SB Nation - James Lang

...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)

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 Summer League Breakdown - Washington Wizards

Jon L — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:00:18 -0000

How many years later and that logo still looks dumb?

View full size photo »

And this time, it's personal.

In my other basketball life I'm a Wizards fan, so with this team I know of what I speak. With the Wizards players, anyway. I still don't know much about Tywain McKee. To bring you up to speed about where the Wizards are in this process, prior to the draft they traded the #5 pick in this year's draft, Darius Songalia, Etan Thomas (and his dumb contract) and Oleksiy Pecherov (and his 2010 expiring contract) to the Timberwolves for Randy Foye and Mike Miller. That left them with only four big men on the roster out of 13 players. That is not hyperbole. Antawn Jamison, Brendan Haywood, Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee, that's it. The team also traded its second round pick to the Rockets and passed up an opportunity to draft DeJuan Blair. The Wizards have said they're not going to be very active in free agency, and there's a chance they'll throw all or part of the MLE to a guy who may not (or will not) be worth it.

So with all of that as prelude, I'd been hoping that the Wizards would invite some solid D-League big men to camp, with the idea that they could act as both a solid backup and a bridge to next year or the year after, when McGee may be ready to start. That, uh...that didn't happen so much, as you'll see after the jump.

Also I finally remembered to include a poll, so there's that.

Nick Young (6'6" G) - The press release announcing this roster listed Young as a G/F, but I don't think any observer could really call him a forward. Young's goal this year will be to start acclimating himself to the new Flip Saunders offense, which facilitates a lot of mid-range jumpers, as well as show that he can fit into any kind of team offense rather than just trying to take his man off the dribble. He could also stand to work on his defense. All of that said, he's a decent scorer and he has a really nice (and very effective) dribble-between-the-legs-then-step-back jumper/move. His playing time got jerked around a bit by Eddie Jordan and Ed Tapscott, so maybe he just needs some stability (or a different system).

JaVale McGee (7'0" C) - There are some quotes floating around out there that suggest that McGee may still be growing. He's very, very athletic, though he's also very, very skinny. He's been working on adding 15 pounds to his frame this offseason, and he could use some tutoring on post defense. He still tries to block just about every shot that comes his way, but he gets to a fair amount of them. Personally I think McGee might actually be a next-generation power forward (PFs played worse against him last year than Cs did), but for now he seems to be slotted into the pivot.

Dominic McGuire (6'9" G/F) - McGuire, or "Taser" as he's known to Wizards fans, came into the league as kind of a tweener forward who could rebound and defend with a lot of energy. He can still do those things, but he also enjoyed some success when Tapscott made the initially-headscratching decision to start him at SG. Not that he can shoot the ball very well, in fact he's pretty terrible at it, but he acted like a de facto point guard playing next to Mike James, and had several games with double-digit assists. McGuire works his tail off, but aside from his shot he needs to work on being a smarter defender in addition to being a physical one.

Javaris Crittenton (6'5" G) - Crittenton came to the Wizards as part of the Antonio Daniels/Mike James trade, and showed some signs of improvement after being buried on the bench with both the Lakers and Grizzlies. Crittenton's a decent rebounder for a point guard, though he has no real outside shot to speak of and his free-throw shooting can best be described as "terrible," though he's a decent distributor and could develop into a really solid backup point guard.

James Lang (6'10") - He's been here before, having played with the Wizards for a bit in 2006. He spent a chunk of last season with the D-League's Utah Flash, though NBA assignees and a dissatisfied coach put him on the bench towards the end of the year. He's...okay, I guess, though I wouldn't really consider him a "rotation big man," though he has decent size for the position. As I do every time his name comes up, I will now mention that he grew a Freeway beard last year.

John Edwards (7'0" C) - Edwards played about two dozen games in the D-League last year, and while I tend to use this phrase a lot, "all over the place" really does describe his performance. He'd have14 points and 10 rebounds one game and 2 points and 4 rebounds the next. Edwards was part of that Kent State team that made it to the Elite Eight in the 2002 NCAA tournament, and he made his name blocking shots. If he's producing that inconsistently six years out of college, though, I have doubts as to whether he'll stick in the NBA.

Josh Heytvelt (6'11" F/C) - Heytvelt's still pretty raw, though he missed some time at Gonzaga both to foot injuries and to a drug suspension. He's a decent finisher around the rim and gets up and down the floor pretty well, though I wonder if there will be any future foot injuries that limit that He's not a great individual defender and needs to work on his rebounding, though despite not being of any immediate help he could develop into a decent player with a few years' work.

Tyrese Rice (6'0" G) - Rice was a solid point guard in college, able to score at the rim fairly easily, but he doesn't really have the attributes that will allow that to translate to the NBA, at least without some additional work. He also turned the ball over quite a bit, though that was partly a function of Boston College's offense. He's also not a great defender. This will be a recurring theme, but the Wizards already have a ton of guards so it's hard to see any of the ones they brought in make the roster.

Jimmy Baron (6'3" G) - Baron was a three-point specialist in college, but to immediately repeat myself, the Wizards don't really need any more guards. Still, Baron did well at the Portsmouth Invitational, and he's playing for at least one other Summer League team so NBA clubs must think there's something there.

Alex Ruoff (6'6" G) - Ruoff played mostly point guard for West Virginia, though DraftExpress thinks that his size will allow him to play "any of the three perimeter positions." But then they go on to talk about his poor first step and inability to guard athletic wing players, so who knows. He's a decent ballhandler with a solid jumper, though, and a smart player.

Tywain McKee (6'2" G) - I found some stats for McKee, but not really any descriptions of what he's like to watch as a player. He's an okay three-point shooter, hovering around 36 percent, but he shot 43.8 percent his junior year, so it's possible he could improve there. His per-minute number fluctuated slightly throughout his college career rather than steadily improve, so it's possible that he can't do much more.

Alade Aminu (6'10" F) - The Wizards brought Aminu in for some pre-draft workouts and obviously saw something they liked. He came off the bench for the last half of his senior season or so, but there are some questions as to whether that was because of his play or an inability to use his talents effectively. He's GM Ernie Grunfeld's favorite type of big man - very athletic, a decent ball-handler for his size, but without any polished post moves and not very strong as of right now. He also was a bit turnover-prone.

Ryan Ayers (6'7" G/F) - Ayers is the son of former Wizards assistant coach (and former Philadelphia head coach) Randy Ayers. He primarily played guard at Notre Dame, and he's a decent shooter, but if he wants to be a swingman he'll need to improve his rebounding. It sounds like he's planning on going to play in Europe in the absence of an NBA deal.

Diamon Simpson (6'7" F) - Simpson is a bit undersized to play power forward, his college position, though Houston has done fairly well with similar players so it's not out of the question. In fact, he sounds a bit like Dominic McGuire, a hustle guy who gets his points around the rim and a fair amount of rebounds, and he has the tools to be a decent defender, though he's not as quick on the perimeter as McGuire is.

Kyle Spain (6'5" G) - Spain played well against weaker teams and inconsistently against better ones in college, but he showed an ability to score. He's not a great ball-handler or very efficient, but he's a good catch-and-shoot guy and, interestingly for a guy with his profile, gets to the free throw line fairly often. He's likely a D-League-type guy, who might need a year or two to work on the non-shooting parts of his game before breaking into the NBA

Jason Rich (6'3" G) - Rich is listed as a rookie in the Wizards' press release, but he spent last year playing in Italy after graduating from Florida State. He doesn't appear to take many outside shots, though he made 39 percent of them. He's also not much of a passer, averaging 1.5 assists per game. He gets a decent number of steals, though.

Brandon Wallace (6'9" F) - Wallace is another guy listed as a rookie who really isn't. Wallace was on the Boston Celtics' roster at the start of the 2007-2008 season, beating out guys like Dahntay Jones and Jackie Manuel, though he didn't see any in-game action and was cut in December of 2007. He spent two games in the D-League that year, but since 2008 he's been playing over in Turkey. He had a slow start to the year there, and he's still probably more toolsy than anything else. He has no real outside game to speak of, though occasionally he'll hit a three-pointer or two. He's a decent rebounder, though, and he seems to avoid foul trouble pretty well.

Poll

Are you excited about the Wizards' 2009 Summer League team?

I'm excited! I'm excited about this plan and I want to be a part of it.

61 votes

How could you not be excited about James Lang and John Edwards?

61 votes

Needs more D-Leaguers.

59 votes

181 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

2003 NBA Draft Re-draft: Part 1

Jon L — Thu, 21 May 2009 13:00:15 -0000

The 2003 draft means Maciej Lampe references.

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Welcome back. In anticipation of the upcoming NBA draft, we looked at the second round of another group of players considered "weak," the 2005 draft. What we found was that even in a year that saw Yaroslev Korolev and Wayne Simien taken in the first round, there were still some quality players available if you were willing to look. I thought I'd continue the series with a look at the 2003 draft, but first a discussion of what I'm doing.

First I look at what type of player a team drafted, be it a point guard, three-point shorter or foreign-y tall guy. Then I look at what a team's roster was that year, to see if the draft pick made sense in the context of the team's construction - in this case we're talking about the 2003-2004 season. To a certain extent this isn't totally the best way to go about it, because some of the roster moves were made after the draft, and with the draft pick in mind. Still, I think it's a pretty good way to look at what a team needs/needed. Think of it this way: if a team drafted a point guard, then ended the season with six different point guards having played but only two or three centers (and especially if they're terrible centers), then whatever point guard they drafted must not have been that big of a help anyway and they should've looked at drafting a big man.

Beyond that, there are really only two ground rules - first, nothing changes with the draft's first round. In this case, that means Minnesota still drafted Ndudi Ebi and the Magic are stuck with Reece Gaines. Second (and this one is more for me than for you), a player had to have declared for the draft in order to be picked in the re-draft. First I list the team and who they originally drafted, some discussion of what they were looking for and who was available, followed by the player who I thought they should have drafted.

The purpose of these is to look at who was picked below where they should have been or who went undrafted entirely, and hopefully demonstrate that even in drafts that are considered "weak" or "top-heavy," there are still quality rotation players and bench guys to be found, even in the depths of the second round. The key word here, as always, is upside.

I've split this up into two parts again, with part 2 coming tomorrow and part 1 below the jump.

30. New York Knicks (original pick - Maciej Lampe)

Ah, Maciej Lampe. One of the most notorious European NBA washouts after Frederic Weis and Nikoloz Tskitishvili. I couldn't find video of his name being called, but this will have to do. I'd actually forgotten the Knicks had drafted him, since my memories are of him playing (and not playing) in Phoenix. Before the draft he was seen as someone who could play multiple frontcourt positions and shoot threes. I question, though, why a team that at various times contained Antonio McDyess, Tim Thomas, Kurt Thomas, Keith Van Horn and fellow rookie Mike Sweetney would need to "re-draft" another forward (probably because the forwards included Tim Thomas, Keith Van Horn, and Mike Sweetney). The Knicks traded for Stephon Marbury that year (which is how Lampe ended up with the Suns), but they likely would have done that even if they had drafted a point guard. Center was a relatively solid position for them that year with Dikembe Mutombo and Nazr Mohammed (and if I had forgotten that Lampe was drafted by the Knicks, I realllllly forgot that Deke started 56 games for them that year). I guess I'll stick with the Knicks' thinking and look at big forwards who can shoot, which leads me to Matt Bonner.

31. Cleveland Cavaliers (original pick - Jason Kapono)

After drafting some guy in the first round, the Cavaliers were looking for a complementary shooter. There were a few in this draft, Kyle Korver having ended up as perhaps the best of them, but I think there would be something poetic about the Cavaliers taking Mo Williams. Who knows? Maybe their offense would have been better earlier.

32. Los Angeles Lakers (original pick - Luke Walton)

It was said at the time, but the Lakers and Walton just make sense together. Walton had the best match of skills to what the Triangle offense asks of its complementary players. I see no reason to mess that up.

33. Miami Heat (original pick - Jerome Beasley)

Miami was about five years early in drafting a Beasley. This one ended up getting cut a few games into the season, then went to the CBA and finally the D-League's Dakota Wizards before moving on to Europe. His numbers weren't terrible in Dakota (well, maybe his free throw shooting was), he just didn't do much. The Heat were full up with forwards that year, including Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, and Udonis Haslem. While Grant played a lot of center, their only "true" pivot men were Wang Zhizhi and Loren Woods. While this guy was originally listed as a PF, he's developed into a really solid backup center (who routinely kills the Washington Wizards): Zaza Pachulia

34. Los Angeles Clippers (original pick - Sofoklis Schortsanitis)

Hey, remember this guy? Schortsanitis still hasn't made it over to the NBA, though some items that I read indicated that he might try again after his contract is up in 2010. The Clippers were looking for someone to backup Chris Kaman (what, Melvin Ely wasn't getting it done?), though this draft is pretty weak in the center department. Fellow Greek player Andreas Glyniadakis spent some time in the NBA and the D-League, and won the D-League championship with Albuquerque. This is somewhat of a reach, but as I said (and as you'll find out), this is a weak draft for centers.

35. Milwaukee Bucks (original pick - Szymon Szewczyk)

I don't know why, but Milwaukee always seems to be teeming with forwards and thin in the backcourt. Szewczyk was a face-up power forward when he was drafted, but I'm going in a different direction. With a guard rotation that included Brevin Knight, Damon Jones and Erick Strickland...there's really no good way to finish that sentence. I mean, I guess Brevin Knight is solid, or may have been then, but...anyway, the Bucks select previously undrafted Marquis Daniels

36. Chicago Bulls (original pick - Mario Austin)

The Bulls were pretty terrible this year, finishing last in their division. They had Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry (and I guess Marcus Fizer), so it doesn't make sense to look there. The Bulls also had just drafted Kirk Hinrich and had Jalen Rose around, so they didn't really need another point guard. A shooter might have been helpful, and there's a pretty good one available: Kyle Korver

37. Atlanta Hawks (original pick - Travis Hansen)

I don't remember the name (or face) of Travis Hansen at all. At all. Apparently he played in about 40 games for Atlanta, though, before going over to play in Spain and Russia. He was/is apparently pretty athletic and a solid perimeter defender, though in his place may I suggest D-Leaguer Ronald Dupree? His defense isn't terrific, but he can definitely score, and would have made a nice backup to Stephen Jackson

38. Washington Wizards (original pick - Steve Blake)

The Wizards picked Blake largely because he had played at the nearby University of Maryland, the same reason they drafted Juan Dixon in the second round a year earlier. Blake never really got a shot in Washington, nor showed much of a reason to give him one, but he's made himself into a solid starting point guard in Portland. In a move that surprises even myself, I'm going to have the Wizards pick Blake again and let him develop behind Gilbert Arenas.

39. New York Knicks (original pick - Slavko Vranes)

This is kind of sad. Vranes was one of those "foreign-y tall guys" I mentioned up top, 7'4" and not much else. He actually still hasn't developed all that well, averaging 3.5 points and 5 rebounds last year in Europe. I've already gone over what the Knicks had, and since we went (sort of) big last time we'll look at guards with this pick. Matt Carroll has developed into a solid role player for Charlotte after spending a few seasons in the D-League, so let's reward him by sending him to the Isiah Thomas Knicks. "Reward."

40. Golden State Warriors (original pick - Derrick Zimmerman)

Zimmerman has bounced around since being drafted, playing in the NBA, the D-League and is now in Europe, and he became a solid defensive player, being named the D-League Defensive Player of the Year two straight seasons. The Warriors that year had several big-name point guards, though, like Avery Johnson, Nick Van Exel and Speedy Claxton. Other than Troy Murphy, though, this team's power forwards were just no good. I'm looking at you, Brian Cardinal. Jerome Beasley had some okay years in the minors, and might have worked out here.

41. Seattle SuperSonics (original pick - Willie Green)

Green was traded to Philadelphia on draft night, where he still plays, he just doesn't play well. We're going to assume this pick stays with Seattle, though, who had the shooting guard spot pretty well taken care of with Ray Allen, Antonio Daniels, Brent Barry, and others. Center, though, yikes. Jerome James. Vitaly Potapenko. Calvin Booth. Again, yikes. James Lang is available, and while he's been up and down as he's gone from the NBA to the D-League, he would have been a decent option at the time.

42. Orlando Magic (original pick - Zaza Pachulia)

Despite the presence of Tracy McGrady, the Magic this year were terrible, just terrible. Drafting Reece Gaines in the first round didn't help. He plays the same position as McGrady (albeit with a different skill-set), but this is probably too far for Jason Kapono to have fallen.

43. Milwaukee Bucks (original pick - Keith Bogans)

Bogans was traded to Orlando, and I gave some consideration to drafting him with the last pick. As was discussed earlier, the Bucks had a lot of forwards, and we already drafted a shooting guard/wing player for them in Marquis Daniels. We'll go defense with this pick, and Derrick Zimmerman

44. Houston Rockets (original pick - Malick Badiane)

It's another foreign-y tall guy! Badiane's draft rights were traded to Memphis for the rights to fellow FTG Sergei Lishchuk, and Badiane ended up playing 19 games for the Anaheim Arsenal this past season, where he was inconsistent. A double-double in 23 minutes would be followed by a two-point performance. Almost none of Houston's small forwards were good that year, and while I haven't been overly impressed with him, James Jones has shown some ability in starting for Miami this year.

D-League Finals Game Two Preview

Jon L — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:15:08 -0000

Josh Davis just imagines the ball is a cheddar brat.

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Just a reminder that this will be the game thread for tonight's installment of the always ~~popular~~ entertaining Open Source Live Blog, starting at 9 PM eastern, 8 central. Get it right, get it now, get it right now (in an hour). -- Jon

This one's a little less wacky, sorry to disappoint everyone. Blame Sonny Vaccaro. At any rate, what have we learned about these two teams? Colorado likes to run. They can fill it up. They have a lot of guys who can score. Utah has some depth issues in the middle. Ronald Dupree is very good. All of which we knew on Tuesday. So forthwith, some keys to game two for each team:

Utah:

Brian Jackson has to stay out of foul trouble. It's really that simple. I know he's not used to starting at center, and his skills aren't really geared towards an up-tempo game, but he has to stay on the court longer than he did Monday night. Carlos Wheeler played decently, but Bennet Davis just isn't that great of an option at center and James Lang apparently did poorly enough in his three minutes to probably not see much of the floor for the rest of the series. Jackson's own game one wasn't spectacular, but he can draw Joe Dabbert or Kentrell Gransberry or Jamar(h) Brown outside of the paint and likely draw fouls. This leads me to the next step:

Create mismatches. Colorado often has a minimum of three guards on the floor at once (Billy Thomas is a guard), and the Flash has the size to take advantage of it. JR Giddens and Ronald Dupree were able to score inside quite a bit in game one, partly I think due to being matched up against players several inches shorter. The 14ers didn't have Davis as their center quite as much as I expected, but when he plays in the middle that means the guy playing PF probably isn't much taller than 6'6". Utah should turn that into their advantage.

Keep the ball moving. I haven't seen a whole lot of Kevin Kruger this season, but based on game one I'd say he dribbles too damn much. I don't know if that's his personal inclination or whether that's coming from coach Brad Jones, but Kruger can't dominate the ball as much as he did, particularly toward the end of the game. Getting the ball to one of the wings before there are six seconds on the shot clock and keeping it moving around will create better shots and let the Flash take advantage of their offensive efficiency.

No one can disappear. Despite playing the entire second quarter, JR Giddens didn't score until four minutes left. In the second half, Giddens didn't have a point from 8:42 left in the third until there were second minutes left in the fourth. That's over an entire quarter of no scoring from one of their best scorers. Mo Almond gets somewhat of a pass because of his recent back troubles, but those free throws he hit with 9:16 left in the third quarter? Those were the last points he scored all game. Dupree was the only Flash player to consistently put points on the board. He's going to need more help if Utah is going to have a shot at the championship.

Colorado's side after the jump.

Colorado:

Don't stop believin' running. I know I keep hammering home the point that the 14ers are an up-tempo team, but it's not like I can say the opposite is true. Certainly players like Dupree, Giddens and probably even Almond wouldn't mind a faster pace, but top to bottom the Flash just aren't structured for it. Their big men are decent, but a key piece of Colorado's offense is rebounding the ball and starting the break, and forcing quick shots feeds into that.

Billy Thomas needs to keep performing at a high level. Scott's off nominating me for a Pulitzer for calling Thomas a key player, but it's true. Probably no one is more boom and bust on this team than Thomas. As I mentioned in the series preview, Thomas is capable of shooting 8-11 or 1-11. Last game they got the former (not literally, he shot 9-18), though Thomas also came up with some key defensive plays and more rebounds than he's accustomed to. At this point you know what you're getting from all the other 14ers, but Thomas remains a night in, night out mystery. They need him to keep up his Game One productivity.

Focus. Utah deserves all the credit in the world for playing their way back into the game from being down 25 points, but Colorado also let it happen. The 14ers got sloppy on both sides of the ball, likely thinking they had the game in the bag. Now they know they can't do that, and there's a reason Utah is the #2 seed. If Colorado really wants the championship - and it certainly looked like they did in the second half - they can't let up and need to maintain their offensive and defensive focus.

Play Trey Gilder more? This is phrased as a question because I honestly don't know the reason why Gilder didn't see the court in the second half. Was he hurt? Did he anger coach Bob MacKinnon in some way? Assuming he's healthy, the 14ers definitely could have used him once the rest of the team stopped hitting shots and players started getting tired. Gilder's a key part of Colorado's depth, and getting more than seven minutes from him will make everyone else's jobs easier.

Poll

Who do you think will win Game Two?

Colorado 14ers

16 votes

Utah Flash

4 votes

20 votes | Poll has closed

Game 1 D-League Finals Recap: Colorado 136, Utah 131 (OT)

Jon L — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:30:09 -0000

Sonny Weems and the Colorado 14ers had no trouble scoring early and often. And yes I know this picture isn't from last night's game - the pictures they uploaded weren't the best.

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This game started out looking like the story would be Colorado's domination of the Flash. The 14ers raced out to a 13 point first quarter lead and had 71 points at halftime. Soon after halftime, Ronald Dupree took over for Utah, allowing them to claw back and even take the lead momentarily in the fourth. Once the game hit overtime, though, Colorado eventually remembered how to execute, making their final three field goal attempts, and Kevin Kruger had two of his four turnovers as the 14ers pulled out the victory.

I have to chalk this up to the Flash being forced to run with Colorado. They had a lot of points to make up, and coach Brad Jones decided to go small in the wake of Brian Jackson's foul trouble (he fouled out in 19 and a half minutes of playing time), going with a combination of Carlos Wheeler and Bennet Davis at the pivot. While James Lang's three minutes of playing time weren't great, going small just fed into Colorado's game plan. Utah also didn't go to Dupree nearly as much as they could have in overtime, letting Kruger dribble down the clock on too many possessions.

Billy Thomas, that key player to watch I mentioned yesterday? He had it going on a la Stacy's Mom early, hitting all three three-pointers he shot in the first quarter. Thomas finished with 27 points on 18 shots for the night, along with pulling in seven rebounds, which, believe it or not, is only one off of his season-high. Thomas also had a key steal guarding Kruger late in the game. A really solid night overall, even though he disappeared for a stretch that amounted to about a full quarter of play.

Josh Davis had a solid game, as you'd expect, with 25 points on 15 shots and eight rebounds, while being active on screens. When I say he was active on screens though, I mean he kept moving his feet. Sonny Weems was quietly great off the bench with 28 points on 13 shots, shooting 11-12 from the free throw line. John Lucas III didn't put up great stats, but he had some solid defense against Kevin Kruger. Trey Gilder was good in limited minutes in the second quarter, but given how good he was I wonder why those minutes were limited.

Ronald Dupree did everything he could to win this game for his team, he really did. 37 points on 19 shots, and as we remarked in the OSLB, it was probably the quietest 37 points you'll ever see. He was all over the place in the second half, hitting jumpers, making layups and getting to the line. There was a three and a half minute stretch in the third quarter where no other Flash player scored, and Dupree had eight points. A great game that, unfortunately for him, came in a losing effort.

JR Giddens also played well for long stretches of the game, and finished with 21 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks. Carlos Wheeler was solid defensively, and finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Mo Almond had 18 points (10 of those coming from the free throw line), though he missed all of his three-point attempts.

A quarter-by-quarter breakdown after the jump!

First Quarter

As mentioned above, this was pretty much all Colorado, and specifically all Billy Thomas and Josh Davis, who finished the quarter with a combined 27 of their team's 32 points. There were two stretches of about two and a half minutes each without any Utah baskets. The Flash did get seven layups/dunks, though.

Second Quarter

More Colorado, as the 14ers were up by 25 at one point after some good work by Trey Gilder and Kentrell "KG" Gransberry. The Flash started getting into the game with about four minutes left in the half, though, due to lots and lots of free throws. I didn't mention above so I'll mention it here: for such a fast-paced game (110 possessions, which is on the high side even for an overtime game), there were a lot of fouls called. 62 total (three technicals). Utah took six trips to the free throw line in the last three and a half minutes of the second quarter, which allowed them to pull within 17 (Scott's note - UGH!).

Third Quarter

It's too bad Third Quarter Collapse is already taken, because that's exactly what happened to the 14ers, so let's call it the Great Utah Comeback. Whatever it was, it officially began, oddly enough, with a jumper from Brian Jackson two minutes into the quarter. The Flash would score 26 points in the next ten minutes, a lot of that coming from Dupree. It didn't hurt that Sonny Weems was seemingly the only player for Colorado who could score, with 12 of the team's 23 third quarter points, but seven of those non-Weems points came in the first two minutes of the quarter. Billy Thomas hit a jumper with four minutes left in the third, and wouldn't score again until four and a half minutes remained in the...

Fourth Quarter

Utah continued their upward climb, getting some nice contributions from Gavin Grant, and Colorado never really woke up enough to take firm control of the game. Only 21 points in the fourth for the 14ers, exactly half of what they scored in the second. I should mention that Dupree and Giddens each put forth good effort here, but it really was largely a matter of Colorado's poor execution. The 14ers had six turnovers in the fourth, in just about every way imaginable - bad passes, travelling, shot clock violations, offensive fouls (including those moving screens), you name it. Utah briefly took the lead with just over a minute to go, but Eddie Gill was fouled and made one of his two free throws to tie it up, sending the game into...

Overtime

Both teams were pretty fatigued at this point. Utah kept getting inside, as all of their points in the extra frame came from either layups, putbacks or free throws. Colorado was able to wrest control halfway through the period, and made their last three field goals along with a pair of Lucas free throws to ice the game.

Ridiculous Upside's Supercalifragilisticexpeali-wacky D-League Finals Preview

Jon L — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:00:13 -0000

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I'm pushing this back to the top to remind everyone about our now-legendary Open Source Live Blog. See you in 30 minutes. -- Jon

Sorry for no post this morning, but a.) let's just say my morning didn't go as planned, and b.) Scott's interesting post on Hamed Haddadi deserved to stay up top. But now it's Marge's time to shine.

Yes, it's finally here. The end of the season, the culmination of everything these players have put into, anywhere from three to 50 games. Only two teams left, so let's talk about ‘em. I wrote the whole thing, meaning it's too long. This will also serve as the Game 1 Open Source Live Blog thread, so I'll see you here at 9 pm eastern, 8 pm central.

How Colorado got here:

By being the best team in the league, of course. More precisely, the 14ers were basically unstoppable in March, going 11-2, while the Austin Toros, who had previously held the division's (and league's ) top spot kept losing. Colorado never lost more than two games in a row, and had one seven game winning streak and two five game winning streaks. They like to run and shoot, and it's not unusual to see three or four guards on the floor.

How Utah got here:

By closing out the season strong, even stronger than Colorado. The Flash are 11-3 stretching back to March 18. Perhaps moreso than any other team, Utah relies on its NBA assignees, as Morris Almond, Kyrylo Fesenko and Kosta Koufos of the Utah Jazz and JR Giddens and Bill Walker of the Boston Celtics have all spent significant time in Orem. The Flash rely on solid defense to keep their opponents in check along with efficient scoring - five of the top 15 players in the league in eFG this season played for Utah.

How they've done in the playoffs:

Both teams have done well, obviously, or they wouldn't be here. Colorado breezed past the Erie BayHawks in the first round (full recap here) despite not shooting terribly well, with the exception of your hero and mine, Josh Davis, who finished with 33 points on 15 shots, made 12 of his 13 free throws, and chipped in eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks. They faced a tougher second-round opponent in the Austin Toros (full recap here), but the 14ers were lights out in this game, shooting 54.5 percent from behind the arc and 50 percent overall. Davis actually had a poor game, partially due to being poked or scratched in the eye during the game, but Sonny Weems can score, score, score, finishing with 27 points on 21 shots.

Utah, on the other hand, had a rougher go in the first round, being one point down to Bakersfield at halftime, but Ronald Dupree went off in the third quarter, scoring 11 points on 5-6 shooting and the Flash's depth took over from there (full recap here). In the second-round, they met a stone-cold (in the bad way) Dakota team that turned the ball over too much early on and couldn't come back (full recap here). (Also, if Scott were writing this he probably would've put in a clip of Stone Cold Steve Austin back there, but as I said I'm more about the early-90s WWF, so here's The Mountie.)

Key players

Given all their talent, this may sound weird, but I think a key player for Colorado will be Billy Thomas. If Thomas is on the floor he's going to shoot, and he can give you either 60 percent shooting or 12 percent. Given that Utah's a very efficient offensive team, and that Colorado lost their two regular season meetings with the Flash in part due to awful three-point shooting, the 14ers will need Thomas's shot to fall.

For the Flash, they'll need Giddens to deliver on both ends of the court. He can score, as evidenced by his 25 points on 17 shots against Dakota, and he's also a decent rebounder for his size, which will be especially important here, as Colorado is one of the best rebounding teams in the league. What I like about Giddens is that against Bakersfield, when he shot only 3-9, he still went to the line and made five of his six free throws, and grabbed eight rebounds to boot. He's also likely have to guard Thomas, John Lucas III, Trey Gilder and Weems at various times, so he'll be a key piece of Utah's defensive effort.

D-League lineups are forever tenuous, but below you'll find a breakdown of who we can expect to see out there. Yes, I wrote even more. This is the Finals, after all. I told you it was supercalifragilisticexpeali-wacky.

Colorado 14ers

Starters: Eddie Gill-Dominique Coleman-Billy Thomas-Josh Davis-Joe Dabbert

Without hearing differently, I'm assuming Davis's eye is okay for him to play. If he's out, Sonny Weems likely gets the start. There are a lot of solid veterans in this lineup, and they have solid-to-great defenders at three positions, maybe four. Davis and Dominique Coleman are the best rebounders of the bunch, and this unit can score from outside with Davis, Gill and occasionally Thomas, and inside with Davis and Joe Dabbert. Any scoring they get from Coleman is pretty much gravy, but he also had 15 regular season games with 20 points or more.

Key bench players: Sonny Weems, Trey Gilder, John Lucas III, Kentrell Gransberry

Colorado saves its most explosive offensive players for the bench, where they can come into the game and push the tempo even more. Weems and Gilder are both great athletes, and Lucas is a solid point guard who knows the offense, but can occasionally shoot the three when he's playing the off-guard spot alongside Gill. I named Kentrell Gransberry because it's likely that Dabbert (or very possibly several other players) will get into foul trouble, and the 14ers third center (since Davis is really the backup) will see the floor. Expect Gransberry to get into foul trouble as well.

Utah Flash

Starters: Kevin Kruger-JR Giddens-Mo Almond-Ronald Dupree-Brian Jackson

Again, I'm assuming Mo Almond will be starting, despite some late-season back trouble I'm not as sure who would start in his absence, but it's likely one of Carlos Wheeler, Gavin Grant or Andre Ingram. This is a solid starting lineup in its own right, featuring NBA assignees Giddens and Almond. I talked about Giddens a little bit above, and Almond is another guy who can fill it up. He was third in the league in points per game, though he only played in 14 games, and he's third in the league in true shooting percentage (which combines field goals and foul shots). The TS% league leader? Starting point guard Kevin Kruger, who also boasts a solid-if-unspectacular 2.17 assist/turnover ratio. Ronald Dupree is a slasher who can get to the rim and score in bunches. Brian Jackson is solid and efficient but won't wow you, and has a shot that is best described as "high-arcing."

Key bench players: Andre Ingram, Carlos Wheeler, Gavin Grant, James Lang

Utah's bench is full of role players who do their jobs reasonably well. Ingram is the shooter (he made 47 percent of his threes during the regular season), Wheeler is the athleticism guy and best rebounder of the bunch, and Grant does a good job of getting to the free throw line. They'll all likely be called on to either match Colorado's bench scoring or keep it in check. Now that Jackson is starting, James Lang might see some more playing time as his backup, though I suppose the Flash could match Colorado's smaller lineups and put Wheeler at the pivot. James Lang has a Freeway beard though (not as long as Freeway's, but it has the neck component). A shiny new donkey for whoever brings me a photo of James Lang's beard.

So you have it. The D-League Finals all broken down and ready to be built back up. I managed to limit myself to two Simpsons references, so that's a point of personal pride. In all seriousness, though, this should be a good matchup between two teams playing different styles, both with a lot of talent and good depth. And remember, keep watching the skis.

(Whoops.)

Poll

Who do you think will win Game One?

Colorado 14ers

7 votes

Utah Flash

6 votes

13 votes | Poll has closed

Playoff Recap: Utah 103, Dakota 93

Jon L — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:43:40 -0000

No need to get animated, JR. You won.

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We have a short recap today, as I had some problems with Futurecast and Scott's currently off in the wilds of North Dakota somewhere.

Blake Ahearn seems to have fixed whatever was wrong in the 4th quarter against Iowa, but apparently passed it on to everyone else on his team. Actually, that's not entirely fair as Richard Hendrix had six rebounds by the end of the first. Given that, it would've been nice to see him finish with more than 11, and even without Kosta Koufos, Utah finished with a 48-34 rebounding advantage. The rest of the team, though, couldn't buy a shot for large stretches of the game. David Monds and Renaldo Major finally got it going in the second half, but it was too late at that point and Ahearn cooled down. Actually, Ahearn shot 1-4 in the fourth quarter with two of his six turnovers. Maybe we should wonder about fatigue with him the same way we do with Marcus Williams.

A passel of turnovers allowed Utah to take an early 14-point lead, and from there the Wizards were just playing catchup. They had the lead briefly, but Utah got it back and didn't look back. Mo Almond was solid early on, but JR Giddens had 12 points in the 3rd quarter, 10 of them coming from either layups, dunks or tip-ins. The Flash also went to the free throw line eight times in that quarter.

Utah showed off its depth a little bit (seriously this time) during the rest of the game, as different guys got hot at different times. Andre Ingram for a stretch spanning the first and second quarters, Ronald Dupree at the end of the second and beginning of the third, and Kevin Kruger and Carlos Wheeler every now and then. (Kruger Wheeler Dupree & Ingram would be an awesome law firm).

Other things:

Rough night for the Utah announcer. I heard everything from "Blank Ahearn" to "Jake Ahearn" to "Blake Hahearn," as well as "Kyle Kruger." He also likes saying "it's jam time" when a Flash player dunks, which must've been confusing during the Bakersfield game. Or as the announcer called them, Bakerville.

I don't know when James Lang decided to grow a Freeway beard, but I love it.

A small-ish announcement after the jump.

Scott's going to take a well-deserved break for a little while, so for now, I'm in charge here. I'm going to try and keep to RU's publishing schedule, but I'm also not as tapped into the league as Scott is, so bear with me. So for now expect a few less mid-90s wrestling reference, a few more early-90s wrestling references, and hopefully some fun.

To be honest, I feel a bit like Andy French when he started work at the ad agency. "I hope you know how."

Idaho Stampede @ Utah Flash Game Preview; Review

Scott Schroeder — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:49:46 -0000

My Preview:

Just one game on the slate tonight, so let's break it down, a la the :26 second mark of this:

First, why do the Stampede have a wolf mascot? I was going to give it the old college try and decide which mascot would win, and therefore, which team would. Once I found out about the Stampede not having a horse mascot, I can't go with that. I just can't judge this one fairly, as I can't decide if the Stampede should be represented as the horse in it's logo or the wolf mascot.

Then, I was going to look at Matt Brennan's power rankings and decide from there. Unfortunately, Tulsa, the 16th ranked team, went 2-1 last week, and Colorado, the top ranked team, has lost their last two games, so I might need to hold on that one as well! Disclaimer: My power rankings would be very similar to Mr. Brennan's, probably even the same, which is why I don't post them.

Since neither of those plans worked out, I guess I'm going to have dig further into this. Idaho's best perimeter player, Luke Jackson is out, so someone is going to have to step up to fill his spot. Utah's leader, point guard Dontell Jefferson is still on call-up for the Bobcats, so Kevin Kruger will have to step it up. Neither teams premiere BIG man can stay out of foul trouble, as Utah's James Lang is averaging just 20 minutes and Idaho via Toronto's Nate Jawai is averaging just 24 minutes. Those two should cancel each other out. I'd say Ronald Dupree should be able to go to work against the Stampede, but probably not going to happen with Brent Petway defending him. Basically, what it's going to come down to is Mo Almond's outside game versus Lance Allred's inside game. Both are hot lately (Almond always is in the D-League), and neither team really has the personnel to shut the other down.

There ya have it. Matchup of the night: 6'10" Lance Allred versus Utah's own Mo Almond. Kind of.

Also, big playoff implications for this game, as Utah is just one game behind Idaho for the division lead. If Idaho wins tonight, they will clinch the season series. If Utah wins, they still have a chance to tie.

My pick, and I've jinxed teams before, are the Idaho Stampede. Even matchup, so gotta come down to coaching -.B-Gates gets the nod!

My Review:

As I predicted, Idaho won, 99-92, in a not spectacularly attended, but well-officiated, (besides one major gaffe that Marat Kogut wasn't even a part of!) basketball game.

Idaho was led by Nate Jawai! Jawai, the Toronto Raptors assignee, had his best game in the D-League yet, scoring 21 points, grabbing five boards, and blocking two shots in 34 minutes. He was being defended by Brian Jackson and Kyrylo Fesenko, not James Lang, which is what threw me off. Fes isn't a great defender, Jackson didn't have the girth - James Lang would have been just right. Regardless, Fesenko was overheard saying "Jawai, he is useless."

Other notables for Idaho include Lance Allred with 12 points and 15 boards (big first quarter - terribly officiated 3-second violation on an offensive rebound in the fourth where he was fouled multiple times) and Kevin Burleson with 16 points and six assists, but seven turnovers.

Utah was led by, you guessed it, Mo Almond. Almond scored just 20 points, not even making 50% of his shots (8-of-17)! As per his game, he really didn't add anything else to the game. Our on-site reporter, Dee-Jay, does report that he said the game was boring.

Other notables include Fes, who finished with 14 points and seven boards in 22 minutes, Kevin Kruger with 17 points and four assists (nice little one-man run in the fourth), and always solid, rarely spectacular Ronald Dupree, who finished with 14 points, six assists, and five boards.

Jazz Assign Kyrylo Fesenko, Mo Almond to the D-League

Scott Schroeder — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:41:55 -0000

Quoting the immortal Etta James: At last. After I hinted at this awhile ago, the Jazz have finally assigned Almond and Fesenko to the D-League. I am under the assumption that these two will be rotated with Kosta Koufos the remainder of the season in Orem.

Utah now has a stacked lineup, with five, six, maybe even seven players that should go on to play a couple seasons in the NBA.

The backcourt includes Dontell Jefferson, the best defender in the D-League, Kevin Kruger, who has had looks with the Bucks and Magic the past two preseasons, and now Mo Almond, who dominated the D-League last season. The three-spot belongs to Ronald Dupree, who has 154 games of NBA experience and is getting hot right now, and the bigs include Fesenko, James Lang whose potential is about as high as his cholesterol (I kid, he's slimming down as of late). Add to that the possibility of Boston assigning one JR Giddens again, and this team is going to be infused with talent at just the right time.

Aside from this, I wonder if the Jazz would consider trying the hybrid model? I know that Brandt Andersen loves being an owner (Mark Cuban-esque) and has plenty of money, but I'm sure that extra exposure wouldn't hurt.