November 2023 - Page 3 of 4 - Adamsonmedia.com

Unbeaten Squadron back in town

**Trey Jemison (55) and the Squadron take on Texas Sunday and Tuesday.**

Three games into the 2023-24 NBA G League season, the Birmingham Squadron – affiliates of the New Orleans Pelicans – boasts a 40-point opening night victory over Austin as well as a two-game road sweep of the Capitanes de Ciudad de México. Now 3-0 in the Showcase Cup in-season tourney standings, the team head coach T.J. Saint said would be hot-shooting and fun to watch is off to its best start since coming to the Magic City in 2021.

“Actually, our offense can get a lot better,” Saint said Friday afternoon before practice. “I think I want to take even more threes. We’re a really good shooting team – I think we’re fifth in the league right now. But our turnovers are keeping us from attempting even more, so we need to cut down on those.

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“The thing that I’m very, very happy with is our defense. We’re second in the league and our rebounding is really good. And to build an identity as a team and then eventually get a call to the NBA, you have to be an elite system defender and we’ve got a lot of good buy-in so far on the defensive end, so I’m super happy with it.”

In Mexico City the Squadron took two hard-fought victories against a club that has plenty of talent.

“I love playing down there,” Saint said. “The fans are engaged, it’s loud … it’s a big-time arena. They’re a really, really good team with a lot of veteran players that know how to play and we went against some very, very intense defensive pressure from them.

“And I really am proud and happy with the team essence. We had to overcome a lot of in-game adversity and pull through it and to be honest, it’s an experience that I will never forget. It’s one of the coolest basketball moments of my entire career.”

Up next for Birmingham is a pair of games against the Texas Legends (1-2), who are based out of Frisco and linked with the Dallas Mavericks.

A.J. Lawson – in his second season on a two-way deal with the Mavs – has made two appearances for the Legends and leads the team in scoring with a 26.5-points per game clip.

Justin Jackson scores 23.3 per night, followed by Greg Brown III (14.5) and Dexter Dennis (10).

Oliver-Maxence Prosper scored 19 points in his one game with Texas this season.

The Legends also feature Jelly Walker, who – along with Birmingham center Trey Jemison – helped UAB reach the NIT finals last season.

“I think it’s pretty exciting for fans to see two players from UAB go against each other,” Saint said. “Who wouldn’t be excited about that if you’re a Blazer fan? Trey has improved a lot since we first signed him. He’s a very, very quick learner, and I’m talking about within a game he can do multiple different things. We changed coverages three different times in the second half in Mexico. And he wasn’t perfect, but his ability to change with that on the fly made a huge impact.

“Like, we started switching all pick-and-rolls with him, something we didn’t do a lot in camp, to try to keep (Mexico City guard) Trey Burke out of the paint and just make him take tough shots over Trey, and Trey did that pretty well.”

Jemison and E.J. Liddell have been forces on the glass, with Jemison pulling down 9.7 rebounds each time out and Liddell snatching 9.3.

As a team, Birmingham is third in in rebounds with 53 per outing.

Malcolm Hill is currently second in the G League in 3-pointers made with 12, while the Squadron ranks fifth (40) in that category and fifth in 3-point percentage (36.4).

It was Hill’s trey with 0.3 seconds on the clock that forced overtime in Birmingham’s 108-102 victory over Mexico City on Monday night.

Jalen Crutcher, who led the team in scoring with 18 points, tallied the game-winner as the Squadron reached the O.T. target score (first team to score seven points).

In Sunday’s road opener against the Capitanes, Landers Nolley II tallied his second consecutive double-double with 27 points and 12 boards in a 108-103 conquest.

Hill hit for 25 points, Crutcher scored 21, and Liddell chipped in 18.

Hill is one of six Squadron players who averages double figures in the team’s perfect start, accounting for 19.7 points per game through three outings.

Nolley II scores 19 points per contest, followed by Crutcher (16.7), Liddell (14.7), Izaiah Brockington (13.7) and Tevian Jones (11.7).

Sunday’s game between Birmingham and Texas is set for 3 p.m. at Legacy Arena, and the two are at it again on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

“I think it’s really cool to see how the guys are building a true connectivity and camaraderie with each other,” Saint said. “They’re very connected right now. Trey’s one of the leaders in that with his voice and just how he plays and yeah … I think we’ve got some future NBA players on our team.”

For ticket information, go to birmingham.gleague.nba.com.

Secret Holiday

Keisha had already brushed her teeth, put on her pajamas and crawled into bed when her mother walked into the room.

“Are you ready for nite-nite?” asked her mom, placing her hand on the light switch.

“Could you tell me a story first?” Keisha said. “I’m not sleepy yet … at least not real sleepy.”

Her mom smiled, climbed onto the bed and snuggled close to her daughter.

“Sure, sweetheart,” she said. “Do you want me to read you one or tell you one?

Keisha answered immediately.

“Tell me one!” she said, excitedly. “Tell me Secret Holiday again. That’s my favorite.”

Her mom laughed.

“OK … here goes.”

The bell rang right at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, sending most of the kids at Pinckney Memorial Grammer School into a frenzy.

With Thanksgiving the next day and another day off scheduled for Friday, there would be a long holiday weekend for the students and teachers.

Ava heard her friends talk of the road trips they were taking – or the visitors coming into town – as well as all the baking activity leading up to the feast.

She smiled politely when they shared their excitement, although she could muster none of her own.

November was hardly a joyous time at her house, and things got even worse when the pumpkins and hay bales were replaced by lighted trees and stockings.

Her parents’ arguments often drowned out the holiday music blaring from the stereo. With all the fighting, she could never understand why they even bothered to play holiday music at all.

And if she wasn’t locked away in her room covering her ears in an effort to mute the insults being volleyed between her mom and dad, she was nervously sitting through a silence that made a cold home seem even colder.

She clearly remembered one time when her folks didn’t speak to each other at all for more than three weeks.

She called such times “The Darkness,” and as each holiday came and went, it seemed to grow bigger and darker, practically engulfing her.

Ava was sad most of the time, it seemed, but it was the holidays that made her the saddest of all. She knew they were supposed to be happy times, but they weren’t – at least they hadn’t been for her.

Then one day, Ava had an idea. What if she created a Secret Holiday – a holiday no one knew about but her?

It could be any time she wanted it to be – and last as long as she wanted it to – but only she would know about it.

The first Secret Holiday she remembered came on a summer day when she heard her parents laughing – something she didn’t here nearly enough. She imagined the living room decorated in bright colors, and that night when she ate dinner, she pretended the baked beans and sliced bread was a festive meal only served during special, joyous times.

When she was at school and saw other kids laughing, she pretended they were celebrating their own Secret Holiday, and it made her happy inside.

In fact, she figured that anytime a person was laughing, smiling – or sometimes just sitting on a bench with nothing but a book and a pleasant expression – they were celebrating something.

And she decided to celebrate with them.

They didn’t know it, of course, but they were part of her Secret Holiday, and those were the times that were the absolute best of times.

Weeks turned into months and months turned into years, and Ava grew up.

She got a job, worked her way through school, fell in love, got married and started a family.

Turns out, there were more Secret Holidays than she could keep up with.

The day she brought a kitten home from the shelter was a Secret Holiday.

The time she carried her neighbors’ groceries into his house was a Secret Holiday.

Best of all, the sad months she had experienced as a child – November and December – didn’t seem so sad anymore because they were always full of Secret Holidays.

Oh, there were bad times, to be sure … that’s part of living. But the greatest thing of all about Secret Holidays is that they’re secret – and that means “The Darkness” can never find them.

Keisha had already fallen asleep by the time her mom reached the end of the story. She eased off the bed, tiptoed toward the door, and turned out the light.

It marked the end of another wonderful Secret Holiday.

Birmingham blisters Austin

At the close of training camp, Birmingham Squadron coach T.J. Saint hinted that his 2023-24 team had a chance to be special.

On opening night, the New Orleans Pelicans’ G League affiliate most certainly was.

Friday in front of 2,149 fans at Legacy Arena, Birmingham overwhelmed the Austin Spurs – leading by as many as 36 points in the first half and 45 in the second – and cruised to an impressive 130-90 victory.

“It started in April, it really did,” Saint said. “I took a week off, went back to New Orleans, shut my computer, and (general manager of basketball operations) Adam (Barnes) and I hit the road and we were really deliberate in what we wanted, and all the pieces aren’t even here yet. We’re building an identity, and that was my main focus the first two weeks. We showed a little bit of it, but there are still steps to take.

“And the best part about it, human nature will tell you to relax, but we still won the third and fourth quarters. That can be special down the line.”

Three players – Landers Nolley II, Izaiah Brockington, and Tevian Jones – scored 20 points each, with Nolley notching a double-double thanks to 10 rebounds.

Malcolm Hill added 18 points, followed by Devin Cannady (12), Jalen Crutcher (11) and E.J. Liddell (10). Liddell had 12 rebounds to give the winners their second double-double performer of the evening.

“We just tried to say that we’re gonna win no matter how much we get up, so we’re trying to beat people by a hundred if we get the opportunity,” said Nolley, who made his G League debut on Friday. “We’re trying to capitalize on everything we can.”

Birmingham also destroyed Austin on the boards by a staggering 63-38 margin.

“I was really impressed by Izaiah Brockington,” Saint said. “We have a ‘Fierce Medal,’ or now it’s a “Fierce Chain,’ and the most fierce player gets it, and then they start passing it around to each other after every game. Izaiah got it tonight.”

The conquest by Birmingham was part of the circuit’s in-season Showcase Cup tournament, which will continue until December 27 when the regular season gets underway.

The performance set a high bar for a squad that combined lights-out shooting with a smothering defense.

Brockington led Birmingham in the first quarter with eight points, paving the way to a 30-20 lead.

UAB’s Trey Jemison wasted little time making an impact, finishing the first quarter with five blocked shots – including one stretch where he stuffed the same Austin shooter three consecutive times. He closed the night with nine rebounds and six blocks.

Liddell, a two-way player last season who was injured in 2022-23 and never played, was in the starting lineup for Birmingham. The forward tallied four points over the first 12 minutes after being assigned to Birmingham by New Orleans on Thursday.

In the second stanza it was Nolley and Jones who joined in on the scoring fun, pushing the Squadron advantage to 75-39 at one point before settling on a fat, 75-41 cushion at intermission.

The eventual winners closed the half with a 64.1 percent shooting clip and bagged eight 3-pointers along the way.

Birmingham kept up the pressure in the third quarter, allowing the Spurs to cut the deficit under 30 just once. The Squadron reached triple digits at the 2:06 juncture of the period, and after 36 minutes had this one well in control at 106-69.

The lead grew to 45 in the fourth, and midway through the quarter seven players had already hit for twin figures.

“We’re a family-oriented team, and I think that showed tonight,” Nolley said. “We just stick together. We know that we all need each other to get to that higher level.”

Kaleb Johnson paced the Spurs with a game-high 23 points, Javante McCoy scored 12, and Sidy Cissoko and Paul Watson chipped in 11 points apiece.

Culture shock: Squadron draft pick Pavel Savkov hails from Moscow, Russia, but has been earning a living playing basketball in Spain since 2018.

The 21-year-old – like most basketball players – has NBA dreams, which is how he wound up in the G League.

“I had an opportunity in the summer to come here, and I’ve always wanted to play basketball in America,” said Savkov, who entered Friday’s game at 8:25 of the fourth quarter and scored his first basket with 1:10 to play. “Being in the G League puts me closer to the NBA than any other league I’ve ever been in.”

Saint first met Savkov when he showed up for training camp two weeks ago, and has been impressed with the 6-7 guard’s progress.

“He’s done a ton of shooting, and he does that really well,” Saint said. “He’s pretty young, and the big thing with him is the rules here on the court are way different than what he’s used to. It’s going to be a continuing adjustment when he gets into games, which is faster than what he’s used to.”

Savkov said it’s taking a bit of time to get used to speed of the American game, and the three-second rule is part of the learning curve.

In American pro ball the three-second rule applies to both the offense and defense, while in FIBA the violation can occur only on offense.

“That’s the rule that I’ve had to adjust to the most,” he said.

Saint believes Savkov will prove to be a quick study.

“He doesn’t seem like a rookie because he’s been playing pro,” Saint said. “He’s a little bit more advanced, it’s just that the game here is different. But he’ll figure it out.”

Savkov’s current Spanish club is Saski Baskonia, and before coming to Birmingham he signed a contract extension designed to keep him there through the 2027-28 season.

Success in the Ham could lead to a change of plans, though.

“After the (G League) season ends I can return there,” he said. “But that will be determined by what happens here. We’ll see.”

Making themselves at home: The Squadron made history last year by becoming the first Birmingham-based professional basketball team to return for a second season. With year three underway, the NBA developmental squad is now established as part of the Magic City’s sports landscape.

Excluding semi-pro and amateur loops that have come and gone, Birmingham has hosted franchises in the Professional Basketball League of America, Southern Professional Basketball League and Continental Basketball Association. Until the NBA G League came along, however, no franchise has lasted beyond a single campaign.

Next up: Birmingham travels more than 1,500 miles for its first road trip of the season, a double dip against the Capitanes de Ciudad de México (Mexico City Captains).

Game One is Sunday at 4 p.m. CST, and Game Two will be played on Monday at 8 p.m.

The Squadron returns home Sunday, November 19, 3 p.m., when the Texas Legends provide the opposition at Legacy Arena.