NBA Development League Dream Factory Friday Night
NBA All-Star Weekend | Feb. 15, 2008
 Note: For a preview/overview of D-League Dream Factor Friday Night, scroll down or click here.
Carlos Powell of the Dakota Wizards, Tulsa
66er Adam Harrington and a pair of Idaho Stampede players, Lance Allred
and Brent Petway, all came away victorious at the inaugural D-League
Dream Factory Friday Night skills competition, which took place on
Center Court of NBA Jam Session at the Ernest N.
Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, LA.
The evening featured Hot-Shot with fans, a game of H.O.R.S.E., a
Three-Point Shoot-Out and a Slam Dunk Competition, and began with Powell
and D-League fan and New Orleans native, Will Clapp posting a final
round score of 24 in Hot-Shot, to defeat the team anchored by Andre
Barrett of the Bakersfield Jam. With the win in the timed shooting
game, Clapp earned the right to be a judge in the evening’s final event,
the Slam Dunk Competition.
In that contest, which was judged by former NBA stars Jerome Williams,
Norm Nixon and Tracy Murray; ESPN columnist Bill Simmons, and Clapp, a
pair of Stampede teammates; Petway and Mike Taylor advanced to the final
round after posting scores of 94 and 98 respectively in the preliminary
rounds. In the final round Petway recorded a 48 when he stood next to
the ball which was placed on the floor under the basket; then bent,
picked the ball up and dunked in one fluid motion. Taylor responded with
a score of 49 after sliding the ball through his legs while in the air
and dunking.
Petway finished Taylor off when he scored a perfect 50 after he bounced
the ball high into the air, jumped, wove the ball through his legs and
threw it down. Taylor missed two attempts in his final dunk of the last
round and Petway emerged victorious with a final round score of 98.
The highly-anticipated return of H.O.R.S.E., which was popularized some
30 years ago during halftime of NBA games on CBS when stars like George
Gervin, Rick Barry and Pete Maravich battled each other in a bracketed
competition, saw Allred defeat the D-League’s second-leading scorer,
Morris Almond of the Utah Flash with a bank shot. Allred defeated Jeremy
Richardson of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in sudden death to advance to the
finals, while Almond had disposed of Kasib Powell of the Sioux Falls
Skyforce.
The Dream Factory continued with the Three-Point Shoot-Out which pitted
Albuquerque Thunderbird Josh Gross, Keith Langford of the Austin Toros,
Colorado14er Kaniel Dickens and Harrington who emerged victorious after
outlasting Dickens. Dickens advanced to the finals after beating Gross
in a tie-breaking shoot-out.
D-League action continues from Jam Session on Saturday afternoon at 3 pm
EST as the League’s top 20 players put their skills to the test on
Center Court in the second annual D-League All-Star Game. The game which will feature hometown hero Randy Livingston of
the Idaho Stampede will include honorary captains and NBA legends Rick
Barry and Lenny Wilkens, and can be seen live on NBA TV.
PREVIEW: D-LEAGUE DREAM FACTORY FRIDAY NIGHT ALL-STAR EVENTS
Feb. 14, 2008
The inaugural NBA Development League Dream Factory Friday Night, an exciting event modeled after the popular NBA All-Star Saturday Night, tips off on Friday, Feb. 15, at 9 p.m. EST on Center Court at NBA All-Star Jam Session. The action-packed evening will include perennial NBA fan favorite events such as a Three-Point Shootout and Slam Dunk competition, while introducing H.O.R.S.E. and an interactive game of Hot-Shot with fans. Twelve D-League players, including an NBA assigned player and five others with NBA experience, will take to Center Court to showcase their skills throughout the evening’s competitions.
Creativity will reign on Center Court as the D-League revisits H.O.R.S.E. some 30 years after NBA players participated in the competition which aired during games on CBS. Among the top talents who participated in the matchups were Pete Maravich, George Gervin, and Rick Barry. The D-League’s edition of H.O.R.S.E. will feature Idaho’s Lance Allred, Morris Almond (on assignment from the Utah Jazz to the Utah Flash), Jeremy Richardson of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and Sioux Falls’ Kasib Powell. Richardson, who was twice called-up this season, is averaging 28.5 points in nine games for the Mad Ants while Almond leads the league with a 26.4 points per game scoring average. Powell and Allred are averaging 20.1 and 17.3 points, respectively. Two preliminary rounds of two games each will be played with the winners of the first two rounds competing in a final round for the title of H.O.R.S.E. Champion. Each round will be capped at five minutes, and will utilize a 24 second shot clock. Participants will be outfitted with a wireless microphone in order for fans to hear the player call his shot.
D-League Slam Dunk Competition participants will include D-Leaguers Brent Petway, a member of the Idaho Stampede and runner-up in the 2007 NCAA Slam Dunk Competition, as well as Petway’s Idaho teammate, Mike Taylor. Eric Smith of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and Doug Thomas of the Iowa Energy will round out the four-man field. The Slam Dunk Competition, which will consist of two rounds of two dunks each, will begin with each dunker submitting their top two dunks and selecting a fan from the crowd who will choose the first dunk to be performed in the first round of competition. A composite total of the scores from the first round of dunks of competition will be tallied for each dunker and the dunkers with the two highest scores will compete in a Championship round consisting of two dunk attempts. Participants will be allowed one replacement dunk per attempt.
The D-League Three-Point Shootout will feature Keith Langford, who earned a Gatorade Call-Up to the San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 28, Tulsa’s Adam Harrington, who ranks among the D-League leaders, shooting 50 percent from three point land, Kaniel Dickens of the Colorado 14ers and Albuquerque Thunderbird Josh Gross. So far this season, Dickens is shooting 45 percent from behind the arc and Gross has connected on 25-of-57 three-pointers. Each competitor will have 60 seconds to sink up to 21 three-pointers from seven shooting stations assembled around the three-point line. Each station will have two orange balls (worth one point each) and one “money” ball (worth two points) which may only be attempted after both orange balls have been shot. Fans will enjoy one preliminary round and a championship round featuring the participants with the top two scores from the first round.
Bakersfield’s Andre Barrett, Idaho’s Randy Livingston, Dakota’s Carlos Powell and Colorado’s Billy Thomas are slated to compete in an interactive game of Hot-Shot with fans. Livingston, the 2007 D-League Most Valuable Player, is averaging a D-League-leading 11.3 assists per game while Billy Thomas will participate following a call-up to the New Jersey Nets earlier in the season. Hot-Shot participants take to the floor to compete in a race against the clock to score the most points with the help of a D-League fan. Each team will have one minute to tally the highest score from four designated shooting spots on the court, including a one-point layup, a two-point foul shot, a three-pointer from behind the arc, and a five-point half-court shot, with the fan only eligible to shoot from the lay-up position. Two teams will compete simultaneously, one on each end of the court, during the first round with the winners advancing to a final round of head-to-head competition where the stakes are high – the fan from the winning squad will have an opportunity to be a judge in the Slam Dunk Competition.
D-League action in New Orleans continues on Saturday, Feb. 16, when the second-annual D-League All-Star Game presented by Spalding tips off on Center Court at NBA All-Star Jam Session. The game, which begins at 3 pm EST, will be broadcast live on NBA TV and features 20 of the D-League’s finest as selected by fans and D-League coaches. NBA legends Rick Barry and Lenny Wilkens will serve as honorary team captains, while the squads will be coached by Idaho’s Bryan Gates and Los Angeles’ Dan Panaggio, along with their respective assistant coaches, Ray Lopes and Chucky Brown.
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