Feb 24, 2002... Young Bill Krieger

Diablo, Plainfield: Distance from the pack

What a week! Upset specials... 400+ nibls... trades galore... po*n stars... read on!

Week 17 blockbusters!

The leaders of each conference gained a games worth of breathing room as week 17 featured upsets galore... let's go to the videotape:

  • Diablo, Plainfield win - Both conference leaders gained a game on the pack by crushing unworthy opponents by many many nibls.
  • Aruba, Cap City, Manila, DuPage, West Chicago lose - The second tier took it on the chin... upsets all as Rip City, Walla, Nantucket, Elk Grove and Nashville for god's sake, all won.
  • Napa and Nowitzki go nuts - The Tasters hit 402 nibls this week in shellacking Cancun. Dirk Nowitzki led Napa with 122 nibls for the week... Rashard Lewis, Ray Allen and Andre Miller all topped 70 nibls as well. With everyone else in the Easy losing, Eric has drafted to just one game out of playoff contention.

Two things jump out: 1) the top 6 teams in the East are within 3 games of each other, and 2) Rip City pulled to within three games of West Chicago for the final spot in the West.

One more week of inter-conference play and then we head into the intra-conference home stretch.

NBA trading deadline rocks NIBL

NBA trades sent a tremor through the NIBL last week with a flurry of important activity right before the Thursday deadline. 

Let's go to the videotape (again) and grade the "moves" made by each team:

Team Grade Notes
Rip City A+ The Rippers probably had the best trade week, and they lost two players from certain playoff contention. So, why the A grading? Well, Ripper stars Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard were flagging on their old, playoff teams, and a new losing locale might be just the ticket. Rip City is 3 games behind West Chicago for the final spot in the West and this may be the regular season pop the black-and-red needs to catch the hated Beaters.
Aruba A Budding star, Raef LaFrentz, moved into possible second round playoff contention for the high-scoring Thong as he was traded to Dallas. A 25+ nibl-scoring center in the second round of the playoff equals gold... gold, I tell you!

The Thong may also benefit from the Celtics bolstering their bench with Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk from the Suns. Will this boost the Boston and the Thong duo of Toine and Pierce into the second round?
Vegas A If Vegas were closer to the pack, this could have put the Vermin over the edge. Vegas malcontent, Marc Jackson, was dealt to Minnesota, giving Tommy what he has dreamed of all year... a real starting center. It may be too late, however, to catch the bigshots in the East.

To increase Tommy's frustration... shit, look at his playoff team: KG, BigDog, Finley, Wesley, and now Marc Jackson.
Manila B The good news is that DogEater phenom Nick Van Exel is on a playoff team now. The bad news... what will this do to the 35+ nibl a game superstar? Manila's lost two in a row with West Chicago coming up.
Seattle B Center Brad Miller is now a Pacer and might make the playoffs. Doesn't look like the Seaho's will though.
Nashville C Travis Best as a starter in Chicago... Nashville wins. Van Exel stealing nibls from Steve Nash... Nashville loses.
Diablo C The Spawn lost by association as the Knick, Heat, Sonic, and Sun either did nothing or hurt their playoff chances. Can Kobe win the NIBL title all by his lonesome? Looks like we're going to find out...

I think that was the hugest trade deadline we've had in 5 nibl years. Excellent.

Cancun Investment Approved

The NIBL Board of Governor's last week approved a minority investment in the Cancun Cleavage franchise by investors from Wicked Entertainment, Inc. The infusion of cash will leave Cancun head-mistress Denise Fenton still in control of the flagging franchise, but infuse much-needed funds to improve Cancun's woeful facilities. Wicked, a leader in adult entertainment products, has been looking for a fantasy basketball league in which to invest. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but source put the investment in the area of $10 million and includes revenue ties between Cancun wet t-shirt sales and Wicked new DVD releases.

"We think this is a great step forward for the league," pronounced co-commish Bill Krieger. "You can see that this deal and the young ladies from Wicked really got me excited. See."

Wicked representatives Hooty McBoob and Chesty Larue seemed very passionate about their investment as well. "I love the NIBL," exclaimed Chesty. "I love Denise and the Cleavage too," Hooty replied with a giggle.

Denise "Cleavage" Fenton added, "I feel really really good about these girls. They're going to make the Cancun franchise and the NIBL, in general, a more exciting place to be. That's how I feel... see."

Not everyone was happy with the penetration of Hollywood into the once staid NIBL hierarchy. Elk Grove owner Moz Krieger expressed his concern, "I didn't go to Catholic elementary school for 12 years to hang around with a bunch of girls... if you know what I mean."

Oft-absent Seattle co-owner Don Fenton Sr added, "I hope these brauds don't cut into our happy hour time."

Cancun owner Denise Klisz and her Wicked Entertainment investors are now pictured on the Cancun team page, so check it out.

Cancun Cleavage Team

Thanks... yow, bill

PS - The NIBL trade deadline is just two weeks away... last regular season transactions must be made by Friday March 8 at midnight, eh.