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Troy Daniels Hits Eight Threes En Route To A Team High 29 Points vs. Jam

In his second game as a Viper, Troy Daniels caught fire behind the arc, knocking down eight threes, en route to a team-high 29 points. It's still early, but he's making a strong case for the D-League's best long range shooter.

By Scott Rafferty
Jason Szenes

Ladies and gentlemen, we may have already found ourselves the best shooter in the D-League and he resides in Rio Grande Valley.

Truth be told, I don't know much about Troy Daniels. When I heard that the Vipers were adding him to their roster, the name sounded familiar and after a quick background check, I found out why: He played for the Charlotte Bobcats during the Summer League and was signed by the Rockets before being waived at the back-end of training camp. Other than that, I've been learning on-the-go and through the Vipers' first two games this season, I've been very impressed.

Daniels couldn't be playing for a better D-League than the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. As a sharp-shooter out of VCU, the Vipers' run-and-gun, three-point shooting style of play is right up his alley and as the team's sixth man, he's been given the green light to let it fly. In the Vipers' season debut, he gave them a huge punch off the bench, scoring 22 points on six-made threes and last night, he was even better: In the 40 minutes Daniels played, he put up a team-high 29 points on 8-for-14 shooting from behind the arc.

The exciting part about Daniels' shooting ability is his versatility. While most of his points come from spot-up situations, he is quite comfortable shooting off the dribble, on the fast-break, coming off of screens or pulling up several feet behind the three-point line, which he put on display against the Bakersfield Jam. He is also capable of knocking them down from anywhere, although he clearly prefers the left side of the court.

The Vipers have only played two games this season, but so far, they're attempting an average of 47 threes per contest, making them almost an exact replica of their parent, the Houston Rockets. Even as the sixth man, that style of play will give Daniels the freedom to do what makes him so special night in, night out. He can take 10-15 threes in a game and none of his teammates, nor anyone on the coaching staff, will bat an eyelid. He won't be knocking down 56 percent of his threes for the entire season, but he'll keep taking them and he'll keep making them.