Last Night in the D-League; Lazy Tuesday

There were no games on Monday as teams finally got a bit of a breather after the Showcase, and it seems like a lot of players wanted to hit the snooze button.  I had to wake up at 7 am this morning to bring my car in to get worked on, so I know the feeling.

Fort Wayne Mad Ants 103, Maine Red Claws 93 (Box Score)

• This game was essentially lost in the third quarter, when Maine went five minutes without scoring and had just 11 points overall.  They also were called for five offensive fouls in that quarter, which seems like a lot, doesn't it?
• I'm the only one who listed Trey Gilder in the latest call-up rankings, but I really do think he can play.  He basically has no plays run for him but still averages almost 15 points a game, and while his numbers yesterday weren't eye-popping, 14 points and five boards, those points came on just seven shots.  He didn't take any shots in that scoreless stretch, so maybe he should've asserted himself more and helped his team, but he also was called for a few of those offensive fouls so maybe he was trying.
• Fort Wayne really didn't play that well to be worth talking about, aside from Oliver Lafayette's first double-double in a week.  Lafayette and Ryan Ayers combined for 1-12 outside shooting, Rod Wilmont was 0-4 on shots inside the perimeter, Kyle McAlarney led the team in rebounding...eh.
• It may be time to say that Billy Thomas is either hurt, or done.  He's scored a grand total of four points over the last four games, and aside from a 22-point game against the D-Fenders at the start of the Showcase, is a combined 3-29 from outside since December 27.  He turns 35 this year, so he's probably on some Randy Livingston "get a head-start on coaching before retiring" business, but he's definitely not helping his team at the moment.

Hit the jump for the rest.

Iowa Energy 126, Sioux Falls Skyforce 115 (Box Score)

• The Skyforce need Greg Stiemsma, but I don't know that they need him playing a dozen minutes in a limited capacity.  Earl Barron had one of his best games of the season, with 21 points on 10-14 shooting, 14 rebounds, four assists and just one turnover.
• That, in turn, meant that Iowa didn't need a great shooting night (under 27 percent on threes), but they got double digit points from eight of the 10 guys who played.
• Reggie Williams had another relatively quiet game - 17 points, four rebounds, two assists.  It speaks well of him that 17 points is considered a quiet game, but I don't know if it's his expending more energy on the defensive end or just coming up against Othyus Jeffers.
• Keith Brumbaugh has been up and down helping to cover for Stiemsma, but last night was one of his good ones with 27 points and 15 boards.  I will venture, though, that if Keith Brumbaugh is taking six more shots than anyone else on the team, you probably won't win.

Reno Bighorns 98, Utah Flash 85 (Box Score)

• Reno snapped a six-game losing streak despite facing Luke Nevill's strongest game of the year.  28 points on 13-16 shooting and eight boards for the big guy, and the fact that it came against Rod Benson makes it all the more impressive.
• Desmon Farmer basically won this game for Reno by not missing from outside, ever.  8-11 from outside (okay, so he missed three times), and he added 10 boards and seven assists.  Dave Noel hit one three of his own, but other than that all the shooting came from Farmer's direction.
• Russell Robinson came off the bench again, and was terrible again.  He's still playing a fair amount of minutes, but unless there's something going on in the locker room that I'm unaware of, I'm not sure this roster "shakeup" is working.