Rob Kurz we hardly knew yea

(The two most powerful men in the D-League)

Hey guess what...The Mad Ants won! Be happy and other teams in the D-League...be afraid very afraid.

What a big turn around last night from the Home Opener. Shots were going in, Defense was solid, and Rob Kurz took a shot! You can check out the box score from the game here.

Let's get right down to it with the Martz Madness Player of the Game!

There were three candidates tonight in Mr. Mad Ant Ron Howard, Rob "No Nickname just business" Kurz, and Kyle "Why did you shave off that sweet beard?" McAlarney.

Ron Howard just had an amazing game and was doing all he could to attack the basket. We have plenty of shooters on the team, but we need Ron to be the slasher on this team and when he does that we will be hard to beat. Ron had a couple of "And 1's" that were simply amazing. Okay I need to stick to stats and quit pretending like I know anything about the game of basketball. Ron had 25 points 4 assists and 3 rebounds.

Kyle McAlarney was as advertised (this is my new favorite phrase, I love it almost as much as I love Parentheses) last night and lit it up behind the arc shooting 4-7 from three point range. He ended up with 22 points. It may be a little premature but I am nominating Kyle for a spot int he D-League three-point contest for All-Star weekend.

Last but not least is Rob Kurz. Rob had an amazing stat line of 16 pts 19 rbs 5 asst and 3 blocks. Think this guy wants back in the NBA? If he keeps putting up numbers like that his stay in Fort Wayne may be quite short! Because of this amazing output of basketball statistics, Rob Kurz is the official winner of the Martz Madness Player of the Game! Rob your trophy will arrive in the mail the second Tuesday of next week.

If you don't know who the handsome guy in the picture above is, it's ME and the other gentleman is NBA D-League President Dan Reed. He is making a tour of different D-League markets and Fort Wayne was his stop on Sunday. This was the first time I had a chance to officially meet Mr. Reed and he could not have been a nicer smarter guy. You can tell he is passionate about this league and will do whatever he can to help each team succeed. Mr. Reed is also owner of the second most powerful blog in the D-League (behind this one) in Reed & Write. So make sure to check it out!

Well the team is on the road this week going to Iowa for a game on Dec. 3rd (Thursday) and Dec. 6th (Sunday). Iowa looks tough this year, so make sure to catch the game on Futurecast or on FM 100 Talks!

If you have NBA TV, tune in tonight to see the Pacers take on Chris Hunter and the Golden State Warriors.

Well time to head to the office, have a very fruitful day.

Good News for Chris Hunter

Chris Hunter played 15 minutes last night against the LA Lakers. He produced six points and had three rebounds. You can check out the box score here. There was also some great news in the Yahoo Sports Team Report for the Golden State Warriors. Here is the direct quote from the article:

"The Warriors have been told they can retain NBA Developmental League call-up Chris Hunter(notes) through Thursday, then would have to petition for another hardship case in order to get him for another two weeks. NBA rules state if a team has four or more players who are expected to miss at least two weeks, it can use a 16th roster spot to sign a player to a two-week contract. The Warriors currently have Brandan Wright(notes), Kelenna Azubuike(notes), Raja Bell(notes) and Speedy Claxton(notes) out of action for well longer than the two-week requirement."

So it looks like Chris will be sticking witht he Warriors longer than I thought, and he has certainly been proving he belongs with solid performances in every game he has played in.

Ready for another Mad Ants game tonight? I have a feeling the guys will be looking for a little revenge after Friday's game. Who will win the "Martz Madness Player of the Game" award? Besides the competitiveness of wanting to win, the dream to go to the NBA, earning a Martz Madness Player of the Game award is right up there in all the Mad Ants players minds.

Great quote from Saturdays News Sentinel articleby Ron Howard:

“I'm glad we're not football players and have to think about this for seven days,” Howard said. “I'm excited to get back out there and put on a better showing.”

Ron did not look happy after Friday's game, so look for him to do what he does best tonight, make buckets!

Tip-off is at 5pm tonight (Sunday) and it is also A+ All-Stars Report Card Night presented by Raymond James. So if you have kids with an "A" on the their report card, bring them to the game and they get in free! They just need to show their report card to the Coliseum Box Office before the game.

One down, 23 to go (not to mention the playoffs)

Update:

Here are some links to articles written about the Mad Ants home opening loss last night:

Justin Cohn over at the Journal Gazette with "Mad Ants 'awful' in opening loss"

Reggie Hayes at the News Sentinel with the slightly nicer Headline of "Mad Ants Seek Answers After Opening Loss"

Quick Chris Hunter update before I go into my blog about the Mad Ants opening night:
This is from the Yahoo Sports Golden State Warriors Team Report.

"C Chris Hunter played for the second time in three games since his call-up from the NBA Development League, but he might have seen his last action as a Warrior. The club had been given a special exemption to sign Hunter as a 16th player on the roster because of its inordinate number of injured players. But with C.J. Watson and Corey Maggette having returned Wednesday, the Warriors would have had the required eight players in uniform even without Hunter. So the league likely is going to force the Warriors either to cut Hunter loose before Saturday's game against the Lakers or waive one of their other 15 players, all of whom have guaranteed contracts."

It was a great opportunity for Chris to show that he belongs in the NBA. Who knows what will happen, but if he does get waived I would not expect him to be out of the NBA very long. On a selfish note, we could really use him down in Fort Wayne!

I would love to sit here and give you a big recap on the Mad Ants home opener and how the team did, but two things are preventing me from doing so.

A.) It was opening night, and I was busy running around most of the night making sure people had tickets, ball kids knew what they were doing, all the subway balls got picked up, and Cowabunga Calfee was on the court breaking it down for the 4th quarter dance party. I basically did not get to watch a whole lot of the game.

B.) I may be a thinker, but I am not a basketball scholar. The last time I played organized basketball was in sixth grade. I am not someone who can explain how we were not defending the 2-3 zone (or even tell you what a 2-3 zone is).

So first, let me talk about what a success the night was from an entertainment standpoint. This was the first game under Heidi Busch's watch as Director of Communications and Operations and did she ever do a great job. I thought the opening went great with the Mad Ant doing a fun "magic trick" and opening sequence. I'll be honest, I had my doubts about how the Subway Ball Toss was going to work out during the 3rd Quarter break. This is where we have literally hundreds of foam balls hurtling towards the court trying to win a 50/50 cash prize pool or a Subway gift card. It was an all hands on deck situation and even Jeff Potter was helping out picking up balls off the court. Nice show of teamwork on all parts, to make this promotion a big hit.

The new Madame Ants (not to mention the veterans) did a fantastic job. Some fun new songs/dances and some flashy new outfits as well. Madame Ants Choreographer Sheenah Johnson does a great job of making the Madame Ants a staple of every Mad Ants home game. We truly have the best dance team in the D-Leauge, not to mention minor-league sports in general.

We may have had one of the fastest "clean-ups" of all of the banners/merchandise table/etc after the game was completed. This is a big feat with mostly new interns learning the tasks and what needed to be done. So way to go interns! Former Mad Ants Intern Camron even made an appearance, not that he did anything of use. Also, a big thank you to another former intern Zach Zuber. He came on his own time to help out with the merchandise table and was running things like clockwork. The merchandise table can really be a thankless job as often times you are missing all the "fun stuff" happening on the court.

Now onto the basketball portion of the night...

Actually, one more small sort-of non-basketball tidbit. Coach Meyer did a great job in the "fan address" before the game. His enthusiasm for the team and just the game of basketball in general really showed. You could tell he may have given a couple of these speeches in the past.

As I did not really focus on the game itself I will keep this short. We lost. If you missed the box score, you can click here to check it out. The big thing I did notice was that we did not have an answer for John Bryant or "Big Boy" as I was referring to him through out the game. This 300lber was just shoving our guys around in the paint and there was not much they could do about it. I would have loved to see Bryant go up against Chris Hunter, as I think he would have had a rude awakening. That being said, Sean Sonderleiter had a very solid offensive game, maybe the best of his professional career.

The problem is that with all of our shooters, Sean should not be the focal point of our offense. Plus when the shooters aren't sinking baskets, it just makes Sean and AK's job even harder. I was just shocked when I looked at the final box score and realized Rob Kurz did not take a single field goal attempt. I am not really sure what happened there, but if we are going to win he needs to be one of the driving points of the offense. Being a 6'9 three point threat, he is just too tough a match-up for teams. The guy is a pro though, and I expect him to drop 30 plus on Erie come Sunday.

Okay, that is enough about the basketball, I will leave it to Jeff Potter, to give you a better recap of the game. The good news is we have an amazing Coaching staff with tons of experience. You know Coach Meyer's mind is ticking away with different strategies on how to fix the problems that went down on Friday.

If you missed the game on Friday (or even if you made it!), come on out for Nov. 29th (Sunday) with the tip-off at 5:00pm. We will have our vengeance...

Tonights the night...

Well it's finally here, the big day, the big show, BLACK FRIDAY AKA THE MAD ANTS 2009-10 Home Opener!

I just got back from the Coliseum, as we are getting everything setup for tonight. I also caught a glimpse of the rehearsal for the opening of the game, people are going to love it.

Both teams have finished up shoot around and now we are just waiting for the tip-off. If you have not purchased your tickets yet, you still have time. Just stop by the Ticket office right before the game and pick some up. They start at just $5.00, cheaper than a movie!

Reggie Hayes with another informative article on the Mad Ants in today's News Sentinel.

An interesting quote from the article is from Coach Meyer on our big man situation:

“Somebody has to step up; that's just the way it is,” Meyer said. “None of those guys has produced great numbers, so it'll have to be a collective thing."

Who will step to fill the void left by Chris Hunter? Sean Sonderleiter will see his minutes jumped up heavily from last season, and will have the perfect opportunity to show what he can do. Anthony Kent had a great end to last season, let's see if he keeps bringing us double-doubles. Jared Carter was not given much of a chance at Kentucky, but he will undoubtedly see some significant minutes in the coming weeks. What a great stage for him to show Kentucky what they were missing.

Also, remember that Nov. 29th is A+ All-Stars Report Card Night presented by Raymond James. So if you have kids with an "A" on their report card, stop by and show the Ticket office for a free ticket to that nights game.

If you see me at the game tonight, make sure to say hello.

GO ANTS!

Chris Hunter plays Ben Smith and Reggie Hayes write

Chris Hunter was back in action last night for the Golden State Warriors as they took on the San Antonio Spurs. The good news is that the Warriors had 9 active bodies, which must mean they don't have to waive Chris right away. I know we would all like to see Chris suited up in a Mad Ants uniform opening night, but you have to root for a guy living his dream. Chris had another nice game with 4 points (2-3 FG) and two rebounds in just under ten minutes.

Ben Smith had a great article on Mad Ants Head Coach Joey Meyer this morning in the Journal Gazette. While you are rooting for great deals on Black Friday, you can also read the Mad Ants preview in the hard copy of the Journal Gazette today.

Reggie Hayes has a Mad Ants preview up at the News Sentinel: "Mad Ants 3.0 User-friendly"
and an article about Coach Meyer. For the Trifecta, Reggie also writes about the Mad Ants Point Guard position.

It was too bad AJ Ratliff was waived yesterday, I know quite a few IU fans in town would of enjoyed watching him take his game to the next level. It sounds like he made a good impression on everyone, and I think he will get another opportunity down the line.

See everyone at the game tomorrow, looking forward to kick off another season of MAD ANTS BASKETBALL.

Potter finally writes something worth reading about

Check out Potter's blog for the updates on the roster and who was waived.

Also, big news in Erie with Rod Wilmont getting waived. Seems crazy to me that a guy can lead the team in points in the pre-season game and get cut! I am sure Rod will find a home somewhere, as he is too talented not to.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Two Days Away! THUMBS UP LETS DO THIS!

Well I was shocked last night when Chris Hunter did not play a single minute in the Warriors/Mavericks game. The Warriors only played six players all night, with three guys playing all 48 minutes of the game. The amazing thing is that they won the game 111-103, which I am still giving all the credit to Chris Hunter. Warrior's Coach Don Nelson was out sick for the game, so the team was led by IU legend "Big Shot" Keith Smart. You would think Coach Smart would have given Chris some PT just because they have both spent time in minor league basketball in Fort Wayne. Coach Smart was the head coach of the Fort Wayne Fury of the CBA in the late nineties.

The bad news for Chris is the team report from Yahoo Sports (read at the bottom) stated CJ Watson would be returning for Wednesdays game against San Antonio. I believe this would force Golden State to waive Chris, because they would again have 8 healthy bodies and not need the "NBA Hardship Exception". I could be totally wrong on this, but me being wrong would be completely unprecedented.

Jared Carter has indeed returned to the Mad Ants and has practiced the past two days with the team. The roster currently stands at 11 and the Coaching staff will need to make one more cut at some point today. I will update the final roster when I find out.

Make sure you get your tickets for the Home Opener on Friday against Erie! You can buy tickets at the Coliseum Box Office or order online via Ticketmaster. For a group bigger than ten, you can call me at 260-469-4667 x 107 and I will get you a group discount.

Happy Thanksgiving/Slapsgiving!

Chris Hunter plays tonight, Jared Carter returning to the Ants

Chris Hunter and the Golden State Warriors will be traveling to Dallas to take on Dirk and the Mavericks tonight. With the Warriors still with a very limited roster, Hunter is almost sure to see some action. I am not sure if the game will be shown on NBA TV, but check your local listings.

I believe once one of the injured/ill Warriors comes back onto the active roster, it will force them to waive Chris to get back to a roster of 15. Don Nelson has stated he wants to keep Chris on the team if possible, so we will have to wait and see. CJ Watson is the most likely to be returning the soonest, as he is currently out with a case of the Swine Flu. I have no idea if Chris has a chance at being back with the Mad Ants for opening night on Friday. We hope he sticks in the NBA obviously, but I would be lying if I said he won't be missed in Fort Wayne!

In the meantime, I have heard we are bringing back Jared Carter to get another big body on the team with Chris gone. If you recall, Carter is the 7'2 center from Kentucky who started off with us in training camp but was waived. He did not get a lot of time in at Kentucky to show what he can do, so let's see what he does with this opportunity.

I will post our final roster on Wednesday/Thursday after final cuts are made.

Still time to book your family outing for the Friday night home opener! Give me a call at (260)-469-4667 x 107 to get a group discount on ticket orders ten or more.

It's beginning to resemble Christmas

Although, I am really angry with 106.3 JOE FM (my favorite local radio station) for playing a constant barrage of Christmas music. I guess it is officially that time of year because the Mad Ants will again have a tree at the Embassy Theater's Festival of Trees. This is a great event and I recommend you attend, it runs starting Nov. 25th and runs through Dec. 1st. My amazing Mom decorated the Mad Ants tree again this year and did a fantastic job. Attend and make sure you vote for the Mad Ants tree!

We are getting down to the nitty gritty this week with the Mad Ants home opener on Friday (Nov. 27th). We will be making our final cut(s) on Wednesday. With Chris Hunter getting called up, it means we will only have to make one cut to get down to a roster of ten players for opening night.

If you are interested in bringing a small group out to the game on Friday (something to do with those pesky in-laws or 3rd cousins in town) give me a call at 260-469-4667 x 107 and I'll get you hooked up with a group discount.

Some Pictures from Preseason Game and Rod Wilmont

Even though I was not able to attend the Mad Ants preseason game against Erie personally, I have managed to find some blurry pictures of the game! If you are a regular reader of Martz Madness, you know I have a fondness for blurry basketball pictures. You can check out pictures of the game at the D-League Daily Blog.

I somehow forgot to mention Rod Wilmont's performance in the Ants/Bayhawks preseason game. Rod had 23 points in 22 minutes and shot 12-12 from the free throw line. The amount of times he was able to get to the free throw line is really impressive, as it means he was not relying on his outside shooting ability and opened up another dimension of his game. So it looks like he has secured his spot on the Bayhawks roster and we will be seeing him in Fort Wayne on Nov. 27th at the home opener. Let's hope he used up all the "karma" in the preseason game.

Jeff Potter did put up a recap of the game at his blog. He also put up another article about Chris Hunter and his first game with the Golden State Warriors. Chris will be in action next on Tuesday, when the Warriors take on the Dallas Mavericks. The Warriors will also be taking on the Pacer's at Conseco Fieldhouse on Nov. 30th, so you should be able to track that down on TV whether it is on NBA TV or FSN Indiana.

Great Report on Chris Hunter's game

Check out the Golden State Warriors Yahoo Sports Team report regarding last nights game. Looks like Chris Hunter will be sticking around a while.

Here is an excerpt:

"He (Hunter) then got the call to start the second half on Oden and held him scoreless for his entire 7:10 stint. Meanwhile, the new Warrior snuck outside to hit two jumpers, helping Golden State increase its lead to six."

Mad Ants Lose Preseason Game but Hunter Helps Warriors Win

The Mad Ants lost to Erie last night 106-100. The Mad Ants started the game out down 16-6 at one point before having the game all tied up at half-time with the score being 49-49. The Mad Ants then went on a big run in the third quarter but the Erie Bayhawks managed to claw their way back for the victory. You can check out the box score here.

The Martz Madness Player of the Game was Mr. Mad Ant Ron Howard. He put up 24 points in 24 mins and added 3 assists and 2 rebounds.

Kyle McAlarney and Ryan Ayers both went 3-4 from the three point line. The team as a whole shot 8-23 from behind the arc. Jeff Potter attended the game and I am sure he will have a more detailed recap and photos at some point this weekend at his blog.

Chris Hunter had a great debut with the Golden State Warriors last night. The Warriors defeated the young and talented Portland Trailblazers with only 8 active players! This was an ideal situation for Chris as it guaranteed him minutes in the game. He actually started the second half for the Trailblazers. Here is a recap of the game courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

Chris ended up with 4pts 3 rbs 1 stl 1 asst in 14 minutes of play. You can take a gander at the box score.

The article had this to say about Hunter's play:

"Hunter started the second half at center and scored four quick points early in the third quarter when Golden State, which led by four at halftime, extended its lead to 64-55. He also helped hold Oden to five points over the final three quarters."

Here is a quote from Warriors Head Coach Donnie Nelson in regards to Chris Hunter's performance:

"That guy belongs in the NBA,” Nelson said. “Hopefully we find a way to keep him. He’s stronger than anybody I have at that position.”

Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope Chris Hunter has found a new home in Golden State. He leaves some big (literally) shoes to fill in Fort Wayne, but we wish him the best of luck.

It's official! Chris Hunter called up to the Golden State Warriors.

Well, we finally found Chris Hunter. I know Jeff Potter was really starting to get worried!

It turns out Chris Hunter is the first NBA GATORADE CALL-UP of the D-League season. He just signed with the Golden State Warriors. They were able to sign him and have 16 players on the roster due to the NBA Hardship rule. They currently have 8 players out with injury/illness. Read all about it on Golden State's website.

We are all really excited for Chris and wish him the best of luck!

Here is the Mad Ants starting line-up for tonights pre-season game:

PG Kyle McAlarney
SG Ron Howard
SF Ryan Ayers
PF Rob Kurz
C Sean Sondeleiter

Mad Ants take on Erie Bayhawks in Preseason Action Tonight!

The Mad Ants have traveled to Erie to take on the Bayhawks tonight in the only preseason game the Mad Ants will play. Duane Rankin over at the Erie Times has a great article with former Mad Ant Rod Wilmont and his feelings about taking on the Mad Ants.



Some interesting excerpts from the article include Rod's response to not being picked by the Mad Ants in the D-League draft:

"Round one went by," Wilmont said. "Two. Three. Four. I got love for them. It is what it is. It's a business, but like I said, they know what's going to happen."

It sounds like Rod would like to show Jeff Potter and the Mad Ants Coaching staff they made a big mistake on draft day. Here is another quote from the Erie Times article:

"You see how some people do you in life, but you learn from your experiences," Wilmont said. "You move on. You don't hold grudges, but you know what they say about karma."

The Mad Ants are taking on the Erie Bayhawks in our home opener on Nov. 27th (Friday after Thanksgiving) at the Memorial Coliseum.

Should make for an interesting game. I am trying to find if there will be any radio coverage via the internet for tonight's game. If I can track something down I'll post it here. Jeff Potter is attending the game and I am sure he will give a prompt update of his thoughts on how it went on Saturday.

You may want to check out Jeff Potter's blog now, as it seems he has lost one of our best players! Maybe you can help find him.

Mad Ants Open Pratice Pictures

Some great footage from Mad Ants media day at both Wane-TV
and Indiana Newscenter.

Ben Smith has a good read about the three Notre Dame players in the Mad Ants camp over at the Journal Gazette this morning.

Here are a few shots from Wednesday Nights Open Practice/Media day at the Coliseum.

(new jerseys and sneakers are laid out before the players arrive for the photo shoot)

(Mad Ants game operations staff getting doing a dry run for opening night)

(The Voices of the Mad Ants: 98.9 The Bear's Jerrdog and Star 88.3's Ace McKay running through the game script)

(Heidi running down the game script with Martz Madness reader/Madame Ant Melanie.)

(Jeff Potter cursing me for having such a better blog than him, right before he puts down a vicious wind-mill dunk on the playschool rim)

(Mr. Mad Ant Ron Howard)

(AJ Ratliff talking to Indiana Newscenter)

(A beardless Kyle McAlarney talks to Wane-TV)

(Sarah, you make this too easy)

Rod Wilmont Update

(Earl Calloway & Rod Wilmont on the Mad Ants first ever home game in Nov. 2007)

Former Mad Ant (and IU Alumni) Rod Wilmont has been doing well for Erie in training camp. He has made it past the first round of cuts. Here is a quote from Duane Rankin at the Erie Times:

"Rod Wilmont - The guy wasn’t lying. He can just flat out knock down shots. Before training camp, he told me the coaches know he can put it in the hole since John Treloar and Ben McDonald were assistants at Indiana when he was there. During an intense four-on-four drill in which defense is rewarded, he must have knocked down four contested long-range shots. Pretty impressive to watch. I should have known. Against Northwestern in 2007, he hit nine 3s. Yes. Nine."

For more information on the Bayhawks training camp, check out the rest of Mr. Rankin's blog here.

This could make for an interesting storyline with the Mad Ants playing Erie in the home opener on Nov. 27th (Friday) and Nov. 29th (Sunday).

Mad Ants Make First Cuts

The Mad Ants Coaching staff has made first round of cuts. We were required to have the roster down to 12 by tommorrow (Wednesday). Here is a list of who was released today:

Frank Tolbert (Auburn) 6'4 Guard

Mr. Tolbert was a player Jeff Potter was very high on in the draft. Sort of surprising to see him released in the first round of cuts.

Jared Carter (Kentucky) 7'2 Center

Jared came into camp through open tryouts and impressed the Coaches with not only his size but his quick feet. The problem is that with Chris Hunter, Rob Kurz (two NBA caliber talents) and Anthony Kent (who looked to really be elevating his game at the end of last season) who has "ridiculous" upside there was simply not room on the roster. With Jared's size and potential, I would not be surprised to see him end up on another D-League roster or I could see us bringing him back if we were to lose Chris Hunter or Rob Kurz to a NBA Gatorade Call-up.

Booker Woodfox (Creighton) 6'1 Guard

I do not have any real insight (as if I am qualified to give insight on anyone) on Booker. Just a victim of the numbers game.

Jamelle Cornley (Penn State) 6'5 Forward

Cornley is more on injured reserve than anything. He was having some minor issues with his knee but I would be shocked if we did not see him back on the Mad Ants roster when he recovers. I heard nothing but good things about him when I observed different practices.

So IU fans, that means AJ Ratliff is still in the building! Keeping my dream alive to get a Hoosier back on the Mad Ants roster.

Here is the remaining players still on the Mad Ants Training Camp Roster:

Brandon Cotton
Kyle McAlarney
Andres Sandoval
AJ Ratliff
Ron Howard
DeWitt Scott
CJ Anderson
Ryan Ayers
Rob Kurz
Anthony Kent
Chris Hunter
Sean Sonderleiter

Potential NBA Assignees Update

I wrote a string of articles a few weeks back detailing who we might see assigned to the Mad Ants via our NBA affiliates. Since then, some more NBA games have been played allowing me to get some more insight on who we might (and won't) see.

Won't: I had a pipe dream that we might see Tyler Hansbourgh because he was coming off an injury and would have access to limited minutes. I was right about the limited minutes as they are only allowing him 16 minutes per game as he continues to recover. The thing is, he has been KILLING it with the little time has had. First game he drops 13 points 5 rebs in 13 odd minutes and he has been putting up similar numbers in the games following that.

Jonas Jerebko and Austin Daye are in the same boat with Detroit. They are both playing significant minutes and I would be very surprised to see them in Fort Wayne.

I am also fairly confident we will not be seeing Brandon Jennings anytime soon. That guy is simply amazing, 55 points in like his 5th NBA game????

WILL (my opinion only, for some reason Joe Dumars, John Hammond, and Larry Bird do not include me in their inner circle):

Joe Alexander- He is still recovering from injury and I think it makes quite a bit of sense to let him get his legs back in the D-League. Plus it does not appear he is a part of the Bucks future plans (they did not sign an extension with him), so why not send him to the Mad Ants and hope to be pleasantly surprised with his improvement.

Jodie Meeks: He has been playing some minutes but not many. I would expect to see him come down on a limited basis.

DaJuan Summers- He has not been playing much at all for Detroit. The Pistons are proven advocates of the D-League and I would be very surprised if we did not see Summers at some point this year.

AJ Price - He has played limited minutes with the Pacers in four of their seven games. With TJ Ford and Earl Watson (who is playing well) at point guard, I would say there is a pretty solid chance of us seeing Price down at the Coliseum. Lacking a true PG right now in camp, we would be happy to see the UCONN Alumni down for a stint. The only thing holding me back from saying AJ being assigned to the Mad Ants is a sure thing, as that the Pacers are one of the few teams in the NBA to have never assigned/called-up someone from the D-League.

So out of those four players mentioned, I am going to bet we will see at least 50% of them.

Reminder: Open Mad Ants Practice tomorrow (Nov. 18th 5-7pm) at the Coliseum. Stop by and check out the new team!

Mad Ants Coaches Radio Show TONIGHT

For my dozens and dozenz of Martz Madness readers, make sure you tune in tonight at 6pm to FM 100 Talks (100.1 on your radio dial) for the Mad Ants Coaches Show. Radio Broadcaster Bill Hazen hosts the show and is joined by Mad Ants Head Coach Joey Meyer. It will be a very interesting show tonight as Coach Meyer will be able to give an update on how training camp is going.

Reminder that this Wednesday (Nov. 18th) we will be hosting a Mad Ants Open Practice at the Memorial Coliseum from 5-7pm. The team will be scrimmaging and this is a great chance to see how the team is fleshing out.

Ridiculous Upside has a nice article discussing the Mad Ants trade for Rob Kurz. In the article Jon L talks about how the make-up of our lineup changes with the addition of Kurz. I disagree that Anthony Kent may be pushed to the 3 spot with Kurz at the 4 and Hunter at the 5. I think it would be more likely to have Kurz play the small forward, Kent at power forward and Hunter at Center. Kurz is a much better fit at the small forward position because of his long ranging shooting abilities.

Keep checking Potter's blog as he should be posting some pictures and more training camp updates.

More Blurry Mad Ants Training Camp Photos

For the life of me I can not figure out how to take a good picture of people playing basketball. I guess my camera, like myself in the game of life, just can't cut it. Tonights practice we actually were able to watch some short scrimmages. Rob Kurz was showing why he was starting for the Warriors last year and knocking down threes like he was Steve Kerr, only six inches taller. AJ Ratliff also had a nice showing, and towards the end of the practice had a great drive to the lane for a bucket in traffic. Jamelle Cornley is a beast, and looks like a six inch shorter version of Dwight Howard. Really fun to watch and it just gets me more excited for the season to start. Two weeks minus a day away to the home opener on Nov. 27th! Got your tickets? (wow, that sounds a lot better on the commercial)

Here are the promised blurry pictures:

(Andres Sandoval trying to get by Kyle McAlarney, in a potential battle for the starting point guard spot (remember where the basketball insight is coming from) DOUBLE PARENTHESES!!!!

(Coach Meyer dropping some knowledge)

(Blurry Action Shot)

(Coach Meyer talking with Sandoval, Ratliff, and McAlarney)

(Coach Meyer bringing it in at the end of practice)

EXTRA:

Just watched former Mad Ant Dahntay Jones drop 25 points for the Pacers tonight while handily defeating the Boston Celtics. See what playing for the Mad Ants does for you? Really great to see Dahntay doing so well with the Pacers, could be a breakout year for him.

AJ Ratliff

The News Sentinel had a nice article about AJ Ratliff today written by Reggie Hayes. He talks about his first day of Mad Ants training camp and his attempt to get back into basketball after a year layoff.

As an IU fan and a Mad Ants ticket seller I am rooting for AJ to make the team. By the article it is clear he knows it will be an uphill battle and he seems to be prepared for it. I am going to try to stop by practice again tonight to snap a few more pictures (hopefully they turn out a little better than yesterday).

Some really bad pics from the first day of practice

Okay, it is going to shock you to hear this after you look at these pictures but I am not a professional photographer.

I had some issues getting good shots at practice today. Mainly because I feared looking like a tool getting out on the court for some closer pictures with better lighting. Jeff Potter pointed out that everyone knows that I am a tool and just take the stupid pictures anyways. I ignored him, so here are a couple blurry pictures from the first day of practice. I keep looking at Potter's blog and I can't seem to find any pictures or embedded video from today. Hmmmm, I guess this is where you come for an exclusive...

Kyle McAlarney "D"ing up on Andres Sandoval (and showing Jeff Johnson what a real beard looks like!)

Coach Sanders and Coach Potapenko working with the bigs at the end of practice

So everyone is here for training camp and we are off to a good start. I will try to get some better shots tomorrow, but I am sure by then Jeff Potter will have brought in a full camera crew for a one hour documentary on Mad Ants training camp for his blog. I say GOOD NIGHT SIR!

So I can't embed video..... so what

Practice (yes I am talking about practice) officially starts this morning in about 25 minutes at the Concorida Seminary. Jeff Potter and Coach Potapenko were talking this morning about the uneasiness at the team dinner last night. The feeling out process had begun and every one was trying to gauge their potential future teammates. There was also probably a realization that 41% of the guys at dinner were not going to make the team. We have such a great training camp roster, that I certainly do not envy Mr. Potter and the Coaches on making those tough decisions on who to cut.

As you can tell by Potter's New Blog, he now knows how to embed video. He thinks he is the cats pajamas because of this, so it is my goal to take some video tonight at practice and put it up on my blog just to spite him. If I can't figure it out (or get my hands on a video camera) I will at least get some photos up.

Welcome Coach Potapenko

( Mad Ants 2nd Assistant Coach Vitaly Potapenko backing down now destitute Antoine Walker)

The Mad Ants have have brought in NBA veteran Vitaly Potapenko as 2nd Assistant Coach to help Coach Meyer and Asst. Coach Sanders this season. Potapenko had a ten year NBA career and played (and started) with several different NBA teams. He will be a great asset in working with our players, specifically our bigs.

I am going to take a stab at what I think our starting lineup will be on opening night. Remember this is coming from a guy who last played organized basketball in 6th grade (I got cut in 7th grade, DARN YOU MR. KENNEDY!) and training camp doesn't start until Saturday.

PG: Kyle McAlarney
SG: Frank Tolbert
SF: Ron Howard
PF: Rob Kurz
C: Chris Hunter

The position I am really undecided on is Small Forward. I know Ron will almost certainly start but whether it's SG or SF I don't have a clue. I put Tolbert as SG as he was our 2nd round draft pick, so I assume the Coaches and JP are high on him. So I feel good about four of the five, but hey that is what training camp is for. Feel free to take your shot at what you think the starting lineup will be in the comments section. The first person who posts with the correct starting lineup will win a brand new Mad Ants license plate holder.

Embarrassing Mad Ants Staff Photo PART 2

Okay, so techincally Heidi read my blog so she should not suffer my wrath. I do not live my life by technicallities however, I feel people should suffer the consequences of their actions. If you choose to not actively read my blog, you are fair game! Jeff Johnson, you need to step your game up or your next on the docket.

Let's talk a little about Heidi. She is the Director of Communications and Operations of the Mad Ants. That is correct, the DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS for the Mad Ants. She actually handles everything we put on our website. So you would think she would be an avid reader of Martz Madness, if only to police its content. What if I am putting up horrible things about the Mad Ants? Or posting frivilous things like pictures of my Halloween outfit (wait..). For this lack of censorship and support you have earned the following picture:

Heidi and her boyfriend Jayme (Halloween 2008)

As you can tell by the picture, Jayme is a large individual, so it is my hope for him not to kill me because of this photo.

Make sure you take time to check out Jeff Potter's Blog, as he has been updating it the past few days. Enjoy it while it lasts!

Mad Ants Training Camp Roster 09-10

Check out this link for the official training camp roster of the 2009-10 Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

The Mad Ants will be having an open practice at the Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday Nov. 18th from 5-7pm. It is open to the public and you will get a chance to see how this years roster is shaping up. The Mad Ants will also be playing a preseason game AT Erie on Nov. 20th.

Speaking of Erie, one of the big stories coming out of the draft (for the Mad Ants anyways) was Rod Wilmont getting selected by the Erie Bayhawks. Originally the Ants were considering taking Rod as an allocated player due to his background at IU. It came down to a numbers game and the Coaching staff decided to go with Kyle McAlarney and Ryan Ayers from Notre Dame. The plan was to take Rod in the draft but the story is that in the 5th round we were going to select Rod and sure enough Erie took him before we had the chance. I know Rod has quite a few fans and friends in Fort Wayne who are disappointed he will not be with the Mad Ants. The good thing is we play the Erie Bayhawks four times at home and fans will still get a chance to see him in action. Hopefully Rod takes his frustration out on the court and I think it could really add to the Mad Ants/Bayhawks rivalry.

Bad news, Sarah FINALLY saw her Embarrassing Mad Ants Photo and promptly ratted me out to Heidi. So by my made up rules, Heidi reading my blog gets her out of the photo. Another made up rule is that rules are made to be broken! I just need to find the perfect picture...

Potential Pistons we could see in Fort Wayne this Season

The long awaited, heavily under-hyped POTENTIAL PISTONS POST!

The Pistons have been the only Mad Ants affiliate to assign players to the Mad Ants during our first two seasons. We have seen three Pistons assigned by Mr. Dumars in Cheikh Samb (07-08), Walter Sharpe (08-09), and Alex Acker (08-09). Cheikh spent about half the season with the Mad Ants, while Sharpe and Acker were assigned to the Mad Ants together for only two home games and one short road trip. So the Pistons have proven they see value in having their young guys spend time in the D-League. Joe Dumars and John Hammond (former right hand man in Detroit and current General Manager of the Bucks) both attended Mad Ants games to see how their prospects were developing.

So I see no reason while we would not see a Piston down with the Mad Ants for the 09-10 season. Without further ado, here are the Pistons that could potentially be assigned to the Mad Ants. This simply means they are either a rookie or second year player and are eligble to be sent to the D-League.

Jonas Jerebko
College: None
2nd Round '09 Pistons Draft Pick
6'9 Forward

With Tayshaun Prince out, Jerebko has been seeing heavy minutes, even starting the past 2 or 3 games. He has put up solid numbers and I would expect to see him continue to be used in the regular Pistons rotation even once Tayshaun comes back into the lineup. Therefore, I really doubt we would see him assigned to the Mad Ants this season.

Percent of seeing him in a Mad Ants uniform: 1%

Austin Daye
College: Gonzaga
Pistons 1st Round Draft Pick 2009
6'11 Forward

Daye has been averaging ten minutes a game over four regular season games with the Pistons to this point. The biggest negative about Daye is his thin frame. Many questioned whether he could hang in the NBA without putting on some more muscle. He has a nice perimeter game with an extended range. He left Gonzaga after his sophomore season and I feel playing in the D-League and seeing 40 minutes a game would certainly benefit him. He has done a nice job for the Pistons to this point so I doubt he will be assigned to the Mad Ants. If there was a point in the Pistons season where there was an extended road trip in which it would be unlikely Daye would see many minutes, maybe Mr. Dumars would consider assigning him to Fort Wayne for a brief stay.

Chance of seeing him in a Mad Ants uniform: 5%

DaJuan Summers
College: See Photo
2nd Round Pistons 2009 Draft Pick
6'8 Forward

DaJuan Summers is who I think we will see in Fort Wayne this year. The Pistons have a plethora of forwards on the roster and Mr. Summers will need to prove to the Pistons that he deserves some of those minutes. To this point, Summers has only played 42 seconds in one Pistons game. Clearly the Pistons see value in him to keep him on the roster and did not waive him as they did Deron Washington (who was drafted 3rd in the D-League Draft by the LA D-Fenders). He is a strong athletic guy who has great size for the small forward position. One weakness in his college days was being prone to turnovers. He is also a solid three point shooter having made over 100 in his college career. How was that for a compliment sandwich?

Chance of seeing him in a Mad Ants uniform: 65%

Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum are both second year (thus making them eligble to be assigned to the Mad Ants) Piston players who are heavily used in the Pistons rotation. Stuckey is starting at point guard, with Bynum seeing heavy minutes as well. With both of these players having about the same chance of playing for the Mad Ants as I do, I have neglected to write up a report on them.

Come back tomorrow for the 2nd Round of EMBARRASSING MAD ANTS STAFF PHOTOS! This weeks star: Mad Ants Director of Communications & Operations Heidi Busch!

Heidi, if you read this, then you have 24 hours to acknowledge how amazing my blog is to get yourself out of this dilemma. Otherwise you face the same fate as Sarah . For an update, Sarah has yet to know the embarrassment and shame that was brought down on her for neglecting the MOST POWERFUL BLOG IN THE D-LEAGUE!

Also, for those who missed it, the Rob Kurz trade is official! Check it out on the Mad Ants homepage.

More Information on the Trade

Well, as it is still not "official", I can not really say one way or another on the trade. As the most powerful Blog in the D-League I must be a wordsmith and try not to offend the powers that be (even if Dan Reed never blogs anymore). What I can do though is send you a link to one of my favorite blogs in Ridiculous Upside. Heck, I can even quote a tweet that the Erie Bayhawks sent out last night:

"TRADE REPORT! BayHawks trade Rob Kurz to Ft. Wayne Mad Ants for 10th Overall Pick...BayHawks Select Alade Amino with the 10th Pick"

So a pretty solid rumor if the BayHawks are "tweeting" it. I still cannot get comfortable with using the word tweet.

More Draft Thoughts

Well I promised a breakdown of the Mad Ants training camp today so I am going to give it a shot! But first I would like to direct everyone to Steve Warden's Friday article in the Journal Gazette about the Mad Ants draft. He provides some great analysis and insight on the draft, especially about the potential trade I alluded to earlier.

Steve writes about how our first round pick Alade Aminu is the player that may be traded. Here is what Coach Meyer had to say about it in Steve's article:

“We like Aminu because he’s a heck of an athlete, but we haven’t taken off the board the possibility of a trade, so we’re keeping all our options open right now,” Meyer said.

“We’re talking to some teams about the possibility, but we do like the young guy. If the trade opportunities don’t come through, we’ve got a heck of a player.”

You'll notice that we also went with quite a few guards in the draft. This is a clear attempt to fill the big hole left by Mad Ants All-Star Point Guard Walker Russell Jr leaving to head overseas. After the draft last night it was clear that Jeff Potter is particularly high on Creighton guard Booker Woodfox. First of all, I like him just because of his awesome name. We will certainly need someone to fill the point guard role.


Allocated player Kyle McAlarney from Notre Dame (seen above) is the first choice for point guard, but I have heard he may some issues with the contract he had with a team in Israel. So it is not 100% that he will be able to play in the D-League.

I can talk about roster possibilities forever but until training camp, you never know who is going to stick with the team/show the Coaches what they can do.

Also a shout out to Martz Madness reader Josh Webb, who I met for the first time at the Draft Party last night. Josh reminded me about the embarrassing Mad Ants staff photos for people in the office ignorant enough to not read Martz Madness. Director of Communications & Operations Heidi Busch....to answer Goldberg's question: YOU'RE NEXT

It was great talking to all the Mad Ants season ticket holders last night and we really appreciate your support. Thank you for coming out and if I can ever do anything to make your Mad Ants experience better, just let me know. Have a great weekend!

Post Draft Thoughts

Well the 2009 NBA D-League Draft is complete. The Mad Ants took Alade Aminu out of Georgia Tech with the 10th pick. I asked Kyle to break down Alade's skills and he responded with "He's an athlete". That really helps Kyle, I am glad we picked an "athlete" in the first round. But seriously, he is a 6'10 forward who brings some nice size.

Chris Hunter, Anthony Kent, and DeWitt Scott were all in attendance at the Draft Party mingling with Mad Ants season ticket holders. They are eager to get training camp started. Chris Hunter has put on quite a bit of muscle while training with the Knicks and is even bigger than last year. Hunter said he enjoyed his time with the Knicks and expects another NBA Gatorade call-up soon. I would agree that he has to be considered the premier big man in the D-League going into the season. We love having Chris on the Mad Ants roster, but we would love it even more seeing him in the NBA night after night.

There is trade talk in the wind with the Mad Ants, some talk about a potential big deal that could be going down tomorrow. I will let you know when it is official. I apologize for the vagueness, but I like my job and want to keep it.

For IU fans the Mad Ants picked up AJ Ratliff in the 8th round. So not only is AJ a Mad Ants twitter friend, he is now coming to training camp. Xavier fans should note we selected CJ Anderson in the sixth round.

The guys we selected in the draft have their work cut out for them, because it looks like with the returning players and two allocated Notre Dame players, spots on the team will be hard to come by. Having so many talented guys to choose from is a great problem for Jeff Potter and the Coaches to work on.

I am very tired, so here is a link to the full list of Draft Picks. When I hear more about the big trade I will fill you in.

Journal Gazette Article and Local Players

Steve Warden has an article on the NBA D-League draft this morning in the Journal Gazette.

Here is an interesting excerpt from the article concerning Notre Dame Players and Open Tryout players:

"In addition, Notre Dame graduates Kyle McAlarney and Ryan Ayers were assigned to the Mad Ants by the NBA D-League as allocated players.

Brandon Cotton, a point guard from the Detroit Mercy, and Jared Carter, a 7-footer from the Kentucky, earned training camp roster spots from local open tryouts.

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said he talked with Rob Kurz recently, and the former Notre Dame forward said he too could end up playing for the Mad Ants this season."

The full list of players who will be in the D-League Draft tonight has been officially released by the NBA D-League.

Some notable names who played ball in Indiana or surrounding states are:

Shagari Alleyne - Kentucky - C HT: 7-3 WT: 270

C.J. Anderson - Xavier - G/F HT: 6-6 WT: 215

James Booyer - IUPU-Indianapolis - PF HT: 6-8 WT: 220

Draelon Burn - Depaul - SG HT: 6-4 WT: 200

Pete Campbell - Butler - F HT: 6-7 WT: 220

David Carson - IPFW - SF HT: 6-6 WT: 215

Russell Carter - Notre Dame - SG HT: 6-4 WT: 200

Jamarcus Ellis - Indiana - SG HT: 6-4 WT: 200

Reece Gaines - Louisville - G/F 6-5 WT: 210

Quemont Greer - Depaul - PF HT: 6-7 WT: 240

Delonte Holland - Depaul - SF HT: 6-7 WT: 220

J.C. Mathis - Michigan - PF HT: 6-8 WT: 225

Corey Minnifield - Illinois-Chicago - F HT: 6-8 WT: 220

A.J. Ratliff - Indiana - SG HT: 6-3 WT: 195

Dar Tucker - Depaul - SG HT: 6-4 WT: 205

Gary Ware - Purdue - PF HT: 6-9 WT: 245

Rod Wilmont - Indiana - SG HT: 6-4 WT: 215

Shagari Alleyne was drafted by the Mad Ants in our inaugural season but was waived during training camp. Corey Minnifield and Rod Wilmont both played for the Mad Ants in the 2007-08 season.

Should be a fun draft. Make sure you stop out by Crazy Pinz tonight for the Mad Ants Draft Party. Party starts at 6pm with the draft itself starting at 7pm. If you cannot to the party you can tune in to NBA TV at 7pm for the first round of the draft.

Update on Returning Mad Ants Players

Reggie Hayes had a nice article today in the News Sentinel about Mad Ants players who will be returning to the team this year. I had mentioned Chris Hunter, Ron Howard, and Anthony Kent in a previous blog but we will also be seeing back-up big man Sean Sonderleiter and IPFW sharpshooter DeWitt Scott returning.

Here is a direct quote from the article in regards to the potential allocated players we could see in a Mad Ants uniform:

"In addition to the draft, the Mad Ants will also receive two allocated players, based on their local ties. While those players have not yet been announced, they could come from a group that includes former Notre Dame players Kyle McAlarney and Rob Kurz and former Indiana University players Marshall Strickland, A.J. Ratliff and Rod Wilmont. Wilmont played with the Ants two years ago."

Out of this group the Mad Ants are only allowed to reserve two "Allocated Players". You can also add 2009 Notre Dame graduate Ryan Ayers to the list above who entered the D-League player pool.

Another player in the D-League player pool that some Hoosier fans may recognize is Gary Ware who graduated from Purdue in 2006. No idea if he is on Coach Meyer's radar, but how great would it be to have a player from IU, Notre Dame, and Purdue on the team.

I will have an entire breakdown of the Mad Ants training camp roster on Friday. I may sneak in another blog tonight or tomorrow with a breakdown of the possible Pistons who could see time in Fort Wayne this year.

Embarrassing Mad Ants Staff Photos

It has come to my attention that about half of the Mad Ants office staff does not read my blog. I have decided to punish the guilty.

First Guilty Party: SARAH WLADECKI

Sarah is the Mad Ants Vice President of Administration and has so many roles in the office that I am not even going to begin to list them. One role she heads up is our grass roots marketing effort. Every Friday we have a meeting to discuss how we can get the Mad Ants out in the community more and keep us in the public eye. My blog apparently falls under the category of grassroots marketing. Every Friday during the meeting Sarah would ask me "Have you blogged lately?". She would also have one of her interns send me "blog ideas" as a way to prompt me to blog. The intern would send me different ideas on stories she had found through out the NBA world. Usually topics I would never touch on in Martz Madness, I like to blog about sand volleyball, Halloween Costumes, and occasionally D-League basketball. Not if Charlie Villanueva tweeting during a game is over the line.

After a few of these bland blog ideas I asked the intern if she had ever even read my blog. She had not. At a recent meeting Sarah asked if I had blogged lately and I responded with "I don't know, HAVE I?". She could not answer confidently...

So in honor of this show of disrespect to Martz Madness, I present you with the first of many EMBARRASSING MAD ANT STAFF PHOTOS:

(Sarah sneaking a snack during a Mad Ants game)

To get me to stop posting these pictures, Sarah will need to post a comment on the blog or come up to me in the office and praise me for the quality of my blog.

More basketball news on the way shortly. And I still need to get the Pistons article up about potential Pistons who could come to the Mad Ants.

Halloween Post

As advertised, my Halloween outfit from Saturday:




If you don't get it, I was a box of Girl Scout cookies. Not just any Girl Scout cookies but the delicious thin mints.

The winner of last blogs contest was Josh Romine. He gets two lower level sideline scrip tickets for the Mad Ants upcoming season. Josh is also a winner by being a fellow 2000 Angola High School graduate and all around swell guy.

On a basketball note, things are getting hectic in the Coaches side of the office. They are watching hours and hours of tape to prepare for the NBA D-League Draft on Thursday. It sounds like Chris Hunter, Anthony Kent, and Ron Howard are all returning to the Mad Ants roster this season. It won't be a done deal until tomorrow night (which is the deadline for players to sign a D-League contract) but it looks good. Plus we have several nice options at potential allocated players which or "players of local significance" (played in college in Indiana, or H.S. locally). Again, can't give too much away but it looks like we will be seeing some Irish blood brought to the Mad Ants for the first time, one way or another.

Make sure you come out to the Mad Ants Draft Party at Crazy Pinz this Thursday, starting up at 6pm. The D-League Draft first round will be broadcast live on NBA TV starting at 7pm.

Also, be sure to check out the Mad Ants Coaches Show with our radio broadcaster Bill Hazen. The show is on at a new time slot on Mondays at 6pm. He will be joined weekly by Coach Meyer or another member of the Mad Ants basketball staff. The Show is broadcast on 100.1 FM TALKS.

Next blog will break down the Pistons potential NBA assigned players.