Doldrums of Summer

Let's be honest people, after the NBA Summer League is completed, there is not much going on in the basketball world until we get closer to the season. The next big news coming from the Mad Ants will most likely be the hiring of an Assistant Coach and the release of our schedule (which should be any week now). With that being said, there is a little to blog about.

The Springfield Armour announced this morning that Dee Brown would serve as their new Head Coach. Many will remember Brown as the Dunk Contest Champion from 1991 when he dunked the ball with an arm draped over his face covering his eyes. Definitely a memorable moment in the dunk contest, that my friends and I would try to emulate on our mini-hoops during that year. Former Mad Ants Assistant Coach Kevin Whitted will be taking on the Assistant Coach role under Dee Brown. Congrats to Kevin on the new position and I wish him the best of luck. Springfield will be in the Mad Ants division this season, so we should be seeing quite a bit of Mr. Brown and Mr. Whitted.

The biggest news of this blog is that I attended my first PIG RACE! It was an attraction at the Noble Coutny Fair in Kendallville. You had to see this to believe it. Here is a clip of what a Pig Race entails. I was there with my good friend the Mad Ant and he was picked as the cheerleader for Pig #3. Unfortantley our pig lost in a close one but he put in a solid effort. After seeing this I had thoughts of putting in my two weeks resignation with the Mad Ants and putting together my very own pig racing show.

I have started my training for the Fort-4-Fitness Half Marathon and already missed a day of running yesterday. I blamed in on the rain (like milli vanilli would) but really it was due to fatigue and hunger. I plan on making it up after work tonight. I recommend everyone run this race, I did it last year and it was a great time (and painful) plus it gets you in great shape if you train for it like you should.

-Don't cry for me Argentina, Fort Wayne, or Bismarck

-Garrett

Summer Lovin' Happend so fast....

It's hard to believe that it is already July 22nd. Summer always goes by too fast, but this year especially (we all probably say that every year). The NBA Vegas Summer League concluded on Sunday. All of the Mad Ants Alum put on a great showing for themselves. Coleman Collins especially opened some eyes with several big games.

ESPN has a nice article/blog up on the Summer League, plus it gives props to Coleman and Walker.

The D-League Select team really stepped up and showed the quality of players in the D-League. Make no mistake about it people, this is the highest quality of basketball in the world outside of the NBA. The Las Vegas Sun wrote a nice article on the D-League Select team here.

The Mad Ants staff had a great time at Kidsfest at IPFW this past Friday and Saturday. We gave out thousands of thundersticks, which prompted several hundred impromptu sword fights on campus. Everyone had a great time, and we can't wait to do it again next year.

Stay Classy Fort Wayne,

Garrett

Amber Guest Blog

So this is Amber. I'm an intern for the Mad Ants, and I am taking over Garrett's blog for the day. We've had The Mad Ant running around the office quite a bit this week, and you may have also run into The Ant at Three Rivers this week. Or if you haven't seen him yet, check out Kid's Fest at IPFW today and tomorrow. In NBA Summer League news, Earl Calloway had quite a few minutes and quite a few points with the Hornets yesterday. You can check out the boxscore here. Looks like Kyle McAlarney had a good showing for the Clippers as well. That's really all I've got for now. Maybe Garrett will have something more interesting to blog about....but don't count on it. That's all.

Amber

D-League Select Team wins again!

The D-League wins again! Down goes another NBA squad. The D-League Select Team took down the Sacramento Kings Summer League team with a decisive victory last night in Vegas. Coleman Collins had a perfect shooting game and ended up with 10 points and 3 rebounds. Walker reportedly had a nice game as well but it just did not translate to the box score. The fact that these guys are all familiar with each other (whether by being on the same team or playing against each other last season) is probably a big factor in beating these NBA teams. People forget that many of these D-League players have been pro's for two or more years, be it in the D or overseas. They know the job and are not going to be intimidated just because a guy was picked high in the NBA draft.

Ron Howard did not play last night for the Knicks. That is not a big deal, as often teams will rotate players minutes on a game to game basis because of wanting to get a look at everyone.

Earl Calloway is back in action tonight and you can follow his box score here. Game time is at 8pm Hornets vs Warriors.

For much better Summer League input check out Jeff Potter's blog. Enjoy the consistent blogs from Jeff while they last. I can feel a two month hiatus coming on after Vegas!

Have a good one,

Garrett

Ron Howard doing work in Vegas

Good News from Vegas. No, Jeff Potter did not hit it big in Keno. No, I am not one of the final 27 in the Main Event of the World Series of Poker (althouth Phil Ivey is!). The good news is that Ron Howard had a very nice stat line in the Knicks vs Grizzlies game as a part of the NBA Vegas Summer League. Here is the official box score. Ron Howard had a line of 11 pts, 8 rebs, 3 asts, and 2 steals in 22 minutes. He was on a pretty stacked Knicks roster as well, along side guys like Blake Ahearn, Joe Crawford, and Alex Acker (another former Mad Ant). Ron is a Mad Ant favorite among fans and the front office alike, so we are wishing him the best of luck with this opportunity.

Another intersting game took place with IU Alumni (Gordon vs Calloway) going head to head in the New Orleans/Clippers Summer League game. I somehow missed this game on the schedule when I blogged yseterady. Earl Calloway played close to 23 minutes, and had a line of 2 pts, 4 rebs, 3 asts, and 1 steal. Notre Dame grad Kyle McAlarney had a solid game for the Clippers posting 8 points and going 2-5 from three point range. If McAlarney ends up in the D-League, he is a player of "local significance" for the Mad Ants and would almost certainly end up on our roster. Especially with Coach Meyer most recently being a scout with the Clippers before he signed with the Ants, he is probably very familiar with McAlarney.

The D-League Select team also destroyed the Japan Natioanl Team in an un-official scrimmage game.

Ron Howard and the Knicks will be playing again today, as well as Coleman and Walker with the D-League Select Team (taking on the Kings). Let's hope the D-League Select Team can roll over another NBA squad! You can follow all the action here.

Jeff Potter, if you are reading this, step your game up. You have been in Vegas for almost 18 hours and no blog??? Take a break from the nickel slots and inform us with humorous tales and basketball insight.

D-League Select Team takes down T-Wolves

The NBA D-League Select Team played the Minnesota Timberwolves in Vegas as the NBA Summer League yesterday. As I have mentioned before, both Coleman Collins and Walker Russell Jr are playing for the D-League Select team. Both guys played well during the game. Coleman had 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists in 25 minutes. Walker put up 9 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds in 17 minutes of play.

You can check out the full box score here

I would say this is a big victory for the D-League. Granted it is the Summer League and NBA teams are mainily just trying to get looks at diffferent players while giving their draft picks some experience in the NBA style of play, but I think it says something about the quality of talent in the D-Leauge. For many of these players, the only thing seperating them from being in the NBA is timing and not being in the right place at the right time. Hopefully the D-League Select team will open some eyes in Vegas and get some of these players (especially the Mad Ants) a home on an NBA roster.

Games kick off again today at 6pm, with Mr. Mad Ant Ron Howard playing for the NY Knicks as they take on the Memphis Grizzlies. You can follow the box score live here

Okay, now I need to go email Jeff and tell him to start blogging from Vegas and give us the inside scoop. Like why the heck did Earl Calloway not get any minutes yesterday for the New Orleans Hornets! Hopefully that just means he will be getting a bunch of playing time on Thursday when they are back in action. If you have any questions for Jeff about what is going on at Summer League, shoot me an email and I will get an answer. You can reach me at garrett.martz at fortwaynehoops.com

Good Day,

Garrett

Former Mad Ant now a Pacer

Some Mad Ant related news out of Pacer land yesterday. Dahntay Jones signed a four year deal with the Pacers. Jones played for the Mad Ants during the tail end of the 07-08 season, which gave him the opportunity to play for the Denver Nuggets during their Summer League. He secured a spot with the Nuggets and wound up guarding Kobe Bryant in the Western Conference Finals. This should be a good fit for both the Pacers and Jones. He is known as a tough defender, and defense is just what the Pacer's need. Good to seeing former Mad Ants moving up in the world!

The Orlando NBA Summer League is currently running. Jeremy Richardson is representing Mad Ants Alumni with the host team the Orlando Magic. There are a plethora of D-League players filling out the rosters. Some names Mad Ants fans would be very familiar with are Kasib Powell, Blake Ahearn, and DJ White.

Jeff Potter (who is back to blogging!) will be in Las Vegas next week with Coach Meyer for the NBA Las Vegas Summer League. They will be there scouting players as many of the players who don't quite make an NBA roster will be in the D-League Draft pool come November. They will be joined by Walker Russell Jr, Coleman Collins, and Ron Howard who will all be playing in Vegas.

At the office we will be constantly peppering Jeff with requests to blog from Vegas on the different prospects and more importantly funny stories that will likely occur (hopefully involving NBA legends).

And on that note, it's CLOBBERING TIME! (still working on that sign-off)

-Garrett

More good signs

I hope everyone had a fun 4th of July Weekend. I was at the lake, where it was fairly dreary up until yesterday. This week is looking much better and I may have to take a few trips up after work to get some wake boarding in. It's already July and I have only went once so far, NOT ACCEPTABLE. I am currently trying to perfect the most basic of moves, the wake to wake jump.
I have been trying to master this for the past four years, but that is what happens when you go as infrequently as I do.

Reggie Hayes had a great article in the News Sentinel on Saturday about Coach Joey Meyers relationship with all three NBA affiliates of the Mad Ants. It sounds very promising that the Mad Ants will be seeing some NBA assigned players this year! Reggie has quotes from all three affiliates in the article talking about their relationship with the Mad Ants and with Coach Meyer.

Have a great Monday!

-Garrett

Summer League Tidbits

Well it looks like the Mad Ants will be well represented in the NBA Summer League.

It was announced recently that Ron Howard "Mr. Mad Ant" will be playing for the NY Knicks. Ron is a great person and is really deserving of this opportunity. He has been the consistent face of the Mad Ants in our first two seasons and we wish him the very best.

Jeremy Richardson will be playing on Magic's summer league roster, trying to get a renewal on his contract. He did not get much playing time this year but the Magic obviously see a future with him by keeping him on board all season.

In a bit of a surprise, Earl Calloway (former Hoosier) will be playing on the New Orleans Hornets summer league team. Just the fact that he his back stateside from Croatia is very interesting! Of course I hope he makes an NBA roster, but would not mind if he had a brief return stint with the Mad Ants in-between NBA call-ups. Earl was easily the most popular player on the Mad Ants in the 07-08 campaign.

The first ever draft pick of the Mad Ants, Larry Turner, will be playing on the Utah Jazz summer league team. This kind of came out of no where as we had lost contact with Larry. I think he was last playing in the PBL on the East Coast this past season. Larry is a guy with a great size for the game (6'11 all muscle) but was had some work to do in other areas.

It also looks like Coleman Collins and Walker Russell Jr will be playing on the D-League Select team. I am excited to see how this team of D-Leaguers fares against the NBA teams. I think it is really going to display the high level of talent and competition in the D-League.

So stay tuned for more Summer League updates as numerous Mad Ants battle for NBA roster spots. A long summer still ahead for these guys!

Have a great 4th of July weekend,

Garrett