Great 8 backups:
PG:
John Paul Golong(23476013),
Maine Claws:
Golong is a rookie, but his agent will definitely be seeking a pay raise for him next season. Although his upside is somewhat limited and he can't defend well or rebound at all, he has put up remarkable stats for a player of his position. He came out of a weak draft class, so expectations were low, but even so the Claws front office again confounded the experts by taking Golong with 'better' players like Johnny Crockett still on the board. Especially with a young point guard like Pagan on the roster and a definite need at backup SF, the selection of Golong had fans and experts alike scratching their heads in bewilderment. However, the rookie performed very well in his opportunities this season, splitting time with Pagan at PG and averaging 15.9 ppg on 50.5% shooting (35.7% from three) and 8.1 assists (which would be good for second in the league behind only Pagan). The team hopes he can use this all-star selection as a confidence-builder to improve and become a solid contributor to this franchise for a long time to come.
SG: Theo Briscoe
(21603292), V Squad:
Briscoe averaged 20.4 ppg, earning him the selection here. However, he took a lot of shots, and his other stats were otherwise unremarkable, which is why the fans overwhelmingly voted Belhadj the starter.
SF: Mario Alberto Melonar
(19368435), V Squad:
Melonar had very pedestrian stats, but makes it onto the roster because the Hustling Hawks traded superstar Anaximandros Lekkas away before the all-star voting. Lekkas was averaging 32.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg, and 4.2 apg before he was traded. His absence opens up a spot for Melonar.
PF: Wade Campbell
(25541174), Grey Huskies:
Somewhere every other power forward in the Great 8 is cursing the ignorant fans/sobbing their hearts out/drinking themselves into a stupor over this astonishing selection. Campbell is objectively one of the worst players in the league, plays for a horrible team, has only played 7 games, and put up mediocre numbers (12.1 ppg, 13.1 rpg, 5.6 apg). Those numbers are decent, but not great, and furthermore they are inflated by being on such a bad team.
C:
Mallory Montel (19512002),
Maine Claws:
Oh how quickly the fans forget. Montel was the Claws' backup center for most of the season, a role in which he averaged 9.5 ppg and 9.3 rpg in 25 mpg. Gilbert Rutledge, the starting center, was averaging 13.4 ppg on 60.6% from the field and was playing exceptionally well offensively. Before he got injured, he was showing the ability to get open down low in the half-court offense and run the floor in transition for several nice feeds from Pagan for powerful dunks, and was well on his way to an all-star berth. Then he got hurt, missed 4 games, and in the first game after he goes down Montel replaces him and scores 19 points on 9-12 shooting, including the go-ahead basket with two seconds left in a thrilling 96-95 victory. Since then, the fans' loyalty switched, and Montel was voted into the all-star game instead of the probably more deserving Rutledge. Oh well that's how the story goes.
Last edited by Trueborn at 03/26/2012 16:36:08