NBA D-League Week Ahead: December 9, 2008

by Matthew Brennan, D-League.com

Luke Jackson has returned to the Idaho Stampede. Otto Kitsinger/Getty Images/NBAE

The 2008-09 NBA D-League season completed it's first full week last Friday and the big news has been the return of three players who received GATORADE Call-Ups last season. Tulsa's Ronald Dupree, Idaho's Luke Jackson, and Colorado's Eddie Gill have all returned to their respective NBA D-League teams and all three will have made their season debuts by this Tuesday night.

Dupree, a 6-7 forward, averaged 19.8 points in nine games for Tulsa last season before signing with the Sonics. Jackson, a former first-round pick in the NBA Draft, helped Idaho win the league title last season and also received a GATORADE Call-Up from the Miami Heat. Veteran point guard Gill was the first overall pick in last season's D-League Draft and earned First Team All-League honors after scoring 18.0 points with 5.1 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game. He also received Call-Ups from the Sonics and New Jersey Nets in 2007-08. Forward Andre Brown, a 2006-07 Call-Up from Sioux Falls, has also returned to the league as a member of the Austin Toros. Brown started the 2008-09 season with the Charlotte Bobcats and played all of last season with the Memphis Grizzlies.

No changes in terms of NBA assignments have occurred over the past week with a total of eight players remaining in the NBA D-League. Utah's Bill Walker (Celtics) leads all assigned players with 21.6 points, good for 11th in the league. Golden State's Richard Hendrix, on assignment to Bakersfield, checks in at eighth in the league with 10.8 rebounds per game. Overall, teams with NBA-assigned players have compiled a 12-14 record in 2008-09, which is a good example of how talented some of the teams are in the league this year.

Player To Watch

Damone Brown, Reno Bighorns

The first overall selection in this year's expansion draft, the veteran forward Damone Brown has always excelled in the NBA D-League and is living up to his usual high standard of play with 21.2 points and 11.8 rebounds after his first four games. Brown is one of the league's most experienced players with stints in the NBA and Europe under his belt and gives the Bighorns a go-to guy as they go through their first season in the league. Brown and the Bighorns, off to a 1-3 start, have a tough road ahead of them as they will play seven straight games on the road after hosting Anaheim on Friday night.

Assigned Player To Watch

Blake Ahearn, Austin Toros (Spurs)

Ahearn has taken an interesting path towards arriving at his current status on assignment with the Toros. The 2007-08 NBA D-League Rookie of the Year, Ahearn was one of the final cuts by the Timberwolves before this season and elected to return to the Dakota Wizards, his D-League team from 2007-08. However, the Spurs signed him as a GATORADE Call-Up before the D-League season started and then assigned him to the Austin Toros. Now with his fourth team of the season, Ahearn is averaging 18.7 points and 4.0 assists heading into Tuesday's game, including a 29-point outing against his former Wizards teammates last week. The Toros will continue their homestand this weekend with games against division rivals Colorado and Albuquerque.

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 and watch the game live via the NBA Futurecast at this link.

Courtney Sims and the Iowa Energy have won four straight to begin the season. Ron Hoskins/Getty Images/NBAE

The last two teams to win the NBA D-League title will meet at Qwest Arena in Boise on Wednesday night. Idaho, who start four players who have played in an NBA regular-season game, won three straight to start the season before suffering their first loss to Rio Grande Valley on Sunday. The Wizards have suffered a 1-4 start but their opponents have a combined record of 16-8. The Wizards are one of the few teams to have a winning record against the Stampede over the past two seasons, winning three out of five meetings in the NBA D-League.

Thursday: Iowa Energy at Erie BayHawks

The Energy are sporting the league's best record after a 4-0 start and will head east to visti the Erie BayHawks on Thursday night. The Bayhawks have compiled a 3-2 record in their first season with all of the games so far taking place on the road. The first two NBA D-League Performers of the Week will meet in this game in the person of Iowa's Courtney Sims and Erie's Erik Daniels. Sims has been a force inside for the Energy with 23.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and a league-high 5.3 blocks, while Daniels has led Erie with 21.0 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. This will be an interesting matchup as the Energy enter the week ranked second in the league with 116.3 points per game and will face an Erie team giving up a league-low 89.2 points per contest.

Saturday: Colorado 14ers at Austin Toros

The 14ers have been off for a while but return to action this week with a 2-0 record. Colorado, the highest scoring team in the league so far with 122.5 points per game, will visit the 3-3 Toros on Saturday in a matchup of last season's top finishers in the Southwest Division. The 14ers, led by second overall draft pick James Mays, are 7-5 all-time against Austin over two seasons.

Sunday: Bakersfield Jam at Los Angeles D-Fenders

The Jam and the D-Fenders will meet for the third time this season with the season series tied at one apiece. The loss at home to the D-Fenders is Bakersfield's only loss so far this season while Los Angeles has struggled out of the game with a 1-3 record. The bright spot for the D-Fenders has been guard Joe Crawford, who leads the league with 28.8 points per game, including two 25-point efforts against the Jam. Bakersfield is the most accurate-shooting team in the NBA D-League so far, connecting on .515 (250-485) of their field-goal attempts.