Ike Diogu named D-League Player of Month for March, 2014

Ike Diogu won D-League Player of Month award

Bakersfield Jam forward Ike Diogu was today named NBA Development League Player of the Month for games played in March. The award is the first of Diogu’s career.

Diogu (6-8, 255, Arizona State) led Bakersfield to a 10-3 record in March, including a 7-2 road record and a seven-game winning streak between March 12 and March 26. For the month, Diogu averaged 21.4 points, shooting 59 percent from the field, to go with 12.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks. He recorded a double-double in 12 of his 13 games in March, notching two 30-plus point outings.

On March 19, Diogu recorded a season-high 19 rebounds to go with 30 points in a 114-106 road win over the Texas Legends. The following week, on March 30, he tied his season high with 32 points in a 115-109 win at the Santa Cruz Warriors.

For the season, Diogu is averaging 18.0 points on 55 percent shooting, to go with 9.4 rebounds, good for sixth-best in the NBA D-League.

Additional players considered for the award included Austin’s Flip Murray, Canton’s Shane Edwards, Erie’s Lewis Jackson, Fort Wayne’s Tony Mitchell, Iowa’s Moses Ehambe, Othyus Jeffers and Curtis Stinson, Los Angeles’ Shawne Williams, Maine’s Frank Gaines, Santa Cruz’s Cameron Jones, Sioux Fall’s Henry Walker, Springfield’s Jeff Foote and Texas’ Damion James.

Jason Kidd, Gregg Popovich named NBA Coaches of Month for March, 2014

The Brooklyn Nets’ Jason Kidd and the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich today were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in March.

Kidd guided the Nets to a 12-4 record in March, and the highest winning percentage (.750) in the Eastern Conference. Brooklyn posted a 9-0 record at Barclays Center and was the only Eastern Conference team to go undefeated at home. On March 12, the Nets defeated the Miami Heat 96-95, which improved Brooklyn’s mark to 3-0 this season against the defending champions. This is the second Coach of the Month award for Kidd this season (January).

Popovich led the Spurs to an NBA-best 16-0 record in March, propelling them to a 58-16 record, tops in the NBA. Eleven of San Antonio’s 16 wins in March were by 10-or-more points, and the Spurs scored 100-or-more points in 13-of-16 games. The Spurs closed the month with a 103-77 road victory over the Indiana Pacers on March 31, and enter April riding a franchise-record 18-game winning streak.

Other nominees for Coach of the Month were Charlotte’s Steve Clifford, Houston’s Kevin McHale, Los Angeles Clippers’ Doc Rivers, New York’s Mike Woodson, Oklahoma City’s Scott Brooks, Phoenix’s Jeff Hornacek and Toronto’s Dwane Casey.

No, DeMarcus Cousins is not putting out a music album

Here’s the Sacramento Bee reporting on Kings center DeMarcus Cousins and an early April 1 joke:

DeMarcus Cousins created a stir on the Internet on Sunday night.

And he had fun doing so.

Pictures surfaced of Cousins’ first “album” under the name Boogie Smooth titled “Misunderstood,” with the first single being a rhythm and blues groove titled “Emotional” featuring Chance The Rapper.

Cousins even asked via Twitter on Monday if he could be any worse than Shaquille O’Neal or Chris Webber, who also dabbled in music during their careers.

But Boogie Smooth’s career is all in fun. Cousins, who is friends with rap stars Drake and Rick Ross, is not about to become a part-time R&B crooner.

Cousins laughed when asked about the musical project, as did his teammates. Coach Michael Malone even found the musical venture comical.

Pacers playing unimpressive basketball lately

Here’s the Indianapolis Star with a look at the Pacers, who have been less than spectacular for a while now:

A slump? A hiccup? No, it’s a whole lot more than that. After Monday night’s 103-77 blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the Pacers have lost 10 of their last 16 games and six of their last eight. After that 33-7 start, when they were the toast of the NBA and had everybody lauding their selflessness, the Pacers have now gone 19-16. That’s not a slump. That’s a month-and-a-half, two months’ worth of mediocrity. That’s who they are now.

This is just like the 2002-03 Isiah Thomas-coached Pacers, who ran out to the league’s best record the first half of the season, then sleep-walked the rest of the season before getting eliminated in the first round by the Boston Celtics.

For too long, they’ve been acting like they actually accomplished something, like they should be entitled to officials’ calls and special treatment. Paul George’s play and his whining have been especially galling. Remember when we talked about him in the same sentence with MVP front runners LeBron James and Kevin Durant? That seems like a million years ago.

George has been ordinary, or worse, since the All-Star break. Hibbert has disappeared for long stretches of time. David West, the nominal leader of this team, has been inconsistent. Evan Turner, the late-season acquisition, has been miserable, especially on defense.

Monday night, Lance Stephenson was the only Pacer who played with urgency and energy.

Future of Rudy Gay with Kings remains unclear

Here’s NBA.com reporting on the Sacramento Kings and Rudy Gay:

He says he has not made a decision on the $19.3 million on the table or whether he wants to remain with the Kings at any price. He has so not made a decision, Rudy Gay insists, that he is asked to list a couple factors that will go into the final call and responds, “I don’t know.”

It is long after another loss at Sleep Train Arena, this time to the Knicks, in a near-empty locker room after most teammates have left. Gay is sitting in front of his stall, showered and changed and contemplating the unexpected search for career stability.

Memphis for 6 ½ seasons, and then suddenly Toronto and Sacramento in a little more than 10 months, and the career intersection over whether to stay in the current contract with $19.3 million on the books for 2014-15 or declare himself a free agent is approaching. In that setting, feeling so undefined about the future is actually understandable.

“What does my gut tell me?” Gay says of the looming decision and possibly decisions, plural. “I don’t know. My gut tells me different things every day.”

Sacramento Kings sign Jared Cunningham to 10-day contract

Sacramento Kings sign Jared Cunningham to 10-day contract

The Sacramento Kings today signed guard Jared Cunningham to a 10-day contract, according to Kings General Manager Pete D’Alessandro.

In his second NBA season, Cunningham totaled two points (1-2 FG, 0-1 3pt, 0-2 FT), one rebound, three assists and 22 minutes in five games off the bench for the Atlanta Hawks before being waived on February 22.

Cunningham was selected out of Oregon State in the first round (24th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers before being traded along with Jae Crowder and Bernard James to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Tyler Zeller and Kelenna Azubike.

In his rookie campaign with the Mavericks, he recorded a total of 16 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 26 minutes in eight contests off the bench.

The 6-4, 194-pound guard has also spent time in the D-League, playing for the Texas Legends (2012-13) and Bakersfield Jam (2013-14). With the Legends, Cunningham averaged 15.3 points (.335 FG%, .257 3pt%, .721 FT%), 2.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.2 steals and 34.5 minutes per game in 15 games, of which he started 13. Cunningham posted averages of 16.5 points (.394 FG%, .330 3pt%, .803 FT%), 3.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 31.1 minutes per game in 22 contests, starting 19 of those.

Cleveland Cavaliers sign Scotty Hopson

The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed guard Scotty Hopson to a contract, Cavaliers acting General Manager David Griffin announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

Hopson appeared in 12 league games this year for Anadolu Efes in the Turkish Basketball league, where he averaged 7.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 21.6 minutes per game. He also played in 11 Euroleague games for Anadolu Efes, averaging 15.5 points on .625 shooting and 4.2 rebounds in 28.2 minutes per game.

The 6-7, 204-pound guard played in three 2013 NBA Summer League games for the Miami Heat and averaged 11.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 22.0 minutes per game, including 22 points, two assists and three steals in 26 minutes against the Brooklyn Nets on July 8.

Hopson, who went undrafted in the 2011 NBA Draft after averaging 12.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in 103 career games at the University of Tennessee, spent the 2011-12 season with Kolossos Rodou of the Greek League and the 2012-13 season with Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli League.