Randy Livingston, Idaho Stampede Ned Dishman/Getty Images/NBAE

by Matthew Brennan, D-League.com

Twenty of the D-League's best players will take the floor on Saturday in New Orleans in the 2008 D-League All-Star Game presented by Spalding. This year's edition is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET at Jam Session Center Court in New Orleans. The D-League All-Star Game is unique from your standard All-Star games, as plenty will be on the line for the players even though the game doesn't count in the standings. A good amount of NBA scouts should be in attendance, so you can be sure that all of these players will be looking to impress and earn a GATORADE Call-Up to the NBA, making this a highly entertaining game to watch. In adddition, you can see NBA legends Rick Barry and Lenny Wilkens, who will be serving as honorary captains of each team. If you are not in New Orleans, you can check out the game live on NBA TV at 3 p.m. ET. If you are in New Orleans for All-Star Weekend, you can attend the game on Saturday afternoon at the Jam Session Center Court at the Morial Convention Center, with tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m. local time.

Red Team

The Red Team should have plenty of chemistry, as 70% of the roster is comprised of teammates from the Idaho Stampede and the Colorado 14ers. Stampede head coach Bryan Gates will lead the Red Team, and three of his players will make the trip with him to New Orleans. Randy Livingston, who missed last year's game with an injury, should man the point guard spot. Livingston currently leads the league with 10.3 assists per game. He should be joined at the guard slots by Colorado 14ers teammates Eddie Gill and Billy Thomas, and Iowa's Dwayne Mitchell. Gill was the first D-League player to receive a GATORADE Call-Up this season when the Nets signed him in November, and Thomas also was called-up by the Nets in December. The 14ers made Gill the first overall pick in this season's D-League Draft. Mitchell has been a impact player after the Energy made him their first-round pick in the D-League Draft. He leads the team and ranks fifth in the league with 20.7 points per game.

In the frontcourt, the Red Team will bring plenty of size with Colorado's Elton Brown (6-9, 250 lbs), and Idaho's tandem of Cory Violette (6-9, 255 lbs) and Lance Allred (6-11, 250 lbs). Brown and Allred are two of only three D-League players who are averaging double figures in both scoring and rebounding. Brown is a returning All-D-League First Team member and joins the Blue Team's Jeremy Richardson as the only returning players from last year's D-League All-Star Game. On the wings, Colorado's Kaniel Dickens currently leads all Red Team players with 21.2 points, while Kasib Powell is leading the Sioux Falls Skyforce with 19.9 points. The lone assigned player on the Red Team is Tulsa's Nick Fazekas, who is close to averaging a double-double with 19.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Fazekas has played the entire D-League season with Tulsa after being assigned by the Dallas Mavericks.

Blue Team

Ian Mahinmi, Austin Toros Ned Dishman/Getty Images/NBAE

NBA-assigned players, including a pair of Utah Jazz teammates, make up three of the ten spots on the Blue Team. Los Angeles D-Fenders head coach Dan Panaggio, who's team compiled an 18-11 record this season, will lead the Blue Team on Saturday. He will be assisted by NBA veteran Chucky Brown, who is in his second season as the D-Fenders' assistant coach.

This team should have no trouble in piling up points for the perimeter, as the league's top two leading scorers and the D-League record holder for points in a game will be in action for the Blue Team on Saturday. Utah's Morris Almond, on assignment from the Jazz, leads all current D-League players with 26.2 points in 18 games for the Flash. Almond has already posted two 50-point scoring games this season, including a D-League record 53 points two weeks ago. He will be joined by Austin's Keith Langford, who was a GATORADE Call-Up to the Spurs earlier this season and leads all non-assigned D-League players with 24.5 points. In the backcourt, Almond and Langford will be joined by a very talented point guard in Bakersfield's Andre Barrett. Barrett, a veteran of both the D-League and the NBA, is ranked second in the D-League with 9.1 assists and should rack up plenty in this game with talented scorers such as Almond and Langford alongside him.

The frontcourt of the Blue Team features the league's leading rebounder and the last two D-League Performers of the Week. Dakota's Rod Benson, who set a D-League record with 28 rebounds in a game in December, will make an All-Star appearance after leading the league with 12.1 rebounds in the first half of the season. He will be joined at the forward spot by Wizards' teammate Carlos Powell, who leads the Wizards in scoring and has been one of the top all-around players in the D-League this season. He is averaging 22.3 points (third in the D-League) 6.3 rebounds, and 4.2 assists. Also lining up for the Blue Team at forward is the reigning D-League Performer of the Week, Sean Banks of the Los Angeles D-Fenders. Banks checks in with 21.5 points per game, fourth in the D-League.

Two NBA-assigned rookies and an NBA veteran will man the middle for the Blue Team in New Orleans. Austin's Ian Mahinmi has been an impressive player this season on assignment from the Spurs. San Antonio's first-round pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, the 6-10 Mahinmi is shooting a sterling .622 from the field in the D-League while averaging 18.0 points and 8.2 rebounds. He will be joined by fellow assigned player Kyrylo Fesenko, a 7-1, 288 big man on assignment to the Utah Flash after being selected by the Jazz in this year's NBA Draft. The center from Ukraine is posting 10.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game. NBA veteran Jelani McCoy, who received a GATORADE Call-Up to the Nuggets earlier this season, completes the lineup for the Blue Team at center. Los Angeles' first-round pick in the D-League Draft is averaging 7.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.0 blocks for the 19-9 D-Fenders. The 6-10 McCoy has appeared in 260 NBA games over eight seasons.

2008 RED TEAM
NO.	PLAYER (TEAM)	POS.	HT.	WT.	BIRTHDATE	FROM
41	Lance Allred (Idaho)	C	6-11	250	2/1/81	Weber State
24	Elton Brown (Colorado)	F	6-9	250	9/9/83	Virginia
50	Kaniel Dickens (Colorado)	F	6-8	235	7/21/78	Idaho
44	Nick Fazekas (Tulsa/Mavericks)	F	6-11	235	6/17/85	Nevada
10	Eddie Gill (Colorado)	G	6-0	180	8/16/78	Weber State
32	Randy Livingston (Idaho)	G	6-4	210	4/2/75	LSU
23	Dwayne Mitchell (Iowa)	G	6-5	210	8/24/82	Lou.-Lafayette
15	Kasib Powell (Sioux Falls)	F	6-7	215	3/18/81	Texas Tech
18	Billy Thomas (Colorado)	G	6-5	220	12/23/75	Kansas
33	Cory Violette (Idaho)	F	6-9	255	3/13/82	Gonzaga
Honorary Captain: Rick Barry Head Coach: Bryan Gates (Idaho), Assistant: Ray Lopes (Idaho) Athletic Trainer: Kevin Taylor (Idaho)