The Erie BayHawks will have former NBA player Joey Graham for Thursday’s game against expansion Canton. The BayHawks (22-19) got Graham, who played for the Cleveland Cavaliers last season, out of the D-League player pool. Graham, 29, also played for the Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets.

Graham’s twin brother, Stephen, is also in the D-League with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

With Joey Graham, Erie has reached its 10-man roster limit, but have only nine players available as forward Sharrod Ford is recovering from a calf injury. At 6-7, 250-pounds, Graham gives Erie an inside presence who can defend and rebound.

Jeremy Lin is at it again.

Tonight, he goes for 27 points, 11 assists and hit the game-winning 3-pointer with .5 seconds left to give the New York Knicks a 90-87 win against the Toronto Raptors.

Mychel Thompson, right, made his first start tonight for the Cleveland Cavaliers./AP Photo.

With shooting guards Daniel Gibson (neck) and Anthony Parker (back) out with injuries, former Erie BayHawks small forward Mychel Thompson got his first start for the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight.

A 6-foot-6, 211-pound rookie, Thompson had eight points on 3-of-9 shooting, four assists and three turnovers in a 93-90 loss to the Boston Celtics.

Thompson, 23, played 30 minutes, 52 seconds tonight.

In the only two games he previous played for the Cavaliers, Thompson played 14 minutes total. He had four points in 12 minutes in a 88-87 win Sunday at Boston.

in his first action for Cleveland, Thompson didn’t score and played in the final two minutes, 23 seconds of the Cavaliers’ 92-77 loss Jan. 4 at Toronto.

Here’s another one.

Solomon Alabi played 22 games for the Erie BayHawks last season when they were affiliated with the Toronto Raptors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The 7-footer averaged just 7.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks for Erie as a rookie last season. Someone that tall should dominate the D-League. So if anyone needs development, it’s him.

Now he’s back in the D-League as the Raptors sent him down to the Bakersfield Jam today. Erie is now an hybrid partner with the New York Knicks.

At least the weather will be better for him in Bakersfield. It’s 25 degrees in Erie, 57 in Bakersfield.

When Alabi played with fire and emotion as you will see below when he dunks on Miami Heat young big man Dexter Pittman, who was with Sioux Falls at the time, he was effective, but he has a laid back personality.

Plus he couldn’t stay out of foul trouble. He averaged 3.27 fouls a game.

“Tried to help in his development as much as we could, but I also see the Raptors’ perspective of it and maybe it not be worth it for him to be down here and only playing 15 minutes a game.” – Erie coach Jay Larranaga on Solomon Alabi, who the Toronto Raptors recalled Monday.

Toronto Raptors rookie center Solomon Alabi never seemed to find his groove with the Erie BayHawks this season.

Third time was not a charm for Solomon Alabi.

In his third and final stint with the the Erie BayHawks, the 7-foot-1 center of the Toronto Raptors only played an average of 15.1 minutes in 11 games. NBA teams can send down their first and second-year players to NBA affiliates up to three times in a single season.

Now Alabi shot 11-of-16 from the field in his final run with Erie, but averaged just 5.5 points those 11 games.

So Erie coach Jay Larranaga wasn’t surprised the Raptors called Alabi, 23, back up Monday. In 22 games, Alabi averaged 7.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.82 blocks.

“Difficult situation for everybody,” Larranaga said after Tuesday’s practice. “First of all, Solomon is a great kid. He’s a hard worker. A very good basketball player, but he’s young. The reason he was down here was to get playing experience. Our situation was difficult because we added more veteran guys. We added Erik Daniels. With how well Kyle (Goldcamp) and Ivan (Johnson) and Tas(min Mitchell) had been playing, it was a lot of good players for not enough minutes.

“So I totally understand the Raptors’ point of view. Did my best to get Solomon as much playing time as I felt I could while still being fair to the other players and still put in the best position for the playoffs. Felt very fortunate to have much as much as we did this year. Tried to help in his development as much as we could, but I also see the Raptors’ perspective of it and maybe it not be worth it for him to be down here and only playing 15 minutes a game.”

Erie's first-year coach, Jay Larranaga, has the BayHawks in playoff contention.

So far, so good for the Erie BayHawks.

With a new head coach, the Erie BayHawks are 17-9 heading into Friday’s game at Maine against the Red Claws (11-16).

Last season, Erie only won 21 games.

This season’s record is a bit skewed because the BayHawks are playing in the East Conference, which has only two teams with winning records, but they win at conference leader Iowa (19-7) on Christmas Day, 114-110 after losing to the Energy on a last-second shot on the road.

Jay Larranaga had never been a head coach in the states and his only head coaching experience was with the Irish National Team, but so far, he’s shown why Erie hired him to replace John Treloar, who left to become the Director of Player Personnel for the Phoenix Suns.

Read the rest of this entry »

Still raw, 7-footer Solomon Alabi still needs work.

He’ll be back, I think.

The Toronto Raptors recalled 7-foot-1 rookie center Solomon Alabi today after his second stint with the Erie BayHawks.

I’d bet he’ll return to the team for a third and final run later this season. NBA team can send their first and second-year players up to three times a season.

In the four games he played on his second stint, Alabi averaged 9.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. His second run was successful at times, strange in others.

The good: Alabi had a career-high 20 points and 11 rebounds against Maine on Jan. 9. Really showed moves around the basket and was aggressive.

The bad: In his three other games in his second stint with Erie against Sioux Falls, Idaho and Rio Grande Valley, Alabi totaled 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Read the rest of this entry »

The BayHawks will look to win their fourth straight game today against Maine at Tullio Arena.

Maine Red Claws (9-10) at Erie BayHawks (12-6)

Sunday, 2 p.m., Tullio Arena.
▀  On the air: WFNN-AM 1330; www.nba.com/dleague/

Players to watch
▀  Erie — PF Ivan Johnson (Leads team in scoring at 17.6 points a game. Johnson had a game-high 25 points in a 97-91 win against Sioux Falls on Friday night. … C Solomon Alabi (A rookie with the Toronto Raptors, Alabi had eight points, six rebounds, four fouls and three blocks in 14 minutes, 51 seconds. It’s the least amount of playing time he’s had in his eight games with Erie. … SG Kyle Spain (Heading into Saturday’s games, he was eighth in the D-League in 3-point shooting at 48.7 percent – 19-of-39. The seven players ahead of him had attempted a combined total of 35 three-pointers before Saturday’ s games.

Read the rest of this entry »