Notice TRAIL BLAZERS ASSIGN CLIFF ALEXANDER AND LUIS MONTERO TO D-LEAGUE’S SANTA CRUZ WARRIORS

Alexander looks kind of slow on defense. Doesn't box out and his man grab the O-board but misses.
Bad pass by Montero who throws it away on the fast break

 

M makes one from the corner! Catch and shoot instead of off the dribble. Set him up more. This guy is no PG on dribbling, but he tries. Good dribbler, just not great like he acts.

 

I have just witnessed the worst rebounding effort on a missed FT I've seen in my entire life.

 

89-73, 3:23 left in the 3rd. Hopson can really shoot for a big man.

 

Successful catch and shoot for A, only he catches it 1 foot from the hoop with his hands up. Not an alley oop because he then jumped up, not before. Both of our guys will make a higher percentage when set up rather than here, where they create almost all their own shots. Probably the other guys here know each other's moves so it's just a matter of them being unfamiliar with our 2 guys, instead of the fault being the style for the entire league.

 

End of the 3rd. Our 20-point lead has been cut to 12, 101-89. This game is more boring to me than last night because we're easily holding the lead, and because our 2 players aren't playing crucial roles like last night. Now familiar with their new team, they are blending in instead of standing out. That's why I have less information to post, since I concentrate on those 2. Also it seems that they're getting fewer minutes. Last night, A got very winded, a husky guy not having played one minute for 3 months. I'm killing time while they're out.

 

7 minutes left in the game and our guys have been no-shows for about a half-hour of real time. It's reported that they fell into a pit of quicksand! Oh no, that was a pick and roll.

See, in half an hour I found something that almost rhymes with quicksand. Put in our 2 players!

 

M came in while I typed that! Halleluyah, my ship has sailed in!

 

A came in, M selfishly dribbled to top of the key, shot a brick, time out. These 2 guys must have been told by Blazer coaches to create their own shots while sent down and not play team ball. The PG here is perfectly capable of setting them up in set plays. But then they'd have to learn plays. A just made another floater inside. Excellent shooting percentage today. M later rebounds.
.

 

Looks like Cliff is doing work tonight

 

Too bad Baron isn't playing.

 

I wonder if Baron Davis was trash talking Montero from the bench.

 

M shoots a brick, later fouls while getting his hand into the cookie jar. People strip him, so he tries the same on them. He has good hands, just needs many, many playing minutes to train them. 126-110, 1:41 left. M gets fouled, will go to the line. Shoots 2-2.

Big news. Commentator says that according to the Blazer website, the 2 players will stay on the D-League team at least into next weekend. This is Earth-shaking because Santa Clara doesn't play all week till then. It's mainly a weekend league like college. So now they can become expert on D-League plays and stay there for years. All my complaints about creating too much of their own play and not learning plays will evaporate as they ride into the orange sunset.

M shoots a couple more FTs, A makes a garbage basket in the last seconds, M dribbles it out, game over. Final score 132-117.

 

Montero is pretty raw, and needs this time in the D-League. Seems like he has talent, just needs to get some run.

 

Alexander shot much better tonight. He's going to get playing time if he can hit a 15 footer. Montero was more careless tonight but it's not a surprise. I wish both these guys would've been in the dleague earlier, but I understand wanting to coach your own guys too.

 

I meant to say earlier that it seemed like half of M's and A's passes were to each other. They excluded the other players. I can't call it a 2-man game they were playing because that term means something structured with constructive results. These were just panic passes to escape being stuck somewhere in a corner.

Now with a week to learn plays, I'm sure all their problems will disappear and they'll play within the system.

 

Non-fancy box scores.

http://dleague.nba.com/games/20160313/DELSCW/

Now it says "Download game book." Cool, it's those fancy box scores for each quarter and half.

http://dleague.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/gamebook/dleague/2021500380_Book.pdf

 

Comments from the little I've watched:
Montero looks a lot like Darington Hobson, who is a perennial call-up candidate. Both really need to work on being defensive specialists, because that's their key to playing time.
Alexander is a tank, but a bit slow, a bit low-BBall-IQ, a bit short and not that athletic. He scored well last night but has very disappointing rebounding #s - outrebounded by his teammate Aaron Craft!
Depressing to see: Ronnie Brewer is on a D-League team.

 

Aaron Craft is a favorite of mine since he was in college. wouldn't mind if we decided to bring him along with them when they're called back to the team

 

The interesting numbers:
Montero with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists but low shooting % and 6 turnovers in 33 minutes. +9
Alexander 9-12 from the field, 3-4 from the line, 21 points with 6 rebounds in 25 minutes. +9
Craft with 10 points, 9 Rebounds, 12 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers in 33 minutes. +17