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.

With apologies to Manimal Smith who started talking about this over a week ago, I think that if the Wizards are going to trade anyone this year, they should trade Caron Butler.  I like Butler generally, but he's just not fitting into the new offensive system, he has just the eighth-best PER on the team (according to KnickerBlogger's stats and discounting Paul Davis and Mike James), and is liked and respected around the league and could bring back some decent value.  So here are some ideas, all of which have been cleared through the ESPN Trade Machine (and I'm also trying to be reasonable for what the other teams will agree to):

The Pipe Dream: Butler to Golden State for Andris Biedrins and Anthony Morrow

This is a lot for Golden State to give up, and is predicated on Nelson deciding he hates Biedrins, which isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility.  Biedrins has a great contract ($9m over five years) and could replace Haywood if the team decides they want to part ways with him this offseason.

The TruthAboutIt.net White Knight Tribute (jokes): Butler and Dominic McGuire to Philly for Jason Kapono, Primoz Brezec and Jason Smith

Kapono isn't great but could do a very good job coming off the bench and being run off of all of Saunders's screens, and both his and Brezec's contracts expire after this season.  Meanwhile, Eddie Jordan gets a few guys who know the Princeton, and he can go back to giving McGuire minutes instead of other guys who might deserve them.

The "This Either Makes Too Much Sense, or No Sense": Butler to the Clippers for Marcus Camby

Camby becomes the backup center and his contract expires after this year.  Butler gives the Clippers the option to not retain Al Thornton if they don't want to and still have some talent in between Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin.

The "I Hope He Wasn't One of the Guys Who Hated Saunders": Butler and Javaris Crittenton to Detroit for Rip Hamilton

Hamilton's contract isn't great, but he's certainly familiar with the offense, while the Pistons get to continue to turn the page into a new era.

The Salary Dump: Butler to Chicago for Jerome James and Jannero Pargo

Both players have expiring contracts; the problem with this one is that I don't know where Butler fits into the Salmons-Deng-Thomas rotation.  Maybe they move Thomas in addition to this deal.

The "I'm Running Out of Ideas": Butler and Nick Young to Portland for Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw and Martell Webster

Steve Blake gets a homecoming of sorts (which would've mattered more with EJ), plus Portland clears some of their backcourt logjam.  I don't love that Webster has four years left on his deal, but it's a reasonable overall price (less than $4.5m) and both the Blake and Outlaw contracts expire after this season.

Thoughts?

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.

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More photos » by Chuck Burton - AP

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Iowa Energy 94, Dakota Wizards 82

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

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

Idaho Stampede 105, LA D-Fenders 95

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

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

Reno Bighorns 107, Utah Flash 103

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

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

Austin Toros 115 Bakersfield Jam 89

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

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