bedsitter23 | Entries tagged with they're playing basketball

Each year, we try to get to the Iowa Wolves. They are part of the NBA's Gatorade sponsored G League.

The nature of Basketball is that Minor League doesn't quite translate from Baseball.

That said, the NBA is trying to make it that way, and with what they call two-way players, there are guys on the court who have and will spend time in the NBA.

It is with this, that the local team has been rebranded the Iowa Wolves and is linked closely with the Minnesota Timberwolves, a relatively "short" drive up I35.

In the past, this team was branded the Iowa Energy, and had various ties to teams like the Suns, the Bulls, and the Grizzlies. This night was a nostalgia night for those days. In fact, Nick Nurse was on hand to receive appreciation. Nurse's career yells persistence, and the Iowa team was a big part of that. He was a college assistant coach, then a Junior College coach, and then a coach in the British Basketball League for six years. he would coach in Belgium and in the USBL before getting a chance to helm the Iowa Energy as their inaugural head coach.

From 2007-2011, the Energy were top of the standings and won the League Trophy in 2011. Nurse would become assistant coach for the NBA's Toronto Raptors, then head coach, and this summer, they won the NBA Finals. It's a great story.

It is nice to have a place where local college stars can play and try to break into the NBA. This has been something the Iowa team has done, and this year is no different.

Lindell Wigginton was a star at Iowa State. He applied for the NBA Draft, but ultimately was undrafted.

He looks good playing for the Wolves, and had 16 points and 5 rebounds. The only Iowa player with more points was Jaylen Nowell, who is one of those players who is "assigned" by the NBA team. Nowell was drafted in the second round and was Pac12 player of the year for Washington.

Two other players who had double digit scores and have an affiliation with the Minnesota team are Naz Reid (6' 9" Center/Forward from LSU), and Jordan McLaughlin (5'11" Guard from USC). Coming off the bench with big nights were James Webb III (Forward from Boise State, who played 10 games for the Brooklyn Nets) and Trevon Duval (Guard from Duke, who played 3 games last year for the Milwaukee Bucks).

One thing I noticed that maybe you can tell from the descriptions is that there was a lot of NBA caliber talent. In the past, there were always a couple, but there certainly is more breadth of talent.

The Agua Caliente Clippers (affiliated with the Los Angeles Clippers) took the lead early and never gave it up. In the past, these games have been ping-pong affairs, but this one was never in doubt, as Iowa shot horribly. Still, these are always action-packed and fun. 130-102 was the final score.

The Clippers had Jonathan Motley. Motley was a star at Baylor and played 33 games in the NBA for the Clippers and the Mavericks. He is considered by Ridiculous Upside as the best player in the G League currently. His 30 points and 10 rebounds were only bested by James Palmer Jr (undrafted by the NBA. He was a star at Nebraska).

Current Music: Harper Simon - Division Street
Crossposts: https://bedsitter23.livejournal.com/1201495.html

This time of year is when I get my taste of Missouri Valley Conference basketball and particularly, Southern Illinois University. Like last year, I am going to see both of their games in Iowa.

SIU finished second in the MVC last year, finishing to Loyola who everyone remembers had a very talented team. SIU essentially returns all five of their starters. They took a gamble in the first part of the year (nonconference play) and booked games against some good teams- Kentucky, Buffalo (twice), Winthrop, and UMass. The gamble though didn't pay off as they were not able to win any of these.

They won their first game in Conference play, which then brought them to Cedar Falls to play Northern Iowa.

This game was a bit of a struggle for everyone in the first half. Coach Barry Hinson would claim it was the angriest he'd ever been at Halftime in his seven-plus years at SIU. He had never seen a game where his guards did not have one assist (in his anger, Barry had missed the fact they had two). Still ,the first half was rough for everyone and SIU led 26-24 at Half.

SIU would dominate the second half and win fairly easily 58-51.

SIU is led by the 6-10 Senior Kavion Pippen (nephew of the Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen). Pippen had 18. Junior Guard Aaron Cook had 14 and Senior Marcus Bartley had 13. Junior Guard Aaron McGill led the team in rebounds with 8, led in steals with 4 and scored 7. With injuries and suspension, the Salukis only had only three come off the bench including Freshman Darius Beane, whose brother Anthony was a star at SIU a few years back.

Freshman Guard AJ Green led UNI with 16 and Sophomore Trae Bertow had a double-double with 11 points and 11 assists. UNI has had a rough start, but apparently have some real talent in their lower classes.

Current Music: The Kinks - Low Budget

The NBA G League goes into year #2.

One of my favorite local sports is watching the minor league Basketball team. Last year, the Developmental League was given a Gatorade sponsorship and the NBA is trying to make it like a real minor league, even claiming that half of the NBA roster has G-/D-League experience.

I am not sure they are making the case, but it sure is fun to watch, and it is likely the closest to NBA talent you will see besides the real thing.

The Wolves came back from a 10-pint halftime deficit to win 118-111 over the Texas Legends.

The Wolves have a couple of stories. The biggest being Hakim Warrick who led the team with 23 points. Warrick at age 36, played for six NBA teams in a career that spanned from 2005 to 2013. He has since never stopped playing, playing in China, Turkey, Israel, Greece and Australia- all amont the top leagues in the world. Warrick would love to make it back to the NBA.

CJ Williams is the other big star. He's a two-way player which means he can play for the Minnesota Timberwolves if needed. He started 17 games for the LA Clippers last year, so he is a bonafide NBA player. Williams scored 14. The other two-way player is Jared Terrell, a star out of Rhode Island. He put up 19.

The Iowa Wolves of 2018-19 have a different look from the Energy/Wolves teams of the past, but they do have a lot of exciting players.Darius Johnson-Odom scored 20. Johnson-Odom is another with some NBA experience, playing 7 games in the NBA for the Lakers and 76er. Jonathan Stark was a star at Murray State and put up 16. LG Gill went to Maryland for his senior year and scored 11.

Also of note, Canyon Barry might be recognizable as son of Rick Barry (NBA star and star of those 70s Spalding ads in the back of comic books) and brother of Brent Barry. Barry, like his famous dad, shoots (and indeed shot two) underhand free throws.

On the other side of the court were similar star-caliber players. Jameel Warney, is in his second year out of Stony Brook College and RidiculousUpside called him the 8th best player in the league. Warney led his team with 20 points and 10 rebounds. The Legends also have two two-way players- in this case they can go between the Legends and the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.

Kostas Antetokounmpo put up 16. His brother Giannis is one of the biggest stars in the NBA. Daryl Macon is the other. He played one game for Dallas this year and scored 20 for the legends.

Though, it's not necessarily a "See the Stars of the Future Today" situation, it is fun basketball to watch.

Current Music: Jim Carroll- Boulder Museum reading- 1999
Crossposts: https://bedsitter23.livejournal.com/1135622.html

Des Moines has professional minor league teams in all the major sports. The city was named #1 Minor League Town by Sports Business Journal last fall.

I wanted to make sure we got to a Iowa Wolves game before the season wrapped up.

There have been big changes since last year. As i have described before, Basketball doesn't quite lend itself to the 'see the stars before they turn pro' feeling you get when you watch minor league baseball or hockey. With the required one year of college, even the best players get some time for development against top competition. Even before that rule, players like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James went from high school to the pros, because it just makes sense.

Still, James and Bryant are hall of fame talent. The NBA does realize that young stars benefit from some seasoning, so they have made some changes this year.

The first noticeable change is that the developmental league is now sponsored by Gatorade and it's called the G-League now. More pertinent though is the NBA has expanded its rosters and teams are able to designate 'two-way players' that will go back and forth between the NBA and the G-League. Also, for practical purposes, teams have been designated geographically and like Triple A baseball, assigned to a pro team.

So, the Iowa Energy, once affiliated with the Memphis Grizzlies and previously the Phoenix Suns, and sponsored by the local utility company is now rebranded as the Iowa Wolves, and is a minor league affiliate of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Though, I do appreciate the professional affiliation, I do miss the Iowa Energy name and logo. No more High Voltage dancers, but just the Wolves dancers. Also, mascot Surge has been forced to retirement, replaced by a scary looking wolf named Alpha.

Importantly, the Wolves have been pretty good and the Timberwolves are a growing young team. It makes it exciting.

This game saw them play the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, affiliates of the Houston Rockets. I do love the excitement of the G League though, like modern day NBA, it's very much an offensive showcase. The Wolves dominated the first half, though not enough to put it away, and the Vipers very much played a better second half. The Wolves stayed close to the end, but it was not enough. Vipers over Wolves by the score of 117-111.

G League teams as I mentioned above generally have about three players who have affiliation with the NBA team, and then are filled with NBA journeymen, local college heroes, and others who are keeping the NBA dream alive.

Even still, it was clear who the best players on the court. The Vipers have the 7' 1" Zhou Qi who had the longest wingpan of his class. Markel Brown has played over 100 games in the NBA and had a career game scoring 41 points, 3 steals and 12 rebounds. Chinanu Onuaku, the 6'10" center is clearly one of the better players on the team given the eye test and ahd a good game (16 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists) but also is known for his granny style free throw shooting which he displayed.

The Wolves have talent too.6'11" Center Justin Patton was a five star recruit, played a year at Creighton and drafted 16th overall. He is clearly talented, and will certainly get some time in the NBA. Patton co-led the team with 17 points. Guard Anthony Brown is on a two-way contract. He had 11 starts for the Los Angeles Lakers two years ago and has done well in the G league. He had 15. The third two-way player is Amile Jefferson who was on the 2015 NCAA champion Duke Blue Devils. He was one of the final cuts on the Timberwolves roster, but looks to getting on the team by good play with the Wolves. He had 13 points.

In a high scoring affair like this, seven Wolves had double figures, and so besides the three stars we got to see many of the Wolves well displayed. Elijah Milsap came off the bench to co-lead in scoring with 17. At 30, Milsap is one of the older players keeping the dream alive, but he has been successful. He has spent 8 years in the League, won multiple awards, and played in 69 NBA games in his career.

Similarly, Shawne Williams has been a journeymen with over 10 years of experience. He was drafted 17th overall in 2006 and has played over 300 games in the NBA for 7 different teams, playing for the Knicks 2011 playoff team, and started in 22 games for the 2014-15 Miami Heat.

Wes Washpun returns from last year's Energy team. A local star who led the University of Northern Iowa to the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2016. Washpun is always fun to watch and always a contributor. He had 12 points and 3 rebounds.

I would be remiss not to mention Melo Trimble since it was Melo Trimble jersey night. The guard had 11 points and 5 rebounds. He has had a very successful season, though in the shadow of Patton's big-league talent, Jefferson's league leading numbers, and Brown's potential, he doesn't get as many headlines. He should has big league potential.