PLAYOFF FACTS
**All 4 playoff teams have one All-MBA player...Dallas has the MVP
**Two of the 4 playoff teams from last season have returned...Sacramento and Dallas new to field since last season.
**Best offense in MBA was Dallas at 82.1 ppg...San Jose was second in league at 80.2 ppg...Philadelphia ranked third at 78.2 ppg...Sacramento sixth at 74.6
**Sacramento was first in defense at 65.7 ppg...Philadelphia was 3rd at 67.9 ppg...San Jose 5th at 73.7...Dallas 6th at 74.3
**Philadelphia boasted the best points differential at +10.3...Sacramento was second at +8.9...Dallas was fourth at +7.8...San Jose was fifth at +6.5
**Sacramento was second in rebounding with 22.2 rpg...San Jose was third with 21.8 rpg...Dallas was fourth with 20.9 rpg...Philadelphia was ninth with 19.0
SEMIFINALS...PHILADELPHIA VS. SAN JOSE
** Rematch of last season's Finals teams...Philadelphia bested San Jose 3 Games to 1
Defending champions from Philly have replaced star center Diss Reflexia with able-bodied Carga Larga and forward Poodle "Stix" Jackson with Wawa Wewa. They are probably a better team than the one that won it all last season.
Philadelphia led the league in assists with 15 per game, falling just short of the all-time record of 15.8 per game.
The Phobia boasts the best on-the-ball, smothering defense...getting a league-best 46 steals. They bother opponents all game long which usually translates into turnovers.
They have the only Hall of Fame player in the playoffs...Colquitt Croix...and he could be the difference.
This looks like the last round-up for the Fighting Amigos from San Jose, who will see both star guards retire following the post-season.
Rookie forward Cam Caldwell replaced Mike Hunt in the starting lineup this season and is considered an upgrade.
Of the four playoff teams, only San Jose has all five starters who finished the season averaging over 20 GVP per game.
If Philly is to be beat, San Jose likely has a better chance in the shorter semifinals portion of the playoffs, where only two wins are needed.
SEMIFINALS...SACRAMENTO VS. DALLAS
The River Dogs are making their first playoff appearance since Season 34...they are the only team in the MBA without a championship.
The division title by Sacramento is only the second in team history. The first was in Season 15 when they went 9-1 and advanced to their only Finals.
By making the playoffs this season, Sacramento warded off a dice roll to see if it would leave the city. (10 seasons without a playoff and you roll.)
Dallas is the best shooting team in the MBA at 61 percent, and the only team in the league to reach 60 percent. Plus, they are the only team in the league to boast two players in the top 5 in scoring.
Although the Demons are fourth best defensively among the playoff teams, they led the league in blocked shots by a wide margin.
Sacramento and Dallas are the only semifinal teams that met during the regular season, with the River Dogs edging the Demons 69-65, despite Chip Battoe's POG performance.
THE MBA's NEWEST HALL OF FAMER
Earmarked for stardom since coming into the MBA, Colquitt Croix of the Philadelphia Phobia became the 49th member of the Hall of Fame when he earned his third All-MBA star this season. He is just the sixth player in history to attain Hall of Fame status within the first five seasons of his career and joins J.J. Gargantuan of Charleston as one of two active Hall of Fame players.
Currently ranked as tied for 28th most honored player of all time, he will undoubtedly move up the ranks in the Hall of Fame book before his career is over.
Runner-up in the league in scoring five consecutive times, he has been the Phobia's best scorer since his rookie season while leading that team in assists three times. A free-throw shooter supreme, he's led the league twice and his team four times. And much to the chagrin of the rest of the MBA, Croix has added quickness and anticipation defensively to such an extent that he led the league in steals for the first time this season, more than doubling his previous total.
NEXT UP: Let the playoffs begin! San Jose at Philadelphia for Game 1 in the best of three semis.
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