SB Nation - Dontell Jefferson

Utah Flash 104, Idaho Stampede 98; Sundiata Gaines, Meet Dontell Jefferson

Jon L — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:00:43 -0000

More photos » by Chuck Burton - AP

Dontell Jefferson going up against Gerald Henderson in training camp. No, it's not a coincidence that I chose this photo. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

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Idaho started off okay, but the Flash were able to limit their possessions (just 95 for the Stampede, which will probably be about as low as it'll get all season), and Dontell Jefferson put Sundiata Gaines on lockdown. Gaines has been fantastic so far for Idaho, but yesterday shot just 5-15, missed four of his five three-pointers, and scored less than 20 points for the first time all season. He finished with 10 rebounds, eight assists and four steals, but he was forced into some tough shots and missed five straight at one point in the second quarter. The rest of the Stampede didn't fare much better, shooting under 30 percent from outside overall, and Anthony Tolliver shot 3-11. Mildon Ambres grabbed 15 rebounds but needed 16 shots to get 10 points. Cedric Simmons got the start and was one of the few bright spots offensively for Idaho; 26 points on 11-17 shooting, and he threw in four blocks for good measure.

Utah got Luke Nevill back, and while he's still finding his way on offense, the freshly be-visa-ed Aussie had eight boards in 22 minutes. Jefferson wasn't great offensively either, but he was terrific guarding Gaines and had seven assists, and after his second turnover in the first quarter he didn't have another one until there were 12 seconds left in the game. He did a fantastic job keeping Gaines and the rest of Idaho's offense from getting comfortable. Utah got its scoring primarily from Andre Ingram and Carlos Wheeler, who have each played pretty well so far this year. Wheeler had 24 points on 11-16 shooting along with seven rebounds. Ingram made four of his five threes (three of which came in the second quarter) on the way to 21 points, and seven boards of his own. Utah got almost nothing from their bench (19 points on a combined 6-19), but they didn't really need it.

Last Night in the D-League (and not at the concert that I attended)

Jon L — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:42:27 -0000

Taylor Griffin's receding hairline made its D-League debut last night. Look out, Anthony Tolliver! (via www.nba.com)

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Au contraire, Scott! There is a review of last night's games, I just didn't write it last night.

Iowa Energy 94, Dakota Wizards 82

Taylor Griffin is probably a borderline NBA bench player, but that makes him a pretty good D-League player. 19 points on 8-10 shooting and 10 boards for Griffin in his first game on assignment, though he also turned the ball over six times and committed a dumb flagrant foul. Curtis Stinson handed out 11 assists (four of which went to Griffin), Mark Tyndale had 14 points on seven shots and Marvin Phillips grabbed seven rebounds in a little over 17 minutes off the bench for the Energy, but no one else played particularly well.

Dakota had problems right out of the game, when Curtis Withers missed a layup, got his own rebound, then missed another layup. The Wizards scored just 14 points in the first quarter, and no one other than Mo Baker (and a 1-2 Marcus Dove) shot more than 40 percent from the field. The rest of the team was "highlighted" by David Bell's 1-10, five turnover performance. The team did okay on the boards, led by Withers's 10 rebounds (six offensive) and Renaldo Major's seven with four blocks, but they just couldn't hit shots. Romel Beck led the team in assists with three (actually tied with Jason Straight), which might be the first time that's happened, ever. I don't think that was a ball distribution problem as much as it was potential assists failing to go through the hoop. Dakota has now dropped three straight, but they get a rematch against Iowa tonight.

Idaho Stampede 105, LA D-Fenders 95

The Stampede won despite poor outside shooting nights from Anthony Tolliver and Roberto Bergersen (1-6 each). They won despite shooting less than 70 percent from the three throw line. They won despite getting just 16 assists as a team. They won because, surprise surprise, LA has a lot of guys who miss a lot of shots. Idaho also got a terrific game from Sundiata Gaines (31 points, six rebounds, six assists), some solid rebounding (10 boards for Bryson McKenzie, nine for Tolliver, seven for Emmanuel Jones) and other than Tolliver and Bergerson, they made almost half of their threes.

Diamon Simpson had 10 rebounds and a team-high five assists (which should be embarrassing for the rest of the team) and James Jackson came off the bench to score 21 points on 13 shots and grab seven rebounds (though he made less than half of his free throws), but otherwise I'm really starting to hate how this team was put together. Running down the field goal column in the boxscore, we have 3-10, 2-10, 5-13, 5-15, 2-6 and 3-10. The fact that no one should be surprised by that makes me wonder what, in fact, the D-Fenders/Lakers braintrust was thinking when they assembled this roster. There's athleticism, sure, and Ryan Forehan-Kelly wasn't this flaky last year, but poor shot selection abounds.

Reno Bighorns 107, Utah Flash 103

Russell Robinson only handed out four assists, but he had his best shooting night of the season, going 8-14 (including 4-6 on threes) and scoring 26 points. Desmon Farmer didn't shoot particularly well, 8-20, but he did a great job of getting to the free throw line and made 13 of his 15 attempts there to finish with 33 points. Rod Benson had 17 points and eight boards, but Reno was outrebounded overall. They also didn't get a whole lot from their bench aside from Cezary Trybanski (nine points) and Doug Thomas (seven points, nine rebounds). They won this game by forcing turnovers and at the free throw line; Orien Greene, Jordan Brady and Bennet Davis all fouled out for the Flash, while Carlos Wheeler finished with five fouls.

Dontell Jefferson had a fantastic shooting night, 10-19 for 30 points, but he also turned it over eight times against just three assists. Who does he think he is, Desmon Farmer? Several of those turnovers were in the fourth quarter as Utah was trying to come back, and no one else on the team finished with more than three; this one's all on DJ. Of course, getting some odd foul calls doesn't help, and both Wheeler and coach Brad Davis got T'd up, I'm assuming for arguing the calls (Farmer also got a tech for Reno). Wheeler had a very good game, 18 points and 15 rebounds (though a few of his six offensive boards were off his own misses), and Andre Ingram hit three of his four three-pointers and eight of his 10 field goals overall on the way to 23 points.

Austin Toros 115 Bakersfield Jam 89

Hey, you know who's not a good team? Bakersfield. Coach Will Voigt has apparently been reduced to trying crazy/dumb ideas like starting Amara Sy at center. Sy rebounded okay, nine boards, but he needed 10 shots to get 10 points. Austin's starting center Dwayne Jones, on the other hand, was a perfect 6-6 from the field and 7-8 from the free throw line, finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Lewis Clinch had a solid game with 23 points, and Alonzo Gee added 19 points and seven rebounds. All 10 Toros played, nine of them scored, and the one who didn't (Augustine Okuson) still contributed with two rebounds and two blocks in seven and a half minutes.

Back to the Jam, they actually shot the ball pretty well; 42 percent on threes, 50 percent from the field overall. Jeremy Wise came off the bench to score 19 points on eight shots, John Williams had 10 points on six shots, and the team had six players finish with double-digit scoring. The problem was the defense - they let Austin score 67 points in the first half, and the points were coming from all over. Threes, layups, jump shots, whatever. Note to Will Voigt: this doesn't mean that you should try starting Reece Gaines at center. It means you need to get a real center, and real defenders.

Previewing Tonight's Games; Big Men! Big Men! Big Men!

Jon L — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:00:19 -0000

Reno Bighorns at Utah Flash

Utah has managed pretty well without Luke Nevill thanks to contributions in the middle from Carlos Wheeler and Bennet Davis, but neither one of those guys are real centers, so Rod Benson should do well. Heck, Cezary Trybanski could get another passel of blocks. Dontell Jefferson and Orien Greene have been playing very well of late, and they could make it so that Benson's contributions don't matter quite so much. Jefferson in particular could force Russell Robinson into a(nother) poor shooting night, and the line on Desmon Farmer turnovers is probably six. The over isn't a crazy bet. I may be alone in thinking Reno is better than their record, but they'll need to work (and get more contributions from their bench) to win this one.

Idaho Stampede at Los Angeles D-Fenders

Dar Tucker will probably love playing at Idaho's tempo, which means that LA fans will probably hate it. Tucker, as you'll recall, was drafted by the Stampede but traded away in a three-team deal that brought them Anthony Tolliver in return. Even five or six games into the season, I think it's pretty safe to say that Idaho got the better end of that one. The D-Fenders don't really have anyone who can defend (I initially wrote d-fend but then hated myself) Tolliver, particularly out on the perimeter. I guess LA's shooters could do well enough to keep them in this game, but don't expect it to happen; instead, let it be a pleasant surprise.

Dakota Wizards and Iowa Energy

The Earl Barron-Curtis Withers matchup should be a good one. The Energy just got an infusion of talent in the form of a returning Cartier Martin and an assigned Taylor Griffin, so Dakota's defense will be tested. That's particularly true out in three-point range where Dakota's opponents have shot .410 so far, and Iowa has the shooters to keep that percentage high. Getting Mo Baker back should help on the offensive end, and Romel Beck will need to get his shot going early without completely disrupting what Dakota wants to do. Connor Atchley is going to have to start contributing off the bench for the Wizards. Rebounding, shooting, something.

Bakersfield Jam at Austin Toros

This game should have another fun matchup, that of Amara Sy and Alonzo Gee. Sy didn't get much of a chance to show off his defense in the first game due to some foul trouble, but he could make Gee work for his points tonight. Presumably the entire Bakersfield roster won't foul out of this one, but even without getting sent to the bench with foul trouble, the Jam will have a tough time. They don't really have anyone who can keep Dwayne Jones off the boards or who can guard Curtis Jerrells. The Toros haven't always played well, but they should be alright against the Jam. They still need to work on their three-point defense, though, and John Williams looks like a pretty good shooter who can make them pay

Recap: Utah Flash 102, Dakota Wizards 92

Jon L — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:00:35 -0000

Yes, I think it's weird that Carlos Wheeler is looking right into the camera too.

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With all of the time the Flash put into producing a fake Michael Jordan, they apparently forgot to set up Futurecast. Or update the box scores. Thus, this recap is coming via the play-by-play.

The Flash needed a big fourth quarter push to take this game, but they got some great games from their starting backcourt of Dontell Jefferson (25 points, seven assists) and Orien Greene (25 points, 7 boards). That's right, half of the team's points came from just two players. Dakota has some pretty good post defenders, but it appears they need to work on guarding the perimeter a bit more. Aside from Andre Ingram's 1-9 outing, the Flash shot 60 percent from outside, most of that coming from Jefferson and Greene.

Dakota helped with that fourth quarter push by not scoring from 7:15 left in the game until 0:43 left. Ouch. Jason Straight got the start and shot the ball very well for the Wizards, making three of his four three-pointers and eight of his nine free throws on the way to 21 points. The team got just five assists total for the game, which is abysmal. Three for David Bell, one for Straight and one for Darren Cooper. That's it. They were also beaten pretty badly on the boards, 24-42, and Curtis Withers seems to have come back to earth a little bit, playing okay but not nearly at the level he was for the first few games; he had 14 points and six boards in this one, but also picked up five fouls in 25 and a half minutes. Romel Beck had one of his off nights, taking 19 shots but getting just 12 points out of the deal.

Oh, why didn't Maurice Baker get the start? Because the league sent out a press release suspending him for the night a half hour before the game for something that happened Saturday night. Talk about last minute.

The best part of this game, though, is that no one embarrassed themselves or the league. What's that? Oh.

Last Night in the D-League; Big Men Run This League

Jon L — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:00:22 -0000

Rod Benson is just one of the many big men playing well so far this season.

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Watching and/or reading the boxscores from last night's games solidified a theory I've been developing - centers and power forward are owning this league so far this season. That's not to say that there haven't been guards and swingmen also performing well, it's just that around the league, there are a lot of big guys doing solid-to-excellent work. A lot of shooters and slashers are playing overseas rather than the D-League this year, and the guys in the middle are taking advantage.

Update - the play by play data isn't available, but you can now find a PDF of the LA/Reno boxscore here. I go through it at the bottom of this post.

Erie BayHawks 109, Sioux Falls Skyforce 107 (OT)

Here's a good example of what I was talking about up top - John Bryant. The guy is killing it for Erie. He has double-doubles in all four games he's played so far, and in those four games he's shooting 60.8 percent from the field. Last night was probably his best performance yet - 26 points on 12-17 shooting, 16 rebounds (eight of which came on the offensive end) and a team-high four assists. If there's one thing he could improve on, it's getting to and converting from the free throw line. This was his first game with more than four foul shots and he went just 5-9 (he's shooting 53 percent on the season). If he ever figures that part out, he'll be a monster.

It wasn't just Bryant for the BayHawks. Donell Taylor made 14 of his 22 field goals on the way to 28 points (and had eight rebounds), Cedric Jackson finished with 19 points and eight rebounds off the bench and Jackie Manuel grabbed seven boards of his own. Still, Bryant has been this team's driving force so far. Sioux Falls got a solid performance from their own big man, Greg Stiemsma, who had 15 points on nine shots, 11 rebounds and seven blocks. Stiemsma hasn't shot the ball all that well, but his rebounding has been solid so far and he's now averaging a little over five blocks a game. Reggie Williams with 33 points, David Bailey with 10 assists and only one turnover, Joe Krabbenhoft with 10 boards - this team fought back from an 18-point halftime deficit to tie it at the end of regulation, but Leemire Goldwire missed the potential game-winning three at the end of overtime. Fun game.

The rest of last night's action is recapped for your convenience after the jump.

Rio Grande Valley Vipers 94, Tulsa 66ers 89

Garrett Temple had his best all-around game of the season thus far with 24 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals. He shot only 1-4 on threes, but given the rest of it, I'm willing to say whatever (which is different than the will to whatevs). The guys up front also played well, with Joey Dorsey collecting 12 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks and Mike Harris scoring 22 points. Ernest Scott was key off the bench for the Vipers with 13 points on 5-8 shooting, including making three of six three-point attempts.

This is hyperbole, but DeVon Hardin is killing this Tulsa team. The overall rebounding numbers are there, true, and he had seven last night, but he gets lost on defense and overeager to block shots and allows his man to score too easily (did you see Dorsey's and Harris's numbers in the preceding paragraph?). He also doesn't have the burgeoning offensive repertoire that Byron Mullens does; all Hardin can make at this point are dunks and layups, and even then he blew several layups in this game. I haven't really seen anything from him to justify his starting spot or the 28 minutes-per-game that he's averaging. I've said before that he's talented, but the 66ers have two other talented power forwards, Keith Clark and Latavious Williams, who deserve playing time as well. Williams played just under eight minutes last night, all in the first half, and finished with six points, two rebounds and a steal. He also made both of his free throws, whereas Hardin went 1-4. Even giving Hardin somewhere around 20 minutes a night, upping Williams to 10-12 minutes (consistently, no more of this DNP stuff) and keeping Clark at his 15-17 average (rather than the six minutes he played last night) would help improve all of those players' games in the long run and maybe even send a message to Hardin that he needs to focus.

But enough of my DeVon Hardin rant. Mullens played fairly well, with 21 points and nine rebounds, and Larry Owens had nine rebounds, five assists and four stealas. Mustafa Shakur struggled in this one, though, with 15 points on 12 shots and eight turnovers, and overall the 66ers shot just 2-12 from behind the arc and got just 14 points from their bench (six of which came from Williams, remember). They've played six games in the last 10 days, so maybe they just need some rest.

Austin Toros 104, Albuquerque Thunderbirds 103

This one was close all the way through. Malik Hairston had 20 points at halftime for the Toros, but scored only seven more in the second half and fouled out in 35 minutes of playing time. Alonzo Gee also had a better first half than a second, but he finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Dwayne Jones had 13 points and 10 rebounds, but he was also limited by some foul trouble. Justin Bowen played well, 14 points on 6-9 shooting, and Curtis Jerrells picked up seven assists, but this team still has a three-point shooting problem, and they finished just 1-7 as a team (the one make being Hairston's) from behind the arc.

Kevin Pittsnogle got sent to the bench for this game (he still played, he just didn't start), which was a good move not just because he missed all of his field goals (again, which is kind of remarkable to write), but because his replacement in the starting lineup Cory Underwood played relatively well and finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. Yaroslav Korolev chipped in on the boards, grabbing 13 (five offensive) to go along with 11 points. The Thunderbirds were really led by Carlos Powell, though, who had 28 points, including 8-11 shooting from the free throw line, four rebounds and a pair of assists.

Utah Flash 104, Bakersfield Jam 99

This game was a little closer than I expected, but then Bakersfield getting 34 points and eight rebounds from Jared Newson will make that happen. Of course, Newson fouled out after 37 minutes of playing time, so it wasn't all positive for him. The Jam also got nice contributions from John Williams (16 points on nine shots, five assists) and Reece Gaines (18 points), but the talent gap was just too great, especially on the boards. Backup center Terrance Gamble had six rebounds, but otherwise no one other than the aforementioned Newson finished with more than three. Utah didn't have that many more rebounds as a team (31-28), but they got solid contributions in that area up and down the roster.

Andre Ingram shot the ball pretty well for the Flash, with 24 points on 8-12 shooting (including 4-7 on threes), and he added five rebounds and three assists. Dontell Jefferson missed all three of his three-point attempts but otherwise played well, finishing with 18 points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals. Orien Greene also had 18 points, but he turned the ball over seven times. Jason Richards was again nice off the bench, with four assists in a little over 20 minutes, and Carlos Wheeler had 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Idaho Stampede 131, Dakota Wizards 99

What makes the Stampede's total even crazier is that it came on 98 possessions. Anthony Tolliver didn't have a great outside shooting night but got to the line and was able to finish with 19 points on 10 shots and 10 rebounds. Idaho owned the boards, in fact, outrebounding Dakota 49-32, and the disparity matches up with the Stampede's 17 offensive rebounds. Mildon Ambres had nine boards, Cedric Simmons and Emmanuel Jones each had seven and Sundiata Gaines added six to go with his 27 points and seven assists. Tolliver aside the team shot the ball well, with Lanny Smith making all three of his outside attempts, Gaines going 3-6, Ambres 4-9, Roberto Bergersen 2-4 and Mike Gansey making three of his four three-point shots. That's hard for any team to beat.

Romel Beck missed all of this threes but still managed to score 14 points on 22 shots, and David Bell had 24 points despite missing five of his eight three-point attempts. Jason Straight played well off the bench with 20 points on 6-10 shooting, though he also had three turnovers and didn't contribute much else. Connor Atchley played in his first game for the Wizards, getting 12 minutes off the bench, shooting 1-3 and picking up three fouls. You know what? Latavious Williams should get some of his minutes, too.

Maine Red Claws 115, Springfield Armor 89

Hey, so uh...these NBA guys are pretty good. They should, like, play in the NBA, or something. Trey Gilder has been coming off the bench for Maine, something he's not unfamiliar with, but he scored 20 points in 17 and a half minutes last night. 12 of those points came in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, and a lot of them came from the free throw line. Maurice Maxwell just couldn't guard him, and picked up a lot of fouls (he eventually fouled out later in the game). Noel Felix was almost as good, scoring 13 points in 16 and a half minutes. Bill Walker had 17 points and five rebounds, Darnell Lazare also had 17 points, Billy Thomas had 12 points on five shots, and the last time the Armor had the lead was when the score was 5-4.

JamesOn Curry had another nice scoring night, with 20 points on 7-15 shooting, and he added eight rebounds. Of course, he had just three assists (and four turnovers), which helped contribute to a team-wide ball distribution problem; Springfield finished with just eight assists on the night. Major Wingate helped out on his end with 17 points and nine rebounds, although I'm not sure it can be called "help" when no one else was really doing anything. Kentrell Gransberry was limited to playing a little over 17 minutes because of foul trouble, and the other backup center James Cripe had more turnovers (four) than rebounds (three). The Armor fell to 0-4, and I really don't know what the answer is for them, other than maybe "acquire a real point guard." But hey, professional basketball is back in Springfield, MA, am I right?

LA D-Fenders 117, Reno Bighorns 111 (2OT)

This looks like a tough loss for Reno, because several things went right for them. Foremost among them was Desmon Farmer's game. Not just the 37 points and six assists, but also the three turnovers, which is a drastic reduction from what he's done so far this season. The team got double-doubles from Rod Benson (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Marcus Hubbard (11 and 10), Cezary Trybanski had four blocks in 20 minutes, and Doug Thomas gave some solid contributions with 6-7 shooting and six rebounds off the bench.

LA got some nice contributions of their own, obviously. Diamon Simpson played well again with 17 points and 14 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass. Michael Fey had 20 points and eight boards while coming off the bench, and Dar Tucker had a good shooting night (for him), 15 points on 10 shots, including going 3-5 from outside.

A lot of guys were in foul trouble, though, and while I didn't see this game and don't know whether that was a function of all the minutes or because the refs were calling it close, I'm inclined to believe the latter. Benson fouled out in less than 38 minutes, Thomas fouled out in less than 25 and Deron Washington fouled out in 32. Trybanski, Hubbard, Russell Robinson and Horace Wormely all finished with at least four fouls, and they played 20, 33 and a half, 34 and 33 minutes, respectively. Plus, James Jackson, Mo Charlo, Farmer and Reno coach Jay Humphries all got T'd up (and the three players got them at the same time), so there were either some jumpy whistles last night or this game was real chippy.

Last Night in the D-League; The First Quarter Counts, Too

Jon L — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:00:24 -0000

Curtis Stinson and the Energy were able to take advantage of numerous Fort Wayne turnovers.

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Two games last night, featuring two teams that started out just terribly. One recovered somewhat before falling again, and the other was the Bakersfield Jam.

Iowa Energy 102, Fort Wayne Mad Ants 95

Iowa got an early jump on this one thanks to a bevy of Mad Ants turnovers. Seven in the first seven minutes, 13 in the first half, 22 overall. Curtis Stinson had 10 of his 14 assists and Earl Barron had eight of his 14 rebounds in the first half. Nine of those 14 total rebounds for Barron came on the offensive end as well, so it wasn't like he was just grabbing Fort Wayne's misses. Rob Kurz played (or at least shot the ball) very well for the Mad Ants, shooting 9-10 in the first half before cooling off in the second and eventually fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Other than Kurz, let's see...Sean Sonderleiter rebounded pretty well (he had seven), but he didn't have a good offensive night and turned the ball over six times. Anthony Kent also rebounded well (also seven) but needed five shots to get five points. Oliver Lafayette had six assists off the bench, but otherwise had a pretty gross game. Fort Wayne fought hard, they played decently after the first quarter ended and they even tied the game up at 89 with four minutes left in the game, but then Kurz fouled out and there went their best offensive weapon. It didn't help either that two of Kyle McAlarney's four turnovers came with less than two minutes to go.

Believe it or not, I've already mentioned most of their positives. Jeff Trepagnier was virtually unstoppable early before cooling off to score 20 points on 15 shots with four steals. Barron added 20 points to all those rebounds, and Pat Carroll hit some timely threes. Other than that, though, Stinson shot 9-20, Mark Tyndale was 3-8 and went only 3-7 from the free-throw line, Rashad Anderson also shot 3-8 and went 1-5 on threes, and Marvin Phillips had 12 rebounds but also four turnovers and needed eight shots to get seven points. Fort Wayne really could've had this one if not for that blundering first quarter.

Utah Flash 112, Bakersfield Jam 92

Unlike the Mad Ants, Bakersfield never really came close in this one. Utah was one of the most efficient offensive teams in the league last year, and it looks like they're doing it again this season, shooting 50.6 percent on all field goals, 47.4 percent on threes and 78 percent from the line. They also mostly kept their turnovers in check; Dontell Jefferson had three in the first seven minutes, then settled down and had only one more the rest of the game. He also finished with 16 points (helped by 8-10 free-throw shooting), 12 assists and five rebounds. Orien Greene had another nice game with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists, though he also had four turnovers. Bennet Davis was very good, 14 points on 5-9 shooting, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks, and Andre Ingram hit five of his eight threes on the way to 23 points.

Reece Gaines actually played pretty well for the Jam, with 18 points on nine shots and six assists. New acquisition John Williams took a little while to get warmed up but hit three of his six threes and finished with 13 points. Other than that, though, Terrance Gamble was overmatched starting in placed of Robert Swift and had just three points and three rebounds in 18 minutes, while backup Tyrelle Blair had eight rebounds and two blocks but just four points. If there is a way for this game to be any worse, it's with Swift leaving the team earlier in the day to go back to Seattle on a "family issue." No idea what it's about, and the Jam gave no indication that they knew when/if he would be back, only that he would be gone "possibly for some time." Happy Home Opener, Bakersfield.

Last Night in the D-League; Just Keep Shooting

Jon L — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:00:28 -0000

Alonzo Gee = good.

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Utah Flash 85, LA D-Fenders 84

Dontell Jefferson may have made a fadeaway with two seconds left in the game, but this one was really won at the free-throw line. The Flash went 21-22 from the charity stripe, which is excellent, particularly at the D-League level when so many guys shoot 60-70 percent. Like, say, the D-Fenders, who made just two-thirds of their free throws. They also had just 15 of them. There was a certain magician working this game, but overall there wasn't a huge foul disparity; Utah just did a better job of getting to the line, and converted when they got there. You could even expand that out and say that this was an efficiency vs. inefficiency question. The Flash shot the ball pretty poorly overall (39.2 percent, and they needed a late surge just to get up there), but they made 43 percent of their threes. You combine that with the free throws and the Flash were efficient enough to pull out the win. The D-Fenders, on the other hand, shot pretty well overall, a little over 47 percent, but shot 2-12 on their threes. Smart basketball writers (I'm talking about others, not myself) don't just harp on this efficiency stuff because it sounds good or provides a way to say that, I don't know, Larry Hughes is bad. This stuff works, and the Flash showed last night why hitting your free throws and making threes can make up for some poor play elsewhere.

And believe me, there was some pretty poor play. Without Luke Nevill or Gavin Grant (for as-yet-unknown-to-me reasons, I'm assuming injury?), the Flash were out-rebounded 36-43 and had seven of their shots blocked (which reminds me, can we get a "BA" column in the boxscore, D-League?). There were also a fair amount of turnovers, with Orien Greene coughing it up six times, Andre Ingram five and Carlos Wheeler four, although the team caused more than they gave up. Jefferson played well overall, with 21 points, six rebounds and five assists; Bennet Davis contributed 17 points and seven rebounds; and Greene picked up eight steals. All that aside, they reallllly needed those free throws.

As for the D-Fenders, they're going to have some ugly, ugly shooting nights simply based on who's on the roster. Dar Tucker (3-14, missed all of his threes), I'm looking in your direction. Deron Washington isn't quite as bad in the shot selection department but he's still not a great shooter, and despite the eight rebounds he missed eight of his 12 shots last night and turned it over six times. Diamon Simpson played pretty well on the offensive end, with 17 points on 10 shots, although I'm assuming he took some of Michael Fey's minutes at center, which isn't the best idea. Fey was 5-7 for 10 points in 11 minutes, and barring some kind of injury,the fact that he played so little with power forwards manning the middle on the other side makes little sense. Bennet Davis and Carlos Wheeler shows in the Finals last year that they can't cover tall, talented centers as well as they do fours, so Fey should've gotten more time. Longar Longar did play pretty well off the bench, with seven rebounds and three blocks in about 20 minutes, but he doesn't have the offensive touch that Fey does. LA finally started putting things together in the second half, but this won't be the last such game they have.

Hit the jump for the Austin-Tulsa wrap-up.

Austin Toros 89, Tulsa 66ers 72

This game really illustrates the development vs. winning conundrum. Certainly for a team like the 66ers, directly affiliated with an NBA team as they are, getting players comfortable with the Thunder's system and/or bringing their individual skills to maybe eventually help out the parent team is vital. But you also have to wonder how much real work guys get in the fourth quarter of a blowout. Tulsa welcomed DeVon Hardin into the lineup, giving them yet another terrible-offensively-but-pretty-good-to-very-good rebounder to go with Byron Mullens, Latavious Williams and Keith Clark. Hardin finished with seven rebounds but only 2-8 shooting, while Mullens had a better night offensively than he's used to, 11 points on six shots, but his five rebounds are low for him and I wonder if having to play alongside Hardin didn't contribute to that. And neither one of them could adequately box out Dwayne Jones, but I'll get to that. Mustafa Shakur finished with 19 points, six rebounds and four assists for th 66ers, but he also had seven turnovers and four fouls in under 33 minutes. Five of those turnovers came off of bad passes and two were offensive fouls, so I'm going to chalk this up to him trying to do too much.

For the Toros, Alonzo Gee is very good. Very good. Yes, I just repeated myself. 25 points on 10-17 shooting along with four rebounds, and one of the best things about his game is that he knows what he can and can't do. He doesn't take a bunch of long twos or outside shots that he's not going to make (ahem, Dar Tucker). Gee is an explosive player, and it's clear why the Spurs like him. They have an eye for talent, that team; they should take advantage of it somehow. I said that some non-Gee Toros would have to come through in this game, and boy did they ever. Curtis Jerrells finally had an overwhelmingly positive games, with eight assists and only one turnover to go with 5-8 shooting. Justin Bowen also played very well with 18 points and six rebounds. Dwayne Jones had eight points and 13 rebounds, but then he should have. He's a veteran by this point with several years spent working on his footwork and positioning (though the footwork on his offensive game is still pretty bad), so he should be able to take advantage of still-raw players like Hardin and Mullens.

These two teams meet again tonight, but I'll talk about that later.

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

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

Sundiata Gaines was everywhere for the Stampede.

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Idaho Stampede 137, Reno Bighorns 115

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

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

The rest of the games are after the jump.

Rio Grande Valley Vipers 109, Austin Toros 102

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

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

Tulsa 66ers 98, Utah Flash 87

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

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

Maine Red Claws 107, Dakota Wizards 97

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

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

Los Angeles D-Fenders 103, Albuquerque Thunderbirds 99

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

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

Iowa Energy 96, Springfield Armor 84

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

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

Previewing Tonight's Action, with some Rematches

Jon L — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:23:04 -0000

David Bell and the Dakota Wizards begin the D-League season tonight against the Maine Red Claws

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Now that the D-League season is officially underway, it's time for the rest of the teams to get in on the action. Well, except for the fact that three of these games are rematches of last night's contests. But you know, other than that.

Iowa Energy at Springfield Armor

What, again? Last night's boxscore still isn't correct, but based on what's there Curtis Stinson and Pat Carroll had very good games, which makes sense given the Armor's lack of perimeter defenders at the moment. Perrin Johnson shot the ball well (early on, anyway) for Springfield, and he could turn out to be the team's main offensive weapon rather than JamesOn Curry. I also wonder for how long Kentrell Gransberry will start over James Cripe. Cripe's pretty athletic and had a nice game (again, early on at least), while Gransberry can do some nice things, but he also doesn't have the most stamina in the world and almost no offensive game to speak of. He's been working hard over the last few seasons, I'm just not sure he's starter material yet. Both of these teams will probably be a little tired given the game's early start (it's actually underway as I write this), and I certainly don't expect another blowout. Springfield could hang with the Energy if tired legs don't let shots go down.

Maine Red Claws at Dakota Wizards

Maine also could come out sluggish, given that they also played last night and had some (relatively minor) travel on top of it. Add to that the fact that the Wizards have the defenders who can slow Bill Walker down. Maine's hope should lie in the fact that Dakota doesn't really have a ruthlessly efficient scorer in the mold of Reggie Williams, so if Romel Beck decides to take the Red Claws on himself or if David Bell's shots don't go down the Red Claws could stay in the game. Will Blalock also hasn't impressed yet this season, but he's talented and could be due for a nice game for Maine.

Utah Flash at Tulsa 66ers

Yet another rematch, and while I've tried to be hopeful for the teams that got blown out last night (like Springfield and Maine), I'm not sure the 66ers can pull this one off either. They have some nice pieces - Moses Ehambe was scoring pretty well before Tulsa had to put up a lot of shots to try and get back in the game, Keith Clark is capable of putting some nice games together, Mustafa Shakur looks like a nice pickup at point guard - but Utah is one of the most loaded teams in the league right now, and they have a lot of frontcourt talent to throw at Byron Mullens and keep him shooting as poorly as he did last night. The fact is, the Flash won by 15 last night without getting great games from Dontell Jefferson or Luke Nevill (offensively, anyway), so there's even some room for improvement for them. Tulsa should improve over last year's poor season, but it's not hard to see them starting 0-2.

Rio Grande Valley Vipers at Austin Toros

Quin Snyder is a good coach, and Curtis Jerrells is a talented point guard, so it's entirely possibly that Austin will improve on last night's game (did I mention that they won?) and share the ball a little more, but Rio Grande Valley should be mad that they lost last night when so much went right for them. I'm still not crazy about the Vipers' three-point shooters, but they should do better than 21 percent. Joey Dorsey also should come out motivated to perform better offensively and also take some of those rebounds away from Dwayne Jones. If the Vipers play just a little bit smarter and a.) not turn the ball over so much and b.) not foul so much, they could split this mini-series.

Los Angeles D-Fenders at Albuquerque Thunderbirds

The good news for Kevin Pittsnogle is that the D-Fenders don't really have a center who will demand a lot of his defensive attention, and also that it's hard to miss all of your shots two games in a row. At some point one of them is going to go in. Los Angeles also doesn't have a lot of players who can challenge Pittsnogle's outside shots, either because they're more post-oriented (Longar Longar) or because they're not tall enough (pretty much everyone else on the roster). I know the Thunderbirds won in a walk last night with Pittsnogle playing terribly on the offensive end, but he could end up being the key player for them tonight. Ryan Forehan-Kelly and Deron Washington both came off the bench in LA's preseason game, which isn't necessarily how I'd do it, but I also would expect them to play a little bit more. Forehan-Kelly can help out in a lot of areas, and the D-Fenders could use his rebounding ability against Albuquerque, and Washington is more talented than a few of the guys who got the start ahead of him. This game is itself a rematch of that preseason contest when Albuquerque won, 83-77, but even factoring in having played last night the Thunderbirds could easily repeat that outcome.

Reno Bighorns at Idaho Stampede

Finally, a game in which neither team played last night. Idaho looked very impressive in the preseason, although I wouldn't expect Roberto Bergersen to make all of his threes again. There will be some nice point guard matchups with Russell Robinson vs. Sundiata Gaines and Lanny Smith vs. Majic Dorsey. I'd expect to see Marcus Hubbard spend some time checking Anthony Tolliver, at least while Tolliver is out on the perimeter, as Rod Benson and Cezary Trybanski are better at defending the post. Given the pace at which Idaho plays now, Reno's Desmon Farmer could put up some really nice numbers, though he should be careful that they don't come at the expense of the rest of the team's offense and he needs to be careful about taking care of the ball. That also goes for Hubbard, who should build on his solid preseason game and not get the itch to start jacking up threes just because the other team is doing it. This could be the best game of the night.

Last Night in the D-League, Where Potential Meets Blowouts

Jon L — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:00:26 -0000

John Bryant had a nice D-League debut for the BayHawks (via www.slamonline.com)

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I never did get Futurecast up and running last night, but I was able to follow along reasonably well for most of the games. There were definitely some flat teams, as five of the six opening night contests were decided by double digits. Yikes. Regardless, I'm definitely excited that the D-League season is back on and that we have stuff to watch and talk about now. So let's get to it.

Erie BayHawks 85, Fort Wayne Mad Ants 77

I called made this game the main course in my Thanksgiving semi-related preview (I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving, by the way), and I guess the fact that this was the closest score justifies that. The game wasn't even really that close, though, as Erie had a 49-34 lead at halftime. John Bryant had a fantastic game for Erie, with 16 points on 7-12 shooting, 14 rebounds, three blocks, three assists and two steals. He had five fouls, which is something to work on, but that's a pretty great debut. Jackie Manuel played pretty much out of his mind, with 18 points on nine shots, nine rebounds and four steals. He had six turnovers and five fouls, and most of his production came in the first half, but otherwise it's something to build on.

For the Mad Ants, I'm really, really confused. Ron Howard, Brandon Cotton and Sean Sonderleiter led the team in field goal attempts, which is mind-boggling with guys like Rob Kurz and Ryan Ayers on the roster. Kurz didn't attempt a single field goal! And this is a guy who started in the NBA! Howard is a good defender, but he should never take 16 shots in a game, and he showed why by making just five of them. He got to the free throw line and made eight of his nine shots there, but otherwise I can't imagine this is the offense Joey Meyer envisioned. I should say that Sonderleiter played pretty well, improving his rebounding in the second half and finishing with 21 points (on 11 shots) and 10 boards, and was able to draw some fouls himself. Jeff Potter has been writing that Sonderleiter has been putting in work this offseason and looking pretty good in camp, and the results are there. I still think this team missed Chris Hunter, though, not just in taking some rebounds away from Bryant but in taking shots away from Howard as well.

Hit the jump for the rest of the night's games.

Sioux Falls Skyforce 112, Maine Red Claws 95

Reggie Williams is going to be a fantastic scorer in the D-League. I know I've said it before, but he made me say it again by scoring 29 points on 13 shots to go with four rebounds and four assists. He's not particularly athletic but he's crazily efficient and does a good job of getting to the free-throw line. Keith Brumbaugh and Joe Krabbenhoft each had pretty good games, Brumbaugh scoring 18 points and grabbing eight rebounds and Krabbenhoft picking up nine points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Those rebounds were key for each of them as starting center Greg Stiemsma had a pretty terrible game.

NBA assignee Bill Walker played, well, like an NBA assignee should with25 points on 18 shots and 11 rebounds. He also led his team with five turnovers, though, and that likely made the difference in the game. The Red Claws weren't out-rebounded by a large margin, they did a decent job of distributing the ball (15 assists on 34 field goals, which isn't spectacular but is okay) and they shot just two fewer free throws than their opponents, but they turned the ball over 19 times to the Skyforce's 12. Billy Thomas had his three-pointer going, making three of four shots from behind the arc and finishing with 18 points overall. Stanley Thomas and Abdulai Jalloh each had 17 points, on 11 and 10 shots respectively. And before you ask, I know almost nothing about Jalloh. It looks like he played at St. Joseph's where he did pretty well (even being the team's second-best rebounder at 6'1"), then he transferred to James Madison and was terrible.

Austin Toros 93, Rio Grande Valley Vipers 82

This was sort of the opposite of the Erie-Fort Wayne game in that it was closer than a double-digit win would indicate. The Vipers actually outscored the Toros in the second quarter and were down by just one at the half, but Alonzo Gee finished with 24 points on 15 shots and Dwayne Jones had 11 points and 12 rebounds, nine of which came on the offensive end. Curtis Jerrells was a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line, but he shot just 3-11 from the field and finished with just three assists in 40 minutes to go along with six turnovers. Wherefore art thou, Marcus Williams? Jerrells, and by extension the Toros, are going to have to figure this out, because even though they won the signs weren't entirely positive, and that starts with the ball distribution. Seven assists on 32 made field goals is pretty terrible. The team also made just one three-pointer out of nine attempts and was out-rebounded 39-48.

Rio Grande Valley really could've had this one. Why didn't they? For starters, Joey Dorsey struggled on the offensive end, shooting 3-9, and he also had a hard time handling Jones on the glass early on. Kurt Looby came in during the first half and fared better, and ended up with six rebounds in 18 and a half minutes. Dorsey's board work improved, and he ultimately grabbed 15 rebounds (eight offensive), but that was one early struggle for the Vipers. Another was three-point shooting. I will probably mention this a little too often early on this season, but new coach Chris Finch has said that he prefers an up-tempo, three-point-heavy offense, but the Vipers shot just 3-14 from behind the arc last night. Antonio Anderson led all scorers with 28 points on 19 shots, which is nice, particularly from a guy known more for his defense, but he was 1-5 on threes and turned the ball over six times. This team might need to trade for some outside shooting, because from what I've seen in this game and in the preseason, it's just not there in-house.

Utah Flash 100, Tulsa 66ers 85

Dontell Jefferson shook off some early struggles (he started the game with a missed three and a pair of turnovers) to finish with 18 points on 11 shots and five rebounds, though he also had just two assists. Backups Orien Greene and Jason Richards helped out in that department, with Greene picking up five assists to go with 17 points on nine shots, eight rebounds and three steals. If he can bring that kind of production off the bench on a consistent basis then the Flash should be set in the backcourt, for as long as Jefferson is around anyway. Richards added three assists in 13 and a half minutes. Luke Nevill and Carlos Wheeler weren't particularly efficient offensively, with Wheeler needing eight shots to get 10 points and Nevill scoring 11 points on 12 shots, but they did pretty well with the other stuff. Wheeler grabbed 10 boards and had two blocks while Nevill added nine and four, respectively. Bennet Davis added nine rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench. Garrett Siler got a DNP for some reason.

Tulsa has a decent starting point guard, Mustafa Shakur, they just need a backup. Eight of the team's ten assists came from Shakur, and Larry Owens was the only other player with any (two, if my math is correct). NBA assignee Byron Mullens struggled with his shot early one, and he finished with 14 points on 17 shots, five fouls and four turnovers (though he added 10 rebounds). Keith Clark played pretty well, with 14 points on eight shots, seven rebounds and four steals. Latavious Williams played a little under 11 minutes off the bench, and while he didn't put up a single shot attempt he still had three rebounds and a block, which is decent production, particularly since he also didn't turn the ball over or commit a single foul. It's always good to temper expectations, anyway.

Albuquerque Thunderbirds 102, Bakersfield Jam 81

So this game was as ugly as I feared it would be, although it didn't really get that way until the second half. The good news for the Thunderbirds is that Carlos Powell is good and on their team, as he finished with 20 points on 13 shots, nine rebounds, five assists and only one foul in 37 minutes. The other good news is that their centers are pretty good rebounders, as Kevin Pittsnogle, Erek Hansen and Chad Toppert combined for 18 boards. The bad news is that their centers aren't what you'd call "good" offensively. Pittsnogle was particularly bad, shooting 0-10, and five of those shots were three-pointers. He's played well in the past, but at this point he's been away from the game for so long that it will take some time for him to get his game back. Hansen shot 2-8 and Toppert was 2-7, so the alternatives weren't much better. (Okay, Toppert is actually a guard and not a center. This is why I shouldn't write these things at 2 am.) Yaroslav Korolev proved me wrong for at least one game, finishing with 15 points on seven shots, five rebounds, two steals and only one turnover. Good game outta him.

For the Jam, yikes. Where to start. First of all, it's never a good thing to have a better three-point percentage (.435) than overall shooting percentage (.319). Robert Swift had a decent rebounding outing, with 11 boards, but he was pretty much a non-entity offensively with four points on 1-5 shooting. He also picked up five fouls and turned the ball over four times in 30 minutes. This is another team without a point guard, and they mustered just eight assists on 22 made field goals. Justin Hawkins shot just 3-14, though he made up for it somewhat with eight rebounds and 9-10 shooting from the free-throw line. And all isn't entirely bleak, as Reece Gaines and Jared Newson did fairly well offensively, with 19 points on nine shots for the former and 18 points on nine shots and four rebounds for the latter. Still, these are your starting guards and they best they can give you is a pair of assists from Gaines? And the backup PG Lance Hurdle gives you a zero in that department? Yikes.

Iowa Energy 106, Springfield Armor 73

Ahhh, it's good to have pro basketball back in Springfield, Massachusetts. The boxscore/play-by-play for this game was acting up all night, and as of my writing this the stats are still stuck in the second quarter. I'll update it whenever the D-League fixes their site.