#2 Rio Grande Valley Vipers vs. #3 Austin Toros D-League Semifinals Game 2 Preview

by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 7:33 PM EDT

Quin Snyder and the Austin Toros head to Rio Grande Valley looking to sweep the semifinal series.

Game 2 of the D-League semifinals series that's actually interesting (did I say that out loud?) tips off at 8 pm Eastern tonight, and can be seen live on Futurecast. The Austin Toros won the first game 122-120 after holding off a late Vipers rally. The series now moves down to the Rio Grande Valley, however, where the Vipers were 21-4 during the regular season and 1-1 in the first round of the playoffs.

The Toros won game 1 by just a slim margin despite RGV's NBA-assignee Mike Harris playing just 16 minutes with foul trouble. Austin got a combined 79 points from its trio of standout guards, Alonzo Gee, Curtis Jerrells and Marcus Williams. Those three also combined for 21 rebounds, and Williams and Jerrells had 13 assists between them. Backup point guard Carldell "Squeaky" Johnson added 21 points and the Toros played with 6'6" guard/forward Eddie Basden at center for stretches of that game, making them an extremely perimeter-oriented team at the moment.

In addition to Harris, who is his team's primary rebounder, Rio Grande Valley also relies heavily on its guards. Will Conroy and Antonio Anderson both have gotten call-ups this season, while Jonathan Wallace has averaged 17.5 points per game in the playoffs while shooting 55.6 percent from outside. Several of the Vipers' "big men" like Julian Sensley and Ernest Scott rely on midrange and outside shooting rather than working down low.

Austin needs to win just one more game to advance to the D-League finals, but I'm not certain that will happen. While Reno was able to win one in RGV, that game saw their center Rod Benson demolish the Vipers inside while guards Desmon Farmer and D.J. Strawberry did work on the perimeter - and Reno still needed a game-winner with five seconds left to take it. The Toros have the stellar guard play but not the strong big man, which is why I think Harris will give them problems for the next two games and help the Vipers win the series.

Prediction: Rio Grande Valley 112, Austin 107, with Harris collecting something in the neighborhood of 25 points and 15 rebounds.

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Comments

That might be the most dangerous thing I've ever seen.

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by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 8:43 PM EDT reply actions

Bad sign for the Toros

Five minutes in and Michael Joiner leads the team in shots.

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by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 8:54 PM EDT reply actions

Although, the box score may be wrong

Marcus Williams is listed as having zero FGAs even though he threw up an airball earlier. Or does that not count?

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by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 8:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Maybe it was a pass?

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by Scott Schroeder on Apr 19, 2010 8:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Nope

Shot clock was running down

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by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 9:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Wallace

has been killing it from outside in the playoffs.

Ridiculous Upside, where developing talent and winning are not mutually exclusive.

by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 8:55 PM EDT reply actions

Is Futurecast quality worse than usual?

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by Scott Schroeder on Apr 19, 2010 8:59 PM EDT reply actions

Seems that way to me, yeah.

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by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 8:59 PM EDT up reply actions

Ugh

My eyes don’t want to watch.

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by Scott Schroeder on Apr 19, 2010 8:59 PM EDT up reply actions

And now it's stopped entirely.

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by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 9:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, this is gruesome

I thought we were done with this stuff.

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by Scott Schroeder on Apr 19, 2010 9:07 PM EDT up reply actions

I like putting Williams on Conroy

While I wouldn’t call him a great defender, he’s a lot better than Jerrells (or Gee) and Basden has to worry about Harris.

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by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 8:59 PM EDT reply actions

ADB just called Squeaky the most underrated PG in the league.

I’m not sure how I feel about that.

Ridiculous Upside, where developing talent and winning are not mutually exclusive.

by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 9:00 PM EDT reply actions

Umm, depends on the context

As far as backup point guards, or good minor league point guards, I agree.

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by Scott Schroeder on Apr 19, 2010 9:02 PM EDT up reply actions

The thing I took issue with that is Jonah questioning what would happen to his numbers sans RGV

It’s not like his 6.5 points and 3.0 assists per game during the season would really be decimated…

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by Scott Schroeder on Apr 19, 2010 9:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed.

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by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 9:04 PM EDT up reply actions

ADB JUST noticed McClure shaved?

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by Scott Schroeder on Apr 19, 2010 9:01 PM EDT reply actions

Someone (Snyder) needs to tell Joiner never to leave Harris.

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by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 9:04 PM EDT reply actions

Williams is having a rough quarter

maybe it’s the rows.

Ridiculous Upside, where developing talent and winning are not mutually exclusive.

by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 9:09 PM EDT reply actions

Actually

He’s kind of had an off-playoffs. The cynic in me wonders if it isn’t related to nerves from turning down a 10-day.

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by Scott Schroeder on Apr 19, 2010 9:11 PM EDT up reply actions

I think I noted this at some point

but he struggled a little bit last year adjusting to playing with both Hairston and Nelson, so maybe it’s the three guard lineups. I feel like he was fine when it was Squeaky and Jerrells, but I could be wrong.

Ridiculous Upside, where developing talent and winning are not mutually exclusive.

by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 9:14 PM EDT up reply actions

Tough to say

Because I really don’t know.

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by Scott Schroeder on Apr 19, 2010 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Jerrells holds the ball a lot.

Ridiculous Upside, where developing talent and winning are not mutually exclusive.

by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 9:17 PM EDT reply actions

In a maybe-related note

the Toros had just one assist in the first quarter. Missed shots are part of that (hi, Mike Joiner), but that’s still ugly.

Ridiculous Upside, where developing talent and winning are not mutually exclusive.

by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 9:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Technical problems all around

Shot clock in RGV is currently not working.

Ridiculous Upside, where developing talent and winning are not mutually exclusive.

by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 9:25 PM EDT reply actions

ADB SHOUT OUT

Thanks, guy.

Ridiculous Upside, where developing talent and winning are not mutually exclusive.

by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 9:26 PM EDT reply actions

ADB with the shoutout

We’re so popular!

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by Scott Schroeder on Apr 19, 2010 9:26 PM EDT reply actions

Julian Sensley

driving on Luke Bonner is something I never need to see again.

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by Scott Schroeder on Apr 19, 2010 9:30 PM EDT reply actions

What a weird sequence

I can’t tell if Sensley did something to Bonner to push him to the ground or if Bonner just fell.

Ridiculous Upside, where developing talent and winning are not mutually exclusive.

by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 9:32 PM EDT reply actions

RGV suffers from too few replays

I’m pretty sure it looked like Julian Sensley elbowed Luke Bonner in the gut, then Bonner retaliated with that… mummy tackle.

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by Scott Schroeder on Apr 19, 2010 9:32 PM EDT reply actions

Since nobody's joining us

I might as well ask here: Who’s night is it for recap duty?

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by Scott Schroeder on Apr 19, 2010 9:37 PM EDT reply actions

I thought it was mine

you can do it if you’d prefer.

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by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 9:38 PM EDT up reply actions

It's all yours

I just picked up a date with Destiny.

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by Scott Schroeder on Apr 19, 2010 9:41 PM EDT up reply actions

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by Scott Schroeder on Apr 19, 2010 9:42 PM EDT reply actions

Conroy has more shots than points?

I thought he’d been playing better than that.

Ridiculous Upside, where developing talent and winning are not mutually exclusive.

by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 9:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Great dunk, Carlos Wheeler.

Ridiculous Upside, where developing talent and winning are not mutually exclusive.

by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 9:55 PM EDT reply actions

RGV leads 68-56 at halftime

Basically no one’s playing well for Austin except Jerrells (on offense) and maybe Squeaky and Gee. Why does Eddie Basden have the second most shot attempts on his team?

Ridiculous Upside, where developing talent and winning are not mutually exclusive.

by Jon L on Apr 19, 2010 9:58 PM EDT reply actions