Filed under: Thunder, NBA D-League, New Mexico Thunderbirds, Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Iowa Energy, Sioux Falls Skyforce, Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Texas Legends, Utah Flash, Tulsa 66ers
The 2011 NBA D-League Showcase begins Monday with four of the D-League's sixteen teams taking the court on opening day of the league's four-day annual event.
The Showcase, held to allow top executives from the NBA and Europe to scout each of the D-League teams twice in the same locale, is being held in sunny South Padre this year after previous locations included Sioux Falls, S.D., Orem, Utah and Boise, Idaho -- all of which have far less-attractive climates.
With all of the decision makers in attendance, along with the recent availability of 10-day contracts, D-League players have a tremendous amount of pressure on them as they try to prove they're worth an extended look to many in attendance who are seeing the players display their skills for the very first time.
In the first game of the day, shown live at 12 p.m. ET on NBA TV, the Tulsa 66ers will take on the Sioux Falls Skyforce. The 66ers recently lost starting point guard Zabian Dowdell when he was made the first D-League call-up of the season by the Phoenix Suns, and since the Oklahoma City Thunder own the rights to four other 66ers -- Cole Aldrich, Latavious Williams, Ryan Reid and Robert Vaden -- the team is left with Larry Owens (above, left) as their top call-up prospect. Owens, a 6-7 forward out of Oral Roberts, has D-League career averages of 15.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists. The Skyforce are lack many call-up candidate, as their 2-14 record might show, but power forward Raymond Sykes intrigued the Portland Trail Blazers enough this fall to give him a training camp invite. A Clemson alum, the 6-9 Sykes is averaging 12.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks this season.
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Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2011/01/10/nba-d-league-showcase-day-1-preview/
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