November 2023 - Adamsonmedia.com

Squadron takes road trip

Every player suited up for the Birmingham Squadron hopes to land a full-time gig with the parent club – the New Orleans Pelicans – or another NBA team.

But the immediate goal of any competitor is to win games, and right now the G League squad sits at 4-2 in the Showcase Cup standings and in second place behind the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the South Pod.

**Scott Adamson writes stuff. Follow him on Threads @sladamson1960 and Adamsonmedia on Facebook.**

With the four pod winners and next four teams with the best record advancing to the money round at the Winter Showcase, showing up and showing off over the remaining 10 Cup games is extremely important to Birmingham players.

“Of course it is,” guard Jalen Crutcher said following a spirited Wednesday practice at Legacy Arena. “You know, $100,000 is split up among the players on the team that wins the tournament, so we’re going out every game playing as hard as we can and trying to win.”

The Squadron embarks on a three-game road trip starting Friday when they take on Austin at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas.

Birmingham opened the 2023-24 season with a 130-90 rout of the Spurs in a Showcase Cup matchup.

Birmingham will be at the Paycom Center on December 3 and December 5 to tangle with the Oklahoma City Blue before returning home on December 8 against Rio Grande Valley.

The 4-2 mark is the best since the franchise came to the Magic City in 2021.

Coach T.J. Saint says he’s excited about taking the show on the road.

“Last year we went 3-0 on our first long road trip, so we’re trying to do that again,” Saint said. “And to Jason’s point about the money round, it’s already started. We have to have great preparation to take on really good teams, and the guys know what’s at stake. I think maybe at the moment we’re technically out of the top eight, but we have a lot of control over how we finish, and we’ve just got to be detailed and focused going forward to be in a better position to finish in the top eight.”

Two-way player Dereon Seabron leads the team in points per game (24.7) and minutes played (37.3), while Landers Nolley II has stepped up for 19.5 points and nine rebounds per outing.

Seabron was the breakout star for Birmingham in 2022-23 and continues to shine, but Nolley is certainly making his presence known.

“Landers is one of the most cerebral guys at any level I’ve ever coached,” Saint explained. “He’s a sniper who can really shoot it. His passing ability is different, especially in his size position. And the thing that you don’t see if you’re not at practice are the little things. He’s always telling guys and reminding guys what to do and what’s coming.

“As we get going more, we see that he’s a very, very dynamic and interesting player who I believe can play in the NBA.”

Malcolm Hill averages 17.5 points, followed by Crutcher (16), Izaiah Brockington (12.2) and Tevian Jones (11).

UAB product Trey Jemison scores seven points per night to go with 9.3 boards and the Squadron ranks third in the league in rebounds per game with 50.8.

“I think there has been a total alignment with the Pelicans’ front office, the Squadron’s front office, myself, coaches and players,” Saint said. “They’re super high-character guys. We have future NBA players – several I think – on our team, and we’ve really honed in on that character piece.

“We took a hard loss last game (129-112 to Memphis), but we’ve had some good film sessions and good practices. I’m excited to go to Austin.”

Tip-off for Friday’s game is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally on My68 as well as the NBA G League Channel on Tubi.

New addition: With Devin Cannady participating in the 3×3 AmeriCup competition through December 3, the Squadron signed center Daniel Giddens from the available player pool. The 6-11, 240-pound center has played professionally in Japan and Switzerland, and had college stops at Ohio State, Alabama and Vermont.

He comes to Birmingham as a roster hardship exception.

“He’ll be able to spell Trey when we don’t want to go small,” Saint said. “He gives us another option during a game.”

Season within a season: Once the Showcase Cup is done, all G League teams’ record will be wiped clean and a traditional regular season will begin on December 27.

Crutcher likes the format – sort of.

“I mean, if you have a bad start to the season, you get to start over,” he said. “But if you’re doing good and have a good record, you’d kinda like to keep adding to it. But overall, I think it’s pretty good to have a Showcase season and then a regular season.”

Endangered Species

The jeep rumbled and bounced as it traversed the property, churning up dust as the two passengers in the back surveyed their surroundings.

There were three zebras, what appeared to be a very young giraffe, and enough desert-like flora to give them the illusion they were in Africa instead of the Chihuahuan Desert of west Texas. That was the whole idea behind Briscoe’s Trophy Hunt Adventure, run by its namesake – Emery Briscoe.

“What do you boys think?” shouted Briscoe, looking back and smiling at his guests. “I guaran-damn-tee you two are gonna get your money’s worth. Guaran-damn-tee it.”

Ah, yes, money.

Trophy hunts weren’t cheap, and Briscoe’s Trophy Hunt Adventure was quite specialized. It was so specialized, in fact, that it was not just extremely expensive for those willing to pay enough, but also extremely illegal. While “game ranches” – places where animals are held captive – had sprouted up all over the United States, this one provided some off-the-books action. But what’s a little malfeasance among the rich?

And the gentlemen on this particular trip had money to burn and were hunting for an endangered Javan rhino – one of less than 80 in the world.

Briscoe abruptly stopped the jeep after spying it just a few hundred feet away.

“I could tell you how I got that bull – that’s what they call the males – but then I’d have to kill you,” he said with a laugh. “Ain’t too many of ‘em left, so I paid a pretty penny to bring him over from Indonesia. And thanks to your generosity, you’ll be able to have a nice rhino head for your living room, and I can get something special for the next big-game hunters that come my way.

“I’ve been trying for years to get one of them Tapanuli orangutans. Be a lot easier to bring down that a rhino, I can tell you that much.”

As the three men walked closer to the rhino, it was obvious that the animal had been drugged. It was laying on the ground with its head lilting to the left.

“Now, in a normal situation,” Briscoe explained, “you wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near this close to a rhinoceros. But we made sure to … well … let’s just say we made him real calm for you. Thanks to several shots with a tranquilizer gun, we’ve done a lot of the work for you. Now which one of you wants to take the first shot? Or, I guess you can both shoot him at the same time.

“Don’t make a bit of difference to me.”

The men jumped off the jeep and swiftly moved toward the rhino. The first pulled out what appeared to be a large laser pointer and carefully traced the silhouette of the creature with it.

The second had something that looked to be more of a high-tech bazooka than an automatic rifle.

“You’ll blow him to bits with that thing,” Briscoe said. “But however you wanna get your jollies is fine by me.”

The man took aim and fired at the rhino, but instead of a bullet there was a pulse of white light that engulfed the animal.

Seconds later, it had completely disappeared.

“What the hell happened?” Briscoe asked. “What did you just do? Are ya’ll some kind of magicians, or what?”

The “shooter” looked at Briscoe with disdain.

“We teleported the Rhinocerotidae being to our home, Gliese 667Cc,” he said. “In your world we would be called conservationists. Humans like you are not only incapable of protecting these life forms, you are actively destroying them. We’re seizing them for their protection – as well as well as their salvation.

“Before the day is done, all of the animals here will be transported. In fact, most of the animals on this doomed planet will be transported.”

Briscoe’s eyes widened.

“Wait a minute … so you two are trying to tell me you’re do-gooders from outer space, huh,” he said, chuckling nervously. “At least that’s what you expect me believe. Ain’t that a kick in the head. Don’t matter to me, though. You paid up front. And long after you’re done havin’ your fun here, I’ll still be in business.

“As long as there are trophies, there’ll be people hunting for trophies. Doomed planet, my ass …”

The travelers from Gliese 667Cc looked at each other, with one drawing a circle on the ground with his laser. They stepped inside and just as had happened with the rhino, they disappeared in a flash of white light.

Briscoe climbed into his jeep, cranked it up, and headed back toward the lodge – rattled and unsure if what had just happened was real or some fever dream.

Yet, as he glanced around and peered through the dust, he noticed that all the animals in the preserve were, indeed, gone.

He couldn’t say for certain what had happened to them, but they were no longer part of Briscoe’s Trophy Hunt Adventure. Most important of all, they were safe from the extinction-level asteroid hurtling toward Earth.

Squadron gets Hustled

**Malcolm Hill (left) and Landers Nolley II talk things over during a timeout in Sunday’s NBA G League game between Birmingham and Memphis.**

The Birmingham Squadron entered Sunday’s Showcase Cup matchup with Memphis at the top of the South Pod standings, while the visiting Hustle was tied for last among the eight-team group.

Once the final horn sounded after 48 minutes at Legacy Arena, Birmingham (4-2) dropped into a first-place tie with Rio Grande Valley, while Memphis (3-5) exited the cellar.

The Hustle outscored the Squadron 46-26 in the third quarter and parlayed that surge into a 129-112 victory in front of 1,294 fans.

The teams with the best winning-percentage in each regional pod – as well as the next four teams with the best winning clip regardless of pod – will advance to the single-elimination NBA G League Winter Showcase in Las Vegas December 19-22.

“I personally don’t think I had them ready coming out of halftime,” Birmingham coach T.J. Saint said. “This Memphis team’s record is not indicative of how they’ve actually played. But I don’t think we were ready after halftime, that’s for sure, and that’s on me.

“We’ll be better next time.”

The Hustle opened the third quarter with 11 consecutive points to take a 64-61 lead before Malcolm Hill made a Squadron bucket to break the ice.

But Memphis was relentless, and ended up with a 20-2 spurt that resulted in a 73-63 cushion.

Saint’s crew finally answered with a 10-3 run of their own, and at the 4:08 juncture Dereon Seabron drained a three to make it 83-83.

The Hustle wasn’t done racking up unanswered points, though, and seized a 94-83 lead with 2:13 left in the third and never trailed the rest of the way. When the horn sounded, the Memphis Grizzlies’ affiliates were in charge, 99-87.

After being heavily outscored in the third stanza, the New Orleans Pelicans’ developmental club had plenty of work to do in the fourth.

But the Hustle didn’t stop working, either.

“Momentum is always up for grabs,” Saint said. “We took momentum with like six minutes to go against Texas last game, and they took momentum pretty much in the third quarter. So that’s kind of how that works.”

Memphis’ two leading scorers came off the bench, with David Johnson scoring a game-high 27 points and Cameron McGriff adding 24. Adonis Amis pumped in 18 and Jason Preston recorded a triple double with 16 points, 13 boards and 12 assists as the Hustle placed seven players in double figures.

The winners hit 14 3-pointers and shot 49 percent from the field.

Landers Nolley II had a double-double for the home team, chipping in 25 points and snatching 11 rebounds.

“I’m trying to get better and work on my craft each time out,” Nolley said. “I just go out and trust my teammates, and they put me in good situations.”

Seabron scored 22 points followed by Jalen Crutcher (18), Hill (14), Tevian Jones (12) and Izaiah Brockington (11).

Both teams had shooting woes early in the first quarter, but Birmingham managed to go on a 7-0 run at the 3:35 mark to take an 18-11 lead.

Shots began falling on both ends of the court after that, however, and when the first frame ended the game was knotted at 30-all.

In the second quarter the Squadron led by as many as 11 – 59-48 – but settled for a 61-53 advantage at intermission.

Nolley was already nearing a double-double for the hosts with 17 points and eight rebounds, and Birmingham had outscored Memphis 16-7 in fastbreak points.

Save the date: Today’s meeting with Memphis marked the third consecutive season the Squadron has played a game on November 26 – and all of them have been losses.

In its inaugural campaign in the Ham (2021-22), Birmingham fell to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on the road, 112-105.

Last season in the friendly confines, the Squadron dropped a 111-98 decision to the Austin Spurs.

Launching pad: How much talent is in the G League?

A lot.

When the 2023-24 NBA season began, 50 percent of the players on opening night rosters had G League experience, up three percent from the year before.

At least 30 G League prospects have been called up to the NBA in each of the last nine seasons.

Teamwork: Over the Thanksgiving holiday the Squadron teamed up with other Birmingham pro teams – the Barons, Legion, Bulls and Stallions – to help combat hunger. The “BHM 5” collected food and delivered it to the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama, ultimately donating 753 pounds of food which will provide over 630 meals to the community.

“Giving back to the community that supports us is paramount to who we are as a team,” Squadron general manager Leslie Claybrook said. “Partnering with the other local professional sports teams is something special to us as we continue to build here in the Magic City.”

Next up: The Squadron begins a three-game road trip on Friday, December 1, when they take on Austin at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas.

Birmingham opened the 2023-24 season with a 130-90 rout of the Spurs in a Showcase Cup matchup.

The Squadron will be at the Paycom Center on December 3 and December 5 to tangle with the Oklahoma City Blue.

Birmingham’s next home game is December 8 against Rio Grande Valley. That will be part of Stem Fest (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), and will tip-off at 11:30 a.m.