Tulsa Report: 66ers gearing up for franchise's first playoff appearance
Apr 8 2010 9:24AM
No one wants to play the Tulsa 66ers in the first round of the playoffs.
The top three seeds in the Western Conference got to choose their first round opponents for the NBA D-League Playoffs, and they all passed on the 66ers.
The fourth-seeded Sioux Falls Skyforce didn’t have much of a choice, as they’ll get the eighth-seeded 66ers in a best of a three-game series starting Thursday at the Tulsa Convention Center.
“I think it gives credit to our guys,” 66ers head coach Nate Tibbetts said. “I think our guys have maybe gained the respect from teams in our league that we’re going to be competitive and we’re going to compete at a high level and we might be a tough out.”
This will be the 66ers’ first postseason appearance in their five-year existence, and they’ll be facing a Skyforce team it went 3-2 against in the regular season. Tibbetts has strong ties to the Skyforce, his hometown team he spent four seasons with, including two as head coach.
Tibbetts is good friends with Skyforce head coach Tony Fritz, who served as an assistant under Tibbetts. The two last spoke on Tuesday.
“We both said this was the last time we’ll talk till game day,” Tibbetts said.
This will be a much different Skyforce team that the 66ers faced earlier in the season. Two of Sioux Falls’ biggest offensive threats, Reggie Williams and Alexander Johnson, are now in the NBA.
With that said, here’s three matchups worth watching:
1. Point guards Mustafa Shakur and David Bailey. Shakur is hands-down the top point guard in the D-League this season with averages of 19.2 points, 6.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 48.9% shooting. The 5-8 Bailey is a D-League veteran of more than 140 games and has averaged 13.0 points, 6.6 assists and 3.3 turnovers this season.
“That’s going to be a big matchup,” Tibbetts said.
2. Guards Larry Owens and Chris McCray. Tibbetts sees some similarities in Owens and McCray, two players who are good at slashing to the basket. Owens appeared in all 50 games this season, averaging 15.8 points on 49.2% shooting, 5.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game. McCray, who has appeared in five NBA games throughout his career, is averaging 8.5 points on 40% shooting this season.
3. Centers Byron Mullens and Greg Stiemsma. Mullens has continued to show improvement on both ends of the floor during his stint with the 66ers. Mullens has posted two double-doubles in his last three games and is averaging 15.0 points and 7.5 rebounds a game with the 66ers. Like Mullens, Stiemsma can step out and hit the midrange jumper and play off pick and rolls. The 6-11 center led the league in blocked shots at 3.6 per game to go with 8.8 points and 7.1 rebounds. He posted 23 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks in the regular season finale against Bakersfield.
“He does a good job of changing shots,” Tibbetts said. “He’s going to step out and guard Byron a little bit. Both of them can run up and down and rebound.”
Contact Chris Silva
The top three seeds in the Western Conference got to choose their first round opponents for the NBA D-League Playoffs, and they all passed on the 66ers.
The fourth-seeded Sioux Falls Skyforce didn’t have much of a choice, as they’ll get the eighth-seeded 66ers in a best of a three-game series starting Thursday at the Tulsa Convention Center.
“I think it gives credit to our guys,” 66ers head coach Nate Tibbetts said. “I think our guys have maybe gained the respect from teams in our league that we’re going to be competitive and we’re going to compete at a high level and we might be a tough out.”
This will be the 66ers’ first postseason appearance in their five-year existence, and they’ll be facing a Skyforce team it went 3-2 against in the regular season. Tibbetts has strong ties to the Skyforce, his hometown team he spent four seasons with, including two as head coach.
Tibbetts is good friends with Skyforce head coach Tony Fritz, who served as an assistant under Tibbetts. The two last spoke on Tuesday.
“We both said this was the last time we’ll talk till game day,” Tibbetts said.
This will be a much different Skyforce team that the 66ers faced earlier in the season. Two of Sioux Falls’ biggest offensive threats, Reggie Williams and Alexander Johnson, are now in the NBA.
With that said, here’s three matchups worth watching:
1. Point guards Mustafa Shakur and David Bailey. Shakur is hands-down the top point guard in the D-League this season with averages of 19.2 points, 6.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 48.9% shooting. The 5-8 Bailey is a D-League veteran of more than 140 games and has averaged 13.0 points, 6.6 assists and 3.3 turnovers this season.
“That’s going to be a big matchup,” Tibbetts said.
2. Guards Larry Owens and Chris McCray. Tibbetts sees some similarities in Owens and McCray, two players who are good at slashing to the basket. Owens appeared in all 50 games this season, averaging 15.8 points on 49.2% shooting, 5.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game. McCray, who has appeared in five NBA games throughout his career, is averaging 8.5 points on 40% shooting this season.
3. Centers Byron Mullens and Greg Stiemsma. Mullens has continued to show improvement on both ends of the floor during his stint with the 66ers. Mullens has posted two double-doubles in his last three games and is averaging 15.0 points and 7.5 rebounds a game with the 66ers. Like Mullens, Stiemsma can step out and hit the midrange jumper and play off pick and rolls. The 6-11 center led the league in blocked shots at 3.6 per game to go with 8.8 points and 7.1 rebounds. He posted 23 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks in the regular season finale against Bakersfield.
“He does a good job of changing shots,” Tibbetts said. “He’s going to step out and guard Byron a little bit. Both of them can run up and down and rebound.”
Contact Chris Silva
