Joined: 10 Apr 2001 Posts: 65135 Location: Orange County, CA
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2017 8:59 pm Post subject:
pio2u wrote:
Wear’s Clutch Triple Fuels D-Fenders
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The D-Fenders may have led by as much as 20 points in the second half, but they still needed some late-game heroics to get the win.
Thanks to a clutch three-pointer from Travis Wear with just seconds remaining, the D-Fenders knocked off the visiting Iowa Energy on Thursday at the Toyota Sports Center, 119-118.
With the game on the line, the D-League’s third-leading scorer did what he does best: put the ball in the bucket. Tied with the Grand Rapids Drive, Vander Blue received the ball, attacked the lane and lifted up the game-winning floater to hand the D-Fenders a 123-121 victory.
* Harper 16 points 9 rebounds (4 treys)
* Zubac 8 points, 12 rebounds
* Maggette 17 points 14 assists
* Blue 25 points
* Six (6) D-Fenders scored in double figures
* D-Fenders continue their homestand vs. Oklahoma City Blue (1/12/17); followed by the Canton Charge (1/14/17).
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Oklahoma City Blue (15-9) lost a tightly fought contest, 104-102, to the Los Angeles D-Fenders (18-5) on Thursday night.
Oklahoma City led 80-71 heading into the fourth quarter and went up by as many as 10 in the period. The Blue led 96-87 with five minutes in the game, but the D-Fenders went on a 12-2 run to take the lead for good.
Harper 23, Blue 21, Wear 18, Maggette 11 & 10 assists to lead the D-Fenders.
Blue Caps D-Fenders’ Comeback With 4-Point Play Late In OT
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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Powered by a season-high 40-point performance from Vander Blue, the D-Fenders defeated the Canton Charge in an overtime thriller on Saturday night at the Toyota Sports Center, 122-118. Los Angeles overcame a 22-point deficit in the win, preserving a league-leading record that now stands at 19-5.
Joined: 10 Apr 2001 Posts: 65135 Location: Orange County, CA
Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 10:04 pm Post subject:
pio2u wrote:
D-Fenders Edge Blue, Improve To League-Best 18-5
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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Oklahoma City Blue (15-9) lost a tightly fought contest, 104-102, to the Los Angeles D-Fenders (18-5) on Thursday night.
Oklahoma City led 80-71 heading into the fourth quarter and went up by as many as 10 in the period. The Blue led 96-87 with five minutes in the game, but the D-Fenders went on a 12-2 run to take the lead for good.
Harper 23, Blue 21, Wear 18, Maggette 11 & 10 assists to lead the D-Fenders.
Magette was clutch for 2 3-point shots late. Harper kept coughing up the bball late. Blue went Iso 3x in a row, converted on 2 floaters, one was an And 1. _________________ Resident Car Nut.
The 19-year old rookie wants to do whatever it takes to be great.
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When Ivica Zubac woke up on Saturday morning, the first thing he thought of wasn’t making history. As just the 10th player ever to play in both a D-League and NBA game in the same day he would do just that, but Zubac’s mind stretched back to his first game with a major pro team on loan, which he played after participating in a game earlier that day with his lower division team.
After three straight wins in the last minute of regulation, the D-Fenders somehow decided to become even more clutch, beating Canton with just a few ticks left in overtime.
After trailing by as many as 22 points in the the third quarter, the D-Fenders made up ground in a flash, and Vander Blue came through with the game on the line. With 2.5 seconds left in the extra period, he rose up, absorbed contact from his defender and sunk the go-ahead 3-pointer from the top of the arc.
Blue then completed the four-point play and Josh Magette stole the Charge’s inbound pass to steal the 122-118 win.
D-League Digest Mid-Season Awards
D-Fenders mentioned: Vander Blue (MVP) & David Nwaba (DPOY)
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With the D-League Showcase tipping off today, the staff at D-League Digest decided to reward the players who have performed exceptionally well through the first-half of the season with our Mid-Season Awards. Here are our picks for Rookie, Defensive, Most Improved and MVP (of the mid-season).
D-League Digest Mid-Season Awards
D-Fenders mentioned: Vander Blue (MVP) & David Nwaba (DPOY)
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With the D-League Showcase tipping off today, the staff at D-League Digest decided to reward the players who have performed exceptionally well through the first-half of the season with our Mid-Season Awards. Here are our picks for Rookie, Defensive, Most Improved and MVP (of the mid-season).
Has Nwaba still played really well? I heard he was great on defense earlier this season
I haven't watched many d-league games this season, but from what little I've seen of him, his defense appears to be NBA caliber. I saw the Charge vs D-fenders game for Zubac, but Nwaba's defense won them the game. On the offensive end, he was overpowering other guards/bigs for offensive rebounds. Defensively, he put the clamps on Kay Felder, who iso'd us to death in the summer league. Felder is undersized but there's a reason he's on a NBA team -- when his game is on, he's difficult to guard out of the PnR . Jacobs (one of the better defensive PGs on the team) couldn't keep up with Felder in that game, so Nwaba got the assignment and shut him down in crunch time. He has a defensive motor that really can't be taught. He did a good job of bodying up Felder without fouling him. I think it's a matter of time before Nwaba gets picked up by a team like the Pistons or Grizzles.
In the eyes of an NBA scout, Nwaba's potential DPOY has more weight than Vander Blue's potential MVP. Nwaba passes the niche role test and fills an immediate need. In an earlier post, I discussed why Nwaba's game translates better to the NBA. It was a rebuttal to a post saying Zubac needed to dominate the d-league to play well in the NBA:
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If I had a nickel for everyone who said "dominate the d-league so you can be good in the NBA", I'd be a millionaire. That's not quite how the d-league works. NBA scouts evaluating the d-league games have the toughest job in of all professional sports. Contrary to popular belief, they are not looking for players who dominate the d-league. If that were the case, you'd pull up the stat sheet and give guys like Jabari Brown, Vander Blue, Jordan McRae, Josh Magette multi-million dollar contracts. They are looking for niche role players, that is, players that would presumably perform well in certain roles for NBA teams -- things like defense, hustle, three point shooting, making that extra pass will almost always get noticed over scoring. Guys like Tyler Johnson and Jonathan Simmons put up meager stats, but scouts saw the translatable elements. And guess what? They turned out to be correct.
As an FYI, Tarik Black and Anthony Brown were mediocre in the d-league last season. Black was a foul machine and Brown shot around 40%. They looked bad, but it wasn't because they weren't NBA caliber. In contrast, Ryan Kelly looked like the GOAT but nothing about his d-league game translated to the NBA. He was the Amare Stoudemire of the d-league, but none of it mattered. He wasn't able to fill any niche role in the NBA game.
Remember Julian Jacobs? That rookie who was invited to the Lakers training camp, but failed to make the roster? He's never going to dominate the d-league. Not even close. He does, however, perform well in that niche role scouts are looking for. Perhaps that would explain why he received the training camp invite over the best players in the d-league. You can bet that Coby Karl will put in a good word for him, because I do see him as a future NBA talent. His game has far more translatability than Jabari Brown's right now.
Zubac doesn't just pass the "niche role" test with flying colors, but his outside shooting would be a commodity for the Lakers right now. He fits that "all offense, no defense" thing they currently have going, even though he's probably a better defender than advertised. And so what if he plays like Jokic? At the very least, he's able to develop and get NBA level experience. I think people need look up the Lakers defensive rankings with Randle or Black at center. They are last or next to last in most of the important categories. There is NO defense, but they understand that it's about development when Randle is playing center.
Nwaba plays excellent defense for the D-fenders and would probably be one of the best defensive player on the Lakers if he were on the squad.
His game could, as 2000 stated above, translate well to the NBA because he has a skill set (defensively) that could fill an immediate need for some NBA team.
However his all-around game is raw and still evolving. He is not quite ready, at this point, to earn a spot on an NBA team.
The L.A. D-Fenders fall 118-113 to Sioux Falls Sky-Force in their first game of the D-League Showcase, snapping a six-game win streak.
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Vander Blue led Los Angeles with 28 points, including three three-pointers. Josh Magette recorded 19 points and a game-high 14 assists and Justin Harper added 19 points for the D-Fenders, who had their seven-game winning streak snapped.
Next Game: (NBA-TV)
D-League Showcase - Los Angeles D-Fenders v Texas Legends
Sunday, January 22 at 3 PM - 6 PM
Hershey Centre, Mississauga, Ontario L4Z 4B6
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