SB Nation - Ron Howard

Last Night In The D-League - Where A Marriage Proposal Happened

Scott Schroeder — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 15:00:20 -0000

by HO - AP

The guy that proposed didn't look like Tony Gonzalez. And his future wife didn't look like Tony's wife, who is apparently named October. Probably because it happened in North Dakota.

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The one thing I don't like about the D-League is the fact that the majority of their games are on the weekends in the evening. It's not like I have a bustling social life, but still. Anyway, I feel we kind of cheated you by not recapping last Friday nights action, so I didn't want to be a complete failure today.

It's still the weekend, however, so in lieu of my usual great notes, I'm giving you tweets from yours truly, Matt Moore at Hardwood Paroxysm, Steve Weinman at D-League Digest, Mookie at A Stern Warning and Jim Fossel from CelticsTown. Yes, there were multiple people semi-regularly tweeting about the D-League last night. Ain't it great?!

First, some general D-League analysis:

Can we get a petition letter to get plus/minus added to the D-League boxscore? (Matt Moore)

Seriously, why not? It couldn't be that hard to include, am I right? Or, is Moore right? If it takes Jon L writing a post about this and "Blocks Against," we'll do it. Don't test us.

This stuff kills me. RT @HPbasketball RT @RUBasketball: Nothing classier than proposing at the first timeout of a D-League game. Seriously. (Slam's Holly Mackenzie)

This happened at the first quarter of the Wizards-Skyforce game. Added romanticism came with the sponsored Wizards-logo'd t-shirts the couple wore.

Futurecast drivers REALLY need to quit using the baseline cam. You are one dude with a button, not a TNT production crew. Keep it wide. (MM)

Two palming calls in Maine tonight. Will that top the NBA's season total? (Steve Weinman)

Do the D-League players have their names at the bottom of the jerseys because they're names that are on the rise? (Mookie)

Tulsa 66ers 94, Rio Grande Valley Vipers 89 (OT) (Box Score)

RGV has to be the best team in the league, right? I mean, I get Maine. But Harris, Anderson, Dorsey? With Garrett Temple? (MM)

Antonio Anderson may need to be on the call-up list this week. block on a three, a reverse, then a 10 foot baseline. I'm digging this. (MM)

Man, Harris with a catch and face-up, 20 foot jumper's good. that's 22 for Harris. CALL HIM UP (MM)

Liking Latavious Williams' aggressiveness. Needs to do that in the A. In college, they'd be teaching him to brick seven foot js on the break. God, Latavious Williams' is a physical freak. Two years and he's going to be beasting. (MM)

Overtime in Tulsa. Crank up your Futurecast! (SW)

Fort Wayne Mad Ants 113, Maine Red Claws 105 (Box Score)

Ron Howard was amazing. 9-for-13 FG, 11-for-13 FT, 30 points total + 5 steals. Who knew? (Me)

Looks like Sean Sonderleiter will lose starting role to Jared Reiner. Makes sense, makes me sad. (Me)

No Kyle McAlarney. Ow. Fort Wayne needs a backup PG. Lucky Rob Kurz dished 8 assists. Pt forward? (Me)

Bill Walker flings a cross-court pass away and then forgets his man can shoot on consecutive plays. Not ideal. (SW)

Bill Walker just posterized Rob Kurz. (SW)

Walker was frikkin brilliant. 32ish points. Kicking ass & taking names. (Jim Fossel)

Alexis Ajinca is actually getting those points inside! He looks as good as I've seen him. Very impressive night.(SW)

What's your feeling as to how long it'll be before Ajinca can be a rotation player in the NBA? Playing minutes is often all it's about. Have switched over to watch the final 2:15. (Mookie, making the D-League transition)

"We'd be amiss if we didn't mention the rubbah chicken shootin at that last timeout." #NortheasternersTalkFunny (Me)

Dakota Wizards 103, Sioux Falls 96 (Box Score)

Who's excited for pajama day tomorrow at the Dakota Wizards game!?!? That may top the mid-20-second-timeout wedding proposal, honestly. (Me)

Romel "George The Iceman Gervin" Beck. Seriously. (Me)

Has there ever been an explanation for Beck's occasional offensive disappearances? It's not that he goes cold, just invisible. AND Yup, it's really weird. Every time I watch him, he scores efficiently, just seems like he goes quarters without even a touch. (SW)

David Bailey still as quick as ever. He had some drug "issues" in Australia -- no probs lately? (Mookie)

Scoring balance: No one has 20, but 11 players are in double-figures in tonight's Skyforce-Wizards game. Cool. (SW)

Iowa Energy 95, Erie Bayhawks 88 (Box Score)

Nobody tweeted about this game, so I bring you tweets by Iowa's Cartier Martin.

Bout to play Assasins Creed 2...then it's nap time. Got a big game tonight.
Game went well...we got the dub. I'm slowly but surely gettin my groove back.
what's good bro? Man that Europe shit got a #@$%# game all f'ed up.
Me chillin at the table wit my goons! You better be careful how you run up on me..they something vicious! http://yfrog.com/4gvydj

Bakersfield Jam 107, Idaho Stampede 80 (Box Score)

Ouch (The World upon finding out Bakersfield won a game)

Maine Red Claws 96, Erie BayHawks 75; Free Trey Gilder!...?

Jon L — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:01:45 -0000

At 7-1, now who's laughing at Crusher (hint: still us) (via nbamusings.com)

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So now it's my turn to talk about these two teams. It would've been nice if the BayHawks had won so I could tout them a little bit but...

Hey guess what! I'm gonna try doing this recap Scott Schroeder bullets-stylee. Which means it might be even longer than my usual recaps. I know you're going to have fun.

Scott talked about this a little bit yesterday, but Trey Gilder probably should start somewhere. I understand that he's probably not starting in Maine while Bill Walker's around, but Gilder's good enough to make the NBA. It's a nice problem to have for the Red Claws. 23 points on 9-12 shooting and 10 boards for him, both team highs and both off the bench (if that makes sense).
Alexis Ajinca had his biggest offensive output of the (D-League) season with 14 points. Too bad it came on 15 shots. Too, too bad. No free throws either. At least Bill Walker had the good sense to get to the line while shooting 1-5 from the field.
Pro wrestling reference!
Cedric Jackson has had exactly one good game outside shooting-wise this season, so I have no idea why he's attempting four threes. Who does he think he is, Ron Howard? (jokes) The 11 assists are welcome, but let's cut down on this whole "doing-things-you're-not-good-at" thing, shall we?
Come to think of it, none of Erie's players have been that great at shooting so far this year. Ivan Harris was their big three-point specialist last year, but he has only 14 attempts over seven games this year. He's made two of them. Twice? Two times. Jackie Manuel has had some okay games, but then he'll usually follow them up with something like last night's 4-14 outing.
Donell Taylor is having a decent season so far, in that he's ' making 38.5 of his threes, averaging almost six rebounds a game and playing some decent defense, but I can't help feeling like a 27-year old former NBA player should be dominating, and Taylor isn't. Maybe he gets a pass against a stacked Maine team, but six turnovers against Fort Wayne? 9-23 shooting against Sioux Falls? Averaging more turnovers (four) than steals (3.6) on the season? 59 percent free throw shooting? I know he was originally miscast on this team as the starting point guard, but I guess I expected more.
Have you seen John Bryant? No seriously, have you seen him? If they still put pictures on milk cartons, I might suggest doing so with this guy. He got a DNP last night, okay fine, but after pretty much dominating the first four games of the year he shot 4-10 and 1-5. Dude is disappearing, which is kind of tough to do when you're as, uh, big as Bryant is.

Randy Livingston Memorial "On The Edge" Call-Up Rankings

Scott Schroeder — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:00:21 -0000

Dontell Jefferson, the 6'5" point guard, can dunk, as learned here by Reno's Marcus Hubbard. (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE)

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As you can see, we've collaborated with the top D-League blogger's in the universe (read: all that would answer my e-mail's) to come up with the top 10 players that are deserving of an NBA call-up. While 10-day contract's aren't able to be handed out until January 5th, there's typically two or three call-up's before that date, which is why we've put our heads together to bring you this list. As you'll remember last season, we alternated this type of post with a more specific list like this one. More than likely, I'll put one of those together as well, just because it serves a different sort of purpose.

Anyway, continue on to see the list and a breakdown of each of the top 10 players, an early holiday gift to all of our loyal readers from the D-League blogging contingent!

Livingston Memorial "On The Edge" Call-Up Rankings
Player w/ link to season stats	Jon L (RU)	Matt Moore (Hardwood Paroxysm)	Scott Schroeder (RU)	Steve Weinman (D-League Digest)	Composite Rankings

Dontell Jefferson	3	3	1	2	1
Anthony Tolliver	1	8	2	1	2
Morris Almond	4	2	3	3	2
Rod Benson	2	1	5	5	4
Desmon Farmer	8	4	4	4	5
Carlos Powell	5	5	7	6	6
Mike Harris	6	10	6	10	7
Sundiata Gaines	7	9	8	8	8
Alonzo Gee	10	6	NR	7	9
Dwayne Jones	NR	7	10	NR	10
Reggie Williams	9	NR	NR	9	NR
Cedric Simmons	NR	NR	9	NR	NR

(If I were to round out a top 15, I'd include Cartier Martin, Ron Howard and Romel Beck)

1. Dontell Jefferson, Utah Flash (20.5 ppg, 6 apg, 5.1 rpg, 1.6 spg, 47% FG) - Jefferson should be the poster child for the NBA Development League because I don't think there's been a player that's gotten consistently better like Jefferson has. Consider his D-League draft bio as a rookie back in 2006: to go from averaging 3.2 points and 4.4 assists in college to an call-up to the Bobcats last season is amazing. Having watched a couple of Flash games this year, he may have even gotten better. While his calling card will always be his defense and decision making, the 6'5" point guard is showing some impressive scoring ability this year as well. (Scott Schroeder)

2a. Anthony Tolliver, Idaho Stampede (20.7 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 47% FG, 43% 3pt) - I can't find a word more descriptive of Tolliver's performance than "everywhere." At 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds, Tolliver is a large man, even by basketball standards. But the threes he takes aren't typical of the 21st century pseudo-bigs who hang around the perimeter waiting for kickouts. To borrow the type of term Walt Frazier enjoys using, I can remember few other occasions when a player seems as omnipresent as AT - sprinting to the sideline to snare long rebounds from unsuspecting guards and fighting his way to loose balls amidst the pack inside as well. Defensively, more of the same. One second, Tolliver's jumping out to double a guard on a high screen-and-roll; the next, waiting at the rim to provide help on penetration or swat a shot out of vicinity of the basket. (Steve Weinman, D-League Digest)

2b. Morris Almond, Springfield Armor (33 ppg, 6 rpg, 49% FG) - Morris Almond is mostly known for his scoring, and it's true that putting the ball in the basket remains his best skill. He also does so fairly efficiently, getting to the free-throw line at a decent rate. Almond greatly improved his rebounding while in the NBA, though, jumping from just under two boards per-36 minutes as a rookie to around five last season. Almond wasn't able to crack Utah's
rotation but got some offseason looks from the Knicks (Summer League) and Magic (training camp). The one thing that might hold him back is, well, his back. He had some problems with it last year and teams might worry that they'll return, I suppose. He's not as athletic as some of his peers, but he has a very nice midrange game and so far in career has kept working to improve. What sounds bad about that? (Jon L)

4. Rod Benson, Reno Bighorns (16.8 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 2.4 bpg, 2.2 spg, 53% FG) - Benson's almost a volume rebounder, if there is such a thing. His DRR if he were to ever get a stinkin' flyer would be insane. All you're looking for is quality minutes and you know he'll give you that. He's added frame as he's gotten older and it's not like he's lost in terms of positioning. He's got a high basketball IQ. What's the downside here? The only thing I can figure at this point is that he peed on Adam Silver's rug at some point. And it tied the room together. (Matt Moore, Hardwood Paroxysm)

5. Desmon Farmer, Reno Bighorns (25 ppg, 6.7 apg, 5.5 rpg, 5.17 TO/g (doh!)) - Look, I get the push against guys from the D-League that aren't great at defense. I do. I appreciate that. And I certainly understand the turnover concern. But Farmer has been on summer league teams. He's been in camps. He's done his time. And he fills up the sheet when he's on the floor. He's had cups of coffee with San Antonio and the Pacers and the Sonics. But the Spurs never have room for anyone, and the rest were before the league had experienced success at the NBA-level. He's got potential to be a solid end-of-the-bench contributor with the possibility of a great fill-in in case of injury. (Matt Moore)

6. Carlos Powell, Albuquerque Thunderbirds (21.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 4 apg, 50% FG) - Carlos Powell, like Farmer, is he what he is - a big, polished wing that can put his head down and get to the hoop with ease. Powell has an affinity for scoring right around 25 points per game to go along with a handful of assists and rebounds a piece every where he plays. While he's obviously not going to put those numbers up in the NBA, he's a veteran scorer that has what it takes to succeed in the big leagues. (Scott Schroeder)

7. Mike Harris, Rio Grande Valley Vipers (26 ppg, 7 rpg, 59% FG, 45% 3pt) - Harris is currently third in the league in per-game scoring, amidst guys who are more likely to come to mind like Mo Almond, Reggie Williams, Desmon Farmer and Sundiata Gaines. He's making 45 percent of his three-pointers and averaging 10 rebounds per 48 minutes. So basically, he's good. The Rockets obviously like him, having retained him off of their Summer League team, but any other teams jealous of Houston's glut of 6'6" combo forward action too can get in on it by calling Harris up. He's been playing mostly inside next to Joey Dorsey, which helps, but he's also pretty athletic and has worked on his shot enough where he can play some small forward as well. (Jon L)

8. Sundiata Gaines, Idaho Stampede (25.4 ppg, 7.7 apg, 5.3 rpg, 56% FG, 2 spg - has started 1 of 7 games) - That's right, a (mostly) D-League reserve made our call-up rankings. Gaines is that good (and also Bob MacKinnon's bench usually plays a lot). A combo guard in college, Gaines has been playing more point in Idaho, and he's been one of the best in the league so far. He's second in the league in assists, both per-game and per-48 minutes, fourth in the league in scoring, and perhaps most impressive is the fact that he's averaging just three turnovers in that fast-paced MacKinnon offense. Gaines isn't the biggest point guard around, but he's really, really, talented, and his game should speak enough for itself for him to get some consideration. (Jon L)

9. Alonzo Gee, Austin Toros (20.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 55% FG) - You can't really take Gee in the Virtual Scout Game. I mean, he's a rookie, playing in a power system that rewards players of his ilk. And he's not really MVP worthy, despite being second in Pts+Reb+As, since he plays alongside the double-double machine Dwayne Jones and Curtis Jerrells. But if you're looking for top-level production that you could sign and immediately send back down? Gee would be a fantastic option for farming. You know, if anyone had managed to do that effectively. Thanks for ruining that dream, Ian Mahinmi. (Matt Moore)

10. Dwayne Jones, Austin Toros (18 ppg, 13.3 rpg, 2.2 bpg, 66% FG) - Jones has clearly been working on his post moves in the offseason, and while they're still not great, he looks a lot more fluid executing them. In addition to the spin move he "had" last year he's added one where he goes underneath the basket and lays it in from the other side, which was pretty effective. And, just so we're clear, his numbers have been helped tremendously by being matched up with Kevin Pittsnogle in five of his ten games. (Jon L)

Last Night in the D-League; A Night of Third Quarter Troubles

Jon L — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:00:31 -0000

David Bailey helped the Skyforce knock off previously-unbeaten Iowa (via www.nba.com)

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Three teams played particularly in the third quarter last night; one was able to bounce back, but it likely cost two of them a win.

Sioux Falls Skyforce 109, Iowa Energy 99

The Iowa Energy have finally lost a game, and the Skyforce were able to take them down even with Reggie Williams still out. They did it basically by using Iowa's game against them - specifically, hitting a bunch of threes. Sioux Falls shot almost 54 percent from outside compared to just 27 percent for the Energy. David Bailey led the way by making four of his seven attempts (25 points total), Keith Brumbaugh was a perfect 3-3 (20 points) and Mike Nelson, Leemire Goldwire and Pete Campbell were a combined 6-11 from outside in relief. Joe Krabbenhoft did it a different way, getting to the free throw line and finishing with 23 points on 15 shots along with 13 rebounds.

Iowa just couldn't hit their shots. Starters Pat Carroll (zero points) and Jeff Trepagnier (four points on 1-6 shooting) gave them nothing, and Rashad Anderson made only two of the eight three-pointers he put up. Earl Barron (22 points) and Mark Tyndale (21 points) each got to the free-throw line to compensate, and Barron added 12 rebounds, but this team was bound to have an off-night eventually. The third quarter was particularly disastrous; Iowa hit just six field goals in the period, and three of those came in the last minute and a half. They were able to make some foul shots to keep from going completely under, but that level of futility from the field hurts.

The rest of last night's games are after the jump.

Austin Toros 110, Albuquerque Thunderbirds 104

These two teams should be familiar with each other, this being the fourth time they've played so far this season (with another game tonight), but the Thunderbirds just don't have anyone who can keep Dwayne Jones off the boards. Jones had 27 points and 24 rebounds last night, and he was pretty much the only Toro who produced in the first half (he had 18 and 10 at the break). Curtis Jerrells went off in the second half, scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter to give him 34 total, along with seven assists. The team got some nice contributions from Alonzo Gee (15 points, seven of which came at the free throw line), Lewis Clinch (13 points) and Justin Bowen (11 points and seven rebounds off the bench), but it was really Jerrells and especially Jones who got this win for Austin.

Believe it or not, Kevin Pittsnogle actually played a decent game, mostly in the second half when he hit a couple of threes to end the third quarter and a few more shots to open the fourth. Yaroslav Korolev got another double-double with 19 points (on nine shots) and 12 boards and Carlos Powell scored 25 points before fouling out, and the Thunderbirds also got 17 points from Anthony Dandridge in 19 and a half minutes off the bench. They kept it close for most of the game, but Albuquerque had a terrible third quarter, both on offense (they went five and a half minutes without scoring a point) and defense (Jerrells didn't miss a shot in the quarter, and Gee and Jones only missed one a piece). And of course there's the rebounding issue. Erek Hansen is back, which helps, but this team will continue to struggle against strong rebounding centers

Reno Bighorns 98, Bakersfield Jam 90

Reno had a terrible third quarter, just 17 points scored and a six minute stretch with no points, but they were able to get to the free throw line with striking regularity in the fourth (18 of their 31 points in the quarter came on foul shots) to keep Bakersfield winless. They were helped by Amara Sy getting ejected on a flagrant 2 followed by Will Voigt getting a tech (presumably for arguing about the flagrant) as well as Terrance Gamble getting his own with 12 seconds left (?). Desmon Farmer finished a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line on the way to 27 points. If you asked me who would be the second person to record a triple-double this season, "Mo Charlo" would not be my answer. It almost happened, though, and despite being a big part of that six minute scoreless stretch in the third, Charlo finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Rod Benson didn't have the best shooting night, perhaps still feeling the affects of his bout with food poisoning, but he did collect 14 rebounds. If I had to point to one thing this team needs, it's better bench production. Just 15 points for Reno's reserves last night, and while I like Majic Dorsey, he missed a ton of shots in that third quarter (okay, two) and just generally hasn't played well so far this year.

Amara Sy threw a low blow at Mo Charlo's nether regions with the Jam were up 88-86. Stemming from this, Reno scored 12 straight points (actually the run had started before the flagrant and totaled 17 points) due to all of the free throws resulting from that play and the subsequent Voigt technical. Dear Coach Voigt: sending your opponent to the free-throw line helps them, and doesn't fire your team up. John Williams did a lot to help his team; 25 points, 6-9 from outside, and five assists. He also did a lot to give it away, namely with eight turnovers; two of those came on palming calls, and two came on losing the ball out of bounds. Tyrelle Blair didn't shoot particularly well but grabbed 13 rebounds.

Fort Wayne Mad Ants 124, Springfield Armor 107

So I guess even with Morris Almond, the Armor just aren't very good. The Mad Ants got nice, balanced scoring as seven players scored in double figures, including 23 points each from Ron Howard and Rod Wilmont, and 22 points and 11 boards from Rob Kurz (a good day to be a guy with a three-letter first name beginning with R, I suppose). Kyle McAlarney picked up nine assists, his highest total yet by far, and Anthony Kent grabbed six rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench (hey, maybe he's found his role, hint hint). Fort Wayne was able to jump out to an early lead by getting to the free throw line (and some, okay a lot of, missed shots by the Armor), and they never looked back.

Almond had a terrific game, 39 points on 11-17 shooting and five rebounds, which is partially him and partially what happens when Ryan Ayers guards you just as much as Ron Howard. Unfortunately for Springfield, no one else really got going. JamesOn Curry made seven of his eight field goals on the way to 16 points, but had just two assists and four turnovers. TJ Cummings had 12 rebounds but needed to throw up 22 shots to get 22 points. Kentrell Gransberry played just 10 minutes, and I'm not really sure why. He may not be able to put up double-doubles every night with 30 minutes of playing time, but he can at least give more than this. They're not really getting any consistency right now, but hey, at least pro basketball is back in Springfield.

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?

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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; 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.

Recap: Iowa Energy 99, Ft. Wayne Mad Ants 84

Jon L — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:00:21 -0000

Curtis Stinson and the Iowa Energy are undefeated. (via www.nba.com)

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Iowa remained the only unbeated team in the league by beating the Mad Ants, and they did it by forcing turnovers while not giving it up much themselves. Fort Wayne actually got through the entire first quarter without a turnover, but then had 15 the rest of the way. That doesn't sound like a lot, but when your opponent has just 10, that can be the difference. The Mad Ants also are without a real point guard, and had just 12 assists as a team.

Point guard isn't a problem for the Energy, as they have Curtis Stinson, who finished with 16 points on six shots (6-8 from the free-throw line), 11 assists and eight rebounds. Earl Barron has been one of those big men playing well that I alluded to in yesterday's game recaps, but he needed 19 shots to score 13 points. Come to think of it, outside of Stinson, Pat Carroll (9-16, 21 points) and Shy Ely (4-6, eight points), no one really shot the ball well for Iowa. There was solid rebounding up and down the roster, and as I mentioned earlier they limited their turnovers. Nick Nurse's team was in control for the entire game.

It's kind of hard to find good performances for Fort Wayne. Rob Kurz (another one of those notable big men) grabbed 13 rebounds, but he also shot just 3-13. Ron Howard was about as bad, 5-19, and he shot 2-7 on threes. It would be one thing if he were taking 13 shots at or near the rim, but Howard is taking a lot of jumpers that just aren't a reliable part of his arsenal; no way should he be attempting seven threes in a game. Sean Sonderleiter had an okay game, 11 points and seven rebounds, but he was limited by foul trouble, having picked up four in about 24 and a half minutes. This team couldn't move the ball around and couldn't hit shots, which is the pretty much the worst-case scenario for an offense.

Previewing Tonight's Games

Jon L — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:00:22 -0000

Oh don't be so dramatic, Robert Swift. Your team isn't that bad.

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Another day, two more games. I'd obviously prefer that there be more, but I suppose it is still the middle of the week, and D-League games are D-League games.

Fort Wayne Mad Ants at Iowa Energy

If the internet is to be believed, Iowa may or may not be with the services of Courtney Sims and/or Cartier Martin for this game. Whether they're there or not probably changes how this game goes. How's that for analysis? Chris Hunter is apparently still playing for the Warriors on their hardship roster exemption (though if you ask me, it's the Golden State players who should be claiming a hardship, am I right?), and Earl Barron should be able to handle Sean Sonderleiter defensively. Sims being around, though would mean that Iowa has a frontcourt guy that Fort Wayne won't be able to handle themselves. No, Alade Aminu is not ready yet. Sims isn't a monster defensively, but he still should be able to cover Rob Kurz pretty well. Fort Wayne has some additions of their own, and while Rod Wilmont will probably be decent, I'm not a huge Oliver Lafayette fan, and I'm worried now that he'll take shots away from guys like Kurz and Kyle McAlarney (and even Ron Howard) who should be getting the bulk of the attempts. Assuming that neither Sims nor Martin will be on the floor, the Mad Ants should be able to stay in it if they can clamp down on the Energy's many shooters and make Curtis Stinson take on most of the scoring load himself.

Utah Flash at Bakersfield Jam

The Jam have to win a game at some point, right? They'll be joined by John Williams, who played for coach Will Voigt with the PBL Vermont Frost Heaves last year. Williams was a good three-point shooter there and in college, and outside shooting is something this team needs (among other things), because they guys they have now aren't consistent with it. Williams won't solve all of Bakersfield's problems, but he should help, and if Luke Nevill is out again and Utah struggles with their shots again tonight, the Jam could be in this thing. And if you think I'm kidding about the Nevill thing, I'll remind you that Bennet Davis and others had a hard time guarding Joe Dabbert in the Finals last year, so if those guys are forced to play some center again then Robert Swift might do alright. Utah has a lot of talent on their roster, though, and so far they've been able to compensate for rough nights from various players, so they probably will be fine.

Last Night in the D-League, Where They're Bringing Back Midnight Basketball

Jon L — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:02:20 -0000

Los Angeles D-Fenders 89, Bakersfield Jam 82

Sports Illustrated writer Arash Markazi was at this game. And by that I mean he was the only one at the game. Given that this game started at 9:30 pm local time on a Sunday night the lack of a crowd shouldn't be too shocking, but that is a sad, sad picture. Bakersfield managed to score just 30 points by halftime, and there were all kinds of blown layups and bad passes and missed three-pointers. Coach Will Voigt got himself ejected less than a minute into the third quarter, and I can only assume that's what got the Jam going as they outscored LA in the second half. I'm always skeptical that such actions work, but who knows. Justin Hawkins scored 22 and grabbed seven rebounds, but he needed 21 shots. Rodney Webb finished with 16 boards and four blocks, but needed 12 shots to score 10 points. Their best offensive player was probably Reece Gaines, who shot 6-9 and had 14 points, but he also turned the ball over six times, which is even worse than Curtis Jerrells's six turnovers the other night given that the Jam only put up 89 possessions.

The D-Fenders won this game mainly by watching the Jam miss a lot of threes and then just hanging on in the second half. Diamon Simpson put up 11 shots, which is both curious and ill-advised given that the NBA player comparison I've seen most often for him is Dominic McGuire (i.e., pretty good rebounder for his size, absolutely no shot to speak of). Michael Fey wasn't quite as good as he was the other night (of course he didn't have Kevin Pittsnogle "guarding" him again) but was still solid with 14 points and seven rebounds. James Jackson played well off the bench, with 14 points and six rebounds. Dar Tucker reverted to his inefficient shooting ways, but put up a game-high five assists.

Fort Wayne Mad Ants 92, Erie BayHawks 82

Well. Rob Kurz certainly announced his presence in the D-League with 16 points and 19 rebounds. Ron Howard played well also with 25 points, though it looks like his volume shooting is here to stay. He's doing a good job of getting to the free throw line, though (10-13 last night), so if he can keep that up he could develop into a genuine two-way threat. Kyle McAlarney was relegated to the bench but responded well, scoring 22 points on 7-10 shooting (including 4-7 on three-pointers), although he's still not picking up many assists (just two last night). Sean Sonderleiter struggled, shooting 2-13, and although he grabbed seven rebounds, all five of his offensive boards came off his own misses.

Erie did a better job of distributing the ball, led by Cedric Jackson and Donell Taylor who had seven assists apiece (actually, they were pretty much the only guys who did). They shot the ball terribly, though, going 4-14 on threes, and three of those were made by Taylor. John Bryant had another excellent game with 14 points and 14 rebounds, but too many other BayHawks were too inefficient. Shooting 40 percent on free throws is a bad look.

Dakota Wizards 91, Sioux Falls Skyforce 74

Well, the Wizards certainly didn't come out tired in this one. Romel Beck looked particularly spry, scoring Dakota's first seven points. Greg Stiemsma being terrible on offense helped (he missed two layups in the first three minutes). Beck finished with 24 points on 11 shots though he didn't do a whole lot else, but he never really does anyway. Mo Baker had a terrible shooting night but picked up eight assists, six rebounds and six steals. Curtis Withers had another good game with 22 points and 17 rebounds, and he may turn out to be a force for them all season long.

It was the Skyforce who looked a step behind, whether Stiemsma (who had six blocks but that was the only positive for him), Keith Brumbaugh blowing two consecutive layups and a three-pointer in the second quarter or the whole team starting off the second half with two missed shots and three turnovers. Even Reggie Williams struggled. The only real bright spots were bench players Raymond Sykes, who had 13 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks and Leemire Goldwire who scored 16, but even those bright spots turned the ball over four times (Sykes) and missed five three-pointers (Goldwire). Given that it came after three consecutive Skyforce possessions ended in turnovers, I can only imagine that Tony Fritz's technical was a ploy to wake his team up. They outscored the Wizards in the fourth quarter, but they managed to get only 16 points doing it so he probably should try something else next time.

It's Rivalry Week in the D-League, Too

Jon L — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:00:14 -0000

Come on Bakersfield, give these ladies something to cheer about.

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Not only were college football teams playing their in-state or otherwise hated rivals this weekend (USC/UCLA, Grambling St./Southern, Oklahoma/OK State...uh, Syracuse/Connecticut) but we have some regional rivalries in the D-League on tap for tonight. Let's preview 'em.

Bakersfield Jam at Los Angeles D-Fenders

Los Angeles has to fly back to, well, Los Angeles for this one after playing in New Mexico last night, so don't be surprised if they get off to a rough start. They have enough talent to compensate, though, especially matched up against the Jam, who played pretty poorly. Reece Gaines had a decent offensive game the other night but he's never been consistent with that. Jared Newson should do alright, but he's one guy. Robert Swift, as we've seen, is still a work in progress on offense. Bakersfield's hope should be that the D-Fenders are so tired they get off to a terrible start, and that the Jam's three-point shooters repeat their opening night performance.

Sioux Falls Skyforce at Dakota Wizards

Dakota is coming off of a disappointing loss last night, whereas the Skyforce are not only rested but are playing well. The Wizards have some nice interior defenders, but I'm not sure they have anyone who can keep up with Reggie Williams. Joe Krabbenhoft looks like a nice all-around player for Sioux Falls as well. Then again, the Skyforce don't have a ton of people who can match up with Curtis Withers. Keith Brumbaugh isn't much for defense, and while Raymond Sykes might be able to give it a shot, Withers looked very impressive last night. Dakota will certainly be motivated to win this game and keep from starting 0-2, and if they can keep the fatigue to a minimum this could be a very good game.

Erie BayHawks at Fort Wayne Mad Ants

That's right, it's the third game in nine days for these two teams (including the preseason). Fort Wayne shot the ball pretty poorly in the regular season opener, and I expect that to improve for a few reasons. First, I can't imagine that Ron Howard's going to have the green light again after shooting 5-16, assuming he did in the first place. Second, Rob Kurz can't possibly go another whole game without a field goal attempt, and Kurz is a good shooter. Erie still has Donell Taylor, who plays some pretty good perimeter defense, but things should go a little more Fort Wayne's way. Add to that the fact that I'm skeptical that Jackie Manuel can replicate his first game performance and the Mad Ants could pull this one off. The John Bryant-Sean Sonderleiter matchup will be one to watch again, as they each recorded double-doubles last time out.