I chose to play city league basketball last night instead of watching D-League basketball, but didn't want to leave everyone hanging that comes here in the morning looking for recaps. Therefore, I'll give you three or four bullets on each game and you'll deal with it. Capiche?
Sioux Falls Skyforce 117, Idaho Stampede 115 (OT) (Box Score)
- Joe Krabbenhoft is back for the Skyforce after leaving the team in December to play in Korea. I really didn't like the decision at the time because he was filling in admirably for an ailing Reggie Williams (28, 23 and 20 point games when his previous season high was 12). Now, well, I guess it worked. He filled his wallet, I assume, and now is still able to show what he can do for the NBA scouts to end the season. In his first game back, Krabbenhoft scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds off of the bench.
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Greg Stiemsma and Raymond Sykes are quite possibly the scariest low post combination in the D-League, at least on the defensive end of the floor. If you include Alexander Johnson, who didn't play last night after the hectic few days before hand, I would probably change my tune to both ends of the floor. Last night, Stiemsma and Sykes combined for 27 points, 13 rebounds, nine blocks and five steals while shooting 13-of-15 from the field. I assume at least one of the three will make a team after a successful Summer League in July.
- Old pal Lance Allred had a pretty good night against the aforementioned stiff competition with 23 points and 12 boards. I hope if there's another surprise call-up this season, it's Allred.
- Idaho starts a combination of three semi-point guards and two big men, which intrigues me. Since I already talked about the best of the big men, I'll nominate Coby Karl as the best of the guards. Karl finished with 21 points, nine assists and six rebounds, plus a steal and a block for good measure.
Springfield Armor 108, Albuquerque Thunderbirds 104 (Box score) (Highlights)
- Albuquerque had a 17 point second half lead on the worst team in the league and lost. The only thing Springfield really did better than Albuquerque, according to the box score, was rebounding. Think the Thunderbirds regret trading Kurt Looby for Trey Gilder now? I would.
- Springfield was led by Justin Hawkins, my favorite player that I don't really talk about. 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting, nine assists and five rebounds is a pretty good night for him. The box score has him as the point guard, which would really be intriguing since he's 6-foot-7 and never been a point guard as far as I can tell - but it would explain the assists.
- Marcus Campbell has been pretty bad this year after being picked first in the expansion draft, but seems to be heating up in March. Last night he had 19 points and seven boards in just 22 minutes of action. Granted, that has to be taken with a grain of salt considering he started against Sasha Cuic, who isn't the most adept defensive big man.
- Speaking of Trey Gilder, he did actually play well in this game, scoring 25 points and grabbing nine rebounds while picking up two blocks and two steals.
Fort Wayne Mad Ants 108, Maine Red Claws 94 (Box Score)
- This is definitely not a game Maine should have lost, nor a game Fort Wayne should have won. Regardless, both of those things happened.
- Why shouldn't have Fort Wayne won? Well, they were without the services of starting point guard Dan Dickau (I couldn't figure out why, but if he got a call-up over Will Conroy, I'm fighting someone) on top of already missing Jared Reiner and Ron Howard, among others. Oliver Lafayette (Yes, that Oliver Lafayette) stepped up, however, scoring 34 points and dishing eight assists while shooting 10-of-14 from the field. This wasn't expected.
- Who else stepped up? Dewitt Scott. Scott, as far as I was concerned, was a lost cause and simply brought back (he was cut by Fort Wayne earlier in the season) because he was close to Fort Wayne (like fellow recent additions Carlos English and James Booyer). Still, he showed that he can still shoot, hitting six 3-pointers on the way 24 points AND grabbing nine rebounds. On the season, he was averaging 4.3 points and 1.4 rebounds.
- Maine's bench shot 4-of-20 from the field, including Boston Celtics assignee Marcus Landry hitting 1-of-8 from the field in just 15 minutes of action. As far as I'm concerned, Boston would be better off calling up Morris Almond before considering Landry in their long-term plans (though I'm basing this completely off of D-League play).
Bakersfield 117, Los Angeles D-Fenders 112 (Box Score)
- Trey Johnson will probably get a call-up before this season is over. You know how I know? Because Bakersfield's PR Director is hyping him. Well, that and the fact that he scored 27 points and added five assists while shooting better than 50% from the field and not turning the ball over.
- Alade Aminu is a certifiable beast. How can I certify that? He had 30 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks and three steals last night. I'm not sure if he'll get a call-up, but he'll definitely have a lot of Summer League offers.
- Brian Butch had his worst game since the all-star break, even though it was a 15 point, 11 rebound effort. While that's still pretty good, he can't shoot 1-of-5 from beyond the arc and expect a call-up.
- Los Angeles is kind of a mess right now, but I'll single out Michael Fey as the bright spot in this game. He fouled out in 33 minutes, but had 17 points and eight boards before doing it.
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