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Florida Flame Update and Game Notes

March 22, 2006 - NBA G League (G League)
Florida Flame News Release


Florida (21-19) returns to action this Friday night, as the Flame opens a two-game homestand against the Roanoke Dazzle (22-20) at Germain Arena. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET. Florida is currently in a three-way tie for second place in the NBA Development League standings with Roanoke and the Arkansas RimRockers (22-20) with eight regular season games remaining.

Following Friday night's contest, the Flame and Dazzle will round out their back-to-back set on Saturday, March 25 at Germain. Tip-off for Saturday's contest is 7 p.m. ET. Both games of the homestand can be heard live on Kingdom FM 91.5.

Tickets for this weekend's games can be purchased at the Germain Arena box office, by logging onto ticketmaster.com, or by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-4-NBA-TIX.

D-League Standings W-L Pct. GB
Fort Worth Flyers 26-16 .619 ---
Florida Flame 21-19 .525 4
Arkansas RimRockers 22-20 .523 4
Roanoke Dazzle 22-20 .523 4
Austin Toros 21-20 .512 4½
Albuquerque Thunderbirds 21-20 .512 4½
Tulsa 66ers 18-23 .439 7½
Fayetteville Patriots 14-27 .341 11½

Flame Notes:

Postseason Format: The NBA Development League Championship Presented by Delta Airlines will be a sudden-death format consisting of three games between the top four teams. The number one seed will play at home against the number four seed, and the number two seed will play at home against the number three seed on the weekend of April 14-15 (dates & times TBA). The two winners will face off the following weekend, April 21-22, at the home arena of the highest remaining seed (dates & times TBA).

Flame Acquires Former FGCU Star Roman Brown: Florida acquired former FGCU Eagle Roman Brown on March 16 and released Theron Smith. Brown has appeared in two games so far for the Flame and is averaging 2.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in 16 minutes per game. The 6-8, 215-pound forward out of Florida Gulf Coast University ('04) participated in training camp with the Flame after competing in the Flame's 2005 open player tryout. Brown played two seasons with the Eagles, averaging 8.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Brown started 44 of 56 games at FGCU after transferring from Arkansas-Little Rock and remains among the school's top-10 leading scorers and rebounders. The 25-year-old shot 52 percent from the field during his college career and holds FGCU's all-time mark for career blocked shots with 55 overall.

Florida Acquires Forward Jeremy McNeil: The Flame picked up forward Jeremy McNeil on Tuesday. McNeil, a 6-8, 280-pound second-year pro from Syracuse University ('04) was originally selected by Roanoke in the second round of the 2005 D-League Draft and competed in the Dazzle's training camp before his release on November 10, 2005. Last season, McNeil played with the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association, averaging 13.7 points and 6.5 rebounds in 16 games. The 25-year-old finished his collegiate career as the fifth all-time leading shot blocker in Syracuse history with 260 and also ranks fifth all-time in games played for the Orangemen with 135. For his career at Syracuse, McNeil averaged 3.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.9 blocked shots per contest while shooting 68.5 percent from the floor and 49.1 percent from the foul line in 135 total games.

Losing Trend: Florida has lost four in a row, nine of its last 10 games overall and its last six on the road following last Saturday's 91-75 loss at Albuquerque. Amazingly, the Flame are still holding onto second place in the D-League standings, tied with Roanoke (22-20) and Arkansas (22-20). All three teams are 4.0 games behind first-place Fort Worth (26-16).

Numbers Aren't Pretty: Here are the averages for the Flame and their opponents over the last 10 games:

Team Scoring FG% 3-Pt% FT% Rebs TO's
Fla. 87.1 ppg 42.2% 29.9% 73.8% 37.4 rpg 14.4 pg
Opp. 99.8 ppg 45.8% 32.7% 79.0% 44.1 rpg 14.2 pg

Drop In Production: Due to injuries and an NBA Call-Up, the Flame has played its last six games without its top three scorers (Bracey Wright - 21.8 ppg, Andre Barrett - 17.0 ppg, Theron Smith - 14.8 ppg). Florida is averaging 98.2 points per game on the season, which means Jeff Malone has lost 53.6 points per game or 54.6% of his club's offensive production.

Rowland Rollin': Flame point guard E.J. Rowland is averaging 13.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.7 assists while shooting 48% from the floor (32-67)in his last six games. Rowland tallied a season-high 21 points and 12 rebounds along with 5 assists in an 87-86 loss at Albuquerque on March 17.

He's Stoked: Since being inserted into the starting lineup eight games ago, Lenny Stokes has averaged 14.5 points, 4.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per contest. Stokes tallied a season-high with 24 points versus Fayetteville on March 9 and 17 points, five rebounds, and four assists versus Fort Worth on February 23.

Leach Responding: Flame center George Leach has increased his production with increased playing time over the last 11 games. In that stretch, Leach is averaging 11.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and shooting 56% FG (53-94). Leach posted a season-high 19 points with 8 rebounds and 5 blocks versus Fayetteville on March 5 and tied a Florida Flame record with six blocked shots versus Fort Worth on February 23. The 6-11, second-year pro out of Indiana also scored 18 points on 8-10 shooting w/ 6 rebounds against Albuquerque on February 9.

Barrett Call-Update: After earning a GATORADE NBA Call-Up with Phoenix on March 1, Flame point guard Andre Barrett appeared in two games with the Suns, averaging 4.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists per contest. Following his release from Phoenix on March 14, Barrett was signed to a 10-day contract with the Toronto Raptors on March 15. Through three games with Toronto, Barrett is averaging 4.0 points, 3.3 assists, and 18.7 minutes per game. In his first game with the Raptors, Barrett tallied four points, six assists and one steal in 15 minutes versus the Detroit Pistons on March 15. Barrett posted a season-high nine points on 3-of-7 shooting along with three rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes for Phoenix versus the San Antonio Spurs on March 9. In five NBA games overall this season, Andre is averaging 4.2 points, 2.4 assists, in 15.4 minutes per contest.

Smush Making His Mark: Former Flame point guard Smush Parker is off and running with the Los Angeles Lakers. Signed to a contract by Los Angeles in late July, Parker beat out NBA veteran and former Philadelphia 76er Aaron McKie and Sasha Vujacic for the Lakers starting point guard spot. As a starter through the first 69 regular season games for the Lakers, Parker is averaging 11.7 points, 3.4 assists, 1.7 steals in 34.1 minutes per game. Parker currently ranks #7 in the NBA in total steals (117) and #12 in steals per game (1.7). Smush tallied a season-high 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists along with 3 steals versus Golden State on Jan. 14th.

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