Don't have much for you this morning, so instead I found a sweet music video, summing up our friendship and some D-League mini-bullets, which are always uber-exciting!  Hopefully, between moving offices throughout Friday, I'll be able to schedule a few picks to go up in the SBNBA Mock Draft, as well as (hopefully) a post from the lovable Jon L!  (Welcome Back!) 

• Rumor has it Bryan Gates of the Idaho Stampede and Scott Roth of the Bakersfield Jam (formerly an assistant with the Mavericks, Grizzlies and Bucks) are finalists for the third assistant with the Sacramento Kings.  I'm not sure if there are other candidates for this spot, but I'm pulling for these two, as they are both are definitely deserving.
• Mike Offerdahl, Wizards PR Guru, has taken a job with the University of Mary as an Assistant Athletic Director.  The Wizards front office, for now, consists of three people, including myself.  Do Work!
• The Two Man Game gives a quick look at how the new Frisco franchise could affect the Dallas Mavericks.
• Check this out!
• Brent Petway will be playing for Toronto in the Vegas Summer League.
• Sun Yue got to celebrate with the Lakers.
• Not sure what this means, so I'll wait for the Thunder bloggers to break it down for me.
• Mateen Cleaves is opening up a restaurant.

UPDATE: According to the press release, Donnie Nelson, Dallas Mavericks GM, will be the principle owner and operator of the team, but it also says "when the team begins play in 2010, it will be directly affiliated with up
to three NBA teams."  So the GM of the Mavericks will own this team, but they will be affiliated with other teams as well.  Should be fun to see how this all shakes out!

First, the biggest of the news: According to the Denver Post, the Colorado 14ers have been bought by the Dallas Mavericks and will move to the "Dallas area" (Frisco) for the 2010 season - just as I "predicted" yesterday in my fan shot.

Save for last season, Dallas has been one of the best users of the D-League's development possibilities, assigning Jose Juan Barea, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Josh Powell, Nick Fazekas, Maurice Ager, Rawle Marshall and even the immortal Pavel Podkolzin to their D-League affiliate for some seasoning over the past few seasons.  Some of these players have developed well in the D-League, some not so much, but it definitely makes sense that Dallas would buy a D-League team - now if they retained the rights to this seasons D-League champion 14ers coaches and players, that'd be an even better coup.

Next, the big news on any other news day: The Bakersfield Jam, which seemingly went down in a ball of flames after last season, will be back, according to The Bakersfield Caifornian.  No word yet if the big news is that Bill Simmons has bought the team, nor what the status of Swish and the Jam Dancers is - Justen Case, come back and give us the scoop.

The D-League: Where Big Things Happen After I Get A Job So I Can't Break The Big Stuff Happens.

Last time Powell checked in with us, he went through his usual day in the gym along with what he does when he's not in the gym (running the K.P. Youth Foundation among them).  This week, he confirms that the craziest/funny person is indeed Sam Cassell (though it seems he'll also be a good coach for the Washington Wizards), along with contemplating the overseas vs. shot at the NBA question we've debated so often.  He also give a shoutout to Texas Tech after Seth from Double T Nation checked in on his last post.

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Many people have asked me who the craziest or funniest person I have came across in my professional career and after thinking about all of the players I have played with in my journey, the one person that really stands out to me as both is Sam Cassell. It was hard for me to pick one person and I wanted to be careful with labeling someone as crazy and funny because when you hear those two adjectives, the first thing that comes to mind is a joker or someone you can't take serious.

In the case of Cassell, though, I will start by saying that he is also one of the best professionals I've seen - on and off the court. His presence was always felt when he was around. Most of the time it's with his voice, but it's not an annoying voice - It's a powerful voice that stands out. The reason why I say he is the funniest is because of his stories from times on the court and off the court. He is the craziest guy I've met in my professional career because nobody ever knew what he was going to say or do.

I've learned a lot from Cassell though. One of the most influential things he told me was "never let anyone with a contract work harder then me."  The scenario was one cold day in Minnesota. I was a young player who was at practice early and left late so I could get all of my work in. That day in practice I thought I worked hard. I even stayed 30 minutes after practice. Still, as I was walking off the court, Sam pulled me to the side and yelled at me! The gist of what he said to me was that if I was trying to make an NBA team, there should be no reason that a guy making over $100 million should be in the gym longer than you. I turned around and surveyed the court and I saw the reigning MVP in the middle of a workout as if he was the hungry free agent. I took what he said and I still use that to this day for motivation.

In my decision making process on whether to go overseas or stay stateside and hope for the NBA dream, there are many things that factor into the final decision. The biggest factor is believing in yourself.   It sounds easy but I mean to truly believe in your game and the time you put in the gym; To truly believe that you can play at the highest level and say that you can play at the highest level are two different things. There are many people that say they should be or deserve to be playing at the highest level - but believing this is another thing.

If you believe in yourself than the only reason to go overseas to play would be Money! This is definitely not a knock on anyone who is overseas or plans to go overseas because I have played in Greece, Russia, Bosnia, and China. But if you believe in yourself and you still go overseas then usually that person is making a good amount of money or an amount that is comfortable for them.  That being said, I'm still a person who believes in my skills and the countless hours I have worked in the gym. However,  as much as I believe and have faith, I couldn't tell you that I would turn down $1 million in Spain or Greece or anywhere else to tryout with an NBA team for free with no guarantee of anything but a thank you and a lot of hard work.  It's an awkward situation though - that one workout can be the workout that leads you to get a spot on a team. But if that workout was after the million dollar offer I would never get a chance to see how far that workout would have taken me. LoL. But to keep it real like they say, my eye is still on the NBA 100%.

Thank You to All my supporters at Texas Tech. Go Raiders!! Keep the questions coming.

Kasib

With the seventh pick in the SBNation Mock Draft, the Golden State Warriors, represented by Atma Brother #1 straight outta Compton Golden State of Mind, select... (Drum Roll please)

Actually, Atma did an incredible job of explaining this one, so I'll let him make the pick... after the jump!

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Sorry to interrupt this weeks regular scheduled programming... regular scheduled programming.

Mr. Matthew Brennan has done the gentlemanly thing and started blogging about the D-League again now that I've quit blogging exclusively about the D-League (though I've heard via the e-mails that many people, inside and outside the D-League want me to continue, so I can't give it up quite yet - I give my peeps what they want).

Today he tipped the world off to something I alluded it to a couple of weeks ago, before I had all of the details - the Dallas Mavericks are holding a big ol' audition for the D-Leaguer's (and random other players that played in the league you've most likely forgotten by now).

Last seasons D-Leaguer's in Dallas are as follows: Blake Ahearn, Andre Brown, Mickael Gelabale, Brandon Heath, Herbert Hill, Trey Johnson, Trent Strickland and Anthony Tolliver.  Not a bad group, not an outstanding group.

Here's the rest of the players at the tryout: Hassan Adams, Shan Foster, Sundiate Gaine, Mike Green, Quinton Hosley (is this really a basketball player?), Mike Jones (who?), Jeff McInnis, Austin Nichols, Richard Roby (Iike him), JaJuan Smith, Chris Taft and Yuta Tabuse.

My question: Which teams wins?

D-League vs. non-NBA

G: Brandon Heath vs. Jeff McInnis

G: Blake Ahearn vs. Hassan Adams

Wing: Trey Johnson vs. Shan Foster

Post: Anthony Tolliver vs. Richard Roby

Post: Andre Brown vs. Chris Taft

6th man: Herbert Hill vs. Yuta Tabuse

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported yesterday that the head coach of the Idaho Stampede, Bryan Gates, "is expected to be a strong candidate for a spot on the staff."  

I don't know how much to read into this quite yet, but I do know that Gates and new Kings coach Paul Westphal share the same agent, along with another rumored assistant candidate, Mario Elie.

This is great for Coach Gates, as he won the D-League coach of the year award for the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons, and we thought he probably should have taken home this past seasons award as well.

Now that I'm in the biz (shameless plug #2 of about 46,535 to come), I can't give away too many inside secrets of the D-League.  However, I can say that if you're looking for a developer of talent, Gates is probably the best coach available for this job.  I've witnessed him develop numerous players over the past few seasons, but the best example to give, player wise, is Mike Taylor.

Taylor, as you'll remember, is the first ever player to be drafted from the D-League to the NBA.  What you may not remember, however, is that he was born and raised (rather drafted and developed) under Coach Gates in Boise.  If you'll look at Iceman's fan post from yesterday, you'll notice that Taylor's numbers best transferred from the D-League to the NBA of all of the players looked at.  I'm not trying to split the atom here, but good coaching probably had something to do with this.

Other players that have played for Gates in Idaho you may be familiar with: Randy Livingston, Lance Allred, Luke Jackson, Mouhamed Sene, Julius Hodge, Brent Petway, Josh McRoberts, Mickael Gelabale, Taurean Green, Coby Karl, Kevin Burleson, Jermareo Davidson, Dwayne Jones, and Nathan Jawai.  The majority of these players have either been called up as a member of the Stampede or were assigned to the Stampede to get some development under Coach Gates.

Seems to me he may know what he's doing.

H/T to Ziller over at Sactown Royalty.

I can only hope this sums up our mutual feelings for each other.  I guess I'm a mixture of everyone in this situation - except the lip synchronization AND with less cheesy crying (the tears from me are real, people).

Awhile back I promised I was going to focus on the NBA Draft and Summer League's exclusively - save for any breaking D-League news.  Well, I didn't.  Mostly because keeping up with the D-League has been the most interesting part of my life since February 2nd, the day my beloved Minot Skyrockets folded (I know - I live a sweet life!).  Since then, I've made some great contacts (too numerous to mention), and great friends, while providing the deepest (read: only) inside look at the D-League on the internet - except I wasn't actually in the D-League... Until now.

I'm switching over to draft and summer league coverage now because... I started a new job yesterday with the D-League's Dakota Wizards.

Working for a team in the league I'm covering will have it's issues, which is why I'm going to take a bit of time to refocus and figure out what I can still blog about.  Will Dan Reed or Jo Shapiro call me at my office number to yell at me for breaking the news that Jasper Johnson just broke Kevin Lyde's record for highest BMI ever in the D-League - 46 (probably not true)?  Will my owners get mad if I slip in a "Mike Sanders deserved a head coaching job" post after all of the D-League positions are filled?  Will I have to deal with Blake Ahearn going off on me in person when I don't have him at the top of my call-up lists?  Is TorosGirl going to start commenting on everything I write and tell me I'm playing favorites because I work for the Wizards and not her beloved Toros?  Will referee Kevin Cutler seek me out before the game and chokeslam me backstage while I'm finding out how many will call tickets he needs because I mention a new officials Ed Hochuli-esque biceps and shining forehead instead of his?

I don't know, but I'm not counting any of those scenarios out.

Thus, I'm taking some time off from exclusive D-League blogging.  I may not be done forever, but will not write much about the D-League for awhile - at least until I can figure out how to safely intertwine this blog with that of a real live job (with a real, but not live, paycheck).  I do want to keep this going however, as I feel it's a great asset for the D-League and something I believe many of those around the league appreciate, if not the D-League itself.

Therefore, if any of my readers are aspiring D-League followers, get at me - RidiculousScott (at) Gmail (dot) com.  You wouldn't have to take over (I ain't leaving), but if you'd like to blog about your team, get a credential to the home games, feel as big time as I do and get all of the other D-League blogging benefits (they're plentiful), let me know.  If no one is interested?  A new (milder) me will be back I'm sure - if you'll all accept me.

And it's official - Congrats Head Coach Fritz!

I've heard from multiple sources that Tony Fritz is the man in Sioux Falls, but Fritz himself couldn't confirm, hence the question mark.  If not, well, consider this a good background on another D-League assistant.

Fritz is a bit of an unknown to the casual fan, but he shouldn't be.  According to his bio on the Skyforce website:

Fritz was originally hired as a coaching intern when Paul Woolpert took over as head coach of the Sun Kings 32 games into the 1997-98 season. He was promoted to assistant coach the following season and remained on staff until the franchise was forced to shut down when the CBA ceased operations in February of 2001. The franchise returned for the 2002-03 season after a one-year hiatus and Fritz was hired to serve as the assistant coach for Bill Bayno. After teaching and coaching high school basketball for two seasons Fritz was reunited with Coach Woolpert in Yakima from 2005-07. He has been on the bench for four (‘00, ‘03, ‘06, ‘07) of the franchise's five CBA championships.

If you're not familiar with Woolpert, he was the head coach of Tulsa this past season and is probably best CBA coach since Phil Jackson and George Karl.  He struggled in the D-League, but with the roster he was given, P-Jax probably would have struggled as well.

Fritz then joined Nate Tibbetts in the D-League, who is the new Tulsa head coach after taking over for Woolpert last month - bit of a triangle.  Anyway, with Fritz as assistant, the Skyforce are 53-47, which doesn't stand out, but the Central Division has been the toughest division, top-to-bottom, both seasons.

Overall, Fritz seems to have paid his dues, coming up through the ranks and learning from some of the best minor league coaches around.  If he's learned anything from these guys, and I think he has, Sioux Falls shouldn't drop off much, if at all, even after losing a top young coach to Tulsa - especially since they have found another!

As an aside, this makes me wonder about Bob MacKinnon and Randy Livingston, who were rumored to be the other two candidates.  MacKinnon is the reigning D-League champion coach and is, if I'm right, 0-for-2 with head coaching jobs this offseason.  Makes me wonder. 

Written by Jon L, published by me.  Enjoy -- Scott

I don't think we linked to it before, but I want to talk about D-League President Dan Reed's latest "Reed and Write," in which he lists his top 10 NBA playoff performers who used to play in the D-League. The contributions of former D-League players probably got more attention in the previous round, with Dahntay Jones and Chris Andersen both playing significant roles, for the Denver Nuggets, but both the Lakers and Magic (along with several other playoff teams) have some key contributors who saw D-League time.

Before I say what I found interesting about Reed's list, here it is without comments:

Rafer Alston, Shannon Brown, Chris Andersen, Aaron Brooks, Marcin Gortat, Von Wafer, Jose Barea, Dahntay Jones, Will Bynum and Anthony Johnson.

Notice anything? Eight of those ten players are guards. Seeing that got me to thinking about whether guards and wing players have an easier time making the NBA from the D-League or prove to be bigger contributors once they get there. Here are some of the other significant playoff contributors who spent some time in the D-League: Jordan Farmar, Mikki Moore, Brandon Bass, Chuck Hayes, Jamario Moon, Daequan Cook, Louis Williams, C.J. Miles. (And there are a few arguments to be made about players included/excluded from Reed's list, most notably to me Chuck Hayes, who probably had a bigger impact on his team than Shannon Brown has had on his, but that's not really related to the discussion here). Again, there are a few big men but mostly guards and small forwards (which is what I consider Bass).

There are a few questions involved in this. First, are guards/wings more likely to make the NBA out of the D-League? Second, if they're not more likely, do they at least make a greater contribution to their teams than big men? And third, and more generally, do NBA teams assign more guards and wings to their D-League affiliates than big men? We'll take a deeper look at these issues after the jump.

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