2 more games, then Squadron begins anew

The Birmingham Squadron (8-6) finished the regularly scheduled portion of its Showcase Cup slate with a flourish, winning three consecutive games – including a road sweep of the Osceola Magic.

Although T.J. Saint’s team fell just outside the eight-team tournament field for the Winter Showcase Tournament in Orlando, there are still two games to be played in Central Florida.

First up is the Rip City (North Portland) Remix on Tuesday at 4 p.m. CST, and then the Stockton Kings on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

“I think there are 12 teams out of the 31 that are 8-6,” Saint said. “That’s over a third of the league. And it’s like those little plays that happen, the attention to detail within games, that make the difference. We’ve been good at a lot of them to get to this point, but if we’d been a bit more focused, we might’ve been one of the teams in the tournament.

“But where we are is a good measuring stick of what we’ve done, but how much better we have to be to be at the top of all this.”

Not only will the games give Birmingham players some extra court time heading into the 2023-24 regular season, it’ll serve as an additional “job fair” for Squadron players.

The annual in-season scouting event allows all G League players to see game action in front of general managers and player personnel executives from all 30 NBA teams.

And while the Squadron is the affiliate of the New Orleans Pelicans, the majority of G league players are free agents, meaning players not already under NBA contracts can be signed to deals.

The Winter Showcase takes place just before NBA clubs have a window to sign free agents to 10-day contracts, and more than 100 players have earned call-ups over the course of the previous 18 cups.

“Really, I think the whole season’s a job fair,” Saint said. “One of the things we talked about with our guys is the front office personnel, scouts and GMs who are going to be in attendance here at the Showcase have already been watching you from afar, whether on film or at some of our games.

“And they’re really here to confirm what they already think. All you need to do is play the same way you have played and not try to do anything outside of what’s always been the case and developing yourself as an NBA role player.”

Among those players who have suited up for all 14 of Birmingham’s Showcase Cup games, Jalen Crutcher is the leading scorer with 19.9 points per outing, followed closely behind by Malcolm Hill with 19.2.

Izaiah Brockington has chipped in 12.9 points, while Trey Jemison is pulling down 10.9 rebounds to go with his 8.9 points scoring output.

Two-way player Dereon Seabron has averaged 23 points over five games, and Kira Lewis – sent to Birmingham on assignment from the Pelicans – scored 32 points in his season debut with the club last Friday.

Other double-digit performers for the Squadron are Landers Nolley II (19.4 points over 10 games), E.J. Liddell (14.9 points over three games) and Devin Cannady (10.2 points over 11 games).

One constant is that the players genuinely seem to like each other and enjoy playing together.

“We identify high character people,” Saint said. “We had some of them on the summer league team and they kind of started developing relationships there, but then we bring them in right after Labor Day in New Orleans, and we’re there for almost two months together. You just kind of get some natural connections going with that.

“And then when we get to Birmingham,  myself and (general manager of basketball operations) Adam Barnes really set the record straight on what’s going to be tolerated and what’s not, and how I’m really big on culture and connectivity.”

That connectivity has extended to the coaching staff as well.

Jodie Meeks returns for his second season and Joe Barrer, Jonathan Mitchell and Jalen Cannady have been added to the mix, along with Barnes. Saint said the crew meshed from the start, and thinks the addition of Barrer has been a boost.

“It’s been really, really good,” Saint said. “We made some changes on the coaching staff in the offseason … I felt like I needed – and we needed – somebody with a lot of experience, somebody who I thought was more experienced than me and had been in the league, and we got that in Joe Barrer, who was a G League head coach at Lakeland.

“He’s someone who’s sat in the seat and who can really bring a new perspective, and somebody who can really tell me when he thinks that I’m doing something the wrong way and how we need to change it.”

One the two Showcase games are done, the Squadron will break for the holiday and then hit the reset button.

Birmingham opens a 34-game regular season schedule at the Indiana Mad Ants in Indianapolis on December 29, and the teams complete a two-game set on December 31.

The Squadron in on the road again on  January 1-2 with the Grands Rapid Gold hosting, and its home opener is on January 5 when the Sioux Falls Skyforce comes to Legacy Arena for a 7 p.m. tip.

“We’re gonna fly everybody into Indianapolis sometime on the 26th of December, and we’ll try to get a team dinner for the guys that night,” Saint said. “That way everybody can sleep in the hotel and we’ll have a practice on the morning of the 27^th and get back to a normal routine.”