(TPB) The USBL - Philadelphia Stars

Comey · 04-20-2005, 09:01 PM

"John, you there?!"

I awoke to a loud knocking at my door. It sounded kind of like Bo Selby, my soon-to-be father-in-law. But that couldn't be...why would he be at my door at 7:30 in the morning? I got up and walked over.

I opened the door. And so it was Bo.

"Hi sir," I said, doing my best to be cordial, despite my inability to stay awake. "Come in, please."

"I needed to talk to you immediately," he began.

"Is everything okay with Jennifer?" Jennifer was my fiancee.

"Oh, everything's fine with her. I just got some very exciting news, and you...well, you may want to sit down."

And so I sat.

"I got the team."

And so I rose, wide awake.

"Are you serious?! You got your own team? That's great!"

He was talking about the new United States Basketball League, a 20-team circuit about to begin play in the 1961 season. He got the Philadelphia team.

"We'll play our games at City Park," he said. I had to grimace a bit at that, given that it was downtown and a pain to get to, but whatever. I had free tickets!

"There's just one problem," he said.

"I don't know a thing about basketball."

"Well, that's okay," I replied. "There's a lot of coaches out there who would love to work for this team."

"That's the other problem."

"I thought you said there was only one."

"Well, there was just one. You just stumbled on the second. It cost so much to get City Park, the uniforms, road trips, etc...I can't afford one of those fancy coaches. So, you'll have to do."

"I'm sure we cou...wait, what?"

"What are you doing now, that you couldn't run my team?"

"What makes you think I know something about basketball?!"

"You played, didn't you?"

"In high school!"

"Young man, I have a high school education, and I'm one of the richest men in the state!"

"But that's different than running a team...YOUR team..."

"I don't see how. You know the game, and you're in my price range. So, you're the guy. You'll be my coach and general manager."

I sat there, flabbergasted. I didn't have a choice, but I definitely wanted one. This was a dream, but one I wasn't ready to take on yet.

But, there was no going back. I'm 25, and a basketball coach.

Comey · 04-20-2005, 09:01 PM

The USBL consists of 20 teams in two conferences, with four divisions of five teams. Here is the layout:

National Conference

Eastern Division

Boston Irish
New York Legends
Philadelphia Stars
Providence Steamrollers
Baltimore Bullets

Western Division

Chicago Stags
Cincinnati Monarchs
Cleveland Knights
Detroit Wheels
Indianapolis Royals

American Conference

Eastern Division

Dallas Rangers
Kansas City Showboats
Louisville Colonels
Memphis Blues
St. Louis Spirits

Western Division

Denver Rockers
Los Angeles Marshalls
Oakland Oaks
Portland Pioneers
Seattle Rainiers

Comey · 04-20-2005, 09:02 PM

I've met the other coaches, who are very...well...interesting men. Here's what I hear from around the league on these guys.

Reggie Johnson is my #1 assistant. He's pretty average at everything, but he's got experience, which is more than what I have.

Kevin Dixon is my #2 assistant. He's older, but only got into coaching a few years ago. He's very good at evalutating defense, but not good at offense.

David Abney is my #3 assistant. He's young (30), average and high-energy. That's about it.

The league divided up the talent before we got the Stars, so we already have 15 players on the roster. We can only use 12 at a time, so three will be inactive.

Here's an overview of the roster:

PG: We're not strong as this spot. In fact, 6'4 SG Scott Smith may get the nod here over 6'6 Roman Moncrief and 6'0 Rick Tyler. Smith isn't that solid (rated as 2.5 out of 5 by USBL Weekly), but I don't have any other options.

Starter: Scott Smith (2.5 current/2.5 potential)
Backup: Roman Moncrief (2.0/2.5)
Deep backup: Rick Tyler (1.5/1.5)

SG: We're very deep here. Tierre Bullett, a 5-10, 158-pound dynamo, will be the love of this city. He's rated a 5/5, and will be one of the top players in the league, in my estimate. Smith and Brandon Walls (2/2) will back him up.

Starter: Tierre Bullett (5.0/5.0)
Backup: Scott Smith (2.5/2.5)
Deep backup: Brandon Walls (2.0/2.0)

SF: Matt Seymour is our second option on offense. He's a 6'7, 246-pound machine out of Mercer, and he's rated 3.5/3.5 by USBL Weekly. He's a fantastic outside shooter (92 out of 100 by league scouts), and rated a 72 as an overall scorer. If he plays well enough, he can be an All-Star. Backing him up will be Harold Singletary and Stephen Williams, both solid scorers who will let me play Seymour at the PF spot when needed.

Starter: Matt Seymour (3.5/3.5)
Backup: Harold Singletary (2.5/3.5)
Deep backup: Stephen Williams (2.5/2.5)

PF: Very thin here. Philipp Lynch is the starter, and he's solid all around. He gives us the rebounding presence we need. He gives us a third All-Star caliber player, which not many teams have. Behind him, though, is probably Stephen Williams or Singletary. We'll use all four of our forwards at these two spots, so that we don't burn one out.

Starter: Philipp Lynch (3.5/3.5)
Backup: Harold Singletary (2.5/3.5)
Deep backup: Stephen Williams (2.5/2.5)

C: Austin Harrington is the starter. He's 6'9 and 272 pounds. We're actually pretty small in the frontcourt; a lot of teams have players 6'10 and up. We don't have a single one. Harrington will be pushed by young Winston Calloway, who has a lot of potential. In fact, you may see Calloway a lot more if we start out badly. Alvan Woods is okay, but will never be anything more than a backup.

Starter: Austin Harrington (3.0/3.0)
Backup: Winston Calloway (2.5/3.5)
Deep backup: Alvan Woods (2.5/2.5)

Offensive overview: This team will go through Bullett, Seymour and Lynch. They're our three-headed monster, and that's what we have to rely on. Probably a triangle or motion offense will do best bet.

Defensive overview: Walls is our best defensive player, so he'll see time in the clutch. Smith and Calloway are also solid defensive players (Calloway can be something special defensively).

Overall: I think we have a chance...albeit an outside one...to contend for a playoff spot. If not, we have some talent to trade for a first-round pick.

Comey · 04-20-2005, 09:02 PM

1961 USBL Predictions
By Joe Simpson, USBL Weekly

The United States Basketball League is about to take flight, and twenty teams from twenty different cities will battle it out for the championship. My job, and a tough one at that, is to predict what I think is going to happen this year. This league has the best talent in the country lined up to see who's the best. Let's try to figure that out.

National Conference Predictions

Eastern Division

USBL Weekly Scouts Poll: 1. New York 2. Providence 3. Boston 4. Philadelphia 5. Baltimore

1. Boston Irish - Terrance Thomas is a tough matchup for anybody. He's one of the top players in the league, and will contend for the Most Valuable Player award. Helping him out is elder stateman Corey Jameson. The 36-year-old point guard is still on top of his game, though this may be the last season for him. SG Larry Howard gives Boston one of the top backcourts in the league. PF Devin Burton and C Derrick Stallworth are serviceable, but won't be frontline guys. Boleslav Patera, from Czechoslovakia, may be the best reserve in the league.

2. Philadelphia Stars - Tierre Bullett is the best player under six feet tall; he may average 30 points a game this year. He'll have help with SF Matt Seymour and PF Philipp Lynch, two solid scorers, behind him. This team is also young, and will get better as the season goes on. They could be a darkhorse for the division title.

3. Providence Steamrollers - Steve Stewart is one of the better point guards in the league in his 11th professional season. He's one of the rare players who is capable of a triple-double on any given night. Jerry Hall, a 6-7 SF, is his sidekick. He is a superstar in the making though, and this may be his breakout season. Outside of that, this team has a lot of role players and not much talent. This team could finish second if it all comes together, or in the basement.

4. Baltimore Bullets - They have three legit scorers in PG JaJa James, SG Cordell Gervin and SF John Jones. This team is very young (eight players with three years or less experience), but they're talented. They're the team of 1962, but in 1961, they'll take their knocks.

5. New York Legends - This team has aging jumpshooter Marvin "Smooth Jazz" Soloman at shooting guard, which will make Clayton Lucas, a young star in the making, play small forward. The matchup problems that will be had because of this will cause New York to tumble. This team doesn't have talent outside of Lucas and point guard Jason Brown, a legitimate MVP candidate. Solomon is getting older and has lost a step, and the frontcourt on this team isn't very good.

Western Division

USBL Weekly Scouts Poll: 1. Cincinnati 2. Detroit 3. Cleveland 4. Indianapolis 5. Chicago

1. Detroit Wheels - This team is complete. They have scoring punch in PG Derrick Dunkley, SG Kenny Brown, and PF Dan Hill. They have a disruptive center in C Andre Levett, who may be the best defensive player in the league. They have depth at every position, and go 12 deep. This may be the team to beat in the entire league. The key may be Tim Jones, their big small forward. If he contributes the way the team is hoping, then this team may waltz to the championship.

2. Indianapolis Royals - They're workmanlike. They're not flashy; they'll just bust you, like Detroit. I don't know why this team is picked to finish fourth by league scouts, but they have more talent than anyone else in the division outside of the Wheels. Alan Scott is a star at PF, and will be a MVP candidate. The Royals also have defensive stopper Sherman Andersen, who could end up being Defensive Player of the Year. SG Aki DeMond is a more-than-capable third option, and with Frank Collins, the veteran sharpshooter, coming off the bench, this team has more than enough scoring options.

3. Cleveland Knights - Ron Richardson is only 20. And he might be the best player in the league. He's a 6'10 shooting guard, capable of a triple-double on any night. He could lead the league in steals, or rebounds...or maybe even scoring. He's going to have to lead this young team to the future. They'll probably be a loser this year, but you give them a season or two, and they'll be among the best in the league. Joe Johnson is growing at SG, and could move Richardson to SF. C Jimmy Smith, a 7-3, 264-pound monster, gives Cleveland a great inside-outside option. Add PG Terry Henderson at PG, and you have a solid nucleus capable of overachieving this year. It's doubtful, but you never know.

4. Cincinnati Monarchs - SG Steve Nelson is well-known nationally; he was the first to become a 18-year-old professional basketball player. He comes to Cincinnati as royalty in the basketball world. Unfortunately, his subjects won't be a great royal court. SF Derick Manheimer is a budding superstar, but the rest of this team is less than stellar. They'll be hard-pressed to stay with the teams who have more depth. One player to watch is Anton Barbarich, a 6-7 point guard from Eastern Europe. He has a lot of potential, and may become something special.

5. Chicago Stags - Young and inexperienced. That's how you describe this team. They have four players who have 8+ years experience. Everyone else? Less than five. They have several players with three years or less, including four of their starters. The elder statesmen, PF Marcus Thorne, may be called "Dad" by a lot of the youngsters. They have some good talent, but not much depth and a lot of holes. They'll contend for the #1 pick overall.

Comey · 04-20-2005, 09:03 PM

American Conference

Eastern Division

USBL Weekly Scouts Poll: 1. St. Louis 2. Dallas 3. Memphis 4. Kansas City 5. Kentucky

1. St. Louis Spirits - This team has a lot of talent. A lot. It starts with 6'9 SG Jared Wilkes. He has unquestioned scoring ability, and he's also a solid defender. He's capable of carrying this team on his back on any night. Fortunately, he won't have to, as the Chinese Dragon, Hsien-fend Zhang, is there to back him up. Zhang is 7-7, 318 pounds...the biggest athlete in history. He's still getting his skills honed, but he's turning into a star and the ultimate 1-2 punch in the USBL with Wilkes. Add SF Ross Irwin, PF Brandon Saunders, and PG Kevin Richardson, and you have arguably the top starting five in the league. They have depth and experience. This team is the early favorite to win it all.

2. Dallas Rangers - Seven-footer Will Hawkins is a solid all-around player, and one of the five-star players in the league. Shooting guards Josh Respert and Adam Weems give Dallas the most depth at the 2-guard spot (Respect is the starter, Weems the first man off the bench). Myron Barnes is a solid point guard, capable of being the top player on this team in any given night. They also have very solid players at the big man positions; Heddick Blackmon was once the best player in the world, but knee injuries have knocked him down to mere supermortal status. He's still a force to be reckoned with in the post. And he'll mentor young Bill Gailey, a tough 6'7 power forward who plays bigger than his already substantial height. Drew Hargrove is maybe the top point guard prospect in the league, and he caps off what will be a very tough contender for the championship.

3. Memphis Blues - Dalmau Batiz, the top player out of Spain, has come over and found himself in Memphis, ready to lead the Blues to the playoffs. It'll be tough; his surrounding cast is quite ordinary. The good news for Blues fans is that Batiz is only 24, so they'll be able to get a good crew around him. The bad news is, the two teams behind them are probably the worst teams in the league, so a middle draft position seems about right. SF Damien Campbell and SG Alex Williams are likely the second and third options on this squad.

4. Kansas City Showboats - The Showboats are led by 6-8 PF Leighton Ireland. Ireland is one of the top players around, and his arrival in Kansas City will keep the Showboats in a lot of game. Ireland will get help from 6-6 small forward Andre Reid, a solid scorer. The team doesn't have much depth, so if Ireland or Reid get into foul trouble or injured, this team's in a lot of trouble.

5. Kentucky Colonels - This team may need Mr. Rupp to put butts in the seats. This team does have a stud in David Reed, a 6-8 PF whom many consider to be one of the best young prospects in the league. The rest of this team was put together because they were cheap. There's no other way to say it. This team has a lot of this "salary cap" room. They'll be able to attract some players because Kentucky is the Basketball State. But, for this year...well, it's going to be long.

Western Division

USBL Weekly Scouts Poll: 1. Los Angeles 2. Portland 3. Denver 4. Seattle 5. Oakland

1. Los Angeles Marshalls - The Marshalls have the best big man in the game in 7-1 Jackie Smith. He's the best rebounder, the best shotblocker, and has the best post presence in the league. He could average 25 points and 15 rebounds this year. He'll get help out of his guards, Argentinian legend Diego Sanchez and the Frenchman, Gaston Carbonneau. A lot of worldly players have found themselves in LA, where they'll find celebrity and fame. Will it be a distraction? Not if coach Brandon Ward, one of the top in his profession, can help it. He runs a tight ship, and with Smith in his

2. Denver Rockers - Travis Myer is one of the youngest players in the league. But he has so much talent, he'll be the front of the Rockers attack. He's big, has a soft jumpshot, and the ability to drive to the hoop with consistency. He's joined by strong power forward Julius Wadley, a guy with a bit of a meanstreak (remember the Brawl in Baltimore in '58?), but that's just what this team needs to protect Myer. Keiron Stanley is a very solid point guard, and will be among the tops in his division. They also have the division's top sixth man in Rob Stanfield, who's able to step right in if Wadley goes and gets a technical foul (which is he accustomed to doing). Also, James Brand is a quality center who should thrive in this environment.

3. Seattle Rainiers - Adrian Woodward is much better than people realize. Just because he was in Fargo in the MWL for the past few years doesn't mean he isn't the same guy that took Tennessee-Martin to the National Championship game in 1952. SF James Smylie is as solid as you get at small forward; he can be a dominating scorer, and is an above-average defender and rebounder. They need more of a surrounding cast, but these two could be enough to carry them through most games, and challenge for a playoff spot.

4. Portland Pioneers - Michael Crispin is a great, great player. He'll need to be superhuman to lead this team to the playoffs. Fellow PF David Thomas, who will be the center, is young and explosive. He has the potential to be one of the best in the league; unfortunately, he's too small to be a center (even at 6-8, 262), and will probably do better as a power forward for someone else. Greg Rancik is a solid PG who is beginning to hit the twilight of his career, a little early at age 31. But knee injuries have slowed him down, and he's really a shell of his former self. If this team can hold up, they have a shot at the fourth playoff spot. Chances are though, they'll trade Thomas for a first-rounder and take their lumps.

5. Oakland Oaks - This team will contend for the #1 pick. SG Desmond Richardson is the best player in the Bay Area, but the help he has, namely PF John Sims and SF Greg Deane, are young, inexperienced, and considered works-in-progress. PG John Simmons is a very solid defender; what he isn't, however, is a very solid point guard. But this team doesn't have anyone else, so he'll see a lot of time. There will be a lot of long days in Oakland this year, as this team has a long way to go to build a winner.

Comey · 04-20-2005, 09:03 PM

All-USBL First Team

PG: Steve Stewart, Providence
SG: Tierre Bullett, Philadelphia
SF: Jared Wilkes, St. Louis
PF: Leighton Ireland, Kansas City
C: Jackie Smith, Los Angeles

All-USBL Second Team

PG: Jason Brown, New York
SG: Ron Richardson, Cleveland
SF: Terrance Thomas, Boston
PF: Alan Scott, Indiana
C: Andre Levett, Detroit

Playoff Predictions

National Conference

1. Detroit
2. Boston
3. Indianapolis
4. Philadelphia

Detroit over Philadelphia
Indianapolis over Boston

Detroit over Indianapolis

American Conference

1. St. Louis
2. Los Angeles
3. Dallas
4. Denver

St. Louis over Denver
Los Angeles over Dallas

St. Louis over Los Angeles

1961 Championship Prediction: St. Louis over Detroit

Preseason Picks for...

Player of the Year: Jackie Smith, Los Angeles
MVP: Tierre Bullett, Philadelphia
Rookie of the Year: David Reed, Kentucky
Coach of the Year: Brandon Ward, Los Angeles
Scoring Champion: Bullett
Rebounding Champion: Smith
Assist Champion: Steve Stewart, Providence

Comey · 04-20-2005, 09:04 PM

Here is a listing of the Top 10 collegiate prospects, according to USBL Weekly:

1. PF Ray Dare, BYU - FR, 6-9, 241
2. SF Terrance Roberts, Baylor - SR, 6-8, 225
3. SF Andrew Boythe, North Carolina - JR, 6-5, 228
4. PF Dave Parmer, Portland State - SO, 6-8, 221
5. PG Michael Hendrik, Louisville - JR, 6-6, 189
6. PF Paul Anderson, St. Joe's - FR, 6-9, 235
7. SG Kareem Michaels, Gonzaga - SO, 6-7, 212
8. PG Nate Smith, Iowa - FR, 6-0, 157
9. SG Dan Kamouna, Auburn - SO, 6-8, 188
10. PF Luke Lindquist - FR, 6-8, 234

And a listing of the Top 10 International prospects, according to USBL Weekly:

1. PF Kazandu Kodesh, South Africa - 20 yrs, 6-10, 220
2. PF Ludwig Woetzel, Germany - 23, 6-9, 221
3. SF Willigis Faust, Germany - 22, 6-8, 215
4. SF Roland Klinsmann, Germany - 21, 6-5, 216
5. SG Aineias Mardas, Greece - 22, 6-4, 208
6. SG Nwan Inoniyegha, Nigeria - 20, 6-2, 210
7. SG Damianos Karahi, Greece - 18, 6-3, 187
8. SF Santo Montero, Italy - 21, 6-6, 216
9. SF Eran Gosa, Israel - 23, 6-9, 216
10. PF Gur Berkovich, Israel - 22, 6-9, 242

Comey · 04-20-2005, 09:04 PM

Opening night - vs Baltimore (0-0)

We get the Bullets at home on Opening Night. It's going to be a tough game, given it's a divisional rival and our first game. But if Tierre can get hot and we can control the pace, and not let JaJa James, Cordell Gervin, or John Jones get out and run on us, we're in good shape.

Starting Matchups

Baltimore @ Philadelphia

PG: JaJa James vs Scott Smith (Adv: Baltimore)
SG: Cordell Gervin vs. Tierre Bullett (Adv: Philadelphia)
SF: John Jones vs. Matt Seymour (Adv: Push)
PF: Bart Jones vs. Philipp Lynch (Adv. Philadelphia)
C: Kenyate Hall vs Austin Harrington (Adv. Philadelphia)

TIp won by: Baltimore

First half Notes: Both teams are shooting awful to open the game...Baltimore at 36.8%, and Philly at 25%. At the end of one, the score was tied at 23. Baltimore opened the second quarter with a 9-0 run, but we came back to close it down to 38-37 midway through the second. We go on a run behind Bullett to take a 43-41 lead with 3 minutes left in the first half. The team gets hot, as everyone is contributing. At the end of the first half, though, Baltimore is up 51-49. Bullett has 14 in the first half.

Second half notes: Baltimore opens the half hot, pushing their lead to five. The crowd is deflated when Bullett's pass is picked up by John Jones, who throws an alley-oop to Bart Jones. We stay with them, as Matt Seymour catches fire. But turnovers are hurting us (13 midway through the third). Seymour continues to hit, pulling us to 65-64 and then 67-66. He has 19 to compliment Bullett's 20. Bullet's field goal from the right elbow gives us a 68-67 lead with three minutes to go in the third. He scores again to put us up by three. Bullett finds the hot hand, with 18 in the third quarter to help give us an 81-73 lead after three. In the fourth, we stay just ahead of them throughout the first part, as Seymour comes back to keep us up 88-84. Bullett comes back and immediately scores, giving us a three-point lead with 5:30 left. It's 93-88 with five left when Baltimore gets hot, pulling to within one. But Bullett and Seymour hold off the Bullets, and we take it 101-93.

Final score: Philadelphia 101, Baltimore 93
Player of the game: Tierre Bullett, Philadelphia (38 points, 8 assists)

This was a tooth-and-nail game throughout. There were 17 lead changes, and nobody had a double-digit lead. Matt Seymour had 26 points and five boards, and Stephen Williams came through with 11 points and 7 boards off the bench. For Baltimore, Cordell Gervin had 19 points and six boards, and John Jones had 16 points and six boards. He fouled out, though, and that really hurt Baltimore's chances late.

Final word: I like how we played (out-rebounding them and had 26 assists), but I don't like that we had only two solid scorers. We need a third option; I guess at this point, it'll be Williams. But I'd rather see Lynch step up.

Record: 1-0
Next: At Kansas City (1-0), Day 2

Around the league:

Cincinnati (1-0) 124, Chicago (0-1) 100 - Steve Nelson led seven Cincinnati scorers in double-figures with 29, and Roy Hutson added 21, as Cincy routed Chicago. Chicago, who had six players in double figures, were led by Marcus Thorne (15 points) and Romain Henry (13 points, 12 rebounds). Cincinnati never trailed in the game.

Kansas City (1-0) 105, Denver (0-1) 93 - In somewhat of a surprise, Kansas City blew a 14-point lead, but came back to beat Denver. Leighton Ireland led the Showboats with a triple double (18 points, 15 boards, 10 assists), and Andre Reid contributed with 32 points. Travis Myer led Denver with 29 points and eight rebounds. He was coerced, however, into nine turnovers.

Los Angeles (1-0) 108, St. Louis (0-1) 85 - Jackie Smith was fantastic, showing why he's the Preseason Player of the Year with 30 points and 22 rebounds, along with five blocks and four assists, as Los Angeles demolished the preseason championship favorites. Gaston Carbonneau added 27 and seven assists for the Marshalls. Jared Wilkes had 26 points and five rebounds for St. Louis. Los Angeles found themselves down 32-26 after one, but outscored St. Louis 59-37 in the second and third quarters to hold a substantial advantage heading into the final quarter.

Seatte (1-0) 125, New York (0-1) 80 - Seattle raced out to a 32-15 first-quarter lead and never looked back. The Rainers, who never trailed, were led by Adrian Woodward's 37 points and seven assists, along with five steals. Woodward scored his points on 15-of-23 shooting. James Smylie added 21 points and 12 boards. Smooth Jazz Soloman had 18 points for to lead New York. Reserve forward Tezale Haslem added 16 points off the bench, while star guard Jason Brown had 15 points and six assists.

Player of the Day: Leighton Ireland, PF, Kansas City - 18 points, 15 boards, 10 assists in KC's 105-93 win over Denver

Transactions:
- KC signs SG Brian Monroe and PG Jason Tolliver

Comey · 04-20-2005, 09:04 PM

Day 2 - @ Kansas City (1-0)

Leighton Ireland torched Denver with a triple double. Can our big men stop him? Can Tierre follow a big effort in last night's game? Will we find a third scorer? I get the feeling that, if we don't, we'll be hurting.

Starting Matchups
Philadelphia @ Kansas City

PG: Scott Smith vs Jason Tolliver (Push)
SG: Tierre Bullett vs Lon McMahon (Philadelphia)
SF: Matt Seymour vs Andre Reid (Kansas City)
PF: Philipp Lynch vs Leighton Ireland (Kansas City)
C: Austin Harrington vs David Sherrell (Philadelphia)

Strategy: Run a double high offense, keep them away from the boards, and take advantage of Bullett's speed against McMahon. On defense, we'll go with a half-court zone, as they don't have great shooters outside of McMahon. We hope this will keep Lynch out of foul trouble against Ireland.

Tip won by: Kansas City

First Half Notes: Kansas City got the first bucket, as David Sherrell scored. McMahon then hit a triple. KC started out on a 9-2 run; they're shooting 80%. If this continues, we'll have to get out of the zone. We respond with a 6-0 run, but Ireland buries a bucket. All of our starters have scored less than five minutes in. We need that kind of offense out of everyone. Ireland's presence is being felt early, as he's altered some shots and blocked one. Reid has three early turnovers, which we like to see. We pull it to within two with three minutes left in the first, but we can't seem to tie it. Tierre has 10 of our first 20 points. A steal and an oop from Lynch to Williams seems to get THEM started, though, as they go on a run to make it 32-24 after our steal. We get out of the zone (they were shooting 70%) and go to a motion offense. At the end of one, it's 32-25 KC. We're shooting 45%, but they're shooting 67%. We start the second quarter off well, but we can't stop their hot shooting. Philipp Lynch is having a good day though, with eight early points. That's what we need. Matt Seymour is not shooting well, 1-for-4 early...but Tierre is hot, 14 points on 5-of-8. We tie it at 39-39 on Tierre's sixteenth point, a drive to the hoop. We also get Ireland his second foul early in the second; he's been held to four points and two boards. Unfortunately, Reid has 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting so far. We get a lead at 41-39, and increase it to 43-40, as we're now shooting 57.6% and on a run. We go up 48-40 on Austin Harrington's drop hook. But Reid continues to be on fire, and he keeps them in it. We're on a big run right now...14-3 since we tied it. We're up 55-44 with three minutes left and we're continuing to roll...just gotta keep this going. Lynch has 12 on 5-of-7 shooting, and Tierre has 19.We go cold to finish the half, as KC creeps back to within 55-50 at the end of the half.

Halftime score: Philly 55, KC 50

Second Half Notes: Lon McMahon has not done much scoring, but he has six assists. For us, Scott Smith has 7 points and 7 assists, but four turnovers. We don't have anyone in four trouble, and really, neither do they (Ireland nad Sherrell have two). Ireland is up to 11 points as he's gotten hot, and he has eight boards (four offensive). We still hold a five-point lead with 9 minutes left in the third, at 59-54. Reid has gone cold, missing his last six shots. Tierre is also cold, missing his last four. The Showboats are very cold, as they're down to 49% shooting on the night (we're at 53.1). Seymour's beginning to heat up, as he hits to give him 10, and us a 65-57 lead. But Ireland continues to hit, keeping them close. Philipp Lynch hits an absolutely crazy shot, putting us up 10 at the five-minute mark of the third quarter. Reid's gotten hot again, as he's up to 22 points. Tierre has 21. Reserve guard Bradon Walls gave us some good minutes, as he's 2/3 from the field. We're doing a good job of keeping them off the boards, outrebounding them 32-26 so far. They pull to within four after a timeout to get on their case, but we get it back out to eight quickly. We decide to change up a bit, and go with Smith on Reid. He's our best defender, so we'll see how that goes. Reid currently has 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting in the fourth quarter. Bullett's getting hot, as he now has 25 points. 9:16 left, we're up 83-72. I go with a big lineup of Smith-Seymour-Williams-Calloway-Harrington to get Lynch and Bullett some rest time on the bench. I figure this way, with Ireland on the bench, we can give those guys a rest. Reid buries his first shot with Smith on him. It's a 10-point lead for us, and if this team out there can hold it, we'll take this one home. Winston Calloway hasn't played all that long, but he has four fouls. We'll get him out, and go with Alvan Woods at C, and Harold Singletary at PF. It's a bit smaller than I'd like, but this lineup will only be in for another minute or so. Ireland hits, giving him 17 points and 15 boards. We're probably going to have to put Tierre back in soon, along with Lynch. I'd like to wait until 5:30 to do it though. If they get to within four, I'll pull the trigger earlier. Tolliver misses two big free throws, and Alvan Woods throws it home on the other end to put us back up by ten. Woods has a big board for us, and with 5:30 left, it's 87-79, and we'll bring our big boys back on. Tierre's in for Smith, Lynch in for Williams, Harrington in for Woods. Bullett comes in and immediately hits a bucket. Bullett's holding the PG spot, at least until I get Smith back out there. We're doing a great job of holding them off the boards and getting stops. Smith comes back in at the 2:06 mark, as the starters are all back in. All five are in double figures, led by Bullett's 27. Ireland blocks a big shot, and Tolliver pulls them to within 8 at 1:36 left. Seymour gets fouled and hits his two FTs to put us back up by 10, but McMahon hits again to keep it at 97-89. Tierre makes one of two, and KC takes a timeout. Harrington fouls Sherrell, who hits both to make it 98-91. I'll stay with the group out there, and Seymour is fouled. He hits both, putting us up 100-91 with :38 left. Bullett hits a shot we really didn't need, but that's okay. We win 102-94, and go to 2-0.

Final Score: Philadelphia 102, Kansas City 94
Player of the Game: Tierre Bullett, Philadelphia - 30 points, 9 assists, 3 boards, 3 steals

This was tougher than it seemed. Kansas City's a very good team who will be tough to beat. Leighton Ireland is the real deal; he finished with 21 points and 16 assists. Andre Reid is incredible, but I was happy we held him to 24 and only three boards.

Final word: We outrebounded them 44-37. We were able to withstand their great shooting in the beginning, and took care of business when we needed to. We were down seven, and responded by outscoring them 30-18 in the 2nd quarter. We didn't give up the lead in the second half, so I'm extremely pleased. I was also surprised that we held them to 26 points in the paint, and we scored 36. We had all five scorers in double figures, the big key being Lynch with his 16 points. When he's scoring, we're going to be VERY tough to beat.

Record: 2-0
Next: vs. New York (0-2)

Around the League:

Boston (1-0) 89, New York (0-2) 75: New York's lack of offense continues, as four players scored in double figures, but only one with more than 11 points (Jason Brown's 19 points, six assists, and seven turnovers). Boston held New York to just 34 points in the second half, and used 38 points from Terrance Thomas to get the win in Boston's first USBL game. The Irish led by as much as 21, and held New York to just six second chance points, and four points off the fast break.

Portland (1-0) 96, St. Louis (0-2) 70: What is going on with St. Louis? The Spirits shot just 33% in a blowout loss at home. David Thomas led Portland with 28 points and 8 rebounds, and Michael Crispin scored 22 with nine boards, as Portland cruised by winning every quarter. Jared Wilkes led St. Louis with 18 points and 8 boards, and The Great Wall, Hsien-feng Zhang, had 12 points and 13 boards, along with five assists in the loss.

Seattle (2-0) 103, Oakland (0-1) 89: Kris Cadray led six double-digit scorers, as Seattle goes to 2-0 on the year. Cadray had 20 points, while Adrian Woodward scored 19 with five assists. James Smylie and Brian Scholl had 15 points each. Oakland was led by Desmond Richardson, who scored 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Unfortunately, the rest of the team was 23-for-53. John Sims scored 13 for Oakland.

Detroit (1-0) 87, Los Angeles (1-1) 77: One night after demolishing St. Louis, the Marshalls and Jackie Smith were held to just 32% shooting against a tough Detroit defense. Derrick Dunkley led Detroit with 16 points, while Kenny Brown chipped in 14. Detroit blocked 10 Marshall shots, and handled star Jackie Smith. Smith scored 18 points and had 14 rebounds, but was only 4-of-15 from the field. Gaston Carbonneau put in 24 for Los Angeles.

Player of the Day: Tierre Bullett, Philadelphia - 30 points, 9 assists in Philly's 102-94 win over KC

Transactions:
- Oakland signs SF Jeryl Smylie

Comey · 04-20-2005, 09:05 PM

Day 3 - No Game

I look at the free agent pool to see if there's someone, notably a power forward, who can give us more depth. I find Matt Pebbles, a 6-8 widebody who was a great player at Indiana State. Strangely, nobody had picked him up. So, we sign him for the rest of the year, and release SF Jon Watkins. Roman Moncrief was moved to the IR. Guy got hurt during warmups yesterday. So now we're short at the PG spot, though the combination of Smith, Bullett, Brandon Walls, and Rick Tyler can do the job. I do like what Pebbles will give us...solid minutes, and he'll keep Lynch from being overused. Pebbles immediately becomes our sixth man.

To shore up the point guard spot, we trade for Dallas' Drew Hargrove, a 6-2, 180 pound rookie. He's rated as a 3/4.5 player, so we figure he's better than anyone to pick up in the draft. He better be, as we trade a first-round pick and SF Andy Kelly to get him. Here's what USBL Weekly wrote about the deal:

"The Stars gave up quite a bit to get this rookie guard, more than what a lot of people thought Dallas could get for him. He wasn't on the trading block, but the ability to get a second first-round pick to blend in some youth with their aging talent was too much to pass up. Hargrove may be the real thing, though, and being just a rookie...it's hard to see why Dallas gave him up, other than that they want to address their big man spots in the draft. This seems to be a win-win for both teams, though Philadelphia may have come out ahead for this year. So, the rookie GM/Coach in Philadelphia should not be booed by Stars fans...yet."

Well, at least I wasn't hung in effigy. Hargrove will step in immediately and start at the point, which will allow me to play Scott Smith at PG and SG, and give Tierre a few more minutes off.

Around the League

Boston (2-0) 94, Cincinnati (1-1) 92: Terrance Thomas scored 25 points to lead five Irish in double-figures, as Boston held off a late charge by Cincinnati to go to 2-0. C Derrick Stallworth had 18 points and 11 boards, and Corey Jameson registered 11 points and 10 assists, along with 8 rebounds. Steve Nelson had 21 points and 9 assists for Cincinnati, while Tang Bush scored 16 off the bench.

Kentucky (1-0) 83, Oakland (0-2) 76: Colin Jones scored 15 and added five assists, as Kentucky shocked Oakland in their USBL debut. The Colonels, considered by many to be the league's worst team, led 43-33 at halftime, and led by 16 at one point. David Reed scored 11 and registered 14 rebounds in his professional debut to help the Colonels get the victory. Desmond Richardson scored 20 and grabbed eight boards, and John Sims had 12 points and 17 boards to lead Oakland.

Baltimore (1-1) 118, Seattle (2-1) 99: John Jones scored 29 and added 12 rebounds to pace a balanced effort for Baltimore, who got their first win. Cordell Gervin added 19 points, six boards and six assists, while Kenyate Hall had 16 points and 10 boards, and JaJa James had 14 and 12 assists for the Bullets. Adrian Wooward led Seattle with 32 points and five assists. James Smylie added 16 points and six boards.

Player of the Day: John Jones, Baltimore - 29 points, 12 boards, 4 assists in 118-99 win over Seattle

Transactions:
- Philadelphia signs PF Matt Pebbles
- Philadelphia releases SF Jon Watkins
- Philadelphia trades 1962 1st Rounder and SF Andy Kelly to Dallas for PG Drew Hargrove

Comey · 04-20-2005, 09:05 PM

Day 4 - vs New York (0-2)

New York has not been competitive so far, losing by 45 to Seattle, and 14 to Boston. They continue their road swing through here, and then head to Providence. I really like the predicament they're in, and the way this team's been playing, their style of play...it favors us bigtime. They rely on their jump shooters and on Jason Brown. We'll see how well Drew can do in his first game. It will also be interesting to see how brothers Kelley and Austin Harrington go at it; Kelley is the starting center for the Legends.

Starting Matchups
New York @ Philadelphia

PG: Jason Brown vs Drew Hargrove (New York)
SG: Clayton Lucas vs Tierre Bullett (Philadelphia)
SF: Marvin Soloman vs Matt Seymour (Push)
PF: Gene Hess vs Philipp Lynch (Push)
C: Kelley Harrington vs Austin Harrington (Push)

Strategy: We're going to keep the pressure on defense high, and try to run whenever possible. We'll go to the motion offense.

Tip won by: Philadelphia

First Half: Hargrove has an early turnover trying to get to the hoop, but that's not our only problem. New York races out to an early 9-1 lead, as we just can't get anything going. Brown has five early points and two steals, and Hess has four points. They led 13-3 with 9:00 left. The Legends start 6-for-7...pretty tough to beat. Hargrove picks up his second foul with eight minutes left, and he gets booed off the floor. Yeesh. This is not good. New York goes up 19-5 with 6:45 left, and this is just brutal to watch right now. Bullett gets his first points to bring us to within 19-7, but he's 1-for-5 so far. We can't get anything going, and they go up 23-7. I call timeout and lay into the team. They look beaten down though, so we set up a play for Bullett to get a three. He rolls off a screen and hits the three. I'm hoping that gets us going. Bullett draws a foul, goes one of two from the line...but Harrington gets the board and puts it in. We're now down eight, and getting back into it. Harrington's going crazy on the boards, with seven boards, four offensive here in the first. Tierre has 10 of our first 21 points, as he pulls us to within six at 1:10 in the first. But Soloman is just as hot, hitting for 10 first quarter points. Matt Pebbles is going valuable minutes off the bench here, getting four points in a few minutes of action. Bullett gets to the line, misses the second, but Harrington gets ANOTHER offensive rebound, and Bullett knocks down the shot at the end of the first to bring us to within 30-26. That was a 19-7 run to close out the first quarter, and I'll take it. Hargrove and Lynch start the second quarter in for Smith and Lynch. Smith will come back for Tierre in a couple of minutes. NY gets the first bucket of the second quarter, and we've gone a bit cold, but Tierre drills another to keep it at 32-28. Stephen Williams hits a shot to pull us to within two, with 9:30 left in the first half. At 8:42 left in the half, Lynch picks up his third foul. That's no good...Harrington goes back in, and Pebbles is going to get a lot of work in his first game with us. Smith comes back in, too. Harrington immediately gets a rebound, giving him 9 in the first half. He's outplaying his brother so far. Jason Brown is getting hot for NY, as he is 5-of-9 for 11 points and five assists so far. At 7:08, we'll bring Tierre and Matt Seymour back in for Hargrove and Williams. Seymour has to watch it, as he has two fouls. It's 36-30 when they go back in. Brown hits again, and we have nobody who can stop him. Seymour scores to keep it close, and Bullett nails one to make it 38-34. Bullett has 19 first half points, but it's taken him 17 shots to get there. We switch to a 1-4 set on offense, see if that works. Pebbles has played well, and he gets a rest with 4:00 left. Calloway comes in to replace him. It's 42-36 when Smith drills a shot, pulling us to within four. They're in a zone defense, so we adjust. We need to figure out a way to get some boards; we're being outrebounded 23-18 right now. Calloway is 0-for-3 from the field, which is what we don't want. Seymour hits a shot, but NY answers right back. Lucas picks up his third foul late in the first half...I'm a bit surprised they left him in. We get Seymour out and Smith, as they both have two fouls. Unfortunately, Brandon Walls and Stephen Williams lack in the same kind of offense as the two who left the game. Of course, Williams immediately dunks it home.

Halftime Score: New York 48, Philadelphia 42

Second Half: We go back to the starters, and we're hitting the offensive boards hard early. Unfortunately, we can't get anything to fall. Finally, after a few shots to open the half, Bullett finally hits. Jason Brown, meanwhile, is having a heck of a game...19 points and six assists at this point (9:41 left). He's been tough to stop. Lynch commits his fourth foul with 9:31 left in the third. I chew out the ref, and bring Pebbles back in. I chew him out some more, and get a warning...but I don't care. This is ridiculous. Brown steals the ball from Pebbles and passes up to Soloman, who puts New York up 56-46 with 8:29 left in the third. I call a time out, and try to get the team fired up. We set up a play for Bullett, but it's an off-balance one, and we go down 58-46 on the four-point swing. Right now, we're just cold, and down 15 when Gene Hess drills a shot. We get five shots on one possession, can't get anything to fall...they come down and drill a bucket. Right now, it's how it's going. Smith comes back in for Hargrove with us down 64-49 at 5:25 left in the third. Pebbles drills one...he's 2-for-3 from the field. At 3:30, NY brings in a whole new five with a 66-55 lead. Kelley Harrington throws one down on his brother, and talks trash the whole way up the floor. Nick Hordemann, who hasn't seen a minute in this game, calmly drills a jumper to make it 70-57 with 2:11 left. They just can't miss, and we can't make free throws (11-of-17, they're 11-of-12 so far). They're drilling shots, and bounce it back up to a sixteen-point lead early in the fourth. Calloway, Lynch, and Hargrove come in, as I slide Smith to the SF spot. We need to make a move now. Bullett tries to get us going by hitting a shot...but he travels on the next possession. Smith hits a big three, and it's down to 11. And Lynch promptly commits his fifth foul, with 10:10 left. Hargrove drills a three, and it's down to 10. Bullett misses a drive...he's 10-for-27 from the field. Sigh. He takes another shot, hits it, and it's 78-68. Seymour comes back for Smith, and Smith will get Bullett a break in a minute. Tierre gets a steal and a bucket to bring it to 78-70 with 7:47 left. We're going to have to sub for him soon, and we'll do it with 7:20 left, after the Legends' tenth turnover. Smith comes back in for Tierre, and Harrington comes in for Calloway. We can't seem to get any closer...until Issac Durden, the NY coach, was hit with a technical foul. Seymour hits the freebee. Of course, we give up a three immediately after that. I'm bringing in Lynch back with 5:47 left, and Tierre comes back in. If we're going to make our run, it's going to be now. Smith nails a shot, and it's 85-78 with 5:00 left. Lynch gets a great look, but it just won't fall. Smith hits two free throws to make it 85-80, and we're right there with them. Tierre picks off a pass, throws it up to Lynch, and we're down 85-82! Lucas makes it 87-82 on free throws, but Smith answers with a bucket of his own. At 2:22, it's time to bring Hargrove back in, if only for one minute...Smith is sucking wind. It's 88-84. Seymour misses, but Austin Harrington gets ANOTHER offensive board to save us. Bullett gets fouled on the shot, knocks down both free throws, and it's 88-86 with 1:58 left. Gene Hess hits a jumper...and Austin Harrington follows by drawing a foul on Kelley Harrington. We get the ball back, and Lynch drills a jump hook. But New York just can't miss right now. We bring Smith back in with :58 left and us down 92-88. Smith is our best defender, and he has to be in right now. It doesn't seem to matter though...Gene Hess is just going nuts here, as he hits another bucket to make it 94-90. We can't get it any closer, and lose our first game of the year.

Final Score: New York 96, Philadelphia 90
Player of the Game: Tierre Bullett, Philadelphia - 34 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals

This wasn't very encouraging. We were flat, and we only had one lead, at 1-0. We just weren't able to get it going. I was happy with the run at the end to make it close. But missing seven free throws didn't help, and only having one real scorer didn't help. Bullett went 13-of-33, but he had to take it on his shoulders. We need more help scoring. Simple as that.

Final word: We'll get them again. They made the plays when the plays were needed. We couldn't get outscored by 10 in the third and expect to come back. It was a good comeback from 17 down, but it just wasn't enough. But, like I said...we'll get them back. Drew Hargrove will also have solid days. We threw him into the fire tonight, and he did okay. But he'll be much better. I was very pleased with Scott Smith's play off the bench (11 points, 9 assists, no turnovers). He'll be very valuable there.

Record: 2-1
Next: vs Cincinnati (1-1)

Around the League

Boston (3-0) 78, Indianapolis (0-1) 75: With Terrance Thomas hobbled by a knee injury, it was up to Corey Jameson and "The Mad Czech", Boleslav Patera, to keep Boston afloat. And that's what they did, as Jameson scored 21 with eight boards and four assists, and Patera scored 16 with five boards off the bench. Alan Scott scored 24 with 11 rebounds for Indianapolis, who lost their USBL debut. Aki DeMond poured in 19 to help. Unfortunately, a 12-point lead at the half was too much to overcome for the Royals.

Player of the Day: Jason Brown, New York - 26 points, 13 assists in 96-90 win over Philadelphia

Comey · 04-20-2005, 11:17 PM

Day 5 - No Games

I give the team the day off. No sense holding a practice when we've had three games in four days.

Around the League

Cleveland (1-0) 102, Chicago (0-2) 81: Ron Richardson, Cleveland's 6'10 guard, scored 25 points and led a furious charge on defense in the Knights' romp over the Stags. Cleveland held Chicago to just eight points in the third quarter. The Knights also had a 41-point display in the second, giving them a 64-55 lead. Jason Porter had 16 points and 7 boards, and Terry Henderson added 15 points and 11 assists. For Chicago, Dennis Smith scored 16 and Doc Hart added 14 and 12 boards.

Indianapolis (1-1) 91, Boston (3-1) 86: Indianapolis got their revenge at Jack Jones Fieldhouse in Indiana. The Royals, who lost by three in Boston yesterday, used 25 points by Aki DeMond, and 11 points and 18 rebounds by Alan Scott to overwhelm the short-handed Irish. Boston was without "The Mad Czech" Boleslav Patera, who was out with an injury. They were also without a healthy Terrance Thomas, who scored three points in just 15 minutes due to a knee injury. They used 22 points and eight assists by Corey Jameson to lead through most of this game. Unfortunately for Boston, they could not hold off the surging Royals in the fourth quarter. The Irish led by seven at half time, but were outscored 48-36 in the second half, including 26-17 in the fourth.

Memphis (1-0) 86, Los Angeles (1-2) 75: At the TOP in Memphis, the Blues won their USBL debut with solid defense. The Blues handcuffed LA to nine first-quarter points, and 17 third-quarter points, en route to the easy win. They led by as much as 20, and never trailed after the first quarter. They held Marshall star Jackie Smith to 14 points and 14 rebounds, and used 17 points, 12 boards, 4 assists, and 3 blocks from Dalmau Batiz from Spain to get the victory. JD Odle scored 16 off the bench, and Damien Campbell added 14 in the winning effort. PG Gaston Carbonneau led LA scorers with 17 points, and added 10 rebounds.

Kansas City (2-1) 97, Denver (0-2) 70: Kansas City shot 50% from the field, and were aided by an abysmal shooting effort by the Rockers, in crusing to the easy win. Leighton Ireland had 17 points and 10 boards, Lon McMahon pitched in 19, and Andre Reid had 16 points, seven boards and five assists, as the Showboats led by 13 at the half, and didn't lose a quarter to the Rockers. Travis Myer was the epitome of the Rocker woes, scoring seven points on 3-of-19 shooting. Rob Stanfield was the leading scorer for Denver with 14 points.

Player of the Day: Dalmau Batiz, Memphis - 17 points, 12 boards, 4 assists, 3 blocks in 86-75 win over Los Angeles

Transactions: None

Comey · 04-22-2005, 02:30 PM

Day 6 - No Game

Around the League:

Steamrollers (1-0) 109, Legends (1-3) 85: In the Steamrollers' USBL debut, Steve Stewart showed why he was a Preseason All-USBL pick with 30 points, 9 boards, and 7 assists, to lead Providence to the win. Jerry Hall scored 28 with eight boards and six assists to bolster the Providence offense, and Alex Patterson added 15 and seven rebounds. Jason Brown led New York with 23 points and six assists, while Marvin Soloman scored 19.

Indianapolis 94 (2-1), Cincinnati (1-2) 93: Indianapolis came back from a nine-point halftime deficit, using a putback by Alan Scott with 0.7 seconds left for the win. Scott was the POTG with 29 points, six boards, and was 11-of-13 from the line. Sherman Andersen scored 21 with eight boards to help the Royals. For the Monarchs, Steve Nelson scored 25, and Dimitrije Djokovic had 13 points and 13 boards.

Kansas City (3-1) 93, Oakland (0-3) 82: Leighton Ireland led a blanaced effort with 14 points and 15 rebounds, as the Showboats picked up the win at the BAC. Andre Reid led the Showboats in scoring with 20 points, along with five boards and five assists, while Jason Tolliver had 18 and nine assists, along with six boards, and Lon McMahon had 11 with 10 boards and eight assists. Gary Blanks, Oakland's veteran center, led the Oaks with 20 points, seven boards, and three assists. Oakland held an eight-point lead at the half, but went cold with only 34 points in the second half.

St. Louis (1-2) 86, Chicago (0-3) 78: Jared Wilkes had 24 points, seven boards, and four assists, leading St. Louis to their first win of the year. Brandon Saunders had 17 points and 11 rebounds to help out, and Ricardo Young had 12 points off the bench for the Spirits. Marcus Thorne had 16 points and eight boards, and Doc Hart had 15 points and nine rebounds. Romain Henry, Chicago's young star forward, had an off game, going 0-for-7 from the field and scoring only three points.

Player of the Day: Alan Scott, Indy - 29 points, 6 rebounds, game-winning shot in 94-93 win over Cincinnati

Transactions: None

Comey · 04-26-2005, 12:26 AM

Day 7 - vs Cincinnati (1-2)

We get "The Cincinnati Kid" Steve Nelson at home. Nelson's averaging 25 points, 6.3 assists, and 5.7 assists a game. He's a bonafied star. But outside of him and Derick Manheimer, we have an edge. Manheimer also has a problem getting going; he only had eight points in a loss to the Irish. But he had 22 in their win yesterday. Dimitrije Kjokovic is a mystery; he had 13 points and 13 rebounds against Indy, but has been a non-factor otherwise, including a 2-for-12 effort against Boston. Overall, I like our chances.

Starting Matchups
Cincinnati @ Philadelphia

PG: Roy Hutson vs Drew Hargrove (Philadelphia)
SG: Steve Nelson vs Tierre Bullett (push)
SF: Derick Manheimer vs Matt Seymour (Cincinnati)
PF: Collier Selden vs Philipp Lynch (Philadelphia)
C: Dimitrije Djokovic vs Austin Harrington (push)

Strategy: Let Nelson work his butt off for his, and minimize everyone else's production. If it takes 25-30 shots for Nelson to get 30-35 points, that's fine. We don't want to let Hutson for Manheimer go off, though.

Tip won by: Philadelphia

First half notes: We miss our first shot (Bullett on the wing), but Harrington gets the putback. Steve Nelson is full of leap tonight...that doesn't help, considering he can jump over anyone on my team on a bad day. Manheimer hits Cincy's first shot, making it 2-2 at 10:40 left. He then steals the ball from Seymour and dunks it on the other end. We don't need a career game from him. Harrington has our first four points, after hitting a shot from the corner. We COULD use a career day from him. I'm hoping Hargrove can produce for us, and settle into that PG role. Harrington hits again to answer Nelson's first points. But Manheimer is just hitting (3-for-3)...Hargrove misses, but Harrington gets his third board. That leads to Seymour's first bucket. It's 10-8 after Harrington steals and dunks at 7:00 in the first. He has eight of our first 10, but he also has two fouls. Gotta yank him. He hits two free throws, giving him a 10-8 lead over Cincy (it's really 12-8 us) at 6:46 left. Calloway comes in; hopefully he can keep up our stellar play at C. Smith comes in for Hargrove with 5:14 left, after Calloway picks up his first foul. Nelson knocks down the FT, making it 12-10 us. We keep throwing the ball away. This time, it leads to a dunk that ties up the game. Philipp Lynch hits his first shot, though, making it a 14-12 game with 3:39 left. Hargrove comes in for Bullett, who has started 0-for-4. Unfortunately, we don't have great offense out there, outside of Seymour. Seymour hits two FTs to make it 16-12, and we have a nice little cushion to start. We're not shooting well though (6-for-16). Calloway picks up HIS second foul on a horrible call. I have to bring Lynch back in, as Woods is hurt. Bullett comes back in for Seymour, and we go with a real small lineup. With 1:30 left, it's 16-13. We're not doing very well, but neither are they. Bullett gets his second foul with 1:16 left, but we'll leave him in. Cincy takes a 17-16 lead at the end of one on Tang Bush's jumper. Harrington comes in for the second quarter. Hopefully he can stay out of foul trouble. Bullett gets his first points at the 11:20 mark in the second; it's the first time he's gone scoreless in a quarter. I have three guys with two fouls at the 9:00 mark of the first half, including my starting backcourt. That scares me. So, Hargrove and Bullett come out...Seymour goes to SG, and Harold Singletary, who hadn't seen any time last game, comes in at SF. Brandon Walls will also see some time. We're red hot right now, but so is Cincy. DeVante Hardy, the Cincinnati coach, picks up a technical foul, and Seymour nails the FT. He has nine points on 3-of-4 shooting early on. He continues to hit, and leads all scorers midway through the second with 11 points, as we're up 34-29. With 3:00 left, it's 38-33. Seymour hits again (13 points), but Tang Bush comes right back. The Monarchs cut it down to one on back-to-back steals/buckets. This second unit is really producing...giving us a 44-41 lead at the half.

Halftime Score: Philadelphia 44, Cincinnati 41
Leading Scorers: Matt Seymour (PHI - 13), Steve Nelson (CIN - 18)

Second Half Notes: To be able to keep Hargrove, Bullett, and Harrington on the bench, and maintain the lead...that's big. It's our ball to start. Collier Selden hits the half's first bucket on a putback. Seymour continues to hit (6-of-13), and now Austin has 12, but it's still a one-point lead (46-45). Bullett makes a steal, but Manheimer blocks Seymour's shot. Cincy PG Roy Hutson is the first player with three fouls, at 8:50 left in the third. That's big, because the big 6'7 Anton Barbarich isn't playing well tonight. So they leave him in. And now Hargrove picks up HIS third. We'll bring in Smith to handle that. Cincy takes a 48-46 lead, but we tie it on another Seymour bucket. Scott Smith gives us the lead coming out of an inbounds. Nelson is 9-for-15, but he misses his latest; that leads to a breakaway and a three-point play from Lynch! It's 53-48 us with 6:11 left. Nelson is the leading scorer with 23 points, while Seymour has 17...and five turnovers, including one that pulls Cincy to within three after Hemsley steals and tosses to Manheimer for the dunk. Another steal and Cincy's coming back, pulling it to within 57-54. At 3:34, I go with the backups, bringing in Brandon Walls, who has yet to see time, along with Singletary, Pebbles, and Calloway. Williams will come off the bench if Singletary falters. This is not my strongest defensive unit, but it's passable. Calloway with an offensive board and put back! Singletary with the bucket! It's 61-54! But then he commits a bad turnover, and I bring in the more experienced Williams, along with Tierre. Hutson cuts the lead down to three with a trey from the left wing...and he's about to shoot another. But Tierre blocks it, and it's 63-60 after three. Cincy starts with the ball, and Selden scores to make it 63-62. Bullett hits though, but Tang Bush comes right back and hits. He has eight points. Bullett is heating up, as he had only five points going into the fourth, now has nine and hit his first two buckets to keep us up one. Hargrove has no points (0-5) but five assists. Tierre has to get his bearings if we're going to win this though. Hutson is, as he hits his second three. Hargrove throws the ball to Bush, who hits Manheimer for the slam, and we're down by six. But he makes up for it, draining a three! Tierre hits another bucket, giving him 11, and we're down 75-72 with 6:01 left. My boys are tired, so I pull everyone but Harrington and Tierre. Bullett steals one from Nelson, who hits Pebbles for the jam, making it 75-74. Harrington ties it at 4:00 with a BIG dunk! Tierre comes out as Hargrove and Seymour come back. He'll come back in, either for Drew or Scott, at 3:00. Harrington picks up his fifth foul, and he has to come out. Lynch comes back, so we're small with Pebbles and Lynch with Seymour as the frontcourt. Pebbles was fouled, and he hits one of two to give us a 77-76 lead with 3:40 left. A turnover gives us the ball back. Seymour hits another, giving us a 79-76 lead. Tierre and Harrington come back for Hargrove and Pebbles. I'll keep Tierre at the point; Smith is shooting well, and Tierre is the guy I want with the ball right now. Tierre is fouled, and hits the first. He misses the second, but Harrington gets the board! He passes it to Tierre, who drills it! Smith follows with a bucket, giving us an 84-77 lead. Nelson hits two FT, making it a 84-79 game with 1:15 left. Manheimer hits a three, cutting it to 84-82. And now, Tierre throws it away...44 seconds left, and Cincy has a chance to tie it. Nelson misses it, and Lynch gets the board. Smith gets fouled...and hits both free throws. It's 86-82, and Selden gets a putback...but it's too late. We lose a tough one, 86-84!

Final Score: Philadelphia 86, Cincinnati 84
Player of the Game: Steve Nelson, Cincinnati - 28 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists

What a way to rebound. Tierre didn't play well...6-for-16, 14 points, six boards, six assists, and we're having challenges at the PG spot (Hargrove had 3 points on 1-7 shooting, 7 assists and 3 turnovers in 25 minutes; Smith had 10 points, five assists, and three turnovers in 29 minutes). But Seymour played great (21 points, six boards), as did Harrington and Lynch...and we got through it. Pebbles is turning out to be one heck of a pickup, too (20 minutes, 9 points, five boards).

Final word: We took their best shot, kept with it, and grinded out the win. That's something we have to be able to do if we're going to win our division, win our conference, and win the league championship. We never held more than a seven-point lead in this game, and that came late. We did outrebound them, but we also had more turnovers. We will need to tone those down.

Around the League:

Indianapolis (3-1) 104, Cleveland (1-1) 103: The Royals won their second-straight game at the buzzer. This time, it was Sherman Andersen's third three-pointer of the day...this one from 55 feet, which gave Indianapolis the shocker at Jack Jones Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. This came with .8 seconds left, right after Ron Richardson gave Cleveland a 103-101 lead on a runner from the right wing. Andersen finished with 34 points on 12-of-21 shooting, 3-of-7 from 3, and 7-of-8 from the line. Alan Scott, the hero in yesterday's win over Cincinnati, added 20 with 10 rebounds. And Frank Collins, the legend, added 10. Richardson led Cleveland with 26, while Jimmy Smith added 22 with 17 rebounds.

Los Angeles (2-2) 113, Kansas City (3-2) 75: Los Angeles never trailed, and led by 21 after one quarter, as they trounced the Showboats at the WeMoo Fieldhouse in Kansas City. The Marshalls led 33-12 after 1, and 64-30 at the half. They led by 40 at one point. Gaston Carbonneau showed why he's possibly Europe's best player with 33 points and six rebounds. And Jackie Smith showed why he may be the best player in the world by shutting down Leighton Ireland AND Andre Reid (12 combined points); Smith had 19 points and eight rebounds, along with four assists and four blocks. Ammer Jones led KC with 13 points off the bench.

Seattle 89 (3-1), Portland (1-1) 78: Adrian Woodward had an off-day, but it was enough to upend Portland. Woodward had 19 points on just 5-of-14 shooting, to go along with seven assists (and five turnovers). James Smylie had 19 points and eight rebounds (along with seven turnovers), while reserve John Crews had 13 on 4-of-5 shooting to pace the Rainers. David Thomas had 24 points, and Michael Crispin had 23 points and 17 rebounds to pace the Pioneers. They were the only players in double figures for Portland.

Detroit 84 (2-0) , Oakland (0-4) 71: The Wheels used 28 points from Kenny Brown, and a near triple-double by Derrick Dunkley, to get the victory. Dunkley had 14 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds. Reserve Justin Mitchell scored 14 points for Oakland, who got off days from Demond Richardson (5-for-20, 11 points) and John Sims (2-of-12 shooting, 6 points, 12 rebounds).

Player of the Day: Sherman Andersen, IND (34 points, GW 55-footer in 104-103 win over CLV)

Transactions: None

condors · 04-26-2005, 06:45 AM

good read, kutgw

Comey · 04-29-2005, 10:38 PM

The Week That Was
By Joe Simpson

Team of the Week: Boston Irish (3-1). They won games over New York, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati. They did it without star Terrance Thomas for most of it; he was out with a bruised knee, and largely ineffective in the two games against Indianapolis. But the team passed an early test of life without him; Corey Jameson, Lavar Collier, and Devin Burton are solid enough to carry this team if he gets hurt. This team has to be the favorite in the National East now, given that they can win without their star against top teams. I'm not sure you can say that about Philadelphia or Providence.

Player of the Week: Tierre Bullett, Philadelphia. He averaged 29.0 points, 6.5 assists, and almost five rebounds a game. He had an off-day against Cincinnati, but he scored nine of his 14 in the fourth, and registered six big assists to lead his team to victory over the tough Royals.
AP Player of the Week: Steve Stewart, Providence

Rookie of the Week: David Reed, Kentucky. Sure, he only played one game. But he had 11 points and 14 rebounds, in leading the supposedly lowly Colonels to a surprising win over Oakland.

Game of the Week: Indianapolis 104, Cleveland 103 on Saturday. Cleveland's Sherman Andersen capped off an incredible 34-point effort with a 55-foot game-winning three, leading Indy to the stunning victory. The game saw 16 lead changes, most of which came in the fourth, and seven ties. Cleveland had taken the lead on Ron Richardson's runner with .8 seconds left. But Andersen came back on a lob and heaved the ball towards the hoop. It swished, giving the Jones Fieldhouse crowd a huge celebration.

Rising This Week: Indianapolis. They won some big games against some tough teams. They also won two buzzer-beaters, which sends the fans home happy. This team may be able to give Detroit fits this year, and their growing confidence will definitely help them.

Falling This Week: Cincinnati Monarchs. This should be momentary. They lost three games by five points, and won their one game by 24. They need to learn how to close out opponents, but they should rebound from this slump.

Upcoming Game of the Week: Boston (3-1) AT Seattle (3-1). Thomas should be fine, which will make this a very interesting showdown between him and Jameson vs. Adrian Woodward and James Smylie. Seattle has been hot so far this year, which will give fans a game between two high-octane offenses. Should be a fun one!

Matchup of the Week: LA F Jackie Smith vs KC F Leighton Ireland, Monday. Ireland will get his chance to exact revenge on Smith for getting shutdown on Saturday. Smith scored 19 points with eight boards, and held Ireland to four points and six boards. Those may be the worst numbers the Showboats star EVER has. It was a first impression he wants to erase. Will he be able to?

Line of the Week: Leighton Ireland, Kansas City: 18 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists in 105-93 win over Denver. Ireland abused forward Julius Wadley, and everyone else who tried to cover him, en route to the league's first triple-double. He may have had a bad first impression on Jackie Smith; but for the USBL, he left a wonderful greeting.

Team by Team Review:

Philadelphia Stars - A nice start for the Stars, who went 3-1. They did have a befuddling loss to New York, a game in which they never trailed. But they overcame a tough Cincinnati team, and a KC team off to a hot start, and racked up the wins. They also made some big moves, trading for PG Drew Hargrove. Hargrove will have his rookie moments, but overall, he makes the backcourt much stronger and deeper for the Stars. It allows Scott Smith some time at SG and SF, which allows coach John Comey to have a scorer and distributor in the game when Tierre Bullett or Matt Seymour need breaks. Tierre Bullett was the USBL Weekly Player of the Week, averaging 29 points and over six assists a game. It will be a test for the Stars to not burn him out as the season goes on.

Player of the Week: Tierre Bullett, SG (Also USBL PoTW)

Upcoming Schedule:
Monday: @ Detroit (2-0)
Tuesday: @ New York (1-3)
Friday: vs Detroit (2-0)

Notes: C Alvan Woods and Bullett are unlikely to suit up for Monday's game in Detroit. Woods is bothered by a back injury, while Bullett has been stricken by food poisoning. He was rushed to the hospital after a fainting spell, but he is okay. He's listed as day-to-day, and should be ready to go for the game at New York... Drew Hargrove is showing a lot of progress already, claims the Stars coaching staff. Coach/General Manager John Comey feels he could become an All-Star caliber player in the second half of the season. "Once he sees all of these point guards, and realizes he fits right in, he'll start to dominate. We got him for his potential to be something special. We'll need him to take the torch from Tierre when he retires."... Matt Pebbles has shown to be a force off the bench already. In his two games since being signed, he's averaging eight points and six rebounds. He had 9 points and 5 boards against the Monarchs in Saturday night's win... Reserve guard Scott Smith is among the league leaders in assists. He's averaging eight assists a game to go along with his 9.5 points and 4 rebounds a game. He has had double-digit points in his last three games, despite coming off the bench for two of them.

Comey · 05-02-2005, 01:35 PM

USBL Player Profile

Tierre Bullett, Philadelphia Stars SG
Ht: 5'10 Wt: 158
Age: 29 Pro Experience: 8 years
College: Alabama State

Overview: Tierre Bullett played for the Philadelphia Warriors in the defunct East Coast Basketball Alliance after being named a two-time All-American at Alabama State, leading them to their only appearance in the NCAA Final Four in 1952. Bullett averaged 41 points a game his senior year, the highest mark in NCAA history. With the Warriors, Bullett was a six-time All-Star and MVP in 1957, when he led the Warriors for their only championship over the Providence Bulldogs. Bullett averaged 32 points a game, with eight assists per contest added on. So far this year, he is averaging 29.0 PPG, 6.5 APG, and 4.8 RPG. He is also stealing 2.8 times per contest.

Strengths: Best under-6' player in the game. Has a natural ability to score, especially in traffic. Is able to get his shot off against any player, and be consistent with it. Is a surprising rebounder, and renowned among the basketball world for his ability to steal the ball. Intelligent player; will get others involved. Makes the most out of his size; durable, can shoot free throws, even after taking brutal hits on drives. Is the fastest player in the league. Has as much desire to win as anyone in the league, maybe more. Will sacrifice his body to make plays.

Weaknesses: Will try to put too much on his shoulders on the offensive end. Sometimes will shoot 30 times to score 25 points. Doesn't know when to sit, which leads to burnout in the fourth quarter. Size does not match up well with some of the guards in the USBL, and may find that what worked night in and night out against ECBA competition may not work on a national level. Can be disruptive in the locker room, though that seems to be a thing of the past. Gets nicked up more because of how he throws his body around inside.

Overall: A guy who will give you 100% every minute of every game. He is a fan favorite because of the way he sacrifices his body, and because of the way he wants the ball in the clutch. Unfortunately, the things that make him popular backfire easily on nights where he's not hitting his shots. In spite of his perceived shooting delights, he does get everyone involved. Is one of the best players in the league, bar none. Has dynamite ability on both ends of the floor; when he's clicking, there's nobody better.

Personal highlights: Scored 102 points in a college game...Scored 71 in an ECBA game 12/22/54 vs. Pittsburgh...Had first triple double 1/17/55 vs. Jersey City...once made 212 free throws in a row in competition, a national record...once outscored a team 81-60 in high school...averaged a double-double in 1956 (31 points, 12 assists), and finished second in the MVP balloting...is the only active player to be named to his city's Hall of Fame (was inducted in 1960, after the ECBA collapsed)...

Comey · 05-02-2005, 01:36 PM

Day 8 - No Game

The guys get a light workout for their big win against Cincinnati. 3-1 is a lot better than 2-2.

We have some bad news, as Tierre got some food poisoning. He's probably out for tomorrow's game against Detroit. But, we'll find out when the time comes, I guess.

Around the League

Dallas (1-0) 133, Seattle (3-2) 112: Dallas rolled in their USBL debut, behind five starters in double figures. They were led by Will Hawkins' 35 points and 11 rebounds, and Myron Barnes 14 points and 13 assists. Josh Respert added 27. Adrian Woodward led all scorers with 40 points and 10 assists. He was 10-of-17 from three-point land, a USBL record. Brian Scholl had 19 points to help the Rainiers cause, though they never led after the first quarter, as Dallas held a five-point advantage at the break, but outscored Seattle 38-28 in the pivotal third quarter.

Cincinnati (2-3) 97, Oakland (0-5) 54: The Royals rebounded from three crushing losses by smacking the winless Oaks at home. Cincinnati led 45-35 at the half, but outscored the Oaks 52-19 in the second half to roll. Derrick Manheimer scored 22 with 10 rebounds to pace the Royals, who had an off-night (11 points on 4-12 shooting). Roy Hutson scored 16 points with six assists. Oakland was led by Gary Blanks' 17 points, the only player in double-figures.

Player of the Day: Will Hawkins, Dallas - 35 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists in 133-112 win over Seattle

Transactions: None

Comey · 05-03-2005, 04:52 PM

Day 9 - @ Detroit (2-0)

A big test today, as we play the top defensive team in the league. The Wheels are tough, deep, and talented. Derrick Dunkley (15 points, 6.5 assists) and Kenny Brown (21 points) are their top scorers. Andre Levett is capable of stopping anyone on any given night. Also, they have ten players averaging over ten minutes a game. Actually, we may be a bit deeper, as we have 12 players getting at least six minutes a game.

Starting Matchups
Philadelphia (3-1) @ Detroit (2-0)

PG: Drew Hargrove vs Derrick Dunkley (push)
SG: Tierre Bullett vs Kenny Brown (Philadelphia)
SF: Matt Seymour vs Tim Jones (Philadelphia)
PF: Philipp Lynch vs Dan Hill (Detroit)
C: Austin Harrington vs Andre Levett (Detroit)

Strategy: Make Brown work, and don't let them get set up defensively. Let Levett shoot whenever he has the ball. Bang Hill around, as he's not a big fan of aggression. Work for the best shot available; getting runs on this team is going to be tough. Bullett will start despite food poisoning. But we'll have to monitor his health throughout the game.

Tip won by: Philadelphia

First Half Notes: Harrington draws a foul on Kenny Brown on the first possession. He hits his two free throws, giving us the first lead. Hill comes back with a 3. We start off rebounding well on the offensive end, snagging two on another possession. We get another on a missed free throw and go up 8-5. Dan Hill gets his second foul with 10:07 left, and Voshon Gunn is forced to come in for him. It's almost as good a start as I could hope for. That is, until they go on a mini-run and tie it with 9:00 left. Seymour hits a three and we go up 14-11 with 7:30 left. Scott Smith comes in to get the ailing Bullett some rest. With 6:30 left, Detroit takes a 15-14 lead, but our solid defense forces a turnover and we take the lead back. Mike Robinson comes for Detroit and stars creating havoc with an early steal or Smith's pass. We're holding our own though. For a guy who is doubling over in pain, Tierre is doing quite well; he's got 10 first quarter points. At the end of one, it's tied 29-29. Bullett comes out, and the rest of the starters come back. Tim Jones nails a three to start the quarter; he has 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Jimmy Feaster adds one, and it's 37-31 Detroit with 9:40 left in the half. Harold Singletary sees his first action with 9 minutes left; he was very solid against Cincinnati. Seymour moves to the 2 spot, as we get a bit creative with our positioning. Levett has six points early, which is more than we expected out of him in the first half. Detroit leads 41-37 with 7:05 left, and we bring Bullett back in for Smith. Seymour now has 11, but we're still down two. Unbelievable...an obvious moving screen leads to a Dunkley three. I give the ref a piece of my mind, and he warns me...but whatever. This is ridiculous. It's 46-39 with 4 minutes left, and Jones drains another three...putting them up 10. I bring Hargrove back in, and he immediately picks up his third foul. Sigh. Smith comes back to the 1 spot. They're red hot now, and lead by nine with 2:23 left, and 11 with 1:40 left when we turn the ball over. Now maybe we'll get something going...Tierre's pass got blocked, but Seymour made a big block of a wide-open dunk by Robinson. Hopefully that could be used to get us going in the second half, as we're a bit flat to close out the first half.

Halftime Score: Detroit 55, Philadelphia 44
Leading Scorers: Tim Jones (DET - 15), Tierre Bullett (PHI - 15)

Second Half Notes: We drew Hill's third foul early in the third; he's only got three points so far, so we've done a good job of limiting him. Derrick Dunkley, however, can't be stopped...he banks a three, and we're down 15. Harrington draws Kenny Brown's third foul, so we're sitting good with two of their stars. Now, if only we could hit shots. We're 17-of-37...they're 24-of-45, and we're all of a sudden down 18. I'd love to keep Dan Hill on the floor, because Voshon Gunn is scoring (10 points)...but he picks up his fourth, and in comes Gunn. We have to make a run now to get back in this game. We're 11-of-19 from the line, which isn't helping; Lynch just missed two, and we're down 66-48 with 7:54 left. Hargrove comes in for Bullett; we need some production out of him now. We're missing shots, only getting one attempt per possession...and that's not helping. Hargrove picks up his fourth foul, and we go down 20 as Brandon Walls enters the game. Andre Levett has 11 points and 9 rebounds on 5-7 shooting. Sigh. I don't think we have much of a shot here, especially with a deep reserve and no major scorer on the floor, outside of Seymour. And Seymour's 7-for-18. Meanwhile, Dunkley hits ANOTHER three, and their lead is at 21. I have to bring in all reserves for the frontcourt for this final 2:32 of the third. The starters will come back in the fourth to try to bring us back. Unfortunately, the unit out there (Smith-Walls-Williams-Pebbles-Calloway) isn't performing like they did in the Cincinnati game. At the end of three, it's 90-60 Detroit. They've terrorized us since the first quarter, outscoring us 61-31. The starters come back to the fourth, but we still can't stop them from knocking down jumpers. Even Levett continues to score, as he's up to 13 points and 12 rebounds. It's 98-68 with 8:30 left and it's basically mopup time. This has been a major disaster, but with a healthy Tierre on Thursday, I think we'll be more than prepared. There's nothing much to really discuss here. We're scoring what Detroit is giving up, and we gave up over 100 points to a team that doesn't score a heck of a lot. We've been outrebounded, and turned the ball over more than they have. Sometimes, a team just forces their will on you, and that's what the Wheels have done today.

Final Score: Detroit 108, Philadelphia 85
Player of the Game: Tim Jones, Detroit - 21 points, 5 rebounds; 8-of-9 from field, 3-of-4 from 3pt

It's not that we lost that gets me; it's how we did it. Tierre was sick, but he was our leading scorer. He shot 11-for-14. The rest of the team shot 19-for-57 (33%). That's a recipe for a loss.

Final word: We'll get them again this week, on our floor with a healthy Tierre. I think we'll be better; sometimes, you just catch a team on a hot night. That's what happened here.

Around the League

St. Louis (2-2) 109, Dallas (1-1) 79: The Great Wall, Hsien-feng Zhang, had 27 points and 16 rebounds to lead St. Louis to the home victory over the Rangers . St. Louis used 28 from Jared Wilkes and a defense that held Dallas under 20 points in each of the final three quarters, en route to the easy win. Dallas, who played their first game last night, looked tired and beat down after the first quarter, which they led 25-24. Will Hawkins had 24 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to lead just two players with double-digit points. Myron Barnes had 20 to help Dallas, but had six of the team's 18 turnovers.

Kansas City (4-2) 104, Los Angeles (2-3) 103 (OT): In the USBL's first overtime game, Ammer Jones came off the bench to score six of his eight points in overtime, and Lon McMahon (17 poits, 7 assists) added the game-winning free throw with .4 seconds left, as KC overcame blowing 10-point halftime lead to snatch the win. Jones filled in for Leighton Ireland, who fouled out on the final play of regulation, going for a block of Gaston Carbonneau's fadeaway. Carbonneau made his only two free throw attempts with time expired, sending the game into overtime, and shocking the capacity crowd at the WaMoo Center. But Jones took over, scoring all of the Showboats' points until McMahon was fouled on a shot attempt. He made his first one, and missed his second one on purpose. Diego Sanchez's full-court shot went off the left side of the iron as time expired. Jackie Smith led LA with 18 points and 20 rebounds, while Sanchez and Carbonneau each logged 21 points for the Marshalls.

Oakland (1-5) 89, Kentucky (1-1) 86: At the BAC, Greg Deane scored 20 points, and Justin Mitchell came off the bench to score 18, as the Oaks got their first victory of the season. Oakland trailed by one after three, but used a 12-2 run to open the quarter and withstood a late charge to notch their franchise's premiere win. Ronnie Hogue scored 23 on 11-of-17 shooting to pace the Colonels, while Russell Smith scored 16 points off the bench to help Kentucky's effort.

Player of the Day: Hsien-feng Zhang, Houston - 27 points, 16 rebounds in 109-79 win over Dallas

Transactions: None

04-20-2005, 09:02 PM	#4
Comey College Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: CT via PA via CA via PA	1961 USBL Predictions By Joe Simpson, USBL Weekly The United States Basketball League is about to take flight, and twenty teams from twenty different cities will battle it out for the championship. My job, and a tough one at that, is to predict what I think is going to happen this year. This league has the best talent in the country lined up to see who's the best. Let's try to figure that out. National Conference Predictions Eastern Division USBL Weekly Scouts Poll: 1. New York 2. Providence 3. Boston 4. Philadelphia 5. Baltimore 1. Boston Irish - Terrance Thomas is a tough matchup for anybody. He's one of the top players in the league, and will contend for the Most Valuable Player award. Helping him out is elder stateman Corey Jameson. The 36-year-old point guard is still on top of his game, though this may be the last season for him. SG Larry Howard gives Boston one of the top backcourts in the league. PF Devin Burton and C Derrick Stallworth are serviceable, but won't be frontline guys. Boleslav Patera, from Czechoslovakia, may be the best reserve in the league. 2. Philadelphia Stars - Tierre Bullett is the best player under six feet tall; he may average 30 points a game this year. He'll have help with SF Matt Seymour and PF Philipp Lynch, two solid scorers, behind him. This team is also young, and will get better as the season goes on. They could be a darkhorse for the division title. 3. Providence Steamrollers - Steve Stewart is one of the better point guards in the league in his 11th professional season. He's one of the rare players who is capable of a triple-double on any given night. Jerry Hall, a 6-7 SF, is his sidekick. He is a superstar in the making though, and this may be his breakout season. Outside of that, this team has a lot of role players and not much talent. This team could finish second if it all comes together, or in the basement. 4. Baltimore Bullets - They have three legit scorers in PG JaJa James, SG Cordell Gervin and SF John Jones. This team is very young (eight players with three years or less experience), but they're talented. They're the team of 1962, but in 1961, they'll take their knocks. 5. New York Legends - This team has aging jumpshooter Marvin "Smooth Jazz" Soloman at shooting guard, which will make Clayton Lucas, a young star in the making, play small forward. The matchup problems that will be had because of this will cause New York to tumble. This team doesn't have talent outside of Lucas and point guard Jason Brown, a legitimate MVP candidate. Solomon is getting older and has lost a step, and the frontcourt on this team isn't very good. Western Division USBL Weekly Scouts Poll: 1. Cincinnati 2. Detroit 3. Cleveland 4. Indianapolis 5. Chicago 1. Detroit Wheels - This team is complete. They have scoring punch in PG Derrick Dunkley, SG Kenny Brown, and PF Dan Hill. They have a disruptive center in C Andre Levett, who may be the best defensive player in the league. They have depth at every position, and go 12 deep. This may be the team to beat in the entire league. The key may be Tim Jones, their big small forward. If he contributes the way the team is hoping, then this team may waltz to the championship. 2. Indianapolis Royals - They're workmanlike. They're not flashy; they'll just bust you, like Detroit. I don't know why this team is picked to finish fourth by league scouts, but they have more talent than anyone else in the division outside of the Wheels. Alan Scott is a star at PF, and will be a MVP candidate. The Royals also have defensive stopper Sherman Andersen, who could end up being Defensive Player of the Year. SG Aki DeMond is a more-than-capable third option, and with Frank Collins, the veteran sharpshooter, coming off the bench, this team has more than enough scoring options. 3. Cleveland Knights - Ron Richardson is only 20. And he might be the best player in the league. He's a 6'10 shooting guard, capable of a triple-double on any night. He could lead the league in steals, or rebounds...or maybe even scoring. He's going to have to lead this young team to the future. They'll probably be a loser this year, but you give them a season or two, and they'll be among the best in the league. Joe Johnson is growing at SG, and could move Richardson to SF. C Jimmy Smith, a 7-3, 264-pound monster, gives Cleveland a great inside-outside option. Add PG Terry Henderson at PG, and you have a solid nucleus capable of overachieving this year. It's doubtful, but you never know. 4. Cincinnati Monarchs - SG Steve Nelson is well-known nationally; he was the first to become a 18-year-old professional basketball player. He comes to Cincinnati as royalty in the basketball world. Unfortunately, his subjects won't be a great royal court. SF Derick Manheimer is a budding superstar, but the rest of this team is less than stellar. They'll be hard-pressed to stay with the teams who have more depth. One player to watch is Anton Barbarich, a 6-7 point guard from Eastern Europe. He has a lot of potential, and may become something special. 5. Chicago Stags - Young and inexperienced. That's how you describe this team. They have four players who have 8+ years experience. Everyone else? Less than five. They have several players with three years or less, including four of their starters. The elder statesmen, PF Marcus Thorne, may be called "Dad" by a lot of the youngsters. They have some good talent, but not much depth and a lot of holes. They'll contend for the #1 pick overall. __________________ Last edited by Comey : 04-22-2005 at 02:51 PM.

04-20-2005, 09:03 PM	#5
Comey College Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: CT via PA via CA via PA	American Conference Eastern Division USBL Weekly Scouts Poll: 1. St. Louis 2. Dallas 3. Memphis 4. Kansas City 5. Kentucky 1. St. Louis Spirits - This team has a lot of talent. A lot. It starts with 6'9 SG Jared Wilkes. He has unquestioned scoring ability, and he's also a solid defender. He's capable of carrying this team on his back on any night. Fortunately, he won't have to, as the Chinese Dragon, Hsien-fend Zhang, is there to back him up. Zhang is 7-7, 318 pounds...the biggest athlete in history. He's still getting his skills honed, but he's turning into a star and the ultimate 1-2 punch in the USBL with Wilkes. Add SF Ross Irwin, PF Brandon Saunders, and PG Kevin Richardson, and you have arguably the top starting five in the league. They have depth and experience. This team is the early favorite to win it all. 2. Dallas Rangers - Seven-footer Will Hawkins is a solid all-around player, and one of the five-star players in the league. Shooting guards Josh Respert and Adam Weems give Dallas the most depth at the 2-guard spot (Respect is the starter, Weems the first man off the bench). Myron Barnes is a solid point guard, capable of being the top player on this team in any given night. They also have very solid players at the big man positions; Heddick Blackmon was once the best player in the world, but knee injuries have knocked him down to mere supermortal status. He's still a force to be reckoned with in the post. And he'll mentor young Bill Gailey, a tough 6'7 power forward who plays bigger than his already substantial height. Drew Hargrove is maybe the top point guard prospect in the league, and he caps off what will be a very tough contender for the championship. 3. Memphis Blues - Dalmau Batiz, the top player out of Spain, has come over and found himself in Memphis, ready to lead the Blues to the playoffs. It'll be tough; his surrounding cast is quite ordinary. The good news for Blues fans is that Batiz is only 24, so they'll be able to get a good crew around him. The bad news is, the two teams behind them are probably the worst teams in the league, so a middle draft position seems about right. SF Damien Campbell and SG Alex Williams are likely the second and third options on this squad. 4. Kansas City Showboats - The Showboats are led by 6-8 PF Leighton Ireland. Ireland is one of the top players around, and his arrival in Kansas City will keep the Showboats in a lot of game. Ireland will get help from 6-6 small forward Andre Reid, a solid scorer. The team doesn't have much depth, so if Ireland or Reid get into foul trouble or injured, this team's in a lot of trouble. 5. Kentucky Colonels - This team may need Mr. Rupp to put butts in the seats. This team does have a stud in David Reed, a 6-8 PF whom many consider to be one of the best young prospects in the league. The rest of this team was put together because they were cheap. There's no other way to say it. This team has a lot of this "salary cap" room. They'll be able to attract some players because Kentucky is the Basketball State. But, for this year...well, it's going to be long. Western Division USBL Weekly Scouts Poll: 1. Los Angeles 2. Portland 3. Denver 4. Seattle 5. Oakland 1. Los Angeles Marshalls - The Marshalls have the best big man in the game in 7-1 Jackie Smith. He's the best rebounder, the best shotblocker, and has the best post presence in the league. He could average 25 points and 15 rebounds this year. He'll get help out of his guards, Argentinian legend Diego Sanchez and the Frenchman, Gaston Carbonneau. A lot of worldly players have found themselves in LA, where they'll find celebrity and fame. Will it be a distraction? Not if coach Brandon Ward, one of the top in his profession, can help it. He runs a tight ship, and with Smith in his 2. Denver Rockers - Travis Myer is one of the youngest players in the league. But he has so much talent, he'll be the front of the Rockers attack. He's big, has a soft jumpshot, and the ability to drive to the hoop with consistency. He's joined by strong power forward Julius Wadley, a guy with a bit of a meanstreak (remember the Brawl in Baltimore in '58?), but that's just what this team needs to protect Myer. Keiron Stanley is a very solid point guard, and will be among the tops in his division. They also have the division's top sixth man in Rob Stanfield, who's able to step right in if Wadley goes and gets a technical foul (which is he accustomed to doing). Also, James Brand is a quality center who should thrive in this environment. 3. Seattle Rainiers - Adrian Woodward is much better than people realize. Just because he was in Fargo in the MWL for the past few years doesn't mean he isn't the same guy that took Tennessee-Martin to the National Championship game in 1952. SF James Smylie is as solid as you get at small forward; he can be a dominating scorer, and is an above-average defender and rebounder. They need more of a surrounding cast, but these two could be enough to carry them through most games, and challenge for a playoff spot. 4. Portland Pioneers - Michael Crispin is a great, great player. He'll need to be superhuman to lead this team to the playoffs. Fellow PF David Thomas, who will be the center, is young and explosive. He has the potential to be one of the best in the league; unfortunately, he's too small to be a center (even at 6-8, 262), and will probably do better as a power forward for someone else. Greg Rancik is a solid PG who is beginning to hit the twilight of his career, a little early at age 31. But knee injuries have slowed him down, and he's really a shell of his former self. If this team can hold up, they have a shot at the fourth playoff spot. Chances are though, they'll trade Thomas for a first-rounder and take their lumps. 5. Oakland Oaks - This team will contend for the #1 pick. SG Desmond Richardson is the best player in the Bay Area, but the help he has, namely PF John Sims and SF Greg Deane, are young, inexperienced, and considered works-in-progress. PG John Simmons is a very solid defender; what he isn't, however, is a very solid point guard. But this team doesn't have anyone else, so he'll see a lot of time. There will be a lot of long days in Oakland this year, as this team has a long way to go to build a winner. __________________

04-20-2005, 09:03 PM	#6
Comey College Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: CT via PA via CA via PA	All-USBL First Team PG: Steve Stewart, Providence SG: Tierre Bullett, Philadelphia SF: Jared Wilkes, St. Louis PF: Leighton Ireland, Kansas City C: Jackie Smith, Los Angeles All-USBL Second Team PG: Jason Brown, New York SG: Ron Richardson, Cleveland SF: Terrance Thomas, Boston PF: Alan Scott, Indiana C: Andre Levett, Detroit Playoff Predictions National Conference 1. Detroit 2. Boston 3. Indianapolis 4. Philadelphia Detroit over Philadelphia Indianapolis over Boston Detroit over Indianapolis American Conference 1. St. Louis 2. Los Angeles 3. Dallas 4. Denver St. Louis over Denver Los Angeles over Dallas St. Louis over Los Angeles 1961 Championship Prediction: St. Louis over Detroit Preseason Picks for... Player of the Year: Jackie Smith, Los Angeles MVP: Tierre Bullett, Philadelphia Rookie of the Year: David Reed, Kentucky Coach of the Year: Brandon Ward, Los Angeles Scoring Champion: Bullett Rebounding Champion: Smith Assist Champion: Steve Stewart, Providence __________________

04-20-2005, 09:04 PM	#7
Comey College Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: CT via PA via CA via PA	Here is a listing of the Top 10 collegiate prospects, according to USBL Weekly: 1. PF Ray Dare, BYU - FR, 6-9, 241 2. SF Terrance Roberts, Baylor - SR, 6-8, 225 3. SF Andrew Boythe, North Carolina - JR, 6-5, 228 4. PF Dave Parmer, Portland State - SO, 6-8, 221 5. PG Michael Hendrik, Louisville - JR, 6-6, 189 6. PF Paul Anderson, St. Joe's - FR, 6-9, 235 7. SG Kareem Michaels, Gonzaga - SO, 6-7, 212 8. PG Nate Smith, Iowa - FR, 6-0, 157 9. SG Dan Kamouna, Auburn - SO, 6-8, 188 10. PF Luke Lindquist - FR, 6-8, 234 And a listing of the Top 10 International prospects, according to USBL Weekly: 1. PF Kazandu Kodesh, South Africa - 20 yrs, 6-10, 220 2. PF Ludwig Woetzel, Germany - 23, 6-9, 221 3. SF Willigis Faust, Germany - 22, 6-8, 215 4. SF Roland Klinsmann, Germany - 21, 6-5, 216 5. SG Aineias Mardas, Greece - 22, 6-4, 208 6. SG Nwan Inoniyegha, Nigeria - 20, 6-2, 210 7. SG Damianos Karahi, Greece - 18, 6-3, 187 8. SF Santo Montero, Italy - 21, 6-6, 216 9. SF Eran Gosa, Israel - 23, 6-9, 216 10. PF Gur Berkovich, Israel - 22, 6-9, 242 __________________

04-20-2005, 09:04 PM	#8
Comey College Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: CT via PA via CA via PA	Opening night - vs Baltimore (0-0) We get the Bullets at home on Opening Night. It's going to be a tough game, given it's a divisional rival and our first game. But if Tierre can get hot and we can control the pace, and not let JaJa James, Cordell Gervin, or John Jones get out and run on us, we're in good shape. Starting Matchups Baltimore @ Philadelphia PG: JaJa James vs Scott Smith (Adv: Baltimore) SG: Cordell Gervin vs. Tierre Bullett (Adv: Philadelphia) SF: John Jones vs. Matt Seymour (Adv: Push) PF: Bart Jones vs. Philipp Lynch (Adv. Philadelphia) C: Kenyate Hall vs Austin Harrington (Adv. Philadelphia) TIp won by: Baltimore First half Notes: Both teams are shooting awful to open the game...Baltimore at 36.8%, and Philly at 25%. At the end of one, the score was tied at 23. Baltimore opened the second quarter with a 9-0 run, but we came back to close it down to 38-37 midway through the second. We go on a run behind Bullett to take a 43-41 lead with 3 minutes left in the first half. The team gets hot, as everyone is contributing. At the end of the first half, though, Baltimore is up 51-49. Bullett has 14 in the first half. Second half notes: Baltimore opens the half hot, pushing their lead to five. The crowd is deflated when Bullett's pass is picked up by John Jones, who throws an alley-oop to Bart Jones. We stay with them, as Matt Seymour catches fire. But turnovers are hurting us (13 midway through the third). Seymour continues to hit, pulling us to 65-64 and then 67-66. He has 19 to compliment Bullett's 20. Bullet's field goal from the right elbow gives us a 68-67 lead with three minutes to go in the third. He scores again to put us up by three. Bullett finds the hot hand, with 18 in the third quarter to help give us an 81-73 lead after three. In the fourth, we stay just ahead of them throughout the first part, as Seymour comes back to keep us up 88-84. Bullett comes back and immediately scores, giving us a three-point lead with 5:30 left. It's 93-88 with five left when Baltimore gets hot, pulling to within one. But Bullett and Seymour hold off the Bullets, and we take it 101-93. Final score: Philadelphia 101, Baltimore 93 Player of the game: Tierre Bullett, Philadelphia (38 points, 8 assists) This was a tooth-and-nail game throughout. There were 17 lead changes, and nobody had a double-digit lead. Matt Seymour had 26 points and five boards, and Stephen Williams came through with 11 points and 7 boards off the bench. For Baltimore, Cordell Gervin had 19 points and six boards, and John Jones had 16 points and six boards. He fouled out, though, and that really hurt Baltimore's chances late. Final word: I like how we played (out-rebounding them and had 26 assists), but I don't like that we had only two solid scorers. We need a third option; I guess at this point, it'll be Williams. But I'd rather see Lynch step up. Record: 1-0 Next: At Kansas City (1-0), Day 2 Around the league: Cincinnati (1-0) 124, Chicago (0-1) 100 - Steve Nelson led seven Cincinnati scorers in double-figures with 29, and Roy Hutson added 21, as Cincy routed Chicago. Chicago, who had six players in double figures, were led by Marcus Thorne (15 points) and Romain Henry (13 points, 12 rebounds). Cincinnati never trailed in the game. Kansas City (1-0) 105, Denver (0-1) 93 - In somewhat of a surprise, Kansas City blew a 14-point lead, but came back to beat Denver. Leighton Ireland led the Showboats with a triple double (18 points, 15 boards, 10 assists), and Andre Reid contributed with 32 points. Travis Myer led Denver with 29 points and eight rebounds. He was coerced, however, into nine turnovers. Los Angeles (1-0) 108, St. Louis (0-1) 85 - Jackie Smith was fantastic, showing why he's the Preseason Player of the Year with 30 points and 22 rebounds, along with five blocks and four assists, as Los Angeles demolished the preseason championship favorites. Gaston Carbonneau added 27 and seven assists for the Marshalls. Jared Wilkes had 26 points and five rebounds for St. Louis. Los Angeles found themselves down 32-26 after one, but outscored St. Louis 59-37 in the second and third quarters to hold a substantial advantage heading into the final quarter. Seatte (1-0) 125, New York (0-1) 80 - Seattle raced out to a 32-15 first-quarter lead and never looked back. The Rainers, who never trailed, were led by Adrian Woodward's 37 points and seven assists, along with five steals. Woodward scored his points on 15-of-23 shooting. James Smylie added 21 points and 12 boards. Smooth Jazz Soloman had 18 points for to lead New York. Reserve forward Tezale Haslem added 16 points off the bench, while star guard Jason Brown had 15 points and six assists. Player of the Day: Leighton Ireland, PF, Kansas City - 18 points, 15 boards, 10 assists in KC's 105-93 win over Denver Transactions: - KC signs SG Brian Monroe and PG Jason Tolliver __________________

04-20-2005, 09:01 PM	#2
Comey College Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: CT via PA via CA via PA	The USBL consists of 20 teams in two conferences, with four divisions of five teams. Here is the layout: National Conference Eastern Division Boston Irish New York Legends Philadelphia Stars Providence Steamrollers Baltimore Bullets Western Division Chicago Stags Cincinnati Monarchs Cleveland Knights Detroit Wheels Indianapolis Royals American Conference Eastern Division Dallas Rangers Kansas City Showboats Louisville Colonels Memphis Blues St. Louis Spirits Western Division Denver Rockers Los Angeles Marshalls Oakland Oaks Portland Pioneers Seattle Rainiers __________________

04-20-2005, 09:05 PM	#10
Comey College Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: CT via PA via CA via PA	Day 3 - No Game I look at the free agent pool to see if there's someone, notably a power forward, who can give us more depth. I find Matt Pebbles, a 6-8 widebody who was a great player at Indiana State. Strangely, nobody had picked him up. So, we sign him for the rest of the year, and release SF Jon Watkins. Roman Moncrief was moved to the IR. Guy got hurt during warmups yesterday. So now we're short at the PG spot, though the combination of Smith, Bullett, Brandon Walls, and Rick Tyler can do the job. I do like what Pebbles will give us...solid minutes, and he'll keep Lynch from being overused. Pebbles immediately becomes our sixth man. To shore up the point guard spot, we trade for Dallas' Drew Hargrove, a 6-2, 180 pound rookie. He's rated as a 3/4.5 player, so we figure he's better than anyone to pick up in the draft. He better be, as we trade a first-round pick and SF Andy Kelly to get him. Here's what USBL Weekly wrote about the deal: "The Stars gave up quite a bit to get this rookie guard, more than what a lot of people thought Dallas could get for him. He wasn't on the trading block, but the ability to get a second first-round pick to blend in some youth with their aging talent was too much to pass up. Hargrove may be the real thing, though, and being just a rookie...it's hard to see why Dallas gave him up, other than that they want to address their big man spots in the draft. This seems to be a win-win for both teams, though Philadelphia may have come out ahead for this year. So, the rookie GM/Coach in Philadelphia should not be booed by Stars fans...yet." Well, at least I wasn't hung in effigy. Hargrove will step in immediately and start at the point, which will allow me to play Scott Smith at PG and SG, and give Tierre a few more minutes off. Around the League Boston (2-0) 94, Cincinnati (1-1) 92: Terrance Thomas scored 25 points to lead five Irish in double-figures, as Boston held off a late charge by Cincinnati to go to 2-0. C Derrick Stallworth had 18 points and 11 boards, and Corey Jameson registered 11 points and 10 assists, along with 8 rebounds. Steve Nelson had 21 points and 9 assists for Cincinnati, while Tang Bush scored 16 off the bench. Kentucky (1-0) 83, Oakland (0-2) 76: Colin Jones scored 15 and added five assists, as Kentucky shocked Oakland in their USBL debut. The Colonels, considered by many to be the league's worst team, led 43-33 at halftime, and led by 16 at one point. David Reed scored 11 and registered 14 rebounds in his professional debut to help the Colonels get the victory. Desmond Richardson scored 20 and grabbed eight boards, and John Sims had 12 points and 17 boards to lead Oakland. Baltimore (1-1) 118, Seattle (2-1) 99: John Jones scored 29 and added 12 rebounds to pace a balanced effort for Baltimore, who got their first win. Cordell Gervin added 19 points, six boards and six assists, while Kenyate Hall had 16 points and 10 boards, and JaJa James had 14 and 12 assists for the Bullets. Adrian Wooward led Seattle with 32 points and five assists. James Smylie added 16 points and six boards. Player of the Day: John Jones, Baltimore - 29 points, 12 boards, 4 assists in 118-99 win over Seattle Transactions: - Philadelphia signs PF Matt Pebbles - Philadelphia releases SF Jon Watkins - Philadelphia trades 1962 1st Rounder and SF Andy Kelly to Dallas for PG Drew Hargrove __________________

04-20-2005, 11:17 PM	#12
Comey College Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: CT via PA via CA via PA	Day 5 - No Games I give the team the day off. No sense holding a practice when we've had three games in four days. Around the League Cleveland (1-0) 102, Chicago (0-2) 81: Ron Richardson, Cleveland's 6'10 guard, scored 25 points and led a furious charge on defense in the Knights' romp over the Stags. Cleveland held Chicago to just eight points in the third quarter. The Knights also had a 41-point display in the second, giving them a 64-55 lead. Jason Porter had 16 points and 7 boards, and Terry Henderson added 15 points and 11 assists. For Chicago, Dennis Smith scored 16 and Doc Hart added 14 and 12 boards. Indianapolis (1-1) 91, Boston (3-1) 86: Indianapolis got their revenge at Jack Jones Fieldhouse in Indiana. The Royals, who lost by three in Boston yesterday, used 25 points by Aki DeMond, and 11 points and 18 rebounds by Alan Scott to overwhelm the short-handed Irish. Boston was without "The Mad Czech" Boleslav Patera, who was out with an injury. They were also without a healthy Terrance Thomas, who scored three points in just 15 minutes due to a knee injury. They used 22 points and eight assists by Corey Jameson to lead through most of this game. Unfortunately for Boston, they could not hold off the surging Royals in the fourth quarter. The Irish led by seven at half time, but were outscored 48-36 in the second half, including 26-17 in the fourth. Memphis (1-0) 86, Los Angeles (1-2) 75: At the TOP in Memphis, the Blues won their USBL debut with solid defense. The Blues handcuffed LA to nine first-quarter points, and 17 third-quarter points, en route to the easy win. They led by as much as 20, and never trailed after the first quarter. They held Marshall star Jackie Smith to 14 points and 14 rebounds, and used 17 points, 12 boards, 4 assists, and 3 blocks from Dalmau Batiz from Spain to get the victory. JD Odle scored 16 off the bench, and Damien Campbell added 14 in the winning effort. PG Gaston Carbonneau led LA scorers with 17 points, and added 10 rebounds. Kansas City (2-1) 97, Denver (0-2) 70: Kansas City shot 50% from the field, and were aided by an abysmal shooting effort by the Rockers, in crusing to the easy win. Leighton Ireland had 17 points and 10 boards, Lon McMahon pitched in 19, and Andre Reid had 16 points, seven boards and five assists, as the Showboats led by 13 at the half, and didn't lose a quarter to the Rockers. Travis Myer was the epitome of the Rocker woes, scoring seven points on 3-of-19 shooting. Rob Stanfield was the leading scorer for Denver with 14 points. Player of the Day: Dalmau Batiz, Memphis - 17 points, 12 boards, 4 assists, 3 blocks in 86-75 win over Los Angeles Transactions: None __________________

04-22-2005, 02:30 PM	#13
Comey College Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: CT via PA via CA via PA	Day 6 - No Game Around the League: Steamrollers (1-0) 109, Legends (1-3) 85: In the Steamrollers' USBL debut, Steve Stewart showed why he was a Preseason All-USBL pick with 30 points, 9 boards, and 7 assists, to lead Providence to the win. Jerry Hall scored 28 with eight boards and six assists to bolster the Providence offense, and Alex Patterson added 15 and seven rebounds. Jason Brown led New York with 23 points and six assists, while Marvin Soloman scored 19. Indianapolis 94 (2-1), Cincinnati (1-2) 93: Indianapolis came back from a nine-point halftime deficit, using a putback by Alan Scott with 0.7 seconds left for the win. Scott was the POTG with 29 points, six boards, and was 11-of-13 from the line. Sherman Andersen scored 21 with eight boards to help the Royals. For the Monarchs, Steve Nelson scored 25, and Dimitrije Djokovic had 13 points and 13 boards. Kansas City (3-1) 93, Oakland (0-3) 82: Leighton Ireland led a blanaced effort with 14 points and 15 rebounds, as the Showboats picked up the win at the BAC. Andre Reid led the Showboats in scoring with 20 points, along with five boards and five assists, while Jason Tolliver had 18 and nine assists, along with six boards, and Lon McMahon had 11 with 10 boards and eight assists. Gary Blanks, Oakland's veteran center, led the Oaks with 20 points, seven boards, and three assists. Oakland held an eight-point lead at the half, but went cold with only 34 points in the second half. St. Louis (1-2) 86, Chicago (0-3) 78: Jared Wilkes had 24 points, seven boards, and four assists, leading St. Louis to their first win of the year. Brandon Saunders had 17 points and 11 rebounds to help out, and Ricardo Young had 12 points off the bench for the Spirits. Marcus Thorne had 16 points and eight boards, and Doc Hart had 15 points and nine rebounds. Romain Henry, Chicago's young star forward, had an off game, going 0-for-7 from the field and scoring only three points. Player of the Day: Alan Scott, Indy - 29 points, 6 rebounds, game-winning shot in 94-93 win over Cincinnati Transactions: None __________________ Last edited by Comey : 04-22-2005 at 02:32 PM.

04-26-2005, 12:26 AM	#14
Comey College Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: CT via PA via CA via PA	Day 7 - vs Cincinnati (1-2) We get "The Cincinnati Kid" Steve Nelson at home. Nelson's averaging 25 points, 6.3 assists, and 5.7 assists a game. He's a bonafied star. But outside of him and Derick Manheimer, we have an edge. Manheimer also has a problem getting going; he only had eight points in a loss to the Irish. But he had 22 in their win yesterday. Dimitrije Kjokovic is a mystery; he had 13 points and 13 rebounds against Indy, but has been a non-factor otherwise, including a 2-for-12 effort against Boston. Overall, I like our chances. Starting Matchups Cincinnati @ Philadelphia PG: Roy Hutson vs Drew Hargrove (Philadelphia) SG: Steve Nelson vs Tierre Bullett (push) SF: Derick Manheimer vs Matt Seymour (Cincinnati) PF: Collier Selden vs Philipp Lynch (Philadelphia) C: Dimitrije Djokovic vs Austin Harrington (push) Strategy: Let Nelson work his butt off for his, and minimize everyone else's production. If it takes 25-30 shots for Nelson to get 30-35 points, that's fine. We don't want to let Hutson for Manheimer go off, though. Tip won by: Philadelphia First half notes: We miss our first shot (Bullett on the wing), but Harrington gets the putback. Steve Nelson is full of leap tonight...that doesn't help, considering he can jump over anyone on my team on a bad day. Manheimer hits Cincy's first shot, making it 2-2 at 10:40 left. He then steals the ball from Seymour and dunks it on the other end. We don't need a career game from him. Harrington has our first four points, after hitting a shot from the corner. We COULD use a career day from him. I'm hoping Hargrove can produce for us, and settle into that PG role. Harrington hits again to answer Nelson's first points. But Manheimer is just hitting (3-for-3)...Hargrove misses, but Harrington gets his third board. That leads to Seymour's first bucket. It's 10-8 after Harrington steals and dunks at 7:00 in the first. He has eight of our first 10, but he also has two fouls. Gotta yank him. He hits two free throws, giving him a 10-8 lead over Cincy (it's really 12-8 us) at 6:46 left. Calloway comes in; hopefully he can keep up our stellar play at C. Smith comes in for Hargrove with 5:14 left, after Calloway picks up his first foul. Nelson knocks down the FT, making it 12-10 us. We keep throwing the ball away. This time, it leads to a dunk that ties up the game. Philipp Lynch hits his first shot, though, making it a 14-12 game with 3:39 left. Hargrove comes in for Bullett, who has started 0-for-4. Unfortunately, we don't have great offense out there, outside of Seymour. Seymour hits two FTs to make it 16-12, and we have a nice little cushion to start. We're not shooting well though (6-for-16). Calloway picks up HIS second foul on a horrible call. I have to bring Lynch back in, as Woods is hurt. Bullett comes back in for Seymour, and we go with a real small lineup. With 1:30 left, it's 16-13. We're not doing very well, but neither are they. Bullett gets his second foul with 1:16 left, but we'll leave him in. Cincy takes a 17-16 lead at the end of one on Tang Bush's jumper. Harrington comes in for the second quarter. Hopefully he can stay out of foul trouble. Bullett gets his first points at the 11:20 mark in the second; it's the first time he's gone scoreless in a quarter. I have three guys with two fouls at the 9:00 mark of the first half, including my starting backcourt. That scares me. So, Hargrove and Bullett come out...Seymour goes to SG, and Harold Singletary, who hadn't seen any time last game, comes in at SF. Brandon Walls will also see some time. We're red hot right now, but so is Cincy. DeVante Hardy, the Cincinnati coach, picks up a technical foul, and Seymour nails the FT. He has nine points on 3-of-4 shooting early on. He continues to hit, and leads all scorers midway through the second with 11 points, as we're up 34-29. With 3:00 left, it's 38-33. Seymour hits again (13 points), but Tang Bush comes right back. The Monarchs cut it down to one on back-to-back steals/buckets. This second unit is really producing...giving us a 44-41 lead at the half. Halftime Score: Philadelphia 44, Cincinnati 41 Leading Scorers: Matt Seymour (PHI - 13), Steve Nelson (CIN - 18) Second Half Notes: To be able to keep Hargrove, Bullett, and Harrington on the bench, and maintain the lead...that's big. It's our ball to start. Collier Selden hits the half's first bucket on a putback. Seymour continues to hit (6-of-13), and now Austin has 12, but it's still a one-point lead (46-45). Bullett makes a steal, but Manheimer blocks Seymour's shot. Cincy PG Roy Hutson is the first player with three fouls, at 8:50 left in the third. That's big, because the big 6'7 Anton Barbarich isn't playing well tonight. So they leave him in. And now Hargrove picks up HIS third. We'll bring in Smith to handle that. Cincy takes a 48-46 lead, but we tie it on another Seymour bucket. Scott Smith gives us the lead coming out of an inbounds. Nelson is 9-for-15, but he misses his latest; that leads to a breakaway and a three-point play from Lynch! It's 53-48 us with 6:11 left. Nelson is the leading scorer with 23 points, while Seymour has 17...and five turnovers, including one that pulls Cincy to within three after Hemsley steals and tosses to Manheimer for the dunk. Another steal and Cincy's coming back, pulling it to within 57-54. At 3:34, I go with the backups, bringing in Brandon Walls, who has yet to see time, along with Singletary, Pebbles, and Calloway. Williams will come off the bench if Singletary falters. This is not my strongest defensive unit, but it's passable. Calloway with an offensive board and put back! Singletary with the bucket! It's 61-54! But then he commits a bad turnover, and I bring in the more experienced Williams, along with Tierre. Hutson cuts the lead down to three with a trey from the left wing...and he's about to shoot another. But Tierre blocks it, and it's 63-60 after three. Cincy starts with the ball, and Selden scores to make it 63-62. Bullett hits though, but Tang Bush comes right back and hits. He has eight points. Bullett is heating up, as he had only five points going into the fourth, now has nine and hit his first two buckets to keep us up one. Hargrove has no points (0-5) but five assists. Tierre has to get his bearings if we're going to win this though. Hutson is, as he hits his second three. Hargrove throws the ball to Bush, who hits Manheimer for the slam, and we're down by six. But he makes up for it, draining a three! Tierre hits another bucket, giving him 11, and we're down 75-72 with 6:01 left. My boys are tired, so I pull everyone but Harrington and Tierre. Bullett steals one from Nelson, who hits Pebbles for the jam, making it 75-74. Harrington ties it at 4:00 with a BIG dunk! Tierre comes out as Hargrove and Seymour come back. He'll come back in, either for Drew or Scott, at 3:00. Harrington picks up his fifth foul, and he has to come out. Lynch comes back, so we're small with Pebbles and Lynch with Seymour as the frontcourt. Pebbles was fouled, and he hits one of two to give us a 77-76 lead with 3:40 left. A turnover gives us the ball back. Seymour hits another, giving us a 79-76 lead. Tierre and Harrington come back for Hargrove and Pebbles. I'll keep Tierre at the point; Smith is shooting well, and Tierre is the guy I want with the ball right now. Tierre is fouled, and hits the first. He misses the second, but Harrington gets the board! He passes it to Tierre, who drills it! Smith follows with a bucket, giving us an 84-77 lead. Nelson hits two FT, making it a 84-79 game with 1:15 left. Manheimer hits a three, cutting it to 84-82. And now, Tierre throws it away...44 seconds left, and Cincy has a chance to tie it. Nelson misses it, and Lynch gets the board. Smith gets fouled...and hits both free throws. It's 86-82, and Selden gets a putback...but it's too late. We lose a tough one, 86-84! Final Score: Philadelphia 86, Cincinnati 84 Player of the Game: Steve Nelson, Cincinnati - 28 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists What a way to rebound. Tierre didn't play well...6-for-16, 14 points, six boards, six assists, and we're having challenges at the PG spot (Hargrove had 3 points on 1-7 shooting, 7 assists and 3 turnovers in 25 minutes; Smith had 10 points, five assists, and three turnovers in 29 minutes). But Seymour played great (21 points, six boards), as did Harrington and Lynch...and we got through it. Pebbles is turning out to be one heck of a pickup, too (20 minutes, 9 points, five boards). Final word: We took their best shot, kept with it, and grinded out the win. That's something we have to be able to do if we're going to win our division, win our conference, and win the league championship. We never held more than a seven-point lead in this game, and that came late. We did outrebound them, but we also had more turnovers. We will need to tone those down. Around the League: Indianapolis (3-1) 104, Cleveland (1-1) 103: The Royals won their second-straight game at the buzzer. This time, it was Sherman Andersen's third three-pointer of the day...this one from 55 feet, which gave Indianapolis the shocker at Jack Jones Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. This came with .8 seconds left, right after Ron Richardson gave Cleveland a 103-101 lead on a runner from the right wing. Andersen finished with 34 points on 12-of-21 shooting, 3-of-7 from 3, and 7-of-8 from the line. Alan Scott, the hero in yesterday's win over Cincinnati, added 20 with 10 rebounds. And Frank Collins, the legend, added 10. Richardson led Cleveland with 26, while Jimmy Smith added 22 with 17 rebounds. Los Angeles (2-2) 113, Kansas City (3-2) 75: Los Angeles never trailed, and led by 21 after one quarter, as they trounced the Showboats at the WeMoo Fieldhouse in Kansas City. The Marshalls led 33-12 after 1, and 64-30 at the half. They led by 40 at one point. Gaston Carbonneau showed why he's possibly Europe's best player with 33 points and six rebounds. And Jackie Smith showed why he may be the best player in the world by shutting down Leighton Ireland AND Andre Reid (12 combined points); Smith had 19 points and eight rebounds, along with four assists and four blocks. Ammer Jones led KC with 13 points off the bench. Seattle 89 (3-1), Portland (1-1) 78: Adrian Woodward had an off-day, but it was enough to upend Portland. Woodward had 19 points on just 5-of-14 shooting, to go along with seven assists (and five turnovers). James Smylie had 19 points and eight rebounds (along with seven turnovers), while reserve John Crews had 13 on 4-of-5 shooting to pace the Rainers. David Thomas had 24 points, and Michael Crispin had 23 points and 17 rebounds to pace the Pioneers. They were the only players in double figures for Portland. Detroit 84 (2-0) , Oakland (0-4) 71: The Wheels used 28 points from Kenny Brown, and a near triple-double by Derrick Dunkley, to get the victory. Dunkley had 14 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds. Reserve Justin Mitchell scored 14 points for Oakland, who got off days from Demond Richardson (5-for-20, 11 points) and John Sims (2-of-12 shooting, 6 points, 12 rebounds). Player of the Day: Sherman Andersen, IND (34 points, GW 55-footer in 104-103 win over CLV) Transactions: None __________________ Last edited by Comey : 04-26-2005 at 12:27 AM.

04-26-2005, 06:45 AM	#15
condors College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	good read, kutgw

04-29-2005, 10:38 PM	#16
Comey College Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: CT via PA via CA via PA	The Week That Was By Joe Simpson Team of the Week: Boston Irish (3-1). They won games over New York, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati. They did it without star Terrance Thomas for most of it; he was out with a bruised knee, and largely ineffective in the two games against Indianapolis. But the team passed an early test of life without him; Corey Jameson, Lavar Collier, and Devin Burton are solid enough to carry this team if he gets hurt. This team has to be the favorite in the National East now, given that they can win without their star against top teams. I'm not sure you can say that about Philadelphia or Providence. Player of the Week: Tierre Bullett, Philadelphia. He averaged 29.0 points, 6.5 assists, and almost five rebounds a game. He had an off-day against Cincinnati, but he scored nine of his 14 in the fourth, and registered six big assists to lead his team to victory over the tough Royals. AP Player of the Week: Steve Stewart, Providence Rookie of the Week: David Reed, Kentucky. Sure, he only played one game. But he had 11 points and 14 rebounds, in leading the supposedly lowly Colonels to a surprising win over Oakland. Game of the Week: Indianapolis 104, Cleveland 103 on Saturday. Cleveland's Sherman Andersen capped off an incredible 34-point effort with a 55-foot game-winning three, leading Indy to the stunning victory. The game saw 16 lead changes, most of which came in the fourth, and seven ties. Cleveland had taken the lead on Ron Richardson's runner with .8 seconds left. But Andersen came back on a lob and heaved the ball towards the hoop. It swished, giving the Jones Fieldhouse crowd a huge celebration. Rising This Week: Indianapolis. They won some big games against some tough teams. They also won two buzzer-beaters, which sends the fans home happy. This team may be able to give Detroit fits this year, and their growing confidence will definitely help them. Falling This Week: Cincinnati Monarchs. This should be momentary. They lost three games by five points, and won their one game by 24. They need to learn how to close out opponents, but they should rebound from this slump. Upcoming Game of the Week: Boston (3-1) AT Seattle (3-1). Thomas should be fine, which will make this a very interesting showdown between him and Jameson vs. Adrian Woodward and James Smylie. Seattle has been hot so far this year, which will give fans a game between two high-octane offenses. Should be a fun one! Matchup of the Week: LA F Jackie Smith vs KC F Leighton Ireland, Monday. Ireland will get his chance to exact revenge on Smith for getting shutdown on Saturday. Smith scored 19 points with eight boards, and held Ireland to four points and six boards. Those may be the worst numbers the Showboats star EVER has. It was a first impression he wants to erase. Will he be able to? Line of the Week: Leighton Ireland, Kansas City: 18 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists in 105-93 win over Denver. Ireland abused forward Julius Wadley, and everyone else who tried to cover him, en route to the league's first triple-double. He may have had a bad first impression on Jackie Smith; but for the USBL, he left a wonderful greeting. Team by Team Review: Philadelphia Stars - A nice start for the Stars, who went 3-1. They did have a befuddling loss to New York, a game in which they never trailed. But they overcame a tough Cincinnati team, and a KC team off to a hot start, and racked up the wins. They also made some big moves, trading for PG Drew Hargrove. Hargrove will have his rookie moments, but overall, he makes the backcourt much stronger and deeper for the Stars. It allows Scott Smith some time at SG and SF, which allows coach John Comey to have a scorer and distributor in the game when Tierre Bullett or Matt Seymour need breaks. Tierre Bullett was the USBL Weekly Player of the Week, averaging 29 points and over six assists a game. It will be a test for the Stars to not burn him out as the season goes on. Player of the Week: Tierre Bullett, SG (Also USBL PoTW) Upcoming Schedule: Monday: @ Detroit (2-0) Tuesday: @ New York (1-3) Friday: vs Detroit (2-0) Notes: C Alvan Woods and Bullett are unlikely to suit up for Monday's game in Detroit. Woods is bothered by a back injury, while Bullett has been stricken by food poisoning. He was rushed to the hospital after a fainting spell, but he is okay. He's listed as day-to-day, and should be ready to go for the game at New York... Drew Hargrove is showing a lot of progress already, claims the Stars coaching staff. Coach/General Manager John Comey feels he could become an All-Star caliber player in the second half of the season. "Once he sees all of these point guards, and realizes he fits right in, he'll start to dominate. We got him for his potential to be something special. We'll need him to take the torch from Tierre when he retires."... Matt Pebbles has shown to be a force off the bench already. In his two games since being signed, he's averaging eight points and six rebounds. He had 9 points and 5 boards against the Monarchs in Saturday night's win... Reserve guard Scott Smith is among the league leaders in assists. He's averaging eight assists a game to go along with his 9.5 points and 4 rebounds a game. He has had double-digit points in his last three games, despite coming off the bench for two of them. __________________

05-02-2005, 01:35 PM	#17
Comey College Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: CT via PA via CA via PA	USBL Player Profile Tierre Bullett, Philadelphia Stars SG Ht: 5'10 Wt: 158 Age: 29 Pro Experience: 8 years College: Alabama State Overview: Tierre Bullett played for the Philadelphia Warriors in the defunct East Coast Basketball Alliance after being named a two-time All-American at Alabama State, leading them to their only appearance in the NCAA Final Four in 1952. Bullett averaged 41 points a game his senior year, the highest mark in NCAA history. With the Warriors, Bullett was a six-time All-Star and MVP in 1957, when he led the Warriors for their only championship over the Providence Bulldogs. Bullett averaged 32 points a game, with eight assists per contest added on. So far this year, he is averaging 29.0 PPG, 6.5 APG, and 4.8 RPG. He is also stealing 2.8 times per contest. Strengths: Best under-6' player in the game. Has a natural ability to score, especially in traffic. Is able to get his shot off against any player, and be consistent with it. Is a surprising rebounder, and renowned among the basketball world for his ability to steal the ball. Intelligent player; will get others involved. Makes the most out of his size; durable, can shoot free throws, even after taking brutal hits on drives. Is the fastest player in the league. Has as much desire to win as anyone in the league, maybe more. Will sacrifice his body to make plays. Weaknesses: Will try to put too much on his shoulders on the offensive end. Sometimes will shoot 30 times to score 25 points. Doesn't know when to sit, which leads to burnout in the fourth quarter. Size does not match up well with some of the guards in the USBL, and may find that what worked night in and night out against ECBA competition may not work on a national level. Can be disruptive in the locker room, though that seems to be a thing of the past. Gets nicked up more because of how he throws his body around inside. Overall: A guy who will give you 100% every minute of every game. He is a fan favorite because of the way he sacrifices his body, and because of the way he wants the ball in the clutch. Unfortunately, the things that make him popular backfire easily on nights where he's not hitting his shots. In spite of his perceived shooting delights, he does get everyone involved. Is one of the best players in the league, bar none. Has dynamite ability on both ends of the floor; when he's clicking, there's nobody better. Personal highlights: Scored 102 points in a college game...Scored 71 in an ECBA game 12/22/54 vs. Pittsburgh...Had first triple double 1/17/55 vs. Jersey City...once made 212 free throws in a row in competition, a national record...once outscored a team 81-60 in high school...averaged a double-double in 1956 (31 points, 12 assists), and finished second in the MVP balloting...is the only active player to be named to his city's Hall of Fame (was inducted in 1960, after the ECBA collapsed)... __________________

05-02-2005, 01:36 PM	#18
Comey College Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: CT via PA via CA via PA	Day 8 - No Game The guys get a light workout for their big win against Cincinnati. 3-1 is a lot better than 2-2. We have some bad news, as Tierre got some food poisoning. He's probably out for tomorrow's game against Detroit. But, we'll find out when the time comes, I guess. Around the League Dallas (1-0) 133, Seattle (3-2) 112: Dallas rolled in their USBL debut, behind five starters in double figures. They were led by Will Hawkins' 35 points and 11 rebounds, and Myron Barnes 14 points and 13 assists. Josh Respert added 27. Adrian Woodward led all scorers with 40 points and 10 assists. He was 10-of-17 from three-point land, a USBL record. Brian Scholl had 19 points to help the Rainiers cause, though they never led after the first quarter, as Dallas held a five-point advantage at the break, but outscored Seattle 38-28 in the pivotal third quarter. Cincinnati (2-3) 97, Oakland (0-5) 54: The Royals rebounded from three crushing losses by smacking the winless Oaks at home. Cincinnati led 45-35 at the half, but outscored the Oaks 52-19 in the second half to roll. Derrick Manheimer scored 22 with 10 rebounds to pace the Royals, who had an off-night (11 points on 4-12 shooting). Roy Hutson scored 16 points with six assists. Oakland was led by Gary Blanks' 17 points, the only player in double-figures. Player of the Day: Will Hawkins, Dallas - 35 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists in 133-112 win over Seattle Transactions: None __________________

05-03-2005, 04:52 PM	#19
Comey College Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: CT via PA via CA via PA	Day 9 - @ Detroit (2-0) A big test today, as we play the top defensive team in the league. The Wheels are tough, deep, and talented. Derrick Dunkley (15 points, 6.5 assists) and Kenny Brown (21 points) are their top scorers. Andre Levett is capable of stopping anyone on any given night. Also, they have ten players averaging over ten minutes a game. Actually, we may be a bit deeper, as we have 12 players getting at least six minutes a game. Starting Matchups Philadelphia (3-1) @ Detroit (2-0) PG: Drew Hargrove vs Derrick Dunkley (push) SG: Tierre Bullett vs Kenny Brown (Philadelphia) SF: Matt Seymour vs Tim Jones (Philadelphia) PF: Philipp Lynch vs Dan Hill (Detroit) C: Austin Harrington vs Andre Levett (Detroit) Strategy: Make Brown work, and don't let them get set up defensively. Let Levett shoot whenever he has the ball. Bang Hill around, as he's not a big fan of aggression. Work for the best shot available; getting runs on this team is going to be tough. Bullett will start despite food poisoning. But we'll have to monitor his health throughout the game. Tip won by: Philadelphia First Half Notes: Harrington draws a foul on Kenny Brown on the first possession. He hits his two free throws, giving us the first lead. Hill comes back with a 3. We start off rebounding well on the offensive end, snagging two on another possession. We get another on a missed free throw and go up 8-5. Dan Hill gets his second foul with 10:07 left, and Voshon Gunn is forced to come in for him. It's almost as good a start as I could hope for. That is, until they go on a mini-run and tie it with 9:00 left. Seymour hits a three and we go up 14-11 with 7:30 left. Scott Smith comes in to get the ailing Bullett some rest. With 6:30 left, Detroit takes a 15-14 lead, but our solid defense forces a turnover and we take the lead back. Mike Robinson comes for Detroit and stars creating havoc with an early steal or Smith's pass. We're holding our own though. For a guy who is doubling over in pain, Tierre is doing quite well; he's got 10 first quarter points. At the end of one, it's tied 29-29. Bullett comes out, and the rest of the starters come back. Tim Jones nails a three to start the quarter; he has 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Jimmy Feaster adds one, and it's 37-31 Detroit with 9:40 left in the half. Harold Singletary sees his first action with 9 minutes left; he was very solid against Cincinnati. Seymour moves to the 2 spot, as we get a bit creative with our positioning. Levett has six points early, which is more than we expected out of him in the first half. Detroit leads 41-37 with 7:05 left, and we bring Bullett back in for Smith. Seymour now has 11, but we're still down two. Unbelievable...an obvious moving screen leads to a Dunkley three. I give the ref a piece of my mind, and he warns me...but whatever. This is ridiculous. It's 46-39 with 4 minutes left, and Jones drains another three...putting them up 10. I bring Hargrove back in, and he immediately picks up his third foul. Sigh. Smith comes back to the 1 spot. They're red hot now, and lead by nine with 2:23 left, and 11 with 1:40 left when we turn the ball over. Now maybe we'll get something going...Tierre's pass got blocked, but Seymour made a big block of a wide-open dunk by Robinson. Hopefully that could be used to get us going in the second half, as we're a bit flat to close out the first half. Halftime Score: Detroit 55, Philadelphia 44 Leading Scorers: Tim Jones (DET - 15), Tierre Bullett (PHI - 15) Second Half Notes: We drew Hill's third foul early in the third; he's only got three points so far, so we've done a good job of limiting him. Derrick Dunkley, however, can't be stopped...he banks a three, and we're down 15. Harrington draws Kenny Brown's third foul, so we're sitting good with two of their stars. Now, if only we could hit shots. We're 17-of-37...they're 24-of-45, and we're all of a sudden down 18. I'd love to keep Dan Hill on the floor, because Voshon Gunn is scoring (10 points)...but he picks up his fourth, and in comes Gunn. We have to make a run now to get back in this game. We're 11-of-19 from the line, which isn't helping; Lynch just missed two, and we're down 66-48 with 7:54 left. Hargrove comes in for Bullett; we need some production out of him now. We're missing shots, only getting one attempt per possession...and that's not helping. Hargrove picks up his fourth foul, and we go down 20 as Brandon Walls enters the game. Andre Levett has 11 points and 9 rebounds on 5-7 shooting. Sigh. I don't think we have much of a shot here, especially with a deep reserve and no major scorer on the floor, outside of Seymour. And Seymour's 7-for-18. Meanwhile, Dunkley hits ANOTHER three, and their lead is at 21. I have to bring in all reserves for the frontcourt for this final 2:32 of the third. The starters will come back in the fourth to try to bring us back. Unfortunately, the unit out there (Smith-Walls-Williams-Pebbles-Calloway) isn't performing like they did in the Cincinnati game. At the end of three, it's 90-60 Detroit. They've terrorized us since the first quarter, outscoring us 61-31. The starters come back to the fourth, but we still can't stop them from knocking down jumpers. Even Levett continues to score, as he's up to 13 points and 12 rebounds. It's 98-68 with 8:30 left and it's basically mopup time. This has been a major disaster, but with a healthy Tierre on Thursday, I think we'll be more than prepared. There's nothing much to really discuss here. We're scoring what Detroit is giving up, and we gave up over 100 points to a team that doesn't score a heck of a lot. We've been outrebounded, and turned the ball over more than they have. Sometimes, a team just forces their will on you, and that's what the Wheels have done today. Final Score: Detroit 108, Philadelphia 85 Player of the Game: Tim Jones, Detroit - 21 points, 5 rebounds; 8-of-9 from field, 3-of-4 from 3pt It's not that we lost that gets me; it's how we did it. Tierre was sick, but he was our leading scorer. He shot 11-for-14. The rest of the team shot 19-for-57 (33%). That's a recipe for a loss. Final word: We'll get them again this week, on our floor with a healthy Tierre. I think we'll be better; sometimes, you just catch a team on a hot night. That's what happened here. Around the League St. Louis (2-2) 109, Dallas (1-1) 79: The Great Wall, Hsien-feng Zhang, had 27 points and 16 rebounds to lead St. Louis to the home victory over the Rangers . St. Louis used 28 from Jared Wilkes and a defense that held Dallas under 20 points in each of the final three quarters, en route to the easy win. Dallas, who played their first game last night, looked tired and beat down after the first quarter, which they led 25-24. Will Hawkins had 24 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to lead just two players with double-digit points. Myron Barnes had 20 to help Dallas, but had six of the team's 18 turnovers. Kansas City (4-2) 104, Los Angeles (2-3) 103 (OT): In the USBL's first overtime game, Ammer Jones came off the bench to score six of his eight points in overtime, and Lon McMahon (17 poits, 7 assists) added the game-winning free throw with .4 seconds left, as KC overcame blowing 10-point halftime lead to snatch the win. Jones filled in for Leighton Ireland, who fouled out on the final play of regulation, going for a block of Gaston Carbonneau's fadeaway. Carbonneau made his only two free throw attempts with time expired, sending the game into overtime, and shocking the capacity crowd at the WaMoo Center. But Jones took over, scoring all of the Showboats' points until McMahon was fouled on a shot attempt. He made his first one, and missed his second one on purpose. Diego Sanchez's full-court shot went off the left side of the iron as time expired. Jackie Smith led LA with 18 points and 20 rebounds, while Sanchez and Carbonneau each logged 21 points for the Marshalls. Oakland (1-5) 89, Kentucky (1-1) 86: At the BAC, Greg Deane scored 20 points, and Justin Mitchell came off the bench to score 18, as the Oaks got their first victory of the season. Oakland trailed by one after three, but used a 12-2 run to open the quarter and withstood a late charge to notch their franchise's premiere win. Ronnie Hogue scored 23 on 11-of-17 shooting to pace the Colonels, while Russell Smith scored 16 points off the bench to help Kentucky's effort. Player of the Day: Hsien-feng Zhang, Houston - 27 points, 16 rebounds in 109-79 win over Dallas Transactions: None __________________

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)