NBA Draft and D-League Coverage

We knew this yesterday, but were under strict orders to keep it to ourselves. If you'll recall, earlier this season we were pimping Sims quite a bit - like the D-League and Sun Yue, we were pimping Courtney daily. If you want to read more about Sims, including what his D-League coach, Nick Nurse, had to say about him, go here.

"Idaho managing investor Bill Ilett, whose team leads the West Division, would favor picking a playoff team from his division (i.e., saving money). Good for him. Coach Bryan Gates wants to pick marbles out of a hat. And he wants to put the event on a Web cam so everyone knows what he's doing (i.e., not providing motivation for the ugly kid). Good for him. Bad for the league." The first bad thing I've seen about the new playoff format in something other than RU.

Alex Del Barrio of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers has a live blog going over on his site. Strongly suggest you check it out. Highlight thus far: "Did I say 12-4 run? I meant 20-4 run. No offense...We've been scoring at will lately. Just not tonight. Colorado is not good defensively we just cannot make shots. RGV is 11/38 from the field. Math majors that's 28.9 %. Last time a team won shooting under 30% from the field. They were still shooting at peach baskets with no holes on the bottom."

The wonderful Welcome To Loud City breaks down the highest NBA draft pick to ever play in the D-League after Jay Williams, who had the least memorable stint for a number two overall pick in the D-League. Ever. He played three games with the Toros in 2006, averaging 6.0 points, 5.3 assists, and then was released. (Thanks to Mr. Matt Brennan over at D-league.com for the heads up on Jay. I completely forgot.)

A 25 year-old 5'10" dude that has never played professional basketball is getting looks from all sorts of NBA teams. Either the New York Times was a bit misinformed, or he belongs in the D-League.

Among the highlights: Here is the kick in the teeth -- RGV scored 23 points in the last 4:40 in the game to beat us by twelve. Folks, they shouldn't score 23 in the entire quarter, let alone the last four minutes and change. With that loss fresh in my mind, I quickly hopped a flight to Tulsa for the game the next night to get a first hand look. Thankfully, this was a game we won. Sometimes I think the team feels like all our problems are solved by one good win. Rather, it will take a string of wins.. Also, this was posted at 6:58 am Fort Wayne time... Dedication!

A nice look at Keith Brumbaugh, the rookie out of Sioux Falls. Tibbetts said that assistant Tony Fritz was the biggest advocate for selecting Brumbaugh in the sixth round, which put Fritz on the hook to "baby-sit" the 23-year-old. Since it looks like assistant coach Tony Fritz is a good baby-sitter (A few D-League players have been in trouble this year, but not Brumbaugh), he will move upto 2nd in my D-League Assistant Coach Rankings. Congrats, Fritz.

According to the Rocky Mountain News, (whose final edition will be today, sadly), Mateen Cleaves was scouted last night by our old friend Mark Warkentien. If myself and Mark think alike, as I'm fairly certain we do, I would have been impressed. Cleaves showed off his pass-first point guard abilities, shooting 4-for-5 from the field, to score 11 points to go along with his game-high 13 assists along with just two turnovers.

Thanks To Welcome To Loud City, I was just notified the D-League, or at least the Tulsa 66ers, are testing what basically amounts to being the NFL's Action cam for NBA play. Love the D-League being a guinea pig. Go check out the full story, and let me know what you think.