Cavalry Charges: The Silverados opened their inaugural season with an OT loss.
Todd Mavreles
November 18, 2007 - 12:19AM
The Monitor
McALLEN — Rio Grande Valley Silverados coach Steve Tucker isn’t about moral victories, and he let his team know that in no uncertain terms following their 103-99 overtime loss to Oklahoma in a season-opening game between Continental Basketball Association expansion teams Saturday.
The peeled paint on the Silverados’ locker room walls is a testament to that.
Playing in front of a sold-out crowd of 2,508 at McAllen Convention Center, the Silverados rallied from a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to force the extra session but didn’t have enough strength inside to make the debut of professional basketball in the Valley a success, at least on the scoreboard.
“I take no solace out of playing with heart and getting back in the game,” Tucker said. “I’m about winning and winning championships. The only thing I take out of that is we lost a ball game at home, and I’m not going to have that.”
Behind forward Daryan Selvy (game-high 29 points) and point guard Albert Robinson (21 points) it appeared a foregone conclusion the Silverados were going to take the loss after the Cavalry went up 90-77 with 4:48 remaining.
But the Silverados rallied, outscoring Oklahoma 18-5, with the tying points coming on a air of Mike Dean free throws with 12.8 seconds remaining.
Robinson missed a 3 on the Cavalry’s last possession of regulation, sending it to OT.
In the extra session, Oklahoma’s frontcourt dominated the action and secured the victory for the visitors.
Power forward Marvin Phillips (15 points and 17 rebounds) ruled overtime, coming up with four points and five rebounds. Center Walt Walters, a 7-foot, 280-pound mountain, blocked shots by Dean and Toby Smith in an extraordinary defensive sequence before being fouled with 4.5 seconds remaining and Oklahoma clinging to a 100-99 lead.
Since it was Smith’s seventh foul (CBA players don’t foul out; instead opponents are awarded an extra free throw) Walters hit the second free throw to put the Cavalry up 101-99. He missed the third, but Phillips snaked inside for the rebound and scored the backbreaking putback for Oklahoma with 2.1 seconds left to secure the victory.
“He’s a beast. He’s a beast,” Oklahoma coach Micheal Ray Richardson said of the 6-7 Phillips. “I had him with me in Albany (last season). If we take care of the basketball, we’re going to have a good team. The teams in this league can’t match up with our (power forwards) and (centers).”
The Silverados face another difficult test in their next game, a battle with two-time defending CBA champion Yakama on Tuesday at the convention center. Another nice comeback that comes up short won’t get it done. And Tucker expects his bigs to show up in the paint.
“Our front line didn’t play very well for us. I thought that was the determining factor in the game,” Tucker said. “We have to have our big people play better than that. We had one big guy play well tonight, 37-year-old Johnny Tyson. We got nothing out of the other guys. Smith gave us a couple of jumpers but missed a huge blockout and a jumper on offense (in overtime), and that’s crucial.”
Dean led the Silverados with 20 points. Antoine Sims had 18 (12 in the fourth quarter) and Smith 14.
http://www.themonitor.com/sports/sil...ints_game.html
Sad that they sell out in the first game the same size arena Austin hasn't sold out in two seasons with a superior product. Sure the tickets are cheaper, but still....
“I take no solace out of playing with heart and getting back in the game,” Tucker said. “I’m about winning and winning championships. The only thing I take out of that is we lost a ball game at home, and I’m not going to have that.”
IT'S THE CBA, MACHO MAN!
Yeah, he really threw his players under the bus early. Maybe the Vipers coach won't be such a .
Good to see he's back on the sidelines. I thought his comments last year that got him fired were blown way out of proportion.Oklahoma coach Micheal Ray Richardson
Yeah, that was one of many problems Albany had last season. Richardson was scapegoated to a certain degree, though he still could use some PR tutoring.
Got tickets for the Silverados on Thursday and the Vipers on Friday. I'll let you know how it goes.
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