In the League: March 4, 2009

by ben.renz on Mar 4, 2009 6:05 AM EST in D-League News Comment 0 comments

Los Angeles 123, Fort Wayne 116 - If Fort Wayne wants to get out of the bottom of the barrel, losing to teams with a worse record isn't a good start. Granted though, the D-Fenders are the best awful team in the D-League. Joe Crawford is a star and Dwayne Mitchell had a monster game last night with 27 points and 9 rebounds. Brandon Heath is continuing his tear with 25 of his own and 9 dimes to boot. Fort Wayne lost this one by allowing LA to net 43 in the 2nd quarter alone. The lack of Coleman Collins sure didn't help the Ants, and Chris Hunter being held to 21 minutes is a shame. Walker Russell continues impressing however, with 24 points, 14 assists and 7 boards. LA shot 59% in the win and I've come to like this team, and come to dislike the Ants more.
Iowa 100, Sioux Falls 95 - Here we had my game of the night, and I was actually right in guessing the outcome! So I celebrated this morning with some fruit snacks. JamesOn Curry got 26 minutes off the bench in his first game back with the Energy, and boy oh boy was he a non-factor. 8 points, 3 fouls, 2 steals. JamesOff. Courtney Sims sent a message with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks. Cheikh Samb to the Knicks? No fellas. Courtney Sims is the better big man. Othyus Jeffers was a beast with 28 points and the little guy grabbed 12 boards while he was at it. Sioux Falls' Kasib Powell had 23 points, 6 rebounds and 4 dimes in the loss and Chris Ellis pulled down 10 boards, but shot an unfortunate 2 for 9 from the field. The Skyforce played good team ball in this one, but were outscored by 10 in the 3rd and never really recovered.
Rio Grande Valley 133, Albuquerque 119 - The Vipes never trailed in this one and Kurt Looby is getting my NOD OF THE NIGHT with his 11 points, 17 rebounds 5 blocks. Loob's got talent. I've been impressed with his play for a long time. Great game from him. Trent Strickland also had a brilliant game for Rio with 27 and 9 boards to add. The Thunderbirds' just couldn't execute in this one despite Keith McLeod's 34 points, but Mark Walters did have a solid individual game with 15 points, 10 boards and 6 robberies. Too bad it wasn't enough. Albuquerque drops a winnable one to the underachieving Vipers. I feel like this has happened before...