Assuming this post actually hits the site (unlike yesterday's)...the D-League Showcase rolled along for the third day, with just a handful of good offensive performances but some great rebounding. If that's worth anything. Let's check it out.
Idaho Stampede 105, Fort Wayne Mad Ants 100 (Box Score)
- Playing in their first game without Sundiata Gaines, the Stampede broke out in just one quarter, the second (when Fort Wayne didn't score for the first four and a half minutes), and had problems shooting from outside. Roberto Bergersen and Lanny Smith were both 1-6 from behind the arc, and Anthony Tolliver was 2-9. Fort Wayne was only slightly better, though, and many of their misses came in the fourth quarter, otherwise they could've had this one.
- Donell Taylor finished with 19 points on 7-13 shooting, seven rebounds and six assists. This is probably closer to the Donell Taylor the BayHawks thought they were drafting.
- Three Mad Ants combined for 35 of the team's 48 rebounds. Jared Reiner had 17, Rob Kurz had 10 and Ron Howard had eight.
- I almost had a panic attack when I saw that Oliver Lafayette had 10 assists, but then I saw the seven turnovers so everything's okay.
- Reiner has been playing well since the end of the December. Good time to start.
The rest of the games are below the jump.
Austin Toros 127, Sioux Falls Skyforce 97 (Box Score)
- Facing off against Reggie Williams, Quin Snyder put defensive specialist Eddie Basden into the starting lineup. Williams responded by getting a season-high 43 points on 19 shots, along with 10 rebounds. Good signing, that Basden.
- Actually, Basden had a decent offensive outing, 20 points on 11 shots, which will probably be the best he does until the next time Williams guards him.
- Alonzo Gee struggled a little bit against Iowa, but had 34 points. Dwayne Jones attempted just four field goals but was able to convert from the line to pick up 12 points, along with 20 rebounds. In addition to the Pittsnogle column, maybe we need a "rebounds against Keith Brumbaugh" section in the box score.
- Chris McCray followed his best game of the season with one of his worst. Four points in 25 minutes on 2-8 shooting, including missing all four of his three-point attempts. In fact, Sioux Falls as a team shot under 24 percent from outside. Williams was the only player who hit more than one.
- Squeaky Johnson had a game completely unlike himself. By which I mean, he had a lot of assists (eight) and he took more than five shots (11, though he only made four of them).
Erie BayHawks 92, Reno Bighorns 88 (Box Score)
- In the parlance of Hardwood Paroxysm (at least if I'm getting it right), this is the game in which Alade Aminu went nova. With John Bryant unable to handle Rod Benson, Aminu stepped in with season highs of 30 points and 23 rebounds (his previous highs being 22 and nine, respectively).
- Cedric Jackson had 17 points on nine shots and 11 assists, and he was really the only other guy who played well for Erie. Mike Gansey made just three of his 11 three-point attempts in his BayHawks debut, and something's been wrong with Ivan Harris all season long. He was a very good shooter last season, but that has seemingly disappeared, and he needed 20 shots to score 18 points yesterday.
- The Bighorns are quietly kind of a mess. Not nearly on the level of, say, Bakersfield or Springfield, but they have talented players who aren't meshing and now find themselves 5-10. They needed an overtime period just to reach 88 points. They've been getting almost nothing from their bench. Et cetera.
- Desmon Farmer and Russell Robinson combined for 38 field goal attempts and 11 turnovers.
- MISSING: Marcus Hubbard. Last seen sometime in mid-December, hanging around the perimeter.
Rio Grande Valley Vipers 115, Bakersfield Jam 107 (Box Score)
- The Vipers kind of got bailed out in this one, in that Bakersfield is terrible from outside, and despite making just 29 percent of their threes, RGV was twice as better at it than the Jam were. Even more than twice, since 12.5 times two is less than 29.
- Joey Dorsey played extremely well, making all 11 of his field goals and grabbing 22 boards, evenly split between offensive and defensive. He had more offensive rebounds than the entire Bakersfield team (nine). I asked this on Twitter a few days ago, but I wonder how NBA assignees like Dorsey approach the Showcase. One always wants to play well in front of scouts, and Dorsey will need another contract soon enough, but he also doesn't have the immediate pressure to perform, and the Showcase is more about the guys on the A and B contracts than it is about those who are already pros. Good for Dorsey for not sleepwalking though the entire thing, I suppose.
- James Jackson was pretty much the only guy who played well for Bakersfield, with 19 points on nine shots off the bench. He hasn't been all that consistent this year, either for the Jam or the D-Fenders, but he's decent enough. Plus his nickname is Boo.
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