If you filled out a NCAA Tournament bracket in the past few years, you are going to know plenty of names in tonight's matchup between Rio Grande Valley and Tulsa.

Especially if you're a Kentucky fan.

Three recent Kentucky alums -- Daniel Orton and DeAndre Liggins with Tulsa and Terrence Jones with RGV -- are currently on assignment and are expected to suit up tonight. And you can watch them all live on YouTube at 8 p.m. ET.

In addition to the trio of Wildcats, rookies Jeremy Lamb, a star out of UConn that won a national title in 2010-11 who is currently on assignment in Tulsa, and Scott Machado, who led the nation in assists playing for Iona and is currently on assignment with RGV, will also play tonight.

Since all five of these players are on assignment – and likely apart of their respective franchise's long-term plans – this game is also a great view for any Houston or Oklahoma City fan.

Houston fans should have high hopes for Jones since he won a championship with Kentucky last year, averaging 12.3 points and 7.2 rebounds on the way. He was selected with the No. 18 pick in the draft and this is his first assignment.

On the other side, Liggins, a three-year player for Kentucky, played with Orton during the 2009-10 season when UK went 35-3 and lost to West Virginia (a team that featured the NBA D-League’s most recent Call-Up, Kevin Jones) in the Elite Eight. Liggins, who put up a triple-double in his NBA D-League debut on Nov. 23 versus Texas, has called his time with Tulsa a “great experience” and much of that can be attributed to the single-affiliate structure the 66ers have with the Thunder.

“Everything is just like the OKC Thunder,” Liggins said. “Same plays, same system, coaches think the same way. It’s just a good thing here.”

This game tonight alone highlights the positives of a single-affiliate system with five promising players on assignment getting a chance to earn some serious playing time and, as Liggins says, “build up some confidence” before they get inserted back into an NBA rotation,

We talk a lot here on NBADLeague.com how this league is the best way to get into the NBA, whether it’s by raising your profile with great performances or working and improving on your game while affiliated with a specific organization. Tonight’s game in Tulsa is a shining example of that.

So, break out that faded hoodie from your favorite college team (or your Rockets or Thunder jersey) and enjoy this one tonight.

It's been a tough couple years for Durrell Summers, what with the former potential first-round pick after his junior year at Michigan State falling off NBA Draft boards entirely by the end of a rocky senior year, then going in the second round of the NBA D-League Draft last year and struggling to make any sort of consistent impact there, either.

Last year, his 12 games in the NBA D-League for the Maine Red Claws produced a string of wasn'ts.

• He wasn't scoring all that often (10.8 a game), although, in fairness, he never averaged more than 12 at Michigan State
• He wasn't rebounding either (3.2 a game)
• ...or distributing (0.9 assists a game)
• ...or playing superior defense (less than a steal a game)

So, when this year's NBA D-League Draft came around, he fell into the fourth round. The Santa Cruz Warriors then traded him to the Idaho Stampede. And since then, he's been one of the steals of the league.

Through two games (it's a small sample size, sure, but big enough to see that a new Summers showed up this year), he's averaging 22.5 points a game, with 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals. He always had great potential. Now, he's moving closer to finding just how great.

On assignment with the Iowa Energy, Denver Nuggets rookie Quincy Miller is off to a fast start in the NBA D-League. Nuggets.com discusses how this assignment is a valuable opportunity for the Baylor product.

With 23 Assignments already (and the season's not even a week old!), the 2012-13 NBA D-League season is on pace to make 2011-12's record-breaking total of 64 look like it came from a different era. And after lottery picks Jeremy Lamb and Kendall Marshall were assigned to the Tulsa 66ers and Bakersfield Jam, respectively, on Thursday, NBADLeague.com editors Kevin Scheitrum and Anthony Oliva got together to talk about the currents underpinning the Assignments.

Canton's Kevin Jones - our No. 5 Prospect - had another huge performance last night putting up 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Charge, his third straight game of 20+ points and 10+ rebounds. Jones spoke to NBADLeague.com about how he's been able to put up these kinds of numbers and the cathartic journey it's taken to get him here.

Idaho Stampede guard Durrell Summers takes it down the lane, gets his own rebound and finishes in the air.

Before the L.A. D-Fenders' newest assignment hits the court for L.A.'s opener on Wednesday night, he has some moves he'd like to show you. (h/t All Ball)

When Erie Head Coach Gene Cross first saw Keith Benson in an NBA Summer League game two years ago, he immediately took notice.

"Having seen him first hand, I was impressed by his effectiveness and how he blocks shots on defense and changes shots," Cross said. "He had the ability to run the stretch of the floor, shoot the ball well and rebound."

That was then -- when Cross was an assistant for the now-defunct Utah Flash and helping out the Atlanta Hawks during Summer League. This is now -- where one of Cross' first orders of business after the BayHawks hired him was to get his hands on Benson.

It required making a whacky, complicated trade with some other teams, but for Cross it was worth it.

"He's just a solid young man, a terrific young man that's very coachable," Cross said. "Having him join the BayHawks was attractive to me and (BayHawks GM Allan Houston) was excited about it when we had the opportunity to acquire him."

Benson, ranked No. 20 in our NBA D-League Prospect Watch, tore it up during NBA Summer League this year in Las Vegas and re-joined the NBA D-League as one of the elite big men. But so far, Benson has not put up numbers to match his hype. In 19 minutes of play in the BayHawks first game this season, Benson racked up four rebounds but also committed five fouls. In fairness, it was only one game, and it's only a matter of time before we start seeing some more shine coming out of Cross's diamond in the rough.

The only Central team we have yet to see this year is the defending champion Austin Toros. The team that took a champagne shower in the Toyota Sports Center in April, however, will not look much like the team that plays its first game of the 2012-13 NBA D-League season at 8 p.m. tonight versus Texas.

Gone are Eric Dawson, Julian Wright, Brad Wannamaker, Luke Zeller and head coach Brad Jones. On the roster now is an entirely new set of players with their eyes set on a repeat (when they’re not thinking of an NBA Call-Up).

When it comes to Austin’s top prospect, though, you don’t need to look any further than one of the very few familiar faces -- on the team and around the NBA D-League.

JUSTIN DENTMON

Dentmon returns to the Toros after one of the most successful individual NBA D-League seasons in quite some time. In addition to taking home the league MVP and leading his team to a league title, Dentmon also earned his first-ever GATORADE Call-Ups last year when the Raptors and Spurs each gave him a 10-day contract. If he can replicate, or improve upon, his numbers from last year (22.8PPG, 5.5APG), Dentmon could be in line for another Call-Up and would also be a frontrunner for MVP again.

The knock on Dentmon always has been – and, barring any unforeseen growth spurts, always will be – his height. Listed at a generous 6 feet tall, the Washington product is undersized for the NBA, any way you slice it. Despite his size, or lack thereof, he has still showed adept finishing ability at the rim. Whether or not he can carry that over to the next level – where 7-foot shot blockers are the norm, not the exception -- is the big question.

Undoubtedly Dentmon received offers to play overseas this year, but his decision to stay in the States was likely as a result of his passion to play in the NBA, which he has expressed to NBADLeague.com on multiple occasions.

So, as the reigning MVP embarks on his third season in the NBA D-League, here are two areas of improvement for the Toros point guard.

1) Turnovers. Last year, in the beginning part of the season, Dentmon was a turnover machine, not in a good way. As the season progressed, he took better care of the ball and lowered his turnovers per game average to 3.88. That number will have to be even lower this year if he wants to show an NBA team that he can run their offense.

2) 3-point shooting. Dentmon can stroke it from 3-point range, shooting an identical 42.9 percent from distance in his first two years in the NBA D-League. He will need to keep that up – and maybe become even more efficient – if he expects to be a consistent scorer on the NBA level because he may not be able to produce in the paint like he does in the NBA D-League. His points, therefore, may need to come from areas where 6-footers can thrive, like 24 feet from the basket.

All in all, Dentmon is one of the most intriguing prospects in the NBA D-League this year, but also one that'll have to fight harder to break through perception. There is no denying his talent, but his time to impress and latch on to an NBA team is running thin. If an MVP season isn’t enough to win a ticket to the Association – what is?

They could have been bitter or frustrated by getting an assignment to the NBA D-League, but NBA rookies Miles Plumlee and Orlando Johnson of the Indiana Pacers spent the weekend honing their skills with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

"Those two guys have maybe the best rookie attitudes I've ever been around, honestly," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "They just want to learn and get better."

The Indiana Pacers team site talked to both players as they shared their experiences about making the drive out to Fort Wayne.

After a 107-98 win over Iowa during the team's home opener on Saturday (seen above) it is clear that Sioux Falls has the potential to be one of the best teams in the NBA D-League.

With a starting lineup that features former NBA guard Troy Hudson, who scored 25 points in the opener, and one of our Top Prospects in Andrew Goudelock, who scored 23 of his own against Iowa, the team boasts a highly potent backcourt. And they don't lose a step in the frontcourt, with Jarvis Varnado, who had six blocks in the first game, creating havoc in the paint and with Mike Davis, selected fifth overall in the 2012 NBA D-League Draft (by Reno and shipped to Sioux Falls), coming off the bench.

A deep team packed with Prospects, expect the Skyforce to cause damage early in the NBA Development League this year -- until the NBA does the rest of the NBA D-League a favor and plucks a few of Sioux Falls' best up to the big time.

Well, that didn't take long.

Although, we never expected it to.

After only two games with Rio Grande Valley, center Donatas Motiejunas and point guard Scott Machado have been recalled to the Houston Rockets.

Motiejunas got the call on Sunday after putting up 48 points (19-for-36 shooting), 19 rebounds and six assists in 74 minutes over two games with the Vipers. Machado was recalled today. In two games with RGV, Machado averaged 16 points and five rebounds. The NCAA leader in assists his senior year at Iona, Machado dished out eight dimes in both games. In the first game, however, the 6-foot-2 guard committed seven turnovers. In the second game, he cut that to three.

This brief stint with RGV provided both players a chance to get quality minutes and also build some early-season confidence. They will now be focusing on how to fit into the Rockets rotation.

At 7-foot, it's pretty clear where Motiejunas can fit. With only one player above 6-foot-9 getting more than 15 minutes a night for the Rockets, Houston could use the Russian's height, especially if starting center Omer Asik gets in foul trouble or injured. Now, Houston (6-7) is not exactly shorthanded in the post with the likes of Asik, Patrick Patterson, Marcus Morris and Greg Smith -- the latter two being NBA D-League alums -- in the fold, but finding room in an NBA rotation for a 7-footer is about as hard as Motiejunas trying to change a light bulb. Motiejunas has proven he can hold his own in the paint, especially in NBA Summer League, so he's ready to make a contribution right away when given the call.

As for Machado, the Rockets also have a crowded backcourt, but they do not have a true point guard off the bench that plays major minutes. Jeremy Lin, another NBA D-League alum, starts and plays nearly 34 minutes a game, but Lin's main backups are Carlos Delfino and Toney Douglas and they are more combo guards than pure point guards. Sure, James Harden can step in and run the offense at times, but Machado could carve out a role as the main backup to Lin if he performs well in what will probably start as limited time.

The Springfield Armor are making a change in their roster, waiving Chaz Crawford and replacing him by activating center Chas McFarland.

Chas for Chaz. Roger that, Roger. Do I have Clearance, Clarence?

The Armor are making the swap thanks to a new rule in the NBA D-League this season that now allows up to two inactive players on each team's roster. Teams used to have to cap their roster at 10 players (12 if they had two or more assignment players), no matter what. But now, if a player gets injured -- or has some other reason he can't play -- the team can deactivate him instead of releasing him outright. Full details from the Armor:

Springfield, Mass. – The Springfield Armor today announced they have activated center Chas McFarland and waived Chaz Crawford.

McFarland (7-0, 245, Wake Forest) rejoins the Armor for his first game in Springfield since the 2010-11 NBA Development League season. McFarland played in 26 games (21 starts) with the Armor, averaging 10.5 points on .525 shooting with 5.8 rebounds in 22.5 minutes per game.

Crawford (6-10, 240, Drexel) was the Armor’s seventh round selection (110th overall) in this year’s NBA D-League Draft. He came off the bench to record one steal in five minutes during the Armor’s 94-91 season-opening overtime victory over the Canton Charge on Saturday.

McFarland will be in uniform when the Armor host the Sioux Falls Skyforce on Friday, Nov. 30 at 7:00 pm at the MassMutual Center. The game will be the team’s Opening Night, presented by MassMutual.

Kevin Jones might be putting up juggernaut numbers for the Canton Charge to start the season, but his 0-2 team is struggling to follow suit. Following the Charge's loss to the Springfield Armor Saturday, Charge head coach Alex Jensen said the team is playing well on both ends of the court but turnovers are the main reason why they're losing.

With time expiring in the first quarter of the Texas-Tulsa game on Sunday, Brady Morningstar just threw the ball up toward the hoop from far behind the half-court line. The judges gave Texas 3 points for his efforts.

Canton sharpshooter Antoine Agudio had made just three shots all night. But with the Charge down three points with the fourth quarter screaming to an end, Canton called his number and the gunner out of Hofstra delivered.
br/> The Charge would fall, 94-91, but not before we got the moment -- and the broadcast call -- of this young season.

Three Central teams tipped off their season Friday night and several Top Prospects made an early claim for GATORADE Call-Up.

The Springfield Armor's point guard isn't a stranger to the NBA by now, with two Call-Ups last year and 60 NBA games to his name. But to keep adding on to that total, he's out to prove that he's got a jumper that works on the regular.

Weellll he's still got work to do. But he did make up for a 6-for-20 shooting night by picking up 10 rebounds (as a guard, remember) and dishing out six assists with just one turnover. He did commit one semi-turnover with 1:24 left in the fourth, when he and teammate James Mays forgot to check the shot clock after a stoppage and let it expire...but Uzoh then swiped the ball from Jorge Gutierrez on the ensuing Canton possession.


Cold on Friday, Butch found his stroke on Saturday, hitting 4-of-6 from behind the arc (and going 6-for-13 in total) to go along with 13 rebounds in Bakersfield's loss to Rio Grande Valley.

The night was Butch, largely, at his best. Some hair gel shy of seven feet tall, Butch is the stuff night terrors are made of when he's shooting well. And because he was able to stretch the floor, he even chipped in three assists for the Jam, too.


The all-time leader in blocked shots in NCAA history recorded the first six of his NBA D-League career on Saturday, one more than Springfield's Willie Reed and RGV's Damian Saunders for the night's biggest total and re-directing Iowa attempts all night long. He did get into foul trouble early, which limited his minutes a bit, but he still left a big mark on the game. And probably a dent in the ball.

While Varnado didn't score a ton (he had nine points on six shots), he did keep six possessions alive, with six of his game-high 13 rebounds coming on the offensive glass.


The former Clemson scrapper did damage on the inside all night long for Springfield, finsihing with 23 and a night-high 17 rebounds. It did take him 21 shots to get those 23 points -- including one particular 3-point attempt that nearly sailed out of the state of Ohio, but Mays also got to the line a game-high seven times.

A good chunk of his best work came on the defensive end, where he swatted three shots to show off some sneaky athleticism.


The Vipers' big man picked up where Donatas Motiejunas -- who had 17 points and 11 boards on Saturday -- left off, after the Rockets assignee had 31 points on Friday.

In 35 minutes -- and on only 17 shots -- Adrien scored a game-high 29 points, tying Butch for the game-high in rebounds, too. Asserting himself on the interior all night, Adrien looked like the player he was for the Vipers in 2010-11, when he had 20 points and 12 boards a night and was named Impact Player of the Year.


For the second time in as many nights, Jones gave the NBA D-League's best performance.

With a night-high 31 points and 16 rebounds -- only one board behind James Mays' high of 17 -- the guy who led the Big East in scoring and rebounding last year showed the ability to operate both inside and outside. Often at will.

Blowing out to 21 points and 10 rebounds at the half, Jones always looked to be in position for rebounds -- a trait that served Dennis Rodman well throughout his tenure. While not a freak athlete by any means, Jones knows how to work for position, both in terms of passing lanes and rebounding angles. He also hit a couple long, p[em jumpers in rhythm.

That said, the heavy minutes the past two nights made his legs look like luggage in the fourth quarter and overtime. He didn't get the lift he'd had early on, and his jumpers showed it, hitting the front of the rim.

NBA D-League action jumped off in the Eastern Division Friday night with the Canton Charge taking on the Maine Red Claws and Fort Wayne Mad Ants taking on the Erie BayHawks.

Canton blew a 17-point lead at home as the Red Claws surged back to win the high scoring game of 123-115. Erie also pulled off a road win against Fort Wayne wining their matchup 109-100.

A handful of fresh new NBA assignments to the D-League put up solid numbers in the match ups, but many of them outshined by some of the NBA D-League's top prospects. Here are the names to note from Friday's match ups in the Eastern Divison:

As assignments from the Indiana Pacers, Miles Plumlee and Orlando Johnson put up decent numbers in their NBA D-League debuts. Plumlee racked up 5 points and 12 rebounds and Johnson almost had the opposite with 15 points and 6 rebounds. But they were outshined by Fort Wayne's Ron Howard, who led the team with 27 points and 7 rebounds.

New BayHawks coach Gene Cross picked up a solid win after leaving the Iowa Energy as an assistant coach to take the new gig this fall. The BayHawks were led to victory by Nick Covington, who played in Iowa under Cross last season. Covington scored a game-high of 27 points which included shooting 10-12 on field goals.

D.J. Kennedy put up solid numbers for the BayHawks as well racking up a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Kennedy went through training camp with the red-hot Memphis Grizzlies this fall and he's one of Cross's players to watch on the team as the NBA scouts come calling.

Fresh off his assignment from the Boston Celtics, Kris Joseph had an impressive night for the Red Claws with a game high of 28 points that complimented his eight rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals nicely. The same could not be said about the Celtics' other assignment Fab Melo, who fizzled with 2 points and 4 blocks in his NBA D-League debut. An even fresher addition to the opposing team was Antoine Agudio, who was literally added to the Charge's roster a few hours before the matchup started. Agudio, a veteran D-Leaguer known for his shooting prowess, scored 20 points and racked up 5 rebounds for the team.

Kevin Jones is crashing boards in ways that would make Mr. Miyagi proud (Pat Morita, RIP). Jones, one of our top NBA D-League prospects to watch this season, lead the Charge with 26 points and 14 rebounds. As the Cleveland Cavaliers deal with a slew injuries to their top big men, Jones' performances like this are only going to increase his chances of getting that coveted NBA Call-Up.

The Bakersfield Jam were the only Western Division team in action on Friday.

But that was pretty much enough.

The Jam and RGV Vipers gave fans the best game from Opening Night, with Bakersfield pulling off a 115-113 win on Friday. And these guys are the reason why:


When Nunnally was on the court, the Jam were 16 points better than the Vipers -- by far the best plus-minus rating of anyone in the game. That's largely because he scored 14 points on nine shots (6-for-9) with four boards, three assists and one steal and a block in 18 minutes.


One of the most unique big men in the NBA D-League -- and North America, for that matter -- when he's on, Butch labored his way to a 14-point, 15-rebound night on Friday. It took 18 shots to get those 14 points, however, including a 2-for-12 mark from 3-point range.


Muhammad played 20 minutes on Friday, but still managed to put up a strong line regardless, with a near-double-double (10 points, 9 boards) in his time on the floor.


Major's age might preclude him from a trip to the NBA this year, but only Donatas Motiejunas scored more points than the NBA D-League vet did on Friday, with Major putting up 20 points (on 14 shots), along with 6 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals.


James, too, struggled from the field, with the former Net going 6-for-15 on the night. But he made up for it with the rest of his game, with the swingman pulling down seven rebounds, blocking two shots with two steals and dishing out three assists.

Some of the NBA D-League's Top Prospects (including the league's No. 1 and No. 2 overall Prospects) will be in action on Friday night. And a few of them chimed in to say why you should tune in to watch them.

In just a few hours, the 2012-13 NBA D-League season will begin.

For 160 players (not counting the 10 guys on assignment from their NBA teams), that means a chance to start anew. To blast through stigma. To pummel prejudice without, well, prejudice. They'll have the opportunity to exploit probably the greatest thing the NBA D-League offers -- the chance to compete against 159 other players, battling, just one step from the NBA, for a spot in the world's most famous league (at least among those that don't employ Mario Balotellii.)

For now, though, there are a few dozen players who'll be watching from the outside, having gotten walking papers on (or before) Wednesday night. Don't get the wrong idea, though. They're all available to be picked up out of the General Player Pool starting Friday -- every single one of them. These are the guys that won't last long on the wire.

Vance Cooksey: The former Texas Legend and Rio Grande Valley Viper got an invite to Chicago Bulls training camp this fall. He didn't last too long, but in the quest to fill the estimable void left by Derrick Rose, he was considered. He'll have a job soon in the NBA D-League if he wants it.

Japeth Aguilar: The news that Aguilar -- who came close to becoming the first Filipino-born player under the NBA umbrella -- was cut from the Santa Cruz Warriors hit the basketball-mad Philippines hard. But don't despair, Filipino fans. Aguilar said he's committed to playing in the States, and his bouncy 6-foot-9 frame makes him an attractive option for teams looking for a big man with upside.

Billy McShepard: The 6-foot-10 forward/center out of Valdosta State can score and rebound -- for a five-game stretch early last year a few weeks before Sioux Falls released him due to injury (something that won't happen as often this year, with teams allowed to place players on the Inactive List), he averaged 15.8 points and 11.2 rebounds. Plus, bigs generally have an easier time finding employment than others.

Patrick Richard: Iowa didn't have a spot for Richard, but it's a safe bet that someone won't mind the services of the 2011-12 AP Honorable Mention All-American..

Faisal Aden: Aden was leading the Pac-12 in points per 40 minutes last year at Washington State until he tore his knee apart. He'll just need to rehab a little more before he regains the explosiveness he lost with the injury, but his size (6-foot-4) gives him a big edge over other NBA D-League too-short shooting guards looking to transform into point guards.

And there goes No. 2.

Or, if you go by our Top Prospect Board, No. 5.

EITHER WAY, James Anderson's nine-day NBA D-League career has come to an end. At least for now. But as of Tuesday, when the Rio Grande Valley Vipers guard became the second GATORADE Call-Up of the 2012-13 season, the two-year veteran of the San Antonio Spurs is back up with Timmy, Manu, Tony and Pop.

Anderson wasn't bound for a long stay. Neither are the other half-dozen or so players who flanked Anderson in the very top tier of the NBA D-League Prospects, where NBA talent queues up for the next NBA opening like shoppers at the deli counter.

Four days before James Anderson got a GATORADE Call-Up to the San Antonio Spurs, he caught up with NBADLeague.com at the Texas Legends' Preseason Jamboree to talk about what made him head to the NBA D-League.