Through 16 games, the Birmingham Squadron is 10-6 and riding a five-game winning streak. The New Orleans Pelicans’ G League affiliate also leads the circuit in free throw percentage (82.6 percent), stands fourth in 3-pointers made (232), and ranks fifth in 3-point percentage (36.5).
Those are meaningful stats.
Yet starting on Friday – when T.J. Saint’s club takes on the Indiana Mad Ants (1-0) at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis – they’re merely points of reference.
With the Showcase Cup (in-season tournament) portion of the 2023-24 slate done, G League teams now embark on a 34-game regular season. That means all records reset to 0-0 as the 31 clubs prepare to spend the rest of the winter and early spring battling for a championship.
But even though what’s already happened might not go in the regular season record books, it still matters.
“During that (five-game winning streak), our offense has actually been second in the league,” Saint said. “We’ve been sharing the ball, our turnovers are way down, our three-point percentage is up, we’re shooting more threes – which is what we want – and they’re really starting to get kind of surgical with taking the right shots.”
Among players who made at least 12 appearances for the Squadron during the Showcase Cup, Jalen Crutcher has been the top scorer with 19.7 points per game. He’s followed closely by Malcolm Hill, who has been good for 19.3 points per outing.
Landers Nolley II averages 18.3 points, followed by Izaiah Brockington (13) and Devin Cannady (10.2).
Two-way player Dereon Seabron has played in five games and averages 23 points per game, while Kira Lewis Jr. – while on assignment from the parent club – pumped in 20.7 points on average over three games and accounted for two game-winning shots.
UAB’s Trey Jemison has flirted with a double-double over 16 games, averaging 9.4 points and 11.7 rebounds each time out. His carom count was second best in Showcase Cup play.
On Tuesday, New Orleans assigned E.J. Liddell to Birmingham. He averaged 14.7 points and 9.3 rebounds during three games with the Squadron in November. He was a two-way player in 2022-23, but never played in the Magic City that season due to injuries.
“He’s gonna be here for a minute,” Saint said. “But he’ll be on somewhat of a minutes restriction.”
The Squadron got Jordan Hawkins on assignment from the Pelicans on Thursday. The guard has made 27 appearances for New Orleans this season, averaging 10.7 points and 23.9 minutes per game.
One theme Saint hopes continues into the season reboot is team unity. Night in and night out, the players look like they’re having fun working together.
They’ve certainly been fun to watch.
“We met (Wednesday) morning, and it was more of a team meeting, where I talked about where we needed to level up and basically call ourselves up to an even higher standard,” Saint explained. “Once I said that, they talked most of the meeting. What I’m trying to do is get this from being a coach-led team to a player-led team. In some instances we are and some we aren’t, which is part of the growth process. But they take ownership.
“They don’t get too down on themselves and they really pick each other up. And so, the challenge that I gave them and the staff – the entire staff going forward for the next three and a half months through mid-April to potentially compete for a championship – is just to totally give every single ounce of energy you have to the team because if you do that, you’ll be able to lift everybody else up and that gives you the best individual chance to achieve your goals.”
Saint said Wednesday’s “back-to-work” practice was a good one, and he’s grateful his guys had a few days off.
“Healthwise we’re good right now, and they needed the rest,” Saint said. “We’ve been playing a lot of guys a bunch of minutes because we had those eight games in like 16 days, or whatever it was, and we were injured then and had to work through it. It was much deserved, and needed.”
Indiana lost just one game during the Showcase Cup before falling to the Westchester Knicks in the Winter Showcase final in Orlando last week. Birmingham plays the Mad Ants (Indiana Pacers affiliate) on Friday at 5 p.m. and again on Sunday at 9 a.m.
The road swing continues January 2-3 when the Squadron faces the Grand Rapids Gold (Denver Nuggets affiliate) – 6 p.m. starts both days – and Saint’s squad opens regular season action at Legacy Arena on Friday, January 5, when the Sioux Falls Skyforce (Miami Heat affiliate) comes in for a 7 p.m. tip.
Birmingham has moved to the Eastern Conference this season. The top six teams in each conference earn a spot in the single-elimination playoff while the top two teams in the Eastern and Western alignments receive first-round byes. “This is a fun group to be around,” Saint said. “We’ve got a pretty good test coming up in Indiana the next couple days, so it’ll be good to see how we perform. This group is so connected and really works hard, so it’s exciting to get back at it.”