The Case for a Kurz and Lafayette Call Up

There has been some great happenings in the league for the past few weeks, as many players have received call ups to the NBA. For example, Cartier Martin just got called up to the Washington Wizards, Cedric Jackson from Erie was just called up to the Wizards, and Mustafa Shakur from Tulsa was just picked up by the OKC Thunder. With all these happenings going around, I would like to make the case for two of players to receive call ups -- Rob Kurz and Oliver Lafayette.

In the case for Rob Kurz, I would point out that Rob is a stretch four that is going to keep a defense spread for any team with a penetrator. Rob is averaging 17.2 ppg and 10.1 rpg, and he is currently 6th in the league with 20 double-doubles on the season. He is shooting 42% from three this year, and he is always a threat from outside. Yet, I think he has proven this year that he is much more than just a spot up shooter. Coach Meyer has challenged him to be a better inside scorer and defender, and his post game has grown by leaps and bounds. As for defense, he is very strong and able to get other bigs off their sweet spot in the post, and he has been a phenomenal rebounder at 10.1 per game (4th best in the league). Rob was with the Golden State Warriors last year, and I think he is a far better and much more well rounded player than he was last year with the Warriors. He would definitely make an NBA team better.

Oliver Lafayette is not a name that jumps out at people, but he has been unbelievable the past few weeks and is a real stat stuffer. Here are his numbers for the month of March: 22 ppg, 6.5 apg, and 5 rpg. During our last seven games, where we have won six of those games, Oliver has been at his best. During that stretch, he is averaging 24.15 ppg, 8.58 apg, and 5 rpg. And, impressively, he has been doing that against excellent competition in Keith Mcleod, Cedric Jackson, Jackie Manuel (one of the best defenders in the league), and Russell Robinson. I think, most impressively, he is finishing games well. In other words, when the game is near the end, he is invariably making plays that get us the win, and I think that separates him from being just another guy scoring 20 in a losing effort. Further, beyond his offensive prowess, he has done a great job defensively. He is clearly the best help defender that we have had in our three years -- he just has a knack for being in the right spot at the right time, and he should be lauded for that. Not sure if he will get a call up, but I hope he starts to get into the conversation with how well he has played recently.

Well, there is my clearly biased two cents! Love to hear what others think!

A Humble Milestone

Another great effort from the team tonight against Springfield. After getting up at 3 am to travel to Springfield, the Ants gutted out a tough 108-88 win against the Armor. I couldn't be prouder of what this team has been able to do the last few weeks, and this team has pushed us to a record number of wins in a season -- 20. Yes, this is the first time we have cracked 20 wins. I guess you have to start somewhere, and the entire team should be proud of the way they are finishing the season. Trust me, I am sure there are other teams in a similar circumstance that is just playing out the string. Our team is playing their best basketball of the year. Congrats guys, and let's get two more!

Hilarious Clip

I was reading some tweets tonight (I know, very pathetic), and I saw our favorite D-League blogger Scott Schroeder say something very funny. I'm not sure if he was referring to the following clip, but it is very apropos. Check out the hilarity!

A New Streak!

What a great win for our boys! All seven players in double figures, and Rod Wilmont hits the shot of his life with the shot clock winding down to put the Ants up 4. From there, O -- who is an unbelievable finisher -- took the game home by hitting some monster free throws to ice the game. O has been one of the best players in the league the last three weeks, and I hope he starts getting some of the attention he deserves. He put in another 33 points tonight and hit a big bucket whenever we needed it. Another contribution of note -- Carlos English was spectacular on offense and on defense today. A great team win for our boys, and now they will continue their outstanding play for two games in Springfield. Go Ants!

A New Streak Starts Today!

This will be a test of the power of positive thinking. We lost the other day to Erie, but I think we would have won that game but for some errant shooting. We had a lot of great looks at the hoop, but couldn't do knock them down -- it happens.

Sondy is out again today due to a severe eye injury (and for likely the season) and Booyer is a game time decision. So, lots of playing time for the guys today.




As you can see, I am starting my day off right after my morning run (5 miles, on my way back to the 6 I had been doing before eveything froze outside), and I am still out in Seattle for the funeral. Nice to be with family, but certainly miss Julie and the kids. Off to visit the best workout guy I know, Steve Gordon, and then watch the game. Go Ants!


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Big Time Win for the Ants

What a big win last night for the guys. They were down 24-10 after the first quarter (24-10?!), and lost Sean Sonderleiter for the night due to an awful eye injury. I am not sure what is going to happen with Sean, but I am worried we will not have him back for the rest of the year. After that awful news, the team battled back behind Rob Kurz and Rod Wilmont and took the lead at halftime. From there, we kept battling and took a lead on a clutch, clutch three from DeWitt Scott on a beautiful reversal from Rod with DeWitt waiting wide open in the corner. From there, the team got stops and Oliver Lafayette finished things by working the pick and roll to perfection and either getting a layup or getting fouled. Oliver, in my opinion, has been playing as well as any player in the league for the past two weeks, and I hope he gets recognition for it. He has become more than a guy who just gets 20 in a losing cause -- he is now becoming a first rate finisher in this league and getting his points while winning. That is something that I believe separates players, and I am really pleased to see his development.

Every player on the roster contributed, and I thought Rob Kurz had his best game since coming back from that awful leg injury. He was just a stud down low, and we certainly needed him after Sondy's injury. Ryan Ayers was an assassin from outside, and I thought AK battled his heart out against some big guys in John Bryant and Mike Sweetney. Again, great game for the Ants, and I don't think they are done. I think we are going to see more wins for the team on this road trip. Great job team and great job to Coach Meyer and his staff!

Out of Pocket

What a wonderfully pretentious phrase, and I admit I use it just to sound important. I first ran across this saying in Chicago while talking to some attorney (maybe my wife, who, by the way, is a brilliant attorney. First in her class at Harvard Law -- put that in your pipe and smoke it!), and it generally means that I will be on a plane for the next six hours. I have had a very unfortunate passing in my family, and I am on my way back to Seattle for the next six days. A long time away, but that is just the way the timing worked.

I will, however, be in the west coast in time for our game, which I will watch with my Dad. I think he is as emotionally invested in this team as I am, and he can be pretty hard core when they are not playing well. In fact, I have begin to think he is one of the guys who hammers me on this blog! In any event, it will be nice to see my family despite the awful circumstances.

So, while I watch our team Play the Erie Bayhawks tonight, I will be watching to see if we continue the reasons for our strong play -- playing hard, playing smart, and playing together. Erie is an proved team, but we will be fine if the team continues doing those three things. It should be fun!

Alright, the plane is about to take off. For obvious reasons, I will be hit and miss for the next week. If you need your Mad Ants fix, be sure to hit up Garrett Martz's blog or Jeff Johnson's blog, which is an interesting take on both hoops and wine. Who doesn't love liquor! Thanks for reading, and hope to be back on soon.





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A Fantastic Finish

Sorry for the delay on this, but I was exhausted yesterday and quite busy. Getting right into the other night, I thought our final game was one of the best we have ever had. The play, the entertainment, and the fans were beyond the best. And, we won! How great is that?

I thought the team has played its best basketball of the year in these last three games. They have played hard and unselfish, and I couldn't be happier for them all. The improvements in Ayers, Sondy, AK, Oliver, and especially Rod Wilmont (to name a few) have been really fun to watch. This is the time of year teams with records like ours just phone it in or play out the string, but our guys are improving and playing their best basketball, and that is a testament to their character and professionalism.

It also is a testament to our great coaching staff. They have always had our guys prepared and ready to go, and I could not be more pleased with what they have done in difficult circumstances. I see much brighter days in our future with Coach Meyer at the helm!

As for the great night, I would like to take a moment to congratulate our wonderful staff. These are the people who -- win or lose -- make sure that everyone in the stands is having a great night. Equally important, they make sure there are people in the stands!

Jeff Johnson is our VP of Sales and Marketing, and he does a great job of being active in the community and making sure everyone feels at home. Garrett Martz and Kyle Thoms are our account executives, but they do a little bit of everything, and they are the hardest working and most unselfish people in the office. They will take on any task -- including putting on a mascot's uniform -- for this team, and we would be nowhere without them.

Heidi Busch has taken our games to new levels with her creativity and sense of fun when it comes to our game ops. She weaves in fun games, funny clips on the video board, and outstanding halftime acts. She works really well with our fantastic threesome that keep the games moving along and exciting -- Jerrdog (MC), Ace McKay (On Court MC), and Josh Helton (music). They are all excellent and keep the fun at a high level.

Finally, Sarah Wladecki, our VP of Administration, does just about everything for this office and doesn't get nearly the credit she deserves. She runs merchandise, she takes orders, she is our CFO -- she does it all, and we would be absolutely sunk without her.

I think what is best about the staff is how they all work together so well and care about each other. There is no pettiness, and they all want to see their coworkers succeed. I am very lucky to be working with these people, and I wanted to take a moment to let you know how great they are.

In the end, what makes all the hard work worth it for us is what happened after our last game. We set up tables for fans to get every player's autograph, and the line was huge. In fact, it took about an hour for everyone to get through. Here is a little video I took with my phone:

It is unbelievably rewarding to see people having fun at our games and even want to stay that long after a game to get an autograph!

My final thanks is to you, our fans. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful set of fans who come out to our parties every night. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, but we always have a great time with you all, and we hope that you will keep on coming out. Thank you again for such a wonderful year, and we look forward to doing it again next year!

Catch Our Breath

After a blowout game like last night, it certainly allows me and some others who sit around me to finally take a breath and enjoy a basketball game. It was a dominating effort from our team tonight, and I am so pleased with a couple of things from our team. Let's go to bullet points for my thoughts on the night:

• Usually when you head to this part of the season and a team is out of the playoff hunt, you will see guys just try to play out the string, but I have not seen that with our guys. The team loses an NBA level point guard after losing two NBA level players in Howard and Reiner, and they just keep playing hard and playing together. It has been very fun to watch and kudos to both the players and the staff for keeping this team together.
• A lot of why this team has played so well is the guy above. Oliver Lafayette has been just fantastic for us. Oliver has shown amazing versatility this season the way he has jumped from the 2 to the 1 and back as the team needs. After leading the team in scoring last night, O played the role of distributor with double figure assists. I think it is easy to find players who can score twenty in losing causes, but I think he is starting to show an ability to close out games and put up big numbers in wins. Listen, I understand it is just two games here, but I really like what I have seen from O lately.
• Sean Sonderleiter has proven to be one of the top centers in the league as the season has progressed. I can't think of another player who has the footwork Sean has in the post, and his ability to move out to the perimeter and hit jumpers makes him doubly tough to guard. Most importantly, he has really improved his rebounding and interior defense. I am really happy to see such a hard worker (he and coach Potapenko work together very well) and great kid see some success.
• Rod Wilmont has gone from all flash to all substance. Something has clicked with him and he has become a leader and emotional force for the team. His defense has been fantastic as evidenced by what he did against Ager and Landry, and I thought he did a nice job on Hawkins last night. By looking at Hawkins' stat line, some would say that he didn't do a great job against him, but Hawkins got his points when the game was for all intent and purposes done. Rod has been so vocal on defense and encouraging -- he has really become a leader on that end of the floor. And, by the way, Rod's offensive game has really improved. I feel like he used to force things to show he belonged. Now, he seems to be playing like he knows he belongs and is taking shots in rhythm and in the context of the offense. I am unbelievably happy for him to be having such success.
• Dewitt Scott continues to be the feel good story of the week. He follows up a fantastic performance with another good one tonight. He is aggressively looking for his shot (he could probably be more aggressive), and he is going up with conviction when he shoots it. It only takes a sliver with him and if he can get it off, I generally feel good about the shot.

Again, it is just two games, and I realize we are a 16 win team at this point, but those are two encouraging wins for the team. Anytime you see guys improve and get better, it says a lot about the players and coaches, and I could mention many other guys on the team, but I think these guys deserve some recognition. Let's hope our guys continue this upward tick for the remaining games.

Yo Gabba Gabba!

Do you know who this crew is? Do you know how funky DJ Lance Rock is? Do you know about the party going on in Brobee's tummy? Did you know Muno can shred on the guitar? How about Foofa and her love of flowers? What about Toody and her jumping? And, finally, my favorite, the always well reasoned robot, Plex -- are you familiar with his wonderful work?

Well, if you are, you will have the opportunity to see some of them at the Mad Ants game tonight at 7 pm! Fans will have the opportunity to see a character or two at our game and to also take pictures! I happen to love this show, and I am very excited at the prospect of doing my dancy dance with the the YGG crew! I hope that we will see you out there!

Yo Gabba Gabba! (There's a Party in my Tummy !)
Uploaded by Materialiste. - Sitcom, sketch, and standup comedy videos.

Getting Ready for Springfield

Yes, that is assistant coach extraordinaire Steven Gansey leading the scout for the game against the Armor tomorrow. With him leading the scout, there is no way we can lose!

I know there is a lot love for Mike Gansey right now on ridiculous upside, but how about some love for the best young coach in the league? Give him some love Scott!


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Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Great night for the Mad Ants last night, and it is going to be a great day today! As a self respecting Irishman, this is one of my favorite holidays on the calendar. So, needless to say, I will be stopping by my favorite Fort Wayne Irish pub today, JK O'Donnell's.

As mentioned, I thought last night was a great win for our guys. They played unbelievably hard and took a game without one of their most important players, Dan Dickau, who was out with a bruised heel. Oliver Lafayette was the man for the team last night, and he has been the man for us for much of the season. Sometimes O can make some mistakes on the court, but there is no doubt that he is a tough kid who gives us his all, and he certainly has my respect.

One of the most satisfying things to watch last night was DeWitt Scott and his 24 point performance. Two weeks ago he was teaching high school in Chicago. Last night, he was in an unbelievable rhythm and doing what he should always do -- just shoot!

So we head into Thursday feeling good about ourselves as we should with the goal of winning out at home. We have Springfield on Thursday and Albuquerque on Sunday, and I would like to head out on the road with at least 17 wins. Hope to see you all on Thursday!

A Couple of Moves

A couple of small moves for the Ants today. We are bringing in Carlos English and James Booyer to fill the spots left open by Jared Reiner and Jason Straight leaving. Carlos played last season for the Dakota Wizards and is a cat quick point guard who should be able to push the ball well. Booyer is a 6'8" forward from IUPUI who is very athletic and performed very well in some tryouts he had with us. Not sure how much they will play, but it will be good to see what they can do today.

Blogging Hiatus

Sorry for the delay in writing here, folks, but I have been trying to get up to speed from my trip to Seattle. No doubt that the mail and work pile out while away!

We played a very tough game last night against a very good team in Sioux Falls. In the end, the story was too much Alexander Johnson, who I believe headed straight to Milwaukee to try out for our affiliate. He is a man child, and our friends at Ridiculous Upside had a very timely and spot on review of his game: www.ridiculousupside.com.

Tomorrow we play the Maine Red Claws, and it will be a tough game for us. Morris Almond has really been on fire for them lately, and we need to keep him as under control as possible.

In other news, we had a great event tonight with our wonderful sponsor, Crazy Pinz. We hosted a meet the team bowling event there, and I can tell you that there is no better place in Fort Wayne the Crazy Pinz. Our guys got to bowl with a number of season ticket holders, and we also held a bowling tournament. Our guys did not have a chance against our equipment manager, John Mohr, who comes fully equipped to a bowling night. John took the title for the second straight year over such valiant challengers like Coach Mike Sanders and Hot Rod Wilmont. A great event at a great place, and we look forward to doing it again next year!

Okay, more tomorrow!

Out in Seattle

As I mentioned in my last blog, I am out in Seattle to visit my family, so my blog updates will be hit and miss over the next week. So, let's hit some quick hit items:

• Two tough games in Tulsa. On the first game, we should have brought that home. We had a lot of opportunities to pull the game out, but could not finish.
• In game two, we just couldn't throw it in the ocean in the second half despite some great looks. Rob Kurz came back, but he hasn't played in a while, and it looked like he was out of rhythm. Moreover, the whole team looked out of rhythm with his return. I suspect we will see that improve with more practice time and games together.
• We have added Dewitt Scott to fill in for Ron Howard's roster spot, but I am not sure how much he will be playing for a while. I suspect that you will see a combo of Ryan Ayers, Jason Straight, and Rod Wilmont fill Ron's minutes and shots.
• I have not added anyone to fill Jared Reiner's spot on the roster just yet. We are looking at some different people right now and hope to fill the spot soon.
• The tough part of this time in the season is that it is tough to fill the shoes of high end players like Ron and Jared. There just aren't players of that caliber in the pool right now.
• The guys are off to Albuquerque right now to play the Thunderbirds, who have also been hit with some defections.

Okay, that is my quick update for the day. Hope everyone is having a great day and will be back on when I can find some time.

A Great Night

I need to get ready to head to an airport (I'm going on vacation -- the blog is going to be hit or miss for about a week), but I wanted to get a quick blog post in. Last night was easily the best night of the year for Mad Ants despite a rather sad start to the proceedings. The team and fans were able to say goodbye to the face of our franchise, Ron Howard. He has some life altering opportunities overseas that he is pursuing, and we wish him all the best. I can't encapsulate all our feelings about Ron and his contributions to this franchise, but let's just sat it has been immense, and I personally will miss him and his family greatly.

As for the game, I think Steve Warden encapsulated it best at his article at http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20100306/SPORTS0603/303069934/1008/SPORTS.

On my way to Seattle -- hope everyone has a great weekend!

Kind Words

First off, before I talk about last night, I want to thank Monster and Josh for their kind words about our team and our presentation in the comments section of some of my posts. I can't express how nice it is to hear that you are enjoying the games despite a team that is clearly struggling. Thanks so much for being such great fans to the team -- you definitely make it all worth it!

Now, on a much less happy note, our team played about as poorly as it could for those first three quarters last night and led to a very disappointing loss to LA. I can understand missing shots -- that happens. But what was most disappointing for me was the poor effort on defense. We have to play with more energy and execute the game plan far better than we did last night.

Josh asked some good questions about what the turnaround was for us the third quarter, and I thought it was as simple as the effort level rising. Guys were quicker to their man and in their rotations. The system is there, they just have to execute.

Josh also asked about Jared Reiner, and, yes, he has been released due to personal reasons. Obviously, I can't go into why Jared left, but I can say what a pleasure it was to have Jared around and on the team. He is such a funny and smart guy, and he is a heck of a basketball player. Unfortunately, it was quite a star-crossed year with us, as he had the lip, the back, and now this personal situation take him away from our team for significant periods of time. We all wish him the very best and hope our paths cross again sometime in the future.

Josh also asked about Kurz, and I don't see him coming back for at least another week. I have seen deep thigh bruises before, but nothing like this. I have never seen so much discoloration in a leg in my life, and I know he is struggling just to walk right now. As you can see from our 0-4 record since this injury, we sure need a healthy Rob Kurz back in the lineup!

Well, we have LA again tonight, and there really isn't much to say. The guys have to come out and compete from the very start and not wait until the fourth quarter to put out a winning effort. Let's hope they get it done tonight!

Broken Record

Well, it is early the next morning, and I freely admit that I had a heck of time sleeping last night. Last night was definitely a tough one. That game was theirs to be had, but we just could not get the stops we needed. Maine shot a big number percentage wise, and you can't win like that.

There are many reasons to point to for our current struggles, namely the fact that we have again been bit by the injury bug, but I am sure all three of my readers (Josh, Mr. Anonymous, and Mom) are tired of hearing that, and I sure am tired of talking about it. Yet, the fact remains that we did not have two of our starters in Rob Kurz (leg) and Jared Reiner (flu), and it is tough to win the games you need to win without two key, NBA level guys like that. Goodness, we sure are snake bit -- get better quick, guys!

So, what can we do? Whine? No, that has never been my thing. We have the talent and coaching still to rip off some wins, and we just have to keep battling and get better. I still believe in this group and their character, and I still believe these guys are going to finish strong for us. Let's hope they prove me right!