Category: Basketball

In the NBA G League, teams don’t necessarily build from scratch from one year to the next, but they do start over.

And when the Birmingham Squadron hosts the Austin Spurs on Friday at Legacy Arena in a Showcase Cup clash, the home team boss thinks it could be the beginning of something special.

“I’m hoping for a pretty big turnout for first game on Friday night against Austin,” said Squadron head coach T.J. Saint. “I think we’re going to be a very fun team for people to watch and I think they’re going to be able identify with this team. And we can shoot it – we can really shoot it. I think that’s gonna bring a lot of excitement for the fans.”

When training camp concluded earlier Thursday at Legacy Arena, Saint told his players it was the best one he’d ever been part of.

“We targeted specific skill sets on the court, but we also targeted specific character traits this summer and brought back certain players with those character traits,” Saint said. “We’ve had a little bit of good-natured back and forth, and it’s been a lot of fun.

“I asked them how camp felt after Wednesday’s practice and ‘fun’ was the word three guys said immediately. We have a pretty unique group personality-wise. I’m just kind of standing back and watching it click, and we’ll see how we compete tomorrow, but I am excited.”

The New Orleans Pelicans’ affiliate will have access to new firepower in two-way players Matt Ryan and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, while Dereon Seabron, the two-way player who was a breakout star for Birmingham in 2022-23, returns.

Seabron averaged 18.4 points per game for Birmingham last year and 14.3 points during the Showcase Cup in-season tournament. In New Orleans’ 122-101 loss to Minnesota on Wednesday, he came off the bench to score nine points.

Robinson-Earl hit for 11 points and snatched nine boards in a spot start against the Timberwolves – just missing a double-double – while Ryan tallied 12 points and grabbed four rebounds in 26 minutes on the floor.

“With New Orleans in the injury situation they’re in, it’s TBD on when we’ll see the two-way guys here,” Saint said.

The opening night roster features Landers Nolly II (G), Liam Robbins (C), Tevian Jones (G), Pavel Savkov (G), Jalen Crutcher (G), Galen Robinson Jr. (G), Izaiah Brockington (G), Devin Cannady (G), Malcolm Hill (G), and UAB product Trey Jemison (C).

A notable new face is Savkov, Birmingham’s lone 2023-24 draft pick. The 6-7 Russian has played professionally for Saski Baskonia in Spain’s Liga ACB and the EuroLeague.

“In general, the game is different in America,” Savkov said. “The game is faster and the rules are different. But it’s just step by step, getting better, understanding new things.”

Saint said Savkov has already shown great shooting ability.

Hill – a member of the original Squadron team in 2021-22 – is back with the club, and Jemison will provide local fans with a hometown player to cheer on.

Heading into a new campaign, Hill says the team has already developed a tight bond.

“We compete really hard and we have a camaraderie,” he said. “We enjoy each other on and off the court, so it makes it easier for us to play together on the court and compete at a very high level.

“Iron sharpens iron, and that’s how we’ve approached practice. And we spend more time with each other than we do family members, so it’s good that we do like each other and can enjoy each other’s success.”

Crutcher, who joined the team from the Greensboro Swarm in September as part of the John Petty Jr. trade, agrees.

“We really do like each other and I think that’s gonna show on the court,” he said. “A group of us were in New Orleans together before training camp and we definitely became close.”

Saint, who begins his second season as head coach of Birmingham, is bullish on the team’s chemistry.

“We build our structure culturally around three different standards,” Saint explains. “I call them bars – readiness, being the first team ready; having high attention to detail; and then the most important thing to us as a group is being connected. We’ve created a connected team, and you’ll be able to see that because we’re just a part of the fabric of this city.”

The first 16 games of 2023-24 will be part of the Showcase Cup, which concludes with the Winter Showcase December 19-22. Then, all records are reset and the 34-game regular season tips-off on December 27.

Last season the Squadron finished 6-12 in Showcase Cup play and 11-21 in the regular season, missing out on the playoffs.

Those records, truthfully, have absolutely nothing to do with the team fans will see throughout this fall and winter.

It’s a whole new ballgame.

“I really hope fans will come and watch some great basketball,” Saint said. “These guys are working toward the NBA and while the G League isn’t the NBA, it’s the next best thing.”

Tip-off for Friday’s game is 7 p.m. For ticket info, go to Birmingham.gleague.nba.com.

The NBA has added a new twist for the 2023-24 campaign in the form of an in-season tournament. And it’s called – appropriately enough – the In-Season Tournament.

It began on Friday with seven games. Between now and December 9 (with tourney group clashes played on Tuesdays and Fridays), the 30 clubs in the Association will battle for the eight available spots in the knockout round.

The quarterfinals, semis and championship will be single elimination, and every player and coach on the team that snags the crown will pick up $500,000.

Scoff if you will about this “gimmick,” but basketball is built for tournaments and as a basketball fan, I’m all-in. I think it’s a fun idea that gives early season games some extra spice.

When it comes to mini-seasons within a season, though, the G League is way ahead of the curve.

The NBA developmental circuit tips-off next Friday, and all games will be part of the Showcase Cup, which culminates in the Winter Showcase in Las Vegas.

There have been 18 previous events, so it’s a standard feature of the G League. And starting on November 10, squads will be divided into four regional pods and play 16 games, with eight qualifying for the Winter Showcase.

After a winner is crowned at Mandalay Bay Convention Center on December 22, team records are reset to 0-0 and a 34-game regular season commences on December 27.

(By way of comparison, during the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament all games except the championship count in the regular season standings).

Malcolm Hill, who has spent time with two NBA teams and is now back on the roster of the Birmingham Squadron, has mixed emotions about the Showcase. Birmingham, the New Orleans Pelicans’ affiliate, hosts the Austin Spurs, feeder club for the San Antonio Spurs, on November 10 at 7 p.m. at Legacy Arena to open tournament play.

Birmingham and Austin are in the South Pod along with the Memphis Hustle, Mexico City Capitanes, Oklahoma City Blue, Osceola Magic, Rio Grande Valley Vipers and Texas Legends.

“Honestly, there are pros and cons to both sides, I guess,” Hill said. “You know you’re competing for a championship in the middle of the season, and that’s pretty cool. The flip side of it is it almost like means like nothing, because then (the season) starts over.

“But if you’re a bad team, you have the opportunity to kind of finish things the way you ideally wanted to once the regular season starts.”

The Squadron – which came to Birmingham in 2021-22 after two years as the Erie BayHawks – has yet to make it to the money round in Vegas.

They finished 9-5 in the 2021 event and 6-12 last year.

The stakes are different, but Birmingham coach T.J. Saint says his approach to Showcase Cup Games is the same as a regular season contest.

“Really, it’s all about building your identity to help these guys achieve their dreams,” he said. “The only incentive is that obviously if you do win the Showcase Cup you get 100 grand, so that’s on the line, but we don’t really change anything from a preparation standpoint.”

That preparation continued with a scrimmage against the College Park Skyhawks on Saturday, and cut day for training camp hopefuls is set for the middle of next week.

Then, it’s tournament time.

“I think it’s great,” said UAB product Trey Jemison, who signed with the Squadron last month. “It gives you a whole month to compete for something like the (Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy), and then you get to start the regular season.”

For tickets to next Friday’s home opener go to Birmingham.gleague.nba.com/tickets.

The NBA Draft lottery took place on May 16; the Draft itself was held June 22; training camp opened on October 3; and the regular season commenced on October 24.

In the G League, however, things come together far more quickly.

The draft was today, training camp starts on Monday, and the 2023-24 season tips-off on November 10. In other words, there’s much work to be done and a short time to do it.

The Birmingham Squadron – affiliates of the New Orleans Pelicans – opens against the Austin Spurs at Legacy Arena on November 10, hoping to vastly improve on last year’s 11-21 regular season record (and 6-16 mark in the in-season Showcase Cup tournament).

“We’ll have three days of two practices a day to start camp,” T.J. Saint, entering his second season as Birmingham’s head coach, said on Friday. “We will also do a controlled practice day with College Park (the Atlanta Hawks’ G League team) and then play them in an exhibition game the next day. After that first week, and being able to compare yourself with another G League team, will give us a great barometer of where we are as a team because they have the same constraints.

“It’s really just the nature of pro basketball and this is year nine for me, so I really don’t know any different.”

The NBA voted to add an additional two-way player to each team’s roster in 2023-24, giving them three. Due to injuries, Birmingham had access to only one a year ago – Dereon Seabron.

The guard was a force for the Squadron in 2022-23, averaging 34.5 minutes on the court over 27 outings and scoring 18.4-points per night. He also made five appearances with the Pelicans last season.

“I’m really looking forward to working with Dereon … he’s not a rookie anymore,” Saint said during the summer. “Having him there in his second year means knowing what to expect and knowing he’s gotten a lot better and gotten a lot stronger. I think he’s going to have a banner year.”

This year, Seabron will have some help from two more double-dippers – Kaiser Gates and Matt Ryan.

Gates spent time with three G League teams before signing with New Orleans last month. The 6-7, 225-pound small forward appeared in 24 games with the Long Island Nets last season, averaging 14 points and six rebounds per game. His overall G League average is 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds over 122 games, including 66 starts.

Ryan has been with the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves organizations, and last fall and winter appeared in 22 games for Minnesota.

He pumped in 19 points per outing in seven starts with the G League Iowa Wolves in 2022-23.

“We have a lot of versatility with our two-ways this year,” Saint explained. “Each of them plays a different position and have different skill sets. Kaiser brings a tremendous G League pedigree. A top defender in the G as well as his 3-point shooting, which at 55 percent and five attempts a game is incredibly impressive from last season.

“Matt has a solid amount of NBA experience and is also a lights-out shooter. Having coached against him in the G as well, he plays very hard and stretches the floor. Both players are extremely high character.”

The Squadron also signed 2021 NBA G League Finals MVP Devin Cannady earlier this month.

Playing with the Lakeland Magic, Cannady got the MVP nod after scoring 22 points in the championship game. He played for the South Bay Lakers last year, averaging 12.6 points per game.

The newest addition to the club is Pavel Savkov, who was taken in the first round of today’s draft, No. 6 overall.

Savkov is a 6-7, 200-pound guard from Moscow. Last year, the 21-year-old played in three different Spanish leagues and recently extended his international contract with Saski Baskonia of Liga ACB and the EuroLeague.

The training camp roster was released Sunday morning, with 14 players competing for 13 roster spots: Seabron, G; Landers Nolley II, G; Liam Robbins, C; Tevian Jones, G; Savkov, G; Jalen Crutcher, G; Galen Robinson Jr., G; Izaiah Brockington, G; Nate Bradley Jr., G; Kevion Nolan, G; Cannady, G; Malcolm Hill, G; Daniel Giddens, C; and UAB product Trey Jemison, C.

The Squadron moves from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference this year and will face six new opponents for the first time in franchise history – the Cleveland Charge, Indiana Mad Ants, Motor City Cruise, Long Island Nets, Westchester Knicks and Windy City Bulls.

“Fans can look forward to seeing a team that has a high level of readiness, attention to detail, and a highly connected group,” Saint said.

For ticket info, go to BirminghamSquadron.com.