Sports stats



Groove Sweep Inaugural NBDL Championship

April 10, 2002 - NBA G League (G League)
Greenville Groove News Release


Greenville, S.C. (April 10, 2002) -- Jeff Myers hails from the city of Philadelphia, which is known for its abundance of fine cuisine. Greenville is more of a meat and potatoes town, which is how he and his Groove teammates like to approach basketball.

"We have to feed the big men underneath, which is our meat, the main focus of the meal," Myers said. "Then the potatoes come in, with Billy (Thomas) and myself and the rest of us making the jumpshots. We're side dishes. We have to give North Charleston a big serving of meat and potatoes."

For the second consecutive game, Greenville served up a healthy dose of meat and potatoes, overcoming first-half foul trouble to control the paint in the second half, while closing the game on a 18-2 run to defeat North Charleston 76-68.

And for dessert, the NBDL Championship.

Thomas led Greenville with a game-high 28 points, his fourth straight playoff game with 20 or more points. Kimani Ffriend had another superb game in a starting role with 19 points and seven rebounds.

"They say big-time players come up big in the playoffs," said Thomas, who helped Greenville rip off four straight victories after losing Ansu Sesay after Game One of the opening round against Columbus. "I've just been on a heavenly roll and shots have been falling."

For a while, it appeared that North Charleston wasn't interested in selecting an entrée from Greenville's menu.

The Lowgators led 59-58 when a three-pointer by B.J. McKie, followed by basket from Sedric Webber (10 points) gave North Charleston a 64-58 lead at the 5:31 mark of the fourth quarter. Greenville's Tom Wideman was then whistled for an offensive foul and North Charleston took an 66-58 lead on a basket by Mahktar N'diaye.

Greenville stormed back to tie the game at 66, before a basket by Ffriend and a free throw by Thomas Hamilton gave Greenville a 70-66 lead with 1:12 left.

"I kept stressing to the guys that we needed to continue to play our style," said Groove coach Milton Barnes. "We got away from that in the first half and allowed North Charleston to dictate the tempo."

From the opening tip, North Charleston was the aggressor, placing Greenville in early foul trouble. Hamilton and Ffriend each picked up two quick fouls, limiting Greenville's effectiveness inside. In Game One, the Groove outscored North Charleston 50-28 in the paint and outrebounded the Lowgators, 42-30.

Ffriend picked up his third foul at the 5:59 mark of the second quarter with Greenville trailing 30-23. Hamilton also picked up his third foul with 3:20 remaining in the half with his team trailing 37-27.

Despite a sensational first half effort from Greenville's Billy Thomas, who scored 15 points, North Charleston led 41-33 at the half behind eight point a piece for Sedric Webber and Galen Young.

It didn't carry over to the second half.

"We self-destructed," said Lowgators coach Alex English. "We came out and played aggressive in the first half and not as aggressive in the second half. We couldn't stop Kimani friend, couldn't stop him all season. We played hard, won the regular season. They did a great job."

Myers had another solid all-around floor game with six points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

"Jeff is such a good leader and understands what it takes to be a leader out there," said Barnes. "He's a guy that I've communicated with all year long, and when you have that consistency, it helps in terms of getting your message across to everyone else. He understands what I'm trying to do."

Thomas may have understood Barnes' plan a little too much.

"I really expect to see Billy on an NBA roster next year," said Barnes. "If not, he'll be back with us. He's good enough to play on he next level and hopefully he gets the opportunity."



NBA G League Stories from April 10, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central