Category: Basketball

I’m guessing in years to come, the Birmingham Squadron’s 124-112 victory over the Memphis Hustle last Sunday will not be discussed by sports historians.

It was, after all, simply a late season NBA G League game contested by teams trying to work themselves into playoff position in their respective conferences.

But you know what? I consider myself something of a sports historian, and I’m gonna talk about it today.

Why?

Because what Birmingham accomplished in Southaven, Mississippi, is one of the reasons I watch the G League.

And it’s one of the reasons you might want to consider watching it, too.

Being a farm club of the New Orleans Pelicans, the Squadron – like all G League squads – is a team in constant flux. Players go up, players come down, some are restricted in the minutes they can play. Any given game is a chess match for the coaching staff – and the chess pieces keep moving on their own.

The day before the Memphis game, T.J. Saint and his coaches learned that Malcolm Hill and two-way player Dereon Seabron had been transferred from the Squadron to the Pelicans.

Hill had started all 35 games he appeared in for Birmingham in 2023-24, and averages 21.9 points per game.

Seabron, who has battled injuries but been a standout with the Squadron for the past two seasons, pumps in 18.2 points per night while repping the Magic City.

Losing those guys was tough, but things got even tougher.

New Orleans also recalled Jalen Crutcher and E.J. Liddell from Birmingham.

Crutcher is good for 17.3 points in G League games, and Liddell pumps in 17.9 points and averages 8.2 rebounds each time out.

So, basically, Saint and company had 24 hours to put together a team that could be competitive on the road.

Mission accomplished.

Only seven players took the court, but all seven were key to the Squadron’s 12-point conquest.

“That win was a result of the culture we’ve built dating back to last season,” Saint said. “The players deserved to win, but earned it with how they believe in each other and the commitment to just doing your job. Whoever wears our jersey, there are standards we call Bars (readiness, attention to detail, being connected) to uphold in order to rep our organization and give yourself the best chance to make the NBA by being the most connected team in the league.”

Landers Nolley II recorded his second-career triple-double with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Tevian Jones tied Nolley for team high-scoring honors with 28, and Izaiah Brockington scored 27 points and snared 14 rebounds for a double-double.

Newcomer Karlo Matkovic continued his outstanding play with 17 points; Galen Robinson Jr. had nine points and eight assists; Josh Nzeakor came off the bench to score 20 points; and Nate Bradley – added to the roster on Sunday and a member of the inaugural Squadron team – scored five points in 12 minutes.

Birmingham shot 50 percent from three-point range and remains undefeated on the season when making at least half of its treys.

The Squadron (11-12) is now riding a three-game winning streak and heads into two-game road set against the Capital City G-Go just one and a half games out of the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot.

The Memphis game was an object lesson in just how talented G League rosters and coaches are. Regardless of the situation and regardless of who dresses out, they find a way to adjust.

And often – as was the case Sunday  –  the results are remarkable.

Look, I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a huge fan of this team. It started in 2021-22 when Ryan Pannone – now a member of Nate Oats staff at Alabama – ran the show, and continues on in Saint’s second season at the helm.

Birmingham has only six regular season home games left at Legacy Arena. The Greensboro Swarm comes to town Friday, March 8, and the Long Island Nets provide the opposition on May 10-12.

The Osceola Magic pays a visit on March 19 and 21, and the Cleveland Charge is here on March 30.

It’s the best brand of domestic basketball this side of the NBA, and I absolutely love it.

Give it a chance, and you might learn to love it, too.

“We have four NBA contract players playing for us right now,” Saint said. “It’s the closest thing to the NBA. We play a fun style of offense and we play hard.

“Everyone be there next Friday versus Greensboro.”

Heading into Friday night’s clash between the Birmingham Squadron and Maine Celtics, the New Orleans Pelicans affiliate had only one season sweep of a two-game set against the same opponent. That came in December when T.J. Saint’s took two on the road against the Osceola Magic.

Now they have a pair on their 2023-24 resume – and the first at home.

Maine’s JD Davison – a 2022 second round draft pick out of Alabama – missed the second of two free throw attempts with 1.2 seconds left and Birmingham hung on for a 99-98 win in front of 2,233 fans at Legacy Arena.

A hotly contested fourth quarter was ultimately settled at the charity stripe as Squadron two-way player Dereon Seabron hit the first of two freebies with 8.5 seconds left to make the score 99-97.

“In the entire G League season, including the Showcase Cup, I believe we’re now 12-4 in close games,” Saint said. “Games like this make us better.”

The big story, however, involved Birmingham’s new big man – Karlo Matkovic. Just two games into his G League career, Matkovic recorded his first double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

“He’s really good,” Saint said. “And he’s going to be – over time – a very good NBA player. He’s been playing pro for a while (six seasons and three different teams in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia) and we need a five (center) because we lost two in twelve days when Trey (Jemison) got called up and Ike (Anigbogu) got hurt. He fits in with exactly what we need.”

Matkovic was all smiles after the game. In two nights, he’s racked up 40 points and pulled down 19 boards.

“When I transferred from Europe to here, I expected there would be an adjustment,” said Matkovic, who played for KK Cedevita Olimpija of the Adriatic Basketball Association last season. “But the guys have really talked to me a lot and helped me out, and think that’s what’s really got me going.

“It’s an adjustment from Europe to here with the three-second lane violations and faster game play, and also knowing where to be on the court. There’s a lot of little stuff.”

All five starters for the Squadron (10-12) finished in double figures. Aside from Matkovic, E.J. Liddell scored 16 points, Malcolm Hill and Seabron each netted 14, and Jalen Crutcher accounted for 12 points.

Landers Nolley II came off the bench to score 11.

Birmingham is now two and half games out of the final playoff position with 12 games to go.

The Boston Celtics developmental team (11-11) was paced by Davison’s 19 points. Other Maine players to hit twin figures were Joe Wieskamp (15), Drew Peterson (13), Brandon Slater (13), DJ Steward (12) and Neemias Queta (12), who also had 12 rebounds for the double-double.

Birmingham got the upper hand early, leading by as many as 10 points in the first quarter. But Maine made a push late in the frame and the Squadron’s lead was down to five – 28-23 – when the horn sounded.

The Celtics managed to tie the score at 34-34 at the second period’s 7:49 mark, but the hosts never allowed them to take the lead. A surge in the final two minutes of the period helped Birmingham enter the locker room on top, 55-48.

The Squadron looked to blow this one open in the third, going up 63-50 9:29 into the quarter and grabbing all the momentum.

But Maine kept chipping away, slicing the deficit to one on a pair of occasions.

Heading into the fourth, Birmingham was clinging to a 74-71 lead.

The Celtics managed to take the lead once at 75-74, but when the final horn sounded it was the home team that owned the one-point edge.

Next up: The Squadron travels to Southaven, Mississippi, to meet the Memphis Hustle Sunday at 1 p.m.

Coaching ‘em up: Here’s a trivia question for you … who is the winningest coach in Birmingham professional basketball history?

That would be none other than the current Squadron coach.

Saint, who is winding down his second season guiding Birmingham’s G League team, won his 29^th game on January 11, which put him atop the leaderboard among Magic City pro hoop bosses.

Records of his predecessors are 28-20 (Ryan Pannone, Squadron, inaugural season); 27-34 (Mo McHone, Birmingham Bandits, Continental Basketball Association); 21-18 (Jim Price (interim coach of both the Birmingham Vulcans and Birmingham Steelers of the Southern Professional Basketball League); 17-5 (Fred Lewis, Birmingham Skyhawks, Professional Basketball League of America); 14-13 (Wheeler Fleming, Vulcans); 8-3 (Ben Chapman, Steelers); and 5-8 (Cherry Foster, Vulcans).

After tonight’s rematch with Maine, Saint is 37-51 overall.

Of course, the main goal of G League coaches is to get players ready for the next level, and Saint is certainly getting the job done in that respect.

“Coach Saint has distinguished himself in the area of player development for many years both in the G League and NBA levels,” said David Griffin, executive vice president of basketball operations for the Pelicans. “His growth as a head coach has been profound.”

OTD in 1992: The Birmingham Bandits of the CBA lost to the Columbus Horizon, 105-104.

Skeeter Henry had a career-high 42 points for Birmingham, while Dave Popson finished with 16 points.

Eric Johnson had a double-double with 15 points and 18 assists, and Michael Cutright also had 15 points.

OTD in 2023: The Squadron fell to the Oklahoma City Blue, 113-111, with 1,813 fans at Legacy Arena looking on. James Kelly Sr. had a double-double to lead Birmingham (18 points, 12 rebounds). Other double-digit me for the Squadron were Kelan Martin (16), Javonte Smart (15), Feron Hunt (14), Seabron (12) and Zylan Cheatham (11).

Thursday was an active day for the Birmingham Squadron.

It started with the acquisition of 6-11 center/forward Karlo Matkovic, brought in to add some size and strength to the lineup.

Later in the afternoon Malcolm Hill – the NBA G League’s top scorer – was given a two-way contract by Birmingham’s parent club, the New Orleans Pelicans.

And Jalen Crutcher, who has played every game for T.J. Saint’s squad in 2023-24,  got a 10-day contract with New Orleans and was immediately assigned to the Squadron.

For the day to have a happy ending, though, the Squadron needed to topple the visiting Maine Celtics at Legacy Arena.

Dereon Seabron made sure they did.

Seabron scored on a reverse layup with 1.3 seconds left as Birmingham (9-12) downed Boston’s developmental team, 127-125, in front of 1,353 fans.

The Squadron led by six late but the Celtics (11-10) managed to rally and knot the score at 125-all just 14 seconds from the finish.

Opting to work the clock down, Seabron made sure the ball was in his hands when it came time for the last shot.

It was the most important bucket of his 16-point night, and he also added 11 rebounds to earn the double-double.

But the “W” was secured in large part by Hill and Matkovic; Hill finished with a team-high 27 points and Matkovic was outstanding in his Magic City debut with 19 points and nine rebounds.

E.J. Liddell aided the cause with a double-double of his own (16 points, 10 boards), while Landers Nolley II added 12 points, Izaiah Brockington chipped in 11 and Crutcher wound up with 10.

Joe Wieskamp led Maine with 36 points and University of Alabama product JD Davison, a two-way player, contributed 28 points and eight rebounds.

Other double-digit scorers for the Celtics were Drew Peterson (18), Tony Snell (12), Jordan Walsh (11) and DJ Steward (10).

The game was tight throughout, with Maine leading 30-27 after the first quarter and 62-54 at intermission.

Birmingham won the third quarter 28-20 to erase the deficit, and outscored the visitors 45-43 in a wild fourth stanza. The victory leaves the Squadron three games out of the final playoff position with 13 games remaining.

Next up: The Squadron and Celtics square off again here Friday at 7 p.m.

Ignite in trouble?: One of the unique aspects of the G League is the Ignite, a team based in Nevada and made up of elite NBA prospects. It was formed as an alternative to college basketball, offering salaries up to $500,000.

However, NBA commissioner Adam Silver suggested that G League Ignite will be “reassessed” due to NIL options for current college players.

“I think given that that’s happened, I think we are in the process of reassessing Team Ignite,” Silver said during his state of the league address during All-Star weekend. “Now some of those same players who didn’t want to be one-and-done players because they felt it was unfair and they wanted the ability not just to earn a living playing basketball but to do commercial deals that weren’t available to them at college, to hire professional agents, an opportunity that wasn’t available to them at college, they now — all of those same opportunities have become available to them.

“I’m not sure what the future of Team Ignite will be, because before there was a hole in the marketplace that we thought we were filling before doing that, and now my focus is turning to earlier development of those players.”

OTD in 1948: The Birmingham Vulcans of the Southern Professional Basketball League defeated the Mobile Gulls, 77-46, for their ninth consecutive victory in league competition and tenth straight overall.

Shag Hawkins led the winners with 20 points and four other Vulcans notched double figures.

OTD in 1949: The Birmingham Steelers of the SPBL lost to the Laurel Oilers, 78-49, allowing Montgomery to clinch the league title.