Marvin Phillips is averaging 4.6 points in 17 games with Erie after averaging 11 in 12 games with Fort Wayne this season./Photo by Janet B. Krummerer/Erie Times-News

With two players injured, the Erie BayHawks used eight in today’s 106-81 win against Maine. Six of them scored in double figures.

Marvin Phillips is the exception to all this.

He was healthy, but didn’t play.

Why?

“Ask coach,” Phillips said after the game.

I did.

“Marvin?” Erie coach Larranaga said.

Twelve seconds later.

“I asked Marvin if he wanted to go in and he said no,” Larranaga said. “It was in the fourth quarter and it was about six minutes to go.”

Erie led 102-72 with six minutes left in the game.

Since coming to Erie from Fort Wayne in a trade for a fourth-round pick in the 2012 D-League Draft, Phillips hasn’t played in four games. Word is he wasn’t thrilled with not playing when returning to Fort Wayne for a road game against the Mad Ants on Feb. 16.

So this is nothing new.

The question is with the BayHawks being down a big man with Sharrod Ford (calf), why wouldn’t Phillips get a shot.

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Mike Gerrity averaged 7.3 points in 18 games for Erie./Photo by Janet B. Kummerer/Erie Times-News

Mike Gerrity says it’s part of business.

That’s a nice way of saying it sucks.

In a month’s time, the Erie BayHawks waived him twice with the latter coming Feb. 9.

Ten days later, the Maine Red Claws claimed him out of the D-League player pool.

Today, Gerrity, 25, returned to Erie to face his former team and somehow didn’t vent about how the BayHawks parted ways with him twice.

“It’s hard, but you understand what you’re getting yourself into at the beginning of the year,” Gerrity said. “I knew it was going to be an uphill battle all the way, but it’s about the sacrifices you’re willing to make if you love the game.”

Gerrity had four points and four assists off the bench in his return, but it wasn’t too long ago he joined Erie, was waived, rejoined Erie and got waived again.

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In celebrating the rise of Jeremy Lin, the Erie BayHawks had a “Lin-Sanity Night” tonight in which they sold Lin/BayHawks merchandise that include replica home and away jerseys.

The BayHawks won, 110-98, against Sioux Falls, who has the D-League’s worst record at 9-27, but Erie coach Jay Larranaga didn’t like how his team played.

After the game, he made a point to say his team didn’t play Lin has since getting his shot with the New York Knicks after posting a triple-double in his one game with Erie. The Knicks are Erie’s NBA hybrid affiliate.

“This was supposed to be celebrating Jeremy Lin Night,” Larranaga said. “We didn’t play like Jeremy Lin plays. Jeremy Lin plays with an energy and he doesn’t participate in games like that because he raises the level of everyone else on his team to play a certain way. So that was disappointing.”

Erie had a pre-game video in which Lin addressed the crowd in his New York Knicks jersey, an “Lin-Sanity” seating section and a trivia quiz that had four questions about Lin:

1. Where he went to college? (Harvard)
2. How many points did he score in his first start with the New York Knicks? (28)
3. On the Lin Top 10 of ESPN’s SportsCenter, where was the BayHawks’ highlight? (3rd)
4. How many days between Lin’s game with Erie and his first start with the Knicks? (17)

D.J. Kennedy

Having played in the NBA for four seasons, Erie BayHawks point guard Keith McLeod has an idea of what an NBA player looks and plays like.

In his mind, teammate D.J. Kennedy is getting closer to having that NBA look.

“He’s real close because he can do it all,” McLeod said. “If you look at the stat sheet, he’s always got eight or nine rebounds, seven or eight assists and double digit points. It’s just about the league and what they want and when they want it. His name getting out there more so people can check him out and I’m sure they know who he is.”

A 6-6 guard out of St. John’s, Kennedy is averaging 14.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 26 games, but still feels as if he’s under the NBA radar.

“Nothing has changed,” said Kennedy, who has started every game he’s played for the BayHawks. “That’s my mentality.”

In his last game before the D-League all-star break, Kennedy had 19 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds and five steals in an 97-88 loss to the Dakota Wizards.

“D.J. plays all facets of the game,” Erie coach Jay Larranaga said.

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Coming off an 113-106 win Thursday night at Fort Wayne, the Erie BayHawks will try to get a win in their final game before the all-star break tonight against Dakota at 7 at Tullio Arena.

The BayHawks (15-16) will be without point guard Keith McLeod, who injured his hamstring in Thursday’s win. Chosen to play in the next week’s D-League All-Star game, McLeod will make trip to Orlando for the game, Erie coach Jay Larranaga said after today’s shootaround at Tullio Arena.

The Wizards beat the BayHawks, 128-118, last week at Tullio Arena when they shot 75 percent from the field in the fourth quarter and made their final 11 shots.

Forward Sharrod Ford averaged 15.7 points and 10.4 rebounds in 2010-11 with Sutor Montegranaro in Italy.

The Erie BayHawks thought they had got the big man they had been scouting for a minute.

They’ll instead have to keep the player they needed to get the player they wanted.

Earlier today, a trade that sent forward Sharrod Ford to the expansion Canton Charge for forward Frank Hassell on Monday was voided because Hassell failed a team physical due to some problems with his right knee.

At Tuesday’s practice in Erie, Hassell said his knee had swollen as he had ice on it. Out of Old Dominion, Hassell said the ice was just a precaution. Turns out it was enough to stop the trade.

So Hassell, 23, returned to Canton where he was a fan favorite and Ford, 30, is with the BayHawks, who were looking to add size.

The BayHawks have been lacking size since 7-footer Chris Daniels left to play overseas in South Korea last month

When Erie got Ford out of the D-League player pool, coach Jay Larranaga had every intention of trading him because several D-League teams including Canton were interested in him.

Now they’ll play Thursday night at Fort Wayne with him. Ford, who has played overseas most of his pro career after playing at Clemson, was with the Phoenix Suns in 2005-06.

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On Monday, the Erie BayHawks added point guard Tyrone Brazelton, a 6-1, 180-pound point guard who averaged 14.4 in his senior season in helping Western Kentucky reach the Sweet 16 in 2008.

Out of Chicago, Brazelton has played professionally in Poland and Latvia. Brazelton was a college teammate of Courtney Lee, who is the NBA with the Houston Rockets.

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Here guarding NBA All-Star forward Paul Pierce, Mychel Thompson (right) started three games for the Cleveland Cavaliers./AP Photo.

Being waived by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday didn’t stop Mychel Thompson’s pursuit of making the NBA.

Just altered it.

Before returning to the Erie BayHawks for today’s 7 p.m. game against Maine at Tullio Arena, Thompson talked about being back with Erie, what he learned in Cleveland and guarding the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-point shooting — Ray Allen.

How are you feeling about coming back to Erie? “My goal is to get back into the NBA. So I felt this gives me my best opportunity. By coming back, I hope I get another chance.”

(A third-round pick in the 2011 D-League Draft, Thompson averaged 19.8 points in five games with Erie to start the 2011-12 season.)

How was your experience in Cleveland? “It was good. I learned a lot. The last few games, I got to play. It was great being out there. I felt like I finally adjusted well to the game. Got a lot of experience. Was able to start some games. Just hoping for another opportunity like that.”

(Thompson played five games for the Cavaliers. Averaging 3.6 points a game, Thompson started three games for Cleveland. He made the final 15-man roster after the Cavaliers invited him to their training camp.).

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When the Erie BayHawks play at Bakersfield against the Jam on Thursday night, it won’t be in a typical arena.

Bakersfield plays in the Jam Events Center, which is a private arena/practice facility that seats just 750. The Jam were losing money by having games at a regular arena so they decided to offer an situation in which business folks can bring clients to watch games and talk business.

“It’s a different environment,” Erie coach Jay Larranaga said.

McLeod had 22 of his 25 points in the 3rd.

The only person after Erie’s 98-93 win tonight against Sioux Falls at Tullio Arena who didn’t know Keith McLeod had 22 points in the 3rd quarter was, well, Keith McLeod.

“No clue,” McLeod said. “(I) had no clue. I knew I was making shots.”

McLeod’s hot shooting also blinded Kyle Goldcamp to the fact he had 12 points in the quarter himself.

“I honestly didn’t know because Keith was hitting everything,” Goldcamp said. “It was like, I’m going to keep trying to set screens and figure out a way for him to get open because when you have a hot hand like that, you got to keep feeding the man. That’s great. It was awesome. A great time being out there. It was a good run, but I was unaware.”

The two combined to score 34 of Erie’s 36 points in the third as the BayHawks built an 82-68 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Erie outscored Sioux Falls by 15 points in the quarter.

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