NIBL Finals Begin Tonight

Bill Krieger... May 17, 1999

The NIBL finals begin tonight coinciding with the NBA's second round. So, first, some business... here's the supplemental playoff draft for the finals (talk about your scrapheap):

And the finals? Well, the smart money is flowing into West Chicago. Check it out...

Aruba's strong lineup from round one has been decimated with the elimination of Houston and Orlando. The Thong started the playoffs with an amazing 9 players, and were left with only 3 players after the first round: B Grant (por), B Russell (uth), and D Fisher (lal).

The Vegas line sees Alan Iverson running wild in the finals, just as he did in the first round. Not withstanding a major breakdown, Iverson's points alone could deal the death blow to the anemic Thong. The Beater's also carry with them excellent first round picks G Long (atl) and M Camby (nyk). Both these players have benefitted from injuries to starters and are seeing major minutes (and nibl production).

So, it's Iverson and the Beaters versus a very thin, frayed Thong for all the marbles. It looks bleak on the beaches of Aruba, but then that's why play the games... stanger things have happened, haven't they?

yow, bill