Tag: andre wesson

Notable undrafted free agents eligible for 2021 G League Draft

Among the eligible players for the upcoming 2021 NBA G League Draft are several of the notable undrafted players from the 2020 NBA draft.

The upcoming 2021 NBA G League season may give several players not selected in the recent NBA draft another opportunity in the pros.

The NBA G League is hosting a bubble tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sport Complex in Florida. Once teams are assembled, they will arrive to the location by January 26 for physicals and onboarding. The first game is set for February 8 and teams are expected to play a “12-to-15 game schedule” before their single-elimination playoffs from March 5-March 9.

While teams may have the majority of their roster spots ready to go, they’ll supplement final spaces with the G League Draft. The event is scheduled for Monday, January 11, at 1:15 PM EST.

Some of the players with the most professional experience: Emeka Okafor, Mario Chalmers, Michael Beasley, Lance Stephenson, Hollis Thompson, Terrence Jones, Quincy Pondexter, Shabazz Muhammad, Tyler Ulis, Festus Ezeli, Allonzo Trier, Antonio Blakeney.

Also among the eligible players for the upcoming 2021 NBA G League Draft are several of the notable undrafted players from the 2020 NBA draft.

Some of the top prospects who did not hear their name called on draft night were signed on two-way deals, which allow the player to be active for 50 of the 72 games for their franchise. Many others were invited to training camps to compete for roster spots via Exhibit-10 contracts.

Typically, players with that type of deal end up playing for the G League affiliate of the squad that signed them. This year, however, eleven of the teams around the league are not sending their affiliate to the bubble:

Atlanta Hawks (College Park Skyhawks)

Boston Celtics (Maine Red Claws)

Chicago Bulls (Windy City Bulls)

Dallas Mavericks (Texas Legends)

Detroit Pistons (Grand Rapids Drive)

Los Angeles Lakers (South Bay Lakers)

Miami Heat (Sioux Falls Skyforce)

Milwaukee  Bucks(Wisconsin Herd)

Phoenix Suns (Northern Arizona Suns)

Sacramento Kings (Stockton Kings)

Washington Wizards (Capital City Go-Go; will utilize Erie)

That means, in addition to those who did not participate in an NBA training camp over the summer, any of the players who signed Exhibit-10 deals with these franchises are also sent into the draft pool for Monday.

While this draft will have three rounds, there will be a max of 26 players selected, though teams are not required to make a selection. All things considered, this is set to be an incredibly deep draft class on Monday.

Among the nearly 200 players who have NBA G League Standard Player Contracts but are not yet on a roster, here are some of the notable undrafted free agents who may have a chance to continue their professional journey:

C.J. Jackson, Andre Wesson, and Andrew Dakich join Big X, could face Carmen’s Crew

C.J. Jackson, Andre Wesson, and Andrew Dakich join Big X, a team of former Big Ten alum in The Basketball Tournament.

There’s another team in The Basketball Tournament that will have some serious Ohio State ties for the second year in a row. Big X announced three former Buckeyes to its roster Thursday.

Former point guard C.J. Jackson returns to Big X, with recently graduated Andre Wesson joining him. The heady Andrew Dakich will step off the sidelines as a coach and join Big X on the court this time. And there’s a good chance the team could match up with defending TBT champion Carmen’s Crew. Last year, Carmen’s Crew disposed of Big X 89-75 in the second round of the tournament.

If you’ve followed the original Ohio State alumni team Carmen’s Crew, there’s you’re familiar with the story. It has six former Buckeyes on the squad. Household names like Aaron Craft, William Burford, and David Lighty helped that team run through the tourney last year to win the championship and take home a $2 Million prize.

As for the Buckeyes being added to the Big X, they were given their own shoutout with a highlight reel also added in. Here’s a graphic just reminding everyone what they bring to the table.

If these two teams end up against each other, it’ll be like a dream come true for Buckeyes fans that used to watch those mid-2010s teams. Now starting a new decade, it’d be a nice blast to the past. Especially since the Columbus Regional is planned to take place on the campus of Ohio State at the new Covelli Center.

For now, we’ll just be thankful that we get to see these players on the court again as long as it all goes down as expected. The Basketball Tournament is set to kick off the Columbus Regional from July 23-26.

Ohio State Buckeyes’ defense helps propel them to 9-point halftime lead

The Ohio State Buckeyes came out strong on the defensive side of the ball against Purdue, helping them take a nine-point lead into halftime.

With five made threes, Ohio State took a nine-point lead into halftime.

That said, it was again the team’s defense that was overly strong, holding the Boilermakers to a mere 20 points. At 6-7 in the conference, the Buckeyes needed to come out with a strong performance against a Purdue team that has struggled away from Mackey Arena this year.

Having issues scoring at times this season, the Buckeyes 29 halftime points do not come as a surprise.

Ohio State was led by CJ Walker with seven points and Andre Wesson with six. However, offensively, it was truly a full team performance in the first half with seven players on the scoreboard.

The Buckeyes shot 48% from the floor and limited Purdue to just 32%. With just 47 combined shots in the first half, this game was a turnover-filled grind as the team’s also combined for 16 turnovers.

An exciting second half is in store for the Buckeyes, who desperately need this win after a January that put them behind the eight-ball.

So far, so good.

 

Ohio State basketball beats Indiana: Three things we learned

Ohio State kept things going in the positive direction at home, beating Indiana to get a key win. Here are three things we learned.

Buckeye nation, there are signs of life beginning to appear for this Ohio State basketball team. After a Big Ten road win against Northwestern, it followed that up today with a solid victory over a pretty good Indiana team at home.

After going on a rough patch that saw the Buckeyes drop six of seven, the last couple of games have looked more like the OSU team of earlier this year than what we’ve seen since the turn of the new year.

This team is still a tournament team as it stands today, and this one went a long way towards keeping things that way. There’s still a lot of the season to go, but here are three things we learned fro Ohio State’s 68-59 victory over the Hoosiers.

Next … Playing with care

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Ohio State with much needed win over Northwestern. Three things we learned.

Ohio State battled through a back and forth game against Northwestern for its first Big Ten road win of the year.

Ohio State finally got a road win in the Big Ten, and it’s a big one. Heck, at this point, any win is big when you’re mired in a slump of losing six of seven.

The Buckeyes got a slow start to the game but began to turn up the pressure in the first half and went into the break with a three-point lead. Unlike last time out at home against Minnesota though, Ohio State was able to play a full forty minutes and finish this one with a solid 71-59 win.

Who knows? Maybe this will act as a catalyst towards a turnaround on the season.

We always like to take stock in these sorts of things, and so as normal, here’s three things we learned after the victory.

Next … Andre Wesson kept Ohio State in the game early

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Ohio State starts slow, finishes half with 3-point lead at Northwestern

Ohio State shook off a slow start to go on a run and took a 3-point lead into halftime against Northwestern.

The first half in Evanston looked a lot like some of the other games we’ve seen recently from Ohio State early on. But then, the Buckeyes came out of a timeout with more energy on defense and an attacking style on offense to take a little control in the game. After going up by as many as ten midway through the first half, Ohio State went into the locker room up 38-35.

There was a lid on the basket early on, as Ohio State fell down early 9-2. The offense struggled finding a way to score against a Northwestern defense that sagged all five guys close to the lane to limit the effectiveness of Kaleb Wesson.

But then, the defense clamped down and led to some runouts, some outside shots hit the bottom of the net, and the offense began to find a little more rhythm. Not everything is rosy though. Northwestern finished the half on a run that gave it some momentum headed to the break.

Forward Andre Wesson led Ohio State with eleven points. He also nabbed four rebounds and went 1 of 3 from beyond the arc. He’s brother Kaleb has been held to just four points. The Buckeyes also got contributions from their bench with Justin Ahrens pouring in six points, and both Duane Washington and D.J. Carton adding five each.

It’s a better showing on the road by Ohio State, but this one is far from over. Things went south last week against Minnesota in the second half, so there needs to be more of what we saw in the first twenty as the teams head out for the last twenty minutes.

 

Halftime Report: Ohio State’s struggles continue, down 15 at half to PSU

The Ohio State Buckeyes snapped their four-game losing streak, but they’re in trouble of starting another one, down at half to Penn State.

The Buckeyes finally broke their four-game losing streak against Nebraska a few nights ago. However, they’re again being tested on the road against an underrated Penn State team.

Entering half, the Buckeyes are down 15, 42-27. It’s not looking pretty either.

Outside of Kaleb Wesson, there really wasn’t much going for the Buckeyes in the first half.

Players like Luther Muhammad and Kyle Young really couldn’t find their footing offensively. D.J. Carton was also scoreless in the first half. Duane Wahsington Jr. had a few threes, helping keep Ohio State alive as well.

It was the team’s offense, not defense, that is worrisome as they scored under 30 points in the first half.

However, allowing over 40, one of the nation’s best defenses has been thrashed by Lamar Stevens. The Nittany Lions have four players over five points so far.

The Buckeyes just need to take this personally. The defensive effort is not there, having five fewer blocked shots at the half.

This game is certainly still in reach, but they’ll need to find the team that rattled off nine straight wins, including a 32-point victory over this same PSU team, in the second half.

Ohio State basketball loses to Indiana. Three things we learned.

Ohio State dropped its fourth in a row after a second-half collapse at Indiana. Here’s three things we think we learned.

Another game in the Big Ten, another loss for Ohio State. In a contest the Buckeyes desperately needed, they couldn’t finish the deal and lost on the road to Indiana 66-54.

The Hoosiers used a spurt at the beginning of both halves to gain separation. OSU was able to claw all the way back in the first twenty minutes, but couldn’t do it in the last twenty because of some poor shooting.

It was a little better showing than the last couple of games, but a loss is still a loss, and now you have to wonder how a team with so much promise will find a way to get back to its winning ways. The team now drops to 11-5 overall, and a very surprising 1-4 in the Big Ten.

As usual, here are three things we learned.

Next … Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers

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Ohio State absorbs Indiana hot start, leads at halftime 34-31

Ohio State had to absorb a hot shooting start by Indiana but reeled the game back in and now lead by three at halftime in Bloomington.

Ohio State went into Bloomington and had to absorb a white-hot start by Indiana. The Hoosiers came out on fire and went up by nine-points mid-way through the first 20 minutes thanks to some hot shooting. But the Buckeyes have shown more assertiveness and composure than the last few games. They kept playing defense, kept creating their own luck and went into halftime up 34-31.

Andre Wesson kept Ohio State in the game early when Indiana was seemingly making everything — splashing its first 8 of 11 shots. He leads all scorers with 10 points at the half. D.J. Carton and Kaleb Wesson each chipped in 7 points apiece.

But one half does not make a game. The Buckeyes will have to continue to play hard, smart and keep their composure in a place that is historically tough to play in. You can bet that Indiana will make a couple of runs here in the second twenty minutes at home. Off to the second half.