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G League Rio Grande Valley Vipers

Vipers Game Update

December 26, 2008 - NBA G League (G League)
Rio Grande Valley Vipers News Release


Dec. 21 -AUSTIN 102, Rio Grande Valley 89 Rio Grande Valley couldn't hold onto a second-half lead that shot up as high as 15 points as the Vipers melted down in the second half and fell to the Austin Toros 102-89 on Sunday at the Austin Convention Center.

The loss dropped RGV to two games below .500 for the first time in 08-09 with a record of 5-7. Austin (8-3) is in sole possession of first place in the Southwest Division. RGV controlled most of the first half. The Vipers tied the game at 15-15 on an Alton Ford lay-up and grabbed the lead on their next possession, a Trent Strickland 3-pointer in the corner, to lead 18-15. They didn't surrender the lead the rest of the half and led at intermission 49-39.

The second half, despite the Vipers increasing the lead to 15, belonged to Austin. The Toros outscored the Vipers 63-40 in the final two quarters. RGV converted just nine second half field goals and shot 23 percent from the field en route to the road defeat. Smush Parker scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half in the losing effort for RGV. Strickland chipped in with 19 points and five rebounds. Austin's Malik Hairston and Andre Brown each scored 22 points to lead the offensive charge for the Toros. Brown also hauled in 14 rebounds, a stat the Toros dominated on Sunday.

RECENT GAMES Dec. 19 -Iowa 111, Rio Grande Valley 107 - OVERTIME Iowa guard Curtis Stinson tallied the D-League's second triple-double of the season and forward Patrick Sanders hit some big jumpers down the stretch and scored a team high 23 points as they lead the Energy to the 111-107 win over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena. The Vipers drop to 5-6 on the season and are 1-2 on their current road swing. The win improves the Energy's record to 5-1 and 2-0 at home.

The Vipers fought hard to tie the game at the end of regulation despite having a less than perfect journey to Des Moines on Friday. The Vipers flight was cancelled Thursday night due to inclement weather forcing the team to bus from Tulsa to Kansas City, Mo in the early morning hours before completing the trip to Des Moines Friday afternoon arriving less than three hours before tip-off. Rio Grande Valley held a lead after each of the first three quarters and built a lead of as many as 10 points in the road contest. The Vipers had an opportunity to win at the end of regulation as RGV forward Alton Ford was fouled with six seconds remaining and the Vipers trailing 100-99. Ford hit just one of two from the foul line to tie the game at 100 at the end of regulation. Ford tied the game again with: 36 remaining in over time after getting fouled on a converted jump-hook in the lane. Ford's free throw tied the game at 107. Sanders then converted a three-point play of his own with :20 remaining to give the Energy the lead for good.

Forward Kendall Dartez paced the Viper offense with a season high 24 points while hauling in eight rebounds. Smush Parker was four rebounds shy of a triple double, scoring 11 points and dishing out 12 assists in the loss for RGV. Trent Strickland scored 20, and Alpha Bangura added 15 points off the bench for the Vipers.

Dec. 18 -Rio Grande Valley 89, Tulsa 80 Alpha Bangua scored 19 points off the bench to lead the way as the Rio Grande Valley Vipers evened up their record on their four game road swing with an 89-80 victory over the Tulsa 66ers Thursday morning at the SpiritBank Events Center in Bixby, OK. The Vipers evened up their overall record at 5-5 with the win and are now 2-0 over Tulsa this season.

The Vipers once again got off to a quick start outscoring Tulsa 28-17 in the 1st quarter. Quin Humphrey and Smush Parker led the Vipers in the early moments. Parker had 10 of his 17 in the first, while Humphrey chipped in with seven points in the first act. The Vipers went into the halftime intermission leading 47-33. The third quarter woes continued as the Vipers were outscored 25-17 in the third frame. The Vipers led by as many as 16 in the third quarter, but Tulsa would rally. A Jeremy Kelly free-throw with 3:53 remaining in the period capped off a 20-6 Tulsa run that brought them to within one point of the lead, the closest that they would get to the lead in the game. Bangura's nine fourth quarter points led the way for the Vipers in the final period, outscoring Tulsa 25-22 to earn the victory.

Kendal Dartez added 17 points and eight rebounds and Trent Strickland chipped in with 15 and nine rebounds in the win. Jared Jordan in limited action added two assists in his Vipers debut. Ronald Dupree led the scoring load for Tulsa with 25 points while Keith Clark scored 15 points and hauled in nine rebounds in the losing effort for Tulsa.

Dec. 16 - Colorado 118, Rio Grande Valley 99 Former Colorado Buffalo Dominique Coleman scored 21 points and hauled in 11 rebounds as he led the Colorado 14ers to a comeback home victory over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers Tuesday night at the Broomfield Events Center in Colorado. The Vipers were outscored 42-22 in the final period after holding a three point edge at the end of three quarters. With the win Colorado improves to 5-1, the RGV loss drops them to 4-5 on the young season. The Vipers third quarter woes ended as they outscored Colorado 26-22 in the third period and held as much as nine point second half lead after coming back from trailing by as many as eight in the first half. Colorado pushed the gas pedal down midway through the fourth quarter to gain the lead and never looked back as they won by 19.

Trent Strickland paced the RGV scoring with 21 points while hauling in six rebounds before fouling out. Alpha Bangura chipped in with 19 points off the bench. Smush Parker chipped in with 12 points and seven assists and four steals before fouling out. Kendal Dartez rounded out the double digit scorers for the Vipers with 16

DUNKIN DORSEY - The Vipers were assigned Houston Rockets forward Joey Dorsey before December 26th game versus Los Angeles. Originally selected in the second round, 33rd overall, of the 2008 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers, Dorsey was traded to Houston on Draft night and appeared in three regular season games for the Rockets, scoring two points and grabbing one rebound. In four preseason games, Dorsey averaged 3.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists. Dorsey, 6-8, was a four-year contributor at Memphis, where he averaged 6.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks during his NCAA career. For his efforts, he earned First Team All-Conference USA honors as a junior and Second Team honors during his senior season. He was also named Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year and earned league All-Defensive Team honors during his final two years at Memphis.

SCOUTING RGV: The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are led offensively by forward Trent Strickland, who is averaging 19.4 points (14th in the league) and 6.1 rebounds per game. Strickland scored 19 points on Sunday, and has reached double-figures in every game. The big man also leads the team in three-point shooting at 39.4%. Point guard Smush Parker is averaging 18.2 points per game, with 8.4 assists per game, second most in the league. Parker is second on the team in three-point shooting at 37.7%. He is also eighth in the league with 2.3 steals per game. Alpha Bangura, who was slowed by an injury earlier in the season, scored 19 or more points in six consecutive games from Dec 7th - 18th and is now third on the team in scoring at 16.3 points per game.

SCOUTING L.A. : The Los Angeles D-Fenders are coming off a 100-96 win at Dakota, their second contest of a four-game road trip that ends in Austin on Saturday. The D-Fenders played seven of their first eight games at home, with their lone road game coming at relatively near-by Bakersfield. Their exhibition game was on the road, but it was against Anaheim and nearby Fullerton. The win at Dakota broke a four-game losing streak.

The D-Fenders only have one parent club since they are owned by the Lakers, but they do not currently have any NBA assignees. The D-Fenders are led by guard Joe Crawford, who is averaging 21.9 points per game, fourth in the league. He is one of thre players to be averaging at least 3.4 assists per game on the team. Dwayne Mitchell runs the offense and does a little bit of everything, averaging 16.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.8 steals (second in the league) per game

OPPOSING COACH - Dan Panaggio is in his third season coaching the D-League Los Angles D-Fenders after spending the 05- 06 season as an Assistant Coach at Marquette University. Panaggio has a wide variety of coaching experience including time as an Assistant Coach with the Portland Trailblazers and as Head Coach of the CBA Quad City Thunder of the CBA for nine seasons.

With the Thunder, Panaggio owned a career record of 313-191 and won CBA Championships in both 1994 and 1998. All nine teams under his leadership advanced to the CBA playoffs. In 1999 Panaggio earned his third CBA Coach-of-the-Year award after guiding the Thunder to the league's best record and the National Conference title. Entering the 2000 season, Panaggio had accrued more career victories than any other active coach in the CBA, and left ranked third all-time in games coached (504), third in playoff victories (71), and fifth in regular season winning percentage. CHARITY STRIPE: The Vipers have improved their free throw shooting dramatically since the season began, going 52-60 (86.7%) during the last two games, including a 28-30 (93.3%) performance on Sunday. The Vipers went 63-101 (62.4%) during the first three games of the season, but are 212-284 (74.6%) since.

KLASSY KENDALL: Kendall Dartez was been red during a four-game stretch from Decmber 14th-19th, scoring in double-figures each time, with his point total increasing each time. Dartez scored ten points against Albuquerque on December 14th before posting 16 in Colorado on December 16th. Dartez posted 17 points in Tulsa on December 18th and led all scorers with 24 points on the 19th in Iowa. Dartez's rebounding also improved during the streak, going from five to seven and then eight in each of the last two games. Dartez averaged 16.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game during this span.

SUPER STANLEY: Stanley Asumnu elevated his level of play dramatically during the three-game stretch from December 9th through December 14th, averaging 20.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.0 steal, 2.7 assists and one block per game over that span. Asumnu has come off of the bench in all but one game this season, picking up a double-double (17 points-10 rebounds) while starting in place of an injured Kendall Dartez on the 11th. On the 14th, he only got better, scoring a game-high 27 points to go with eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and a pair of blocked shots. Asumnu started the stretch with an 18 point performance against division-leading Colorado.

FAST FIRST QUARTER - The Vipers have gotten out to some quick starts in their first eight games. In the first quarter the Vipers have outscored their opponents 227-173 (+54) SECOND HALF STUMBLES - The Vipers have struggled so far in the second half and more specifically the third quarter. The Vipers have been outscored 258-177 (- 81) in the third quarter in the first eight games.

FAMILIAR FACES - Not only do the Vipers have four returning players that have spent significant time playing together, but two of the newest Vipers were teammates before. Kendal Dartez and Smush Parker both played for the Florida Flame in the 04-05 season.

ALPHA MALE - The Vipers acquired shooting guard Alpha Bangura He replaces injured forward Delonte Holland on the roster. At 6-6, 215 lbs, Bangura has the ability to act as a swingman. The 28-year old's points per game total went up every year from the 2001-02 season through the 05-06 season as he went from St. John's University, to the D-League to the Continental Basketball Association. Bangura played for the D-League's North Charleston Lowgators for two seasons from 2002 through 2004, averaging 13 points per game. He then attended training camp with the Washington Wizards before moving onto the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the CBA. He averaged 27.2 points and 6.2 rebounds in 17 games during the 05-06 season before leaving for Portugal, where he averaged 13.2 points in 14 games. Bangura spent last season with San German (Puerto Rico), averaging 20.9 points and 5.0 rebounds in 17 games.

THE VIPERS The Vipers are led by returning forward Trent Strickland, who has scored 24 points in each of the first two games of the season. He is also tied for second on the team with 7.5 rebounds per game. Point guard Smush Parker is second on the team in scoring at 20 points per game and a team-best 6.5 assists per game. The Vipers have gone through their entire roster, using all ten players in each game.

SEASON 2 BEGINS - The Vipers begin their second season in the D-League at home against a Southwest Division opponent. This is the second straight season the Vipers begin their schedule at home and against a division opponent. Last season the Vipers defeated Austin 104-97 in their first ever game.

SOUTHWEST DIVISION - The Southwest Division in the D-League features five teams in 2007-2008. The Division consists of the expansion Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Tulsa (OK) 66ers, Albuquerque (NM) Thunderbirds, Austin Toros, and D-League runnerup the Colorado 14ers. The Vipers will play each team in the Southwest Division seven times.

ROCKETS -- The Houston Rockets are the local affiliate of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers for the second straight season. In 07-08 The Rockets sent Forward Steve Novak and Guard Aaron Brooks to the Vipers early in the season. The Rockets have several eligible players for 08-09 assignment, the most likely assignment could be former Memphis forward Joey Dorsey.

MOSER RETURNS TO BENCH - Clay Moser was named the new Vipers head coach in July. 08-09 is Mosers return to the bench as a Head Coach. His last coaching stop was for the Jilin Northeastern Tigers in China. Since then Moser has been an Advance Scout for the Sacramento Kings and most recently for the Orlando Magic.

RGV GETS SMUSHED - Former L.A. Lakers starting point-guard Smush Parker was Rio Grande Valley's first round selection, 12th overall. Parker played in the D-League in 04-05 season with the Florida Flame where he averaged 19.1 points and 9.1 assists per game. Parker started 162 straight games for the Lakers between 2005 and 2007.

HOME SWEET HOME? - The Vipers begin their season with eight straight games at Dodge Arena, meaning the Vipers will play a third of their home schedule before playing their first road contest. The Vipers will have a stretch where they play 11-of-13 games on the road between February and March. The Vipers were 15-9 at Dodge Arena last season.

FOUR RETURNING VIPERS - The Vipers return four players from their season ending roster in April. Forward Trent Strickland and Guard Quin Humphrey should be starters for this year's club. Also returning are energy bench players Craig Winder and Stanley Asumnu.

Head Coach: Clay Moser The Rio Grande Valley Vipers introduced Clay Moser as their second head coach in franchise history at a news conference on July 8th earlier this year. Moser returns to the bench of spending the last several years as an NBA scout and minor league team executive. Moser graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 1987 earning a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management. Moser began his career as head assistant coach for Fergus Falls Junior College in 1984. He moved on Division 1 basketball three years later as assistant coach for the legendary Jim Valvano at North Carolina State University (1987-1989).

His first venture into minor league basketball was in 1989 when he joined the Sioux Falls Skyforce, now of the NBA D-League but formally of the CBA. He served the Skyforce as an Assistant Coach and Assistant Director of Basketball Operations until 1992 when he was promoted to Vice President and General Manager. He would leave the Skyforce in 1994 to serve the CBA as its Senior Vice President and Vice President of Basketball Operations. Upon gaining extensive experience in both basketball and business operations Moser continued his career as an Advance Scout for the Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, and most recently with the Orlando Magic. Moser has also been the CEO/General Manager of the Idaho Stampede and Assistant Head Coach: Robert Pack

Thirteen year NBA veteran begins his coaching career in 2008-09 with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Pack is known for his outstanding vertical leap and lateral quickness. The 6'2" point guard from USC spent 13 seasons in the NBA, most notably with the Denver Nuggets. In 1994, Pack was part of the Nuggets team that made NBA history as the first No. 8 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in the first round of the NBA playoffs. One of the game's better dunkers, Pack also was the runner-up in the 1994 NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest in Minneapolis. Pack played for current Houston Rockets Head Coach Rick Adelman in 1992 NBA Finals as a member of the Portland Trailblazers where he played in the NBA Finals.

Assistant Coach: Eric LeFort Eric LeFort, was born June 3, 1984 and graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University. This is his first year coaching on a professional level, but has 3 years experience. He is looking forward to assisting the Vipers in accomplishing a successful second season.

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