SB Nation - James Mays

Ridiculous Transactions: 10/5-10/11

Jon L — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:47:43 -0000

8 months ago: Miami's Jack McClinton shoots during the men's 3-point contest, which he won Thursday, April 2, 2009, at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)

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"We don't do many encores and, well, this is why."

If you're wondering why the training camp invite series sputtered to a finish, I encourage you to read on! A lot of guys are starting to get waived, so I didn't see much point to talking about a player who's only going to be around for a few days afterwards. I'll talk a little bit about those players I didn't get to but are listed here, but they won't get the full treatment.

October 6: Denver Nuggets - waived Keith Brumbaugh; Phoenix Suns - waived Raymond Sykes; Minnesota Timberwolves - requested waivers on Jack McClinton and Alonzo Gee

See what I mean? Starting with Minnesota, McClinton's waiver is unfortunate in that there should be a place for him in the NBA, even as a rookie. It's possible that that sentiment is based on the myth of San Antonio draft picks and how they almost universally end up as contributors, even if it takes them a few years, but McClinton's collegiate three-point shooting and overall scoring efficiency is real, and I hope he decides to go the D-League route (big surprise) and figure out how to improve his scoring closer to the basket. Gee is almost the opposite of McClinton in that he's a slasher with no real outside shot to speak of. There are so many guys either in the NBA or trying to get into the NBA that fit that profile that an additional skill would be helpful, but Gee's defense leaves a lot to be desired as well.

Brumbaugh is a guy I hadn't gotten to yet, and while he once had a history of off-court stuff, it's been a few years since any of that came up (I guess the history is still there, just further in the background) and Brumbaugh has some scoring ability, and he's a pretty good three-point shooter (he shot .375 last season for Sioux Falls). He wasn't very consistent, though, and while he's listed anywhere from 6'8" to 6'10" his rebounding comes and goes. There's definitely talent there, but it may be Europe for Brumbaugh.

I don't know a whole lot about Sykes, but he's apparently a powerful dunker. His per-36 minute averages as a senior at Clemson were around nine points and six rebounds, which isn't really enough to be considered for the NBA. Frankly, with those numbers and not much other information available about the guy, I'm a little surprised he got a training camp invite.

October 7: Idaho Stampede - retained Joel Abelson as an assistant coach; Bakersfield Jam - named Greg Minor, Mark Strickland and Chris Leazier as assistant coaches.

I'm already (briefly) discussed the Jam hires here, but more broadly it's an interesting staff. Woolpert is a pretty good coach, so Minor likely learned a bit working for him last year even though that team was terrible (and injuries played a part in that, etc.) But other than that you have two college assistants, guys who will be figuring out how the D-League works along with their boss. I know I talk about how D-League coaching experience is important for understanding the league's quirks, and who knows, maybe I overstate it. But having an entire (or nearly entire) coaching staff essentially starting from scratch could make it tough for Bakersfield this season. Greg Minor was an assistant in the CBA as well, so watch for him in the future for a head coaching job (or an NBA assistant job). As far as Abelson is concerned, he did a solid job as an assistant to Bryan Gates last season, even if he didn't get his own Day like colleague Randy Livingston.

October 8: New York Knicks - waived Sun Yue, Ron Howard, Warren Carter and Gabe Pruitt; Rio Grande Valley Vipers - named Gersson Rosas as general manager and Paul Mokeski as assistant coach.

I don't know much about Rosas, who's also the Rockets' VP of player personnel and worked his way up through Houston's front office after being a college video coordinator and a Rockets scout. Everything you need to know about Mokeski may be found here.

October 9: Fort Wayne Mad Ants - named Michael Sanders as assistant coach; Miami Heat - waived Alade Aminu and Andre Brown; Los Angeles Clippers - waived Taj Gray; Robert Vaden - signed with Imola (Italy)

Sanders is a great hire for Fort Wayne, as he's been a head coach in the CBA and an assistant in the NBA, and combined with Joey Sanders that team has a strong, strong coaching staff. Hopefully they'll be able to turn that team around after a pretty bad season. Vaden's rights is belong to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but they have so many people on that team who are of a certain (young) age that Vaden might be "another year away from making the team" for, well, several years. He's a perimeter shooter and not much else (as far as I can tell), but he'll be in his mid-20s before he see time in either OKC or Tulsa. Gray has spent the last few years playing in Europe, and averaged around 20 and seven last year in France. He's a former University of Oklahoma player, so I wonder if he'll go for the D-League this time and try to get on the 66ers roster as a local allocation.

October 11: James Mays - signed with Beijing (China); Cedric Bozeman - signed with Beijing (China)

Both of these players are very talented, and could play in the NBA if teams gave them an honest chance. They were also both part of the expansion draft, and if they decide China's not for them and come back to the D-League, each of them will play for the Springfield Armor. That's something to keep an eye on as the season goes on, as they're both very good scorers who could give Dee Brown's team an added push towards the playoffs or, depending on how the season goes, avert a first-year disaster.

Bob MacKinnon Hired as New Stampede Coach

Jon L — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:00:21 -0000

New Idaho Stampede coach Bob MacKinnon, who won the D-League championship last season with Colorado (via www.nba.com)

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The Idaho Stampede hired Bob MacKinnon as their new coach yesterday, replacing Bryan Gates who is now an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings. We briefly looked at MacKinnon's credentials on Saturday, but now that he's been hired a closer look at the work he did last year is probably in order.

If there's one thing the Colorado 14ers did last season, it was run. As the local CBS affiliate's news story notes, the team averaged 120 points a game last year, which is still on the high side even for the uptempo D-League. They relied on a bevy of athletic players including John Lucas, Trey Gilder, Sonny Weems, Dominique Coleman and James Mays as well as dependable veterans like Josh Davis, Eddie Gill and Joe Dabbert, and finished the season first in both pace and offensive rating. Small lineups were not uncommon to see, with Davis at center and Gilder playing power forward alongside three guards. In part this was due to the foul trouble that all three of the centers on Colorado's roster towards the end of the season were foul-prone, but it also made smart use of the team's personnel. The team also had several players leave at various points due either to injury or being called up by the NBA, such as Mays, Cheikh Samb and Sean Williams. As MacKinnon himself noted in this "A Day in the Life" piece, flexibility is a trait he prizes, so he is likely confident in his ability to adapt his style if need be.

Will MacKinnon be able to implement the same style in Idaho? At the risk of asking a question then immediately copping out, I'm not sure. Idaho finished 14th (out of 16 teams) in pace last season, but a few of the players on that roster who may have preferred that pace, such as Nate Jawai or Lance Allred, are no longer around. However, there are some players who may thrive in MacKinnon's offense, such as Coby Karl and Luke Jackson, who won't be back either. Should Mohammed Abukar return, however, I think he'd do well, and he has experience playing at a faster pace from his time in Austin. MacKinnon also will be without the services of lockdown defender Brent Petway, and while Colorado's defense was about average last year (8th in the league), Petway's absence, perhaps in conjunction with MacKinnon's running style, makes it unlikely that the Stampede will repeat as the D-League's best defense.

A few closing comments: one fun aspect of this hire is that the "feud" between MacKinnon and Utah Flash owner Brandt Andersen (which as far as I know may be completely one-sided, which is the best/most hilarious kind of feud) may be kept alive. This also means that Rio Grande Valley is the only D-League team without a head coach in place. Congratulations to MacKinnon on being hired, and to the Idaho Stampede for finding a solid coach for their team.

Expansion Draft Results & Analysis

Jon L — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:00:17 -0000

After cutting down the nets in Colorado, Billy Thomas will be playing for the Maine Red Claws this season.

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While RU had its mock draft on Tuesday, yesterday was the actual expansion draft with the Springfield Armor and Maine Red Claws picking from among the guys who finished last season with either Colorado or Anaheim, both of which are now no more (though Springfield is kinda-sorta the new Anaheim). The teams were actually drafting the D-League rights to these players, not the players themselves, so in some cases the teams were drafting guys who have already signed elsewhere, in the hopes that they're either cut by the NBA or come back from overseas during the season, in which cases the players would join whoever drafted them. A round-by-round list of the picks can be found here, but since there were only two teams drafting I'll just list the final "rosters":

Springfield	Maine
Marcus Campbell	James White
James Mays	Trey Gilder
Eddie Gill	Billy Thomas
Kentrell Gransberry	Noel Felix
Cedric Bozeman	John Lucas III
Jamar Brown	Kedrick Brown
Malick Badiane	Dominique Coleman
Marcus Taylor	Joe Dabbert
Cameron Bennerman	Josh Davis
Kirk Walters	Andre Patterson

Overall, the Red Claws bet heavily on the players I was talking about above, taking James White and Trey Gilder (who both have at least partially-guaranteed NBA contracts) with their first two picks, then followed up later in the draft by taking Dominique Coleman, who's going to play in Belgium, and Joe Dabbert, who's going to be in Korea. If these work out it was a good draft for them, but if not then they'd better hope to get some NBA assignees this season. The Red Claws also were able to pick up Josh Davis in the ninth round, though, which is crazily low, so that was definitely a good pickup.

I really like what Springfield did in the draft, taking up the best center in the draft with the first pick (Campbell*) then surrounding him guys who can score like Bozeman and Mays. They also seemed to have cornered the market on available big men. Felix and Davis are the only two players Maine has right now who can play in the middle. There really were two different philosophies at work here, with the Armor taking guys who can contribute immediately and maybe keep fans coming to games once the novelty of having a new team wears off. Both teams will be filling out their rosters with players from local tryouts, of course, but at this point Springfield seems more ready to start the season.

* Thanks to an alert reader for reminding me that it was Marcus Campbell who was drafted, not Hubbard.

But that's just one man's opinion. What do you, the viewers at home, think?

D-League Expansion Draft Tomorrow; RU Mock Draft Today

Jon L — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:00:15 -0000

The D-League rights of John Lucas III are available in tomorrow's expansion draft.

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In case you haven't heard, the D-League's Expansion Draft will be held tomorrow, September 2, at 2 p.m. ET. There are only two teams participating, the Maine Red Claws and the Springfield Armor (even though I didn't think the Armor were an expansion team, since they're just the new Anaheim Arsenal), and the list of players available can be found here. It's basically just the players from last year's Anaheim and Colorado rosters. The draft will be done snake-style, where the team with the first pick in the first round has the last pick in the second round, etc., which seems a bit silly with just two teams, but I'm not the one in charge here. The draft will last ten rounds, and Springfield won the coin toss so they're going first.

We thought it would be fun to run a mock draft, so Aisander and I drafted players we thought would be good for the D-League's two newest teams. He had Springfield, I had Maine. At least, he had Springfield until he stopped e-mailing me his picks. We limited our player list to only those who haven't already signed contracts in Europe or the NBA (except in a few instances I'll mention when we get to them) - even though the D-League teams are drafting a player's D-League rights, so for instance if Maine drafts Joe Dabbert he could join the team once the South Korean season ends or he doesn't feel like playing over there anymore. But, we thought this would be a little more interesting, and it also gives us a chance to comment in players who don't get a lot of mentions around here.

Check out the RU Expansion Mock Draft after the jump. All the player comments are mine except where noted.

Round 1

1. Springfield - James Mays, 6'8" F

If I'm Springfield (or any franchise for that matter), I want to make sure I'm getting a quality big man who scores efficiently and can rebound. Mays fits that bill perfectly. He was an absolute beast for the 14ers last year, averaging 19.0 points and just shy of 9.0 rebounds a game. He was one of the more dominant players in the D-League up until he was injured mid-season. And really, his ACL is the only thing that gives me pause. But if James Mays is healthy, then I'm taking him first. -- AD

2. Maine - Cedric Bozeman, 6'6" G/F

I had planned on drafting Mays, who went to Clemson, to try and get Maine's affiliate the Charlotte Bobcats to pay attention to the team even though we're so closely tied with the Celtics. But Bozeman's a good consolation prize. He's a versatile swingman who rebounds well for his position and can distribute the ball a little bit as well, so he's the Maine Red Claws' first pick.

Round 2

3. Maine - Josh Davis, 6'8" F

The versatility theme continues, plus Scott would have a fit if Davis fell any lower than this. Davis is a really solid frontcourt player who can shoot threes, defend, pass and rebound, and he even played some center in Colorado's fast-paced offense last year. With Bozeman and Davis on board, I'm liking the roster already.

4. Springfield - Kedrick Brown, 6'6" G/F

Well I was dying to pick Josh Davis, aka Scott Schroeder's man crush, but lo and behold you've snapped him up. So instead I'm going with a solid NBA-caliber swingman. Brown was originally drafted by the Boston Celtics, but has played the last two seasons with the Arsenal. He's been a solid player, averaging around 15 points and 6 boards a game. Brown is capable of scoring big numbers when he's hot, blowing up for over 30 a few times last season. He's a seasoned vet at this point in his career, which is something any new franchise/coach could use. -- AD

*It should be noted that Brown has signed a contract to play overseas this season, which I didn't realize until I was putting this post together. I'll leave him on Ais's roster as a penalty for his not finishing this thing. I also should tell you that Aisander was responsible for cutting out all of the players who had already signed elsewhere, so it's possible that he was trying to pull a fast one on me.

Round 3

5. Springfield - John Lucas III, 5'11" G

I was going to go with Eddie Gill here, but John Lucas really was solid off the bench for the 14ers last season, stepping it up when Gill was struggling. I like Lucas primarily because he's younger and a little bit quicker. As a point guard, he is a good, not great floor leader, who runs the offense smoothly and shot a blistering 45% from three last year. He's solid as a scoring and passing PG, averaging about 15 points and 4.5 assists last season. I also like Lucas because his assist-to-turnover ratio was 4:1, because hanging onto the ball is an important part of the game, no matter what Will Conroy might tell you. -- AD

6. Maine - Eddie Gill, 6'1" G

Lucas may be younger and quicker, but I like Gill to run the point for my team. It's true that he's had some stints with the New Jersey Nets, who the Armor are affiliated with this year, but I think first-year head coach Austin Ainge will appreciate having a savvy veteran running his offense and getting everyone in the right place. Gill sometimes settles for three-pointers a little too often, but he finished third in the D-League in assists last season both on a per-game and per-season basis, and there's the added bonus of him being a decent midseason call-up option for the Celtics should their search for a backup point guard prove fruitless.

Round 4

7. Maine - Marcus Campbell, 7'0" C

Marcus Campbell, 7'0" C - I guess someone has to draft a center, and Campbell's the best available. He was third in the D-League last year in rebounds per minute (just ahead of Kentrell Gransberry) and he's a decent shotblocker as well. He's 27, so this is probably as good as it gets for Campbell, and he doesn't get to the line quite as often as you'd like your big man to, but he'd give the Red Claws a solid inside game to go with their skilled perimeter players.

8. Springfield - Kentrell Gransberry, 6'9" F/C

Well it's official, the pickings are getting slightly slim. But I'll go ahead and take Gransberry, who is your typically undersized center with some weight issues. But there is some upside with Gransberry. If he can shed some weight and work on his footwork I think he's got a shot at being a decent bench rebounder/garbage scorer. He did not exactly light up the D-League last year, but he's a solid rotation player at this point. -- AD

Round 5

9. Springfield - Billy Thomas, 6'5" G

Thomas is a vet, and will give you some solid play as either a starter or off the bench. And it can never hurt to have a guy with NBA experience and a nice shooting touch. Thomas is not always a consistent scoring threat, but when he's on he can be a great asset to any team. I think he's a nice catch at this point in the draft. -- AD

10. Maine - Marcus Taylor, 6'3" G

Taylor was a high school All-American; that's how far back we have to go with some of the players left in the draft. Taylor played only three games with the Arsenal after signing with them in February, but he scored 28 points in those three games and had some decent per-minute numbers. Hopefully with some more playing time he can serve as a solid 2-guard.

Round 6

11. Maine - Ray Reed, 5'11" G

Reed was a combo guard at Cal State-Fullerton, and while he's been transitioning to more of a straight point guard that versatility may come in handy. He was also supposedly the Titans' best backcourt defender (according to the team's website, which is why I say "supposedly"), which is nice, though with his size I don't expect a ton of that in the D-League. Reed led the Arsenal in assists on a per-minute basis and doesn't turn the ball over too much, so I think he'll be a nice bench player for my Red Claws team. I have to say, I'm really starting to like this team I'm putting together.

12. Springfield - Malick Badiane, 6'10 C

This is where Ais dropped out. Badiane still has a lot of work to do on his game, but I'm not sold on Gransberry as a player who can give a lot of minutes at this point so Springfield needs another center to share time. Hopefully Badiane can continue to develop his athleticism (he'll occasionally spring for double-digit rebounds) into consistent production.

Round 7

13. Springfield - Noel Felix, 6'8" F

In case Badiane doesn't work out or Gransberry can't stay out of foul trouble, Noel Felix should step in as a solid interior defender. He's not a great rebounder, but he can block some shots and his scoring has improved over the last two seasons.

14. Maine - Jamar Brown, 6'9" F

Jamar Brown was the third-string center for the 14ers last season (or maybe fourth-string, depending on whether you call Josh Davis the backup), and he has as much propensity for foul trouble as Gransberry does, but Brown also grabbed more rebounds per-minute last season than guys like Erik Daniels or Jasper Johnson, and the fact that I can draft that kind of rebounding ability this late in the draft shows how much I'm dominating this thing.

Round 8

15. Maine - Andre Patterson, 6'8" F

I was trying to decide between Patterson and Ronald Allen, since the Red Claws as I've drafted them could use someone to fill in at small forward, and their stats are pretty similar. Eerily similar, in fact, at least on a per-minute basis. Patterson has a better field goal shooting percentage, though, so I'll take him. It looks like I win this round as well.

16. Springfield - Geno Carlisle, 6'3" G

Springfield needs a bench scorer and a backup shooting guard, so this is an easy pick. Carlisle doesn't do much besides shoot, and while his .375 three-point shooting percentage is good but not great, it's still pretty decent for the eighth round of an expansion draft.

Round 9

17. Springfield - Ronald Allen, 6'9" F

While I made it seem like taking Patterson over Allen is a big victory, I should reiterate that they're very similar numbers-wise, and Allen got more starts last year. He's inconsistent, but still solid enough to be a contributor for this Springfield team.

18. Maine - Dabo Kabov, 6'5" F

I have no idea what kind of player Kabov is. He played in 10 games for the Arsenal last year and never made more than one field goal, and shot only five total free throws. If there's an upside he also never turned the ball over more than once in a game. But, it was around this time that I realized there weren't enough players to fill out ten rounds, so while Kabov doesn't look like a contributor at this point, I'm sure that Austin Ainge's legendary teaching skills can mold him into a useful player.

Round 10

19. Maine - Dominique Coleman, 6'3" G

Yep, I went ahead and did it. Like I said, I needed to find a few more players, and Ais drafted a guy headed overseas a lot earlier. So the Red Claws will draft Coleman's rights as a longshot in hopes that he doesn't take a liking to Belgium and comes on back to the US. My crush on Coleman's game is well-documented at this point, but in short he can rebound, shoot threes, distribute the ball as needed, pick up some steals, and he made RU's All-Defensive team last year to boot.

20. Springfield - Kirk Walters, 6'11" C

Walters is a center who doesn't rebound particularly well, but Springfield needed another backup big and this is the last pick. Walters has decent size for a center, so despite the fact that he wasn't much of a rebounder at the University of Arizona either, perhaps there's some potential in there that just needs to be tapped into.

Let's review the draft:

Aisander Arsenal	Jon Red Claws
James Mays	Cedric Bozeman
Kedrick Brown	Josh Davis
John Lucas III	Eddie Gill
Kentrell Gransberry	Marcus Campbell
Billy Thomas	Marcus Taylor
Malick Badiane	Ray Reed
Noel Felix	Jamar Brown
Geno Carlisle	Andre Patterson
Ronald Allen	Dabo Kabov
Kirk Walters	Dominique Coleman

I think it's pretty clear who "won" this draft (hint: me). The Arsenal ended up with some talented players like Mays and Lucas and Badiane, but even without Dominique Coleman, I think the Red Claws ended up with a really solid roster, one that would have a chance at seriously competing in the Eastern conference. But we'll see how the real teams do tomorrow.

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.

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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.

Whoops!

Scott Schroeder — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:28:07 -0000

Just got a press release that reports the December 26th game between the Utah Flash and Colorado 14ers is going to restart with 25.2 seconds left on the game clock in their next scheduled meeting.

This one is going to be complicated!

With 25.2 seconds left on the clock, the Colorado 14ers "Official Scorer" mistakenly attributed Bill Walker with a foul in the 2nd quarter when it should have been given to his Flash and Boston Celtics teammate J.R. Giddens. Thus, when the fourth quarter came around and Walker picked up another foul, he was disqualified, wrongly.

Now, when they meet again, it will be in Utah on April 10th, three and a half months after it happened. Not Colorado, where it originally happened. The score will be tied 102-102, and tip for that game will be right before the scheduled game that night.

Interestingly enough, first, when looking at the play-by-play, it's a mess.

The score went from 100-94 with 3:12 left to 98-99 with 2:23 left.
The Flash never scored more than 101 points, and Colorado went ahead 104-101 with 53 seconds left to play.
Walker's offensive foul, according to play-by-play, was with 25 seconds left to play, and was his 7th personal.

Then, when I read the recap out of Colorado, it says this: "With 25.2 seconds remaining and the game tied at 103..." Uhhh, what? 103? So in both the recap or the play-by-play, the game wasn't tied at 102-102 with 25 seconds left in the game. It was either 103-103 or 104-101.

I was going to reconstruct who was on the floor at the time, but judging by the play-by-play, that can't be correct! I do know that Utah's lost Giddens and Walker back to the Celtics, and have added Kyrylo Fesenko and James Lang, among others. Colorado lost Cheikh Samb to call-up/trade, Sonny Weems was called-up, and James Mays is out with a season-ending ACL injury. That's five of the starters on the court no longer with the teams.

This has got to be the most out of control game I've ever looked at. Even Utah's trainer, Nick Asay, picked up a technical in the first quarter.

Controversy.

Between this game and the Scott Roth ejection earlier this week, they both have one similarity. To read about this, click continue reading.

Marat Kogut was the head official in both games. While doing some more research on him, I found this, courtesy of the D-League Showcase blog from last season.

Kogut: "I got certified at 16-years of age. I was working small games and someone advised me to go for my certification. It had been a hobby of mine, working like 100 games a month. They were in-house, rec league games with little kids. I was doing them for free because I really loved it. So I got certified just so I could make a few dollars while still in high school. I was one of the few who actually passed the exam, I passed the floor exam and started working youth games making cash in Brooklyn. I was making $30 a game and $250 in a weekend while my friends were making $4.75 at the Gap working crazy hours."

To read more on Kogut's history as a ref, check out the middle of that blog.

D-Leaguer's Most Likely To Get Called Up This Season

Scott Schroeder — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:00:13 -0000

I was going to add to this title and do a "/Players Most Likely To Head Overseas Next Week Following The D-League Showcase And Not Getting The Gatorade Call-Up They Hoped For/Deserved", but decided that this was already a little too long. Here is the official Ridiculous Scott's Ridiculous Upside's Ridiculous Call-Up Rankings list, by position:

Bigs

1. Courtney Sims, Iowa: He's a monster. Averaging 23.5 points, 13 boards, and 3.5 blocks per game. Why is he still in the D-League? Did his opening night triple-double, with 22 points, 17 boards, and 11 blocks not get him noticed?

2. James Mays, Colorado: Mays is a very solid player. Couple that with him being a rookie with a good pedigree, good D-League numbers, and being very close to Denver, the squad he nearly made this preseason, and I think a call-up could be in his future. Currently, Mays is averaging 20 points, 9 boards, two steals, and a block per game.

3. Richard Hendrix, Dakota: Hendrix, a 2nd round pick with Golden State this year, is a monster. In his first game as a Wizard, he scored 23 points, had 12 boards, and 3 blocked shots. Look at that NBA teams, fly him in and he'll be productive instantly!

4. Erik Daniels, Erie: Even though I've never liked his game, veteran Erik Daniels is getting it done this year. He has NBA and top level overseas experience, which will never hurt when working for the call-up. Playing out of position, as a 6-8 center, he's averaging 20 points and 9 rebounds.

5. Jermareo Davidson, Idaho: I would have Jermareo higher, but he's currently been losing minutes in Coach Gates' rotation, averaging a pedestrian 12 points and 8 boards in 27 minutes over his past 3 games. Though he's got NBA experience, if a D-League coach doesn't want to give a guy minutes, he's probably got issues that make him untouchable for an NBA team.

Honorable mention: Lance Allred, Idaho

Swing Men

1. Marcus Williams, Austin: He may be the best NBA-prospect named Marcus Williams, and certainly the best not currently in the NBA! He was called-up twice last season, and I assume it will be similar again this season. Currently, he's averaging 22 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists, showing off his well-rounded game.

2. Renaldo Major, Dakota: Major has rebounded well from open-heart surgery last season for the Wizards. He's currently averaging 17.6 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists to go along with 2.4 steals. Additionally, he's occassionally playing every position from the one to the four in Coach Ticknor's offense, showing his versatility.

3. Coby Karl, Idaho: Karl is perhaps the ugliest man in the D-League (proof.), though he is putting up numbers with a stacked Stampede team. He's averaging 16 points, 5.4 assists, and 3.6 rebounds, shooting 46% from the field.

4. Bobby Jones, Sioux Falls: Bobby's been with 1,237 NBA teams thus far, and will more than likely add at least one more to his resume this season. He's averaging 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game, while guarding the best non-big on the floor.

5. Cedric Bozeman, Anaheim: Bozeman's got NBA experience, good mid-range game, and can slash to the bucket. Thus far this season, he's averaging 17 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Honorable Mention: Joe Crawford, Los Angeles.

Guards

1. Blake Ahearn, Dakota: Blake's got the NBA experience, the shooting prowess, the attitude, and everything else that people should be looking for in a call-up. Since re-joining Dakota, following a stint with the Spurs/Toros, Ahearn is averaging 24.5 points and 7.5 assists, shooting 50% from 3-point territory.

2. Eddie Gill, Colorado: Gill, though he's not putting up call-up numbers, is definitely the top point guard in the D-League.

3. Will Conroy, Albuquerque: Definitely a flight risk, as he left last year to go to Italy, but he's a D-League success story, going from just 12 points and 6 assists in 2005 to the season he's having this season. Thus far this season, he's averaging 24.6 points, 7.4 assists, and nearly three steals per game.

4. Walker Russell, Fort Wayne: Walker Russell had a tryout with Phoenix last week, and if he keeps putting up numbers, another is probably on it's way. The biggest knock on him is that he's never put up numbers otherwise, so I'm worried he may be a fluke. Currently, he's averaging 16 points and 11 assists, along with 2.5 steals per game.

5. Maurice Baker, Dakota: NBA guys know what they're getting when they look at Mo. He's an NBA-ready guard, who can lead the team when he's on the floor. This year, he's once again showing an NBA-ready game, averaging 17 points, 7.5 boards, and 5.3 assists. If you're looking for an on-court leader that will do what it takes to win, call Mo.

Honorable mention: Mateen Cleaves, Bakersfield, and Curtis Stinson, Iowa: Curtis Stinson isn't a great NBA prospect, but when you're putting up numbers, you'll get looks. Stinson, a D-League vet (5 different teams), is currently putting up huge numbers on a very good Iowa team. Everyone likes winners, and if a point guard is putting up great all-around numbers on a D-League team, there will be a decent path to get into the League. Currently, Stinson is averaging 15 points, 8 boards, and 8 assists per game. Cleaves is a vet. You know what you're getting with him.

Let me know who I missed in the comments!

Scouting Sonny Weems, Cheikh Samb and James Mays

Jeremy — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 07:50:57 -0000

Today was my first opportunity to see an NBDL game. I wanted to check out Sonny Weems, Cheikh Samb and James Mays of the Colorado 14ers and what I found out is there is a pretty darn good team in Broomfield, Colorado.

The 14ers toyed with the Reno Bighorns and after getting outscored by Reno 44-27 in the fourth quarter, they still won the game by 21. The 14ers have size, athleticism, good to great ball handlers and shooters. They are now 4-1 and good seats are still available for their next home game. If you have kids, they will have a blast and you will see some pretty good basketball yourself. Plus, if you are into beer, for ten minutes after every quarter in which the 14ers score 30 or more points beers are only two dollars. The loudest the adults in the crowd ever were was when Overland High School grad and team leader Eddie Gill missed a free throw with a couple of seconds left in the second quarter stranding the 14ers at 29 points.

The purpose for this post was not as an ad for the 14ers, but to scout Weems, Samb and Mays. I am sure you know Weems and Samb, but in case you are wondering who James Mays is, he is a rookie forward from Clemson who was in the Nuggets training camp. I saw him play a little in the Real Training Camp feature on the Nuggets by NBATV and a little against the Timberwolves in the Nuggets first preseason game. I was impressed with his size and how he moves, but it seemed like he was a limited player on offense. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered he was the leading scorer in the D-League and tenth in rebounding. Needless to say I was excited to see how he was doing it.

The setting is the Broomfield Event center just off highway 36 between Denver and Bolder. It is a nice facility if not tremendously large. The seating consists of one bowl with boxes above it. It is a state of the art arena complete with an LED ring above the boxes and a scoreboard that may be a little too big for the space it occupies. There is one banner hanging in the building commemorating the 2007 14ers run last season as the NBDL Western Division Postseason champs. There is also a minor league hockey team that plays there and luckily for me, the game was delayed due to a slick floor from condensation from the ice.

I was offered a seat at the end of the scorer’s table and I gladly accepted even though there was free food in the press box. I guess I may never be a true member of the media until I can no longer say no to free food.

Weems came off the bench for his first game with the 14ers, but today he started at small forward. His defensive assignment was number 11 for the Bighorns who happened to be former Syracuse standout Damone Brown. Weems was giving up some size, but was easily the stronger of the two.

From the start the coaches were yelling at him to get up and pressure Brown when he had the ball. Unfortunately, Brown heard the instructions and when Weems hoped forward Brown took advantage and drove past him.

Weems showed pretty good awareness on defense though. He did get the chance to play some shooting guard and he seemed a little more comfortable. At one point he ended up guarding Antonio Meeking, a very big boy, in the post and held his ground pretty well before getting called for a push. He did do a very good job hitting the glass as he ended the game with six rebounds in only 15:36 of game time.

That’s right, he played less than 16 minutes. The reason was foul trouble. He drew his fifth foul just a couple minutes into the third quarter. When he rejoined the game in the fourth, he lasted all of 11 seconds before committing his sixth foul. He picked up his sixth and final foul defending a fast break. Instead of playing Stephen Jackson defense where you position yourself to grab the ball as it falls through the net in order to inbound it quickly, he did not quite get out of the way enough on the drive and was whistled for the foul.

It may have been disappointing to see so little of Weems, but he did some pretty impressive things in those 15 plus minutes of action. He scored just 24 seconds into the game with a thunderous dunk off of a loose ball. While he did not shoot very well in the first half he managed to put up 12 points on a barrage of dunks. He even threw down over a teammate after soaring a little higher off an alley oop pass.

Weems’ shot looks nice, but he seems to struggle with his release. In the first half his shot showed some inconsistent spin. One effort was a knuckleball. In the second half things were different. He drained two catch and shoot threes that had beautiful rotation. He also hit a shot from the top of the circle off the dribble. He actually pulled the rebound, dribbled up the floor and hit the shot. A very nice play.

He has a pretty good handle and can drive well with either hand. Before the game he was shooting set shots from the baseline left handed and it looked very natural. He also has good size and a scorers mentality. In his time on the floor he managed to dump in 20 points on 9-14 shooting. I did not get a good read on his passing as he never attempted anything risky or flashy.

We have all had the chance to see Samb play some garbage time minutes, so honestly there was very little I saw from that I had not seen before. He was the tallest dude on the floor and Reno was clearly not used to playing against a player with his shot blocking ability. It took them a while to stop tossing up meatballs for him to swat away. They did not even throw him any shot fakes.

Samb reminds me of Marcus Camby in that he plays every possession for the block. He lays off his man giving him room to drive so that he has the space to gather himself and go up for the block. That tactic may work at this level, but he cannot expect to get away with that type of defense in the NBA. He does try to block everything. On one occasion he actually tried going at a shot when he was under the basket far enough he was closer to the other side of the rim. He also had a teammate between him and the shooter. As a result, when the shot was missed Samb was completely out of position and the Reno player tipped in the miss completely unchallenged.

It also goes without saying that Samb has a difficult time holding his position either defending the post, posting up himself or boxing out on free throws. He is not quick, but on one occasion he was able to help off on a drive and still recover to block his man's shot. He also had a sequence where he had the ball tipped away from him when he was doubled on the fight block, but he got back quick enough to get a piece of the layup on the fast break at the other end of the floor. Sadly it hit the backboard first and was correctly ruled as goaltending, but it was an impressive play.

Offensively Samb has a very smooth release. We all know he can hit the 18-20 footer. He started getting the ball in the post a little in the fourth quarter. On one occasion when he was posted up on the left block he waived everyone away, made a decent move with his right hand pushing into the lane and lifted a right handed hook that settled softly into the net. Unfortunately it came after the shot clock expired and although it was not called, I think he may have traveled. On another occasion Samb had the ball on the same block, but a little further out. He tried a fade away turn around and although it looked like a nice shot, but it missed badly.

Samb does have very good hands and does a good job of clamping onto the ball when fighting for rebounds. I look for two things in a big man, one is good hands and the other is good footwork, Samb is halfway there.

Overall, he is a very intriguing prospect, but right now the only parts of his game that are NBA caliber are his help side shot blocking and his perimeter set shot.

James Mays is very impressive in person. As I said, I was taken by surprise when I saw he was having so much success as a scorer. Let me tell you, it is legit.

Mays is very athletic and has a smoothness to his game. He reminds me of Andray Blatche although he is not quite as creative of a passer. He can drive with either hand although his first step is better to the right. He has deep range and hit a step back three like it was a 15 footer. His shot has very nice rotation and looks effortless.

Defensively, he plays with a solid base and attacks the glass going for and grabbing rebounds that are out of his zone. He does not look to dominate the ball and actually did not really make his mark on the game until Weems left in the second quarter with just under four minutes left. At that point he only had two points and scored five more points before the end of the half.

Other Observations

Both Weems and Samb were guilty of defensive three seconds violations. Samb’s came because he looked to be expecting a drive and wanted a chance to block the shot. When the drive never came he was hung out to dry. Weems seemed to come more from confusion. It looked like he wanted to leave the lane, but he had a hard time figuring out which side of the lane he should be on.
I have no idea how there can be so many kids at a game without some of them illegally driving themselves. Perhaps some of their parents thought they were in the basement playing Super Mario Kart or whatever it is kids play today.
Samb did get dunked on and then was called for a technical as he protested that the dunker pulled his arm down with his off hand in order to throw down. I could not tell if Samb was right, but ala George Constanza, it is not a lie if you believe it is true and Samb clearly did not think he was lying. Cheikh did seem to be motivated by it though as he threw down a dunk of his own right after and then changed a shot at the other end.
When the opponents are shooting free throws the 14ers work to get the crowd working together. The jumbotron encourages everyone to make the same noise. It ranges from beep beep like a car horn to moo like a cow to say ‘doh like Homer. My favorite one was laugh like it’s funny. At one point the spectators were instructed to make a sound like a Turkey and it was apparent most of the crowd was not exactly sure what kind of a sound a turkey makes because I heard all kinds of different sounds emanating from the stands.
I was very tempted to try to run off with one of the referees silver windbreaker jackets that was sitting on the table nearby. I was proud of myself that I chose not to.
James Mays is apparenlty very polite. After bumping into a couple seated between the Reno coaches and the scorer's table (the Reno team's owner?) when going after a loose ball he very sincerely said, "Sorry, excuse me." It was quite refreshing.
Samb does show decent passing ability. He made a nice dump off to a cutting teammate that resulted in a jam off of an offensive rebound.
The refs must have been on suicide watch, they had no belts, but they did have shoe laces.
I am a little worried that Cheikh is going to get into some bad habits on defense. It is so easy for him to block shots at this level the coaching staff is going to have to stay on him to play sound defense.
I have long lamented the demise of the sophisticated basketball crowd over the years as being subservient to the jumobtron and now I have seen why. We are raising out kids to worship the jumbotron. Instead of learning from their dad when to cheer they are left to just watch the jumbotron and they respond to it. We are going to lose yet another generation of fans to the jumbotron and I have no idea how to fight it.

The D-League Draft in Review

DakotaWiz — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:21:04 -0000

So, we're about 18 days, 22 hours, 34 minutes, and 47 seconds until the D-League season starts (Thanks, D-League.com!) Anyway, let's look at each teams roster post-draft to better evaluate how each team drafted. I should really wait to do this tomorrow in case some trades went down that we didn't catch, but I'll update this to reflect that if they happen. Also, quick note, every center able to be drafted, was drafted. Dear Mr. Alpert, I think we need to sign more 5's for next year!

This might be something you print out and read when you have about two hours to kill... Went a little longer than planned, but all good stuff, I guarantee it. If you don't think so, E-Mail me (Check my profile) and I will promptly get you a refund.

Tulsa, with the number one overall pick, picked Chris Richard. Like many teams, it looks like they aren't too concerned with having a center, preferring to go with two big forwards in Richard and Ryan Humphrey, a first round pick of the Jazz in 2002. From there, it looks like returning guard Russell Carter will play at the point, Jeremy Kelly at the 2, and Terrell Everett at the 3. I expect Chris Ellis (returning) and Mikheil Berishvili to also be guaranteed spots, with the rest up in the air. With whoever comes back in the trade of Keith Closs, that player could leave just one spot open for the rest of the players, depending on what the 66ers are getting in return.

Colorado, where is Elton Brown? Where is Eddie Gill? I assume at least Eddie will join them soon. If not, it looks like they'll be led by the tandem of James Mays (Great pick considering he was one of the last cuts of neighboring Denver!) and Josh Davis at the 3 and 4, with random fillers in between. If both Elton and Eddie come back, WATCH OUT! The 14ers drafted two of the better point guards in the draft in Marlon Parmer and John Gilchrist, along with rookie Trey Gilder, a skinny 6'9 post, these are my picks to most likely make the team. It looks like Joe Dabbert, who I'm fairly sure his middle name is Barry, as it rings so well, will play the center for them. I'm not sure why he was allocated to them, as he didn't go to school in Colorado, nor has he ever played for them, but being allocated a decent 5 is always good! I'm also fairly certain Eric Osmundson makes the team, as he's my favorite player ever out of UPenn and has played with them the past two seasons. Jamar Brown, a local guy out of Colorado State also will more than likely make it, being a big in this league not so full of bigs.

Idaho looks strong, as they have been since entering the D-League. Coach Gates always seems to put together a good team, and this year shouldn't be any different. They brought Randy Livingston off the court and onto the coaching staff, though his replacement is the very capable, and more than likely redshirt-rookie, Jamaal Tatum, their first round pick last year. They also return Air Georgia Brent Petway and were allocated former BSU Broncos Coby Karl and Reggie Larry. With first round pick and former Bobcat Jermareo Davidson, this team has a chance of repeating. Add in Ernest Scott, who played 40 games with the Stampede last season, big-man Anthony Coleman, and rookie guard Lanny Smith, and this is one of the top teams in the D-League.

Sioux Falls is VERY VERY VERY strong. Wow. Veteran leadership? Check. Point guard Frank Williams played parts of 3 seasons in the NBA and averaged 16 points with the Skyforce two seasons ago. NBA talent? Check! Bobby Jones has played for approximately 47 teams over the last two seasons. Size? You betcha! 7-1 Frankenstein-like Chris Alexander was the last cut of the Thunder in October and averaged 12 and 12 last season for the Skyforce. Good wings? Two of them! First round pick Gary Forbes and returning Carl Elliott are both all around players that will fill in and do everything that the aforementioned players don't. Add in draft picks Michael Adams (who isn't good, but is big!), Keith Brumbaugh (averaged 35 points, 8 boards, 6 assists last season in college), Ty Morrison, a 6'8 rookie combo forward, and either rookie Gary Ervin (Arkansas) or the vet Brock Gillespie, and this will be a team to reckon with.

Bakersfield, do I think even you guys have a strong team? Yes, I sure do! Wait, even when your top 3 players are returning from a season where you finished 11-39?!? Scary, but yes, and not just because Gates Roth and Deane Martin are running the show. Mateen "I'm Not Cryin" Cleaves at the point, Jeff Trepagnier at the 2, Derrick Byars at the 3, Richard Hendrix at the 4, and Nick Lewis at the 5, and this team is scary. Factor in Justin Reed returning in about a month and Trey Lewis coming off the bench, and this team will be 7-deep solid! Terrance Thomas, who played with Fort Worth a couple seasons ago, and David Berghoefer, a soft big man who averaged 11 and 11 over in Germany last year should also make the rotation.

Fort Wayne, I really hope you do well. Bringing back Ron Howard, fresh off a preseason campaign with the Bucks, along with Walker Russell, a strong backcourt is imminent. The front court, however, is suspect. If first round pick Coleman Collins is as careless on the court as he is when driving, you're in trouble (Just kidding Mad Ants! Hopefully we're still friends!). If I learned I was going to be a Mad Ant, I'd be excited too. I like Torree Morris too, mostly because he's 6-10 in a division that includes Courtney Sims, Chris Alexander, and hopefully, for Erie's sake, a big man from the Cavs. Anthony Kyle is fun to watch and should make the team as the backup point guard he's destined to be. Shawn Hawkins should also be a good player for the Ants. Eric Smith, who I believe was referred to exclusively as "Spider" on all of your radio broadcasts last season (New radio guy for the Mad Ants this year for anyone that wasn't a fan of them last year!), should also be consistent off the bench.

Erie, I'm sorry, but I'm just not a fan of your drafts. First, you inexplicably drafted Idaho assistant coach Randy Livingston in the expansion draft, among about 7 other guys that had no plans to play in the D-League this season and Jeff Hagen. Then, in this draft, you take the enigmatic Erik Daniels a combo forward, when it was fairly clear that a big man was in your NEEDS column after the only guy you picked up in the expansion draft, Jackie Manuel, plays the same position. In the second round, you took Taj McCullough, a Winthrop grad and combo forward. You also bring in Manuel. By my count, that's three guys who are best suited to play the 3, and are also your three top players. You never did draft anyone taller than 6'8. Hopefully Cleveland really likes your pick up of Vernon Hamilton, who was in Cavs camp this preseason, and sends JJ Hickson or Darnell Jackson down to help. Jawad Williams is also a possibility, but I'd assume they'd rather cut him then assign him to the D-League, as he's nothing special to develop. They did draft two of the greater names in the draft though in Cliff Clinkscales and Xavier Whipple, so hats off to you, Erie Bayhawks.

Anaheim, I like your team. Good first three picks in NBA vet Tierre Brown, Flight White, and rookie Roy Bright (Another Delaware State guy, just former D-League stud Jeremy Richardson). Good returnees in Mario Boggan and Mike Efevberha. Good allocated guys in Cedric Bozeman, Noel Felix, and T.J. Cummings, son of Terry (Be careful googling him.. NSFW!). Also, good job drafting four bigs! I hope that was due in part to the genius of new assistant Paul Mokeski, as pictured here in his younger days (Courtesy of The Sports Hernia Blog):

Utah had a decent draft. Bringing in Dontell Jefferson, bring back Brian Jackson, and drafting a couple legit rookies in Gavin Grant and Bennet Davis will help. If Kevin Kruger decides to come back to the D-League, this team is solid. If not, hopefully Utah and Boston help out, as your bench looks weak. Marcus Malone, how did you drop to the tenth round? Please prove me wrong in camp, as I thought you looked good down in Vegas.

Reno, big ups. Like what you did in the expansion draft. Damone Brown, Tony Gipson, Andre Patterson, Jesse Smith, and Jamaal Smith are all solid players that can contribute. In the regular draft, not so much. Antonio Meeking, who, as Matt pointed out, apparently added an inch and dropped 30 pounds, though I highly doubt this. Russell Robinson will be able to run your offense, but don't expect points out of him, as I would assume another Kansas alum, Dakota Wizards GM Tom Wagganer, could beat him at a game of PIG. Sung-Yoon BANG! should be solid, but unspectacular, as seasoning in Korea couldn't have helped him much since averaging 12 points with the Roanoke DAZZLE a few years ago.

Dakota Wizards, you're good, but guard heavy. With Mo Baker and Blake Ahearn, they've got to have one of the best backcourts in the league, if not the best. Renaldo Major will be returning from heart surgery and if he can return to his Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All D-League, he'll more than likely earn another call-up. The trade for Denham Brown will be excellent insurance if Renaldo isn't completely ready, and if he is ready, Brown will be one of the top guys coming off the bench in the league. That's four guys with NBA experience. Add Will Frisby, who was a beast last year when he got the minutes, and if he can stay out of foul trouble, he'll get the minutes, and Quemont Greer, who was with the Wizards two years ago when he averaged 17 points and 6 boards during the championship season, and the returnees are good. Then we get to Marcus Hubbard, the last cut of the Hawks this season (Peachtree Hoops wasn't big on him), will more than likely be one of the top athletes in the league and hopefully improves his basketball IQ. The Wizards are lacking on a center, but between Aaron Spears or Brad Stricker and possible NBA assignee Hamed Haddadi, they'll have the size to compete. Don't rule out a return of Too Much Rod Benson, either, who is averaging just 10 minutes and 2 points per game overseas while I assume he is getting paid a bit more than his production warrants.

RGV, not so sure about you guys. First, I really wish you would have dropped the E in Grande, or decided to pronounce it GronDay. Your best returner is Trent Strickland, and though he averaged 13 points last season, they weren't memorable. Allocated guys Kendall Dartez, who has averaged 6 points and 4 boards in 40 D-League games, and Alton Ford, a guy with forgettable NBA experiences who is a lot like Antonio Meeking, are nothing special. Your draftees are better, and include Smush Parker, who fell to the twelfth pick, and Delonte Holland, who I think should be a good D-League player. I'm also looking forward to seeing what Alpha Bangura (Two guys were drafted with bang in their last name) can do in the D-League, as he's been stateside in the minors for awhile.

LA, you surprised me with your first round pick of Jasper Johnson. I can't give a review of him, because I know NOTHING about him, though hear he was a good pick. Keith Butler is really big, which goes a long way in this draft, and therefore a solid 2nd round pick. The rest of your draft, not too much stands out. Your returning player, Darren Cooper, not exciting. Your allocated guys, however, are quite good. Joe Crawford, Lakers last cut, stud. Brandon Heath, another Lakers cut, should be good. Patrick Sanders, the rookie, should play well. Your local tryout guys are all D-League caliber, which is amazing, as I would have thought they would be in the player pool, rather than needing to go the way of the local tryout, especially since two have been drafted before -- Rashid Byrd, AKA Rashid Hartwick, AKA Seven and Sum Change and Ryan Forehan-Kelly.

Albuquerque, led by Coach Coffino, got the steal of the draft when David Noel dropped to the 12 spot. They're also in contention for best backcourt in the draft, returning Will Conroy and Cheyne Gadson, as they both have NBA talent. Cory Underwood, a former street baller, also returns after joining the Sixers preseason roster for a bit. They drafted quite solid as well, bringing in David Monds, Waki Williams (Never seen him play, but with a name like Waki...), another long 4, and Kris Clack, who played with Austin a couple seasons ago. They also brought in Eddie Robinson, who made 10 million dollars for NOT playing with the Bulls, as they bought out his contract, presumably because he was more focused on his acting career, being the lead in Juwanna Mann.

Iowa should be solid. They return Dwayne Mitchell, who left to go overseas mid-season last year and was with the Lakers this preseason, and Courtney Sims, one of the top big men in the league. Aristide "The Ostrich Riding Dawg" Sawadago was also apparently a big returner for them, as one team (I'll leave them anonymous) tried to draft him. Curtis Stinson, a journeyman D-Leaguer who has played 50 games for five teams over the past two years, also returns. In the first round, they drafted Cartier Martin, who sounds more like an alcoholic beverage than a D-League player, and followed that up with Larry AKA "Elias" or "Old Man" Ayuso, and then Othyus Jeffers, who will turn heads in the D-League. They also drafted Oregon State rookie Marcel Jones, who is also apparently pretty good, as another team tried drafting him later.

Austin, I'm glad you got the last pick, otherwise, you'd be a lot scarier than you already are. Returning Marcus Williams (Legitimate NBA player, not computer-steling-already-NBA-player-with-Golde-State-Marcus-Williams), and bringing in Charles Gaines and Malik Hairston, this teams 2,3,4 spots are probably the best in the D-League. Add Squeaky Johnson and first round pick and this team is solid everywhere but the 5 spot, which is probably why they grabbed 6'10 Mohammed Abukar in the 2nd round. They also got "Better Than" Ezra Williams and Michael Sturns, who were both good pickups in the 3rd and 5th rounds. Add in the possible allocation of Ian Mahinmi, and wow.

I'll let Matt rebuttal, as I'm sure we differ, but I'm ranking the great 8 heading into camp:

1. Dakota -- Six returners, 4 guys with NBA experience, going to be great.

2. Austin -- If they get Mahinmi again, pencil them in for the championship.

3. Albuquerque -- Great backcourt, great front court, great team.

4. Idaho -- Won't fall off much from championship season.

5. Sioux Falls -- Scary back court, scary (and scary looking) front court.

6. Anaheim -- LOTS of NBA talent here.

7. Bakersfield -- Legit starting 5.

8. LA/Reno -- LA built from nothing getting lucky with allocations, Reno built from nothing using the expansion draft.