Month: February 2024

With its next game at Legacy Arena 18 days away, the Birmingham Squadron wanted to finish up its current home stand on a winning note.

Motor City wasn’t having it.

Breaking open a relatively close contest with a huge third quarter, the Cruise cruised to a 133-115 victory in front of 1,450 fans, completing a two-game weekend sweep.

With its fourth consecutive loss, the New Orleans Pelicans’ developmental club tumbles to 7-10 while the Detroit Pistons affiliate improves to 9-7.

Leading 61-56 at the half, Motor City outscored Birmingham 42-26 in the third quarter, taking advantage of defensive lapses to take command.

Buddy Boeheim led the winners and all scorers with 30 points, followed by Jared Rhoden (21), Jayce Johnson (17), Nathan Knight (16), Stanley Umude (14), Zavier Simpson (13) and Malcolm Cazalon (13).

Johnson also had 15 rebounds and Simpson dished out 10 assists for double-doubles.

Dereon Seabron topped Squadron scorers with 24 points, while Tevian Jones added 19 and Malcolm Hill chipped in 18.

E.J. Liddell finished with 17 points and Landers Nolley II accounted for 11.

“We’ve played five games in eight days and haven’t practiced since nine days ago,” Birmingham coach T.J. Saint said. “A big part of coaching is not what you know, but what you can get them to do on the floor. We’ve been a connected team all year, but I’m just not seeing it on defense right now.”

Boeheim – son of Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim – already had 11 points at 6:25 of the first quarter, helping Motor City take an 18-12 lead.

The balloon would inflate to 11 before Birmingham closed the gap, and after one the Cruise was on top, 34-27.

Motor City held double-digit leads through much of the second stanza before the Squad made a push, mainly thanks to long range shooting from Jones and Hill.

Jones’ 3-pointer with 39 seconds left in the stanza cut the Motor City edge to one at 57-56, but the visitors scored the last four points to take a 61-56 lead into the locker rooms.

Jones and Hill combined for 27 points in the opening half, with Jones tallying 14 of them.

The Cruise scored the first 10 points of the third quarter and blew the game open, moving on top, 71-56.

Everything was going Motor City’s way, from 3-point shots that bounced off the iron but still went down the hole, to unlikely tip-ins for two.

The cushion reached 18 at 80-62 with 8:06 showing on the clock and 19 (87-68) at 6:21.

Once a Boeheim layup made it 89-68, the rest of the contest looked more like a recovery than a rescue for Birmingham.

After three Jamelle McMillan’s charges were in command, 103-82, and all five of the eventual winners’ starters had already reached twin figures.

“We had a great halftime talk,” Saint said. “It was very spirited and for whatever reason, that stuff happened in the third. It was Murphy’s Law.”

With the outcome no longer in doubt, both teams were able to play everyone suited up in the fourth quarter.

Up next: The Squadron begins a three-game road swing on Thursday with the Westchester Knicks providing the opposition.

Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at Westchester County Center.

The teams play a next day rematch Friday at 6 p.m.

OTD in 1948: The Birmingham Vulcans of the Southern Professional Basketball League defeated the Detroit Vagabond Kings of the National Basketball League, 44-39, in an exhibition game.

Herman Roberson topped the scoring chart for Birmingham with 14 points. Steve Kontos scored all eight of his points down the stretch to help the winners break a 36-36 deadlock.

OTD in 1992: The Birmingham Bandits of the Continental Basketball Association defeated the Yakima Sun Kings, 98-90, in front of 441 fans at State Fair Arena.

Irving Thomas recorded the double-double for Birmingham with 25 points and 13 rebounds in a contest that snapped the Bandits’ four-game losing streak.

Dave Popson aided the cause with 19 points and Skeeter Henry chipped in 17.

OTD in 2022: The Squadron defeated the Memphis Hustle, 129-116, at the Landers Center in Southaven, Mississippi.

Jared Harper led the winners with 23 points and 11 assists to get the double-double.

Other players who hit twin figures for Birmingham were Darius Adams (21), Ra’shad James (18), Joe Young (15), Riley LaChance (13), Zach Hankins (13) and Zylan Cheatham.

The lead changed hands seven times in the final quarter of the Birmingham Squadron’s clash with the Motor City Cruise on Saturday at Legacy Arena. Once the Cruise got it back with 3:59 remaining, the visitors never let it go.

Jayce Johnson’s free throw made it 107-106 and the Detroit Pistons’ developmental club led the rest of the way in a 121-116 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans’ affiliate.

Motor City improves to 8-7 while T.J. Saint’s squad slips to 7-9 and owns a three-game losing streak.

“Rebounding has got to get better – it’s something I’ve got to coach better,” said Saint, whose team lost the battle of the boards 33-26 and had only eight offensive rebounds to 18 for the Cruise. “To play at the next level you have to be so detailed, and the play that really got us … we didn’t talk on a slip-out pick-and-roll, and the littlest things can cause the biggest problems.

“The finest details have just got to be better if you want to play in the NBA.”

A season-high crowd of 2,819 watched Malcolm Hill score 25 points and E.J. Liddell add 23 in a losing effort. Other double-digit men for the Squad were Devin Cannady (17), Jalen Crutcher (17), Landers Nolley II (13) and Dereon Seabron (13).

Zavier Simpson pumped in 30 for the winners, Stanley Umude tallied 26, and Jared Rhoden added 20.

Umude also had 10 rebounds to earn the double-double.

Buddy Boeheim scored 12 and Nathan Knight closed out twin-figure Motor City scorers with 10.

The Squadron got off to a  slow start, falling behind 17-9 early.

But Cannady bagged two consecutive 3-pointers, and Liddell powered his way in for a layup to knot the score at 17-all at 4:30 of the first.

The Cruise stormed back thanks to Umude, however, moving in front 33-22 with a minute to go in the quarter.

When the buzzer sounded Motor City led, 33-26, and Umude topped all scorers with 12 points.

The Cruise gained a 42-30 edge in the second and used a smothering defense to keep Birmingham out of sync. But timely threes helped the home team crawl back in the hunt, and a Crutcher 3-pointer 2:32 before the half cut the deficit to 48-44.

Motor City always seemed to have an answer, though, and went into halftime with a 58-49 lead.

The teams matched each other basket for basket during the bulk of the third period. Yet, after trailing the entire night, the Squadron finally got its first lead on a Cannady trey at the 1:30 juncture, moving on top, 83-82.

And with the score tied 85-85 with time running down, Nolley drained a contested 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Birmingham an 88-85 advantage with one quarter to go.

Ther Squadron led by as many as six before the Cruise closed the gap, keeping things tight until they were able to overtake the BJCC tenants and win the first of a two-game set.

Next up: Nineteen hours after they finished up the first one, the Squadron and Cruise meet again. Start time for Sunday’s game is 4 p.m.

OTD in 1949: The Birmingham Steelers of the Southern Professional Basketball League defeated Firestone of Decatur, 71-51, in an exhibition game played in Decatur.

Bob Murphy paced Birmingham with 21 points and Johnny Murphy added 14 in a contest that saw the Steelers play with the same five starters from wire to wire.

It was the SPBL team’s 13^th victory in 14 exhibition games played during the 1948-49 season.

OTD in 2023: The Squadron fell to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, 106-99.

James Kelly Sr., Zylan Cheatham and Kelan Martin scored 16 points apiece in a losing effort, while Josh Nzeakor, Feron Hunt and John Petty Jr. had 11 points each.

D.J. Stewart and Jamaree Bouyea had the hottest hands for the winners as both players pumped in 27 points. Justin Champagnie contributed 19 points and 13 rebounds for Sioux Falls.

Every second of every NBA G League game is designed to get players ready for the next level.

For those signed to two-way contracts, more minor league minutes can translate to more major league opportunities.

Guard Dereon Seabron, for example, got a triple-double for Birmingham on Thursday in the Squadron’s 125-115 loss to the College Park Skyhawks. The two-way standout – who has made five appearances with the parent club New Orleans Pelicans this season – closed the night with 16 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds.

And the rest of the NBA hopefuls on the roster know that their hopes depend on making the most of every appearance.

Former Squadron standout Trey Jemison was a rebounding machine during his time in the Magic City. Today, the center out of UAB is on his second 10-day contract, and coming off a five-point, three-rebound showing for the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday. That game saw him get 13:34 of court time and register his first NBA points.

And forward Malcolm Hill parlayed a great season-long showing in Birmingham with a 10-day contract with the Pelicans.

Assigned back to the Squadron on Thursday, he scored a game-high 33 points and is averaging 24.9 points per game when suiting up for T.J. Saint’s club.

But while every player in the G League wants to move up, they also want to win. And with a 7-8 record, the Squadron will close out the first half of its 34-game regular season with a weekend doubleheader against the Motor City Cruise.

The first game is Saturday when Birmingham celebrates HBCU Night at Legacy Arena with a 7 p.m. tip-off.

On Sunday, the teams meet again at 4 p.m.

After that, the Squadron will play three road games leading up to the All-Star break, which runs from February 16-21.

Birmingham faces the Westchester Knicks February 8 and February 9 in White Plains, New York, and returns to Gateway Center Arena on February 15 to square off with College Park again.

“You obviously want to be playing well going into the all-star break, and when you look at the standings, we know it’s really knotted up between the first seed and the tenth seed,” Birmingham guard Devin Cannady said following a recent home game. “So, for us, we kind of look at the block of five games – a five-game chunk.”

As of today, the Delaware Blue Coats (8-4), College Park (10-5) and Indiana Mad Ants (10-5) are in a statistical tie for first in the Eastern Conference.

The Squadron sits in 11^th place, but is still just three games out of first and one game out of sixth – and playoff position.

The top six teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences earn spots in the postseason.

“The way I look at it, is you want to go 4-1 during five-game blocks,” Cannady added. “A lot of teams are going 3-2 and 2-3, so if you can go 4-1, you can start separating yourself.”

Using those markers, Birmingham has gone 1-4, 4-1 and 2-3.

“When we’re out there playing, we’re not trying to chase anyone or catch anyone, we’re trying to focus on our fundamentals,” Cannady said. “T.J. always says we just have to keep getting better and have that next man up mentality. Everybody’s got to lock in, everybody’s got to focus, and that’s how you win games.”

With call-ups and assignments, lineups can vary wildly from one night to the next. Saint didn’t know he would have access to Hill and Pelicans forward E.J. Liddell for Thursday night’s game until Thursday morning.

Throw in mandated minute restrictions and coaches – and players – have to adjust on the fly.

“We’re like fish living in water,” said Saint, who has watched 16 different players take the floor in 2023-24. “They don’t notice the water, it’s just what you’re in. Things and situations change, but we’re kind of used to it.”

Regardless of the situation, the Squadron would like nothing better than to finish up the first half of the slate with a home sweep of the Cruise.

“Home stretches are really important,” guard Izaiah Brockington said. “This is the time you realize you need to start stacking wins on top of each other.”

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