Iowa played, Courtney Sims was a stud, the end. That was going to be the original post, just succint, right to the point, to make sure that everyone who reads this had time to tell all of their friends that Courtney Sims needs to get called-up, ASAP. In his game tonight, the Energy got worked by the Erie Bayhawks, 109-88, because Iowa turned the ball over 15 more times, shot 51% from the line, and probably didn't get Courtney Sims the touches he needs. Hint to Elias "Larry" "X-Factor" Ayuso: you should not get more shots up than Courtney Sims. Especially when you're 4-for-14 and he's 9-for-13. Erie was led, as usual, by Erik Daniels. Tonight, Daniels put 28 points, 10 rebounds. I might start lobbying for a call-up for him, except he's not going to play at this position in the league, I get the vibe he's not the greatest teammate, and he's just never been a likeable dude.
The Skyforce hosted the Wizards again tonight, with a much different result. I'm not sure what the difference was, but the Wizards didn't look good and the Skyforce were hot in the 2nd half. Interestingly enough, regular starter Will Frisby was out with an ankle injury and Jawan McClellan started the game in his place. I say this is interesting because Rod Benson or Brad Stricker were the only two bigs on the bench, but instead 6'4" McClellan started and Renaldo Major was left to match up against either 6'9" Glen McGowan or 6'10" Keith Brumbaugh. Benson was working off just 3 games back in the D-League but had 19 rebounds in just 41 minutes in those three games, so he's obviously not playing terribly, at least when it comes to rebounding, and would have been a good matchup with Brumbaugh. Stricker, well, he doesn't have any big numbers, ever, but I like him. Regardless, the Wizards lost, falling behind by 15 at the half, and never were able to recover. Mo Baker led the Wizards with 23 points, 10 assists, and four rebounds, his first double-double with assists this season. Renaldo Major had 25 points and two blocks for the Wizards as well. For Sioux Falls, Bobby Jones did what he does, scoring 22 points and grabbing eight boards on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting. The Gary's of Sioux Falls (Ervin, Forbes) came off the bench to combine for 38 points and 10 rebounds.
In the Colorado-Austin tilt, two of the best teams in the league, the 14ers staged a second half comeback to win 107-101. The 14ers were led by Joe Dabbert, who scored 22 points and had 10 boards, to go along with three blocked shots. The Nets much maligned Sean Williams played better than he ever has, scoring 16 points, grabbing 16 boards, and SWatting six shots, even picking up six assists to make up for five turnovers. Austin was led by "Better Than" Ezra Williams, who scored 24 points, getting the start in the absence of Marcus Williams (presumably no relation). Where was Marcus, you ask? I don't know, but am assuming he went overseas, as he is not really injury prone and there was no mention of an injury in the post-game press release. Charles Gaines also played well for the Toros, scoring 19 points and grabbing eight boards, shooting 50% from the field. Andre Brown has struggled thus far with the Toros, scoring just eight points tonight. Brown is currently averaging nine points, eight boards, and shooting 35% from the field over the past three games. Considering he's a former Bobcat big man, I think this means he deserves a call-up over Courtney Sims a la Jermareo, right Golden State?
Last, but not least, is the RGV-ALB tilt, who didn't have a box score up until after the game. The T-Birds won, 121-110, behind a typical Will Conroy game: 30 points, eights assists, five boards, six turnovers. Keith McLeod had another good game, with 27 points and six assists, but once again had four turnovers, totalling 10 for the T-Birds backcourt. RGV was led by Alpha Bangura, but not much else good came from that half of the box score. Wizards cast-off Marcus Hubbard got the start, but went 1-for-8 with four fouls in 22 minutes, much-heralded Jared Jordan had five points and seven assists, some guy named Kurt Looby started, and Alton Ford came off the bench to score 16 points, grab eight boards, and pick up two tech's.