Toros Open Training Camp

[Kori Ellis]

Not much new info .. but this is the official press release.

TOROS OPEN TRAINING CAMP FOR 2007-08 SEASON

AUSTIN, TX – The Austin Toros opened training camp for the 2007-08 season last Friday at Southwestern University with a roster of 17 players including Kevin Pittsnogle, the team’s first round selection in this year’s NBA D-League Draft. Players in training camp are competing for a spot on the Toros opening day roster.

The 2007-08 training camp roster includes:

Name Pos Ht. Wt. College

Ronald Blackshear G 6-5 215 Marshall

Justin Bowen F 6-7 210 Illinois-Chicago

Tim Bush F 6-6 245 Baylor

Ashanti Cook G 6-2 190 Georgetown

Melvin Council G 6-3 190 Robert Morris

Eric Dawson F 6-9 235 Midwestern State

Daryl Dorsey G 6-0 170 Southern Indiana

Patrick Fields F 6-6 210 Baylor

Anthony Fuqua C 6-11 225 Texas-San Antonio

Carldell Johnson G 5-10 180 Alabama - Birmingham

Keith Langford G 6-4 215 Kansas

Kenton Paulino G 6-1 185 Texas

Kevin Pittsnogle C 6-11 240 West Virginia

Brad Stricker C 6-11 280 Georgia State

Levi Stukes G 6-2 205 Georgia

Marcus Williams F 6-7 205 Arizona

Joseph Works F 6-7 215 Tarleton State


The Toros play their only preseason game on Thursday, Nov. 15 against the Colorado 14ers in Broomfield, Colorado at 7 p.m.. Final roster cuts will be made on Wednesday, Nov. 21.

The Toros tip-off their third season in Austin on November 24 at 7 p.m. at the Austin Convention Center. For Toros ticket information, call the Toros office at (512) 236-8333 or visit austintoros.com.

The NBA Development League is the NBA's official minor league, and the first-ever basketball league with direct affiliations to NBA teams. Now in its seventh season the D-League’s goals are to provide affordable, NBA-caliber entertainment to fans of its 14 teams, as well as continue to develop players, coaches, referees and front-office personnel for the NBA. As the single source for in-season player "call-ups" to the NBA, fans of the D-League enjoy the highest caliber of basketball played outside the NBA. In fact, former D-League players represented 10 percent of NBA players on 2007-08 opening day rosters, numbering 44 in total.

In addition, the D-League has produced 25 percent of current NBA referees and 16 current NBA coaches, including head coach Sam Vincent with the Charlotte Bobcats. The D-League is an innovative and rapidly growing sports property that also serves as an experimental testing ground for new initiatives of the NBA and its teams, provides continuing education and professional development resources for its players, and is committed to serving its local communities through D-LEAGUE CARES and grassroots efforts.

[ChumpDumper]

I met a few of them last night. Nice guys. They seem pretty jazzed about the season and playing for an organization run by the Spurs.

[Darkwaters]

From what I remember they will have to trim their roster to 10 players before the start of the season. Is that correct? Then they can accomodate up to two players being sent down to them? Right?

[ChumpDumper]

All correct. I didn't want to get too chummy with anyone because it would break my heart to hear one of them got cut.

[timvp]

That roster is oddly point guard heavy. Almost half the players invited are point guards. On top of that, Keith Langford (who will probably start at shooting guard) is a player who'd need to master the point guard position to make the NBA.

I'm guessing the reasoning is that the rest of the positions are pretty much filled and the team is going to make sure they have at least a couple quality point guards to begin the season.

[ChumpDumper]

Exactly. There were three decent point guards in the draft. Once they were off the table the Toros just got a bunch of prospects and are going to keep the best from camp.

I do wish we had another perimeter scorer on the team so Langford could concentrate on distributing; as it is he's going to have to score about 20 a game for the Toros to be competitive.

FWIW, Dorsey asked to be put in the draft at the last minute after the Arsenal allocated Guillermo Diaz in addition to bringing back Davin White -- so he does want to play the point.

[SKINNYPIMP210]

I really like Keith Langford, once he develops a little he will be awesome!

[biba]

It seems some were already waived:

THE CANADIAN PRESS:
1 day ago
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jGFOtY7EqRWw-KXEOO5flSqLDMHw

Movements in the world of basketball Monday:


Continental Basketball Association

ALBANY PATROONS-Waived C Patrick Culver, G Darmetreis Kilgore, G Byron Mouton, G Jermaine Maybank and G Leshawn Hammett.

ATLANTA KRUNK-Signed G Grayson Boucher and placed him on inactive reserve.

MINOT SKYROCKETS-Waived G Tim Gray, G Billy Richmond and G LaMarr Farr. Signed G Ronnie Fields.

OKLAHOMA CAVALRY-Waived G Darius Simmons, G Jeremy Bell, G Kenny Langhorn, G Marc Williams, C Ezenna Samuel and G Brandon Kephart.

YAKAMA SUN KINGS-Signed G Jason Forte.

National Basketball Association Development League

AUSTIN TOROS-Waived G Ashanti Cook, G Patrick Fields and G Levi Stukes.
IDAHO STAMPEDE-Waived G Martin Samarco and G Derrick Stephens.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY SILVERADODS-Waived G Derrick Allen, C John Bunch, F Jason Clark, F John Davis, G Rob Griffin and G Royce Parran.

[Bruno]

Kenton Paulino averaged 13.4ppg in Turkey. Maybe he will be able to be a quite good scorer in D-League.
On a side note, Cheyne Gadson will be waived this week from his team in Italy. If he decides to come back in D-League, will Austin has some kind of rights on him ?

[ChumpDumper]

Yeah I heard Cheyne was coming back to the states soon, as will Jamar Smith. I don't think the Toros will have any rights to them, but I could be wrong. I guess they could possibly have the rights to Cheyne if they knew he was coming back; they used six allocation/returning player spots and some teams were allowed seven of those spots.


AUSTIN TOROS-Waived G Ashanti Cook, G Patrick Fields and G Levi Stukes.So that's two potential point guards gone, five left?

[ChumpDumper]

RIO GRANDE VALLEY SILVERADODS-Waived G Derrick Allen, C John Bunch, F Jason Clark, F John Davis, G Rob Griffin and G Royce Parran.Hoffman isn't screwing around is he? They're already down to 11 not including Steve Novak. They should have decent enough point guards if nothing else.

The Toros play their only preseason game in Colorado tomorrow.

[ChumpDumper]

GREECE
Panionios hired Mateen Cleaves and released Gerry McNamara:lmao

This guy has been replaced by Mateen on two continents now.

[ChumpDumper]

Here's a bad picture of a shirt that shows the jersey logo.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee139/tasteoflog/toroslogo.jpg

[anakha]

That roster is oddly point guard heavy. Almost half the players invited are point guards. On top of that, Keith Langford (who will probably start at shooting guard) is a player who'd need to master the point guard position to make the NBA.

I'm guessing the reasoning is that the rest of the positions are pretty much filled and the team is going to make sure they have at least a couple quality point guards to begin the season.

Given the high number of PGs that tried out, does that imply anything about the Spurs' intentions regarding Darius Washington and the Toros?

[ChumpDumper]

Given the high number of PGs that tried out, does that imply anything about the Spurs' intentions regarding Darius Washington and the Toros?I don't think anything can be inferred from that. The Toros were completely boned last season for over a month because they had no one who could run the point. I think they were planning on going with two point guards plus Langford regardless of Washington's status; they just got several prospects because all the best ones were taken. If they end up with only one point plus Langford, that might portend an extended stay for Washington in Austin, but I don't see that happening.

[Darkwaters]

Kenton Paulino could probably handle the point some as well. He did it with reasonable success at Texas once Rick Barnes figured out Daniel Gibson is NOT a PG.

[ChumpDumper]

They have a small camp photo gallery up.

http://www.nba.com/dleague/austin/training_camp_photos_071114.html

All you can really tell is that Pittsnogle and Williams need to hit the weights and Stricker, um, doesn't.

[Darkwaters]

Just to update the thread...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pit...s/s_538313.html

AUSTIN TOROS—Waived G Ronald Blackshear, F Joseph Works and F Marcus Williams.

[Darkwaters]

So...as far as I can tell, this is the roster at this point.

The 2007-08 training camp roster includes:

Name Pos Ht. Wt. College

Justin Bowen F 6-7 210 Illinois-Chicago

Tim Bush F 6-6 245 Baylor

Melvin Council G 6-3 190 Robert Morris

Eric Dawson F 6-9 235 Midwestern State

Daryl Dorsey G 6-0 170 Southern Indiana

Anthony Fuqua C 6-11 225 Texas-San Antonio

Carldell Johnson G 5-10 180 Alabama - Birmingham

Keith Langford G 6-4 215 Kansas

Kenton Paulino G 6-1 185 Texas

Kevin Pittsnogle C 6-11 240 West Virginia

Brad Stricker C 6-11 280 Georgia State

Patrick Fields F 6-6 210 Baylor

[Bruno]

Boxscore of the first and only preseason game :
http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/20071115/AUSCOL/boxscore.html

It seems that Patrick Fields is still with the team.

[Darkwaters]

Boxscore of the first and only preseason game :
http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/20071115/AUSCOL/boxscore.html

It seems that Patrick Fields is still with the team.

I added Patrick back into my list then. So it seems that the team has two more cuts to make to get their roster down to 10.

Or...since we just lost one of our "star" forwards in Marcus Williams, maybe the team could cut 3 players to get down to 9 and bring in FA Viktor Sanikidze?
:spin

[Bruno]

Or...since we just lost one of our "star" forwards in Marcus Williams, maybe the team could cut 3 players to get down to 9 and bring in FA Viktor Sanikidze?
:spin

Sanikidze is still lost in space, I really wonder where he will end up.
He should have signed with Cologne but it never happens. They signed Tobey Bailey instead (it should have been Byars but he failed his physical with them).
Maybe he will end up with Toros as Justin Bowen backup

And in your quest of the next Jamario Moon, Julian Sensley could be a guy worth keeping an eye on even if I know nothing about him. :spin

[timvp]

Boxscore of the first and only preseason game :
http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/20071115/AUSCOL/boxscore.html

It seems that Patrick Fields is still with the team.Seeing how Justin Bowen played by far the most minutes, that to me tells says that the Marcus Williams waiving was no accident. If the Spurs are really high on JBowen (and all indication are that the Spurs/Toros liike him), the smartest thing to do is just let go of Williams and feature him. You can't really develop two players at the same position in the D-League.

[ChumpDumper]

Wow, Marcus didn't even make the trip. Either he got injured or he really, really sucked. I'd believe either at this point.

Apparently, the game was close until the fourth when the 14ers outscored the Toros 31-5. So our regular rotation probably isn't as bad as the score indicates.

[Kermit]

Chump, is it worth it getting out to the Toros games?

[ChumpDumper]

You're asking a season ticket holder; I'm biased. Once the Toros get a send-down or two, they'll be more worthy of the average fan's dollar, especially when they go up against the better teams in the league like Colorado, Dakota and this season LA. Right now they have about three players that could conceivably play in the NBA some time down the road.

[Kermit]

As compared to the UT basketball experience, is the product that much better? How are the crowds, etc? I love UT, but I have pretty much resigned myself from attending anymore games at the Erwin Center.

[ChumpDumper]

As compared to the UT basketball experience, is the product that much better?I would say the talent level can be close in the starting lineups (minus the superstars/high first rounders like Durant of course), but the overall experience isn't anywhere close to that of a college game. The place only holds about 2500 people, so it's nice and intimate but not wild like a full Erwin Center can get. It's best if you invest yourself in the development aspect and follow the team and players over time, but I know that's not the priority for a lot of fans.

[ChumpDumper]

Now I see why Eddie Gill didn't play last night -- he already got called up by the Nets.

[Darkwaters]

Now I see why Eddie Gill didn't play last night -- he already got called up by the Nets.

Yep, I noticed that! I'm kind of glad we got Squeaky rather than Eddie now.

[Darkwaters]

If the Spurs/Toros really do think that Bowen could be one of their premiere players then I'd be curious about getting to know him a little better.

Chump, is there any way to find some good footage of what Bowen has to offer? I checked youtube and found nothing. Also, I know you did this once before, but is there a site that has a good breakdown of his strengths/weaknesses? I'm not sure if we think this guy is a legitimate potential future Spur or if hes just not going to fit and/or not good enough to play in our system or at this level.

Lastly, I've never been to a D League game before. But I'm planning to go see the Toros play the 66ers when they're in Tulsa late in December. If Washington or Mahinmi are with the team at that time would it be fairly easy to meet them at the game? I know you can't speak for Tulsa's arena specifically, but from what you've seen what would you guess?