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Eggplantpopolopolous vs. Possum Chasers 95 - 96 (36141647)

This is probably the game of the round with the 5-1 Possum’s trying to keep up the top of the table against the 4-2 Eggplants. This game just shows how tight the South is this season. Expect Trinh, Halliday and Cieckan to be dangerous for the Possum’s as they are the only Possum players to poll a vote this season in the MVP count. With TT on 11, and the other two on 8 votes a piece.

An early injury in the only 7 minutes saw the Possum’s have to play the rest of the game without starting SG Elias Malfanti who had a quickfire 6 points in his 7 minutes. Possums had a 9 point lead at the end of their first quarter with the Eggplant’s after a good quarter from Halliday. The Eggplant’s couldn’t bridge the gap in the 2nd quarter with TT and Halliday combining for 29 for the half. Pisanu managed 15 for the Eggplant’s.

No matter what the Eggplant’s did they couldn’t gain any ground on the Possums trailing by 10 with the last quarter ahead of them. The Eggplant’s started the last lively which set up a tense last few minutes. They finally hit the lead with 46 seconds to go, only for TT to throw down an emphatic dunk to give the Possums back the lead. It was up to Pisanu to hit the winner. But missing the 3 from the top of the arc was a relief for PP and left the Possums sitting pretty up the top of the table.

3 votes – Possum Chasers – Trinh Trinh – 27 points 9 rebounds 5 assists 3 blocks

TT was the man they went to when they need the clutch play and he did what was required. He shot an impressive 13-16 for his 27.

2 votes – Eggplantpopolopolous – Nicola Pisanu – 24 points 10 assists

Nicola gets 2 despite missing the game winner. Just the usual effort from with a handy double double.

1 vote – Possum Chasers – Carl Halliday – 25 points 12 rebounds

Carl showed his potential again by shooting just over 50% and grabbing 12 rebounds at SF.

Gisborne Gladiators vs. Rampaging Marmots 94 - 72 (36141646)

You would have thought the division 2, 3-3 Marmots would be favourites heading into their match with the 2-4 Gladiators. However only sporting 7 players 4 hours prior to the match, barring any last purchases the Gladiators could be looking at their 3rd win of the season.

Gladiators had a high scoring 31-20 lead at the end of the first after a 10 pt qtr from young gun Addison knocking down 6 -8 from the line. Gladiators continued to have an even spread of scorers, but were led by Terroso’s 18 points. The surprise was 18yo rookie Yiorgos Mpatonetas shooting an incredible 27 first half points to have the Marmots within 3 at the half.

The Gladiators won the 3rd 19-16 but nothing was coming easy despite the Marmots being outgunned in 3 of the 5 positions. It appeared that the Marmots 18 y/o rookie ran out of steam in the last, remaining scoreless and ruining his shooting percentage. The Gladiators crushed their opponents in the last for what seemed like an easy 22 point win. But that wasn’t so for the most part.

3 votes – Gisborne Gladiators – Antonio Terroso – 26 points 23 rebounds 4 blocks

The Terror marshalled the court for 3 quarters with the impressive stats above. It has to be noted that not only did he shoot 10-16, he was given the responsibility to guard the Marmots monster Dan Gardner. Terroso did extremely well scoring more and rebounding more than Gardner, and also keeping him to 6-19 shooting.

2 votes – Gisborne Gladiators – Garrie Addison – 23 points 9 rebounds 5 assists 3 blocks

The G-Adder may be prominent in these votes in a couple of seasons time, but for now he had a nice night shooting 8-21 but keeping the opposition SF’s to 9.0 points per 100 shots rating. That’s what I call defense.

1 vote – Rampaging Marmots - Yiorgos Mpatonetas – 31 points 5 rebounds

With O’Daire and Gardner in the game for the Marmots you would expect that should a Marmot player get a vote it would be awarded to one of those two. However the young-gun 18 y/o SG for the Marmots kept them in it for 3 quarters before falling by the wayside in the last. Look out for this Greek in a couple seasons time.

TEAM LORDY vs. Mangoloids 74 - 62 (36141643)

With TEAM LORDY on a 4-2 record and the Mango’s on 3-3 this promises a tight one. Lordy the manager of TEAM LORDY stated prior to the match, ‘I am not confident about tonight’s game… Mangoloids is unpredictable’. Mangocango with be hoping that their diversity can break down the LORDY defense and outscore MVP leader Ross Underwood.

This turned out to be an interesting game. Mangoloids jumped out to a 15-24 start to lead LORDY into the first break. Luca Batini had a stellar 1st quarter with 11 points 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. Whereas MVP leader and point scoring machine Ross Underwood was kept to a lowly 1-9 shooting for 4 points. A small surge from LORDY saw them move to within 5 at the main break, despite Underwood still only having 10 points from 4-19 shooting. It was Marshall Granger leading LORDY with 13 from a more efficient 4-7 shooting. Batini was still rolling with 17 points 9 rebounds and 3 blocks at the half.

Ross looked a little more like his usual self in the 3rd as LORDY drew level 53 – 53. Ross had 19 at this stage while Granger was helpful with 17. Batini continued to hold the Mango’s together with 23 points 12 rebounds and 4 blocks with a quarter to go. A huge last quarter for LORDY saw them crush the Mango’s to walk away 12 point winners and in the playoff hunt.

3 votes – Mangoloids - Luca Batini – 23 points 12 rebounds 6 blocks

On a losing side Batini was the only valuable Mango player in the game, with 10-17 shooting. Those 6 blocks also say a whole heap about his defensive efforts. Great game. Not enough help.

2 votes – TEAM LORDY – Ross Underwood – 28 points 6 rebounds 5 assists

Ross may lead the MVP but he threw bricks up all night in this game shooting a horrendous 10-41. But he did seem to spur his team into action in the second half. The 6 rebounds and 5 assists means he was pretty valuable despite throwing enough bricks to build an outhouse.

1 vote – TEAM LORDY - Orest Wsól – 12 points 17 rebounds

It was hard to split Wsol and his teammate Granger stat-wise, but what gets the Pole the 1 vote is that he was able to contain his opponent better than Granger who let Batini run rampant.

South MVP Leaderboard (after 7 rounds)

Another week and another week of MVP votes handed out. Underwood had one of his rare slip-up only picking up 2 votes vs Mangoloids. TT grabbing the 3 in their thriller with Eggplant's moves him ever closer, looking for his second consecutive South title. Sudzinski's 2 keeps him on pace with Underwood. While wins for the Gladiators and Rangas saw their men Terroso and Wall move into a top 5 position. There is still alot of basketball to be played ladies and gentleman, but keep an eye on the South in the coming weeks as the competition for the finals spots heat up!

16 votes
Ross Underwood (TL)

14 votes
Trinh Trinh (PC)

11 votes
Jacek Sudzinski (BST)

9 votes
António Terroso (GIS)
Carl Halliday (PC)
Gabriel Wall (MAD)

8 votes
Barry Ó Daire (RM)
Luca Cieckan (PC)
Mamerto Méndez (ALL)
Nicola Pisanu (EGG)

7 votes
Kazimierz Reda (YPB)
Luke McCaskie (MAN)
Phillip Gartmayer (HAX)
Sam Clune (RM)

6 votes
Albanos Timpani (EGG)
Ignacio Carlos Napolitano (YPB)
Tuomas Uusimäki (ALL)

5 votes
Gniewosz Sznajder (GIS)
Igor Zakharov (GIS)
Luca Batini (MAN)
Melchor Manzanera (HAX)
Paco Garrido (HAX)

4 votes
Dan Gardner (RM)
Igotz Arranz (EGG)
Jasper Bains (MAN)
Medartas Tvarijanavicius (WHO)
Orest Wsól (TL)

3 votes
Andrea Runcio (BST)
Antonio Pizzolato (ALL)
Francesc Gómez (YPB)
Gorka Baztarrika (EGG)
Ignacio Santana (WHO)
Maoz Chaliba (YPB)
Matej Kropácek (YPB)
Mohd Syamsuri bin Mat Noor (ALL)
Neil Tambyraja (BST)
Sofronio Mabutol (MAN)
Wilhelm Reichensperger (TL)

2 votes
Albert Sala (YPB)
Cristiano Schiavio (MAD)
Dewey Bowers (WHO)
Duilio Pasquino (ALL)
Emílio Diniz Jr (YPB)
Garrie Addison (GIS)
Marshall Granger (TL)
Romuald Palierne (ALL)


1 vote
Dong Hanping (BST)
Eder Arbizu (MAN)
Edo Volavc (ALL)
Hélder Amatriain (HAX)
Kerry Gibney (BST)
Sima Kaijian (HAX)
Thomas Rice (RM)
Valentyn Tsurkan (TL)
Xavier Rodger (BST)
Yiorgos Mpatonetas (RM)

Round 8

Eggplantpopolopolous 133 vs Yarra Park Bears 110

This was the run and gun / full court press battle, with Chucky's chargers coming out ahead in the end. YPB's were always at a disadvantage having only set a 4 player roster, but at the half it was 70 v 69 and looked as though it could have gone either way. The ability to call on a bench and actually playing a centre meant that Eggplantapopolous ended with a decisive victory.

3Votes – Arranz – Eggplantopopolous - 20-29FG and nearly 30 boards. Yeah he lost it 7 times but that is the FCP effect. 44 points and 14.5 rating makes up for that too. Great performance.

2Votes – Baztarrika – Eggplantopoploloos – Another awesome FG% (9 from 11), some might say that it because he didn't have an opposing centre on him, thats jsut haters for you. Also taking 11 boards and 3 steals mean he is a worthy 2 vote scorer.

1Vote – Lucas – Yarra Park Bears – Considering what was up against them to lose by just 23 points and to actually win the 1st qtr by 14 was a great effort, mostly due to this guy and his fine shooting (12 from 20) and 6 assists.

Whompas Donkeys 104 vs Rampaging Marmots 82

The Marmots and their 1.5 good players + scrubs were almost a good match for Whompas much deeper line up. Also an interesting tactical choice from Whompas (Inside isolation) looks to have paid off, making the most of the Marmots inept(low) inside defence. The game was decided in the 3rd, when the Donkeys bigs lit up, giving the Donkeys a 31-11 qtr. No wonder the big men get the votes tonight. Dewey Bowers helped but just misses out.

3Votes – Santana – Whompas – So tough to call the votes when just looking at the stats sheet, but watching the 3rd when the game was won shows Santana scoring and boarding constantly.

2Votes - Tvarijanavicius – Whompas. Hard to say, hard to spell, and hard to defend against. He performed well in the 3rd as well, working with Santana to forge the win.

1Vote – Odaire – Marmots. The only player on Marmots team worth much, this guy hit 7 threes and kept it respectable for the Rampaging Marmots. He needed some teammates with skill though, and there just weren't any.

Mad Rangas (90) vs Possum Chasers (104)

The battle of the Look Insides and 3/2 zones turned out to be a close one, with the Rangas taking the 1sr qtr 22-18, but were never able to match that initial form, losing the next 3 periods by various margins. PP's twin towers were the difference, and his recent ex NT SG underperformed considering his $106K salary. For the Rangas their C and PG helped to keep it close.

3Votes – Trinh Trinh – Possum Chasers. On the stats table TT is behind Luca, put there by a buzzerbeater from the big PF. However, all night TT performed well, hitting 12-17FG, 5-7FT, 13 boards and dishing out 3 assists.

2Votes – Ceballos – Rangas. Considering he was up against TT this guy shot 16-23 and scored 32 points. His 3 steals seal the deal – 2 votes.

1Vote – Cieckan – Possum Chasers. This guy gets the boards both defensively and offensively when it counts. Equal scoring with TT and 50% FG. And the buzzerbeater at the end was the cherry on top for Luca's night.

Home Axis (84) vs Mangoloids (67)

Mango playing patiently couldn't stop the Home Axis inside attack. As to be expected HAX's bigs get the points, his guards certainly played their part but with only 3 assists to Amatrian and Garrido the insiders were making their own magic tonight. Mango's star Jasper Bains had an inefficient night, and McCaskie wasn't any better. He needed better than average inside defence tonight.

3Votes – Gartmayer – Home Axis. Game high scorer, 14 boards and 3 assists. Didn't send the opposition to the foul line once, either.

2Votes – Manzanera – Home Axis. Another efficient scorer and 8 boards.

1Vote – Bains – Has to get a vote tonight. 7-26 FG isn't good, including 1-9 three's. But he played a part in shutting down the HAX PG and saved it from being a 20 point blowout.

Gisborne Gladiators (85) vs All-Sorts (116)
Bainsy's Gisborne Gladiators had a tough time against the All-Sort outside attack. This was the M&M show tonight, Mamerto Méndez was the star and Bainsy couldn't stop him. The 3-2 zone probably helped, but they couldn't push the ball well enough with a mediocre offensive flow. Terroso high scored for the Gladiators, but he was costly with 5fouls and 5 turnovers. He really shouldn't have taken 8 three-point attempts either, hitting only 2.

3Votes – Mendez – All-Sorts. What a star, against the 3-2 zone this guy still hit 3 from 5 three-pointers, 13-20 FG for 35 points. He dished out 5 assists, hit 6-7 from the FT line and didn't foul once. A big rating of 13 for playing in the SF position. Is he for sale mate?

2Votes – Palierne – All-Sorts. With 21 boards and 7 offensive you are getting heaps of possession for your team. This PF also dished out 7 assists and was efficient with his 17 points.

1Vote – Terroso – Gisborne Gladiators. Despite the less than favourable write up above, this guy played the full 48 minutes and took 17 boards, and scored 25 points with reasonable efficiency.

Beasts Red (76) vs Team Lordy (88)
This could probably earn the game of the round title. Close in the first, but Lordy went on a rampage for the next 2 quarters so at the end of the 3rd Neeber's boys had a near impossible task – 50 vs 74. Lordy's team went to sleep in the 4th because they could afford to, and Beasts Red scraped back to lose by only 12. Some bizarre stats come out in this game, for example the game high scorer Underwood had a rating of just 4.5! But he scored 45 points including 5-11 from the three zone. Patient is a strange offence in this way but it certainly paid off for lordy.

3Votes – Underwood – Team Lordy. Despite a 4.5 rating, he scored 45 points - 17 ahead of the nearest player. As a great Aussie manager once told me “Throw enough sh*t at a wall...” Actually if you are going to take 40 shots, hitting 50% of them isn't so bad.

2Votes – Sudzinski – Beasts Red. Neeber's best player tonight, but what he really needed was a C who could defend, instead of a SG who shot slightly less than 50%. 28 points is a decent effort though. With 6-6 FT's it is a pity he didn't get send to the foul line a bit more!

1Vote – Reichensperger – Team Lordy. Scored and boarded well for Lordy, was certainly 2nd to the Ross Underwood show tonight though.

South MVP Leaderboard (after 8 rounds)

Thanks to Possum Pete this week for some entertaining writeups. The pointy end of the table appears to be thinning out and with 3 matchdays remaining we are down to 6 potential winners.

lets have a look at who the are...

Phillip Gartmayer - Home Axis - 10 votes - This exciting Power Forward has really spurred his team into life in the second half of this Fishbowl season. Gartmayer is averaging the 8th most points and 3rd most rebounds a game in the South with 21.1 PPG and 15.2 RPG. Although he is 9 back from the leader, mathematically he is a chance... a very long shot

Antonio Terroso - Gisborne Gladiators - 10 votes - The powerful PF has been instrumental in the Gladiators limited success this season. He sits along Gartmayer 9 votes back, but with a couple of tough games ahead he is at $501 to take it out. Averaging 18.6 PPG and 12.9 RPG he has been a holdfast inside for the Gladiators, where they lack most their strength. Notably he is also averaging 2.4 blocks per game.

Mamerto Mendez - All-sorts - 11 votes - Mendez has been a revelation this season in the South division at Small Forward. Mendez has helped his team to a potential finals birth if he continues to play like he has. Almost unstoppable at SF he is averaging the 6th most points with 23.3 PPG and 6th in APG with 5.1. With a triple double 31 points 11 rebounds and 10 assists against Beasts Red a few games ago, a highlight of his season. Had Mendez shown this rare vein of form earlier in the season he could have been a real chance. But now 8 back from the leader he may have left his run too late.

Jacek Sudzinski - Beasts Red - 13 votes - The Pole has had an outstanding season showing up his teamate Neil Tambyraja and staking a claim for who the top dog is in that den. The thing that Jacek has done best is score, and sitting 3rd in PPG this season with 26.6 a game he has been the Beasts game-winner time after time. still 6 votes back he is in with a small chance at $71 for the title. anything but perfect games from here-on in could condemn him to 3rd or 4th.

Trinh Trinh - Possum Chasers - 17 votes - TT what can we say about him. The superstar in waiting and reigning South MVP Champion is in with a chance again to show he is the best. He took the title from under Samdup's feet last season. Could he do it again this season? only 2 votes back it appears to be a 2 horse race with TT at $8 to overcome the leader. TT has been part of a dominant inside attack and 5th on the scorers list with 24.8 PPG. With the addition of former NT star Brent Haregrave, could TT lose some votes to the highly paid SG.

Ross Underwood - TEAM LORDY - 19 votes - Finally we have our leader! He scores... plain and simple. 39.4 PPG is the reason why he leads this race. he has had 5 player of the game performances, and as of yet the Rampaging Marmots where the only team able to tame the out of control Underwood. However TT hopes that, Home Axis, Gisborne Gladiators or the Eggplants can join that club and give him a chance of catching the dynamo SG. He is at a short $2 for the title.

stay tuned to find out how this race comes to a close

19 votes
Ross Underwood (TL)

17 votes
Trinh Trinh (PC)

13 votes
Jacek Sudzinski (BST)

11 votes
Mamerto Méndez (ALL)

10 votes
António Terroso (GIS)
Phillip Gartmayer (HAX)

9 votes
Barry Ó Daire (RM)
Carl Halliday (PC)
Gabriel Wall (MAD)
Luca Cieckan (PC)

8 votes
Nicola Pisanu (EGG)

7 votes
Igotz Arranz (EGG)
Kazimierz Reda (YPB)
Luke McCaskie (MAN)
Melchor Manzanera (HAX)
Sam Clune (RM)

6 votes
Albanos Timpani (EGG)
Ignacio Carlos Napolitano (YPB)
Ignacio Santana (WHO)
Medartas Tvarijanavicius (WHO)
Tuomas Uusimäki (ALL)