2014-15 Season NBA D-League Team Preview: Reno Bighorns

How did the Bighorns do last season?

Reno finished 2013-14 with a winning record at 27-23 and made the playoffs before eventually losing in the opening round to the eventual champion Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Reno had a lot of talent on last year's team which is proven by the fact that six players who were with the team last year are playing professionally overseas for the 2014-15 season.

How good can Reno be this season?

Tough to say how "the system" will work in it's initial season with Reno, however Reno has certainly accumulated the talent to seemingly make it work. Expect to see 3-pointers rain supreme and most of them will be taken by Tajuan Porter, David Stockton and Brady Heslip as the guard trio for the Bighorns. Reno has played two preseason games so far this season with a combined 131 3-pointers attempted -- 131! Last year Reno finished 15th out of 17 teams for points per game and pace. This season you can expect them to be top-3 in both categories as this system is anarchy at it's finest.

Expect to see wholesale substitutions regularly and while most are focusing on the offensive side of "the system", you will notice that Reno will be running full court presses on defense as well.

Most likely call-up?

I'm not sure how he's going to fit in "the system" but you cannot teach size and Sim Bhullar has that in spades at 7'5. He played at New Mexico State last year and went undrafted before being signed and then waived by the Sacramento Kings. He's on the Bighorns as one of their affiliate players, however he can be signed by any team with interest and it will be interesting to see who takes the shot.

Most intriguing potential assignee?

Eric Moreland has actually already been assigned to the Bighorns from the Kings, but he still gets my vote. The only other intriguing guy I would put here would be Nik Stauskas, however he is in the rotation with the Kings getting about 16 minutes a night so far. Moreland is an athletic power forward who played at Oregon State last season. He averaged 8.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per night for the Beavers and he will bring that same energy and excitement to the Bighorns.

Can "The System" work at the pro level?

I am really excited to see "the system" in full effect at the professional level. It worked at Grinnell but the pro game is a completely different animal, so I'm all-in on seeing the effect this will have on the league. Perhaps the most interesting thing will be if teams submit to the pace, or whether they try to administer their own style on the game and take the Bighorns out of their game plan. As I mentioned earlier the Bighorns have taken 131 3-pointers over their first two preseason games and after their game with the Stampede head coach David Arseneault Jr. spoke with Gino Pilato of D-League Digest and had this little nugget for us.

"I'd like half of our shots to be three point shots, and to be perfectly honest I feel like we passed up on some tonight."

HALF?! They took more than 50 three point shots that game and he wasn't satisfied. Get ready for the excitement of "the system" people!