SB Nation - David Noel

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.

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.

Vegas Summer League: A Look Forward

Jon L — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:45:08 -0000

Gary Forbes and the D-League Select team did well at Vegas Summer League. Should there be more teams in the future?

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Now that we've assessed who played well in this year's Summer League, both in Orlando and in Vegas, I thought I'd talk about an idea I mentioned in the comments a few days ago: next year, there should be more D-League teams. There were too many D-League guys stuck on the end of Summer League benches or only playing in one or two games for the current system to really benefit them. Assuredly, there were some NBA teams that "got it." Orlando, Denver and the Knick all come to mind as teams that invited players who spent all or part of last year in the D-League and then, and this is important, let them play.

Now, this is not necessarily the fault of the NBA teams. Some of them have several young players or guys who are under contract that they need to figure out what to do with. About half of San Antonio's roster was made up of guys who they've drafted in the last few years, for example. That meant that Squeaky Johnson only appeared in two games, and Erik Dawson didn't play at all. Now, neither of those players are on the short list of likely NBA call-ups, but they still have some talent and weren't able to demonstrate it. There were some guys who didn't play due because they couldn't - David Noel and Patrick Ewing Jr. of the Knicks' team were both sidelined with injury. But Maureece Rice averaged nine minutes in Vegas. Dwayne Jones played a total of nine minutes over only two games. Trent Strickland played in two games. Rod Benson appeared in three games, and after playing a little over 11 minutes in the first he never played more than 3 and a half minutes in the others. Dominique Coleman averaged less than six minutes over three minutes. Et cetera.

My solution? More D-League Select teams. The one team. Even excluding the D-League players who were out with injuries, there are enough guys who did play to form three additional 10-man rosters of players who come from the D-League. You also could establish fewer teams with more than ten players on each roster, as the injuries suffered by Othyus Jeffers, Trey Johnson and meant that this year's D-League Select team found itself shorthanded at times.

Below the jump I discuss the advantages I see for everyone involved.

Advantages for D-League players: More playing time, obviously. Sure guys like Kasib Powell and C.J. Giles got a lot of playing time, but as I noted above, that experience wasn't nearly universal. No one on the D-League Select team averaged less than 15 minutes a game. Having multiple teams means that both the Kasib Powells and the Trent Stricklands will be able to show what they can do. With three or four teams, the D-League also could turn it into an event where 40 or 50 guys are invited to try out, and NBA scouts and coaches are invited to observe them. That would lead to the kind of exposure given to players who attended the D-League's Elite minicamp, but on a wider level.

Advantages for the D-League: The D-League Select team generated a lot of positive coverage from newspapers, magazines and websites like TrueHoop. Quite simply, this was a public relations win for the D-League. The Select team was noted to be made up of talented players who were typically playing harder than the others and who beat several teams made up of first-round NBA talent. Hopefully this is what people will think of from now on when they hear "D-League" rather than the 31-year old mailman who played JV basketball in high school and wants to give it one more shot.

Advantages for other players: Fewer roster spots taken up by D-League players means more spots for the Pooh Jeters and Nikoloz Tskitishvilis of the world. While the odds those guys get an NBA contract coming out of Summer League are admittedly slim, more playing time for those types of players means they'll have more chances to show what they can do for European teams as well.

Advantages for the NBA: This one is a little tough to discern, as there may be a point at which the league doesn't really care how many D-League teams there are at Summer League, but ultimately benefits the D-League
benefits the NBA. The fact that the Select team did so well hopefully means more players will see the league as a viable option to get noticed by NBA teams and scouts, and that sponsors will see it as a positive venture as well. That can make Papa Stern happy.

Denver Post: Malik Allen to Nuggets for Weems & Sharpe

Frank Madden — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:29:27 -0000

Sonny Weems is a Buck...for now at least

The Denver Post is confirming the Malik Allen/Sonny Weems deal we first mentioned last night, though now it appears that second-year forward Walter Sharpe will also be heading to Milwaukee. Weems is a hyper-athletic shooting guard whose most notable rookie accomplishment was helping Colorado to the D-League title, but perhaps just as importantly his $736k salary is only partially guaranteed. If the Bucks waive him by August 15 he'll be owed just $174k. Sharpe's expiring minimum deal is for a guaranteed $736k, but Gery Woelfel tweets that Sharpe is expected to miss all of 09/10 with an ACL tear. For the Nuggets' perspective, check out Pickaxe and Roll and Roundball Mining Co.

With Allen's $1.3 million deal heading out, that means the Bucks could save up to $390k by cutting Weems--about $700k less than I had hoped last night when Sharpe's guaranteed deal hadn't been mentioned. Keeping Weems along with Sharpe would add about $172k to their cap number. If the Bucks do want to match a Sessions offer sheet then every dollar of savings will help keep them under the tax threshold, but with Sharpe's dead weight included it would seem this was more about moving a useless veteran for an athletic youngster with some vague potential.

The 39th overall pick in 2008, Weems is kind of like a smaller Joe Alexander--immensely gifted physically, but as of yet unable to figure things out at the highest level. He played just 55 minutes total in Denver last season, but did average 20.5 ppg in the D-League, including 22.8 ppg as Colorado won the D-League title. Weems shot just 32.6% in Vegas last week, but did average 16.6 ppg and 6.6 rpg, including a 28 point/9 rebound effort in Denver's last game. My gut reaction is that he's kind of like David Noel, only without the three point range. Terrific. Cynicism aside, Jeremy's a bit more optimistic, and I can see the argument for acquiring young athletes who might eventually get it. I just don't want to be relying on Weems to provide real minutes this season.

Ironically, the Bucks had Sharpe in last year for the same predraft workout as Joe Alexander and Luc Mbah a Moute, but if he's out for the year then odds are he never wears a Bucks jersey. A combo forward, Sharpe was a somewhat surprising 32nd overall selection by the Pistons a year ago--ahead of Mbah a Moute and Mario Chalmers--but played just 20 minutes all year before being shipped to Denver just last week along with Aron Afflalo in a cost-cutting move. At 6'9" and 245 pounds, he was solid at UAB when he was on the court, but he missed most of his final season due to academic issues and similar problems got him booted from Mississippi State before that. So yeah, maybe not the best choice to send to those "stay in school" speeches that NBA players get forced to do from time to time. I won't act like I know much about his game, but the consensus seems to be that he's a physically gifted guy who neither defends nor has much feel for the game. Do with that what you will.

Sharpe might never wear a Bucks uni, but here he is at UAB

Having previously played for Scott Skiles in Chicago, Allen reprised his role last year as the mediocre veteran who stole minutes from more talented players--Charlie Villanueva and Luc Mbah a Moute being the "victims" last year. His on court/off court splits were actually pretty good and his opponent PF stats were actually excellent, so we might have been a bit harsh to him, though at the end of the day he's an end-of-bench type and little more. Especially given the presence of young guys like Johnson, Ilyasova, Mbah a Moute and Alexander all looking for burn at PF, there's no need to have Allen eating up minutes. Given how far Weems and Sharpe are from being NBA contributors, it's not likely that this deal ever provides clear benefits, but it certainly won't hurt the new-look Bucks either.

Vegas Summer League Recap: Day 6

Jon L — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:00:48 -0000

See these guys? These guys are better than your guys.

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So...we're officially past the halfway point with this Summer League thing. It both feels like it just started and like it's been going on forever. Orlando probably had something to do with it. I had a pretty interesting conversation (well, sort of) on Twitter that got to the heart of what Summer League should be about. I've talked about this before, but there are several competing goals that teams have: see how their new draft picks look on the court with other NBA players, help young NBA players continue to develop, and see if any D-League guys or "Europe" guys can fill in the back of the roster. Is it worth playing your second-year center 35 minutes if he's generally having an awful game and you have undrafted free agents or D-League guys you could look at? Or do that center's struggles mean that he needs more on-court development, and as such should stay out there and lean from his mistakes? I'm not completely sure of what the answer is, but looking at the box scores and seeing so many DNPs makes me go back to the question of whether Summer League is worth it for players who don't already have NBA contracts. If you play a lot and play well, like Kasib Powell did in Orlando, then sure you could say that was a good decision. But too often guys end up sitting on the bench for the entire game, unable to show what they can do while that second-year center shoots 20 percent from the field and an undrafted free agent plays five uneventful minutes. And because teams are playing either every day or every other day, there aren't really any practices to show what a player can do. Perhaps the solution is for the D-League to field several Select teams, thus ensuring that guys get playing time in which they can show they can hang with NBA players.

By the way, if these recaps have seemed shorter the last few days, it's because a.) A lot of these teams have relatively few D-League guys (hence the Select team, I guess), and b.) Not a lot of guys have been playing well, D-League or otherwise. There are players who I expected to have been talking about a lot, but because I'm trying to avoid harping on poor performances (ahem, Blake Ahearn) I'm left with little to focus on. If this keeps up I'm going to have a hardedrtime writing a "which non-NBA players did well in Vegas" post than I did with Orlando. Unless of course I just talk about the Select team, which beat another NBA squad yesterday. Hit the jump for the recap of that one and the rest.

D-League Select 105, Sacramento Kings 89

The D-League team was actually down by seven at the half, but they dominated the second half, including a 31-14 fourth quarter. And hey, I can actually tell you who played well in this one! Othyus Jeffers, Othyus Jeffers, Othyus Jeffers. (That wasn't meant to be a Clarence Carter reference, but feel free to make it one if you wish.) Jeffers again led the D-Leaguers with 21 points on 7-12 shooting and a perfect day from the free-throw line, plus seven rebounds and two steals. I'll be really, really surprised if he spends all of next season in the D-League; a call-up (or an outright signing) should be soon in coming for this guy. This was the first game where Trey Johnson played well without caveat, and he shot 8-10 for 20 points and added a pair of rebounds. Gary Forbes has been playing pretty well, both in Vegas and in Orlando, and yesterday he had 17 points on 11 shots and four rebounds. Coleman Collins shot 100 percent on the day, shooting 3-3 from the field and 4-4 from the line.Kurt Looby took zero field goals, which is probably for the best, but I'll take six rebounds and three blocks in less than 15 minutes any day (though I could do without the six fouls). Curtis Stinson has started both official games at PG, and he's been solid enough, but Walker Russell has been really impressive generally

Jason Thompson had a fairly solid game, with 31 points on 23 shots and 10 rebounds, but also nine fouls. Marcus Landry has played relatively well, and yesterday he had 10 points on 4-6 shooting, though he didn't do much else. Tyreke Evans is a very good rebounder for his position, but the shooting still isn't there. He cut down on his turnovers, though. Did I mention that the D-League team beat another NBA squad, this one also featuring several first-round picks

Denver Nuggets 77, Washington Wizards 70

Nick Young came down to earth a little bit, scoring only 17 points, but it came on 12 shots and he also had three steals. Andray Blatche's numbers looked good again, 27 points on 21 shots, 15 rebounds (eight offensive), three assists and two steals, but he didn't look great doing it. He was exhorting his teammates to make harder cuts on offense, but he had his share of boneheaded plays as well. If you expect me to say another Wizard had a good game, I can't. Those three assists were a team high. JaVale McGee finished with eight rebounds and five blocks, but he also shot 3-12 and by all accounts looked pretty terrible overall.

Sonny Weems bounced back from a poor game to score 17 points on 15 shots and grab 11 boards. Richard Hendrix had a nice, solid game, with 10 points on 4-6 shooting and six rebounds in 19 minutes. CJ Giles also played fairly well, with 10 points on seven shots and seven rebounds, though he also had seven fouls. Ronald Dupree saw his first extended action and finished with 11 points on 4-9 shooting along with three rebounds, three assists and a block

Houston Rockets 87, Portland Trail Blazers 8

Chase Budinger Summer League Jersey Retirement Watch: Budinger had an excellent 17 points on eight shots thanks to going 2-2 from behind the arc and 3-3 from the free-throw line. Maarty Leunen also had a fairly efficient day, with 14 points on eight shots, along with five rebounds and four assists. Jerryd Bayless had 13 points on 10 shots and six rebounds, though he also had only two assists and six turnovers. James White shot 3-4 but more importantly did a good job of getting to the free-throw line, and ended up with 16 points on four shots. Four turnovers, though. Pooh Jeter finished with 15 points on 11 shots and had a game-high six assists and only one turnover. Rod Benson only played a little over three minutes, but he had two rebounds in that time.

Milwaukee Bucks 87, Chicago Bulls 72

Not too much interesting about this one. Joe Alexander's shooting has been improving gradually, and he had 18 points on 16 shots yesterday with five rebounds and three blocks, and Brandon Jennings had 14 points on 10 shots with nine assists, but neither of those are really noteworthy. Taj Gibson has rebounded the ball well so far, and he had eight against the Bucks, but he also had 10 fouls. DeMarcus Nelson has been shooting the ball and rebounding fairly well, and he shot 6-12 with six rebounds yesterday, but he's not getting to the free throw line much and his overall efficiency is suffering (more with Nelson later today). My former college chum Linton Johnson (not really, but we were at Tulane at the same time) played just under five and a half minutes, but he had three rebounds in that time which isn't bad

Toronto Raptors 74, Phoenix Suns 73

DeMar DeRozan continues to impress, with 20 points on 16 shots, and only two fouls and a single turnover. Quincy Douby's also played fairly well, and he scored 16 points on 12 shots, though he also shot 1-5 on his three-pointers. Earl Clark can rebound, I'll tell you that, with 12 rebounds in just over 27 minutes, though he also had five rebounds and needed 12 shots to get 13 points. Smush Parker has pretty much disappeared since the first game against the Lakers. Coincidence? Paul Davis was injured and had to be taken out of the gym on a stretcher, so hopefully he's okay. He always stuck me as a guy who'd do alright in the D-League

Detroit Pistons 96, New York Knicks 73

This game was all about Austin Daye and DaJuan Summers. Daye had 27 points on 17 shots and 13 rebounds despite being what one person on Twitter called "all arms and legs." Summers finished with 26 points on 21 shots and eight rebounds. Jonas Jerebko was less efficient shooting-wise, but he had 12 rebounds, and he's generally been solid in that area. Toney Douglas has been racking up the assists so far, and he had 10 yesterday, but his shooting has been pretty terrible. Saer Sene played only nine minutes, but he had three rebounds and two blocks in that time. David Noel, Ron Howard, Patrick Ewing Jr. and Dwayne Jones all got DNPs. Booooooo. Just for that I stuck this recap at the bottom.

2009 Summer League Breakdown - New York Knicks

Jon L — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:00:12 -0000

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Towards the end of last season, the Knicks began paying attention to the D-League, bringing several players in for workouts and signing guys like Demetris Nichols, Courtney Sims and Cheikh Samb to short contracts. That interest has carried over to the Summer League, where New York has invited a fair number of D-League guys to participate. Yep, that's really the only interesting thing about their Summer League roster. The draftees and those D-League guys. David Noel, solid player. Same for Joe Crawford. Blake Ahearn certainly can play. Yep, nothing else going on here. I guess we'll just OH MAN THEY FOUND NIKOLOZ TSKITISHVILI. SKITA IS ON THE KNICKS' SUMMER LEAGUE TEAM. REPEAT: NIKOLOZ TSKITISHVILI IS ON THE NEW YORK KNICKS' SUMMER LEAGUE TEAM.

Ahem. Sorry about that. Full roster breakdown after the jump.

Jordan Hill (6'10"F/C) - Depending on how you felt about Hasheem Thabeet, Hill was probably the best big man prospect in this year's draft. It's not hard to imagine that the Knicks believe he can play an Amar'e Stoudemire-type role for them, and they're looking to move current starting PF David Lee. Hill's been working on his mid-range shot and his footwork, but he's athletic enough to play in Mike D'Antoni's offense, and he's a pretty good rebounder. Then again some people are saying he could be another Chris Wilcox, but I personally think a lot of what Wilcox is now is because of lack of development early in his career, so we'll see if D'Antoni can help Hill develop into something more.

Toney Douglas (6'1" G) - Douglas is a very good defender, something that D'Antoni has never really had from the point guard position. He's also a good ballhandler and a good three-point shooter who does a good job coming off screens, and perhaps most importantly for D'Antoni he's a very efficient scorer. He's not a great passer, though, and doesn't always make great decisions with the ball.

Wink Adams (6'1" G) - Ladies and gentlemen, your host for Password Plus, Wink Adams! Adams is a pretty efficient scorer, though he didn't rack up a ton of assists as a point guard in college. He's an okay rebounder, but his free-throw shooting also could use some work, and it really took a nosedive his last year at UNLV, going from 85 percent as a junior to 68 percent as a senior. His three-point shooting did the same, dropping to 27 percent after being at least 6 points better throughout his college career.

Rashaad Singleton (7'0" C) - Singleton is an athletic center who's still more about potential than being able to contributing. His rebounding jumped up in his senior year of college, but it still wasn't great and came against weaker competition (he transferred from the University of Georgia to Florida Southern). I haven't seen much written about his offense, but he seems to do okay, though his biggest asset is his shot-blocking. (Rashaad Singleton does not sound like a 7-footer -- Scott)

Joe Crawford (6'4" G) - Crawford spent the least season playing mostly with the LA D-Fenders, though I'm not sure what the likelihood of him getting called up was, since the Lakers kept drafting and trading for guards. Luckily for him the Knicks came calling last season, and Crawford is a talented scorer and a decent rebounder for his position. He hasn't been very consistent, but he can get pretty hot from behind the arc, and he's active on defense.

Blake Ahearn (6'2" G) - Ahearn has been one of the best three-point shooters in the D-League for several seasons now, and while he's gotten a couple of NBA looks he hasn't stuck yet. He should, though. He's more of a shooting guard though he's played some point, and while his defense isn't great he's certainly an NBA-caliber scorer, particularly from behind the arc.

Alex Acker (6'5" G) - Acker hasn't really stuck with any one NBA team either, having been traded and spending a few brief stints in the D-League. His shot selection is sometimes questionable, but he has a nice jumpshot and is also a good passer. He's an excellent rebounder for a guard, and he plays with a lot of energy, though not at a consistent level.

Patrick Ewing Jr. (6'8" F) The Knicks actually traded for Ewing last season before cutting him to make room on their roster for...someone, and Ewing has fought through knee injuries the last few years. He showed his talent when he played in the D-League, though, both scoring and rebounding fairly well. He doesn't have much of an outside game, but Ewing does a good job of getting to the line and converting, and he has some shot-blocking ability as well.

Ron Howard (6'5" G/F) - Howard played small forward for Fort Wayne last season, but he doesn't really have the size for it in the NBA. Howard's a really good defensive player, and his experience guarding bigger guys should serve him well. He also picked up his scoring, particularly towards the end of the season, though he shoots almost no threes. Also, his rebounding is inconsistent.

David Noel (6'6" F) - Noel's been a good D-League player, and he's a solid defender and a very efficient scorer. He also comes through with an occasional double-digit assist game. and his three-point shooting numbers are very good The bottom line is that Noel's a really solid all-around player who should be able to fill just about any role a team needs.

Mouhamed Saer Sene (7'0" C) - The Knicks got a look at Sene last season, and while his offensive game is still pretty underdeveloped, he's an excellent shot-blocker as well as a decent rebounder and an athletic post defender. He doesn't get to the free-throw line very much, which is probably for the best since his average there is pretty bad. The Knicks appear to be looking for a strong, shot-blocking center, though, between calling Sene and Samb up last year and inviting Sene and Singleton to Summer League, and it appears that they like Sene the most. He could be an interesting guy to pair with Jordan Hill up front.

Morris Almond (6'5" G) - Almond spent a fair amount of time in the D-League after not being able to crack the Jazz rotation on a consistent basis, but he's a talented player. Almond is an efficient scorer and a good three-point shooter, though he occasionally turns the ball over too much. He cut his turnovers down a fair amount this past season, though, so he's obviously working on that.

Warren Carter (6'9" F) - Carter spent the last few years playing in Turkey, Spain and Latvia, where he showed himself to be a pretty good scorer and rebounder, certainly better than he showed at the University of Illinois where he was a backup for three years. His free-throw shooting needs work, and he doesn't give much in the way of passing or shot-blocking, but he's worth a look, I suppose.

Yaroslav Korolev (6'9" F) - Korolev is a former Clippers lottery pick who never got much playing time before going back to Russia. He's fairly athletic, but also inconsistent and mistake-prone. Despite not always making great decisions he doesn't turn the ball over a whole lot, but his NBA shooting percentages were pretty abysmal. That's based on some small sample sizes, though, and it's Summer League after all, so I guess there's no harm in seeing what he can do now.

Nikoloz Tskitishvili (7'0" F) - Do I really need to tell you who this guy is? He's still considered somewhat of a project, if you can believe that (I'll bet you can). His three-point shooting has improved the last few years in Europe, as has his rebounding, but he's still only been averaging about four per game. It's hard to see him making it in the NBA at this point, after all that's happened and the fact that he hasn't shown much interest in seriously working on his game (or if he has, there are no tangible results from it), but like Carter and Korolev, there's no real harm to bringing him in.

Poll

Are you excited about the Knicks' Summer League team?

Everything D'Antoni touches turns to excitement.

63 votes

How could I not be excited with this many D-Leaguers on the roster?

62 votes

Skita Time!

65 votes

190 votes | Poll has closed

NBA Summer League Rosters Taking Shape

Scott Schroeder — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:00:21 -0000

UPDATED - check after the jump for everything updated in the past three days.

Alright, we got all of the personal mumbo-jumbo out of the way - let's begin with the Summer League coverage!

The Orlando of the NBA Summer League schedule (July 6-10) is here, the Vegas portion of the NBA Summer League schedule (July 10-19) is here and the NBA Summer League roster of your favorite team (so far) is... After the jump!

I was all drafted out, so sorry for the lack of posting going on this weekend - I sincerely apologize to all thirteen of you that were disappointed. As a show of goodwill, I worked feverishly throughout the weekend to scour my sources, google the news, and do anything and everything I could to start piecing together an accurate view of what your team will look like this Summer.

Granted, it's probably not likely to expect much out of some of these players, but each year there are players that pop up from nowhere in Summer League and impress enough to earn a spot on an NBA roster. The most recent example would be Bobby Brown from last season, though there are plenty more (and we'll look at them throughout the next week heading into the Orlando portion of NBA Summer League's).

After the jump, I've put together a list of which players I've (all but) confirmed. If you're aware of anymore, let me know in the comments! If you're unsure of one of the players, click on the link - it'll either take you to their SBNation page or, if they're a bit more obscure, whichever source linked them to said Summer League team.

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/29/09 9:21 AM CDT ] Added Wink Adams to New York

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/29/09 11:15 AM CDT ] Added Daniel Artest to Houston

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/29/09 9:34 PM CDT ] Added Paul Harris to Minnesota, from Cleveland

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 12:02 AM CDT ] Added Kevin Kruger to Utah

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 12:48 AM CDT ] Added Acie Law to Golden State

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 8:58 AM CDT ] Added Lee Cummard to Phoenix, Luke Nevill to New Orleans

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 10:27 AM CDT ] Added Alex Ruoff to Washington

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 12:59 PM CDT ] Added Trent Plaisted, Deron Washington, Will Bynum, Dwayne Jones, Clay Tucker, Ibrahim Jaaber and Matt Freije to Detroit

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 1:42 PM CDT ] Added Mohamed Tangara to Milwaukee

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 8:50 PM CDT ] Added Rod Benson to Houston, Demetris Nichols to Toronto

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/01/09 12:19 AM CDT ] Added Dar Tucker and Kevin Rogers to Dallas; Jaycee Carroll to New Orleans; completed Minnesota, Golden State and Utah

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/01/09 11:54 AM CDT ] Completed San Antonio, Orlando and Boston roster

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/01/09 2:08 PM CDT ] Added Phoenix roster, Robert Swift to Boston

[Note by Jon Lewallen, 07/01/09 2:50 PM CDT] Added Jim Baron to Washington

[Note by Jon Lewallen, 07/01/09 5:00 PM CDT] Completed Chicago, Sacramento and New Orleans rosters

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/01/09 6:40 PM CDT ] Completed Indiana, Milwaukee, New York, Oklahoma City, LA Clippers

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/01/09 8:02 PM CDT ] Completed Washington

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/02/09 4:05 PM CDT ] Completed Houston

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/02/09 5:31 PM CDT ] Completed Portland, Memphis

[Note by Jon Lewallen, 07/02/09 8:10 CDT ] Completed Philadelphia/N.J. roster

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/03/09 11:12 AM CDT ] Completed (?) Denver roster

[Note by Jon Lewallen, 07/07/09 7:45 PM CDT ] Completed Dallas, Detroit and D-League Select rosters

2009 ORLANDO SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTERS

Boston Celtics

Bryan Mullins, Lester Hudson, Chris Lofton, Gabe Pruitt, Bill Walker, J.R. Giddens, Michael Sweetney, Coby Karl, Darius Washington, Bryce Taylor, Kevin Rogers, Robert Swift,

Indiana Pacers

Aaron Jackson, Leo Lyons, Tyler Hansbrough, Brandon Rush, Josh McRoberts, A.J. Price, Roy Hibbert, Will Blalock, Trey Johnson, Anthony Smith, Derrick Byars, Courtney Sims, Scott Vander Meer,

Philadelphia 76ers/ New Jersey Nets

Blake Ahearn, Jrue Holiday, Marreese Speights, Dionte Christmas, Chris Johnson, Rob Kurz, Gary Forbes, Marcus Slaughter, Terrence Williams, Chris Douglas-Roberts, AJ Abrams, Jeff Adrien, Jason Ellis,

Oklahoma City Thunder

Serge Ibaka, Shaun Livingston, BJ Mullens, James Harden, Robert Vaden, DeVon Hardin, Russell Westbrook, Kyle Weaver, D.J. White, Marcus Dove, Moses Ehambe, DeAngelo Alexander, Richard Roby, Kyle Hines, Doug Thomas, Keith McLeod,

Orlando Magic

Ryan Anderson, Levance Fields, Richard Hendrix, Russell Robinson, Darian Townes, Maurice Ager, Lance Allred, Brian Chase, Ronald Dupree, Courtney Fells, C.J. Giles, Steven Milosevic, Jeremy Pargo, Milovan Rakovic, Jeremy Richardson

Utah Jazz

Eric Maynor, Gary Wilkinson, Goran Suton, Kosta Koufos, Kyrylo Fesenko, Wesley Matthews, Kevin Kruger, Kevin Lyde, Andre Ingram, James Augustine, Cedric Bozeman, Justin Reed, Josh Duncan, Jim Baron, Reyshawn Terry and Larry Turner

2009 VEGAS SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTERS

Chicago Bulls

Luke Zeller, James Johnson, Taj Gibson, Bryan Mullins, Tyrell Biggs, Mario Austin, AD Vasallo, Anthony Roberson, Linton Johnson, Chris Davis, Taurean Green, Lorenzo Mata-Real, DeMarcus Nelson, Julius Hodge, Brandon Costner, James Augustine, Nick Lewis

Cleveland Cavaliers

Maureece Rice, Christian Eyenga, Danny Green, Jawad Williams, Darnell Jackson, Tarence Kinsey,

Dallas Mavericks

Aaron Miles, Rodrigue Beaubois, Ahmad Nivins, Curtis Jerrells, Dar Tucker, Kevin Rogers, Quinton Hosley, Damjan Rudez, Luke Jackson, Henry Dugat, Nick Calathes, Mickael Gelabale, Herbert Hill, Shan Foster, Trent Strickland, Andre Owens, Alfred Aboya, Moussa Seck, Bryson McKenzie

Detroit Pistons

Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers, Jonas Jerebko, Walter Sharpe, Trent Plaisted, Deron Washington, Will Bynum, Dwayne Jones, Clay Tucker, Ibrahim Jaaber, Michael Bramos, Andre Owens

Denver Nuggets

Richard Hendrix, Ty Lawson, Derrick Byars, Ronald Dupree, CJ Giles, Coby Karl, Kareem Rush, Cedric Simmons, Sonny Weems

Golden State Warriors

Stephen Curry, Anthony Morrow, Anthony Randolph, Jermareo Davidson, Acie Law, Connor Atchley, Lawrence Hill, Joe Ingles, Jared Jordan, Cartier Martin, Quan Prowell, Lawrence Roberts, Jamal Sampson

Houston Rockets

Garrett Temple, Will Conroy, Jermaine Taylor, Chase Budinger, Rod Benson, Hassan Adams, Marcus Cousin, Joey Dorsey, Charles Gaines, Mike Green, Brad Newley, Maarty Leunen, Darryl Watkins, James White

Los Angeles Clippers

Kyle McAlarney, Kevinn Pinkney, Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon, DeAndre Jordan, Mike Taylor, Sean Banks, Dionte Christmas, Marcellus Kemp, Nik Caner-Medley,

Los Angeles Lakers

Tony Gaffney, Chinemelu Elonu, Alan Anderson, Aron Bynes, Dominique Coleman, Terrel Harris, Justin Hawkins, Ben McCauley, David Monds, Adam Morrison, Taylor Rochestie, Luke Schenscher, Mustafa Shakur,

Milwaukee Bucks

Brandon Jennings, Salim Stoudamire, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Joe Alexander, Jodie Meeks, Dominic James,Mohamed Tangara, Will McDonald, Juan Palacios, Chris Richard, Szymon Szewczyk, Lorrenzo Wade

Minnesota Timberwolves

Ben Woodside, Corey Brewer, Jonny Flynn, Wayne Ellington, Paul Harris, Oleksiy Pecherov, Bobby Brown, Pat Carroll, Devin Green, Gerald Henderson, Steven Hill, Rob Kurz, Garrett Siler,

Memphis Grizzlies

Jeff Adrien, Hasheem Thabeet, DeMarre Carroll, Sam Young, Darrell Arthur, Hamed Haddadi, Daniel Ewing, Greg Stiemsma, Erik Daniels, Trey Gilder, Longar Longar, Brion Rush, Donta Smith, Marcus Williams

New Orleans Hornets

Marcus Thornton, Terry Martin, Darren Collison, Julian Wright, Luke Nevill, Jaycee Carroll, Earl Barron, Earl Calloway, Bryan Cusworth, Larry Owens, Marc Salyers, Courtney Sims, Anthony Tolliver, Quinton Watkins

New York Knicks

Jordan Hill, Blake Ahearn, Toney Douglas, Alex Acker, Wink Adams, Morris Almond, Warren Carter, Joe Crawford, Patrick Ewing Jr., Ron Howard, Yaroslav Korolev, David Noel, Mouhamed Sene, Rashaad Singleton, Nikoloz Tskitishvili,

Oklahoma City Thunder

Phoenix Suns

Earl Clark, Taylor Griffin, Goran Dragic, Robin Lopez, Lee Cummard, Alando Tucker, Micah Downs, Zabian Dowdell, Josh Carter, Kaspars Berzins, Jiri Hubalek, Geary Claxton, Chris Rodgers, Carlos Powell

Portland Trail Blazers

Jeff Pendergraph, Dante Cunningham, Jerryd Bayless, Patrick Mills, Thomas Gardner, Pooh Jeter, Bobby Jones, David Padgett, Deji Akindele, Matt Freije, Dwayne Mitchell, David Moss

Sacramento Kings

Tyreke Evans, Omri Casspi, Jon Brockman, Donté Greene, Jason Thompson, Wesley Matthews, Jerel McNeal, Spencer Hawes, Robert Battle, John Bryant, Pat Calathes, Marcus Landry, Brian Roberts, Victor Stowes, Ryan Toolson

San Antonio Spurs

James Gist, Jack McClinton, DeJuan Blair, Eric Dawson, Malik Hairston, George Hill, Romel Beck, Nando de Colo, Carldell "Squeaky" Johnson, Antonio Anderson, Marcus Vinicius, Ian Mahinmi, Alonzo Gee,

Toronto Raptors

Brent Petway, DeMar DeRozan, Nathan Jawai, Demetris Nichols, Quincy Douby, Roko Ukic, Patrick O'Bryant, Carl English, Ekene Ibekwe, David Doublas, Paul Davis, Smush Parker

Washington Wizards

Tyrese Rice, Nick Young, Javaris Crittenton, JaVale McGee, Alex Ruoff, Jim(my) Baron, Alade Aminu, Ryan Ayers, Jon Edwards, Josh Heytvelt, James Lang, Dominic McGuire, Tywain McKie, Jason Rich, Diamon Simpson, Kyle Spain, Brandon Wallace

NBA D-League Select

Coleman Collins, Walker Russell, Will Frisby, Gary Forbes, Marcus Hubbard, Othyus Jeffers, Jasper Johnson, Trey Johnson, Kurt Looby, Curtis Stinson

D-League Draft In Review, 2008 Edition

Scott Schroeder — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:30:10 -0000

Yesterday, Jon L had a great comment when I posted the first pick of my re-draft:

That's actually a tricky variable to the draft that speaks to the sort of limbo many D-League teams find themselves in - it's true they already have seven players before the draft, but should they roll the dice and grab an NBA guy who isn't likely to be on the team for very long, or go with a still-talented-but-safer pick and ensure the team will have solid players for the entire season?

Personally, I think it's better to pick the most talented player that fills a role that needs filling, regardless of call-up probabilities. For one, if a team can get off to a hot start before 10-day's start in mid-January, nearly a third of the season is already in the books.

After that, if the player gets signed for the season in the NBA, the team will move to the top of the waiver priority list, giving them a pretty good opportunity to pick up a player that can fill the role rather capably (example: If Idaho would have waited three days at the top of the order, Pops Mensah-Bonsu would have been a pretty good replacement player.)

Anyway, his comment got me to thinking quite a bit, leading to me doing the entire re-draft last night. Continue on for the results of that along with my steals and duds of each round. Scandalous!

First, here is the format: Picks are in order of selection. Original pick in parentheses. Next line - guys that seemed they could contribute to the team that were either allocated or returning. Last, my reasoning for new pick.

Tulsa 66ers - Jermareo Davidson (Chris Richard)

Russell Carter SG, Keith Closs C, Chris Ellis PF, Jeremy Kelly SG, Terrell Everett PG, Ryan Humphrey PF, Keith Clark PF

Tulsa needed a big, and Davidson was the best big in the draft. It doesn't seem like Closs ever planned to play in the league, leaving them with three 6'8" bigs. I felt with Jermareo, that'd be a dangerous front line. I think there were enough wings that that could have probably waited until the 2nd round, whereas a center was much more rare.

Colorado 14ers - Othyus Jeffers (James Mays)

Josh Davis PF, Joe Dabbert C

Colorado knew Gill was on his way so biggest need was a swingman. Jeffers brings defense and is a gritty "Coloradoish" player. Plus, and possibly more importantly, it would have combined my man crushes.

Idaho Stampede - James Mays (Jermareo Davidson)

Jamaal Tatum PG, Coby Karl SG, Brent Petway F

Lance Allred came right after draft, so Idaho needed a 3/4. James Mays, before his injury, was probably the best player in the league.

Sioux Falls Skyforce - Chris Richard (Gary Forbes)

Frank Williams PG, Carl Elliott SG, Bobby Jones SF, Michael Joiner PF, Chris Alexander C

With that returning lineup, Sioux Falls was only really lacking at the power forward spot. With Richard just getting cut from Twolves and the Skyforce being a Minnesota affiliate, this was just a logic pick.

Bakersfield Jam - David Noel (Derrick Byars)

Mateen Cleaves PG, Trey Johnson SG, Nick Lewis C

This one will be quick - they needed a 3 or a 4, and Noel was Best available.

Fort Wayne Mad Ants - Derrick Byars (Coleman Collins)

Walker Russell PG, Ron Howard 2/3, Chris Hunter 4/5

Fort Wayne really need a big to compliment Hunter, and Collins was probably most talented left, but I think that Byars really would have given them a much more dangerous team.

Erie Bayhawks - Erik Daniels (Erik Daniels)

Maureece Rice PG, Jackie Manuel 2/3, Ivan Harris 3/4

Needed a big, but there aren't any left that I like. As much as I wasn't a fan of Daniels, he showed to be solid in their lineup as a "center."

Anaheim Arsenal - James White (James White)

Cedric Bozeman PG, TJ Cummings 4, Noel Felix 4/5

For reasons unknown, this team blew up in a hurry. Had those four, Kedrick Brown and Marcus Campbell played together (Brown and Campbell returned early in the season), Anaheim would have been scary. Unfortunately, they were scary, but for the wrong reasons.

Utah Flash - Smush Parker (Denham Brown in trade for Dontell Jefferson)

Brian Jackson 4/5

They had NBA help coming at all other positions - Parker might not have fit in all that well, but this would have been a fun team to watch!

Reno Bighorns - Gary Forbes (Antonio Meeking)

Damone Brown 3/4, Jesse Smith 5

Forbes is a stud. Antonio Meeking isn't. Russell Robinson would have been a nice pick here, but Reno was able to get him in the second round anyway, so we're keeping him there.

Dakota Wizards - Coleman Collins (Marcus Hubbard)

Mo Baker PG, David Bell PG, Dontell Jefferson G, Blake Ahearn G, Renaldo Major SF, Quemont Greer 3/4, Will Frisby PF

Only need was height. Looking at injury troubles, Taj MacCullough would have been a good pick as well seeing as he was with the NBA's Wizards in the preseason, but I think personalities would have clashed.

Rio Grande Valley Vipers - Cartier Martin (Smush Parker)

Trent Strickland 2/3, Stanley Asumnu SF, Alton Ford PF, Kendall Dartez 4/5

RGV needed a point guard, but Tierre Brown was terrible and Russell Robinson is a much better distributor than scorer. Unfortunately, they didn't have anyone great that could score. Cartier Martin would have shored that up.

Los Angeles Defenders - Taj MacCullough (Jasper Johnson)

Brandon Heath G, Joe Crawford SG, Ryan Forehan-Kelly SF, Patrick Sanders PF, Rashid Byrd C

Could have used a point guard, but I like Taj. Hell, I like a lot of people more than Jasper Johnson. I would have put assistant coach Chucky Brown back on the court if that was an option over Jasper.

Albuquerque Thunderbirds - Antonio Meeking (David Noel)

Will Conroy PG, Majic Dorsey PG, Cheyne Gadson G, Corey Underwood 4/5

They had a really good pick originally in Noel (but then randomly traded him?) I think Meeking would have done well here with Noel off the board. He played well in this system after being traded for Noel, anyway.

Iowa Energy - Denham Brown (Cartier Martin)

Curtis Stinson PG, Dwayne Mitchell 2/3, Courtney Sims C

Iowa got a steal in Martin - Brown wouldn't have been much of a drop off.

Austin Toros - Kurt Looby (Robert "who?!?" McKiver)

Carldell Johnson PG, Malik Hairston 2/3, Marcus Williams 2/3, Charles Gaines PF

Looby was very unpolished, but could always block and board. I considered a point guard here, but I think that Williams played well as a point-forward and Looby was probably the best available player that seems like he wouldn't screw up the chemistry.

Best available left:

PG - Tierre Brown, John Gilchrist

SG - Dominique Coleman, Derrick Dial

SF - Jasper Johnson, Keith Brumbaugh

PF - Trey Gilder, David Monds

C - Brad Stricker, Sean Sonderleiter, Aaron Spears (Dakota's 2nd round pick - he should've played in the D-League)

BONUS: Steals and Duds of each round!

1 - Steal: Cartier Martin (Iowa) Dud: Tierre Brown (Anaheim)

2 - Steal: Russell Robinson (Reno) Dud: Keith Butler (Los Angeles)

3 - Steal: Othyus Jeffers (Iowa) Dud: Vernon Hamilton (Erie)

4 - Steal: Dominique Coleman (Colorado)

5 - Steal: Marvin Phillips (Iowa) Dud: Mikheil Berishvili (Tulsa)

6 - Steal: Keith Brumbaugh (Sioux Falls)

7 - No steals, all duds

8 - Steal: Derrick Dial (Tulsa)

9 - Steal: Cliff Clinkscales (Erie)

10 - Steal: Carlos English (Dakota), Sean Sonderleiter (Iowa) - Tie!

The 2008-2009 Colorado 14ers: A Look Back

Jon L — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:34:55 -0000

Drafting Trey Gilder was just one reason why the 14ers won the championship.

View full size photo »

Now that they've won the championship, I thought I'd take a look back at Colorado's season. Consider it an internet version of those Sports Illustrated videos that come out for whomever wins the Super Bowl. We'll start with the draft, then go month-to-month, highlighting key performances that helped the 14ers achieve victory.

The Draft

Colorado's draft was...top-heavy. Their first pick (second overall) was James Mays, a 6-9 forward from Clemson who had originally been drafteed by the Denver Nuggets. Mays started 12 games for the 14ers, averaging just under 19 points a game on 46 percent shooting, with eight and a half rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in 33 and a half minutes. He tore his ACL in early January, though, and was out for the rest of the year. They followed that up with Trey Gilder in the second round and Dominique Coleman in the fourth, but those are really their only other draftees of note. Unless you're a big fan of Marlon Palmer, John Gilchrist or David Godbold, I suppose. Of course, almost none of the players available in, say, the ninth round of the D-League draft are good bets to be on a roster at the end of the season. Still, players they passed over at one point or another include Kurt Looby, Othyus Jeffers and David Noel.

Retrospective Draft Grade: B+; It's hard to argue with picking up two starters and a guy who probably would've been a sixth man on any other team in the first four rounds. Coleman and Gilder in particular had key roles in Colorado's championship run, which is discussed after the jump.

November/December

The 14ers got off to a good start, going 8-4 in the first month (plus three days) of the season. During that stretch they played Albuquerque in a home and home, Rio Grande Valley twice and Tulsa three times. Standout performances from this period include Mays, who had 27 points on 19 shots, 11 rebounds and six steals against Albuquerque and 37 points on 19 shots and 11 rebounds against RGV; Dominique Coleman, who in the second game had 20 points on 14 shots, 10 rebounds, six assists and six steals; and Eddie Gill, who had 23 points on 12 shots, 10 assists, seven rebounds and two blocks against Sioux Falls Mays tore his ACL eight and a half minutes into the December 30 game against Fort Wayne, and wouldn't play again this season.

January

A new year, same result; the 14ers went 8-4 again in January. They spent a fair amount of time in Texas, facing the Toros three times (twice in Austin) and Rio Grande Valley three more times, all in Hidalgo. Notable performances include Cheik Samb, with 21 points on 12 shots, 10 rebounds and four blocks against Tulsa; forward/center Sean Williams, who had 16 points, 16 rebounds, six blocks and six assists against Austin; and Gill again with 20 points on six shots (he had a lot of free throws), 14 assists and six rebounds against Rio Grande Valley.

February

Colorado only played seven games in February, going 4-3 while playing Austin two more times. Vernon Hamilton saw some starts here, and while he provided some solid rebounding, he's not a very efficient scorer. Notable 14ers performances included Billy Thomas, who scored 24 points on 13 shots against Bakersfield and 30 points on 18 shots with six rebounds, seven assists and seven steals against Iowa; and Trey Gilder, who had 23 points on 15 shots and nine rebounds against Los Angeles and 19 points on 12 shots against Sioux Falls, all off the bench.

March

This is where Colorado really started to heat up, going 11-2 over the month of March. Austin was the league and division leader when the month started, but not when it ended. The 14ers played almost everyone in the league this month, playing 11 different teams. Notable player performances included Dominique Coleman, who scored 24 points on 18 shots with nine rebounds and eight assists against Dakota; Josh Davis, who had 29 points on 16 shots with seven rebounds against Austin; and Eddie Gill again, who had 12 points on seven shots and 12 assists against Idaho.

April (regular season)

Colorado finished the regular season 3-3 in April, including getting blown out in each of the last two games. Trey Gilder had a fantastic month, with 32 points on 19 shots and 12 rebounds and 26 points on 14 shots and 10 rebounds in back to back games against Albuquerque, and 25 points on 20 shots and 10 rebounds against Reno. Other standout games included Eddie Gill (he seems to have one big game a month) with 23 points on 15 shots, seven assists and only one turnover against Tulsa; and John Lucas III, who had 22 points on 13 shots and eight assists in the second Albuquerque game.

Playoffs

Colorado went undefeated in the playoffs (they pretty much had to), defeating Erie, Austin and Utah twice in the finals. They ran away with the game against the BayHawks, led by Josh Davis (33 points on 15 shots, eight rebounds and two blocks) and Dominique Coleman (19 points on 13 shots, 13 rebounds, five assists and five steals). Austin gave them a tougher time, but the 14ers won out behind solid performances by Eddie Gill (23 points on 13 shots and seven assists) and Sonny Weems off the bench (27 points). Colorado began the finals thinking they would cruise to a title, racking up 78 points in the first half of the first game against Utah. The Flash came back to make a game of it, even though the 14ers ultimately won that game, and kept it close in the second game until Colorado pulled away to win the title. Game one honors go to Billy Thomas (27 points on 18 shots and seven rebounds), Josh Davis (25 points on 15 shots and eight rebounds) and Sonny Weems (28 points on 13 shots). Game two standouts were Joe Dabbert (21 points on 10-10 shooting, seven rebounds and five blocks), Davis again (21 points on 7-10 shooting and seven rebounds) and Weems again (25 points, seven assists).

That wraps up Colorado's season. They were a contender pretty much from the start, and Eddie Gill provided some steady performances as players like James Mays, Sean Williams and Cheik Samb came and went. The younger players like Gilder, Weems and Coleman started stepping up as the season went along, giving the 14ers the best bench in the league and helping them win the 2009 D-League championship.

Game Notes: Reno 124, Austin 118

Jon L — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:32:05 -0000

Really, AP? You can't find photos of anyone I mentioned in here? Anyway, I initially opened this recap with a big long paragraph about Marcus Williams getting called up, but there's already a great post about it below, and believe me, I wrote enough here. I'll just say that this is a great move for the Spurs and great for Williams.

As for the game itself, Williams' absence was definitely felt, as the Toros sometimes struggled in their offensive sets and never had one guy who really stepped up when they needed it at the end. All credit to Reno for playing hard the entire game and taking advantage of some mismatches where they could, and keeping their slim playoff chances alive. The loss of Williams also meant the return of Eric Dawson, and the Toros fielded a starting lineup of Nelson-Burrell-Hairston-Dawson-Jones.

It should also be noted that this was a Marat Kogut game, with all that entails. Austin coach Quin Snyder spent a few minutes jawing at Kogut at the end of the first quarter, and Rod Benson, David Noel and Reno coach Jay Humphries were all visibly frustrated at times. Here's a fun example: Malik Hairston was called for a foul on Russell Robinson in the first quarter, only the referee standing two feet in front of the play, Kristina Denson, didn't call it. Instead, Kogut apparently saw something from the other side of the court, with the players' backs to him, and blew the whistle. I was surprised, though, to look at the boxscore and see that a.) there were fewer fouls called than in the last game I saw, and b.) the fouls were called pretty evenly. 30 free throws for Reno and 27 for Austin, but it really seemed like the Bighorns were parading to the line at one point.

All that aside, some player notes below:

We start with Reno and Rod Benson. Boom Tho had a nice block right as I sat down. It was his only one of the game, but he played decently, scoring 27 points on 16 shots and pulling in 8 rebounds. He fouled out, though, and got a tech in the second quarter when, frustrated with a foul call he yelled in frustration and slammed the ball down. Benson has a lot of quickness inside and when going after rebounds; there were at least two instances where he missed a shot (one turnaround and one free throw) but got to the ball before Dwayne Jones could react. He also had several taken away from him and/or bobbled them on the way down (perhaps a result from whatever was bothering his left hand?); the word is he's working out more now, and if he adds a little upper body strength he's going to be a real force. He also had a nice up-and-under move and a solid turnaround hook, and generally played good defense in the post. Still, there were several touch calls against him that seemed to bother him for most of the game, which ultimately limited his effectiveness.

David Noel had a frustrating night. He guarded Malik Hairston pretty much the entire time, and did it well, but Hairston just had his shot going early on. Noel had a solid offensive game himself, finishing with 23 points and hitting three of his six threes. The fact that he's got a nice shot interests me, since he really doesn't look to shoot a lot of the time. There were many possessions where he got the ball and immediately passed it off again. He also has a decent handle, but again, didn't really show it off much tonight.

As for the other Bighorns, Richie Frahm can really shoot, hitting six of his nine three-pointers, but he's not really that effective when he has to dribble more than once. Austin kept leaving him open, though, or at least as open as he needed to be. Defensively, he's a bit handsy with guys coming through the lane, and he had a nice block against Eric Dawson. Majic Dorsey is really, really quick, and the Toros didn't really have anyone who could keep up with him. He was able to get down the floor ahead of his man and also penetrated the lane effectively. Cezary Trybanski did some decent things, and finished with five blocks in 20 and a half minutes, but he also did some Trybanski-like things, like missing an alley-oop dunk.

Malik Hairston finished with a game-high 31 points, and is a decent rebounder for his size, finishing with seven. He has a really nice shot, and was also able to get inside quite a few times. He also finished with a paiir of blocks, and handled the ball a little bit. While Hairston had a good game, he never really seemed to take over the game when he could've. He'd have a big shot, then not get another one for several possessions.

DeMarcus Nelson took over primary ballhandling duties for the Toros, and did a decent job of it. I'm still not certain he can be a top-notch point guard in the NBA, at least not yet, and he finished with as many turnovers as assists (six). His outside shot looked better in this game, though, and he did a lot fewer ball fakes. He was guarded by Richie Frahm for significant stretches of the game, and didn't really take as much advantage as he could've. He also couldn't really keep up with either Dorsey or Russell Robinson defensively. Still, he penetrates well and ended up shooting 11-17.

Dwayne Jones had a rough night offensively, shooting 6-14. At one point Reno had both Benson and Trybanski on the floor, and Jones had a particularly hard time against that front. He did show good focus and form on his free throws, and while he missed several late in the game, it's obvious that the work he's been doing has paid off. He finished with 17 rebounds, though, and was able to use his strength to take several away from Benson. He could also stand to improve his timing on blocks, as there were several shots he could've sent into the third row that he got late jumps on.

This was the first time I've seen Eric Dawson play in a while. He finished with 18 and 12, but I remain unimpressed. He needed 20 shots to get those 18 points, and while he has good quickness inside, he's really more of an undersized center than a forward. Whenever he's paired up with a pivot (like Jones) and gets pushed outside, he doesn't really have the shot or the moves to play out there. Defensively his first instinct is to take up the inside position, and on several plays he had to be pointed towards his man near the perimeter. His quickness doesn't really translate out there either, and he was taken off the dribble a few times.

I didn't talk much about Ryan Bright last time because I was saving it for the next Toros wrap-up (about that...) so I'll combine his comments here. He actually started against Tulsa, though his main purpose then seemed to be to inbound the ball. He generally made good decisions with the ball, occasionally passing up threes in order to drive to the basket. Defensively he used his hands to poke the ball away on several plays, and he also knew when to double the ball at the right time. He wasn't really much of a factor last night, though he did hit some key shots. I think Reno's front line was just too big for him to adequately handle, but he's also not that quick, either. Against Tulsa, he had problems when they drove right at him, and Ryan Humphrey was able to get by him fairly quickly.

Stanley Burrell had a pretty good game, holding Russell Robinson to only five points on 1-10 shooting, though he had a tougher time against Dorsey. Burrell also penetrated well on offense and scored 18 points on 11 shots.