Glen Rice Jr. made quite the unique splash during the 2012-13 season, steadily emerging as a postseason hero and D-League Finals M.V.P. for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He subsequently went on to cash in on some of that evident success, getting drafted by the Washington Wizards in the second round of the 2013 NBA Draft.
Following the accomplishment, he spent parts of the past two campaigns in D.C. (even while fitting in some time as a minor league assignee with the affiliated Iowa Energy and Fort Wayne Mad Ants) before the Wizards released him earlier this season.
Since then, he's returned to familiar stomping grounds in Rio Grande Valley, strutting his stuff yet again for the affiliate of the Houston Rockets. And while he was still showing signs of positive development in Iowa and Fort Wayne, there's no comparison to the type of work he's put in and the evident progress he's continued to make most recently with the Vipers.
RGV clearly views Rice Jr. as somewhat of a go-to-guy, and rightfully so. The swingman enjoys scoring in bunches, and can do so in a variety of different ways, to boot.
As evidenced in the compilation above (conveniently made by our friend RU contributor Dakota Schmidt), Rice Jr. is as aggressive as they come. Not one to shy away from opposing defenders, Rice Jr instead attacks them head on. Often times, he's able to adjust to potential contact and make his shot anyway. He can pull up and fire three-point field goals in transition, but can also drive to the basket amid defenders gunning to stop him inside, too.
As one of the more dominant scorers in all of the minor league, Rice Jr. clearly has eyes for the basket. After all, if such a prospect can be as effective going to the hole, they might as well put such an effort on display. The caveat to this is the fact that a youngster without as much experience and/or subsequent court-vision could prove to be a tad overzealous at times.
Initially, Rice Jr. looked as though he'd fall into a bit of a rut in that regard. Having said that, one key component to the Vipers' success has long been the team's ability to run the floor at a higher tempo, all the while finding one another on offense while in transition. Things happen so quickly, that sometimes a player has no choice but to pass the ball and keep things flowing.
Rice Jr.'s most recent play has only gone to further prove that. In addition to averaging 20.2 games in eleven games since rejoining the Vipers, he's also logged what would represent a D-League career-high of 3.6 assists to go along with 5.8 rebounds.
The young gun is undoubtedly someone a minor league team can run its offense though. A key to his success will be opening things up offensively, not only for his teammates, but himself as well. He'll be able to do that much quicker if he goes on to embrace more of a point-forward type of role, a la Scottie Pippen.