CBA Tabs Month's Top Coaches

December 3, 2002 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1) News Release

First-year head coach Chris Daleo of the Rockford Lightning, and 2002 CBA Coach of the Year Dave Joerger of the Dakota Wizards, were respectively named American Conference and National Conference Coaches of the Month for November.

In his first season at the helm of a CBA team, Daleo guided the Lightning to a conference best 4.4 quarter point average (35.0) in eight November games (6-2). Rockford is averaging a league high 129.5 points-per-game and has produced two Player of the Week awards for guard David Harrison. In two seasons (2000-02) as head coach at Barat College (Lake Forest, IL), the former Rockford assistant (1998-2000) compiled a 57-25 record and led the Bulldogs to a NAIA Division One Final Four appearance in 2002.

Joerger, the reigning CBA Coach of the Year, has the Wizards back on a championship pace in 2002-03, leading the league in wins (7-1) and quarter point average (5.8) through November. In addition to winning the title last season, the Moorhead State (Minn. '97) product earned four of five National Conference Coach of the Month awards and led the Wizards to league highs in winning percentage (.650) and quarter point average (4.3) in his first CBA season.

Also receiving consideration for Coach of the Month in the American Conference was Great Lakes' Jeff Grayer (3.7 quarter point average, 4-1 record). In the National Conference, Yakima's Bill Bayno (3.4 quarter point average, 5-5 record) was the other candidate.

CBA TRANSACTIONS

· 12/02/02
-Sioux Falls signed Patrick Doctor and Lawrence Nelson; and waived Troy Brown and James Penny.
-Yakima waived Corsley Edwards.
-Grand Rapids placed Kelly Wise on the Inactive Reserve List.

· 11/29/02
-Yakima waived Paul McPherson.

· 11/28/02
-Dakota signed Carlos Strong.

· 11/27/02
-Dakota waived Sonny Watson.
-Idaho signed Brian Taylor.

· 11/26/02
-Idaho waived Justus Thigpen.
-Sioux Falls waived Ted Allen.
-Rockford signed Joe Crispin.
-Gary placed Leon Smith on the Inactive Reserve List, retroactive to 11/21/02.

AROUND THE CBA

DAKOTA WIZARDS: Andy Panko scored a game-high 30 points and Malik Dixon contributed 28 as the Dakota Wizards ran their winning streak to five games with a 120-105 victory over the Yakima Sun Kings Tuesday. Victor Thomas scored all 19 of his points in the second half - nine in the third and 10 in the fourth - and Dixon added 16 of his 28 after intermission. Andy Panko helped Dakota's fourth-quarter pullaway with 10 points in the period. The 6-9 forward is averaging 28.3 points in three games against the Sun Kings this season. He also pulled down seven rebounds. On Thanksgiving Evening the Dakota Wizards defeated the Idaho Stampede 129-104 for their sixth win a row. Although the Wizards (6-1) have had plenty of hot streaks in the past several seasons, they may have never had a stretch quite this torrid. Dakota swept all seven quarter points from Idaho (3-5). During their current winning streak they have taken 38.5 out of a possible 42 quarter points. During that span they have lost just two quarters outright and split three others. Once again, the Wizards got a complete team effort. With Miles Simon sitting the game out due to a death in the family, Dakota had seven of nine players reach double figures and an eighth, new addition Carlos Strong, add nine points. Andy Panko once again led the Wizards with 31 points and 11 rebounds. Malik Dixon added 21 points. On Saturday the Wizards took on the Stampede again and even with Andy Panko and Kevin Rice suffering from the flu, and Miles Simon attending a funeral of a family member in Los Angeles, the Dakota Wizards managed to hold off a determined Idaho Stampede squad 119-111.The win was the seventh straight for the Wizards, who picked up six of the seven quarter points. Rashad Tucker led the Wizards with 21 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. The Wizards (7-1) are averaging 5.8 quarter points per game and are in first place in the CBA's National Conference. The Wizards will next host the Grand Rapids Hoops Wednesday evening at the Bismarck Civic Center. Game time is 7:05 p.m.

GARY STEELHEADS: The Steelheads moved into first place for the first time in the franchise's history last Tuesday with a 139-128 victory over the Rockford Lightning ... They finished the week 1-2 ... Oliver Miller leads the CBA in rebounds and blocked , averaging 14.9 and 2.6 per game respectively ... Miller has recorded a double-double (points-rebounds) in six of the seven Steelheads' games and is also 10th in scoring in the CBA (19.0 ppg.), sixth in offensive rebounds (3.4) and seventh in assists per game (5.1) ... Bryant Notree has scored in double figures in all seven games this season and has scored over 20 points in six games ... He is third in the CBA in scoring with 22.7 points per game ... He is also seventh in field goal percentage making 64 of 106 field goal attempts (.604) ... Darrin Hancock is third in field goal percentage, making 35 of 56 attempts (.625) ... Jemeil Rich is seventh in steals per game with 2.7. ... Chris Allen leads the CBA in free throw percentage with .933. He has made 14 of 15 attempts this season ... Nate Blessen is eighth, making 14 of 16 (.875) ... The 139 points scored in last Tuesday's win over Rockford were the most ever scored in a game in franchise history. The previous high was 138 against Grand Rapids on March 24, 2002 (138-121) and against Grand Rapids in a 138-118 win on March 20, 2001 ... The Gary Steelheads and the Indiana High School Basketball Guide are proud to announce Lowell High School Girl's Basketball Coach Patti McCormack and Roosevelt High School Boys Basketball Coach Ron Broome as the Gary Steelheads High School Basketball Coaches of the Week. Last week, the honor went to East Chicago Central Girls Basketball Coach Ron Edmonds ... Groups from the Gary Boys & Girls Club, Gary Roosevelt High School (Jemeil Rich's and Assistant Coach Renald V. Thomas' alma mater) will attend Tuesday's game vs. Grand Rapids ... Two teams from the Midtown Biddy Basketball in Gary will play at halftime ... On Saturday, vs. Great Lakes, the Steelheads will welcome groups from the East Chicago Boys & Girls Club, Columbia House and the Gary Runnin' Rebels ... The Steelhearts, the Steelheads' dance and cheer team, will be the halftime entertainment.

GRAND RAPIDS HOOPS: The HOOPS put the break on their four-game losing skid on Friday night with a 109-104 victory over the Gary Steelheads. Player of the Week nominee Kei Madison led the way for Grand Rapids with 29 points and 14 rebounds, while Eric Murdock and Jerald Honeycutt chipped in 25 and 22 points, respectively. The HOOPS were able to take 5.5 of seven quarter points with the victory bringing their season total to 19. Prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, Grand Rapids dropped a nail-biter to their intra-state rival Great Lakes Storm, 99-97. While the HOOPS were able to leave town with three quarter points, they dropped their third game by three points or less. Eric Murdock continued his stellar performance early on in the season, posting 25 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals in the defeat. Jerald Honeycutt also made his season debut after missing the first four games due to a foot injury. He registered 21 points and nine boards in 46 minutes. The injury bug continues to hurt Grand Rapids as Ira Bowman and Kevin Simmons each missed action this week. Both are expected back for this week's action. The HOOPS now head out to battle six of their next seven games on the road. It will be an important stretch for Grand Rapids as they face conference foes, Rockford, twice and Gary, three times. The December 10 home match-up with Gary is rescheduled from the original November 23 date due to venue conflict.

GREAT LAKES STORM: Yesterday, the Great Lakes Storm nominated head coach Jeff Grayer for coach of the month and 6-7 guard Cory Hightower for player of the week...Grayer is head coaching one of the youngest teams in the league. In his first trip to Yakima, he was 1-1 without Jermaine Jackson, who was the first to be called up to the NBA in the 2002-2003 CBA campaign. Grayer's record this month is 4-3. He had been undefeated at home until he went up against the Lightning on Thanksgiving night. Tonight he will be looking to restore his winning streak after the Storm's rematch against the Lightning...Player of the week nominee Cory Hightower has been vital in the Storm's past few games. His shooting capabilities have given the Storm the extra muscle to slam the door on defeat. This past week, Cory was averaging 20.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, and 7.5 assists. This is Cory's 2nd year in the CBA...Since Cory has stepped in as starting guard, he has held the position as being the team's leading scorer. He helped save the game for the Storm on November 26th when they played the Grand Rapids Hoops, winning 99-97 (5.5,2.5). Teammate Desmond Ferguson has been helping carry the weight of being leading scorer. In the game against Rockford Lightning on November 28th the Storm was defeated 139-121 (5,2), and Desmond led his team with 33 points...In other Storm news, the Storm will be hosting its first annual Sports Career Conference this Wednesday, December 4th at the Birch Run Expo Center from 12:30-1:30 P.M. The Storm staff and players will be helping 100-150 students from various Genesee county high schools explore the possibilities of having a career in sports...The next game for the Storm will be this Friday, November 6th versus the Gary Steelheads at the Birch Run Expo Center. The game begins at 7:05.

IDAHO STAMPEDE: The Idaho Stampede finished out the month of November with a 3-6 record, going 1-3 last week. Idaho lost at Rockford before picking up the week's lone win on Thanksgiving eve against Sioux Falls. The Stampede then traveled to Bismarck for a pair of games against league-leading Dakota, where Idaho only managed to pick up one quarter point in the two games. The Stampede currently sits in third place in the National Conference with 23.5 quarter points, behind Yakima (34.0) and Dakota (46.5). Idaho upped its scoring average to 101.8 this past week, but still ranks 7th in the league in scoring. The Stampede is led by guard Brian Green, who is averaging 20.9 points per game and scored 41 against Rockford on November 24th. He is followed by Mike Smith, who is averaging 17.8 points per contest.

ROCKFORD LIGHTNING: The Rockford Lightning won three of their 4 games this week to end November with a 6-2 record and sole possession of first place in the American Conference. Chris Daleo earned the American Conference Coach of the Month award in his first ever month as a CBA head coach. David Harrison earned his second straight American Conference Player of the Week award, the first to win back to back Player of the Week awards since the Lightning's Jeff Sanders won three straight in late December and early January of last season. On Thursday the Lightning scored a season high 139 points while handing the Great Lakes Storm their first ever home loss. The Lightning put up a league high 114 shots in their 129-112 win over the Gary Steelheads on Saturday. Rockford went into the half-time locker room down 65-59, marking the first time this season that the Lightning trailed at half-time. The Lightning are 6 and 0 on all other days, but 0-2 on Tuesday's. Tonight's game at Great Lakes is the last Tuesday game for the Lightning until the all-star break. Rockford is actually 3-0 when TRAILING after one quarter. The Lightning have had 6 different players who have scored at least 25 points in a game this season (Joe Crispin, Ronnie Fields, David Harrison, Livan Pyfrom, Brian Wardle, Albert White). The Lightning average a CBA high 29.5 forced turnovers and are the only team to have forced more turnovers than they have committed in every one of their games this season. The team's +6.4 turnover ratio is best in the CBA. The Lightning has also outshot their opponent in all 8 games this season. Rockford has averaged 10.4 more shots attempted than shots allowed this season. That's easily the highest ratio in the CBA (Yakima is second at +4.8). The Lightning have scored more than 120 points in all 8 games this season. Over the previous 17 seasons no CBA team had started the season with more than 3 straight 120+ point efforts.

SIOUX FALLS SKYFORCE: The Skyforce look to halt their three game losing streak tonight as they open a three game home stand. Sioux Falls faces Idaho tonight, Grand Rapids on Friday, and Rockford on Saturday. The Skyforce have made three recent signings in forward George Reese, rookie forward Patrick Doctor, and center Lawrence Nelson. Last season in the CBA, Nelson averaged 10.9 points and 5.9 rebounds while playing in every game for the Saskatchewan Hawks.

YAKIMA SUN KINGS: After starting the week with two road losses, the Yakima Sun Kings rebounded to take a weekend series from the visiting Sioux Falls Skyforce. The Sun Kings lost at Sioux Falls, 90-77 (6,1) on Monday then were defeated by the Dakota Wizards in Bismarck on Tuesday night, 120-105(6,1). Yakima took the first Sioux Falls game on Friday, 116-75(7,0) and then knocked off the Skyforce, 91-71(6,1) the next night. The two victories improved the Sun Kings overall record to 5-5 on the season. Newcomers Fred Vinson and Damien Cantrell have quickly made an impact for Yakima. Vinson, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard, is averaging a team-high 19.5 ppg while shooting 49.2% from the field and 60% (12-of-20) from three-point range. A 6-foot-8 forward, Cantrell is shooting 48.6% from the field and is averaging 10.0 ppg and 9.3rpg.

PRIMETIME PERFORMANCES

Brian Green of the Idaho Stampede posted a game high 41 points in a 122-116 loss to the Rockford Lightning on Nov. 24. The 6-4 guard also pulled down 8 rebounds and made 5 steals.

Eric Murdock posted 25 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, and four steals in a 99-97 Grand Rapids Hoops defeat to the Great Lakes Storm on Nov. 26.

Oliver Miller posted game highs in points (35) and rebounds (15) for the Gary Steelheads in a 109-104 loss to the Grand Rapids Hoops on Nov. 29.

Kei Madison of the Grand Rapids Hoops scored 20 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in a 109-104 victory over the Gary Steelheads on Nov. 29.

David Harrison posted a game-high 37 points along with 11 rebounds and 5 steals, in a 129-112 Rockford Lightning win over the Gary Steelheads on Nov. 30.

THIS WEEK IN CBA HISTORY

On Dec. 2, 1989 William Hunter of the Omaha Racers pulled down 29 rebounds in a 118-115 loss to the Rapid City Thrillers. The tally was second only to Jack Dorsey's total of 31, set on Dec. 18, 1980 with the benefit of an overtime period. The record has since been reestablished by Jerome Lane of the Oklahoma City Cavalry with 33, in a 106-95 win over the Sioux Falls Skyforce on March 20, 1996.

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Continental Basketball Association 1 Stories from December 3, 2002

• CBA Tabs Month's Top Coaches - CBA 1
• CBA Transactions - CBA 1

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