Yes, that is Sun Yue being dunked on by Cedric Bozeman
First off, I usually write my blogs late at night, after I've finished responding to my fan mail (Thanks Uncle Marv!) and before Red Eye on Fox News. Why does this matter to you? It doesn't. Just figured I'd let you know. WAIT! It does! When I'm writing, I usually just put a chill song on repeat and use it as background noise. Last night? Matchbox 20 - 3 AM. Tonight, John Mayer - Waitin' on the World to Change. Weak, I know, but they're good enough to put on in the background. Here's where you can help. Suggest something new, any genre (I listen to an odd mixture of country and rap, normally).
Alright, now on to the important stuff. What happened in the D-League yesterday? Well, two big things - Joe Crawford (not Joey) was called-up to the Knicks (should come official this morning) and Kosta Koufos was sent down, trading spots with Kyrylo Fesenko. The Jazz were apparently overloaded by Koufos' decent play and over abundance of vowels/letter in his name. Also, in non-D-League related news, Memphis lost, thus killing my chances of winning the SB Nation Bracket Challenge. Who do I blame? The state of Utah. If the rest of my picks are right (UNC beating Oklahoma, Pitt over Nova, Louisville over Kansas, UNC beating Lousville in the championship),I'll finish in second place. If all three colleges in Utah wouldn't have lost, I'd finish in first. %#$# Utah. If you're wondering, Graham Filler from The Rivalry, Esq. or California Golden Blogs will take first, depending on UCONN vs. Mizzou.
Continue on to see why I miss Sun Yue and other brilliant points from the two games in the D-League last night. Bare with me though, as it's been awhile since we've done this. If fierce D-League reporting were bran muffins, after reading this, you'd all be regular.
Fort Wayne 110, LOS ANGELES 99
The Fort Wayne Mad Ants defeated the LA D-Fender's, 110-99, due to Sun Yue being out for the season with an ankle injury. I can't be certain, as there was some other basketball going on last night that I watched, but I'm under the assumption that Sun Yue has to be what hurt the D-Fender's so much. Sun Yue certainly was a bigger loss than some dude named Joe Crawford who apparently got an NBA call-up or something. Sun Yue.
For the Mad Ants, it was a pretty balanced effort, so I'm going to give the game ball to Anthony Kent. Yep, that Anthony Kent. From Ball State, remember? You don't? Neither do I, that's why we're taking a closer look at the big man that came into the game averaging three points and three boards on 41% shooting through 35 games. He was also recruited by Southern Indiana, Youngstown, and Akron, so I'm assuming he's a local. He's a terrible interview. He was with the East Kentucky Miners of the CBA at the beginning of the season, from what I remember. Basically, I have no clue how he had 11 points, 15 boards, and two blocks. Maybe he was a "Mad Ant"hony?
Other notables for Fort Wayne include Taj (not Todd) McCullough, who scored 25 points and did nothing else; Chris Hunter, who had 22 points, six boards, five assists and three blocks; Ron Howard, who also scored 22 points; and Walker Russell, who scored 14 points and dished 12 assists while turning it over just once, but shot just 5-for-17 from the field.
For the D-Fenders, Dwayne Mitchell stood out. I'm sure he caught the ball, put his head down, drove to the left, and scored a lot. He finished with 25 points, shooting 11-of-17 from the field.
Other notables for Los Angeles include Charlie Parker, the best player ever (out of Millersville University, PA), who scored 16 points, but turned the ball over five times; big ol' Gabriel Hughes, who scored 10 points and grabbed nine boards; Ryan Forehan-Kelly, who had 16 points before fouling out; and Brandon Heath, who scored 11 points, had six asssists, and five boards.
RENO 131, Iowa 109
In the second game of the night, the Reno Bighorns dismantled a team that called themselves the Iowa Energy (couldn't tell) with a final score of 131-109.
Reno was led by Richie Frahm. I've waited a long time to talk about Richie in a public forum - ever since last summer while interning with the Vegas Summer League and I was running down the stairs to get the upcoming officials names while was running up the stairs after peeing. He said "what's up" and I said "Good luck, Richie!" This may or may not have been the highlight of my Summer League experience. Anyway, Richie made NINE OF HIS FOURTEEN 3-POINTERS. Blake Ahearn who? He finished with 31 points and not much else.
Other notables include David Noel, who may have had a more impressive box score, but we've never talked - Noel finished with 17 points, 13 assists, and 10 boards from the small forward spot; Rod Benson, who scored 17 points, grabbed 11 boards, and swatted FIVE shots in 30 minutes of action (call-up, please); and Garry "Two R's, Two Last Names" Hill-Thomas. The Notorious GHT finished with 24 points, 20 points above his season average.
Iowa was led, unsurprisingly, by Othyus Jeffers. I've talked about Jeffers pretty much daily for quite awhile, so I won't bore you with my thoughts once again on how he's an amazing defender, tough, has a nice stroke, and rebounds exceptionally well for a 6'5" dude that's been shot multiple times and deserves a call-up soon.
Iowa was not led by the Big Ostrich, Aristide Sawadogo. I have never seen a worse box score from a 28-year old over seven-foot, whose a second year pro from Clayton State in my life. Ever. The Dawg, as I call him, is a nice dude. Basketball is just not his thing. In 16:29 off the bench, he made one of his seven shots from the field, had four fouls, three turnovers, and two points. Yikes.
Other notable Iowan's include JamesOn Curry, who scored 24 points and added seven assists; Curtis Stinson, who had a good game with 23 points, six boards, and six assists; and somebody named Mark Tyndale, who scored 20 points and grabbed five boards.
In other news from Iowa, I found Steve Newman's Twitter and John Edwards is on his way to shore up the big man situation. Demetris Nichols will also probably be back soon. Anyway, Newman got the start last night and scored five points in 22:22. Post game comment?
Loss the game now im just hoping that not a sign of what the casino is going to do to me tonight
Also, Marty Tirrell will be doing the Iowa broadcast Saturday, even after his profanity-laced tirade the other day. Thanks KCCI, who emailed me that link out of the blue!
Happy Friday!
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