Check out Erie BayHawks guard/forward D.J. Kennedy as he prepares for the 2012-13 D-League season with hopes of returning to the NBA
After averaging 15.7 points in 44 regular-season games as a rookie last season with the BayHawks, Kennedy spent time with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Memphis Grizzlies.
D.J. Kennedy
Here’s an interview Erie BayHawks point guard D.J. Kennedy did the day he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.
The Cavaliers will play their final home game Wednesday night against the Washington Wizards.
A 6-foot, 6-inch, 215-pound shooting guard out of St. John’s Kennedy joined BayHawks teammate Donald Sloan, who earlier this year signed with the Cavaliers for the rest of the season.
Cleveland also had BayHawks small forward Mychel Thompson at the start of this shortened 2011-12 season before waiving him in February.
Kennedy averaged 15.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 44 regular-season games. In the playoffs, the Pittsburgh native averaged 14.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists.
The Cavaliers were once an NBA affiliate of the BayHawks before Erie became hybrid partners with the New York Knicks.
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.
Former St. John's standout guard D.J. Kennedy (1) is close to getting back on the court./AP Photo.
D.J. Kennedy is feeling good.
Coming off a season-ending knee injury in his senior season at St. John’s, the 6-foot, 5-inch guard says he’s “real close” to being ready to play for the Erie BayHawks.
“I think right now it’s getting used to the offense, getting a feel for the game,” Kennedy said. “Just touching up on the little things. Probably be ready to go after that.”
Kennedy is currently a practice player for the BayHawks (0-2), but he’s expected to see some action for them in the near future.
“This is helping me get healthy,” said Kennedy, who was invited to training camp after participating in a free-agent tryout. “Just getting used to the speed of the game again.
“Just really dusting myself off and getting the techniques and all the fundamentals back right. Working on that. This is just a great opportunity for me to go against them everyday and get back in the flow of things.”
During training camp, Kennedy felt as if the way he played at St. John’s would be enough to give him a chance to stick with Erie even though he was coming back from ligament damage to his knee.
Mychel Thompson/Photo by Rob Englehardt/ETN
After starting training camp Nov. 9, the Erie BayHawks had their media day Thursday and an evening practice at the LECOM Health and Wellness Center.
Here are a few notables:
1. General manager of basketball operations, Allan Houston, hasn’t been in Erie for camp, but is expected to arrive this weekend on Sunday. Erie coach Jay Larranaga said he doesn’t plan to cut a player until Houston has seen the group.
Houston is the assistant general manager with the New York Knicks, who are in a hybrid partnership with the BayHawks.
2. Two players – D.J. Kennedy (knee) of St. John’s and Al Nolen (foot) out of Minnesota – haven’t practiced due to injury. Both had surgeries in their final college seasons.
3. Larranaga hoped to use practice players in camp and had one in 7-footer Jeff Foote, but received a notice from the D-League that teams can’t use practice players in training camp. Larranaga knew Foote from when he was an assistant at Cornell.
Sundiata Gaines?
Who is this guy.
The D-League knows him well and now the Cleveland Cavaliers will never forget him.
Early this Friday morning, Gaines, who starred in the D-League for the Idaho Stampede, hit a game-winning 3-pointer for the Utah Jazz to beat the Cavs, 97-96, at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
It’s things like this that give the D-League the legitimacy it needs to stay afloat.
Whenever a guy gets an NBA call up like Gaines did, it means he can play, but when he delivers in an NBA game particularly against a title contender like the Cavaliers, it means much more.
