D-League Week Ahead: January 29, 2008

by Matthew Brennan, D-League.com

David Noel is the third NBA player assigned to Tulsa this season. Ned Dishman/Getty Images/NBAE

You can still fill out your ballots daily for the D-League All-Star Game until this Friday. In case you need some help with your picks, positional breakdowns are available for centers, forwards, and guards with comments on all of the top prospects from Shawn Respert. This year's All-Star Game will take place on Saturday, February 16 at All-Star Jam Session in New Orleans. If you can't make it to Louisiana for the game, it will air live on NBA TV.

In other news around the league, the remember that you can watch live streaming video of D-League games every day. All that you need to do to catch the action is register with NBA.com. The broadcasts are still in the "beta" testing phase so let us know how you think they can be improved through D-League Fan voice or send an e-mail to the D-League.

Player To Watch

Mike Taylor, Idaho Stampede

A rookie guard from Iowa State, Taylor was acquired and waived by the Stampede in December, but re-joined the team a week later and has blossomed into a scoring threat for the Stampede. The 6-2 Taylor is averaging 19.6 points over his last five games, all off the bench for Idaho. The Stampede have gone 12-0 with Taylor's spark off the bench since he was re-acquired. A key to Taylor's success as instant offense off the bench has been his accuracy from three-point range. Taylor is shooting .447 (12-38) from beyond the arc this year, which makes him one of the D-League's best three-point shooters. The Stampede will look to defeat Bakersfield on Friday for their 15th straight win, which will tie the D-League record for consecutive wins.

Assigned Player To Watch

David Noel, Tulsa 66ers (Bucks)

The Bucks made Noel the 4th NBA player to be assigned to Tulsa this season last week, and the 66ers have won all three of their games with him in the lineup. The 6-6 Noel, in his second season with Milwaukee, has come off the bench for Tulsa but is averaging 14.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in his first three D-League games. The North Carolina product was the 39th pick in the 2006 NBA Draft but has played sparingly with Milwaukee in his first two seasons. Now with Noel teaming up with Bucks teammate Ramon Sessions and fellow NBA-assigned player Nick Fazekas, the 66ers have won five straight and nine of their last ten games to improve to 13-11 on the season. The winning streak is more impressive when taking into account their last three wins all came against first place teams. (two against Austin, on against Dakota)

This Week's Key D-League Games

Here is a rundown of some key D-League matchups to watch this week. You can follow any D-League game via the courtside box or the listen live link on the home page of D-League.com, or watch the live video stream at this link.

Desmon Farmer is leading the Vipers in scoring. Garrett Ellwood/Getty Images/NBAE

The Stampede will be looking to win their 15th straight game on Friday when the Bakersfield Jam visit Qwest Arena. If the Stampede win this game, they will tie the D-League's record for longest winning streak set by the Greeneville Groove in Feb/March of the 2001-02 season. The Stampede have already set the record for the longest home-winning streak, which currently stands at 13 games (Idaho is undefeated at home this season). The odds look to be heavily in Idaho's favor as the Bakersfield Jam are currently 1-15 on the road this season.

Friday: Dakota Wizards at Albuquerque Thunderbirds

The last two teams to win the D-League Championship will meet on Friday night in Albuquerque. The Thunderbirds, who are without any NBA-assigned players for the first time in over a month, will try to avenge a 20-point loss in Dakota on January 19 during the these teams first meeting of the season. The Wizards are 6-6 on the road this year and will be looking to join the D-Fenders as the only teams in the D-League who have winning records in away games.

Saturday: Austin Toros at Tulsa 66ers

This surging 66ers have become part of a competitive Southwest Division race, and will host the first-place Austin Toros for the third time in four games on Saturday. After losing their first four meeting with Austin this season, Tulsa swept the Toros this past weekend to win their fourth and fifth straight games and pull within 2.5 games of first place. The Toros have lost four of their last six games but still lead the division. The Toros have not being able to find an answer for Ramon Sessions in their six meetings this season, as the Bucks assignee has averaged 21.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 10.0 assists.

Sunday: Utah Flash at Rio Grande Valley Vipers

The Vipers have struggled over the past month, compiling a 1-10 record since C.J. Watsonsigned with the Golden State Warriors. New acquistion Desmon Farmer has tried to pick up the slack, averaging 15.1 points in his first ten games with the Vipers. The NBA veteran scored 28 on Sunday but the Vipers fell to Bakersfield by two points. The Flash have also struggled lately, losing four of their last five games, but things could be looking up with the return of Morris Almond from the Jazz. This will be the final meeting of the season between Rio Grande Valley and Utah, who only play each other twice. The Flash came out on top with a 102-86 victory in the first meeting between the teams on January 9.