Box Score
- The Toros got a huge infusion of talent - three players joined the team in the course of one day; two that had never practiced with the team. The game itself was predictably sloppy, partly because of the new players and partly because of the lineups Sioux Falls played, but the Toros pulled out another victory in the final minutes after trailing pretty much the entire game.
- Darius Washington started off the game with a nice assist to Ian, and proceeded to get into foul trouble. One of them was ticky-tack but I didn't find the refs to be particularly whistle-happy today. Whatever the case, DW was limited in the first half and Squeaky Johnson, Ken Paulino and Keith Langford all took some time at the point.
The second half was an entirely different story. Washington was everywhere, scoring and rebounding, getting some nice assists anNatew d avoiding any more fouls. In short, he played the way you want to see a borderline NBA-rotation player play at this level. Now I have to give a caveat about his numbers: David Bailey and Elton Nesbitt are the two of the smallest guards in the D-League, so we'll have to see if he can do the same against larger, better defenders.
- Ian Mahinmi had some more foul trouble, but some of it was caused by the lineup Nate Tibbetts ran in the second quarter. Three, maybe four of his best players are small forwards, so one of his best lineups had all four of them playing at once. That led to a lot of confusion about defensive assignments and some matchup problems for Ian, as he ended up on frequent NBA call-up Damone Brown on the perimeter. On the plus side, when the Skyforce had a more traditional lineup, Ian repeatedly drew fouls off their center with his first step. His best shot seems to be a baby hook in the lane (after he stops running, I can't stress that enough) and he's still good from the line.
- DerMarr Johnson looked the least apprehensive about his debut with the team. He took mostly good shots and ran the floor well, He got an acceptable number of rebounds, but overall he and the Toros got worked over on the boards by the Skyforce small forward brigade. A small-ball PF (he actually played small-ball center in this game) is going to have to be consistent in that department.
- Keith Triplett-- er, Marcus Williams seemed a little anxious at first, and he was forcing things on offense initially, leading to some turnovers. He calmed down however, and got a couple of big steals and very smart passes during the Toros comeback in the second half. A little ragged, but on the whole a nice debut.
- Langford had the scoring burden lifted off his back a bit but he was really hitting the ground hard after his typically aggressive drives. Hearing the thuds while sitting on the baseline makes me appreciate his game and effort that much more. He had some trouble on both sides of the court when he matched up with a much larger player, but kept plugging away and ended up with another good outing.
- Kenton Paulino had a good, steady game and looked pretty comfortable in his role. Pittsnogle was mostly invisible as his shot wasn't falling; he probably played a little too much considering the matchups. Bowen was active but didn't do much that showed up in the stat lines. He didn't score until the fourth quarter, but his new teammates should figure out where to get him the ball a bit more in time. Anthony Fuqua and Squeaky Johnson took the biggest hit in their minutes. I'm sure Fuqua can adapt (again) and hopefully Squeaky can get some decent minutes as the Toros will rely on him once Washington is called back up to the Spurs.
- Eric Dawson is still in street clothes but still on the roster. Looks like Majic Dorsey was waived but he is still with the team. He may be injured or "injured" but I didn't get a chance to ask him anything.
- Antywane Robinson looks like he's going to have a breakout season. Not the best ballhandler, but he was pretty solid in all other aspects of the game. Sioux Falls is loaded with long SFs, and three of them -- Robinson, Damone Brown and Nik Caner-Medly -- could be called up at some point, though each has his deficiencies.
- In closing, the Toros are now pretty flush with talent and pretty balanced too with the exception of reliable post scoring. Coach Snyder did a decent job of improvising a rotation, now the big job of integrating the new players and serving the needs of the Spurs while trying to win some games really begins. It should be fun to watch.
Reply With Quote
