Momma There Goes That Man

We’re a country full of cultural institutions that function to serve other institutions. We have family, religion, government and the economy all functioning to serve each other to help create the American culture. We have different social classes because different people are able to take advantage of the various institutions. The NBA works in much the same way. The economy and government are two very obvious cultural institutions that teams have the opportunity to take advantage of – which both the Celtics and Lakers have taken full advantage of during the course of NBA history

One institution that we’re starting to see teams take advantage of is education – and not in it’s literal sense. Teams have always drafted guys from the college ranks, hoping their game will translate to the NBA’s style of play. But this season, more than any other, we’re starting to see guys get pulled up from the NBA’s Development League. The D-League plays more of an NBA-style game, and scouts are starting to see that some of these guys can play, and are hungry for big league minutes. We all remember Sundiata Gaines’ huge game winner in his first game being called up by the Jazz.

D-League call-ups make for great stories and prove that its purpose is working. Last night’s Portland v. Golden State game also showed that the D-League can be a valuable resource for the right player on the right team. No, neither Reggie Williams or Anthony walked out of Oracle Arena with anything that we’ll remotely remember this time next week, hell, they didn’t even walk out with a win. But they did prove that D-League call-ups can play in the NBA. They did combine for 28 points and 14 rebounds and a Williams halftime interview with Craig Sager.

There was a stretch in the fourth quarter that stood out the most for me. After Portland went on a 10-2 run to bring the game within five points, Reggie Williams was able to get to the rim after a LaMarcus Aldridge layup for an easy two. On the trip back down the floor, he prevented the hot Brandon Roy from getting the ball. Two possessions later, he went hard to the rim again to earn a trip to the free throw line, scoring his third and fourth consecutive points to extend Golden States lead to nine with 6:43 to play. After that, he forced Brandon Roy into a very tough 18-footer. This was a huge stretch of basketball for someone who was in the D-League earlier this season.

Unfortunately, Marcus Camby grabbed the offensive rebound, which led to free throws for Roy, and a 16-3 run after that, but not to the fault of either Williams or Tolliver (okay, maybe Tolliver’s fouls and inopportune turnovers had a little to do with it). Roy had 38 points going into the fourth, and finished with 41, mainly due to Williams hounding him most of the quarter.

-P. Barnett