SB Nation - Joey Dorsey

RGV Vipers 103, Reno Bighorns 95 - Houston Fans, Plz Luv This Team!!1!

Scott Schroeder — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:00:33 -0000

by Mark J. Terrill - AP

As far as I can tell from this picture, touching Antonio Anderson's head is good luck. Touch his head Mike Harris! Maybe it'll get us a freakin' call-up!

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I know, it seems like I'm forcing the RGV Vipers down everyone's throat since my last post was about calling some of these dudes up, but seriously, they deserve to play in the NBA. Someone, aside from myself and Matt Moore, should start showing these guys the love they've earned.

Since I wasn't able to watch the game (getting my workout on and clinching ever-so-tightly to my berth in my fantasy football league's championship), I have to break this game down using this handy-dandy boxscore (It's really not that handy and definitely not dandy, but we'll get into that later this week!). Also, for some reason, the minutes seem to be messed up (180 instead of 240) - let's get it on that, k ADB?

Since he never really gets any ink, I'm starting today off with some Jonathan Wallace love. Wallace is a player I was high on at Georgetown just because he's a solid point guard, a bit of a throwback. He's not going to score 30 points and dish the flashy passes, but he'll be solid, and on this team, "solid" is more than enough. Last night, he played 28 minutes, dishing 11 assists (just one turnover) and scoring 11 points. Obviously, some of his assists can be attributed to the talent around him, but I'm giving him credit.
Mike Harris, please just get a stinkin' call-up instead of being an efficient scorer and guarding whoever Antonio Anderson isn't. Harris put up 17 points on 8-of-16 shooting in just 28 minutes before he fouled out.
Joey Dorsey is frickin' beast. 27 points, 15 boards and, well, seven turnovers. Against Rod Benson.
If you were wondering who takes over at the point when Jon Wallace isn't playing, typically, it's Antonio Anderson. Anderson isn't an amazing point guard (which is why Tyreke Evans was given the ropes last year at Memphis), but his court vision is there, as his eight assists will tell you (one up above his 7.1 season average). Seven turnovers, however, are an issue. I have to assume he was given the assignment of defending the opponents best perimeter player as per usual, so we'll get to him next!
Desmon Farmer, Reno's noted chucker who is averaging 26 points prior this game, was held to just 12 shots (lowest of the season), though he made six of them. Hate to credit Anderson for holding Farmer to just 18 points, but I'm guessing it's warranted. If not, tell me.
Mo Charlo, just because Farmer isn't killing it, that doesn't mean you have to. Glad we got that out of the way.
Russell Robinson, quit turning the ball over. Kthxbai!
Since I didn't watch the game, I'm not going to say Rod Benson was murdered in the Dorsey-Benson matchup, because who knows what happened. Maybe the Band of Misfit Toys (oh Hai Eric Devendorf) finally got to him. Maybe his partner-in-crime Cezary Trybanski (sitting this one out due to suspension) was missed. Who knows. Still, 13 points, 2 blocks, 2 boards isn't great.

Last Night in the D-League; Mo Almond Could Put the Spring in Springfield

Jon L — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:00:16 -0000

Mo Almond played well in his D-League debut yesterday. (via www.nba.com)

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Tulsa 66ers 98, Springfield Armor 91

In yesterday's early action, the score of this one was 18-13 after the first quarter. Ugh. I missed it, because I was busy sleeping. I said it was early action. (Okay, so it was 11 am central time. Whatever.) Tulsa's win put them at .500, and they have some nice pieces that could push them higher in the standings. Mustafa Shakur has been a fantastic point guard in this league so far, and he had 27 points on 13 shots with six assists and five rebounds (and also five turnovers). They have a few guys who each can get hot on a certain night, and last night it was Cecil Brown with 5-8 shooting (though he also missed both of his threes). And, cough cough, they have Latavious Williams, who played a season high (it seems wrong to also call it a career high) 15 minutes last night and gave the team 10 points on five shots and seven rebounds. He missed half of his foul shots, but he also didn't commit a foul or turn the ball over once. Byron Mullens (who's technically more a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder than the 66ers) added 19 points and six rebounds.

It's amazing what a former NBA player can do for a team. Springfield lost, but Morris Almond had 27 points and seven rebounds, but he also put a spring in JamesOn Curry's step, so to speak. Curry had 15 points on 7-11 shooting and a season-high seven assists before fouling out. Maybe he just needed someone to pass the ball to. Major Wingate had six turnovers but otherwise continued to play pretty well with 12 points and six boards. The Armor fell to 0-6, but things may be starting to look up.

The rest of the games (which were played at a more reasonable hour) are after the jump.

Iowa Energy 117, Dakota Wizards 108

Where the hell did this come from, Mark Tyndale? 31 points on 9-17 shooting (12-15 from the free-throw line) and eight rebounds for Tyndale in 27 and a half minutes. He had help in the form of 20 points from Earl Barron, nine assists from Curtis Stinson and 16 points on 10 shots (4-7 on three-pointers) from Jeff Trepagnier, but it was pretty much all Tyndale down the stretch.

Dakota got some decent games from Maurice Baker (30 points) and Marcus Dove (eight points on 4-5 shooting, 11 rebounds), but aside from those two the Wizards shot 37 percent from the field. They were also whistled for 33 fouls, which might be more of a big deal if both Griffin and Stinson hadn't fouled out for Iowa. This one was mostly on them, particularly in the second half. David Bell made three of his six three-point attempts but was 0-7 inside the arc. Romel Beck was 0-3 from outside and 3-10 overall. Connor Atchley is giving them nothing off the bench. Et cetera.

Rio Grande Valley Vipers 125, Albuquerque Thunderbirds 112

Joey Dorsey had a field day in this one, as one would expect given how thin Albuquerque is up front. 18 points and 18 rebounds, and he had 14 of each at halftime. Six turnovers aren't great, but I'm sure coach Chris Finch will take that if it comes with 7-9 shooting. The entire RGV starting five scored in double figures, as did Stanley Asumnu. Mike Harris had 23 points and seven rebounds, Antonio Anderson had 17 points on eight shots and 13 assists. The Vipers never scored less than 30 points in a quarter, and now they've won six straight.

Albuquerque wasn't all that bad, they just couldn't keep Dorsey off the boards, couldn't guard RGV's shooters, and couldn't keep Harris out of the lane. But, you know, other than that. Yaroslav Korolev shot 8-12 for 18 points, Carlos Powell had 23 points on 13 shots and Kevin Pittsnogle had 19 points off the bench. Albuquerque had a decent third quarter, but the Vipers had four of them, it's as simple as that.

Fort Wayne Mad Ants 107, Sioux Falls Skyforce 98

Fort Wayne was in control for pretty much the entire game; 40 of the Skyforce's points came in the second quarter. Other than that, I think it's fair to say that they struggled. Jeff Potter posted a to-do list before the game, so let's see how the team did.

We have to get off to a strong start tonight. We can't continue to fall behind early and have success; I'd say that finishing the first quarter with a 30-19 lead qualifies as starting strong
Got to rebound...be physical and BLOCK OUT; Fort Wayne was actually outrebounded 37-49, but that apparently didn't matter.
Execute; Does making 45 percent of your threes count as executing?
Kyle McAlarney has to be a threat; McAlarney was 4-7 from outside and finished with 18 points. Only one of those made threes came in the second half, but we'll be lenient and say that he was a threat early, and opened the floor a little bit for his teammates.
Ron Howard has to make his teammates better and stop looking out for his game. Scouts will be much more impressed with that type of play compared to throwing up a bunch of contested jumpers to try and get 20; Welllllllll...Howard got his 20 points, but he needed a team-high 17 shots to get there. He had seven rebounds and a six assists as well, but I can only imagine that spending several months with Mike D'Antoni's Knicks encouraged him to shoot, you know, whenever

Sioux Falls shot okay overall, 40 percent (okay, not great), but could barely hit anything from outside. Reggie Williams was good, anyway, with 27 points and six rebounds, and Greg Stiemsma grabbed nine boards. That's about it.

Maine Red Claws 116, Erie BayHawks 90

This was a close game at the end of the first quarter, then Erie decided to start missing all their shots. Maine, on the other hand, made 59 percent of its three-pointers, including a 6-8 outside shooting night from Billy Thomas (who had 26 points in total along with seven rebounds), a 5-7 effort from Tony Bobbitt and 3-5 from Billy Walker (who finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds). Will Blalock still hasn't been great offensively, but he had a season-high nine assists, and Trey Gilder had 24 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

John Bryant finally had a subpar game for the BayHawks, with 10 points on 10 shots and four rebounds, and only four of those points came after the first quarter. His backup Jarvis Gunter played pretty well with 14 points on nine shots and six boards, five of which were offensive, and Cedric Jackson had nine assists, but other than that the BayHawks just weren't very good on offense. The team has a few days off before playing the Red Claws again in back-to-back games, so perhaps they can come up with a solution by then.

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

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

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

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

RGV Vipers 135, Albuquerque Thunderbirds 112

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

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

Tulsa 66ers 90, Springfield Armor 74

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

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

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

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

Recap: RGV Vipers 97, Austin Toros 88

Jon L — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:00:36 -0000

via www.nba.com

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The Toros have some talent, but other than Dwayne Jones that talent is pretty inexperienced. Hence, upon Malik Hairston getting called back up to the Spurs, Austin blows an (albeit slight) lead they had by scoring just 11 points in the fourth quarter, including scoreless stretches of four minutes and the last three and a half minutes of the game.

Jones played well for the Toros, finishing with 29 points and 13 rebounds, shooting 11-13 from the free throw line and holding Joey Dorsey to just 10 points on 2-6 shooting and zero offensive boards. But even though Curtis Jerrells (21 points, nine assists) and Alonzo Gee (20 points, 11 rebounds) finished with decent numbers, there were too many fadeaway jumpers and threes taken in the fourth quarter, when this is not a good three-point shooting team. Lewis Clinch and Russell Carter played pretty poorly in that frame as well, and in fact, between Clinch and David McClure, Austin got zero points from two of its starters. This team will get there eventually, but after losing some of its top talent from last season, expect some bumps in the road.

Dorsey may not have rebounded as well as he normally does (he did grab eight defensive boards), but the Vipers got solid rebounding contributions all around, with five players getting six or more. Mike Harris missed all four of his foul shots but was good from pretty much everywhere else, shooting 5-8 behind the arc and 11-20 overall for 27 points, plus seven rebounds. Sometimes it doesn't matter what you do but when you do it, and eight of Antonio Anderson's 14 free throws came in the fourth, helping to give him 28 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists. This win allows Rio Grande Valley to keep pace with the Flash and the Stampede at the top of the West Conference, and they have just two games between now and the 18th, giving them time to rest up and work on maybe getting some more bench contributions (just eight points yesterday).

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.

Tonight's Games Previewed - I Hope You Like Rematches

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

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

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

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

Maine Red Claws at Springfield Armor

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

Rio Grande Valley Vipers at Tulsa 66ers

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

Erie BayHawks at Sioux Falls Skyforce

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

Austin Toros at Albuquerque Thunderbirds

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

Dakota Wizards at Idaho Stampede

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

Utah Flash at Bakersfield Jam

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

Los Angeles D-Fenders at Reno Bighorns

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

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

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

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

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Albuquerque Thunderbirds 119, Austin Toros 110

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

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

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

Rio Grande Vipers 104, Tulsa 66ers 100

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

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

Sioux Falls Skyforce 110, Erie BayHawks 101

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

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

Maine Red Claws 102, Springfield Armor 79

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

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

Reno Bighorns 101, LA D-Fenders 79

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

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

Previewing Tonight's Games; Featuring the NBA Players of Both Tomorrow and Yesterday

Jon L — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:00:18 -0000

by Mark J. Terrill - AP

Bobcats assignee Alexis Ajinca joins a loaded Red Claws team in time for tonight's home opener. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Now this is more like it; five games, some nice matchups.

Reno Bighorns at Los Angeles D-Fenders

Reno is still looking for their first win, and it may just come tonight. Reno's first pair of games came against Idaho, who force teams to run with them, but the Bighorns should be able to play closer to their preferred style here. Michael Fey has had a nice start for the D-Fenders, but Rod Benson should be able to defend him pretty well. They've also acquired Doug Thomas, who I like a little better than Brian Laing (who was waived) coming off the bench. If Desmon Farmer can keep the turnovers down, I like Reno's chances. After the last game, though, that's a big if. The D-Fenders have point guard Gabe Pruitt back, and they also have several guys tall enough and athletic enough to guard Marcus Hubbard wherever he goes on the floor. They have talent, but the fact that Pruitt is still getting acclimated means their offense could struggle.

Erie BayHawks at Sioux Falls Skyforce

There should be some good individual matchups in this one, with Greg Stiemsma having to guard Erie's talented new center John Bryant, and the BayHawks' Donell Taylor likely spending some time checking Reggie Williams (at least he should be). Keith Brumbaugh and Pete Campbell have each shot the ball pretty poorly so far this year for Sioux Falls, but if they can contribute in other areas the team should be okay. Outside of Jackie Manuel's first game, the BayHawks haven't gotten much help for Taylor and Bryant. They'll need someone to pick up the slack (ideally Ivan Harris, who hasn't hit a three yet) to stay in this game, given how many guys can score for the Skyforce.

Springfield Armor at Maine Red Claws

This is already being called a rivalry game, which I guess it is for regional purposes, but let's see how they play against each other first. Maine has a stacked roster now, with ~~five~~ ~~six~~ seven players with some NBA experience (assignees Bill Walker and Alexis Ajinca plus Billy Thomas, Mario West, Will Blalock, Noel Felix and Trey Gilder). It's true that said experience only amounted to about a dozen games for a few of those players, and that Mario West was awful as a pro, and that Blalock has been less than impressive so far this season, but that's still a lot of talent. As for the Armor, well, they've reportedly signed Major Wingate, a talented center who never showed up to Maine's training camp. Plus they have an NBA guy of their own in JamesOn Curry, never mind the fact that he's shooting 31.8 percent from the field and 21.4 percent on threes so far. Actually, you probably should mind that. Even more importantly, Curry has just one more assist (nine) than turnovers (eight) this season. Perrin Johnson and Maurice Maxwell have switched off having good and bad games for Springfield, but who are we kidding; this one could get ugly.

Tulsa 66ers at Rio Grande Valley Vipers

Tulsa won a few days ago, but if you didn't read my write-up of the game (and it's understandable if you didn't; it's really long), there weren't a whole lot of players I was all that impressed with. Mustafa Shakur is good, certainly, but the Vipers have some defenders (like Antonio Anderson) who could keep him in check. Joey Dorsey and Mike Harris also should kill Byron Mullens and DeVon Hardin. Moiderize them. Either Dorsey or Harris could end up with 30 rebounds and 10 blocks. Heck, both of them could. The Vipers have had some players with turnover problems and they haven't been hitting their threes, and the 66ers have some shooters who could get hot, but the skill gap in the middle is just too large.

Austin Toros at Albuquerque Thunderbirds

I was made a fool of the last time I said this, but I'm going ahead with it anyway - Kevin Pittsnogle could be a key player in this game. The Toros just don't really have anyone who can guard him on the perimeter (caveat coming) if he's shooting the ball well. Dwayne Jones is rooted to the paint, Justin Bowen is really more of a small forward (though he can get up to block Pittsnogle's shots) and David McClure is too spazzy. The Toros also don't really have anyone who can adequately guard Carlos Powell. For Austin, they need to get Alonzo Gee involved early and keep looking for him even if he's not hitting shots immediately. More specifically they need to keep running him off of screens, where he does his best shooting. He's the best player on the team, and there were multiple possession stretches against Tulsa the other night when he was flat out ignored on offense. This could be a fun game.

Partying With The Toros

Wayne Vore (ATS) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:22:10 -0000

I've attended the first four Toros' games of the season now. Three as a media man and one as a paying customer as part of PtR night. I'm here to give you a quick run down.

The Toros Team

They sit at 2-2 after splitting a pair of back-to-back series with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and the Tulsa 66ers. The closest thing I can give you to describe their style of play is early 90's Big Ten basketball. I might even call them a Purdue type team. A slow paced and deliberate half court offense that works a lot of the shot clock. Rugged on the interior where you don't really want to play with them unless you came to bang. A little undersized. One efficient, yet unspectacular, point guard who manages to control the game and play within himself. One go to scorer who can light it up when on, but who doesn't have a well enough rounded game to score all the time. One streaky shooter from the outside. One big bruiser in the middle. A handful of tough role players who always seem to make plays but never seem to put up stats.

They are all that with more skill. In an offhand remark after the third game, Coach Snyder asked rhetorically. "They're good aren't they?" I couldn't help but say yes. These guys are a very good team and if you like watching teams play "the right way", then this is your team to watch.

And yes, you can watch. ALL games are broadcast through the D League FutureCast at the D League web site.

The Arena

Arena? Gym? Court? It's hard what to call it. It seats about 2200 people and it is in the Austin Convention Center. Attendance was reasonable for the two weekend games, but pretty light for the weekday games against the Tulsa team.

There isn't a bad seat in the house though and they aren't really against moving around. In fact, they don't have seat ushers and as long as you don't try to sit on the court you can pretty much sit wherever. Lauri chooses to sit almost near the top because she likes the view. In other words, it's all good.

Like most sporting events, the time outs are filled with various events. Dance offs, races, half court shots, etc. Yes, as always, it is pretty loud and the music is, well, not my style. To quote Jim Carrey, "Would it kill you to play a little Foghat?" Ah, yes. Slow Ride.

They have a full bar at the games. Beer -- my choice was Dos XX, cocktails, margaritas. Additionally, the Toros games have something else you don't find at every game. The beer geyser

Yep, that's really beer. Sad isn't it?

PtR Night

Well, PtR Night with the Toros wasn't the biggest success. There were five of us: me, Mrs ATS, Lauri, JanieAnnie, and PtrUser. Ptruser even came up from San Antonio and is the source of these pictures.

We had great seats though as we were all in the second row. Unfortunately, the team lost to the Joey Dorsey led Vipers. Joey had 18 rebounds in the game.

We were second row in the stands. They have some floor seats right behind the other teams bench. That's pretty much where I sit when I'm in press row, but center court. Because you sit below the level of the court, it feels a little too low for me.

The Roster and The Management

Last night, I had the opportunity to chat with Joanna Shapiro who is the D-League PR Director. She was in town as part of her 10 cities and 10 nights tour. Lucky her. She ran me through the ins and outs of rosters. As I have mentioned before, the Toros get some players on allocation -- which means they have local interest to the market, or returning players -- like Dwayne Jones who played for them last year. Those guys get assigned first. Everybody else goes into the player pool. The draft takes place at teams select guys from the player pool. ALL players sign contracts with the D-League, not with the teams. So all the above groups of players come from the D-League signing guys to one year contracts. I feel pretty confident in saying the Curtis Jerrells was in Spurs camp because the front office knew he would be going to the D-League, knew he was from Austin, and had every intention as claiming him as an allocation player.

Also as we have discussed, NBA teams can assign players to their D-League affiliate. They can only assign guys in the first two years in the league. They can only assign a maximum of three. They can only assign them three times during the year. The only three Spurs players eligible to be assigned to the Toros are George Hill, DeJuan Blair, and Malik Hairston.

Their is a 10 D-League roster limit and a 12 player cap. They can only have 10 D-League guys on the roster, but can go up to 12 with affiliated players.

Then there are free agents. Any team can pick a player from the player pool. The player pool guys enter the pool via waivers. Teams can select players off the waiver wire. The order of selection is the reverse order of the draft. Once you claim a player off waivers, you go to the bottom of the list. If a player clears waivers, a 48-hour time frame, then anybody can select them out of the pool.

Toros GM Dell Demps

Rockets stop slide in Oklahoma City - 100-91

Xiane — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:21:10 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

Houston Rockets guard Aaron Brooks played a solid, thoughtful and effective game, of NBA basketball in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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Thoughts on Rockets 100 vs Thunder 91 (Game 17)

Tonight's Episode Sponsored by: Bullet Points - The Lazy Man's Friend^TM

* First order of business - Luis Scola. PF might be the position we can cover fairly well in the short term, but we need Scola, every single night. Let's all hope that Luis comes right very soon after Etan Thomas hurt him on practically the first play of the game. I think we may miss Pops a bit right now. Will we see Joey Dorsey and his wallet full of $1 bills? The fictional side of TDS certainly hopes so. Get well Luis.

* Second order of business. I am heartily sick of the Bill Simmons "Team That Shall Not Be Named" schtick when it comes to the Oklahoma City Thunder. I feel tremendous sympathy for Seattle and its fans. Only a cad wouldn't.

There is no question Seattle was jobbed. But is it really OKC, as a fanbase's, fault? Should the enthusiastic fans watching a good young team bear the wrath of a city, a nation or an internet sports commenting phenomenon with a bully pulpit?

The whole sorry affair appeared to be a combination of bad acts on the part of Seattle's former owner (The Starbuckeroo), the OKC group, dithering on the part of the city of Seattle and an obviously pre-arranged deal with Stern and the NBA owners.

When you've got a buyer who has all along looked like he wanted to move the team to a nice new facility in his hometown, why be surprised when he does just that? We like to think of teams as our own, and God knows, we fund them as if they were, building arenas and whatnot. In the end, however, they are private property, and owners in the USA can generally do what they want with their property. You may say we're foolish to build arenas, and maybe that's true, but tell that to Seattle, where a rather nasty point about new facilities seemed to be made by the NBA.

So while the loss of the Supersonics was a terrible outcome for the loyal and great fans of Seattle who did not deserve anything like that treatment, and there was without question treachery on the part of a number of actors, the fans of OKC are not to blame. Being petulant about a team and city isn't hurting Clay Bennett, Howard Schultz, or David Stern. Let it go, at least when it comes to OKC and its fans - they are 2^nd least blameworthy group in this mess.

* Seeing OKC again, I still think this is a collection of players struggling to become a team. On a talent level, this is an amazing group. From an execution and strategy level, they tend to look flat when playing Houston. Sometimes their massive collection of ability is enough to overcome a very good opponent. But in 11 straight games, that combination hasn't been enough to beat the Rockets.

* Wow. We needed this win. After the Dallas Debacle - Part II, and the Spurs crushing 3^rd quarter, I felt as though doubt was starting to creep in regarding the whole program. This is unnecessary. The Rockets are able to compete with anyone, most nights. But when things go wrong, or when we play a team that's pure poison for us like Dallas, things can get ugly fast. Our big players do make a difference. They bring certain things, every night, and sometimes those things (Defense, insanely efficient shooting from Yao. Explosive scoring, the ability to create good shots, and excellent passing from McGrady.) are vital. There's a reason those guys are considered stars, despite the efficient and strong performance of our "No Stars"lineup.

* I've been accused of jinxing Carl Landry, so I'll try not to do that. But, but... Wow! Right now he's just an amazing force around the basket. If he got some of the calls that "star" big men get, he'd be even tougher. Remember, after the vile Etan Thomas (nice gratuitous shot at Brook's head) lacerated Scola's eyelid, he got 3 quick fouls - so most of his 21pts and 10 rbs came in the 2^nd half.

Three UP

1. Aaron Brooks - 21 pts on 8-15 shooting, 3-3 on 3pts, 4 assits, 5 steals(!), and most importantly, 1 turnover. Yes, the wanton giveaways came to an end tonight, and it made a huge difference. A mature and poised game from Aaron, and despite somewhat similar stat lines - he played much better against Westbrook tonight.

2. The D on Durant. Kevin Durant can make impossible-seeming shots with some frequency. He can make easy shots with even greater frequency. At least 10 of Durant's 25 points came on "how did he make that" shots. That's all you can do, or hope for.

3. Landry is mentioned above, so - David Andersen. The big Aussie is finding his game in the NBA, he's moving much better on defense, and was frequently offering solid help D in the paint. His shot is as smooth as glass - we need to see more of it.

Three Down

1. Trevor Ariza channeling Ron Artest. 7-23 type nights are a problem. I like his aggressiveness, but he's not quite aggressive enough - he can get to the rim, but can't make the shot go - try to dunk more, Trevor. Also, his 3 seems way out of rhythm.

2. Etan Thomas - lacerated Scola's eye, and very nearly connected on a vicious, unnecessary, Karl Malone-style elbow to Aaron Brooks, who was simply standing near him. It's not in character for the Rockets, but a takedown of Thomas by his ridiculous ponytail would have satisfied my unrealistic revenge fantasies quite nicely.

3. A quiet night for Battier, who looked tentative when it came to open shot

Thunder Fans Welcome You To Loud City, USA