Countdown 10/13/13

26 days remain...

Last night Brandon Davies once again played basketball in Utah, but this time he wasn't playing with the home team. In a preseason NBA game between the Jazz and Clippers, Davies netted nine points in 16 minutes of action. Here's a video from just after the official announcement that Davies had signed with the Clippers. Interestingly, three WCC products will be playing in the Staples Center this year as Gonzaga's Elias Harris and Robert Sacre play for the Lakers.

Countdown 10/10/13

29 days remain...

While it's still to early to see WCC teams play somewhat meaningful basketball games, and by that I mean exhibition games, it's not too early to watch former WCC players play somewhat meaningful games. Last night in San Antonio the Spurs played host to six-time Euroleague champion CSKA Moscow. CSKA's previous game was a victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Gonzaga's Jeremy Pargo is now the starting point guard for CSKA Moscow. Patty Mills came off the bench for the Spurs but he, expectedly, saw more playing time than starter Tony Parker. Those two went at each other all night long, making the game reminiscent of the early rivalry days of Gonzaga vs. Saint Mary's.

Pargo led all scorers with 20 points. He also logged six rebounds and five assists in 40 minutes 36 seconds of action. Mills too was highly productive, scoring 14 points in just over 22 minutes. Pargo may have the prettier stat sheet but Mills had the last laugh. In overtime, Mills hit the game winning three and it was Pargo who was defending him.

The NBA is apparently not a fan of allowing their videos to be embedded, so watch the highlights here. Since this is from NBA.com, they're mostly Spurs highlights.

Countdown 9/26/13

44 days remain...

Too bad Patty Mills wasn't able to play more in the Finals.

Countdown 9/8/13

61 days remain...



A few days ago Brandon Davies signed a contract with the Los Angeles Clippers. Davies is now the third WCC player on a NBA roster in the city of Los Angeles; Elias Harris and Robert Sacre are both playing for the Lakers.

Gonzaga's Growth Spurt

Gonzaga University and it's men's basketball team have been referred to as "Guard U" and "Tiny Gonzaga". While both of those terms are nice, do they really apply anymore?

It is true that many of the guards who have played for Gonzaga have been great. There has been a nearly uninterrupted streak of these guards, starting in the early 1980s when Gonzaga had John Stockton, the greatest point guard to ever play basketball, to the present day with John's son David playing behind Kevin Pangos and Gary Bell Jr.

The 2013 NBA Summer League wrapped up a few weeks ago. Five Gonzaga products participated none of which stand less than 6'8" tall. Of the five only Micah Downs can be called a guard, but he's normally classified as a small forward.

On July 19th, the University of Kentucky's Kyle Wiltjer announced that he would be transferring to Gonzaga. The 6'10" junior big man out of Portland's Jesuit High School is also a Canadian citizen. He referenced a plan brought to prominance by fellow Canadian, and Zag, Kelly Olynyk. In an extended tweet announcing his decision, Wiltjer said "I feel like in my basketball career I'm facing a make it or break it moment and the primary factor in this decision is transforming my body. I'm choosing to transfer to Gonzaga because i feel they have a proven plan in place to help develop players similar to me, which has seen great results."

This is not the same Gonzaga that burst onto the national scene in the 1999 NCAA Tournament.

Countdown 8/4/13

97 Days Remain.

Let's get caught up with Matthew Dellavedova!

Summer League 2013 Final Statistics

Part two of the 2013 NBA Summer League wrapped up in Las Vegas tonight with the Golden State Warriors winning the offseason league's inaugural championship game. In Summer League games the West Coast Conference was represented by eleven former players. Ten played in Las Vegas and one, Kelly Olynyk, played in the smaller Orlando Summer League. 

The 13th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, Kelly Olynyk, had the best showing of not just the WCC products but of possibly every player at this year's Summer League. Elias Harris, Brandon Davies and Matthew Dellavedova also played well enough for a shot at a spot on a roster in the NBA in their first year out of college. Robert Sacre, who was taken by the Lakers with the last pick of the 2012 draft, performed well his second Summer League. Last week the Lakers signed Sacre to a guaranteed, multi-year contract. 

A number of other former WCC players took part in the Summer League. The following is a list, sorted by school, of all WCC players to log minutes in this year's NBA Summer League. Click on the player's statistics for a larger view.

BYU

Gonzaga

Loyola Marymount

Pepperdine

Portland

Saint Mary's

WCC Representation in Las Vegas' Summer League

Starting today, and continuing through the 22nd, Las Vegas will be a basketball oasis in the otherwise barren offseason landscape. UNLV's COX Pavilion and Thomas & Mack Center are set to play host to the NBA's second summer league of the year. The smaller of the two, in Orlando, wraps up today. Las Vegas' version features the 20 NBA teams that did not play in Orlando plus one team that did, the two-time defending NBA champion Miami Heat, and a select group of players from the NBA D-League known as the NBA D-League Select team.

Once again, many former WCC student-athletes have been invited to play for teams in Las Vegas. This year six of the WCC's ten schools are represented by 11 players. Click "read more" to see a full list of the former WCC student-athletes playing for NBA teams in the 2013 Summer League.

Summer League Roster Updates

Only a few days have passed since I first wrote about the WCC products heading to the NBA Summer League and already a couple things have changed. Here's a brief update, sorted by school, of who's going where as of now. There are also a few guys from the WCC already in the NBA that may return for another stint in the Summer League, they are listed in parentheses.

BYU:

Brandon Davies, undrafted in 2013, will be playing for the L.A. Clippers in Las Vegas from July 12th to the 22nd.

(Jimmer Fredette, selected 10th in 2011 and currently with the Sacramento Kings, could play for the Kings in Las Vegas)

Gonzaga:

Kelly Olynyk, drafted 13th in 2013, will be playing for the Boston Celtics in Orlando from July 7th to the 12th.

Elias Harris, undrafted in 2013, will be playing for the L.A. Lakers in Las Vegas from July 12th to the 22nd.

Steven Gray, undrafted in 2011, will be playing for the Indiana Pacers in Orlando from July 7th to the 12th.

(Robert Sacre, drafted 60th in 2012 by the Lakers, could play for the Lakers in Las Vegas. Austin Daye, drafted 15th in 2009 by the Detroit Pistons, is currently an unrestricted free agent and, if signed, could end up on a Summer League roster.)

Saint Mary's:

Matthew Dellavedova, undrafted in 2013, will be playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers in Las Vegas from July 12th to the 22nd. Dellavedova was rumored to be headed to Orlando to play with the Magic but he was not listed on the Magic's official roster, released today. Now that he is headed to Cleveland, he will face off against familiar foe when the Cavs play their first game of the summer against Elias Harris and the Lakers on July 12th at 5pm PDT. The game will be televised in California on Time Warner Cable SportsNet.

WCC Products Heading to Summer League

The NBA Draft has come and gone but there are still ways for players who went undrafted (along with those who were) to find their way onto an NBA roster. The most likely avenue for these now free agents is the NBA Summer League. There are two separate leagues, one in Orlando and one in Las Vegas. Last year the WCC was well represented in both locales. This year, though most teams have yet to release full rosters, the conference is looking to have a similar showing.

WCC Prospects in the 2013 NBA Draft

Four WCC products have a legitimate shot at hearing their name called by David Stern tonight in the NBA Draft. I've written draft profiles on all four of them for Mid-Major Madness. Since it is now draft night it's time I post them here.

Brandon Davies

Matthew Dellavedova

Elias Harris

Kelly Olynyk

Say it Aint So, KO!

The day that Gonzaga fans have expected and dreaded has arrived; Kelly Olynyk has declared for the NBA Draft.

It may seem like this day has been a long time coming. In reality however it has only been a few months, five tops, that "Kelly Olynyk" and "NBA Draft" have been in the same sentence. When the season started back in November if you knew of Kelly Olynyk you knew of this Kelly Olynyk.

Olynyk on the bench during his three game suspension.

Countdown 11/1

Eight Days Remain!

I've been spending today working the stuff I got from the Tip-Off event, which I will post on the last day of the countdown, as well as updating the team pages, schedules and tweaking some design aspects of the blog. Because I haven't been paying much attention to anything else, here's a very quickly found youtube video. It was shown at the beginning of the Tip-Off event this past Monday and features Steve Nash, Mike Brown and Robert Sacre of the L.A. Lakers.

Countdown 10/24

16 days remain...

Today's countdown is a check up on the WCC players fighting for roster spots on NBA teams. This year's journey to the association began with 14 former WCC stand-outs playing in the NBA Summer League. From there some were invited to training camps while the rest were packing up and heading overseas.

Most Recent Cuts

• Micah Downs, Gonzaga 2009: Played for Dallas in the Summer League, signed by Boston in September, waived in the Celtics' final roster cuts yesterday.
• Diamon Simpson, Saint Mary's 2009: Played (but never actually played) for Houston last season and during the Summer League but was cut by the Rockets in September. 

Still on a Roster

• Mychel Thompson, Pepperdine 2011: Played for Cleveland and in the D-League last season and New York in the Summer League. At the time of this post Thompson is still on the Kicks roster and has seen playing time in the preseason.
• Steven Gray, Gonzaga 2011: Played for Washington in the Summer League and earned a spot at Wizards training camp. Still on the team, thanks mostly to injuries, but seen as a longshot to make the final roster. Gray is fighting against Jannero Pargo, the older brother of Gray's former Gonzaga teammate Jeremy Pargo, for a spot on the team.
• Jeremy Pargo, Gonzaga 2009: Played for Memphis last season and during the Summer League before being traded to Cleveland. The former Zag seems to, for the first time in his professional career, have a better shot at the NBA than his older brother. Jeremy Pargo has a one year, one million dollar guaranteed contract with the Cavaliers this season.
• Jimmer Fredette, Brigham Young 2011: Though he spent his entire career at BYU playing in the Mountain West I'm including him because he's BYU's lone representative at this time. Played for Sacramento last season, during the Summer League, and will once again this season.
• Robert Sacre, Gonzaga 2012: Drafted by the Lakers, played on their summer league team and looks to be a lock for the final roster. Sacre has been playing with the Lakers' starters in the preseason due to Dwight Howard being out recovering from an injury.
• Adam Morrison, Gonzaga 2006: Played for the Brooklyn Nets (he scored the first points in NBA play for the "Brooklyn" version of the Nets during the Summer League) and Los Angeles Clippers in the Summer League before being signed by Portland. Still on the roster and hopefully sticks because Morrison has said he will retire if he doesn't make the team.
• Austin Daye, Gonzaga 2009: Played for Detroit since being drafted in 2009. Daye absolutely dominated in the Summer League for the Pistons but hasn't managed to be effective in regular season play. This is looking to be a make or break season for Daye and his spot on the Pistons roster.

Doron Perkins, Rob Jones, Mickey McConnell, Drew Viney, T.J. Campbell and Luke Sikma also played in the Summer League but none of them made it farther than that.

For more info on the WCC players on a quest to the NBA Here is my article on their Summer League performances.

Countdown 10/15

24 days remain...

I've tried not to do two posts about the same program in a row in the countdown, but today has been a long day. Up at six, commute at seven, work at nine, off at five, class at seven, finally getting to the post at 10:40 (central time). So, here's some coverage from KSL on the Utah Jazz selecting John Stockton in the 1984 NBA Draft. "The Utah Jazz select John Stockton of Gonzahguh University..." Back then that pronunciation was more acceptable.

Countdown #4

48 days remain.

Steve Nash: Santa Clara Broncos '96. He's back in California this season, alongside Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles.

Golden Anniversary Inverted and in Days

50 days remain.

I won't normally post two items about the same school in a row during the countdown but I had to today. Adam Morrison signed a one year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers yesterday. He's back in the NBA and he's back on a team from the Northwest. He did pretty well last time he played for a team from that part of the country.

Summer League Look-Back

The NBA Summer League has now come and gone. For the 13 players from WCC schools who participated in the Summer League, their hopes of landing a job in the association now rest on film, stats, and the memories of NBA coaches and staff. The following is a brief overview of these players 2012 Summer League performances and their statistics, arranged subjectively by me.


1. Austin Daye: Gonzaga 2007-2009, Detroit Pistons 2009-present.

Daye has played for Detroit for the past three years. He's appeared in 182 games for the Pistons, started in 24 of them, and holds a career average of 5.9 points per game. Not bad for a bench player, but not the production the Pistons hoped for from the 15th pick in the 2009 draft. Which is why the Pistons keep sending Daye to the Summer League to work on his game.

Daye's averages, click for larger size.

 

Austin Daye's Summer League highlights.

Summer League

The NBA Summer League has been going on for about a week now, but today it starts to pick up with seven games and keeps up at that pace for each of the next seven days. The WCC is well represented in Las Vegas, with over a dozen players participating in the NBA Summer League.

The smaller Orlando Summer League, which ended on the 13th, saw two Zags on the hardwood. Austin Daye, who has been playing for Detroit for the past three seasons, absolutely dominated on the Pistons squad in Orlando. Adam Morrison, who is also playing in Las Vegas, was on the Brooklyn Nets roster. Unfortunately for Morrison his most notable moment was scoring the first points in NBA play for the Nets as the Brooklyn Nets.

Brigham Young, Gonzaga, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary's, and Santa Clara are all represented by former players in Las Vegas. Gonzaga, as expected, leads the way with five former players, followed by Saint Mary's three, and Portland with two, the rest of the schools each have one former player representing them. Brigham Young's representative, Jimmer Fredette, played for the Cougars before they were in the WCC.

The games can be seen on NBA TV as well as streaming online.

The following is a list, organized by school, of the WCC players in the NBA Summer League.

The WCC and the NBA Finals

When the Miami Heat won the 2012 NBA championship this past Thursday most of the talk was about LeBron James getting his first ring. For a fan of West Coast Conference basketball though the focus was on the supporting cast. Two former WCC stand outs helped the Heat win the franchise's second NBA title. Forward Ronny Turiaf (Gonzaga, 2001-2005) and head coach Erik Spoelstra (Portland, 1988-1992) are the latest in a long line of WCC alumni to win an NBA championship. While Adam Morrison is the holder of two rings of his own, unfortunately, he wasn't much a part of why the Lakers won those two titles in 2009 and 2010. So this marks the first time since Gonzaga's rise to national prominence and the rise of the rest of the conference behind the Zags that a WCC product (though Spoelstra was in the WCC nearly a decade before the Zags elite eight run, when the conference was much weaker than today) of this era has been a part of winning an NBA title.


The West Coast Conference is coming off what was possibly the best year in it's history, only the years San Francisco won the national championship back in the 1950's could possibly compare, and has been steadily improving for the past decade plus. Despite that, Morrison and now Turiaf are the only products of the conference during that time to win an NBA championship. In the previous paragraph I used the words "long line" to describe the club that Turiaf and Spoelstra have joined as WCC players with NBA rings. But if during the era of the conference's greatest success only two players have gone on to win a title, where did this long line come from? Well most of them came from San Francisco and won with the Boston Celtics. Of the WCC alumni's total of NBA rings, 27 came from San Francisco, of those 21 came while former Dons played for the Celtics. San Francisco was a key part in the development of the mid 20th century Boston Celtics dynasty.


The club that Spoelstra and Turiaf joined with their finals victory holds 40 (including their own) NBA championship rings. They join Gonzaga's Adam Morrison (2 rings), San Francisco's Bill Russell (11 rings), K.C. Jones (10 rings), Bill Cartwright (3 rings), Joe McNamee (1 ring), Phil Smith (1 ring) and Eric Fernsten (1 ring), Pepperdine's Dennis Johnson (3 rings), Santa Clara's Kurt Rambis (4 rings), and Brigham Young's Danny Ainge (2 rings), though BYU was not a WCC school during Ainge's time in Provo.


It's worth noting that two of the WCC's best players turned superstars NBA level, Steve Nash and John Stockton, are not on that list.


Congratulations to the Miami Heat, Eric Spoelstra, and Ronny Turiaf on winning the 2012 NBA championship. Now, I'm not too fond of their style of play, at the very least. But with those two WCC connections I wouldn't so much mind if LeBron James belief that the number of championships the Heat will win will be not one, not two, not three, and so on comes true. Even better though would be if another WCC alumni can get a ring, and there are a good number of them floating around the NBA.