Wayne Chism

Tough news on the injury front. Wayne Chism took a nasty fall on his back in the last game, and he is going to be out at least the next five games, if not more. A tough loss, as Wayne was rounding into shape and really starting to contribute.

In the meantime, we will look for another big to help round out our roster. I know I get comments of adding another big guy a la Chris Hunter, but let me assure you, players of Hunter's caliber are not falling off trees. We will continue to monitor players, but I don't want to make a move for moves sake. I want to bring in the right player that I believe fits with our coaching staff and team.

If we make any moves, I will be sure you all are the first to know.

My Call Up List

There are some guys getting called up right now, and I know the NBA teams are looking for a certain type of player when they call guys up, but I am going to base my list on who I think are the best players, rather than who is the longest, most athletic, etc. Here is my list:

1. Othyus Jeffers: I have heard numerous people say that he is an undersized four, but all the guy does is make plays and win. He is the best defender in the league, and I think he is the best creator/scorer in the league with Trey Johnson's now out of it. He is just a stud, and I think he will make any team better because of the way he competes day in and day out.
2. Ivan Johnson: I may be biased for this former Duck (he was there a couple of years before transferring), but I think he is the most complete big man in the league. He scores inside and out, rebounds, plays tough, and has elevated Erie to one of the best players in the league. I know he is undersized, is a tweener, and all that, but the guy can just play and, again, would make any team better.
3. Courtney Sims: A bit of an enigma to me, but I don't think it can be denied that the guy just gets it done night in and night out. There is no better scorer in the post, and what a luxury for Nick Nurse that he can go down to this polished player. He is not the most graceful player while running, and I am sure that concerns people, but when he gets it in the post, he gets it done. I am pretty sure there are many bigs in the NBA getting significant time without his skill set.
4. Jeff Adrien: Another undersized big, but he plays hard, rebounds, and is a presence in the paint when he gets the ball. He was a load for us to handle, and we are not the only one to struggle with him. He is leading the league in rebounding, and I think he could fill a role on a team with that specialty of rebounding and being active.
5. Orien Greene: I loved his versatility at the showcase. He played point or the wing, and his game never wavered wherever he was playing. I've heard he is not a great shooter, but I thought he shot well when I saw him, and I loved how active he was on defense. I have a smaller sample in terms of watching his game, but I think he is another guy who is worthy of a look from the NBA.

Those are my top five guys who I like right now, and I am sure that will change. Let me know who you like!

D-League News

Here are some D-League news and notes regarding call ups:

• The D-League's leading scorer, Bakersfield's Trey Johnson, was just called up to the Toronto Raptors. We faced him twice, and I thought he demonstrated that he is the top dog in terms of D-League players, and he received a worthy call up.
• Mustapha Shakur of the RGV Vipers was also called up to the Washington Wizards, and he had a very strong start to his career with 5 points and 5 assists to 0 turnovers in his debut.
• Chris Johnson, the long and lanky center for the Dakota Wizards, was called up to the Portland Trailblazers. He is really skinny, but he is long and athletic, and I know NBA people like that.
• Larry Owens of the Tulsa 66ers was called up to San Antonio. He is a very smart, do it all player, and he is getting some minutes with San Antonio with Matt Bonner out with a knee injury.
• Zabian Dowdell of the 66ers was called up some time ago to the Phoenix Suns, but he has not seen much action to this point.

The Awful Streak Continues

Folks, I write to you after a frustrating weekend. I thought they would take Erie, but they just were not able to finish either game strong and ended up losing both games. As I just wrote in another comment, I can't blame anyone for their frustration, as it is a shame to see such a team that won 12 of their first 19 games fall into a complete funk.

I think the team is talented, but they are not playing very good basketball right now. The team is worst in terms of giving up field goal percentage to the other team. We have gone from being one of the best rebounding teams to one of their worst. With Darnell, Chism, AK, and one of the best rebounders in the league in Marvin Phillips, that should not happen.

More importantly, our best players just have to play better. I love our guys, and I think they are as good as any in the league, but if they are not going to play better, we are going to continue to struggle.

With that said, I believe in these guys and this team. I just don't think teams go from being one of the better ones in a league to the worst just like that. If the guys can get off this gorilla off their back, I believe they will go on a tear and get themselves back where they belong -- among the elite teams in this league. It won't be easy, and both the coaches and the players are going to have to go back to the basics -- defense, blocking out, communication, to name a few -- to get it done, but I think they will do it.

Let's hope they prove me right in Idaho!

Out of Town

Loyal blog readers, I am skipping out of town for a few days to take my daughter to Disney World, so you will not seeing many -- if any -- blogs until Monday. Sorry for any inconvenience, and I hope you all send the team good thoughts as the team battles with Erie the next two nights!

Tonight's Game Against Bakersfield

We have a very tough game tonight against the Bakersfield Jam tonight at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Bakersfield is red hot right now and has won 3 of their last four, including blasting us down in the showcase.

They are led by the one of the best guards in the league in Trey Johnson. He is a perennial call up candidate and leads the league in scoring with 25 per game. He has a totally complete offensive game, and he will be a load for us to manage. They also have a very good young point guard in Jeremy Wise. He is cat quick and looks like the D-League's version of Brandon Jennings. They also have a bunch of real hustling role guys, and we need to be ready to play, especially after how they beat us last time.

The team is having a rough stretch right now, but I believe the team is starting to head into the right direction. I am looking forward to a good game tonight. Hope to see you at the Coliseum!

Euro Update

Time to catch up with some of our former Ants stars overseas:

• Ron Howard had his best game in Australia as his 36ers won a game with Ron going for 14 and 5.
• Sondy really struggled in his last game -- 0 points, 2 boards in 16 minutes. Ugh.
• Coleman fared a little better 4 points and 4 boards. Don't know what is going on with our two boys in Ulm, but they are not playing their best basketball right now.
• Ryan Ayers continues to put together a very good year over in Finland. He had 20 points in his last game, and he is averaging 16.5 and 6 boards on the season.
• Rob Kurz had a tough last game with just 6 points and 2 boards, but that does not diminish from his strong season, as he is averaging 14 and 9.
• Kyle McAlarney is really having a nice season in Greece, and he had 14 points and is averaging 14 for the year while shooting 52 percent from three.

The Wrong Type of Streak Continues

A tough OT loss to the Iowa Energy last night for the guys. They played very hard, but just couldn't finish it in the end. Chris Kramer made a heck of a move at the end to tie it and got fouled, but his free throw with 2.8 seconds rimmed out, and it was all Iowa in overtime.

After watching this game, I feel very good about this team, despite the fact that we have not had much to show for our efforts in the last four games. They took the best team in the league to OT, and probably should have had it won in regulation.

The problems with this team are small, and I think they will be corrected by Coach Meyer. No doubt, a team with this type of talent will not be held down long, and I think they are due to rip some games off in a row. Regardless, if they keep working and playing together, this thing will be righted and we will be there in the end.

Hope to see you all in the Coliseum tomorrow as we try to shake this monkey off our back.

Dakota Debacle

I am sitting here at 5 in the morning, still trying to figure out how our team choked what should have been a win last night away to the Dakota Wizards. Our team had one of their most dominating halfs in the first half, but our team gave them hope early on in the third quarter, and Dakota took full advantage, worked their way back, and just out toughed our team for the win.

What hurt us in the second half? A lot of very careless turnovers, a lot of foolish fouls that put them on the line, and very poor execution of the offense when we needed it most -- the fourth quarter.

This is the most disappointing loss of the season for me, because it reminds me so much of the sloppy second half play and losses that we saw from our team two seasons ago. The Mad Ants are not playing good basketball right now, and there is little doubt the coaches have a lot of work to do in rebuilding the confidence of this team as we head to two very tough games at Iowa and against Bakersfield here at home on Tuesday.

Wayne Chism

As you may have read, we picked up Wayne Chism to help give us some more depth along our front line. Wayne was a four year starter at the University of Tennessee, where he is number one is games played, wins, NCAA tournament games, NCAA tourney wins, just to name a few. Indeed, this guy is a good player, and he should help us.

Wayne played a little against Bakersfield, but got his real debut against the Dakota Wizards, and I thought he played well for not having a practice with the team. He scored 11 points and grabbed 7 boards in 22 minutes.

Showcase

I am back from the showcase and back on the blog. Sorry I wasn't posting down there, but I have to tell you, my health has been awful, and I guess I just didn't have it in me to blog, which isn't very fair to you good people who actually take time out of your day to read whatever tripe I put on this webpage.

The showcase down in South Padre Island went very well for the D-League, I believe, but not very well for the Mad Ants. In fact, I think we now stand a stunning 0-8 at the showcase in our four years. Maybe next year we will just save the money and not go at all!

In the first game, we played Rio Grande Valley (RGV), and it really was a good game. I felt like we were right there and actually took control in the fourth quarter, but RGV made some great plays in the end, and we had no answer for Jeff Adrien, and they went off with the win.

In the second game, we just got beat. Bakersfield out executed us, out defensed us, and played us, and we got the tail kicking we deserved. Not much to say other than that. I was really disappointed in how we played, and I think the team was, as well.

All in all, not a lot to take away from the showcase due to our two losses.

Northwest Kids Know How To Play!

Whoa!

Well, that was brutal. The 66ers came out ready to play, and it is pretty clear our guys did not. Tulsa was jumping the passing lanes hard, and our guys kept jumping and throwing or turning and throwing, and it would end up a steal and a layup on the other end. Hint: BALL FAKES!

Teams have these awful games from time to time, and I think sometimes it is better to just burn that tape and get it out of the team's mind. We are a good team, but it is clear that there are a lot of areas for improvement. I will look forward to a better game from our guys on Friday night.

On the DL

Folks, I am in day two of my awful back spasms, and I haven't felt this pathetic in some time. It hurts to do everything, so sorry if I am slow in blogging and, frankly, everything else.

The team is off to Tulsa to face the hottest team in the D-League right now. They have their first rounder Cole Aldrich down with them, and their bench is playing as well as ours right now. In other words, we have our hands full!

In other news, the Mad Ants have fallen to third in the power rankings behind Iowa and Tulsa, but it is good to be considered one of the better teams in the league. Of course it is completely meaningless, but fun nonetheless.

Okay, back to being a wimp laying on the floor!


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Painful, but Happy Start to New Year

A really good start to the new year for the Ants this weekend, as the team got a sweep against the Maine Red Claws. The team continued with it's trend of giving up big leads only to bear down for exciting comeback victories.

On Saturday night, I thought the team played absolutely awful. They were down the whole game, but their true grit came shining through as the team made play after play to win the game. The biggest? For me, it was Walker's fade away runner with .2 on the clock. Maine made a bucket at the end, but the refs did not count it and we walked off with the win.

Yesterday had us again going down big, but this game was in no way in question at the end, as Chris Kramer, Carlos English, and Corey Allmond were outstanding on O and smothering on D and we won going away. It can't be overstated how good the bench was last night, as Joey didn't even put the starters in in the fourth quarter.

The only pain is the back strain I have suffered that has been aggravated due to my foolishly pushing thing by putting my lights away. I now sit in the midst of my first back spasm, and I assure you it is quite unpleasant.

Other than that, I hope everyone had a very happy and safe new year!



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