PHOBIA OUTLASTS GRITTY GUARDS
MILWAUKEE -- Shooting a blistering 71.4 percent as a team, the Philadelphia Phobia (now 4-1) withstood a 44-point barrage by Milwaukee's guards to capture a 78-72 road win and sweep the season series.
The Greyhounds are now 2-3.
Led by Famichiki Whiskey, the home team Greyhounds closed an 11-point gap to just 3 points at the 7 time unit mark, only to have substitute Philadelphia guard Sweet Sweety Dee bury his third trey of the game on the next time unit to seal the deal.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
28 GVP...It's highly unusual for a losing team to get two POGs in the same contest, but its difficult to deny Milwaukee guards VICIOUS HICK and FAMICHIKI WHISKEY their just rewards. Hick, the Hall of Fame point guard, scored 21 points on 7 of 11 shooting, going 6 for 8 from deep while tying for team high in rebounds with 5 and adding a pair of assists. He was 1 for 1 from the foul line. This was his first POG this season and upped his scoring average to 18 points per game, good for fourth in the league.
Meanwhile, Whiskey led all scorers with 23 points, also tying for team-best in boards with 5. The fouryth-year shooting guard was 8 for 21 from the floor, connecting on 3 of 7 from long range and going 4 for 5 from the foul lline. Like his running mate at guard, Whiskey is also averaging 18 points per game, giving Milwaukee two players in the top 5 in scoring.
Other 20-plus GVP performers
24 GVP...Philadelphia center Blob Dylan...13 points...6 rebounds...2 assists...2 steals...1 block.
23 GVP...Philadelphia point guard Tut Ankhamun...18 points...2 rebounds...2 assists...1 steal.
23 GVP...Philadelphia forward Leonard Pinth Garnel...12 points...5 assists...4 rebounds...1 steal...1 block.
MBA Standings … Season 59
EAST DIVISION
PHILADELPHIA………4-1
DALLAS………………4-1
MILWAUKEE………..2-3
CHARLESTON……….1-4
OKLAHOMA
CITY….0-4
WEST DIVISION
LOS
ANGELES….4-0
SAN
JOSE…………3-1
SEATTLE………….2-2
GILLETTE…………1-3
SACRAMENTO…1-3
NEXT UP: It’s Gillette at Seattle in the next contest, as the Stampede
gets ready to hunt down second-place San Jose. But then again an upset win by
The Humps could move them past the Stampede in the West standings.
BONUS: Ten MBA observations (made prior to this Featured Game)
1)The league has gone defensive thus far in Season 59, with three teams (Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Jose) currently holding opponents under 70 points per game. Last season only the champions from Philadelphia turned that trick. San Jose is the real puzzle. Last season they were dead last on D, yielding a sieve-like 85.8 points per game. The lineup is the same this season with the exception of rookie forward Waialua Blobtop who took the place of Eddie "the Milkman" Creamer.
2) As one might expect, the increased defense has left the league without even one team scoring at 80 points per game. Last season, three teams turned the trick.
3) Five teams are scoring less than 70 points per game...only Charleston did that last season.
4) Two of those five low-scoring teams, San Jose and Philadelphia, are currently holding playoff positions.
5) The Rookie of the Year race right now looks like this:
Guard Shelly Bogturtle of Oklahoma City ... 24.6 GVP
Guard Braddah Wayne of Los Angeles...21.7 GVP
Forward Waialua Blobtop of San Jose...18.4 GVP
6) The MVP race right now looks like this:
Forward Leonard Pinth Garnel of Philadelphia...33.1 MVP pts for defending MVP
Guard Pinky Toe of Los Angeles...31.6 MVP pts
Hall of Fame guard Juzan Djinn of Dallas...29.2 MVP pts
7) Dallas, always in the hunt, is tied for the best record in the East despite it putrid 14 rebounds per game, which is last in the league. The next worst team is Sacramento at 18.5.
8) In this defensive season, five players have already scored 30 or more points in one game, and we haven't quite hit the halfway mark yet. In all of last season, only 6 players reached the 30 or more mark in a game.
9) There were 9 barn-burners all of last season (games won by 3 points or less or overtime games). This season we have already had 8.
10) The West is ahead of the East in cross-over wins for the first time in memory...3 to 1. Let's see if that holds up.
