SB Nation - Keith McLeod

Last Night in the D-League; Break up the Vipers? They'd be better off breaking up the Armor.

Jon L — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:00:37 -0000

Mike Harris and the Vipers are moving their way to the top of the West standings as a shaggy-haired Jon L looks on (via www.nba.com) (That's not really me, but it's in the ballpark)

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It would be nice if this post generated as many comments as my last one, but I doubt that will happen. Prove me wrong, kids! Prove me wrong.

RGV Vipers 135, Albuquerque Thunderbirds 112

A few days ago, Rockets GM Daryl Morey jokingly posted "Break up the Vipers!" on Twitter after the team won its fourth straight. Well now it's five straight. It helps that they were playing a team on the latter half of a back to back, but the Vipers also have really picked up the three-point shooting after a rough first few games. They made 62.5 percent of their outside shots last night, led by a 7-8 Garrett Temple and a 4-6 Jonathan Wallace. It also helps that one of their strengths (rebounding) mirrors one of Albuquerque's weaknesses. Joey Dorsey (oh, and it also helps to have an NBA player on assignment on your roster) finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Mike Harris had nine boards along with a game-high 32 points. Antonio Anderson had 12 assists, Wallace had 11 and I'll stop there, because I could list a lot more positive numbers for RGV, because it was that kind of game. Well, not completely; what's up with hitting less than half your free throws?

I don't think the Thunderbirds are a bad team per se, but I can't help feeling that Carlos Powell is "stuck" on this roster. Of course, he should be in the NBA rather than another D-League team, but that's a separate conversation. 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds for Powell, as well as a team-high two offensive boards. That's right, no one for Albuquerque grabbed more than two offensive boards. Keith McLeod has been playing fairly well the last few games, and he had 23 points on 16 shots and seven assists in this one. Kevin Pittsnogle got pushed to the bench, but other than three-pointers (2-7) he shot the ball well, making five of his seven attempts inside the arc and all five free throws, finishing with 21 points on 14 shots. Just five rebounds in 32 minutes, however. The Thunderbirds realllllly need to fix that.

Tulsa 66ers 90, Springfield Armor 74

Mustafa Shakur shot the ball terribly, 3-13, but he handed out 11 assists, picked up three steals and didn't turn the ball over once. The 66ers used some nice three-point shooting from Cecil Brown (3-5, on the way to 23 points) and to be honest, they didn't really need to shoot the ball particularly well (just under 40 percent) based on how the Armor played. Hey, here's a fun exercise: can you guess the player based on last night's stats? Here's a hint, they play the same position for Tulsa.

	Min.	FG	FT	Reb.	Blk	PF	TO
Player 1	25	1-1	4-4	7	1	4	2
Player 2	11	1-4	4-4	7	1	1	0

Can you guess? Player 1 is DeVon Hardin. Player 2 is Latavious Williams. This is one game, true, but it generally holds for both of their seasons so far: Williams is producing about as much as Hardin but with fewer fouls and turnovers, and in half the playing time. I understand why Williams may not be getting much time; he's still adjusting to playing against pros, the Thunder don't have much incentive to develop him, and for all I know he's not doing as well in practice. But based on how he's played in games so far, I maintain that Williams should be getting some of Hardin's minutes, particularly now that Keith Clark is no longer on the team. Neither player is an offensive juggernaut, but Williams can help out as much or more on the boards, and so far in the D-League hasn't shown a propensity for turning the ball over or committing dumb fouls; he's committed just two fouls so far this season and committed five turnovers over the course of 53 minutes, and three of those turnovers are from just one game - he has zero or one in the other four games he's played. Tulsa doesn't even have to start Williams, but put him out there - all evidence points to him being able to play.

For Springfield, Mo Almond can't get to Massachusetts fast enough. 1-10 shooting for Adam Harrington, 3-11 for Tre Whitted, Maurice Maxwell went 4-13, ugh. Kentrell Gransberry was able to stay on the court (a little bit) longer and grabbed 12 rebounds along with scoring seven points. Major Wingate had 18 points and 11 boards and JamesOn Curry had 15 points and eight rebounds. Nice boardwork for the Armor, but along the way they kind of forgot to pass the ball. Gransberry and Maxwell tied for a team-high four assists, and you know what? Morris Almond isn't going to help that problem. They're going to need a lot more former NBA players. But hey, at least pro basketball is back in Springfield.

Last Night in the D-League; Oh boy, we get to talk about the refs.

Jon L — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:00:34 -0000

More photos » by Jeffrey Boan - AP

Curtis Jerrells (shown here in the preseason was key down the stretch for the Toros. (AP Photo/Jeffrey M. Boan)

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Austin Toros 109, Albuquerque Thunderbirds 104

The Toros outrebounded the T-birds 45-29, which is what happens when one team starts Dwayne Jones at center (13 points, 15 rebounds, four blocks) and the other one has Kevin Pittsnogle (seven points on 3-9 shooting, four rebounds, five fouls). The Toros also turned the ball over a lot, 23 times in all, six of which came from Alonzo Gee (who otherwise had an excellent game; 35 points on 12-17 shooting, 8-10 from the free throw line, six rebounds), but Albuquerque missed a lot of the shots they got off of those turnovers and so never took proper advantage. David McClure got his second start and even managed to score. Austin trailed going into the fourth quarter but managed to pull this one out, with McClure getting six of his nine points early in the quarter (which I can only assume was the result of some kind of horrible defensive mix-up), and Curtis Jerrells scoring 12 of his 23 points in the last four minutes of the game. Jerrells finished with just three assists in almost 39 minutes, but the scoring was there last night, anyway.

The Thunderbirds got another pretty good game from Yaroslav Korolev, who's becoming the team's best rebounder; 12 boards for him along with 12 points and three blocks. Carlos Powell and Keith McLeod got to the free throw line fairly often, with Powell making 10 of his 11 attempts and McLeod going 13-16. They finished with 23 and 25 points, respectively, and Chad Toppert came off the bench to do what Pittsnogle can't (hit threes), going 3-6 from outside and finishing with 11 points. Erek Hansen has gotten DNPs in the last few games. I still haven't figured out why, but whatever it is, Albuquerque would do well to get him back and taking some of Pittsnogle's minutes, because Hansen is a very good shotblocker and can rebound a little bit. Well, Pittsnogle only rebounds a little bit, Hansen is a little bit better.

LA D-Fenders 110, Bakersfield Jam 97

Diamon Simpson is turning into quite the offensive weapon for the D-Fenders, and he led the team with 20 points along with nine rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end. I have no idea what was up with Michael Fey in this one, since he played less than six minutes, but he's really tailed off from the first few games. Six D-Fenders scored in double figures, and none of the LA players had more shots than points (except for the 0-1 Fey), which has to be the first time this team has done that all year (and even then I guess it technically didn't happen). Attempting 52 free throws helps. Why did they do that, you ask? Read on.

Justin Hawkins played pretty well off the bench for Bakerfield with 19 points, Of course, he had to play well because three of the Jam's starters fouled out. Oh, and Hawkins fouled out too. That's right, four players for the Jam fouled out of this game, none of them playing more than 32 minutes (Amara Sy did it in just 20). 15 of the team's 38 personal fouls came in the fourth quarter by my count, 10 in the second quarter, and the Jam also got hit with several delay of game penalties as if this were some sort of football game. I know Bakersfield isn't very good, but I have to imagine that there were some overeager whistles. Deron Washington fouled out and Horace Wormely picked up five fouls for LA, but Bakersfield's players practically couldn't move without getting an offensive foul or a foul away from the ball or a shooting foul. I'm surprised that Will Voigt didn't get thrown out of this one arguing.

Tonight's Games Previewed - I Hope You Like Rematches

Jon L — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:43:14 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

Mike Harris, left, has been playing very well for the Rockets' (not the Thunder's) affiliate Rio Grande Valley. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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Seven games tonight, featuring matchups that are repeats of games from the last several days. Will the outcomes change?

Maine Red Claws at Springfield Armor

The Red Claws won the last game in a walk, but Springfield actually played them close in the second and third quarters. Some warning signs for Maine from that game are the poor three-point shooting (just 1-12) and the huge disparity in foul shots - they likely won't get that advantage again. The Armor have to rebound a lot better to stay in this game, and they also need to get a larger contribution from their bench - Springfield reserved totaled just 11 points, six boards and two assists. That starts with Major Wingate, who fouled out much, much too quickly. Kentrell Gransberry isn't really a guy who can play 35 minutes and James Cripe hasn't contributed much this year, just 12 points and nine rebounds over three games. Wingate is talented, and if he can stay on the court he can help his team.

Rio Grande Valley Vipers at Tulsa 66ers

Antonio Anderson and Moses Ehambe got double technicals in the fourth quarter of last night's game, so both teams will have to make sure they keep cool in this one. RGV's three-point shooting has steadily increased over the first three games of the season, and even in the last one when they shot over 40 percent as a team, Garrett Temple missed seven of his 11 outside attempts. That could go either way, with Temple making a higher percentage or the rest of the team not picking up his slack. Wasn't that insightful? Joey Dorsey started the last game slowly, and Byron Mullens and DeVon Hardin were able to combine for 18 rebounds. Dorsey will have to pick his game up tonight. Latavious Williams has gotten DNPs in the last two games. Free Latavious Williams!

Erie BayHawks at Sioux Falls Skyforce

Greg Stiemsma rebounded and defended pretty well when these two teams played last night, but I'm still skeptical that he can keep it up. His 16 rebounds were more than three times his previous high this season, and he averaged just six a game last season. He's also been pretty terrible offensively so far, shooting just .273, so if the Erie big men can keep him off the boards (and they at least have the talent to do so) they could fare better in this one. The BayHawks actually started strong in the last game but faded over the course of the game. Cedric Jackson has been steadily improving as a point guard, increasing his assists with each game and cutting down on his turnovers. Jackie Manuel has been shooting over his career average in every area, and Ivan Harris is starting to get on track. This rematch could go the other way.

Austin Toros at Albuquerque Thunderbirds

Albuquerque won last night with a strong fourth quarter performance and solid games from two guys who have a history of inconsistent performances, namely Yaroslav Korolev and Keith McLeod. McLeod had the third-worst field goal percentage on the Thunderbirds last season among guys who played more than 10 games, and the second-worst eFG; Korolev has a history of poor shot selection in the NBA and in Summer League. Carlos Powell should be a call-up candidate, certainly (and I will have a list of those coming, I'm just waiting until teams have played more than a handful of games), but Austin has a lot of talent of their own. Malik Hairston is on assignment and is capable of dropping 40 on any given night. Alonzo Gee is a very solid offensive player, and while Curtis Jerrells has his off nights he runs the pick and roll fairly well. The addition of Hairston should be enough to keep Albuquerque from sweeping this mini-series.

Dakota Wizards at Idaho Stampede

The Wizards won this game in part by limiting the number of possessions - each team had 104, which is generally high but fairly low for a Bob MacKinnon-coached team like the Stampede. Dakota also either forced or were the recipients of poor outside shooting nights from Idaho's Anthony Tolliver, Mildon Ambres and Roberto Bergersen, while shooting almost 69 percent from behind the arc themselves. That high shooting percentage isn't all that sustainable, but the Wizards have perhaps the strongest group of defenders in the D-League, and Curtis Withers should play a lot better than his six-point, five-turnover outing. Idaho has gotten good performances so far from Mike Gansey and Sundiata Gaines, who could start for most, if not all of the rest of the league. Like Albuquerque last night, the Wizards used a terrific fourth quarter to take the last game, but they'll do well to not dig themselves into a hole once again.

Utah Flash at Bakersfield Jam

I really don't know what to write about the Jam. They had a fairly weak roster to begin with, and take out Robert Swift and suddenly they have problems in the middle as well. Bakersfield coach Will Voigt got a technical in the last game and was ejected in the game before that, but at some point you have to stop going to the "get mad enough to maybe wake your team up" well. The Flash have a very talented roster top-to-bottom, even without Luke Nevill and Gavin Grant; Orien Greene has played well after a shaky first game, Lee Cummard seems to have figured out how to contribute off the bench, and Jason Richards has been racking up the assists compared to his playing time. A lot of things will have to go wrong for them for the Jam to get their first win tonight.

Los Angeles D-Fenders at Reno Bighorns

The thing about having inconsistent scorers is that they do play well on occasion - such is it with LA's roster. Dar Tucker is shooting just .150 on three-pointers so far, and it's not like he hasn't been shooting them; who knows, maybe he's due. Reno seems to have found its footing a little bit now that they can help dictate the pace of the game rather than have to race to keep up. LA's Michael Fey was scoring pretty well until he met up against Rod Benson, who shut him down in the last game. Benson's been a rebounding monster so far and incredibly efficient offensively, so he'll again be a handful for Fey and Longar Longar. Reno's Russell Robinson hasn't been shooting particularly well (from inside the three-point line, anyway) but seems to have gotten his turnovers under control. Then again, it was tempting to say that Desmon Farmer's nine turnover game came because he was playing against Idaho, then he goes out and turns it over eight times against the D-Fenders. I also wouldn't expect another nine blocks from Cezary Trybanski, nor will Ryan Forehan-Kelly go 0-the game again. The D-Fenders can win this one if some of their questionable shots go down, but they're called questionable for a reason.

Last Night in the D-League; Free Throw Disparities Abound!

Jon L — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:00:17 -0000

One thing we've learned so far: Reggie Williams can score. (via www.nba.com)

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Albuquerque Thunderbirds 119, Austin Toros 110

This is a tough loss for the Toros, because they didn't play particularly poorly. They made half of their threes, more than half of their field goals overall and outrebounded the T-birds. Free throws were the difference, as Albuquerque shot 34 to Austin's 21. Dwayne Jones was a beast, 23 points and 16 rebounds (eight offensive), which shouldn't be too surprising given that he had Kevin Pittsnogle guarding him for most of the game. Alonzo Gee finished with 16 points, but also turned the ball over five times. Curtis Jerrells put together a solid line, 20 points, seven assists and only one turnover (which didn't come until there was less than a minute left in the game), but he also took (and missed) several shots, with 12, 14, 16 seconds left on the shot clock. And hey, Malik Hairston was in the house! He played well, as you'd imagine, with 23 points on 18 shots; he went 8-9 from the line and added five rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Make sure you pick Hairston in your Virtual Scout game, I have a feeling he'll make an NBA roster one of these days.

For the Thunderbirds, who actually won the game, Yaroslav Korolev played well, which even with it being the D-League still is weird to read and type. He had 22 points on 13 shots, got to the free throw line (8-11), grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots. See? Isn't that weird to read? Carlos Powell also played well, with 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Keith McLeod made seven of his 13 field goals, including three of his five threes, and handed out 10 assists with only two turnovers. Anthony Agudio shot 5-8 for 13 points. 16 of those free throw attempts came in the fourth quarter and there were some other weird calls on both sides, but this is still a solid win.

The rest of the games await you, after the jump.

Rio Grande Vipers 104, Tulsa 66ers 100

This wasn't the blowout I expected (though it was briefly in the third quarter), but Joey Dorsey did grab 12 board. Unfortunately, he also had eight turnovers and shot 3-9. Mike Harris played well, though, with 30 points on 19 shots and seven rebounds. The Vipers also finally got their three-point shooting on track, making almost 41 percent of their attempts, and they also did an excellent job of sharing the ball; 26 assists on 36 made field goals, which is insane. Nine assists for Antonio Anderson, seven from Jonathan Wallace, the latter of whom also had eight boards and did a good job of getting to the free throw line. Kurt Looby even got some run and grabbed eight rebounds in 19 minutes.

Mustafa Shakur's really good, y'all. 24 points, 10 assists, five rebounds, four steals, and he makes it look pretty easy. Moses Ehambe had his shot going early but then struggled a bit, and overall the 66ers made a better percentage of their threes than RGV did. They also made a better percentage of their free throws (roughly 74-66) and had about as many assists as a team (23 on 35 made field goals). That third quarter is what did them in, and there was a parade of blown layups and turnovers. Really, I count nine missed layups. The big men in particular had a hard time hitting shots, with Byron Mullens going 9-21 and DeVon Hardin shooting 2-8. Keith Clark finished 3-5, but both of his missed came on blown layups towards the end of the third. All three of those guys help put the "development" in the D-League, but this could be a frustrating year for Tulsa fans.

Sioux Falls Skyforce 110, Erie BayHawks 101

Erie managed to make 52.5 percent of its field goals and still lost. Part of that was the foul shot disparity (Sioux Falls shot 42 to Erie's 23), and part of it was rebounding. The Skyforce were able to grab 18 offensive boards, including six from Greg Stiemsma. I still don't think Stiemsma is any great shakes offensively (he shot just 3-10), but the 16 rebounds and six blocks were nice work. Reggie Williams was back to his brilliant scoring self,with 35 points on 21 shots along with five rebounds and three steals, and he really was the biggest recipient of those free throws with 14 attempts. Leemire Goldwire finished with decent numbers, 21 points on 7-13 shooting, even though he was 0-5 on threes. Again, free throw shooting helps.

Erie had some guys play pretty well, like Cedric Jackson who had 15 points, nine assists and seven rebounds off the bench, and Jackie Manuel who finished with 20 points on 8-13 shooting. They had some guys play okay, like Alade Aminu who had 16 points but only four rebounds in over 33 minutes, and John Bryant who needed 12 shots to score 12 points but who grabbed 14 rebounds. Then there was Donell Taylor, who was awful. 9-23 shooting, he missed all of his free throws, more turnovers (four) than assists (three), poor defense, and four of Stiemsma's blocks came out of his hands. Dreadful game.

Maine Red Claws 102, Springfield Armor 79

Those 102 points came in just over 94 possessions, excellent work. Of course, having a 41-15 free throw advantage will do that. I didn't catch this game, so I don't know if this was NBA veteran "savvy" or referee-derived, but Maine had better have won with those kinds of numbers, especially on a night they went 1-8 from the outside. Or heck, on any night, no especially about it. I mean, Anthony Terrell played less than three minutes and got four free throw attempts. Mario West played well off the bench with 19 points and 7-7 free throw shooting, and while Alexis Ajinca didn't have the best night offensively (1-7), he grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked five shots.

Fouls aside, Springfield's problem in this one comes down to rebounding. Only 30 total rebounds when all 10 guys played, and no one had more than five (congrats, Kentrell Gransberry); Maine had five players with five or more boards. JamesOn Curry actually shot the ball pretty well, 10-19 from the field on the way to 26 points, but he had just three assists (again, congrats to KG for leading the team with five). No one else really got going, and no one for the Armor could collect the misses. Their total rebounding number was eclipsed by Maine's 36 defensive boards. NBA-quality opponents or no, that's never going to earn a win. Oh, and backup center Major Wingate fouled out in just under 18 and a half minutes. Whee.

Reno Bighorns 101, LA D-Fenders 79

Reno had a weird first quarter. After jumping out to an 11-2 lead behind Marcus Hubbard and Russell Robinson they missed a bunch of shots and faced a nine point deficit at the end of the first quarter. At one point they had missed nine field goals in a row, a stretch that also saw multiple turnovers and Cezary Trybanski miss a pair of free throws. They got back on track once the second quarter started, and they never trailed after four minutes were left in the half. Rod Benson led the way again with 17 points on 8-11 shooting, 10 rebounds and four steals, plus some very good defense on Michael Fey. Backup center Trybanski also played well (aside from those free throws) with 10 points on four shots, six rebounds and an astounding nine blocks. He looked a lot more comfortable on the court when he didn't have to keep up with Idaho's big men. Dave Noel was another steadying presence off the bench with 10 points on 4-6 shooting. Russell Robinson had finished with 10 assists and 10 points, but needed 12 shots to get there. Desmon Farmer had 18 points and nine assists, but he turned the ball over way too much once again with eight. Marcus Hubbard had 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, but he started falling back into his old habits of hanging around the perimeter and taking some bad shots. I won't say that Reno got lucky for this win, but Farmer's turnovers and Hubbard's shot selection could be what keeps this team from winning on a lot of nights.

The D-Fenders are an inefficient offensive team, plain and simple. They have multiple guys who need too many shots to rack up the points, guys like Dar Tucker and Deron Washington and Horace Wormely. As a team, LA missed all seven of its three-point attempts, and six of those came from Tucker. Ryan Forehan-Kelly went 0-7 from the field, which is unusual for him. Diamon Simpson had his second straight solid offensive outing with 24 points (along with 13 rebounds); I'm still not sold on his offensive ability, but if he keeps this up I'll have to reconsider. LA will need that offense, too, as long as they have guys taking and missing terrible shots.

Recapping Last Night's Games, Where Bob MacKinnon Picked Up Where He Left Off

Jon L — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:00:13 -0000

Sundiata Gaines was everywhere for the Stampede.

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Idaho Stampede 137, Reno Bighorns 115

New Idaho coach Bob MacKinnon is apparently taking the "Stampede" name seriously, as the team raced their way to 111 possessions in this came. For comparison, NBA pace leader Golden State averages a little over 101 per game. This is nothing new for MacKinnon, whose Colorado 14ers were the fastest team in the league last year, but the front office has done a terrific job of acquiring the right players for that style of play. Sundiata Gaines had a fantastic D-League debut with 31 points on 15 shots (he went 7-11 from the free throw line), 12 assists and four rebounds. He also had six turnovers, but did I mention that his team had 111 possessions? Anthony Tolliver was equally efficient, scoring 26 points off of 14 shots and adding eight rebounds. Mike Gansey played well off the bench, putting up 12-7-5 with two steals and a block in 22 minutes. Overall the Stampede made more than 55 percent of its threes.

Reno hung in for awhile, up until the fourth quarter when they were outscored by 15, with many of those points coming either out on the perimeter or at the free throw line. Desmon Farmer played pretty well, scoring 25 points, grabbing seven rebounds and handing out six assists, but he also shot 0-4 from downtown. Marcus Hubbard must have received an ultimatum not to shoot threes because he had zero outside shots yet again (which is a good thing) and he finished with 20 and seven, but he also picked up five fouls, and I would imagine that a fair amount of Tolliver's production came against him. Rod Benson struggled a bit, picking up three (very) early turnovers (he finished with four overall) and shooting 3-9, though he had five offensive rebounds and six blocks. Outside of Brian Laing (16 points, eight rebounds) the Bighorns got nothing from their bench, with four players combining for nine points, three rebounds, three assists, two blocks (both Cezary Trybanski's) and six turnovers. That doesn't even match Gansey's production. David Noel should play better in the future, and Majic Dorsey is a decent backup point guard, but the Reno starters got next to no help last night.

The rest of the games are after the jump.

Rio Grande Valley Vipers 109, Austin Toros 102

This was a similar story to the other night, but with a different result. Mike Harris played well from the jump and finished with 28 points on 20 shots and 10 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass. Frontcourt-mate Joey Dorsey cleaned up as well, scoring 22 points on 9-11 shooting, with seven offensive and 17 total rebounds. Austin's Dwayne Jones finished with decent numbers, but he struggled a little bit early on and I'd imagine Dorsey's defense was a part of that. Jonathan Wallace didn't show a whole lot in the first game, but he dished out seven assists in this one to go with 5-8 shooting. Antonio Anderson came back to earth on offense, shooting 1-9, but he got to the line and made nine of his 11 free throws, and realistically any scoring the Vipers get from him is a bonus anyway. RGV still couldn't hit threes (6-18, and they needed a few to go in late in the game to even reach that mark), but last night that didn't matter

As for Austin, they're 1-1 and have a lot of positives, but I'm really trying hard not to frown on this team. Curtis Jerrells was shaky once again, with more turnovers (six) than assists (four) and needing 19 shots to get 18 points. Marcus Williams used to turn the ball over six times in a game too (occasionally), but he usually had double-digit assists when he did it. Jerrells had six steals, which is a positive, but he might be more of a project than I thought. As I mentioned above, Jones did alright, with 17 points on seven shots (and he was perfect from the free throw line, which is great for him), nine rebounds and two blocks, but he was almost non-existent in the first half. Alonzo Gee is clearly the best player on the team this year, as he had yet another terrific game with 23 points on 12 shots (and went 9-12 from the free-throw line), five rebounds and three steals, but he's not much of an outside shooter. Luckily he knows it and doesn't attempt many (if any) three-pointers, but as Austin's roster stands now they don't have anyone who can consistently hit from downtown. No Marcus Williams, no Malik Hairston, no Blake Ahearn. Other than the ball movement thing (again a problem last night with just 12 assists on 35 field goals), the lack of an outside threat is probably the Toros' biggest concern right now.

Tulsa 66ers 98, Utah Flash 87

Tulsa got even on the strength of its backcourt, with Mustafa Shakur scoring 23 points on 16 shots (though eight of those came at the free throw line) along with six rebounds and four assists and Moses Ehambe contributing 17 points, including being perfect from three-point range and the free-throw line. Larry Owens had a pretty good all-around game 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists. I thought Owens was just okay in Summer League (he was on the New Orleans roster), but he could turn out to be a really nice player for the 66ers. Byron Mullens had 17 rebounds, eight of which came on the offensive end, and while his shooting improved that just means he went 7-16, and he turned the ball over seven times (a variety of ways; traveling, offensive fouls, bad passes) and fouled out in a little over 33 minutes. He needs a looooooooot of work. Speaking of needing work, Latavious Williams! Mostly on the offensive end, as he missed all four of his field goals and bricked three of four foul shots. The rebounding skill is definitely there, however, as he grabbed eight boards in about 12 and a half minutes, and another positive are his zero fouls and one turnover. Ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive.

The Flash suffered from yet another okay-but-not great game from Dontell Jefferson, only this time backup Orien Greene played terribly (he shot 2-12 with three assists and five turnovers). As I say, Jefferson finished with alright numbers, 17 points on 11 shots with six rebounds, four assists and two steals, but it took him awhile to get going and he turned the ball over four times himself. Luke Nevill played almost the exact opposite of the first game, where he didn't rebound particularly well (three boards in 19 minutes), but he shot 6-9. Carlos Wheeler had a nice game beside him with 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Bennet Davis had six and eight off the bench. Jason Richards picked up a lot of assists in college, and he had four in 12 and a half minutes for the Flash. He could do well in a larger role should either Jefferson or Greene get called up

Maine Red Claws 107, Dakota Wizards 97

The Red Claws took a few minutes to get going in this one, missing three of their first four shots, turning the ball over and committing fouls, but they settled down and ended up outscoring the Wizards in the first quarter. One of the reasons they did so was pulling Bill Walker with about five minutes left in the first, as he was rebounding well but defending pretty poorly and doing silly things like shooting three-pointers. Tony Bobbitt came in and played well in his stead, and when Walker came back in the game he was clearly more focused, and finished with 18 points on 6-11 shooting and eight rebounds. Best of all he had just two turnovers, both of which came at the end of the game when the victory was well in hand (and one of them was a palming call, which is sometimes iffy anyway) . Billy Thomas was on fire again last night, hitting four of his five three-pointers on the way to 18 points of his own. Maine did a great job closing this game out, particularly since it was the second night of a back-to-back, making 13 of their 18 shots and outscoring Dakota 32-21 in the 4th quarter

Dakota didn't play particularly poorly, as the moved the ball around fairly well and didn't turn it over too much (outside of four apiece from Romel Beck and Curtis Withers), they got out-rebounded a little bit but not on the offensive end, and those 97 points coming on 88 possessions. Losing your home and season opener to a team playing it's second road game in as many days hurts, though, so I'm sure they're looking for answers. Beck and Maurice Baker shooting a combined 4-13 on three-pointers isn't great, and looking at the game, three of Beck's six misses from long-range came in the fourth quarter when he was undoubtedly trying to get his team back in the game by himself. Beck is 27 years old, so if he hasn't learned by now how rarely that works...well, you all can finish that sentence yourself. Still, there's a fair amount to build on, with Curtis Withers dropping 22 and 10 (including four offensive rebounds) and backup point guard Jason Straight playing pretty well off the bench, and everyone else on the team made 60 percent of their threes. I wouldn't start worrying if I was Dakota.

Los Angeles D-Fenders 103, Albuquerque Thunderbirds 99

That the Thunderbirds lost this one shouldn't be a huge shock, as they were yet another team playing for the second night in a row, but boy did I overestimate Kevin Pittsnogle. (And underrate Michael Fey, which I'll get to in a minute.) Pittsnogle missed his first several shots and finished the game 2-8, including 1-4 from behind the arc. He also didn't rebound or defend nearly as well as he did in the opener. Perhaps the guy who's been out of basketball for over a year isn't who you want starting games at the beginning of the season, eh Coach Coffino? Sticking with Albuquerque, backup center Erek Hansen is a terrific shotblocker (he had two) but still needs work in the other areas (zero points, one rebound, five fouls). This team has some talent (Carlos Powell had 14-4-5, Keith McLeod had 21 points on 13 shots and five assists), and they're to be commended for coming back after starting the game extremely flat (a large amount of which was Pittsnogle), but the center position is anything but solid at this point

As for the D-Fenders who, you know, actually won, this really was about the terrific game Michael Fey had. He started out 3-5 with a hook shot, a dunk and a layup and forced Pittsnogle to the bench five minutes into the game. The rebounding was largely absent (just three in over 27 minutes), but he finished with 22 points on 13 shots and generally caused some problems in the middle. Michael Fey, I officially apologize for saying Kevin Pittsnogle wouldn't have any serious defensive responsibilities in this game. As for the rest of the team, Ryan Forehan-Kelly was his usual solid all-around self with 19 points, four assists, three rebounds, a steal and a block. Deron Washington is still raw offensively (eight points on 11 shots), but he grabbed seven boards and handed out four assists. Horace Wormely ran the offense pretty well with seven assists and only three turnovers, and Dar Tucker had a nice game off the bench with 14 points on 10 shots, six rebounds and three assists.

Iowa Energy 96, Springfield Armor 84

I was right about a few things in this game (though not about James Cripe getting more playing time, just five minutes for him), most notably that Iowa's shooters would probably miss more of their shots while playing a game less than 20 hours after the last one. And, in fact, the Energy made just 13.3 percent of their threes and shot 38 percent overall. So how did they win? A few things. First, they did a great job of getting to the free throw line. There weren't an obscene amount of fouls handed out, and while Iowa had an free throw advantage it wasn't really enough to question the calls. Neither Curtis Stinson nor Mark Tyndale had a great night from the floor, but Stinson sank nine of his 10 freebies and Tyndale went 8-10 from the line, while Pat Carroll made all five of his free throws and Earl Barron went 5-6. Stinson had another nice game overall, with 19 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, three steals and only two turnovers in 45 and a half minutes. That rebounding number isn't an aberration; Stinson is one of the best rebounding point guards in the league, if not the best. Tyndale also played well overall, adding 10 rebounds (five offensive) to go with 14 points

Meanwhile, the Energy were horrible from the free throw line, shooting 53 percent as a team. When I say the team shot horribly, I mostly mean Kentrell Gransberry who missed seven of his ten free throws, though he played decently in other areas picking up six rebounds, three assists and two blocks. JamesOn Curry didn't shoot any free throws at all, which is pretty bad when you need 13 shots to get 13 points. Even worse for the Armor and for Curry were the turnovers. Curry coughed it up seven times, and let's break them down. Four came from bad passes, one came off of a traveling call, and two came from steals by Stinson and Carroll. Even if you give him the traveling call, a lot of those were likely avoidable. Tre Whitted had five turnovers and Adam Harrington added four, and that plus the foul shooting is your ballgame. The Armor have some decent scorers, including Curry, but they desperately need someone who can take care of the ball. Perrin Johnson got into some early foul trouble which limited his effectiveness, which is too bad for Springfield because he needed only five shots to get eight points, and added nine rebounds and four assists. At least the Armor get an "A" for effort (and also for "Armor," I assume).

...And the Rest (of the returning or allocated players)

Jon L — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:21:54 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

Welcome back, Dontell Jefferson. I hope we don't see you for very long. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

Browse more photos »

I tried finding a picture of the Professor and Mary Ann from the Gilligan's Island credits to go with the headline, but Google Images has failed me. With apologies to all of these teams for not giving them individual treatment either through a story or fanshot, I just don't think I can finish covering all of the teams plus write about other stuff by tomorrow's draft. There's too many of them. So consider this a roundup of the notable (but not all) returning and allocated players that D-League teams will be enjoying, at least in the beginning of the season. Except for Maine, Dakota, Bakersfield and Fort Wayne. Oh, and I'm also not including Springfield, since their most notable players at this point are Marcus Taylor and Kentrell Gransberry, and we covered those guys around the expansion draft. All of the players listed fall into the "returning" category unless otherwise noted.

Even without those four teams this is pretty long (surprise! I wrote something that's too long), so you can read it all after the jump.

Albuquerque Thunderbirds - Antoine Agudio, Keith McLeod, Kevin Pittsnogle (allocation)

McLeod and Pittsnogle both are familiar names, though for different reasons. McLeod is a classic 'tweener, not in terms of position but in terms of NBA vs. the D-League. He's spent the first few years of his career in the NBA, including starting 79 games for the Utah Jazz over two seasons, but he spent last year in Albuquerque and also has played in Europe and the CBA. He also has a B.S. in computer science, so he's a smart guy, and given that he's 30 years old (or will be tomorrow - happy birthday Keith!) I wonder if he's not going to hang around for a few more years as an entry into coaching. Pittsnogle is more known for his college exploits though that was what, four years ago now? Since then he's played in the D-League (for Austin and Albuquerque), the CBA and in France. Last I heard he was coaching high school basketball and out of shape (due in part to a thyroid condition), so it will be interesting to see how he looks when the season starts. Agudio isn't that familiar of a name, but he's an excellent shooter (he made around 43 percent of his threes last year), and not much else.

Austin Toros - Dwayne Jones, Carldell "Squeaky" Johnson, Curtis Jerrells (allocation)

So that's where Dwayne Jones went. I've talked about him on this site probably more than his talent warrants, because although he's a very good post defender and rebounder, there's not much else to his game at this point. Not that he hasn't been working hard on it, and his free-throw shooting improved steadily over the course of last season, but he's still pretty limited offensively. So's Johnson, for that matter, who can occasionally get hot shooting threes, but more often than not has 1-6 nights. Also, he may be one of the few people who has a great nickname but an even better real name. He almost never turns the ball over, though, which is typically what you want in a point guard (although he also doesn't pick up many assists, which is the other thing you want in a point guard). Jerrells will, I assume, take the backup PG spot now that Stanley Burrell is playing in Europe, but the distribution of minutes between him and Johnson will be something to watch as the season goes along. He was one of San Antonio's last preseason cuts, and in the limited action I saw he was decent, and the Spurs may want to get in enough work to improve his game. Of course, there's one guy missing from the list (I didn't exclude him, he's just not on the list), and that's Marcus Williams. My hope and assumption is that either the team didn't think he would be cut before it submitted its list, or they have to wait until they're at the top of the player pool before he joins the D-League. I suppose it's also possible that he's still exploring the overseas option, as he'd do great over there, but I hope not.

Erie BayHawks - Ivan Harris, Jarvis Gunter, Jackie Manuel, Oliver Lafayette, Rob Kurz (allocation)

I've talked about Kurz a lot recently between Summer League and the preseason, but to review he's a 6'9" three-point shooter who doesn't offer much else. That also sounds a bit like Harris, doesn't it? Harris was second in three-point percentage among forwards last season and sixth overall in the league. Gunter was a backup to Erik Daniels last season, but with Daniels currently in the Ukraine, Gunter should take on a larger role. He's an athletic rebounder, but doesn't have great hands and hasn't shown much scoring ability thus far. Jackie Manuel, on the other hand, may have his role reduced a little bit with Kurz around. Manuel's a decent rebounder for a small forward, but doesn't have much of an outside shot. I'm not a huge fan of Lafayette, as he's not a very efficient scorer, but he put up a triple-double last year so there's that. This team made the playoffs last year, but they'll need to replace the production of Maureece Rice and Erik Daniels, who while inefficient still offered the team something as a point-center.

Idaho Stampede - Lanny Smith, Roberto Bergerson

Both of these guys should do well in Bob MacKinnon's offense, though Smith probably needs to up his three-point shooting percentages a bit. He's not really a shooter, more of a distributor/defender, but Colorado's point guards spent a decent amount of time playing off the ball last year. Bergerson could be a bench version of Billy Thomas, in that he's a streak-shooting veteran. He made around 70 percent of his threes last April, though that was far above his season average.

Iowa Energy - Anthony Tolliver, Curtis Stinson

I don't expect Tolliver to be in Iowa for very long, as he's had some NBA looks recently, and it talented enough to make all of his shots in a Summer League game. Expect him to be an early scoring leader, though. Stinson is a solid all-around point guard and a good rebounder for his position, though turnovers were a big problem for him during Summer League. He was invited to the Bulls' training camp but only spent a few days there before being waived, so he didn't really get a chance to show NBA teams that he's not as turnover-prone as he seemed in Vegas (he's not). Jeff Trepagnier and Mark Tyndale are also here, but I didn't really feel like talking about them, which should be understandable.

Los Angeles D-Fenders - Ryan Forehan-Kelly, Joe Crawford, Earl Barron, Longar Longar, Gabe Pruitt (allocation)

Until given a reason to do otherwise, this season I'm going to stop pretending that this team is directly affiliated with the Lakers, because other than the uniforms you really wouldn't know it based on how the Lakers participate in the relationship. Crawford's a case in point, in that he could've been the Laker's future backup PG, except they sent him down to the D-Fenders and then forgot about him. It's true that the Shannon Brown (which is how everyone needs to start referring to the Adam Morrison deal) has worked out reasonably well, but they didn't even consider the in-house option. Crawford spent a few games with the Knicks last year, where he didn't shoot the ball particularly well before being released. Forehan-Kelly is a pretty good all-around player who's not great at any one particular thing but good at many things (actually, he's very good at shooting threes). "I can't be out of Earl, I'm the" Earl Barron has spent some time in the NBA, and is an okay rebounder and shotblocker, but he was injured for part of last season and will need to show this year that he's recovered. Longar Longar has had his moments, though I'm generally not a huge fan of slow guys with bad hands. Pruitt is an okay shooter, making 36 percent of his threes last year in the D-League, and he doesn't pick up that many turnovers. Don't be surprised to see him and Crawford playing a lot of minutes alongside each other. No Sun Yue either. WHERE IS MY SUN YUE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Rio Grande Valley Vipers - Cliff Clinkscales, Stanley Asumnu, Marcus Hubbard, Kurl Looby, Julian Sensley, Garrett Temple (allocation)

I need to Basically this team is returning a lot of players from what was an abysmal squad last year. The individual talent is there, as Clinkscales is a solid point guard and Looby started growing into a dominating force in the paint, so perhaps new coach Chris Finch can pull it all together. He's said that he prefers an up-tempo, three-point shooting style of play. Marcus Hubbard is probably salivating at that prospect, as he fancies himself a three-point shooter, even though he's not very good at it. Neither are any of the other guys I listed, come to think of it, except maybe Sensley. They all can handle the up-tempo bit, though. This should be an interesting personnel-coach match to watch. I'd also expect to see at least one player assigned from Houston this year, although Chase Budinger has looked better than I expected coming off their bench.

Reno Bighorns - Rod Benson, Russell Robinson, David Noel, Daryl "Majic" Dorsey

Both Benson and Robinson should - repeat, should - get NBA looks at some point this season. The return of boom tho can only mean good things, both on the court and off. He's a very good rebounder and shotblocker, very athletic, and has been working on his shot. If NBA teams lighten up a little bit, he's one of the best big men in the league. Robinson performed well running Orlando's offense during Summer League but was a little shakier playing for Cleveland this preseason. He's a pretty good scorer and distributor, and could see some continued NBA attention. Noel's a solid all-around wing player who can defend, score, shoot threes and distribute the ball a little. Dorsey is a pretty decent PG who's very quick and is does a good job of getting to the basket. This is a pretty good core.

Sioux Falls Skyforce - Keith Brumbaugh, David Bailey, Greg Stiemsma, Joe Krabbenhoft (allocation)

Krabbenhoft's already been covered, so moving on. Bailey's a relatively efficient scorer and good three-point shooter, and he does a decent job of distributing the ball. He also gets a fair amount of rebounds for his position/size. Brumbaugh is also a pretty efficient scorer (moreso than Bailey) and shoots well from the outside. He's 6'10 but doesn't play inside much, and he also can run into foul problems. Stiemsma was actually drafted by a Korean team, but that appears not to have worked out. His per-minute numbers were decent last year, but he averaged only 14 minutes a game. So the real production wasn't what it probably could have been. This team might struggle early on to replace some of Kasib Powell's points and rebounds.

Tulsa 66ers - Keith Clark, Moses Ehambe, Steven Hill, Larry Owens (allocation)

Clark was draft-eligible after last season, except he didn't really play well enough for anyone to draft him. He's talented, certainly, but at some point he got it into his head that he could make three-pointers, when he really can't. He's a decent rebounder and can score a little bit, but he's not very efficient, and watching him last year one got the impression that he was still relying on his athleticism rather than using any kind of technique or putting up smart shots. Ehambe, on the other hand, can make three-pointers, 41.5 percent of them last season, in fact. That's really the extent of his game, as he shot worse on two-pointers than he did threes, and he didn't provide a ton in the way of rebounds, assists or steals. Hill averaged 13 points and 10 rebounds per 36 minutes last season before running into some injury problems. He's from Branson, Mo., so expect a lot of Branson, Mo., jokes this season. Larry Owens has spent the bulk of his career thus far in Europe, but got some looks from New Orleans in Summer League and the preseason, He's a power forward who shoots a lot of threes but doesn't rebound much. Sometimes his threes go in, and sometimes they don't, as in last year's EuroChallenge when he shot 18-110 from behind the arc. I know I've referenced that stat before, but it's pretty amazing to look it. Although if you spend too much time staring at it you'll probably turn into stone.

Utah Flash - Dontell Jefferson, Bennet Davis, Andre Ingram, Gavin Grant, James Lang, Carlos Wheeler, Luke Nevill (allocation), Lee Cummard (allocation)

Last team, I promise. This team returns a lot players, and given that they made the D-League Finals we should probably expect them to do well early on. Especially since Jefferson is back. I really have no idea why the Bobcats cut him, since he's a lockdown defender, has proven he can score in the D-League, and Charlotte is pretty terrible. But whatever, I'm sure GM (or whatever his title is) Michael Jordan knows what he's doing. If you're interested in learning more about Dontell Jefferson, why not read this interview? Picking up Luke Nevill was a decent move, as he can probably challenge Lang for whatever spot in the rotation Lang has. Ingram's a pretty good three-point shooter, as is former BYU guard Lee Cummard. Cummard's also a decent rebounder for a shooting guard. Bennet Davis can block shots and be athletic but not much else, but it'll be interesting to see if he brought anything back with him from the Nets' training camp.

2009 NBA Summer League: OKC Thunder vs Chicago Bulls

Mr Pappagiorgio — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:30:09 -0000

2009 Oklahoma City Thunder Summer League Roster
Num	Player	Position	Height	Weight	From
34	Tony Durant	F	6-7	245	Towson University
11	Richard Roby	G	6-6	205	Colorado
15	Marcus Dove	F	6-9	212	Unknown
17	Moses Ehambe	F	6-6	200	Oral Roberts
13	James Harden	G	6-5	220	Arizona State
50	DeVon Hardin	C	6-11	235	California
9	Serge Ibaka	F	6-10	220	Congo (Zaire)
14	Shaun Livingston	G	6-7	185	No College
2	Keith McLeod	G	6-2	190	Bowling Green
23	Byron Mullens	C	7-0	275	Ohio State
45	Doug Thomas	F	6-8	245	Iowa
30	Robert Vaden	G	6-5	205	Alabama-Birmingham
5	Kyle Weaver	G	6-6	201	Washington State
3	D.J. White	F	6-9	251	Indiana

2009 bulls Summer League Roster
Num	Player	Position	Height	Weight	From
35	Tyrell Biggs	F	6-8	235	Pittsburgh
32	Brandon Costner	F	6-9	230	North Carolina State
2	Bryan Mullins	G	6-2	190	Southern Illinois
3	Josh Shipp	G	6-5	215	UCLA
50	Luke Zeller	C	6-11	240	Notre Dame
40	James Augustine	F-C	6-10	240	Illinois
22	Taj Gibson	F	6-9	225	Southern California
11	Taurean Green	G	6-0	185	Florida
54	Linton Johnson	F	6-8	205	Tulane
16	James Johnson	F	6-8	245	Wake Forest
42	Nick Lewis	F-C	6-11	240	San Diego
14	Lorenzo Mata-Real	C-F	6-8	230	UCLA
21	DeMarcus Nelson	G	6-4	200	Duke
5	Anthony Roberson	G	6-2	180	Florida

2009 NBA Summer League: OKC Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs

Mr Pappagiorgio — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:30:09 -0000

2009 Oklahoma City Thunder Summer League Roster
Num	Player	Position	Height	Weight	From
34	Tony Durant	F	6-7	245	Towson University
11	Richard Roby	G	6-6	205	Colorado
15	Marcus Dove	F	6-9	212	Unknown
17	Moses Ehambe	F	6-6	200	Oral Roberts
13	James Harden	G	6-5	220	Arizona State
50	DeVon Hardin	C	6-11	235	California
9	Serge Ibaka	F	6-10	220	Congo (Zaire)
14	Shaun Livingston	G	6-7	185	No College
2	Keith McLeod	G	6-2	190	Bowling Green
23	Byron Mullens	C	7-0	275	Ohio State
45	Doug Thomas	F	6-8	245	Iowa
30	Robert Vaden	G	6-5	205	Alabama-Birmingham
5	Kyle Weaver	G	6-6	201	Washington State
3	D.J. White	F	6-9	251	Indiana

2009 spurs Summer League Roster
Num	Player	Position	Height	Weight	From
35	Alonzo Gee	G	6-6	219	Alabama
14	Donnell Taylor	G	6-5	193	Alabama-Birmingham
17	Romel Beck	G-F	6-7	185	Nevada-Las Vegas
45	DeJuan Blair	F	6-7	265	Pittsburgh
18	Eric Dawson	F-C	6-9	235	Midwestern, Tex.
10	James Gist	F	6-9	235	Maryland
1	Malik Hairston	G	6-6	215	Oregon
3	George Hill	G	6-2	190	IUPUI
16	Carldell Johnson	G	5-10	180	Alabama-Birmingham
22	Stephane Lasme	F	6-6	213	Massachusetts
28	Ian Mahinmi	C	6-11	250	France
33	Jack McClinton	G	6-1	185	Miami
19	Marcus Vinicius	F	6-9	235	N.E. Oklahoma A&M J.C.

2009 Vegas NBA Summer League: OKC Thunder vs. Memphis Grizzlies

Mr Pappagiorgio — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:15:09 -0000

2009 Oklahoma City Thunder Summer League Roster
Num	Player	Position	Height	Weight	From
34	Tony Durant	F	6-7	245	Towson University
11	Richard Roby	G	6-6	205	Colorado
15	Marcus Dove	F	6-9	212	Unknown
17	Moses Ehambe	F	6-6	200	Oral Roberts
13	James Harden	G	6-5	220	Arizona State
50	DeVon Hardin	C	6-11	235	California
9	Serge Ibaka	F	6-10	220	Congo (Zaire)
14	Shaun Livingston	G	6-7	185	No College
2	Keith McLeod	G	6-2	190	Bowling Green
23	Byron Mullens	C	7-0	275	Ohio State
45	Doug Thomas	F	6-8	245	Iowa
30	Robert Vaden	G	6-5	205	Alabama-Birmingham
5	Kyle Weaver	G	6-6	201	Washington State
3	D.J. White	F	6-9	251	Indiana

2009 Memphis Grizzlies Summer League Roster
Num	Player	Position	Height	Weight	From
8	Jeff Adrien	F	6-7	243	Connecticut
2	Brion Rush	G	6-1	190	Grambling
0	Darrell Arthur	F	6-9	235	Kansas
1	DeMarre Carroll	F	6-8	212	Missouri
32	Erik Daniels	F	6-8	214	Kentucky
3	Daniel Ewing	G	6-3	185	Duke
23	Trey Gilder	F	6-9	185	Northwestern St.
15	Hamed Haddadi	C	7-2	265	Iran
41	Kenny Hasbrouck	G	6-3	194
30	Longar Longar	C	6-11	234	Oklahoma
6	Donta Smith	G-F	6-7	215	SE Illinois College
35	Greg Stiemsma	C	6-11	260	Wisconsin
34	Hasheem Thabeet	C	7-3	267	Connecticut
5	Marcus Williams	G	6-3	205	Connecticut
4	Sam Young	G-F	6-6	220	Pittsburgh

Summer League Rosters - Oklahoma City Thunder

Jon L — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:15:09 -0000

The Oklahoma City Thunder's Summer League roster is pretty intriguing, and they may actually get to play some backcourt combinations that will also see time together in the NBA.

NBA Players: Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Shaun Livingston, Robert Vaden, Kyle Weaver, DJ White, Serge Ibaka, DeVon Hardin, BJ Mullens
Russell Westbrook is exciting and Weaver is a solid backcourt-mate for him, focusing mostly on defense. Livingston is intriguing as he rebuilds his career, and both he and DJ White played for the Thunder's D-League affiliate (as did Weaver, though only for a game or two). Livingston didn't really stand out, though he can be excused for still getting his legs under him. White is a big man but spends a fair amount of time shooting from the mid-range, and he's pretty good at it. That's actually most of the roster. New draftee James Harden is an interesting companion to all of those guards. BJ Mullens seems to fit the role of "true center" that the team thinks it needs, though I'm really, really skeptical that he'll do well in the NBA. Ibaka and Hardin were both 2008 draft picks who then spent the year playing overseas (with their rights retained, which is why they're up here), and Vaden may or may not go the same route.

D-Leaguers: Moses Ehambe, Keith McLeod
McLeod spent a handful of seasons in the NBA before ending up in the D-League. He's kind of middle of the pack as far as scoring guards go. Ehambe played for the Tulsa 66ers last year and he's a pretty good three-point shooter.

Undrafted College Players: none

Others: Marcus Dove, DeAngelo Alexander, Richard Roby, Kyle Hines, Doug Thomas
Dove is likely here because he went to Oklahoma State, but he's also a good defender. He spent last year in Belgium. Alexander is a shooting guard who played in Germany, where he was pretty up-and-down (scoring 3 points one game and 12 the next, despite playing the same number of minutes), and he doesn't really have an outside shot. Roby is Kenyon Martin's half-brother and the University of Colorado's leading scorer. Hines is a forward, though he's listed at 6'6", and reading about him he sounds like a slightly less-good Dominic McGuire (that's not an insult to either of them). Thomas has bounced around between Sweden and the D-League, where he put up okay but not great numbers.