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Earl Barron From THREEEEE! AKA, Last Night In the D-League

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By Scott Schroeder
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This embodies everything that RU is about. I'm making this the official RU Youtube Video of the Decade.

Iowa Energy 120, Fort Wayne Mad Ants 110 (Box Score)

  • Rob Kurz, eat your heart out.  Earl Barron, who was known to have a pretty good mid-range shot already, showed that he has range all the way out to the 3-point line, as well.  As President Potter described, "Barron made two crushing threes tonight to push the Energy ahead of us as we would get close. Impressive how he can shoot so well."  Those were the only 3's Barron attempted in the game (his second and third of the season, I believe).  He scored 23, grabbed nine boards and swatted two shots in 28 minutes of action.  If only New Orleans needed a big man instead of a Chris Paul replacement...
  • I'll give credit where credit is due: Curtis Stinson runs his team very well.  He's a hot head and leads the league in turnovers per game and technical fouls, but other than that, kudos.  Yesterday he had 23 points, 12 assists and hit what I remember being a rather momentous 3-pointer.
  • Othyus Jeffers didn't have the greatest shooting performance (4-of-13), but as usual, made up for it on the defensive end.  His nine boards and five assists don't hurt, either.
  • Nick Nurse is growing a beard.
  • Jeff Trepagnier, keep shooting, my man.  I'm deferring to Jeff Potter for this one as well: Jeff has been lights out against us this year, and he hit some really tough jumpers tonight. I'm impressed how he has gone from an athletic based game to a savvy and skilled game.
  • For Fort Wayne, Rob Kurz had 26 points and 14 boards, albeit in a losing effort.  When Anthony Tolliver's second 10-day runs out (if they decide not to sign him for the season), I won't be the least bit surprised to see Kurz get the call-up to the Warriors.  He's taken on the role of de facto big man for the Mad Ants (with Reiner out and the doesn't quite make sense from a basketball standpoint insertion of Joe Alexander as starting power forward) and has actually done a pretty remarkable job.  I like what he brings to the table.
  • Speaking of Alexander, he got the start, played 20 minutes, shot 3-of-8 from the field and grabbed six boards.  Essentially, Alexander showed why he was the eighth overall pick in the NBA draft just two years ago (extremely athletic, showing that with a nice looking putback early in the game), but also why he's currently in the D-League - and most likely will be for the foreseeable future.  He needs to improve his basketball IQ - I'm not sure if he's trying to do too much because he's not happy with being in the D-League, but he occasionally forces shots that don't seem to be in his arsenal.
  • Rashad Anderson plays the Jeff Trepagnier role for Iowa - savvy gunner.  Yesterday, he scored 23 points, including shooting 3-of-7 from beyond the arc, and generally looks like a steal for the Mad Ants after Iowa released him earlier this season.
  • One of the guys I've not been impressed as a free agent pick-up is Rod Wilmont.  At some point, I think Joey Meyer has to take the shoot-everytime-you-get-the-ball signal off for Wilmont.  Yesterday he went 3-for-8 off the bench, but I'd assume that means he probably touched the ball 12 times.  I'd like to not that they're not always the best shots, either - they're usually not, actually.
  • Fort Wayne's play-by-play guy, Bill Hazen, is officially starting to annoy me.  He's great at what he does, but he's just a bit too excited about it.  It's a D-League game - these guys aren't as amazing as you make them sound.  Specifically, Chris Hunter vs. Courtney Sims was not a "legendary matchup."

I only watched the Fort Wayne-Iowa game.  Don't worry, I went through and found you the important things from the other games as well.

Maine Red Claws 111, Springfield Armor 90 (Box Score) (Highlights)

  • Russell Robinson had 20 points, 11 assists and eight steals.  JamesOn Curry shot 1-for-5, and turned the ball over six times.  The LA Clippers/Springfield Armor, everyone.

Sioux Falls Skyforce 113, Tulsa 66ers 106 (Box Score)

  • No futurecast for this game.  I was very disappointed.

Rio Grande Valley Vipers 112, LA D-Fenders 110 (Box Score) (Highlights)

Utah Flash 111, Reno Bighorns 76 (Box Score) (Highlights)

  • Apparently Russell Robinson wasn't the problem for Reno, huh? That, or Dontell Jefferson is once again live, going for 16 points, seven assists, six boards and five steals.

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