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.