Day: September 21, 2015

Dan Craig to coach Sioux Falls Skyforce

Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel reporting some Heat-related coaching developments:

The Miami Heat coaching staff again will be reshuffled this season, with assistant coach Dan Craig taking over as coach of the team’s NBA Development League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, an NBA source confirmed Sunday to the Sun Sentinel.

Craig, who has guided the Heat’s summer-league teams in recent seasons, takes over for Phil Weber, who guided the Skyforce to the NBDL playoffs last season before joining the New Orleans Pelicans staff of former Heat coach Alvin Gentry.

With the move, Chris Quinn, who served as an assistant coach last season with the Skyforce will move to a permanent role on Erik Spoelstra’s Heat staff.

Raptors 905 holds open tryouts

Here’s the Toronto Star reporting on the Raptors 905 D-League team, which recently gave anybody and everybody a chance to show they’re worthy of being on the squad:

At the open tryout for the Raptors 905 NBA D-League team, class shows quickly.

There’s Tut Ruach, a Mississauga high school hoops legend, stripping the ball from an overmatched guard and making the pass that leads to a basket. On an adjacent court at the University of Toronto Mississauga, former Dalhousie standout Robert Nortmann throws down a thunderous dunk over an opponent’s outstretched arms.

Other players’ lack of pedigree is revealed in seconds. A skinny guard with a bushy moustache spends nearly an entire scrimmage lingering beneath the goal, leaving his team shorthanded on defence and waiting on a pass he can flip into the goal. When he finally gets his shot, an opponent swats it away.

Seventy-five men answered the Raptors 905’s open casting call, with nearly as many skill levels on display Saturday. Coaches will winnow that pack to a more select group for further evaluation Sunday, and up to five players can leave this weekend with an invite to the Raptors farm team’s training camp in early November.

Warriors offer Harrison Barnes extension

Harrison Barnes is good, but how good? Here’s Yahoo Sports reporting on the Warriors, who are offering a sizable contract extension to the 6-8, 225-pound small forward. Barnes has talent but is a role player on this team, so it’ll be interesting to see if the two sides can come to an eventual agreement.

Warriors offer Harrison Barnes extension

The Golden State Warriors delivered forward Harrison Barnes an initial four-year, $64 million contract extension proposal, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

The $16 million annual offer wasn’t accepted, but appears to be a starting point in talks that could last until the Oct. 31 deadline for rookie extensions.

The Warriors are trying to prevent Barnes from reaching restricted free agency in July 2016, when a rising salary cap and scores of teams with financial flexibility will couple with Barnes’ burgeoning talent and potential to make him a significant target on the market.

Al Jefferson changes diet, drops weight

Here’s the Charlotte Observer reporting on Hornets star center Al Jefferson, who should be even harder to guard this season now that he’s dropping weight and presumably adding quickness in the process:

Al Jefferson changes diet, drops weight

Fried chicken: Charlotte Hornets center Al Jefferson craves it and he knows it’s off his menu in the effort to lose as much as 25 pounds.

So when a certain commercial comes on the television, Big Al grabs for the remote.

“Every Popeye’s commercial I see, I have to turn the TV off,” Jefferson said Thursday.

Jefferson will again be a big factor in how the Hornets do in the upcoming season. He discussed his summer and the Hornets’ prospects with Observer NBA writer Rick Bonnell:

Q: You said at last season’s conclusion it was important you lose 20 or more pounds in the off-season. How has that gone?

Jefferson: Great. 20-plus. One thing about losing weight: It becomes a lot easier once you become disciplined about what you’re eating. Cutting out the sugar and the starch. Taking care of your body. Once I got into a routine it became pretty easy. And I knew what I was doing it for – to take some of the weight off my knees and getting my body into better shape than last year.