: Max Payne (3rd), Diamond Dallas Paige (12th), Jonny Cocakroo (12th), Bill Rustler (21st), Rip Slamjam (21st), Tom Kondla (23rd), J.J. Gargantuan (28th), Bart Pitbull (28th), Alex Pal (28th), Mable Reed (37th), Ama Spikie (37th)

--Gargantuan is the eighth player who played primarily for Charleston to earn the Hall of Fame distinction. The others are: Center Jonny Cockaroo, Center Bill Rustler, Guard Beezow Bop-Bop, Guard Lemon Jell-o, Forward Bub Wright, Guard Silo Chamberlin and Guard Benny Gumm.

Final Note: The Seattle Stampede has announced that it will replace coach Neville Chamberlin, who has been at the helm for 11 seasons, with first-time coach Kingsford Briquettes. Chamberlin presided over four playoff teams, including Seattle's lone championship team of Season 37. Big things were expected from Seattle this season due to their accumulation of five draft picks. But they finished the first half 1-4.

Season 44 Featured Game No. 5...Charleston at Philadelphia

Charleston 66, Philadelphia 64
AMAZING MOUNTAINEERS STUN PHILADELPHIA
Philadelphia -- Guard Cat Timol of the upstart Charleston Mountaineers hit two free throws after the final buzzer sounded to give his still-undefeated team a staggering 66-64 victory in a thrill-packed road win.

Charleston is now 5-0 going into the All Star Game break, while the seemingly invincible Philadelphia Phobia have dropped two in a row for a 3-2 record.

The plucky Mountaineers, picked by nobody to even earn a playoff berth, won this tight contest despite losing their top scorer, rookie Frog Morton, to injury in the second quarter. Charleston was ahead 24-22 at the time. The injury will play havoc with Morton's 18.5 scoring average and may keep him from the All Star Game team, but he will not miss a regular season contest. It was a one-game injury, which the All Star Game takes care of.

Charleston never missed a beat in Morton's absence, leading 38-30 at the half. But in the third quarter, the Phobia asserted its defensive will and took a 3-point lead into the final stanza.

Here's how the last part of the game went (6 lead changes, 2 tied in last 30 time units):

-- 55-54 Charl. as J.J. Gargantuan hit 1 of 2 free throws...30 left
-- 56-55 Phil. as Poodle "Stix" Jackson tips in a missed trey by Colquitt Croix
-- 57-56 Charl. as Shwayze scores down low on a feed by Cat Timol
-- 58-57 Phil. as Croix hits a medium jumper on an out of bounds play
-- 59-58 Charl. Shwayze hits a short jumper on a pass from Red Reparee
-- Sloppy Dollop misses a short jumper and Jackson misses the tip-in for Philly, Shwayze rebounds for Charleston...18 left
-- Gargantuan of Charleston called for a charge on Carga Larga.
-- 60-59 Phil. as Jackson hits a short jumper on a pass from Dollop...14 left
-- 62-60 Charl. as forward Flip Testerton hits a humongous trey, his third of the game in as many tries...13 left
-- 62-62 Tie as Dollop connects on a medium jumper on a pass from Croix...11 left
-- Jackson fouls for Philly
-- Zagobia fouls Timol
-- 64-62 Charl. Timol makes both ends of a 1 on 1...9 left
-- 64-64 Tie as Dollop scores down low on a pass from Larga for Philly...7 left
-- Timol's good medium jumper for Charleston is force-missed by Zagobia, who then grabs the rebound. Philly ball with 4 left.
-- Dollop misses a short jumper for Philly and Gargantuan grabs the board for Charleston with 2 left.
-- Croix ties up Reparee for a jump ball with 1 time unit remaining and the score tied 64-64.
-- Reparee wins the jump for Charleston, Timol takes a wayward trey that is off, but Zagobia fouls him with no time remaining. Two free throws.
-- 66-64 Charl. Needing just one free throw to win, Timol hits them both and Charleston has its upset road win.

PLAYER OF GAME
Having the best season of his five-year career, small forward FLIP TESTERTON of Charleston was again outstanding for the victors in this triumph. The 6-5 jumping jack led all scorers with 21 points, pulled down 6 rebounds, had 1 assist and 1 blocked shot. His opposite, Wawa Wewa, could not keep up with Testerton. Wewa was thoroughly out-played, scoring just 5 points and fouling out on the first time unit of the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Testerton, in his first year with Charleston, was 8 for 9 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from deep, three slam dunks and 2 for 3 from the foul line. He's about to make the first All Star team of his career.

Other 20-plus GVP performers
-- Charleston two-guard Cat Timol, pulled from the cut pile this season, has been steady and important in the Mountaineers' 5-0 run. In this game the 5-10 Timol dominated the 6-4 Akbar Zagobia who was guarding him, shutting out Zagobia and fouling him out on the final play of the game. Timol scored 16 points, had 3 rebounds and blocked a game-high 3 shots. He was 6-for-6 from the foul line, including 4 big ones down the stretch that included the game winners.

-- Soon-to-be Hall of Fame center J.J. Gargantuan dominated Carga Larga in the post, scoring 15 points and ripping down a game-high 9 rebounds while blocking 1 shot.

-- Philly point guard Colquitt Croix poured in 18 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, had a team-high 3 assists and tied for game-high in steals with 2 while giving Red Reparee a working over defensively.

-- After Frog Morton was injured and out of the game, Philly power forward Sloppy Dollop went after his weaker defensive replacement, Shwayze. The fifth-year forward scored a team-high 19 points, grabbed 2 rebounds, dished 2 assists, blocked a team-high 2 shots and tied for game-high in steals with 2.

NEXT UP: Dallas (3-1) looks to take over second place from Philadelphia as it travels to Milwaukee (1-3), a team it just got done crushing 109-77.

Featured Game No. 4, Season 44...Los Angeles at Philadelphia

L.A. STARTS STRONG, UPENDS THE BIG ONE 77-60
PHILADELPHIA -- A 15-4 opening game run by the visiting Big One set the stage for Season 44's biggest upset thus far, as Los Angeles shocked the home team Phobia 77-60 to pull Philly from the ranks of the unbeaten.

The win was the first cross-over victory for the West this season and makes Los Angeles 3-1 on the year. Philadelphia drops to 3-1 and into second place in the East behind Charleston, the only unbeaten team in the MBA at 4-0.

Los Angeles hit its first eight shots to open the game, going 9 for 11 from the floor in the opening quarter. With Philly constantly fouling, 9 of the 28 L.A. points came from the foul line. Los Angeles, the best rebounding team in the league, led 8-2 in that category after one.

After the first quarter, The Big One led by as many as 25 points in the second quarter before Philly began settling down. Truth be told, Philadelphia played L.A. to a virtual tie in the last three quarters. But the first quarter did them in, ending their 3-game win streak.

PLAYER OF GAME
He came into this game 0 for 11 from 3-point range, but Los Angeles' veteran forward BABA BRINKMAN popped in three long ones in five attempts in this upset on the way to earning his first POG this season. The seventh-year forward was 8 for 10 from the floor, his only misses being treys, on the way to a game-high 21 points. The 6-6 Brinkman also hit the boards hard, snaring a game-high 7 rebounds in the huge victory. He was 2 of 3 from the foul stripe.

Other 20-plus GVP performers
-- Los Angeles point guard Dr. Marcus Brody registered a 19-point outing against his fellow All-MBA opponent of last season, Colquitt Croix. Three of those were 3-pointers. Brody, in his second season, also led his team in assists with 4, registered his team's only steal and pulled down 1 rebound.

-- The ageless one, 16-season veteran guard Steve Carter, scored 14 points while pulling down 6 boards to help The Big One dominate the glass.

-- Third-year L.A. center Chutcher Mouthchair scored 11 points, grabbed 5 boards, had 1 assist and swatted away a game-high 3 blocked shots in the win.

-- Only small forward Wawa Wewa reached the 20 GVP mark for the losing Phobia. Wewa scored 12 points, tied for team-high in rebounds with 6 and distributed 3 assists.

WEST STANDINGS(no changes in positions since last bracket)
1st -- Sacramento 3-1 (division wins tie-breaker)
2nd -- Los Angeles 3-1
3rd -- San Jose 2-2
4th -- Seattle 1-3
Last -- Oklahoma City 0-4

EAST STANDINGS
1st -- Charleston 4-0 (previously 2nd)
2nd -- Philadelphia 3-1 (previously 1st)(division wins tie-breaker)
3rd -- Dallas 3-1
4th -- Milwaukee 1-3
Last -- Chicago 0-4

Upcoming bracket, No. 5, prior to All Star Game break
-- Seattle at Sacramento...with the River Dogs looking to hold first place headed into the halfway mark of the season

-- San Jose at Los Angeles in a giant showdown game in the West between top playoff contenders. A win by the Amigos switches positions with L.A.

-- FEATURED GAME: Charleston at Philadelphia...the upset by Los Angeles did away with a battle of undefeated clubs, but a win by the Phobia puts them right back into first place in the East and could drop Charleston from first to third.

-- Dallas at Milwaukee in the second straight game between these two. Dallas rang up 109 points in the previous game and looks to put itself in playoff position heading into the break.

-- Oklahoma City at Chicago in the last cross-over of the first half. The All Star Game break is preceded by a match between the league's two win-less teams. There are no ties and Chicago is favored.