Saturday, February 13th, 2010 at 10:57 pm  |  5 responses

NBA D-League All-Star Game Recap

Brian Butch, aka “Polar Bear,” Wins MVP.

by Maurice Bobb / @reesereport

As most of you already know, Dallas’ weather threw the nation’s basketball aficionados one helluva curveball for the 2010 NBA All Star Weekend in Dallas. Snow? In Texas? I’d have been less surprised to learn that Sarah Palin was a returning champion on Jeopardy. Ok, so Old Man Winter got his rocks off by wreaking havoc on the best weekend the L has to offer, but it was too much for a guy nicknamed, “Polar Bear” to end up as the MVP of the 2010 NBA Development League All-Star Game.

Yes SLAM fam, this is not a joke. A joke would be: How much does a Polar Bear weigh? Enough to break the ice. No this is fact. Brian Butch, whose nickname is the “Polar Bear,” scored 18 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead the West All Stars past the East 98-81 in front of a capacity crowd at Center Court at Jam Session presented by adidas.

Cornball serendipity aside, Butch, a former Wisconsin star and the NBA D-League’s 16th-leading scorer at 16.1 ppg, brought his A game to help lead his squad to the W.

Butch got some help on O from Diamon Simpson of the Los Angeles D-Fenders, who chipped in 15 points and Rio Grande Valley’s Mike Harris who finished with 14.

The Iowa Energy’s Earl Barron, who spent parts of three seasons with the Miami Heat from 2005 through 2008, dominated the paint for the East team with 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting and Sioux Falls’ Reggie Williams, the D-League’s third-leading scorer with 25.8 ppg, poured in17 points on some pretty wing treys in a losing effort.

For the most part, this game was all about the players getting some burn in front of the multitude of the NBA shot-callers.  Some of these players might be getting a phone call soon, especially Barron, who made it look easy and Iowa’s Curtis Stinson, who dished out a game-high 11 dimes.
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  • http://slamonline.com Ben Osborne

    I liked seeing Curtis Stinson do his thing.

  • Anthony B

    Mustafa Shakur threw down some nice dunks.

    Do the D-Fenders have to be just as annoying as the Lakers looking out of place with their yellow home jerseys? It looked like 6 on 4 out there.

  • Vinyljunkie

    It is great to see coaches from the Team GB set up heading up both the D-League All Star teams. Lets hope the experience helps the British game.

    If you want to follow British basketball closer it is worth a visit to http://www.insidethegame.co.uk

  • therighttoremainsalient

    Earl Barron should get a call up from the Suns. NAsh could make that kid stick in the NBA and he might to a good enough job that the suns can trade Amar`e for a couple of defenders with a thing to prove in offense… a few players that fit in well along Dudley, Hill and could play that PF position…

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