NBA: Official Thread -- Cyclones in the NBA & G-League 2018-19

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I-stateTheTruth

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There is some sentiment for a thread where we can post and comment on "our guys" in the NBA or on 2-way contracts. This can be a place to post TV info, articles, tweets and comments about how the ex-Clones are doing. I'll try to keep track of these things as well as when any of the guys may be playing in cities where there are a lot of alums.

I'm curious to see if Monte and Georges are rotation players early in the season or if they'll have to wait for an opportunity. My guess is Monte, yes, and Georges will have to wait. We've seen a bit of Abdel when the Celtics had injuries; I don't know enough about this year's OKC to know if he has a chance to get on the court for some minutes to start the season.

Training camps open on SEPT 22. I hope I'm remembering everyone but this is where we know guys are signed:

Georges Niang - Utah Jazz; Monte Morris - Denver Nuggets; Abdel Nader - Oklahoma City Thunder; Naz Mitrou-Long - SLC Stars / Utah Jazz; Deonte Burton - Oklahoma City Blue / OKC Thunder.
 

I-stateTheTruth

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By the way, most of us aren't thinking of basketball in October but there are two notes for Georges. 1st, they're on national TV (ESPN) against the Warriors on October 19. Also, for those of you in range of the Twin Cities, they play at the T'wolves on October 31. Jazz's nationally televised games:

 
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I-stateTheTruth

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Another scheduling note to keep in mind is that the SLC Stars' only game in Iowa is their G-League season opener on Friday, Nov. 2 at the Wells Fargo Center in Des Moines. I'm sure Naz'd love to see a lot of cardinal and gold there.
 
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Sigmapolis

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I want us to appreciate with had these five on a team at the same time...

Morris
Mitrou-Long
Nader
Burton
Niang

...even if they were never quite all on the court at the same time due to Naz's injury.

Truly a special group of players, men, and era in Cyclone basketball.
 

I-stateTheTruth

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I want us to appreciate with had these five on a team at the same time...

Morris
Mitrou-Long
Nader
Burton
Niang

...even if they were never quite all on the court at the same time due to Naz's injury.

Truly a special group of players, men, and era in Cyclone basketball.
Throw in Matt Thomas, who's having a lot of success as a pro, and it's easy to see why they made the winters a lot better.
 

I-stateTheTruth

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I read on Yahoo Sports that Isaiah Thomas will not be ready to participate in the Nuggets' training camp due to his hip still recovering and I thought that's not terrible news for Monte Morris. Then the article included this tweet about the Nuggets bringing in another veteran guard to camp:



I'm sure the Nuggets will give Monte a chance but they've risked very little - in NBA terms - in guarantees for him so to me, it's clear that they're not 100% on board the Monte Morris train. Monte could change their mind with his play, of course.

Here's a link to the Yahoo article if you're interested in more info:
https://sports.yahoo.com/isaiah-thomas-will-not-ready-nuggets-training-camp-164649071.html

I didn't know who Donald Sloan was so I did some googling. He's had some short stints with a few NBA teams - he played around 60 games with the Nets in 2016 - and has been playing in China. He seems to be a PG - 3 assists per game - but has had some seasons of scoring 7 PPG in around 20 minutes, so he can score a bit. Hopefully, he's just an insurance policy.
 

I-stateTheTruth

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On Friday, there was an interesting piece on Monte Morris - from that great sports site, Forbes.com - and his chance of increased playing time due to Isaiah Thomas' ongoing health issues. This article breaks down the one NBA game in which MM got significant playing time, using video of that game. He thinks that they'll get good effort from Monte on D but that his slight frame will make it hard for him to guard elite combo guards.

There are just a few total minutes of video - it's worth a look if you're into hoops. Let's be clear; with Thomas healthy, no one seems to think that Monte is a rotation player for Denver as he'll be the #3 point guard.

Here's a blurb from the article that will shock 0% of Cyclone fans: Of all guards in the G League last season with at least 20 games and 20 minutes per game, Monte Morris had the best assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.51, and was ninth in turnover ratio at 7.8 while averaging 6.6 assists per game, according to NBA.com.

(Editorial note: if you're going to mention this as an attribute of Monte Morris, wouldn't you bring up the fact that he's the best in assist-to-turnover guy in NCAA history?)

Also of note is the fact that Monte shot 34% from 3 in the G-League and took a high percentage of his shots from there. This is certainly an adaptation from how he played at ISU.

Training camps open on Tuesday, I believe. Here's a link to the article, if you want to see some serious analysis of Monte's prospects in the Association: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joelru...ah-thomas-cant-start-the-season/#4706b3f13304
 

I-stateTheTruth

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Abdel Nader's full contract is guaranteed for the season by the Thunder, having passed the SEPT 1 deadline (only $450k was guaranteed before then). $1.3M -- good for Dooley; he has spent a lot of time working on his game the last few years and he's getting his reward.

 
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I-stateTheTruth

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Even with the strong work ethic that Abdel Nader has displayed since his junior year at ISU, it's clear he never would have made it to the bigs as a pitcher (video below - woof).

 

I-stateTheTruth

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Slice of life: Deonte Burton wins a stuffed animal at a fair with some teammates - short interview with Deonte in this video. Based solely on the Thunder's social media, PG13 and Russ don't seem to be the guys asked to do the community work (maybe I'm wrong).

 

Rabbuk

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I guess being an nba athlete doesnt translate to baseball...