SB Nation - Marcus Hubbard

Last Night in the D-League: Where Desmon Farmer Happens

Scott Schroeder — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:00:34 -0000

Just looks like he belongs in the NBA, no?

Good morning, RU crew. I'm covering for Jon L today, so if this night in review isn't as filled with Simpson's references as usual, deal with it. I'm also just highlighting individual players because, after a look at our viewership, most people don't care if Fort Wayne fell behind 22-6 and never recovered.

Reno Bighorns 109, Bakersfield 88

Desmon Farmer is good at basketball. Ridiculously good. Also, he has some upside. Before we look at what he did yesterday, let's look at what he's done in the past. The 28 year-old off-guard has played in the NBA in parts of two different seasons (most recently with the San Antonio Spurs last year). When he's not in the NBA, however, Farmer's playing (mostly) in the D-League, totaling 118 games over the past four seasons. This season, Farmer's averaging 26 points per game, the fourth highest in the D-League. His scoring, however, isn't what the NBA is looking for, which is why yesterday's game was probably great for his call-up outlook.
Farmer's shot wasn't falling (7-of-17 from the field), so he took on the ball-handling duties because regular point guard Russell Robinson's shot was falling (we'll get to that later). Primarily handling the rock, Farmer finished with 20 points, 11 boards and 10 assists, the first triple-double in the D-League this season, while turning the ball over just twice and only going to his left. Yo, NBA (except Donnie Walsh because we're fighting), call this man up!
Rod Benson picked up a DNP because, according to the announcers, he's got some food poisoning issues. Hopefully he didn't contract swine flu. Update: He apparently does not have swine flu.
Russell Robinson, who nearly, inexplicably, made the Cleveland Cavaliers roster this season, has developed a jump shot - or at least a spot where he can hit jumper's from. The 6-foot guard from Kansas spotted up in the exact same spot for, I think, all but one of his five 3-pointer's. R-Squared (sweet nickname, no?) led the team with 21 points and also dished five assists, but his five turnovers probably cancelled that out.
Apparently this is the week that the Milwaukee Bucks don't look ridiculous for deciding Marcus Hubbard and Mark Tyndale deserved camp invites. Tyndale exploded for 31 Saturday and yesterday marked Hubbard's coming out party, picking up 19 points and 18 rebounds. As soon as I find a position for him and don't have to worry about why he's been cut or traded by two separate D-League teams, I'm ready to sing his praises a bit more.
Bakersfield is a point guard, a decent big man, and a couple of perimeter players away from competing. Seriously. They're bad.

Sioux Falls Skyforce 110, Fort Wayne Mad Ants 100 (Link includes "Highlights")

Reggie Williams was a late scratch, due to food poisoning. Williams leads the Skyforce with 26.4 points per game, including 27 in a nine point loss the previous night. Fort Wayne play-by-play man Bill Hazen said Williams would probably be healthy by Tuesday, so our Wednesday call-up rankings shouldn't be affected by the groin of Williams.
Joe Krabbenhoft took Williams' spot in the starting lineup and, surprisingly, picked up exactly where Williams left off the night before, scoring 28 to go along with eight boards and four assists. The 6'7" forward isn't quite the scorer Williams is, but he did work on Ryan Ayers, torching him on his way to the basket for a decent amount of his points.
If you combined Raymond Sykes and Greg Stiemsma, you'd have the ugliest player in the D-League an amazing defensive, rebounding big man with almost no offensive skill. Actually, even separate, that's what they amount to - if Stiemsma could work on his offense just enough to hit the gimme's, he'd be NBA bound with his size. Sykes, while more raw than Stiemsma, brings a huge amount of energy and athleticism, which is fun to watch, if not good for anything else.
Remember when Rob Kurz used to be a good shooter? Well, he shot 0-for-7 yesterday, which isn't really what I was hoping to see. The former NBA big man was averaging 16 and 12 through five games, including shooting a ridiculous 56% from beyond the arc, but the 6'9" stretch big just didn't have it on the offensive end. He did pick up 12 boards and two blocks, but Fort Wayne really could've used his offense.
Ron Howard should never settle for a jump shot. Howard finished with 32 points, including 14 off drives to the hoop and another 15 from the charity stripe. That's 29 of his points off non-jumpers. Howard, who is one of the better perimeter defenders in the D-League, needs to stick to driving to the lane and playing hard-nosed defense if he wants his first call-up, after coming close the past two summers. Jumper's are never going to be his calling card.
Kyle McAlarney is white. Actually, between Fort Wayne and Sioux Falls, I'm sure this game led the league in white dudes on the court at the same time (seven players and three of the four coaches, if you're keeping track). I bring this up not because I love white people, but because Kyle McAlarney was recently featured on ESPN's Outside the Lines for being white, and we've never linked to it previously. Anyway, back to the subject at hand: McAlarney shot 7-of-10 from the field, scored 17 points and didn't excel on defense.
Indiana alum Rod Wilmont is a catalyst. Of all Fort Wayne's players, he seems to be the only one that wants to do something with the ball when he gets it. That doesn't mean good things always happen (6-of-15 from the field), but at least he's trying. Wilmont finished with 20 points.
I hate to compare Joey Meyer to Jaren Jackson (and I'm guessing President Potter won't like it either), but both, for whatever reason, seem to have an affinity for jerking Sean Sonderleiter's minutes around. Whatever Anthony Kent does in practice to prove he deserves more playing time doesn't translate to the games, and yesterday was no different. Kent started, had four fouls, three turnovers and two points in 25 minutes. Sonderleiter got 13 minutes off the bench and finished with six points and seven boards.

Los Angeles D-Fenders 123, Idaho Stampede 112

Gabe Pruitt is probably call-up worthy. The second round pick of the Boston Celtics in 2007 looked great in the D-Fender's offense, making eight of his 11 attempts from the field and shooting 10-of-15 from the line to finish with 26 points. He filled out the rest of the box score nicely as well, grabbing nine boards and adding six assists and three steals during his 44 minutes of court time.
Diamon Simpson gives me the Lou Amundson vibe. I'm not sure if that's good, bad or ugly, but that's what I'm going with. Simpson finished with 17 points, eight boards, three blocks and a steal, filling the box score sufficiently. He's only 6'7", but in the D-League they have him playing a bit at the 5, which probably isn't going to be ideal for him in the NBA (unless he's guarding Chuck Hayes). On both of his offensive boards, he went back up strong and got to the line (though once he got to the line, he hit just 7-for-12). In both games I've watched of Simpson, I've been impressed, so kudos.
Ryan Forehan-Kelly had 21 and Dar Tucker had 20, but neither does enough things well to really impress me. I apologize to each of their respective fan bases.
Anthony Tolliver has got to be the next person to get a call-up (Note: If the NBA keeps going the Jonathan Bender route, replace AT with Chocolate Thunder Darryl Dawkins). The 6'9" Tolliver continued to be a sniper, hitting 6-of-10 from beyond the arc to finish with 28 points on the day. He picked up seven boards as well, but that was kind of negated by his five turnovers (which are more a result of the Idaho offense than anything). He can play inside and outside on offense, does the little things on defense and generally seems to care - which isn't, unfortunately, a given in the D-League.
Sundiata Gaines, I have no idea what to do with you. Another day, another 25 points off the bench in just 29 minutes. I really want to believe that he can make this translate to the NBA, but it just seems so unlikely. In the D-League, he gets to the basket so easily, gets fouled, gets to the line, rinse, wash and repeat. He also dished out seven assists, but his five turnovers and eight missed free-throw's probably nullify the assists. Regardless, the NBA's not looking for starters, it's looking for guys that can come in and play off the bench, and he's doing exactly that.
Cedric Simmons is becoming polished. He actually looks more NBA ready now than he did when he was in the NBA. Showed off a nice hook shot at one point, and the rest of his 15 points didn't come all that difficult either. His defense was on point as well, but I kind of expected that when matching up against Michael Fey, Boo Jackson and Diamon Simpson.

Maine Red Claws 87, Tulsa 66ers 82

Full disclosure, I only watched about three minutes of this game due to no live stats and something crazy going on with the audio. And there's no recap and nobody really stood out that I enjoy talking about (sorry, Mustafa), so we'll make this one quick.

This game featured Byron Mullens, Alexis Ajinca, Steven Hill and DeVon Hardin. That's roughly 28 feet of untapped potential.
Mario West didn't play. I don't know why. There should be a box score that says DNP-SOMETHING rather than that he just played 0 minutes. I assume he's good enough to play in front of Mike Williams.
Tony Bobbitt was ejected. In my secret over/under's for everything D-League related, I had Bobbitt going crazy in his fifth game, but he lasted until his 6th. Good job to all of you who took the over.
The Red Claws arena(?) looks nice and cozy. And has big windows that defeat the dimming of the lights during starting line-ups.
Fine. Mustafa Shakur had 21 points, seven assists, six steals, four rebounds, four fouls, four turnovers and a blocked shot. I still don't think he's a point guard.
If you're looking for more, check out JFoss's recap.

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.

Notes from Last Night's Game; Desmon Farmer turned it over again as you read this.

Jon L — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:00:28 -0000

Anthony Tolliver (who spent a few games with the Spurs last year) led the way for the Stampede.

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Idaho Stampede 123, Reno Bighorns 104

I'd really like to see the Bighorns play a team other than Idaho in order to get a better gauge on where they are, but I don't think they're all that bad. They have a nice balanced core of players. However, it appears that they just don't match up well with the Stampede, and/or don't play particularly well when trying to run. Rod Benson is fine at it, with 28 points on 11-17 shooting, 12 rebounds, three blocks, three assists and three steals. Marcus Hubbard also continues to play very well this season, shooting 7-12, and even though one of them was a three, he made it. Only four rebounds and three turnovers in 37 minutes, but the scoring efficiency is nice. Russell Robinson played fairly well, with 21 points and five assists, though he also picked up five fouls along the way. Desmon Farmer did some good things (a team-high seven assists, eight rebounds, three steals) and some terrible things. Some terrible, terrible things. Like nine turnovers terrible.

And let's talk about those turnovers, because collectively (Reno had 27) that's really what killed the Bighorns' chances. They were in this game at halftime, down 65-60 (though 40 of their points came in the first quarter), then decided to open the third quarter with the following sequence:

A Robinson turnover off of a bad pass
A Mo Charlo turnover off of a steal by Mildon Ambres
Robinson getting a layup blocked by Brian Laing

Have I whetted your appetite? Would you like to see more? Because four minutes later this happened:

Traveling called on Farmer
Benson missed a jump shot
Hubbard missed a pair of free throws
Robinson made a layup!
Another Farmer turnover
Robinson missed a jump shot
Majic Dorsey turnover off a steal by Emmanuel Jones
Charlo missed a jump shot
Farmer offensive foul

I think you get the idea. Which is not to say that Idaho only had to sit back and watch and didn't play well, because they did, but that third quarter turned this game from a close one to, well, not close at all. The Stampede were led by Anthony Tolliver, who is bearing out my prediction that that trade would be a great one for Idaho and who made six of his nine three-pointers on the way to 30 points and 11 rebounds. There was also some excellent point guard play, with Lanny Smith coming through with 12 assists and Sundiata Gaines getting 21 points, eight assists and five steals. Not everyone had a great shooting night (Mildon Ambres came back to earth a little bit after an excellent first game, Jones needed 12 to score 10), but everyone on the roster contributed in other ways through rebounding, steals or assists. This here is a talented team (analysis).

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.

Bride of Preseason Boxscores

Jon L — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:10:45 -0000

Rod Benson is back and TCB.

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Only one game last night, Reno vs. Bakersfield. There was an interesting matchup going in between former NBA center Robert Swift and should-be NBA center Rod Benson. How'd they do?

Reno Bighorns 109, Bakersfield Jam 82

Ouch. Let's get right to that matchup, shall we? Benson was very good, 17 points on 8-13 shooting, 14 rebounds, three assists, and only one foul and one turnover in 22 minutes. Robert Swift was...well, let's just call it "less good." 3-13 shooting, five rebounds. It's true that he's still working his way back, not necessarily in terms of healing but in terms of getting some game action under his belt, but Benson also is a good post defender, so this result wasn't entirely unexpected. Hopefully this fosters motivation in Swift rather than discouragement, if for no other reason than the Jam need him.

Swift's Bakersfield teammates were as bad as he was. Justin Hawkins had seven assists but also shot 2-6. Jared Newson needed to go 7-7 from the free throw line to cover up his 5-15 shooting night. Reece Gaines played a little under 18 minutes and shot 1-3, and while he collected four assists he also turned the ball over three times. As a whole the team shot under 30 percent on three pointers, and while Bakersfield put up seven more shots than the Bighorns, they had 11 fewer makes. This was a simple case of the ball not going in the basket for them.

As for Reno, Marcus Hubbard got the start at power forward and played pretty well. 11 points on 4-7 shooting, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, plus didn't attempt a single three-pointer, so round of applause there. Russell Robinson played a little over 22 minutes but picked up five assists, and Cezary Trybanski had seven points on three shots, five rebounds and two blocks in 17 minutes with only one turnover. But all of those guys were around last year (well, Hubbard was with a different team, but in the D-League anyway). Desmon Farmer could be a nice player in this league if he keeps performing as he did last night, scoring 17 points on nine shots (and going 8-8 from the free throw line) while adding four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. He just needs to cut down the turnovers a bit.

Ridiculous Transactions: 11/9 - 11/15, Plus Trade Analysis

Jon L — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:00:36 -0000

by Darron Cummings - AP

The Houston Rockets said goodbye to Pops Mensah-Bonsu this week. Frowny face.

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A few relatively big moves happened (in our world, at least), but before I get to those, I realized that I never discussed the D-League trades from a few weekends ago at any length, so here we go:

Fort Wayne Mad Ants traded 10 pick (Alade Aminu) to the Erie BayHawks; Erie BayHawks traded Rob Kurz to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants

At least as it stands now, before any games have been played, this looks like a pretty good trade for both sides. Fort Wayne returns Chris Hunter and Sean Sonderleiter in the middle, so as talented as Aminu is the team was already set at center. Sure, Aminu most likely would've been an upgrade over Sonderleiter, Hunter gets the bulk of the minutes there anyway, and since he's a very good D-League center the Mad Ants were able to flip their pick to address other issues. The team also has several other forwards back from last year, but they're mostly defense or rebounding specialists. Rob Kurz should allow the team to stretch the defense a little more, to use that cliche, and because I assume he's going to start, it will be interesting to see if his presence at power forward pushes Anthony Kent to the bench, or whether Kent moves over to the 3 and Ron Howard, last year's starting small forward but 6'5", heads to the backcourt. If the latter is the case, then Kurz's shooting skill will be even more of a necessity as Howard's not much of a shooter (or scorer generally, come to think of it). Fort Wayne also had been angling to get Kurz as a local allocation player because of his time at Notre Dame, so the team is hoping that bringing him in (along with other Notre Dame players) will help them at the gate as well as on the court.

For the Bayhawks, Alade Aminu seemed to be one of the most sought-after players in the draft, at least among teams looking for raw talent. Aminu didn't play a whole lot for Washington's Summer League team, though his defense was alright when he did, and the Miami Heat gave him a look during the preseason. Aminu was a bit turnover-prone in college and needs to develop some post moves (along with some strength), but he's very athletic and handles the ball fairly well for a 6'10" guy. Erie needed a center to replace the departed Erik Daniels, and as I wrote around the draft, bringing in actual centers like Aminu, John Bryant and Jeff Skemp is a step in the right direction. Erie already had some guys sort of like Kurz (Ivan Harris is a three-point shooting forward, Jarvis Gunter is an okay rebounder but doesn't do much else), so they didn't need to duplicate efforts there.

Los Angeles D-Fenders traded Earl Barron to the Iowa Energy; Iowa Energy traded Anthony Tolliver to the Idaho Stampede; Idaho Stampede traded Dar Tucker to the Los Angeles D-Fenders

I've given some brief comments on this one, but to recap, I like this trade for both Idaho and Iowa, but I'm a little baffled by what LA is doing. To elaborate, let's start with Idaho. Last year Bob MacKinnon's Colorado team liked to run, and they led the league in pace. Sure they had Joe Dabbert and Kentrell Gransberry in the middle, but each of those players' proclivity for fouling meant that Josh Davis saw a fair amount of time at center. Anthony Tolliver isn't the same player Davis is, specifically in the area of three-point shooting (Tolliver is okay but not great there), but he's a good passer, a pretty good rebounder and post defender, and he can score a little bit (in the D-League, anyway). Tolliver should be a solid anchor for the Stampede, at least for as long as he's around (he has a history of leaving the D-League either to play in Europe or the NBA).

Iowa-wise, Earl Barron is a solid center with some shot-blocking talent and NBA experience (specifically with Miami). Barron upped his per-36 minute scoring averages and lowered his foul rates every year that he played for the Heat, so he's been improving. He's 28 years old now, though, so this may be his last go-round in the D-League. The Energy drafted a lot of scorers and wing players, and while Tolliver is a good player (see above) he likely would've taken up a lot of possessions that can now be distributed a little more equally.

As for the D-Fenders, it's not that Dar Tucker isn't talented, it's just that his shot selection is shaky. He made less than 30 percent of his three-pointers last year at DePaul, which wouldn't be great even if he hadn't averaged more than six three-point attempts per game. He shot just 39 percent overall, so it's not like he was great inside the arc either. He also averaged more turnovers than assists and can't really go left. Tucker is athletic, does a decent job of getting to the rim and is a decent rebounder, but his offensive game has a lot of negatives. Plus there's the fact that he's a shooting guard, and that LA already has Joe Crawford and Charlie Parker, who are nominally point guards but are more scorers than distributor, Ryan Forehan-Kelly, who's a swingman who can do a lot of things but who also probably got accustomed to having the ball last year, Deron Washington, who's another (more efficient) slasher, and Jeremy Wise, a shooting guard. As for big men, let's see...how does Longar Longar strike you? It's entirely possible that Barron asked for this trade, but as it stands now the D-Fenders have a glut of shooting guards and/or backcourt scoring without a ton of guys who can rebound or defend the post. This team could be really fun to watch, or it could be a horrible mess.

Rio Grande Valley Vipers traded Marcus Hubbard to the Reno Bighorns; Reno Bighorns traded Haminn Quaintance to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers

Here's the thing about Marcus Hubbard - I make snide comments about his game, but he's a decent player. At least he could be. He certainly has his moments. He's athletic, he can rebound a little bit, he stays out of foul trouble. But, somewhere in his career (it may have been at the beginning, who knows) he started viewing himself as a mid-range/perimeter player, and he's not very good at it. He likes shooting threes, and he's about as good at it as Dar Tucker is. Now that the Rockets are running the show, he really didn't fit what they look for in a big man, so it wasn't a surprise to see him go.

Quaintance, on the other hand, does seem like a Houston-type guy. I don't know much about him, and called him a "three-point shooter" around the draft based on last year's EuroChallenge, but he's actually a power forward who was an excellent defender in college (he was MAC defensive player of the year as a senior) and gets steals blocks as well as blocks, plus he can score a little bit and passes pretty well for his position. Oh, and he's athletic. He profiles very well, so I'm curious as to why Reno gave him up. He likely wouldn't have gotten a ton of minutes behind Boom Tho Rod Benson and non-boom tho Cezary Trybanski, but he could've slid into the lineup in the event of a Benson call-up just as well as Hubbard can.

Moving on to this week's, uh, moves, after the jump...

November 10: James White - signed with Spartak SPB (Russia); Ronald Dupree - signed with Telekom Baskets Bonn (Germany)

Well, White said he wasn't coming back to the D-League, so this is just a guy keeping his promise. Spartak just signed Goran Suton last week, so they have a pretty solid (American) inside-outside combo now. The question becomes whether White will come back next year for Summer League and/or the preseason, or whether he's fed up with the entire enterprise. He may cool off after a year, but if the NBA isn't going to seriously invest in him he may not see the point. Dupree goes to Telekom Baskets, also the current team of former RGV point guard Jared Jordan. He's in a similar position to White (but without the relatively-modest NBA success) in that he's ready to move on with his career. As he said in that interview I linked to yesterday, there comes a point in every player's career (the D-League/marginal NBA players anyway) where he has to seriously consider playing in Europe, essentially for the money. This was a tougher year than most for a lot of these players, but if someone has plans, or has plans to have plans, to settle into some kind of routine, live comfortably, start a family, whatever, as it stands right now the D-League/Summer League/training camp circuit just doesn't provide that.

November 12: Washington Wizards - waived Paul Davis and signed Earl Boykins

My interest in this move (other than as a Wizards fan) is to see what Davis will do. He could make a pretty good salary in Europe, and do pretty well on the court leading to future pretty good salaries, but one doesn't go on the "Millionaire Matchmaker" show and talk about how you're looking for someone to settle down with your millions of dollars if you're then planning on leaving the country. Of course, that was a while ago, and he probably wasn't planning on barely making a roster on a nonguaranteed deal, and playing in the D-League definitely isn't what people on "Millionaire Matchmaker" have in mind (I'm guessing), but I could see Davis sticking around here for a few months and using his Clippers years as a way to get another shot.

November 13: Eddie Gill - signed with Base Oostende (Belgium); Toronto Raptors - waived Quincy Douby

I don't have much to say about Douby being waived, as from my read on the situation his position on the team was already somewhat tenuous even before the team drafted DeMar DeRozan (and, hopefully, traded for Sonny Weems). He could do extremely well in Europe, obviously, but he has enough of a name that another NBA team is likely to take a shot on him at some point (hi Memphis!).

Gill, though, is sort of a big deal because he represents yet another talented, high-profile player (D-League-wise) who the Springfield Armor took in the expansion draft and who won't actually be suiting up for that team. Gill may or may not have been looking to head overseas for awhile, but his leaving right before training camp would seem to put the team in a tight spot. They may not have been counting on him being there, but they didn't really bring in any strong point guards through allocation or the draft, so one would assume that they were. Oh well. This leaves JamesOn Curry as the team's starting point guard, I'm guessing, even though Curry's not much of a distributor.

November 14: Houston Rockets - waived Pops Mensah-Bonsu and assigned Joey Dorsey to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers

Goodbye, Pops. You were enjoyed. I have no idea if Mensah-Bonsu will return to the D-League, as he's in a similar position to Paul Davis (but without the whole "appearing on TV" thing), and also Earl Barron. Mensah-Bonsu is younger than I thought, but 26 years old is starting to approach the "maybe I should just go to Europe" age. His national team coach Chris Finch is in the D-League now, and with the Rockets' affiliate no less, so he could wait around until they're at the top of the list and join the D-League player pool, at which point he'll do so well (he was a monster for the Toros last year) that the NBA can't keep ignoring him (again).

I also thought Dorsey was older than he is, or at least had been in the NBA long enough not to be eligible for the D-League, but that probably speaks to the fact that I need to brush up on this stuff. Even without Mensah-Bonsu in the picture, frontcourt minutes are scarce in Houston at the moment. Dorsey posted some decent numbers in RGV last year, around 10 points and nine rebounds per game (11 and 11 per-36), but his free-throw shooting was so awful it actually dragged his True Shooting percentage down a fair amount. Dorsey played well in Summer League this year, and I expect him to do very well for the Vipers. Assuming, that is, that he and Kurt Looby find a way to both play in the middle. They'll probably both start, but Vipers fans should probably get used to seeing those guys fighting each other for rebounds.

...And the Rest (of the returning or allocated players)

Jon L — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:21:54 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

Welcome back, Dontell Jefferson. I hope we don't see you for very long. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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I tried finding a picture of the Professor and Mary Ann from the Gilligan's Island credits to go with the headline, but Google Images has failed me. With apologies to all of these teams for not giving them individual treatment either through a story or fanshot, I just don't think I can finish covering all of the teams plus write about other stuff by tomorrow's draft. There's too many of them. So consider this a roundup of the notable (but not all) returning and allocated players that D-League teams will be enjoying, at least in the beginning of the season. Except for Maine, Dakota, Bakersfield and Fort Wayne. Oh, and I'm also not including Springfield, since their most notable players at this point are Marcus Taylor and Kentrell Gransberry, and we covered those guys around the expansion draft. All of the players listed fall into the "returning" category unless otherwise noted.

Even without those four teams this is pretty long (surprise! I wrote something that's too long), so you can read it all after the jump.

Albuquerque Thunderbirds - Antoine Agudio, Keith McLeod, Kevin Pittsnogle (allocation)

McLeod and Pittsnogle both are familiar names, though for different reasons. McLeod is a classic 'tweener, not in terms of position but in terms of NBA vs. the D-League. He's spent the first few years of his career in the NBA, including starting 79 games for the Utah Jazz over two seasons, but he spent last year in Albuquerque and also has played in Europe and the CBA. He also has a B.S. in computer science, so he's a smart guy, and given that he's 30 years old (or will be tomorrow - happy birthday Keith!) I wonder if he's not going to hang around for a few more years as an entry into coaching. Pittsnogle is more known for his college exploits though that was what, four years ago now? Since then he's played in the D-League (for Austin and Albuquerque), the CBA and in France. Last I heard he was coaching high school basketball and out of shape (due in part to a thyroid condition), so it will be interesting to see how he looks when the season starts. Agudio isn't that familiar of a name, but he's an excellent shooter (he made around 43 percent of his threes last year), and not much else.

Austin Toros - Dwayne Jones, Carldell "Squeaky" Johnson, Curtis Jerrells (allocation)

So that's where Dwayne Jones went. I've talked about him on this site probably more than his talent warrants, because although he's a very good post defender and rebounder, there's not much else to his game at this point. Not that he hasn't been working hard on it, and his free-throw shooting improved steadily over the course of last season, but he's still pretty limited offensively. So's Johnson, for that matter, who can occasionally get hot shooting threes, but more often than not has 1-6 nights. Also, he may be one of the few people who has a great nickname but an even better real name. He almost never turns the ball over, though, which is typically what you want in a point guard (although he also doesn't pick up many assists, which is the other thing you want in a point guard). Jerrells will, I assume, take the backup PG spot now that Stanley Burrell is playing in Europe, but the distribution of minutes between him and Johnson will be something to watch as the season goes along. He was one of San Antonio's last preseason cuts, and in the limited action I saw he was decent, and the Spurs may want to get in enough work to improve his game. Of course, there's one guy missing from the list (I didn't exclude him, he's just not on the list), and that's Marcus Williams. My hope and assumption is that either the team didn't think he would be cut before it submitted its list, or they have to wait until they're at the top of the player pool before he joins the D-League. I suppose it's also possible that he's still exploring the overseas option, as he'd do great over there, but I hope not.

Erie BayHawks - Ivan Harris, Jarvis Gunter, Jackie Manuel, Oliver Lafayette, Rob Kurz (allocation)

I've talked about Kurz a lot recently between Summer League and the preseason, but to review he's a 6'9" three-point shooter who doesn't offer much else. That also sounds a bit like Harris, doesn't it? Harris was second in three-point percentage among forwards last season and sixth overall in the league. Gunter was a backup to Erik Daniels last season, but with Daniels currently in the Ukraine, Gunter should take on a larger role. He's an athletic rebounder, but doesn't have great hands and hasn't shown much scoring ability thus far. Jackie Manuel, on the other hand, may have his role reduced a little bit with Kurz around. Manuel's a decent rebounder for a small forward, but doesn't have much of an outside shot. I'm not a huge fan of Lafayette, as he's not a very efficient scorer, but he put up a triple-double last year so there's that. This team made the playoffs last year, but they'll need to replace the production of Maureece Rice and Erik Daniels, who while inefficient still offered the team something as a point-center.

Idaho Stampede - Lanny Smith, Roberto Bergerson

Both of these guys should do well in Bob MacKinnon's offense, though Smith probably needs to up his three-point shooting percentages a bit. He's not really a shooter, more of a distributor/defender, but Colorado's point guards spent a decent amount of time playing off the ball last year. Bergerson could be a bench version of Billy Thomas, in that he's a streak-shooting veteran. He made around 70 percent of his threes last April, though that was far above his season average.

Iowa Energy - Anthony Tolliver, Curtis Stinson

I don't expect Tolliver to be in Iowa for very long, as he's had some NBA looks recently, and it talented enough to make all of his shots in a Summer League game. Expect him to be an early scoring leader, though. Stinson is a solid all-around point guard and a good rebounder for his position, though turnovers were a big problem for him during Summer League. He was invited to the Bulls' training camp but only spent a few days there before being waived, so he didn't really get a chance to show NBA teams that he's not as turnover-prone as he seemed in Vegas (he's not). Jeff Trepagnier and Mark Tyndale are also here, but I didn't really feel like talking about them, which should be understandable.

Los Angeles D-Fenders - Ryan Forehan-Kelly, Joe Crawford, Earl Barron, Longar Longar, Gabe Pruitt (allocation)

Until given a reason to do otherwise, this season I'm going to stop pretending that this team is directly affiliated with the Lakers, because other than the uniforms you really wouldn't know it based on how the Lakers participate in the relationship. Crawford's a case in point, in that he could've been the Laker's future backup PG, except they sent him down to the D-Fenders and then forgot about him. It's true that the Shannon Brown (which is how everyone needs to start referring to the Adam Morrison deal) has worked out reasonably well, but they didn't even consider the in-house option. Crawford spent a few games with the Knicks last year, where he didn't shoot the ball particularly well before being released. Forehan-Kelly is a pretty good all-around player who's not great at any one particular thing but good at many things (actually, he's very good at shooting threes). "I can't be out of Earl, I'm the" Earl Barron has spent some time in the NBA, and is an okay rebounder and shotblocker, but he was injured for part of last season and will need to show this year that he's recovered. Longar Longar has had his moments, though I'm generally not a huge fan of slow guys with bad hands. Pruitt is an okay shooter, making 36 percent of his threes last year in the D-League, and he doesn't pick up that many turnovers. Don't be surprised to see him and Crawford playing a lot of minutes alongside each other. No Sun Yue either. WHERE IS MY SUN YUE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Rio Grande Valley Vipers - Cliff Clinkscales, Stanley Asumnu, Marcus Hubbard, Kurl Looby, Julian Sensley, Garrett Temple (allocation)

I need to Basically this team is returning a lot of players from what was an abysmal squad last year. The individual talent is there, as Clinkscales is a solid point guard and Looby started growing into a dominating force in the paint, so perhaps new coach Chris Finch can pull it all together. He's said that he prefers an up-tempo, three-point shooting style of play. Marcus Hubbard is probably salivating at that prospect, as he fancies himself a three-point shooter, even though he's not very good at it. Neither are any of the other guys I listed, come to think of it, except maybe Sensley. They all can handle the up-tempo bit, though. This should be an interesting personnel-coach match to watch. I'd also expect to see at least one player assigned from Houston this year, although Chase Budinger has looked better than I expected coming off their bench.

Reno Bighorns - Rod Benson, Russell Robinson, David Noel, Daryl "Majic" Dorsey

Both Benson and Robinson should - repeat, should - get NBA looks at some point this season. The return of boom tho can only mean good things, both on the court and off. He's a very good rebounder and shotblocker, very athletic, and has been working on his shot. If NBA teams lighten up a little bit, he's one of the best big men in the league. Robinson performed well running Orlando's offense during Summer League but was a little shakier playing for Cleveland this preseason. He's a pretty good scorer and distributor, and could see some continued NBA attention. Noel's a solid all-around wing player who can defend, score, shoot threes and distribute the ball a little. Dorsey is a pretty decent PG who's very quick and is does a good job of getting to the basket. This is a pretty good core.

Sioux Falls Skyforce - Keith Brumbaugh, David Bailey, Greg Stiemsma, Joe Krabbenhoft (allocation)

Krabbenhoft's already been covered, so moving on. Bailey's a relatively efficient scorer and good three-point shooter, and he does a decent job of distributing the ball. He also gets a fair amount of rebounds for his position/size. Brumbaugh is also a pretty efficient scorer (moreso than Bailey) and shoots well from the outside. He's 6'10 but doesn't play inside much, and he also can run into foul problems. Stiemsma was actually drafted by a Korean team, but that appears not to have worked out. His per-minute numbers were decent last year, but he averaged only 14 minutes a game. So the real production wasn't what it probably could have been. This team might struggle early on to replace some of Kasib Powell's points and rebounds.

Tulsa 66ers - Keith Clark, Moses Ehambe, Steven Hill, Larry Owens (allocation)

Clark was draft-eligible after last season, except he didn't really play well enough for anyone to draft him. He's talented, certainly, but at some point he got it into his head that he could make three-pointers, when he really can't. He's a decent rebounder and can score a little bit, but he's not very efficient, and watching him last year one got the impression that he was still relying on his athleticism rather than using any kind of technique or putting up smart shots. Ehambe, on the other hand, can make three-pointers, 41.5 percent of them last season, in fact. That's really the extent of his game, as he shot worse on two-pointers than he did threes, and he didn't provide a ton in the way of rebounds, assists or steals. Hill averaged 13 points and 10 rebounds per 36 minutes last season before running into some injury problems. He's from Branson, Mo., so expect a lot of Branson, Mo., jokes this season. Larry Owens has spent the bulk of his career thus far in Europe, but got some looks from New Orleans in Summer League and the preseason, He's a power forward who shoots a lot of threes but doesn't rebound much. Sometimes his threes go in, and sometimes they don't, as in last year's EuroChallenge when he shot 18-110 from behind the arc. I know I've referenced that stat before, but it's pretty amazing to look it. Although if you spend too much time staring at it you'll probably turn into stone.

Utah Flash - Dontell Jefferson, Bennet Davis, Andre Ingram, Gavin Grant, James Lang, Carlos Wheeler, Luke Nevill (allocation), Lee Cummard (allocation)

Last team, I promise. This team returns a lot players, and given that they made the D-League Finals we should probably expect them to do well early on. Especially since Jefferson is back. I really have no idea why the Bobcats cut him, since he's a lockdown defender, has proven he can score in the D-League, and Charlotte is pretty terrible. But whatever, I'm sure GM (or whatever his title is) Michael Jordan knows what he's doing. If you're interested in learning more about Dontell Jefferson, why not read this interview? Picking up Luke Nevill was a decent move, as he can probably challenge Lang for whatever spot in the rotation Lang has. Ingram's a pretty good three-point shooter, as is former BYU guard Lee Cummard. Cummard's also a decent rebounder for a shooting guard. Bennet Davis can block shots and be athletic but not much else, but it'll be interesting to see if he brought anything back with him from the Nets' training camp.

Waive Goodbye, Part 2

Jon L — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:00:42 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

Go ahead and smile, Derrick Byars. You made the team. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

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Today we continue our look at the players waived or, occasionally, kept by NBA teams as the regular season begins. Next up we move into the middle of the country, or as I like to call it, "America's already-bloated snackhole." (I can say that because I live there.) That's right, it's the Central and Southwest Divisions. (Except that I was looking at the wrong division list when I wrote this and it's actually the Northwest Division. Deal with it, America.) And if you're just tuning in, don't forget to check out part 1.

Chicago Bulls

Who got cut: Curtis Stinson, Chris Richard, Steven Hill

Who got kept: Derrick Byars

Forget Stinson and Hill, this really came down to Byars vs. Richard for the last roster spot. And with all due respect to Richard, they made the right call. Richard played okay, although he averaged less than seven points per 36 minutes, and given that the team that already sports Joakim Noah in the frontcourt they really probably can't handle yet another guy who can't produce on offense. Not that Richard unequivocally can't, he just didn't demonstrate that sort of ability in the preseason, which is when he needed to demonstrate it. Byars helps the team in case Deng gets hurt again, or if John Salmons starts creaking (he turns 30 later this year). I won't discuss Byars in great detail here, because you can read this. It probably makes up for the Bulls cutting DeMarcus Nelson, maybe. Stinson and Hill are both probably headed to Europe, though I could see Stinson sticking around the D-League.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Who got cut: Luke Nevill, Andre Barrett, Russell Robinson, Rob Kurz, Darryl Watkins

Who got kept: Coby Karl

See Marge? These guys get it. Karl actually didn't play particularly well in the preseason, but he had a pretty good Summer League with Denver, and he's definitely talented. He's a nice multi-faceted player who can shoot (and make) threes, help distribute the ball, pick up some steals and rebound a little bit. So in other words he's exactly the right kind of guard for Cleveland. He's also worked damn hard, and he deserves another shot at the NBA. It never feels good to get cut (I'm assuming), but it's probably especially hard for Rob Kurz, who was starting for the Warriors just last season. He'd definitely be a prime call-up candidate should he go to the D-League, as he's a 6'9" guy who can make threes, although he could stand to pick up his rebounding and defense. He also profiles well as a Euroleague guy, so he could end up there. Russell Robinson also could pick either option. He played pretty poorly both in Summer League and the preseason, with turnovers being the major problem. Another stint in the D-League could help that, as he averaged just two and a half per 36 minutes for Reno last season. I'll mention again that I haven't been including Jawad Williams in this discussion because he was signed at the end of last season and has a partially-guaranteed deal, so while he theoretically could be waived later on, the team has been somewhat more committed to him than these other guys. I'm somewhat optimistic about Williams's playing time, since at this point he's more capable than J.J. Hickson or Darnell Jackson, but Leon Powe and maybe Jamario Moon are around to take most of the backup forward minutes.

Denver Nuggets

Who got cut: James White, Kurt Looby, Keith Brumbaugh, Dontaye Draper

Who got kept: Joey Graham

Massive disappointment here, although there's nothing personal against Graham. There was just so much hope that this would be White's year in Houston, then the team decided it wouldn't be, then Denver decided it wouldn't be his year for them, either. Looby getting cut isn't a huge surprise, as he's still carpaccio-raw. But, White getting the boot on top of Sonny Weems being sent away is enough to make one question Denver's commitment to ~~Sparkle Motion~~ the D-League. That would be rash, of course, and unfair to Denver who is clearly trying to win soon. Graham's per-36 numbers are almost identical to White's NBA figures, but I guess there's still too much uncertainty over what White can do when there really shouldn't be. He's headed over to Europe now, I assume, since he's said he's done with the D-League, and who can blame him. If an NBA team says they're committed to your development, then semi-promptly gets rid of you, that would be disheartening for anyone.

Detroit Pistons

Who got cut: Maceo Baston

Who got kept: No one.

Sorry, Maceo. Have fun at your House Party. (Admit it, that's not the clip you were expecting.) (Also, note to self: when you get older, shave your head but leave the sideburns and add a mustache.) But hey, here's a crazy idea; the Pistons also waived their second round pick Deron Washington, who's a 6'7" small forward. James White is a 6'7" small forward. WHAT IF THEY'RE ABOUT TO SIGN JAMES WHITE? They're probably not, but they should be. While Austin Daye looked really, really good in Summer League, and Jonas Jerebko could be pretty good, it seems a bit crazy to rely on three rookies (remember DaJuan Summers) as key bench contributors, rebuilding or no rebuilding. And while James White doesn't have that much more NBA experience, he's been around for a few years and he can contribute. Come on, Joe Dumars. LET'S DO THIS.

Indiana Pacers

Who got cut: Rod Benson, Demetris Nichols, Lawrence Roberts

Who got kept: No one.

Rod Benson is probably going back to Europe this year, even though he didn't have the best experience there last season (although being injured didn't help). I'd guess Nichols goes the same route, and both of them are good enough to play in the NBA right now. (Roberts is already over there.) As for the biggest question, whether we'll seee a return of Boom Tho-ness, I have no idea. Personally I wouldn't expect too much except maybe a continuation of his posts over at Ball Don't Lie. If this website were FreeDarko I'd probably launch into a discussion about whether this year's return to (or first crack at) seriousness for Benson and Gilbert Arenas reflects some kind of "down to business" vibe given off by the Obama Administration, but I have neither the time nor the ability to get into that right now. Or who knows, maybe Benson could write a book that would probably be better than Paul Shirley's (which I haven't read, but Benson's a better writer than Shirley so it's pretty much a lock.)

Milwaukee Bucks

Who got cut: Marcus Hubbard, Mark Tyndale, Charles Gaines, Dominic James

Who got kept: No one.

This was bound to happen eventually, but I don't really have much to say about these guys. Hubbard could do with another season or two in the D-League and work on either a.) becoming a proper interior player, or b.) shooting better than .256 on his three-pointers. Because this in-between thing isn't working. Gaines played well for Austin last season, averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds per 36 minutes, and shot a good percentage with Maccabi Tel Aviv. I'd like to see him in the D-League again this season, but I'm not sure he's close enough to a call-up to make it worth his time. Let's see, what else can I talk about with these guys...uh hey, I think Ersan Ilyasova can be pretty good, but that's not really under the purview of this series. Three or four players likely going over to Europe. Whee.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Who got cut: Jack McClinton, Alonzo Gee, Jared Reiner, Devin Green, Mustafa Shakur

Who got kept: Jason Hart

I don't have much to say about Jason Hart since he's 31 years old now and last played in the D-League eight years ago. This is probably a stale comment by now, and the team waived Antonio Daniels so they haven't gone completely crazy, but what's the deal with Minnesota and point guards? Who are these people? Who are the ad wizards that came up with this one? I've already written about this, but whatever NBA team ends up with McClinton (and there will be one, eventually) is going to love having him, and kick themselves for not having him earlier. Reiner got a raw deal by getting cut right before the game in his hometown, sure. But Nate Jawai is in Minnesota now, and that's something, right? It's at least as much a something as Oleksiy Pecherov being there, certainly.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Who got cut: Michael Ruffin, Tre Kelley, Mike Harris

Who got kept: Ryan Bowen

I saw Kelley play a little bit, and he looked pretty good. He's very quick, and he can get to the basket. Of course, he was being guarded by Curtis Jerrells at that point so take it with a grain of bacon salt. He's almost certainly headed to Europe. Michael Ruffin, eh. I have a sort of personal animus against him through no fault of his, since Eddie Jordan overused him when they were both with the Washington Wizards, but he's already landed on his feet overseas. The question of what Bowen can give the team at this point in his career is a good one, as he's 34 years old and has been pretty inconsistent the last few seasons. I just have to keep telling myself that the Thunder still have D.J. White and Serge Ibaka, and be content with that.

Portland Trail Blazers

Who got cut: Ime Udoka, Jarron Collins, Donell Taylor, Quinton Hosley

Who got kept: No one.

I wonder what will happen to Udoka, as he's probably still good enough to contribute at the back of someone's rotation, but he's also 32 years old and most of the teams that would be interested in him are already full up. He's a solid candidate for a mid-season replacement in case some small forward somewhere gets hurt. He can shoot the three a bit, his rebounding has improved the past few years and he doesn't turn the ball over much.

What, you want me to talk about Jarron Collins?

Utah Jazz

Who got cut: Ronald Dupree, Alexander Johnson, Paul Harris, Spencer Nelson

Who got kept: No one.

Wes Matthews and draft pick Goran Suton aren't really included in this, but in the interest of full disclosure Matthews is in and Suton is out. Suton would be a solid big man in the D-League should he decide to go that route. You're probably expecting me to express disappointment at Dupree being waived, but the fact is that he didn't play well in the preseason. At all. Well, I suppose that's not completely true as he averaged about ten points per 36 minutes, but he's capable of much more than that, and he didn't really contribute much in the way of rebounds, assists or steals. He's really only had one good game, though, against the Clippers when he shot 4-7 from the field and 3-4 from the free throw line, and in the rest he shot 5-13 overall. I'd like to see him in the D-League again this year, and maybe if he plays his normal solid, slashing game he'll restore some of his call-up-ability.