Tag: Wisconsin Herd

Recap: OKC Blue win Winter Showcase contest over Wisconsin Herd, 117-116

Recap: OKC Blue win Winter Showcase contest over Wisconsin Herd, 117-116.

Two-way rookie Keyontae Johnson sealed the OKC Blue’s 117-116 win over the Wisconsin Herd with a pair of free throws in the closing seconds of Wednesday’s G League Winter Showcase game.

The win improves the Blue to 9-6 and sends them into a showcase semifinal  against the Cleveland Charge in Orlando on Friday.

The Blue held a 34-31 lead following the first quarter. The second quarter was a different story; the Herd entered halftime with a 62-57 lead. The Blue entered the final frame with a two-point lead, and it remained a back-and-forth contest. Neither team led by more than seven points.

The Blue shot 46% from the field and went 20-of-42 (47.6%) from 3. OKC distributed 26 assists on 38 made shots.

Meanwhile, the Herd shot 47% from the field and went 13-of-34 (38.2%) from 3. They dished 26 assists on 45 buckets.

Some notable individual performances for both sides:

  • Keyontae Johnson: 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting, four rebounds, three assists
  • Miller Kopp: 27 points on 7-of-13 shooting, 7-of-10 from 3, five rebounds
  • KJ Williams: 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting, 4-of-10 from 3, 12 rebounds
  • TyTy Washington Jr.: 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting, five assists, four rebounds
  • Marques Boldon: 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, seven rebounds, three assists
  • Wenyen Gabriel: 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting, eight rebounds
  • Lindell Wigginton: 18 points on 8-of-18 shooting, 2-of-9 from 3, seven assists

The full highlights from the Blue’s one-point win over the Milwaukee Bucks’ G League affiliate can be watched below:

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Six Boston Celtics alumni ink new deals with G League teams

No longer seen as the land of outcasts it once was but as more of a viable path into — or back into — the NBA, players are also much better compensated for their play.

A number of former Boston Celtics training camp invitees and other alumni officially found new homes for the season in the NBA’s G League on various different ball clubs within it, per HoopsHype’s Alberto De Roa.

No longer seen as the land of outcasts it once was but as more of a viable path into — or back into — the NBA, players are also much better compensated for their play at the G League level than they once were, adding to the attraction while putting themselves in the developmental pipelines of Association ball clubs in ways playing overseas in Europe, China, or Australia can’t match.

Let’s take a look at who went where.

G League coach calls ref ‘(expletive) clown’ in a fiery postgame interview

Whoa.

The Wisconsin Herd, the Milwaukee Bucks’ G League affiliate, sit atop the league standings with a 28-9 record. They’re led by a 31-year-old, first-time head coach in Chase Buford and feature former Naismith Award winner Frank Mason III.

But Sunday wasn’t a great day for the Herd.

They blew a 21-point lead in a loss to the Grand Rapids Drive, and Buford — the son of Spurs CEO R. C. Buford and a former Kansas walk-on — wasn’t exactly in the calmest state of mind when it came time to speak to the media.

In the postgame interview, Buford fired off on the officiating, calling out the referee by name — and then calling him a “(expletive) clown.” It was quite the scene.

Buford said:

“The officiating definitely went right for Grand Rapids. That was as unprofessional as an officiating performance — I hope you tweet this out and tag the league because that was embarrassing. Matt Rafferty is a (expletive) clown. That being said, we have to be so much better at the end of games. We can’t blow a 21-point lead with 12 minutes to go however bad and biased and unfair and illegal and cheating the referees are, we have to be better closing games. And so, that’s the way I feel.”

Come Sunday night, though, Buford issued a written apology to referee Matt Rafferty.

Still, the rant will live on forever.

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