Nets Are Scorching

Wednesday afternoon the NBA Development League announced the rosters for the sixth annual D-League All-Star, which included Springfield Armor guards JamesOn Curry and Jerry Smith, as well as center Jeff Foote.

Curry, in his third year with the Armor, is averaging 16.9 points per game and a team-high 6.3 assists per game.

Foote, spent training camp with the Portland Trailblazers, was a late edition to the team, but has shined defensively. The 7-footer has also added a nice offensive game by averaging over 14 points and 8 boards a game.

It has been a big week for Smith, who was named D-League Performer of the Week on Monday. The 6-foot-2 Smith leads the Armor with 17.7 points per game. This is his first All-Star honor.

Three players selected is tied with the Los Angeles D-Fenders for most selections.

Check out the full rosters here.

Through the entire D-League season, Springfield Armor guard Jerry Smith has proved to be one of the top point guards in the league.

Monday afternoon, Smith, the former Louisville standout, was named the NBA Development League Performer of the Week for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5.

In two games this week, both wins against the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the 6-foot-2 Smith averaged 26.5 points per game 11.0 rebounds, and 4.5 assists.

Smith leads the Armor in scoring at 17.7 points per game.

He was also one of three Armor players invited to Nets training camp at the beginning of the season.

The Armor (15-13) are back in action on Thursday night at home against the Texas Legends.

Photo Courtesy of Chris Marion

The Springfield Armor put together an early first quarter run and never looked back as Springfield (14-13) rolled past the Sioux Falls SkyForce (7-20) 103-96 (box score) Thursday night at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

Midway through the first quarter, Springfield, with the game tied 6-6, used a 14-4 run to take a lead they would not relinquish. JamesOn Curry started off the run, sinking back-to-back 3-pointers. The run was capped off with an L.D. Williams steal and layup, giving Springfield its first double-digit lead at 20-10.

“I thought it was important for us mentally to come out and play well early,” said Armor head coach Bob MacKinnon. “And I think we did that, but we let up.”

The Armor used the first quarter to run to propel them to a 13-point lead going into halftime at 59-46.

But in the first two minutes of the second half, Springfield took its foot of the gas as Sioux Falls scored the half’s first six points.

“We don’t have that killer instinct yet,” said MacKinnon.

The SkyForce continued to get within single-digits, but the Armor maintained a steady lead; Sioux Falls cut the lead to five points just once.

Trey Gilder’s turnaround jumper made the lead 69-64, as Sioux Falls began to apply some pressure to the home team. But Springfield responded with 12-4 run to close out the quarter, leading 80-68.

Springfield held a consistent double-digit lead in the fourth, though Sioux Falls did cut it to single-digits on several occasions, but it wasn’t enough.

Defensively the Armor held the SkyForce to 40 percent shooting and a miserable six percent from behind the arc.

The first half should go down as one of Springfield’s best of the season. Springfield led by 13, making 50 percent of their shots and commiting only two turnovers; Springfield finished with a season-low 10 giveaways Thursday night.

However, MacKinnon was unhappy being outrebounded by 12.

“We have to do much better on the backboard than we did tonight,” said MacKinnon.

Jerry Smith continues to shine for the Armor this season as he finished with game-highs in points (27) and rebounds (11). Jeff Foote added 19 points, while L.D. Williams had 17 points, five boards, four assists, and three steals.

Gabe Pruitt struggled to score his team-high 19 points, shooting 5-for-18. Keith Benson, drafted in the second round by the Atlanta Hawks, finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

These two teams meet again Friday night. Tip-off is 7 p.m.

Armor set single-season record for wins: Thursday night gave Springfield its 14^th win of the season, marking a new franchise record for wins in a single season.

“Hopefully we’re going to set the bar higher than 14 wins,” said MacKinnon. “That is not our goal.”

MacKinnon needs seven more wins in the last 23 games to pass Dee Brown for most wins in franchise history.

Casey Mitchell leaves Sioux Falls: Sioux Falls only dressed eight players for Thursday’s game. Former West Virginia-star Casey Mitchell was one of the players inactive. Before the game Mitchell bought out his contract to play overseas. He was averaging 19.6 points per game this season.

 
 
 
 
 
In 28 minutes during Springfield’s 111-102 win over the Idaho Stampede Thursday night, Nets rookie forward Jordan Williams finished with just six points and six rebounds, shooting 2-5 from the field.

Looking at the box score doesn’t do his performance justice. He was in foul trouble for the majority of the game, which limited his effectiveness.

“I think that was matchups. We got into bad isolations and some fouls were called because of that,” said Springfield Armor head coach Bob MacKinnon. “That’s one of the reasons why he is here: to learn. Hopefully, we learn from this and move on.”

Offensively, he looked to have a bit more legs under him than in his first game with the Armor last week.  He ran the floor well, including two different times when he was the first Armor player down the floor on a fast break.

Defensively, like MacKinnon stated, he got in some bad situations and got hit with a couple of cheap foul calls. But he did show some progress defensively.

He looked more determined on the glass than he did in last Thursday’s win over Maine. At one point he went after an Armor missed, ripped the ball away from two Stampede players and then found center Jeff Foote streaking to the basket for a score.

He also picked up a pair of blocks and recorded a steal. He poked the ball away from Idaho point guard David Bailey on a good defensive rotation, which stopped Bailey from getting to the rim.

“He’s running the court, he’s rebounding the ball. He’s attacking on offense,” said MacKinnon. “I think he’s going to be a terrific player for the Nets.”

Overall, Williams made a good impact, but not as impressively as Tuesday in Canton where he had his best game of his assignment, scoring 18 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in a 104-92 win.

The Springfield Armor like to keep it close.

The Armor saw a 15 point lead disappear in the second half, but squeezed out a 111-102 (box score) win over the Idaho Stampede Thursday night at the MassMutual Center. The game was much closer than the nine-point score may indicate.

The Stampede (8-15) began the fourth quarter on a 13-2 run to reclaim the lead, the first since the second quarter, but the Armor (13-12) hung tough and with key plays from the bench were able to avoid a devastating home loss.

With the score tied at 92, guard Lance Hurdle knocked down a pair of corner 3-pointers to give Springfield some breathing room at 98-92. After a Mikki Moore’s old fashioned 3-point play cut the lead in half, Dennis Horner responded by making a 3-pointer from the same spot where Hurdle hit his two previous shots.

Although the Armor had a poor showing early in the fourth, Springfield outscored Idaho 19-10 in the final four minutes.

“I just thought it showed our resiliency,” said head coach Bob MacKinnon. “I told them in the timeout, ‘Hey this is pro basketball, you know the other team is going to make runs and now we have to answer it.’ And they did.”

Springfield carried a lead for much of the game. The Armor, led by bench play from Hurdle, Horner, and Damian Johnson, led Springfield to a 10-0 run early in the second quarter. Hurdle hit a 3-pointer to start the run, while Johnson’s defense and two monstrous dunks from Horner did the rest. That run gave Springfield a 37-26 lead, a lead they would not give up until 7:02 remaining in the fourth.

“Our bench was terrific tonight,” said MacKinnon. “To get not only our offensive, but defensive production from our bench was big.”

The Armor held a double-digit lead going into the break.

The Stampede made charges at the Armor’s lead in the third quarter; several times in the third, Idaho brought the deficit to five, but Springfield kept countering, bringing the lead back up.

Springfield had six players score at least 12 points. Horner led the team with a career-high 24 points and nine rebounds. Hurdle and JamesOn Curry both had 20. Center Jeff Foote had another double-double, 12 points, and 11 boards. All nine Armor players that saw action recorded at least one rebound and one assist.

Idaho was led by former Detroit Pistons guard Terrico White, who scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half. Former NBA player Tony Bobbitt and former New Jersey Nets forward Mikki Moore chipped in 14 and 13, respectively. Former NBA All-Star Antoine Walker only had seven points and a rebound in 26 minutes.

Idaho takes on Maine Friday night on the road, while Springfield enjoys a homestand, welcoming the Reno Bighorns Saturday night.

Notes: According to sources, former NBA point guard Marcus Banks was claimed by the Stampede. Banks last played for the Toronto Raptors in 2010-2011…He joins Mikki Moore, Antoine Walker, Tony Bobbitt, and Terrico White as Stampede players with NBA experience…With the 13^th win of the season, MacKinnon and the Armor tie the franchises record for most wins a season. MacKinnon needs eight more wins to break Dee Brown’s mark of 20 wins as the most in franchise history…Nets assignee Jordan Williams had six points and six rebounds in 28 minutes. Williams struggled with foul trouble for most of the game.

With two seconds remaining and the score tied at 91, the Springfield Armor drew up one final play.

Forward Damian Johnson inbounded the ball to Lance Hurdle, who immediately took a fade away 3-pointer from the corner. The shot was well short, but L.D. Williams came streaking to the hoop off a back screen and channeled his inner Lorenzo Charles as he emphatically slammed home the game-winner at the buzzer, winning the game for the Armor, 93-91 (box score) in dramatic fashion over the Maine Red Claws Thursday night at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

“Our philosophy is that on a last second play, you always back screen someone to the rim,” said Armor head coach Bob MacKinnon. “We were looking for the first clean look we had and then we had our best athlete going to the rim.”

“I told Lance it was heck of a pass,” joked MacKinnon.

The Armor (11-10) stole this game from the Red Claws (7-15).

Springfield trailed by nine going into the fourth quarter and fell further behind in the opening minutes, down 81-68 with nine minutes to play.

But Springfield went on a 15-1 run over the next 4:30, capped off by a Hurdle free throw that gave the Armor an 83-82 lead — Springfield’s first since the opening quarter.

“We told them at the start of the third quarter, just hang in there, just keep coming,” said MacKinnon. “We’ll go possession by possession and if we do that and we start getting stops, we’ll be fine.”

Springfield’s defense was more disciplined in the final stages of the game, propelling them to the comeback win. The Red Claws shot 48% from the field through three quarters, but the Armor defense held them to just 3-18 shooting in the fourth.

“I thought our focused changed, I thought we did a much better job of taking away the things they we’re looking to do,” said MacKinnon.

“I told our guys we didn’t play well and I think the sign of a good team is when you don’t play well and you win,” said MacKinnon.

Jerry Smith had a terrific all-around game for the Armor with 18 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and five steals. L.D. Williams’ game-winning dunk gave him a game-high 19 points. Newly assigned Jordan Williams recorded a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds in his D-League debut.

Maine had five players in double-figures, three of them coming off the bench. Lawrence Hill had team-high 16, while former-Armor guard, Morris Almond, had 15 points off the bench. Former NBA-veteran, Ricky Davis, had 14 points.

Springfield hits the road to take on the Dakota Wizards Saturday night. Maine returns home to take on Erie in a weekend two-game series.

Notes: Springfield has a three game road trip coming up. Dakota, Iowa, and Canton are all on the schedule before the Armor returns home Jan. 26…The next Armor home game will involve another former-Celtic, as Antoine Walker and the Idaho Stampede return to the Bay State…Dennis Horner was in Springfield after being waived by the Nets earlier this week. He has to clear waivers (10 a.m. Friday morning) before rejoining the Armor.

Nets rookie forward, Jordan Williams was thrown into the mix early in his assignment with the Nets’ D-League affiliate, the Springfield Armor.

Williams, assigned to Springfield on Wednesday, drove four hours to the birthplace of basketball in time to go through a 90-minute workout in preparations for Thursday night’s game against the Maine Red Claws.

The limited time didn’t stop Williams from recording a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) in 35 minutes of action during Springfield’s 93-91 win over Maine.

“It’s the D-League. It’s ‘Hello. Let’s go,’” said Armor head coach Bob MacKinnon. “That’s the way this league works. You’ve got to be ready to go.”

A written statement by Nets general manager, Billy King explained the assignment: Read more…

Nets General Manager Billy King announced today that Jordan Williams has been assigned to the D-League affiliate Springfield Armor. This is the first player assigned to the Armor this season.

Williams, a Torrington, Conn. native, played two seasons at the University of Maryland before being drafted by New Jersey with the 36th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-10 forward averaged 1.0 point and 1.5 rebounds per game in six games with the Nets.

Williams is expected to play for the Armor Thursday night at home against the Maine Red Claws.

For updates on Williams and the Springfield Armor, follow @terrence_payne.