VIPERS DROP SECOND STRAIGHT IN OT LOSS TO TULSA

GAME RECAP

 The Rio Grande Valley Vipers surrendered an 11 point fourth quarter lead and missed several opportunities late, as they dropped their second straight game 94-89 to the Tulsa 66ers in overtime Saturday night at the Tulsa Convention Center. Saturday gave the Vipers their first pair of consecutive losses during the 2009-10 season.

The Vipers began the game sluggish offensively for the second straight night shooting just 39% at the end of the first period and trailing Tulsa 20-16. Vipers trailed by only one at halftime after outscoring Tulsa 21-18 in the second stanza.

The Vipers began the third quarter hot and looked like they would pull away. They scored 10 of the first 13 points in the third frame and eventually outscored Tulsa 35-23 in the period to take an 11 point lead into the final frame. In the fourth quarter Tulsa exploded on a 20-2 run and led 81-74 with four minutes remaining in regulation. The Vipers would answer back with a 9-2 run of their own to close out the quarter and had a chance to take the lead before Tulsa final fourth quarter possession, but Viper forward Mike Harris missed the first of his two free throws and could only tie the game at 83. Mustafa Shakur missed a jumper on Tulsa’s final possession of regulation, and Garrett Temple missed a fall-away jumper at the buzzer from 18 feet out to send the game into the extra session.

The Vipers once again struggled to find the bucket in overtime. With RGV down 91-89 the Vipers had three consecutive possessions on which they could have tied or taken the lead. The most dramatic of which involved a designed play out of time out for Ernest Scott who missed a three-point attempt from the top of the key with 15 seconds left on the game clock.

 Harris netted a new career high for points with 35 on Saturday night. Harris added 12 rebounds to tally his second double-double of the season. Houston assignee Joey Dorsey added his fifth double-double of the season, scoring 10 points and tying his season high with 18 rebounds. Antonio Anderson scored 17 while Garrett Temple added sixteen to round out the double-digit scorers for RGV. Larry Owens led the scoring output for Tulsa with 19, while Mustafa Shakur added 13 points and six assists in the winning effort.

The Vipers return home Monday for the first of three straight games at Dodge Arena when they host the Reno Bighorns. Former Vipers Desmon Farmer and Marcus Hubbard will make their returns to Dodge Arena in visiting uniforms. Tip-off from Hidalgo is schedule for 7:30 pm

Vipers vs Tulsa 12-19-09 Pre-Game

Tulsa Convention Center - 7:00 PM Tip

Greetings from Tulsa... for the final time this season. Yes the schedule makers in the D-League have given us two trips to Tulsa which happens to be our second closest league opponent, but they are both within the first 9 games of the season.  Very odd, but our trips to Tulsa come to an end tonight.

OK lets talk about last night... but please not for long. The effort by the Vipers last night was non-existent. RGV had an abysmal third quarter. Tulsa began the stanza on a 22-2 run, after they already led by nine at half-time, and ran their lead to 29 which put the game out of reach early in the second half.

The Vipers didn't dominate the boards, they didn't distribute the ball well, and they did NOT shoot the three well either. The Vipers were taking poor shots, contested threes, threes in transition, and were missing lay-ups. Look for the lack of effort to change tonight.

I mentioned to Coach Finch in our pre-game interview that sometimes teams who are winning, but not playing at their best need to get "punched in the mouth" in order to wake up. He agreed and said he got punched in a few other places last night, I agreed.

Once again OKC asignee Byron Mullens is listed as questionable and won't play. I have not seen him in the building. It is likely that he is in OKC getting treatment on his undisclosed injury. I am sure its no where near as gruesome as the one Carl Landry sustained last night in Dallas. OUCH. But hey that's one way to get Dirk out of game... lodge three pieces of your teeth in his elbow.

Pre-game show for tonight begins at 6:50. Tip-off will be somewhere around 7:10. Follow all the action on 104.9 JACK FM. OR don't forget to watch the game, (with the radio up of course) on NBA Futurecast

Vipers starters remain the same

C - Joey Dorsey

F - Mike Harris

F - Antonio Anderson

G - Garrett Temple

G - Jonathan Wallace.

for Tulsa here are their starters

C - Steven Hill

F - Larry Owens...(he was money last night)

F - Cecil Brown .. (two points off his career high last night)

G - Mustafa Shakur.

G - Moses Ehambe.

PS. Don't forget to stop by the Vipers pro-shop at 4500 North 10th Street in McAllen. We have a great holiday package available. Check out the details HERE

VIPERS WIN STREAK COMES TO AN END IN TULSA

TULSA, Oklahoma – The Tulsa 66ers expanded on their nine point half time lead by starting the third quarter on a 22-2 run to put the game out of reach as they ended the Rio Grande Valley Vipers six-game win streak with a 108 -90 win Friday night at the Tulsa Convention Center. The loss was just the Vipers second of the season with both defeats coming on the road.

Friday’s game looked like it would be a tight game early. The two squads traded the lead 14 times in the first 12 minutes. The 66ers then led by as many as 11 in the first half. The Vipers notched the final basket of the second quarter, a late lay-up by Antonio Anderson hoping it could lead to a momentum boost to start the second half. That boost did not happen as the 66ers outscored RGV 34-21 in the third stanza of hoops to take an 89-67 lead into the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t come to play tonight,” Vipers Head Coach Chris Finch said. “I could kind of smell this one coming, we had a good week of practice but were not ready to play this one tonight.”

Mike Harris, the D-League’s second leading scorer, tallied 17 of his 19 points in the first half while chipping in with six rebounds in the loss for the Vipers. Antonio Anderson scored 17 of his team high 23 points in the second half while also dishing out a team high six assists. Houston Rockets assignee Joey Dorsey finished a rebound shy of a double-double as he added 11 points, scoring all of them in the first half.

Tulsa’s Larry Owens led their scoring output with 27 points, chipping in with seven boards and four assists in the win for the 66ers. Mustafa Shakur dominated the point guard match-up scoring 16 points dishing out eight assists and hauling in six boards with just one turnover. Cecil Brown knocked down four three-point hoops and scored 22 points, just one off of his season high.

The Vipers and 66ers will meet again Saturday night at the Tulsa Convention Center. It will be the final time the Vipers will play a game in Tulsa during the 2009-10 season. Tip-off  for the re-match is schedule for 7:30 pm. Viper fans can follow all the action on the radio by tuning in to104.9 JACK FM.

GAME PREVIEW 12/18/09 - VIPERS (6-1) vs Tulsa 66ers (4-5)

Tulsa Convention Center

Game #8 - Road Game # 5 - RGV record vs. Tulsa in 2009-10: (2-0)


Greetings from Tulsa, OK. The Vipers will try for the their 7th straight if they can get another road win in Tulsa. The last time RGV was in Tulsa they struggled in the first half, mostly due to an early and topsy-turvy travel day on the second half of a back to back. The Vipers rallied in the second two periods to knock off Tulsa 94-89. 


First lets break down the 66ers. They have made a few key changes to personnel in the last few days. Forward Keith Clark was waived due to injury earlier in the week, but just today he was re-acquired only to be shipped off to the L.A. D-Fenders for forward Deron Washington. Washington was the third overall selection in the D-League draft by LA and was averaging 9.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.4 assists for the D-Fenders before the deal.Devon Hardin was waived due to injury to make room for Washington on the roster.


Guard Zabian Dowdell was also added. Dowdell was a legit scorer and play maker at Virgina Tech and overseas in Italy. He gives Tulsa much better depth at the guard position.


Tulsa also added center Steven Hill back to their roster. He might be the reason for a new player rights rule in the D-League as well. Last season Hill was an assignment player for Oklahoma City in the 2008-09 season. He was waived by the Thunder and could not go back to the 66ers when he signed a D-League contract. He was claimed off of the waiver pool by the Utah Flash and the 66ers had to trade their best player at the time (Ronald Dupree) to Utah to get Hill back. Not only did this deplete the 66ers (who were awful last year) they didn't get to use Hill much as he ended up missing the rest of the season after January 27th. Now the league allows D-League affiliates to retain rights of players who have played or have been on the active roster of an NBA team for a certain period of time. 


One quick note, OKC assignee Byron Mullens is not expected to play tonight. He is a strong offensive player and rebounder for Tulsa do the Vipers depth in this department should shine through. 


Tulsa should be rested for this one. The Vipers will need to play string out of the gate if they are to win their seventh straight.




For the Vipers. How else can I put it, they are the hottest team in the Western Conference. The Vipers are winning at home and on the road and lately have been winning convincingly and not letting games come down to the final possession. 


Vipers Head Coach Chris Finch said at lunch today that he still doesn't know yet how good his team is. The reason? The Vipers have only played three teams in their first seven games. They will only play three different teams in their first nine. Other than their home game Monday versus Reno, the Vipers will play only Tulsa, Austin, and Albuquerque over their first 12 games. The Vipers won't play a team outside their conference until January 9th when they travel to Iowa. 


As for the game tonight expect the Vipers to try to keep the pace up and let the offense of Mike Harris, Garrett Temple, and Antonio Anderson continue to carry them. The point guard match-up is huge. Tulsa point man Mustafa Shakur must be contained and forced to make uncomfortable decisions with the ball. Expect the Vipers to give him a few different defensive looks.


The Vipers in my opinion have better personnel, however that does not always mean a victory for you especially on the road. 


Here are the Vipers starters


C - Joey Dorsey
F - Mike Harris
F- Antonio Anderson
G - Garrett Temple
G - Jonathan Wallace.


UPDATE:


Tulsa brings out this starting line-up


C - Steven Hill
F - Larry Owens
F - Latavious Williams
G - Moses Ehambe
G - Mustafa Shakur


Mullens is not playing and I do not even see him dressed or on the bench yet. Not many other surprises in the starting line-up


Don't forget to follow all the action on 104.9 JACK FM and on NBA Futurecast. Don King is the broadcaster for Tulsa... no... not this Don King. Kinger is one of the Vet broadcasters in the league. He calls a good game and is a heck of a nice guy. He will have the call on Futurecast tonight

Mike Harris featured by the D-League

FINALLY A.D.B. HAS COME BACK TO THE BLOGOSPHERE!!!

Ok so its not as momentous as THIS NEWS out of the pro wrestling world, but hey a broadcaster can dream can't he? After a very long hiatus, ITK (That's stands for IN THE KEY) :) , is back and better than ever. We've gone with a new layout design, currently working on a header, and we hope to put a ton of multi-media stuff on here.

The Professor Jonah Goldberg and I, (ok mostly him) work very hard on putting a lot of our multi-media stuff together for RGVIPERS.com and on the Facebook group, but we figured we had another venue for Vipers info right here so lets utilize it better.

Here are some of the things you will find on ITK moving forward.

• Home and Road game stories
• We have done this before and you can find these on the main site. But when the team is on the road the D-League puts up the home team's story. Our game story will have a little more info on the Vipers.
• Pictures/Video from the road. 
• I learned shortly after I purchased it that my Iphone takes awesome pictures and video. So I am going to use it to upload random things from time to time from our travels. Expect a lot of pics come D-League showcase time.
• Random Thoughts. 
• I like to give my thoughts on potential expansion sites, the D-League's best players etc. You can find those posts here as well.
• Post-game video blogs. 
• Here we will also post the video blogs Jonah and I do from the Dodge after homes games. I am also attempting to do a video blog for road games as well. 

I look forward to frequent posts here on the blog and hope we get a ton of feedback. I would like to get a Q and A going with our fans. If you have any questions for us e-mail us at Vipersradio@gmail.com . We would love to hear from you.

I will have a preview for you up on the blog before tonight's game and I will also link to Jonah's game notes as well as soon as they are up.

Don't forget tonight's game will be tipping off at 8pm and not 7pm because of a high school game in Tulsa. You can follow all the action on 104.9 JACK FM or on NBA Futurecast.

That is it for now. I'll chat with you later on tonight.

-ADB

PS here is a pic from today's shoot-around.