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Interesting game today. 11AM start and one of the biggest crowds in Toros history: announced crowd of 2574, 2500 of whom were schoolkids. Nice field trip, that was almost spoiled by, of all people, the Toros mascot.
The Toros beat the second place team in the Western Conference, the Colorado 14ers, battling back from several 14er runs in the first three quarters to win 101-98. Each team got alot of second chance points from the 17 and 20 offensive rebounds the Toros and 14ers respectively grabbed.
White had a pretty solid game:
37:20 min
17 pts
7-15 fg
1-4 3pt
2-4 ft
2 off reb
4 tot reb
4 ast
0 pf
4 stl
1 to
1 blk
He seemed to be more comfortable today and more willing to use his athleticism to his advantage on offense and defense, and he was pretty active on the boards. Even if it didn't necessarily show in his totals, he was much more in the mix than in other games. He still needs to do some things like either follow his 3 pointers or get back on D, not just stand there, but it was a good game for him.
Newcomer Cheyne Gadson ran the point better than anyone else had for Austin this season, racking up 8 points, 6 assists and 0 turnovers in 28 minutes off the bench. He allowed Troy Bell to play off the ball for awhile where he is most effective. Justin Bowen provided a huge spark off the bench, pouring in 11 points in just over 6 minutes, shooting a perfect 5 for 5.
Loren Woods was literally and figuratively huge for Austin again with 12 points, 14 rebounds (7 offensive), 2 blocks and several clutch free throws in the closing minutes (6-7 from the line). He also made the final Toro basket in a fastbreak that put them up by 4 and launched a rather bizarre ending. Loren was mugging for a local TV station camera he had just landed in front of and everyone was apparently assuming the 14ers were going to call a time out if time had in fact not already run out--everyone including the Toros mascot, "Da Bull," who in celebration had jumped up and was hanging on the rim the 14ers were driving toward after a quick inbounds. Coaches yelled, whistles blew, refs conferred and fans and players stood dumbfounded as the 14ers shot a technical free throw and received the ball to inbound in the frontcourt with 0.42 seconds on the clock. Fortunately, the Toros defended the inbounds better the second time and Rick Rickertt didn't get to play Derek Fisher and the Toros got away with the well-deserved win.
For the 14ers, Elton Brown continued his play as the one of the best post scorers left in the D-League, finishing with 22 points on 10-17 shooting and 10 rebounds, 5 offensive. Pooh Jeter had a bad game. Often out of control and turnover prone, he didn't play much in the second half.
Colorado has some nice undersized PFs in Mike Harris and Louis Amundson. Harris led all rebounders with 15 (9 offensive) off the bench, but he's got his work cut out for him to get into the show being only 6'6", if that. Amundson, however, is just slightly undersized and has an impressive standing vertical leap that causes alot to happen in terms of rebounding (9 boards, 4 offensive) and altering/blocking shots (credited with one block but definitely had at least one more). His offense is crap outside of three feet, but NBA teams looking for energy off the bench should take a look at this guy.
We didn't want to sit in the stands with the screaming kids, so we took advantage of a 2-1 sale and bought courtside seats. Later in the game, it was announced our ticket stubs could be presented at a future game for free seats, so we're getting four courtside seats for the price of one. Bonus.
PS: I still love Da Bull. Don't beat yourself up dude; just listen for the whistle.
By the way, I haven't forgotten about the shirts.
