Season 45 Playoff Summary

Season 45 MBA Finals...Game 3...Charleston at Los Angeles

Los Angeles 73, Charleston 53

BIG ONE WALTZES THROUGH CHARLESTON FOR TITLE

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Big One rocked the house with an easy 73-53 victory to secure the franchise's first West Coast championship. Four previous titles, in Seasons 1, 10, 12 and 34 were secured while the team was in Houston as the Iguanas. This championship came in the team's sixth campaign in L.A., having moved beginning with Season 40.

There are no original members remaining from that Season 40 squad as the team slowly rebuilt, eventually mixing a fine blend of youngsters and veterans. It was, however, touch and go as to whether they would stay in L.A., as the team finished in last place two seasons in a row in Seasons 41 and 42 before adding center Chutcher Mouthchair (Season 42) and Dr. Marcus Brody (Season 43), who turned things in the right direction.

It all came together this season as veterans Norman Conquest and Baba Brinkman were joined by the final piece of the puzzle, Sloppy Dollop, to make for a strong lineup that turned out to be the league's best defensively. 

Both Brinkman and Dollop played their final MBA games in this title-clincher, with Brinkman fouling out (some might say purposely) and getting a big ovation from the standing-room-only Hollywood crowd.

The Big One will be looking to replace those starting forwards, but first, they will gather at Brinkman's picnic table for a wild-ass celebration...no masks...since Covid-19 has little effect on note cards.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Capturing his third POG in fivegames since returning from injury, DR. MARCUS BRODY of Los Angeles is the unofficial hands-down winner of the Playoff MVP label. The third-season point guard dominated a good defender in Akbar Zagobia of Charleston, tying for game-high in points with 16 and leading his team in rebounds with 6. The 6-1 Brody also tied for most blocked shots with 2, adding 1 steal and 1 assist to his tally. He was just 4 for 11 from the floor in this game, but all 4 of his buckets were from 3-point range, where he was 4 for 10. Brody was 4 for 7 from the foul line.

Other 20-plus GVP performers

-- Fifth-year Los Angeles guard Norman Conquest helped keep this team afloat in the second half of the season with Brody lost to injury. He continued his more-than-just-solid play in this clincher, getting 14 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot.

-- Bowing out with a championship ring and nine awards on his card, Los Angeles star forward Baba Brinkman went out strong, tying for game-high in points with 16, grabbing 5 rebounds, stealing a game-high 2, getting 1 assist and blocking 1 shot.

-- Hall of Fame Charleston center J.J. Gargantuan, completing his eighth season, led his team in scoring with 15 points and tied for game-high in blocked shots with 2, pulling down 4 boards and getting 2 assists.

-- The little big man, Charleston forward Flip Testerton, pulled down a game-high 9 rebounds with his 6-5 frame, scoring 12 points and distributing 2 assists.

NEXT UP: Playoff stats. Congratulations to the Los Angeles Big One.

MBA Season 45 Finals Game 2...Los Angeles at Charleston

Los Angeles 83, Charleston 68
LOS ANGELES COASTS TO ANOTHER EASY WIN
CHARLESTON -- The Los Angeles Big One is now just one victory away from securing its first West Coast franchise championship after spanking the Charleston Mountaineers 83-68 to go 2-0 in the best of 5 Finals.

This was not quite the smashing punishment doled out by L.A. in its Game 1 triumph, but any doubt as to who would come out on top was erased early on. Big One center Chutcher Mouthchair led the early assault with an 11-point first quarter that sparked a 22-15 lead that was never threatened.

The jagged knife being thrust into the bosom of the already short-handed Charleston squad was twisted even more in the fourth quarter when the Mountaineers' acting point guard and top active scorer Cat Timol was injured for the remainder of the playoffs (7-game injury). This makes the fifth major injury suffered by Charleston this season. Timol will be replaced by lifetime cut pile guard Tom Gould.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Since Los Angeles point guard DR. MARCUS BRODY returned to the starting lineup in the second Semifinals game against Dallas, The Big One has a perfect 4-0 playoff record. He was aces again in Game 2 of the Finals, earning his second POG of the playoffs and setting himself up for the vaunted MVP of the Playoffs award. In this game, Brody thoroughly out-played Cat Timol, scoring a game-high 19 points on 9 of 14 shooting (1 for 2 from deep). the 6-1 third-year star tied for game-high with 5 rebounds and was the top assist man on his team with 3, adding 1 assist and 1 more block to his team-high playoff total of 8.

Other 20-plus GVP performers

-- The big guy in the middle for Los Angeles, 6-11 Chutcher Mouthchair, has rendered insignificant the usually potent defense of opposing Hall of Fame center J.J. Gargantuan. Mouthchair put up 17 points and made it look easy with an arresting display of circus moves and dunks. The rebounding machine tied for top honors there with 5, added 1 assist and tied for most blocked shots in the game with 2.

-- Los Angeles small forward Baba Brinkman scored 15 points, grabbed 2 boards, had 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot in the win.

-- Second-year, 6-9 power forward Frog Morton of Charleston scored 13 points, had 4 rebounds and 3 assists in the loss.

-- The other Charleston forward, Flip Testerton, led his team in scoring with 15 points and tied for top rebounding honors in the game with 5. He also blocked one shot. 

NEXT UP: Los Angeles at Charleston Game 3 in what's sure to be the close-out game of Season 45 and the sweep for the Big One. It will be the last MBA game for starting forwards Sloppy Dollop and Baba Brinkman of Los Angeles and guard Akbar Zagobia of Charleston. Zagobia will be forced to play the point in his final MBA appearance, something he has never done in his career. 

Let me know if you really want to play this one, Tyler. It's pretty anti-climatic. But if you want to I'll wait...just give me a day. But I could easily put Charleston out of its misery with another solo shot.

MBA SEASON 45 FINALS GAME 1 ... Charleston at Los Angeles

Los Angeles 91, Charleston 60
BIG ONE MAKES GIANT GAME 1 STATEMENT
LOS ANGELES -- The massacre started with the final time unit of a still-reasonably-close first half, when Los Angeles forward Baba Brinkman sank a desperation full-court shot. From that point on, the Big One's home crowd was treated to an orgiastic point differential of 40-20 on the way to an overwhelming 91-60 Game 1 Finals victory.

It was the fourth-largest decimation of an opponent in playoff history...the biggest being Charleston's 40 point defeat of Houston in the Season 8 playoffs.

Along the way, Los Angeles chucked up 70 shots in a regulation game, 26 of those being 3-point attempts.

The Big One also registered 10 steals, which was twice the number of Charleston assists. The 10 steals was just one theft shy of tying a Season 27 playoff mark set by Charleston in Season 27 against Oklahoma City.

Dr. Marcus Brody of Los Angeles, with 8 assists, had more assists than the entire Charleston team.

It is this reporter's humble opinion that even a healthy Lapiz Lapiz Boligrafo in the Charleston lineup could have made much of a difference. The Mountaineers, it was thought at the beginning of the Finals, could maybe eke out one win. That appears very dubious now.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Los Angeles guard NORMAN CONQUEST continued his brilliant playoff performances with a game-high 25-point Finals opener, while holding Akbar Zagobia to four points. Conquest was 9 for 16 (1 for 7 from deep) was thwarted a number of times by Zagobia or the point total would have been higher. He was also perfect from the foul line (6 for 6), grabbed 2 rebounds, dished 3 assists and swiped a trio of steals. He got his team off to an excellent start with an 11-point first quarter.

Other 20-plus GVP Performances
-- Fourth-year Los Angeles center Chutcher Mouthchair and his seemingly unstoppable moves around the hoop had little trouble getting buckets against Hall of Fame center J.J. Gargantuan. Six of Mouthchair's 7 field goals ended in thundering dunks as he amassed 14 points. The MBA's rebounding champion also tied for game-high rebounding honors with 6, and added 1 assist and 1 blocked shot.

-- L.A.'s power forward Sloppy Dollop, in search of his fourth championship ring before retiring, put together an excellent two-way game, scoring 16 points, tying for game-high in rebounds with 6, blocking 2 shots, getting 2 steals and dishing out 1 assist.

-- The other L.A. forward on the verge of retirment, Baba Brinkman, yakked up 13 3-point attempts, making 3 (one a desperation) and pretty much had no trouble dominating Flip Testerton of Charleston. The 8-year veteran tied for game-high in rebounds with 6 and swiped a game-high 4 steals.

-- Charleston point guard Cat Timol, playing out of position, scored just 9 points but despite his 5-10 stature, tied for game-high in rebounds with 6 while dishing out a team-best 4 assists. Timol also topped everyone in the game in blocked shots with 3.

-- Charleston forward Frog Morton helped keep his team within shouting distance in the first half, when he scored 17 of his team-high 19 points. The second-year man also grabbed 5 boards, had 1 assist and 1 blocked shot.

NEXT UP: The teams travel to Charleston for tomorrow night's game, which is the Mountaineers' best chance to steal a win and avoid a sweep.
Final Game Note: The win by Los Angeles gives these franchises 46 wins each in head-to-head competition, dating back to the Houston Iguana days.

Season 45 Playoffs...Semifinals Game 3...Dallas at Los Angeles

Los Angeles 109, Dallas 106 (Double Overtime)
BIG ONE TO FINALS WITH DOUBLE OVERTIME TRIUMPH
LOS ANGELES -- This was a madman game to beat all madman games, with the home team L.A. Big One frittering away a late 10 point lead, then winning in double overtime to advance to the MBA finals.

This high-scoring affair ended tied 94-94 after regulation, courtesy of a 3-pointer at the horn by Dallas guard Louie Subgum, only made possible by Hall of Fame forward Chip Battoe's blocked shot on Baba Brinkman of Los Angeles.

Then in overtime, trailing 102-100, Subgum delivered another bucket on a medium jumper to tie the score 102-102 with 6 ticks left. The wily vet then took a charge on Dr. Marcus Brody of L.A., giving Dallas the ball with 5 left and a chance to take the lead. Egg Yolk Carpaccio of Dallas missed a trey, Norman Conquest of Los Angeles rebounded. With time running down Conquest drove to the hoop, delivered a good bucket, but was force-missed by Bootlace Barnaby of Dallas. Battoe got the rebound, turned and heaved a desperation shot at the horn that just missed (2 4s and a 3).

Double overtime.

The second overtime started with a trey by Brinkman of L.A., and The Big One held that lead throughout. The finishing touch came with 5 ticks left, when L.A.'s Sloppy Dollop freed himself down low with a nice move and scored to make it 109-104 with 3 time units left. A bucket by Gotoo Grot ended the scoring for Dallas.

So the Los Angeles Big One find themselves in the MBA finals for the first time since moving to the West Coast in Season 40. They will be the heavy favorites and host to the Charleston Mountaineers in Game 1 of the best of 5.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Denied the Finals for the third year in a row, Hall of Fame Dallas forward CHIP "the Crip" BATTOE was superb in defeat, scoring a team-high 33 points, grabbing a game-high 6 rebounds and blocking a playoff-record 9 shots. Battoe was 16 for 25 from the floor, scoring from all four sectors of the court, including 1 for 2 from beyond the arc. His 9 blocked shots eclipsed the previous record of 8 blocks shared by J.D. Jedreat of Charleston in Season 8 and Dallas legend Max Payne in the team's last championship in Season 28.

Other 20-plus GVP Performances
-- It's safe to say that without Dr. Marcus Brody returning in Game 2 following an extended injury, Los Angeles would not be in the Finals. The third-year point guard followed his POG 25-point performance in his first game back with this brilliant 36-point high game effort. The 6-1 Brody smoked Dallas for 5 deep buckets, adding 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots.

-- Los Angeeles center Chutcher Mouthchair fought All-MBA center Gotoo Grot to a virtual standstill, matching his point total with 18, grabbing 4 boards and dishing 2 assists.

-- L.A. power forward Sloppy Dollop geared up his offense for a 19-point showing in this deciding contest while tying for game-high in assists with 5, grabbing 3 rebounds, registering 1 steal and blocking 1 shot. He dominated Carpaccio of Dallas.

-- Although he had his shot blocked by Battoe umpteen times and had a woeful shooting percentage for the game, Los Angeles small forward Baba Brinkman still scored 21 points, including 3 deep buckets, grabbed 4 rebounds, had 1 steal and blocked a team-high 3 shots.

-- 7-2 Dallas center Gotoo Grot was marvelous with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 blocked shot.

NEXT UP: Game 1 of the Season 45 MBA Finals...Charleston at Los Angeles.

Season 45 Semifinals Game 3...Charleston at Oklahoma City

Charleston 82, Oklahoma City 67
MOUNTAINEERS EARN FINALS WITH STRONG WIN
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Charleston Mountaineers finally looked like a playoff club with this convincing 82-67 defeat of the upstart Oklahoma City Lariats. The win earned them a 2-1 Semifinal record and the team's first Finals appearance in four campaigns. The last time they made it that far, they put an exclamation mark on the perfect Season 42 regular season run of 10-0 by winning it all.

This deciding game was the first time either participating team had even ventured into the 70s point-wise, with the other Charleston win a 61-47 yawner.

The final contest started very slowly but picked up considerably in the second quarter. The 4-point advantage held by Charleston at the half, ballooned to 16 points at one point in the third, courtesy of the hot shooting hands of Cat Timol and Frog Morton.

This will be the tenth Finals appearance for Charleston, with championships in five of the previous nine.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Since moving to point guard with the playoff-ending injury of top scorer Lapiz Lapiz Boligrafo, CAT TIMOL has produced two games in which he has led all scorers. In this Finals clincher, the 5-10 Timol destroyed rookie Flip Phelps to the tune of 21 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, dished 2 assists and blocked 1 shot. The fifth-year veteran was 8 of 10 from the field, pumping in 4 of 5 from downtown and getting 1 of 2 from the foul line.

Other 20-plus GVP performers
-- Retiring two guard Akbar Zagobia of Charleston was not quite ready to call it a career. The 6-4 Zagobia pulled down a game-high 8 rebounds, scored 10 points and delivered 2 assists.

-- Hall of Fame Charleston center J.J. Gargantuan rebounded from his poor Game 2 performance to net 17 points against the tough defense of Willie Carry McCoffee. Gargantuan added 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot.

-- Sophomore power forward Frog Morton of Charleston contributed 16 points, snagging 6 boards and blocking a game-high 2 shots.

-- Charleston small forward Flip Testerton followed his POG effort in Game 2 with 14 points, 7 rebounds, a game-high 2 steals and 1 assist.

-- Despite being hounded by the hulking Zagobia, 5-11 Oklahoma City shooting guard Hurricane Furrwizard scored a team-high 19 points, adding 1 assist.

-- All-MBA forward Anurag Dickshit ended his best season with 14 points, a team-high (tied) 5 rebounds and 1 assist.



NEXT UP: The Big One for the Big One and the Demons to see who advances to the Finals as the favorite to win it all in Season 45.

Season 45 Semifinals Game 2...Los Angeles at Dallas

Los Angeles 76, Dallas 65
Brody's return sparks Big One; series tied
DALLAS -- Dr. Marcus Brody celebrated his return to the Los Angeles lineup with a brilliant performance that spearheaded a 76-65 Big One road win, knotting up this Semifinal series and sending it to a sudden-death Game 3.

Brody and his running mate, Norman Conquest, combined for 45 points, as the L.A. visitors pulled away with a 25-8 second-quarter surge that they never came close to relinquishing.

The 6-1 point guard made sure the lead was protected, when, early in the third quarter he hit three consecutive treys on three offensive possessions for Los Angeles before sitting for a 33 time unit forced rest.

Although they lost, the home team Demons tied a long-standing playoff record for blocked shots by a team when they swatted away 14 enemy attempts. The record has stood alone since established in Season 6 by Charleston against Philadelphia.

The teams now return to the West Coast for the final, all-important contest.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
DR. MARCUS BRODY of Los Angeles made a storybook return from injury for the Big One, scoring a game-high 25 points and smoking his opposite, Bootlace Barnaby with 6 treys on 8 attempts. For the game, the third-year guard was 7 for 11 from the floor, with the first 6 of those 7 buckets coming from the great beyond. He was also 5 for 8 from the foul stripe, grabbed 3 rebounds, had 1 assist and led his team in blocked shots with 3.

Other 20-plus GVP performers
-- The other half of the outstanding guard tandem for Los Angeles, Norman Conquest, also dominated his man Bingo Bango, holding him to 9 points while stroking home 20 himself. Conquest also had 2 rebounds, topped his team in assists with 2 and had 1 steal.

-- Dallas big man Gotoo Grot scored 12 points, led the game in rebounds with 6, had 1 assist and 1 blocked shot in the loss.

-- 6-10 Dallas forward Egg Yolk Carpaccio did a little of everything for the Demons, scoring 11 points, pulling down 4 rebounds, getting 1 steal and blocking 3 shots. He also topped everyone in assists for the second game in a row, getting 4.

-- Hall of Fame Dallas forward Chip Battoe slapped away a game-high 7 shots (one shy of the playoff record) while scoring a team-high 15, adding 1 rebound and 1 assist.

NEXT UP: The deciding Semifinal Game 3 with Dave's teams Charleston and Oklahoma City on the Lariats' home court. Neither club has impressed so far in this series, but one is going to have to advance and be the punching bag against the winner of Dallas and Los Angeles. And who knows? The winner of this game could suddenly catch fire in the Finals.