Nurse’s Notes: Energy Win Pre-Season Opener

We had our first look at our game against some opposition Saturday in OKC, versus the Tulsa 66ers.

Here is a quick re-cap.

First of all as a team, we played pretty hard and executed some of the things we spent our entire training camp on.  Things like transition defense, rebounding, and defense in general.  We had a decent effort from everyone 1-12.  We were able to play everyone quite a few minutes and probably gave some more minutes to players who are on the cut bubble and further down the roster than we normally would have done in a regular season game, but we used the game as a real evaluation tool. (We have to cut two more players by Wednesday.)

Curtis Stinson – played a very good game, he is a better player this year than last.  His shooting is ever improving, he runs the team and he had just a real solid game scoring 15 points, hitting one three ball, and dishing out 8 assists.

Pat Carroll- is a good all around player, he shot it well, did have a few more turnovers that normal, but got put in some funny situations.  He plays at both ends, and has a high IQ to go along with his good outside shooting touch.  He made some big shots when the game was in the balance.

Jeff Trepagneir – Jeff is down 20 lbs from a year ago and is in great shape.  He is viewed mostly as a 3 point gunner, but his overall team play was solid yesterday.  He knows how to play defense and is giving great effort on that end so far.

Earl Barron – played hard, not great, is a good outside shooter, but has tools to play well with his back to the basket has well.  Played really hard on Saturday, had some foul trouble, but love his attitude and work ethic.

Darryl Watkins – did a nice job, played with energy and size, had a couple big time power dunks and was into it on D.   A lot of talent.

Mark Tyndale – Mary was very good on Saturday.  He made a lot of things happen.  Defending hard, and also took it to the basket. He is always mixing it up in a good way.

Marvin Philips – Marvin did his thing, grabbed 6 rebounds in only 16 minutes.   He is a really hard working defender and rebounder.

Adam Emmenecker – Adam did a credible job, although he did get a number of his passes tipped that he need to adjust to, he played a lot and brought the game home.  He was on the floor running the point for the last 15 minutes of the game as Stinson rested.

Shy Ely — played a good second half.  He is a young man with a huge upside, EXCELLENT defender, who is long and explosive.  Hit a three and scored 9 points in only 19 minutes.

Sean Barnette – Sean had an ok game, makes a lot of plays that go unnoticed in the stat sheet.  Rebounds and blocks shots over and above his size with a quick first step. He will need to get used to the added size he is playing against at this level up from D2 college ball.  A talent.

Russell Hicks- Big strong man.  Had a tough time with the under sized and super quick team we played.  Although, he still played well.  Plays hard and is absolutely huge out there.

Rashad Anderson – Rashad did what we thought he could do, scores and shoots it. He really stretches defenses and is cold blooded when it comes to scoring.

That’s an individual breakdown but our coaching staff is just pleased with the work ethic and togetherness this team has displayed so far from the start of training camp.  It is always the biggest challenge in the D-League.  All the teams have a ton of talent, but meshing that talent and doing that over 50 games is our challenge.

-Nick Nurse, Iowa Energy Head Coach