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The Golden State Warriors have signed Chris Hunter, which I believe makes him the first D-League call-up of this season (which hasn't really started yet). While I wouldn't wish a coach like Don Nelson on anyone (the current incarnation, anyway), I like Hunter's game a lot, and here's hoping he gets a real shot with the team.

3 minutes ago Jon L 0 comments 0 recs

Tulsa Waives Davis, Parham, Young, McCoy, Johnson

The 66ers have waived Jeral Davis, Tim Parham, Keena Young, Adam McCoy, Mitch Johnson. I thought Young and McCoy were both decent late-round draft picks, but this is how it goes. Davis and Parham were both likely to get cut because Tulsa already had so many frontcourt players.

about 3 hours ago Jon L 0 comments 0 recs

Hey, there are D-League games tonight!

by Jon L on Nov 20, 2009 10:15 AM EST in D-League Game Previews Comment 6 comments

More photos » by Laura Rauch - AP

Highly-touted forward Alade Aminu makes his D-League debut tonight for the Erie BayHawks.

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Tonight marks the beginning of the preseason! Which means games! D-League games! Okay, let's not go overboard, these are D-League preseason games. But still! Tonight the Sioux Falls Skyforce and Dakota Wizards face off, as do the Erie BayHawks and Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Both games are at 7 pm eastern/6 pm central. I probably won't do this for all preseason games, since they're, you know, preseason games, and because the regular season is only a week away anyway, but let's break them down!

Erie vs. Fort Wayne

Both of these teams bring back a lot of key players from last year's rosters, but I think the Mad Ants' guys are slightly better. I mostly say that because Erie's two best players last season were Erik Daniels and (arguably) Maureece Rice, and neither of those players are around. ~~Fort Wayne, on the other hand, brings back Chris Hunter, who was on the all-D-league second team.~~ Chris Hunter is not with the team in Erie. Interrobang. The BayHawks do have some nice three-point shooting in Ivan Harris, but Fort Wayne can counter that with Ron Howard's excellent perimeter defense.

As for who's joined each team this year, again, I think Fort Wayne again has a bit of an edge. Donell Taylor's defense will likely show itself against a team that may be more perimeter-focused in Hunter's absence, but Rob Kurz is a very good three point shooter, Fort Wayne's other former Notre Dame guys (Ryan Ayers and Kyle McAlarney)) should do well in the D-League, and they've added enough solid pieces that I think they'll be a lot deeper than they were last year. Alade Aminu is probably better than I think he will be, and he's talented enough to some problems for ~~Hunter~~ defensively, but I just don't love the rest of their additions enough to say they'll outperform their counterparts.

One final thing to note is that each team is looking for a point guard to hitch their respective offenses to, with Rice gone for Erie and last year's Mad Ant PG Walker Russell taking his game overseas. McAlarney and Andres Sandoval will be the rotation for Fort Wayne and I expect ~~Derrick Mercer~~ Donell Taylor to get some or all of Erie's minutes at the point (even though he's more of a shooting guard), but the fact that all of them are new to their teams and getting used to running the offenses could be something to watch.

Dakota vs. Sioux Falls

Whereas the last game saw two teams with new point guards, this one has two teams with new coaches. Rory White for the Wizards and Tony Fritz for the Skyforce have solid resumes, but this will be the first time we'll see them run things in the D-League.

As for the returning players, you have to give this one to Dakota, which returns five or six key guys from last year's playoff team, while Sioux Falls no longer has former D-League MVP Kasib Powell. With Blake Ahearn gone, Romel Beck and David Bell will carry more of the scoring load, and they should be able to do it. Bell should, anyway. Beck isn't always consistent offensively, a function of his preference for the isolation game. When he's on, though, he's excellent. Keith Brumbaugh is talented, and David Bailey is a decent option at point guard, but missing Powell hurts.

I think Sioux Falls might have the edge in new additions. While Curtis Withers should be solid for the Wizards and Marcus Dove is a good defender, I'm not entirely sold on D'Lancy Carter, and you can only play so many frontcourt defenders at once. I thought the Skyforce did a good job drafting for scoring with Reggie Williams and Leemire Goldwire, and Raymond Sykes is an athletic dunker, which counts for something at this level. They also have allocation player Joe Krabbenhoft, who (if local news reports are to be believed) is on a few NBA radar screens

So join me tonight, as I OSLB some D-League preseason games while watching Futurecast! Be there!

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Thunderbirds Waive Bullock, Carr, Kortovich

The Albuquerque Thunderbirds have waived Garrison Carr, J'Nathan Bullock and Brian Kortovich. Bullock spent some time away from basketball to try out for the NY Jets. Carr was the Patriot League player of the year a few years ago and made 45 percent of his threes as a senior.

about 20 hours ago Jon L 0 comments 0 recs

Utah Waives Lang, Goffney, LaRoche, Holmes, Darger

The Utah Flash waived James Lang for "medical reasons," although with Garrett Siler and Luke Nevill on the team he probably wasn't going to play much anyway. I'm on record as saying that LaRoche was a good pick, and he has been a very efficient scorer, but for whatever reason it didn't work out.

1 day ago Jon L 2 comments 0 recs

Springfield Waives Taylor, Easterling, Jones

The Armor waived expansion draft pick Marcus Taylor along with Charles Easterling and Brandon Jones. The other semi-big news in that article is the fact that center Major Wingate hasn't shown up to camp at all, citing "personal reasons." I don't know if he wanted to be drafted by Austin or what, but he's done okay in Europe the last few seasons so he may resurface there.

1 day ago Jon L 0 comments 0 recs

Sioux Falls Waives Johnson, McKenzie, Miles, Price, Alexander

The Skyforce have waived five players. Nate Miles was the only notable name, and that was more for off-court stuff (being expelled from UConn) than for basketball.

2 days ago Jon L 0 comments 0 recs

Dakota Waives Powell, Quezada, Stanley, Payne and Davis

by Jon L on Nov 18, 2009 1:38 PM EST Comment 0 comments

Today's the deadline for teams to get down to 12 players so expect to see a lot of these announcements throughout the afternoon. According to a team press release, the Dakota Wizards have released Rashaad Powell, Manny Quezada, Cameron Stanley, Derick Payne and Lorenzo Davis.

Powell is the one I'm most surprised about, as he was named the Big West conference defensive player of the year as a senior. He's bounced around various minor leagues (he was an IBL all-star a few years ago) and has spent some time playing in lower-level overseas leagues. He played at the University of Idaho, so I suppose he could try to get on with the Stampede at some point if he wants to hang around the D-League (though the fact that they didn't draft him or try to acquire him through allocation makes me think it's not going to happen).

Quezada was a decent three-point shooter in college, but the rest of his offensive game wasn't as good. Stanley and Payne were both small forwards trying to make a team that already has several guys who can play that position. To be honest I don't know much about Davis, but Dakota brought back some of last year's big men and drafted a few pretty high as well, so he was probably a longshot.

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