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G League Sioux Falls Skyforce

Skyforce Looks to Build on Successful 2022-23 Campaign

November 10, 2023 - NBA G League (G League)
Sioux Falls Skyforce News Release


On Saturday, November 11th, the Sioux Falls Skyforce will open their 35th season at 7:00 PM CST at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls against the Indiana Mad Ants. "The energy is real high. We've all been anxious to get started," said Kasib Powell ahead of his third season as head coach of the franchise he won league MVP for.

The Skyforce have the most NBA call-ups over the last two seasons with players such as Dru Smith, Jamaree Bouyea, Justin Champagnie, Orlando Robinson, and Stanley Johnson all being called up last season.

"To see somebody get called up is something special," Powell said. "And I wouldn't want to have it any other way in this league."

Smith and Robinson have earned standard deals with the HEAT, while Jamal Cain returns on a two-way deal with the organization.

In the 2022-23 campaign the Skyforce kicked off the season by going 11-7 in the Showcase Cup and finished the year going 20-12 in the regular season, en route to a run that ultimately ended in the Western Conference Finals.

After the success had a season ago, returning guard Jon Elmore is not complacent with how the way the season ended.

"I think we laid the foundation and set the new standard for us," he expressed. "As a team we want to build on it and as individuals we want to up our play to help us get over the hump."

Much like his players, Powell would also like to do whatever it takes to take things to the next level.

"I'd be lying to say I didn't want to get to the Western Conference Finals and actually get over the hump to get to the NBA G League Finals this season," he said. "It's early but we put that on our radar already and that's something we're working towards."

The Skyforce will look to get over that hump with a few familiar faces and even more new ones.

Jamaree Bouyea, Justin Champagnie, Elmore, and Brandon McCoy are all returning from last year's team. This group of returners will look to be leaders for the new guys in the lineup and display what's needed to fit HEAT culture.

"When you talk about new guys coming in - I'm looking for Alondes Williams to lead with his voice as well as his performance on the court," said Powell of his new crop of players.

Williams spent time with the Brooklyn Nets and Long Island Nets in the 2022-23 season and the beginning of the season with the Brooklyn Nets on a two-way deal. With the Long Island Nets he averaged 13.5 points on 51.3% shooting, with 4.67 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.2 steals per game and helped lead the team to the best record in the NBA G League a season ago. Williams also played with the Miami Heat summer league team this year and showed flashes of dominance.

Caleb Daniels is a rookie that will look to make an impact for the Skyforce this season. Daniels played two seasons at Tulane University before transferring to Villanova for his final 3 years of college basketball. When speaking about Daniels Coach Powell said "he has a good voice and has leadership capabilities, even though he's a rookie, that will help us this year." Daniels averaged 14.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.53 assists, and a steal per game in his senior season at Villanova.

"Drew Peterson is another guy coming in that many might not know about," Powell said. "He's a versatile guard/forward who can play a lot of different positions and I think we will look to utilize him a lot on the court as well."

Peterson is a 6'9 rookie from USC averaged 13.9 points on 44.2% shooting from the field, 6.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and a steal per game in his senior season for the Trojans. Peterson also spent this year's summer league with Miami where in his six appearances he scored 7.7 points on 44.4% shooting from the field and 40.9% from three in 22.8 minutes per game.

Bryson Warren was selected with the 13th pick of the NBA G League Draft by the Skyforce and will be another player to watch. The 19-year-old guard from North Little Rock, Arkansas spent two seasons playing in the Overtime Elite league where he averaged 12.2 points on 42.6% shooting, adding 3.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. The former five-star guard will look to learn and develop his skills this season with the Skyforce, as he looks to be NBA Draft eligible next season.

The season once again begins with the Showcase Cup which consists of a 16-game season followed by a single-elimination tournament to find a 2023 NBA G League Winter Showcase Champion. On December 27th, teams begin competing in a 34-game regular season. The top six teams in each conference will earn a spot in the NBA G League Playoffs which of course concludes with the NBA G League Finals in April 2024.

"It's basically two seasons," Elmore said. "We gotta lock in. Our goal is to win the showcase championship, everybody to get paid, and then once that's over, new season starts, gear up and win the second championship. Coach made a good point the other day, he said we want to win every single thing, so that's our motto this year."

The Skyforce opens the season with three-straight home games at the Sanford Pentagon, a place where the team went 17-8 a season ago.

"We don't want to look back, we don't want to second guess ourselves," Powell said. "We want to try to be a championship team, we want to work as a championship team, we want to have championship habits. We feel like if we do that, we put ourselves in a good position to possibly win a championship."

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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.

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