Averaging 27.1 points and 10.5 boards, Mike Harris was a man on the inside for Rio Grande Valley this season.
I’m sitting here looking at the All-NBA D-League teams and that first-team squad is nice, but then I checked out the honorable mention list.
Hmmmm.
I could pick five guys from that list and seriously challenge the first team.
The Springfield Armor have had enough of Mike Gansey.
Last Wednesday, Gansey made two free throws with 5.2 seconds left to beat the Armor in Erie, 95-94. He finished with a game-high 25 points after missing five games with a bruised calf.
Today, he hit the game-winning basket with eight seconds left as the BayHawks (12-16) won, 93-91, at Springfield (5-19). Once again, Gansey was the high-point man with 27 points. He played all 48 minutes for the second straight game in a back-to-back situation.
“That’s the fight that I have right now. I mean, even though I’m hurt and we a man down already so. We’ve got to do anything to get a win. If they would have had to cut it off, I was playing tonight. We just needed a win bad.”
Clinkscales is all heart for Erie.
You’ve got to love his heart.
There he was. Cliff Clinkscales. The pride of Jamacia Queens, N.Y.
He had just knocked down a jump shot in the second half of Erie’s 95-94 win against Springfield and landed on an Armor defender.
Badly twisting his right ankle, Clinkscales got up, got back on defense and kept playing until the whistle blew. He limped off the court and later returned to the game.
He ended the game limping onto the court to congratulate Jackie Manuel for his defensive stop on Morris Almond to seal the game for Erie, but Clinkscales days’ may be numbered in Erie.
Final: Erie 108, Springfield Armor 94
High scorers: Morris Almond (SPR) 37 points, Donell Taylor (ERI) 24 points, Alade Aminu (ERI) 22 points, Jackie Manuel (ERI) 20 points.
High rebounders: John Bryant (ERI) 13 rebounds; Manuel (ERI) 9 rebounds.
High assists: Cedric Jackson (ERI) 13 assists; Cliff Clinkscales (ERI) 11 assists; JamesOn Curry (SPR) 11 assists.
Double-doubles: Bryant (ERI) 19 points, 13 rebounds; Curry (SPR) 14 points, 11 assists.
Local look: Kyle Goldcamp (ERI) 0 points (0-of-0 shooting) and a block in two minutes, 14 seconds.
Biggest lead: Erie led by 23 points, 53-30 with five minutes, seven seconds left in the half.
Next game for Erie (3-7): at 8-1 Iowa (Saturday, 7 p.m.)
Rookie Sonny Weems scored a game-high 25 points in leading Colorado to a D-League title after the 14ers won Game 2 against Utah on Friday night.
They run and gun. Press and never rest.
And now Colorado is the D-League’s best.
After finishing the regular season with the league’s best record, the 14ers are the D-League champions after winning Game 2 of the D-League Finals, 123-104, Friday night at the Broomfield Event Center.
In Friday’s win, the 14ers (38-16) had three players score at least 21 points with Denver Nuggets rookie Sonny Weems scoring a game-high 25 points. Josh Davis and Joe Dabbert each added 21 points.
the 14ers were up by only a point, 90-89, early in the fourth quarter before going on a 16-2 run to take a 106-91 lead with seven minutes and 44 seconds left in the game.
Morris Almond of the Utah Jazz lead the Flash (34-20) with 18 points. After winning the regular-season series, 2-0, the Flash were swept in the best-of-3 finals.
The Utah Flash advanced to the D-League Finals by beating the sixth-seeded Dakota Wizards, 103-93, Monday night in Orem, Utah.
Coach Brad Jones has Utah in the D-League Finals after the Flash beat Dakota, 103-93, Monday night.
The second-seeded Flash (34-18) will face top-seeded Colorado (38-14) in a best-of-3 series. Game 1 is in Utah on Wednesday. Game 2 will be Friday in Colorado as would Game 3 if needed on Monday, April 27.
Colorado won the regular-season series, 2-0.
Big shout out to Utah coach Brad Jones. When I worked in Jackson, Tenn., I used to cover area college basketball and Jones was a head coach of the Lambuth men’s basketball team. Lambuth is an NAIA school.
In Monday’s win, the Flash shot 51.7 percent from the field. Boston Celtics rookie forward J.R. Giddens scored a game-high 25 points.
The Celtics are one of Utah’s two NBA affiliates with the Utah Jazz being the other. The Flash had six players score in double figures with Morris Almond of the Utah Jazz being one of them. He finished with 18 points in 28 minutes.
Blake Ahearn lead the Wizards (28-24) with 22 points.
Forward Ivan Harris and the Erie BayHawks have earned a spot in the D-League playoffs, but who will they play in the first-round? With a 2-0 record against Erie, Colorado may chose to play the BayHawks.
The D-League playoffs is no longer a lump of clay.
It has finally taken shape, sort of. We won’t know the pairings until Sunday evening, but this is what we do know.
1. The divisional winners: Colorado (Southwest), Utah (West), Iowa (Central).
2. Austin is the fourth seed and will host a first-round playoff game.
3. Defending D-League champion Idaho, Dakota, Erie and Bakersfield are the remaining wild-card teams available for the divisional winners to pick to play in the first round.
4. Colorado and Austin are on one side of the bracket while Utah and Iowa are on the other side.
The question is which divisional winner will pick Erie or will all three pass on the BayHawks, thus forcing Austin to play them?
Hmmmm.
Whoever faces Erie in the playoffs better have an serious plan for how to defend Maureece Rice. He's averaging 26.2 points in his last 10 games and has scored a combined 73 points in his last two games.
The D-League playoff format is going to make things very interesting.
For those who don’t know, the three divisional winners will have home-court advantage for their first round games.
The twist to all this is they also get to pick their first-round opponent out of the four lowest wild-card teams. The divisional champion with the best record will pick first, followed by the champions with the second and third best records, respectively.
Now Erie (26-23) is among those final four wild-card teams along with Dakota (27-23) and Bakersfield (26-24). The fourth team will be determined after Saturday’s games.
So which divisional winner will pick Erie?
Maureece Rice and the Erie BayHawks play the first of back-to-back road games tonight at Utah .
Erie BayHawks (23-19) at Utah Flash (23-15)
Today, 9 p.m., McKay Center, Orem, Utah
▀ On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.nba.com/dleague (live streaming)
▀ Fast facts: Erie — The BayHawks ended a two-game losing skid with 114-106 home win against Austin on Wednesday night. Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Darnell Jackson scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in his second stint with the BayHawks, but was called back up to the Cavaliers on Thursday … Since the all-star break, Erie combo guard Maureece Rice has been averaging 24.8 points on 53.2 percent shooting from the field … Erie is seventh in the overall D-League standings as eight teams make the playoffs … The BayHawks have won 12 of their last 15 games. Utah — The Flash are 0-1 against the BayHawks, losing 101-89 in Erie last month … Utah is in the midst of an eight-game home stand. The Flash are 3-2 so far during this home stand … The Charlotte Hornets signed Utah star forward Dontrell Jefferson to a 10-day NBA contract on March 11 … The Utah Jazz assigned guard Morris Almond and center Kyrylo Fesenko to the Flash on March 7. In their five games with the Flash, Almond has averaged 24.2 points while the 7-foot Fesenko has averaged 11 points and 6.2 rebounds. Neither player has played against Erie this season.
