Diamond Stone Shines but Travis Wears Out Warriors

D-FENDERS back-on-track;  WIN at Home over Warriors

Josh Magette (9) goes by in a blur while former Lakers Asst Coach Paul Pressey's Son, Phil, Defends.  Ferrakohn Hill (17), Diamond Stone (1), Cam Jones (9) for Warriors and Travis Wear (background) for LADFenders also pictured

Josh Magette does what He Does. He captured yet another Double-Double with 19 Points and 17 Assists in the Los Angeles D-Fenders Win Over the visiting Santa Cruz Warriors, 134-109.  Dude is averaging a "dub-dub" at about 12 points and 10 assists per contest.

The Other Dubs, from Santa Cruz, received a nice little "drop-in" from the Los Angeles Clippers.
  

OFFICIAL: The @LAClippers today assigned Diamond Stone to the Santa Cruz Warriors, pursuant to the Flexible Assignment Rule.

— Santa Cruz Warriors (@DLeagueWarriors) November 20, 2016

Draft Selection Number 40, Diamond Stone (Maryland U) was in uni for the "Sea Dubs" Saturday Night for the D-League squad from NoCal.  Stone was drafted by the Pelicans at 40 in the 2016 NBA Draft but traded to the Clippers for pick number 39.  He has not played much for LAC (14 total minutes played).

One of the reasons this past draft will show as being "richer" than what most pundits rated it at will be players like Diamond Stone.  Stone was consistently projected TOP 20 in many (early) Mock Drafts last season.  This should also illustrate how inaccurate and invalid ANY early season Mock Drafts actually are.  Dear Chad Ford... 

The Skinny on Stone's Showing: 

He did pretty well.  He Did what he had to do.

 He did what he is supposed to do.  In Spite of a Losing Effort from Team Santa Cruz, Stone made the best of his reps and consistently dropped in the outside shot including 2-of-4 from three point range.  His outside shot and face-up game looked really good technically.  He also played big with a nice balance on the boards: 5 DREBs and 4 OREBS for 9 overall.  I want to see this number higher in D-League games however.  The 2 blocks were a nice addition to his Team-High 31 points. 

 This was the expectation for the Debut of the Lakers young Big, Ivica Zubac on Thursday (11/17/16).  I read, BTW, that 

he (Zubac) said the 

D-League was "less physical."  

Really Zubac?  The opposing team's GUARD at 6-o tall got as many boards (13) as Zoob had points.  Ivica had three rebounds.  Additionally, Zubac got Man-handled by Joshua Smith and other much smaller players on the visting Rio Grande Vipers.  Dude needs to "DEVELOP" the physical side of the NBA desperately.  

That Being Said, it will be guys like Stone and Zubac we will eventually be talking about as being perhaps the two "best bigs" of the 2016 draft and they were selected "40" and "32" respectively.  I  anticipate that when Zubac matures he may be the "very best Big" overall.  However,they BOTH need to sharpen parts of their game and they both need reps.  

Therein lies the beauty of "The D."

Mitch and CO Scouted Stone but opted to Draft Zubac.  Personally, I love Zublocka, but in comparison to the debut of these two "draft picks," the CLEAR edge is to the sharper Stone.  It will be fun to watch these two Develop and emerge.

Oh yeah, Vander did what Vander Does as well: 28 Points, 10-15 FG, 2-3 3 Pt, 6 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 2 STls.  Vander Blue was a PLUS THIRTY-ONE.  Magette led with a PLUS 32.

Travis Wear, who played sparingly (20 mins) simply because of the eventual lead that LA achieved, dropped in 23 Points on 5-7 from Three Point Range.  Incidentally, Wear is the Starting Center.  Wear added 7 Boards.  Wear's PT was limited also in the previous game because of Ivica Zubac.  In addition to Blue, Magette and Wear, the D-Fenders have other NBA-Ready Talent in Justin Harper and Roscoe Smith. Harp had another solid effort with 19 pts, 8 Rebs.  Roscoe, 1 of SEVEN D-Fenders in "dubs" had 15 and 8.  All Five of these put these efforts and numbers up consistently.

Harper (#23) Is Looking Leaner, Stronger and Better than he did last year when he received a Call-UP from the Detroit Pistons.

New Additions, David Foster (Jersey No. 50) who Did Not Play (DNP) last game because Zubac was assigned, David Nwaba (11), Julian Jacobs (5), and Troy Devries (7)ALL had decent contributions as well in the Victory.  

Nwaba, particularly for me, is REALLY standing out.  His effort, hustle, energy athleticism and determination shine through so far on a consistent basis.  This can also be applied to Jacobs. Nwaba had 10 Points, 9 Boards and was second on the Team to Foster's FIVE BLOCKS.  I want to see THIS every game.  I don't like BIGS that do NOT take full advantage of their size.  Many (BIGS) make themselves smaller by not having their hands UP and crouching down ( see Roy Hibbert Every Laker Game in 2016).  When Foster's          Hands Are UP, Good Things happen = FIVE BLOCKS.

Phil Pressey (26) and Mykal Thompson (15) for NoCal BOTH have ties to SoCal.  Pressey is the Son of former Lakers Assistant, Paul.  Phil had 21 Points and 8 assists.  FAST. Mychel, son  of World Champion Laker and current Laker Broadcaster Mychal Thompson, had 7 points and 3 rebounds.

I feel like something is missing...

OH YEAH...

Lakers win in OT and the DFenders match with a win vs OKC BLUE

Blue vs Blue?

The match between the Los Angeles DFenders and the Oklahoma City Blue seemed that way at times as Vander Blue, especially in the second quarter, drove by anyone trying to guard him and finished at the rim or with short pull-up jumpers.  His 9 first half points "seemed" like twice that as he was scoring with determination and ease.  He finished with 27 on 10-19 FGs.  NBA Scouts have been watching him closely as of late and despite what the NBA D-League "Prospect List" says, with BLUE being #8, he is arguably the top player in the league.  Jamaal Franklin, who got bumped to #2 on "that" list finished with a nice Trip Dub of  11, 12, and 10.  Regulation ended with the teams knotted at 97 and the DFenders were LUCKY to get the dub: 106-105.

(Vander) Blue, blew by the (OKC) Blue

Gone Swimming, the Lakers Talent Pool...

Splash!

Unfortunately, as it relates to basketball, this term is steadfastly becoming almost solely identifiable with Golden State Warriors' Guards Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.  The Warriors also HAD SPLASH 2.0 in their system when they had Seth and Mychel on their D-League Squad last season (the Santa Cruz Warriors)


The Lakers have had their fare share of talented players on their D-League squad, the Los Angeles D-Fenders.   It appeared as though it was only a matter of time before a player from "the D" was called up which did not necessarily mean from the D-Fenders.  They did, however, go right to the #purpleandgold and sign Jabari Brown to a ten-day contract (March 10, 2015).  

Mr. Brown made his own Splash felt by game four with the DFenders (November 21, 2014) : 30 Points on 9-17 shooting, 5-7 three pt FGs, and 7-7 from the line in 28 minutes of play.  THIS was happening with Manny Harris on the floor (who scored 32 that night).  Manny Harris donned the Lakers Jersey last season after becoming the "top D-League Prospect" and averaging around 31 points.  Harris played out his consecutive ten-day contracts with the Lakers (last season) and when they opted NOT to sign him he then left very soon to play ball in Turkey.  Manny was not going to wait that long THIS time and decided to leave earlier this season.  Enter Mr. Opportunity.  The DFenders have a variety of capable players at ALL positions.  And, in spite of yet another injury-plagued season for the Lakers, they were ONLY able to get Brown by way of being eligible for the NBA's "hardship exception."

Mychel Thompson "Rains" Supreme, DFenders Fall

       Mychel Thompson was on fire Sunday night in El Segundo, particularly in the third period of play when he went back-to-back threes in a matter of 30 seconds and scored an additional two-point bucket to score 8 points in about a minute-and-a-half of play.  Bingo Bango... BooYa!  Perhaps MT was inspired by the "alleged" comments of DFenders' Coach Phil Hubbard when he remarked that there were "no shooters" on the floor.  Meanwhile, MT WAS ON THE FLOOR.. it was the third period.. he scored 16 of his game-high 30 on 12-16 shooting from the floor, 5-8 from three, three steals, 4 boards, 4 assists, and, uh.. err... ONE-for-FIVE FTs ?! C'Mon MT! J/K The "FTs" were the only flaw in his game as the young Thompson was simply nails all over the floor and he was hitting deep balls with tremendous lift on his jumper.  Strong Game from the SoCal-er Gone NoCal, Indeed.

Everyone watched as MT drained Threes from Deep

D-Fenders Starting Guard Trio go for 65 of Team's 122

The Starting Guard Trio for the Los Angeles D-Fenders combined for 65 in the team's victory 122-120 over the Sioux Falls SkyForce Thursday Night (12-18-14):  Manny Harris (20), Vander Blue (22) and Laker Jordan Clarkson (23)  .  Vander Blue had a ridiculous game on 9-11 FGs, 1-1 3FG, and 3-3 FTs for 22 points.

Some Pics from the game:

Jabari Brown came off the bench for another 20 

AC greeted a group of kids that received some gifts at halftime

Blake and the Laker Girls were on point

Jordan Clarkson went 23/7/7

Manny being Manny : 20pts, 13 BDS, 4As

Roscoe Smith is a double-double MACHINE, had 19/15

Former UCLA Forward, Alfred Aboya, debuted with 4 pts, 3 BDS in 6 mins

Ater Majok with 3 more blocks, looked good on D and around the rim on follow-ups.  Good to see the hustle from this kid.

Other notes: Aboya was acquired earlier in the day, Thursday 12-18-14.  The D-Fenders waived Jamario Moon.

Photos by: Victoria Bertolino

Welcome Mr. Vargas: Eloy Vargas to debut for the DFenders ?

Mr. Vargas is originally from the Dominican

THE Lakers, seemingly, like Eloy Vargas.  In fact, they tried to sign him recently but due to "International Rules" they weren't able to.  Enter the DFenders.  Vargas had just signed a contract with Puerto Rico but the organization (Lakers) still wanted him so they requested that he participate in this year's NBA D-League Draft.  The DFenders took him with their First Pick at No. 17 overall.  Word is that the Iowa Stampede wanted to select him at number seven but Eloy felt obligated to the Lakers organization for bringing him back to the U.S and politely let Iowa know that.

 THE "6'11" Forward/Center from Kentucky SHOULD be making his debut tonight in EL SEGUNDO as the DFenders take on the Rio Grande Valley Vipers at 7pm.

Mr. Vargas had to sit out one more game, again related to rules, regulations and his Visa.  It was thought that Mr. Vargas would be available to play last game.

Vargas did not get many minutes at the University of Kentucky but since has shown nice agility for his size, especially his ability to recover on defense and use his length in rebounding and blocking shots.

The DFenders need some help on the front line.  Roscoe Smith, who at 6-8 is averaging a nice double-double of 17.5 POINTS and 16.5 BOARDS cannot do it alone up front.  Smith, who was the Lakers NBA Summer League Squad, is looking good thus far and making a statement about his NBA readiness.

Travis Hyman, the seven-foot Center, is entering his third campaign with the DFenders.   His minutes (15.0) per game are down slightly from last year's average of 18.9 yet he is still pulling down 6 Boards per contest.  It has ONLY been two games and he has gotten into foul trouble so we shall see how Hyman progresses throughout the season.  He added weight this off season, 10-15 pounds, and also worked heavily on his shot.  Last year, Hyman didn't get that involved in a "D'Antoni-schemed" offense that relied more on players like Brandon Costner and James Southerland.  Costner, a 6-10 Forward, averaged 14.5 points 6 Rebounds last season while Southerland, who joined the Pelicans at the end of last season averaged 14.7 Points and 6.5 Boards.  Those players are gone.

With guards like Manny Harris, newly acquired Vander Blue and Josiah Turner it will be nice to have another Big that can board and move.

So,

La bienvenida a

 Los Angeles

Señor Vargas

Welcome!