First off, let me give some shoutouts to a couple of loyal blog readers, Maritza and Vic. Maritza, a former Vipers game-operations worker, sent me an e-mail today saying she was accepted for a summer intership at ESPN. That is great news and good luck to you in the big time Maritza.
We miss you Maritza. The new game ops people don’t even respond when you say hi. They’ve been trained well.
Vic is a new reader of the blog and has seen his quality of life improve significantly since the discovery. Vic does a lot of everything for the Vipers and is an invaluable member of the organization.
We’re courtside at Dodge Arena and Tulsa’s Keith Closs just said something to me before shooting a 3-pointer at the Vipers’ basket. I agreed with him and said “you can hit that” and then he proceeded to miss. Sorry, but I don’t disagree with people over 7-feet tall.
In better news, the young man who bought Quin Humphrey’s game jersey from Houston Rockets affiliate night a few weeks ago was brought onto the court by Humphrey to shoot some pregame 3s. That’s a pretty classy thing of Quin and I’m sure that experience (plus the family taking pictures of it) will be worth more than what he paid for the jersey.
This is it. The last Vipers game of their inaugural season. What a rollercoaster ride. At the beginning of the year I didn’t think C.J. Watson would be here at this time, and that prediction came true. But I never would have thought coach Bob Hoffman would be gone, not to mention most of the game operations staff.
The starting lineup from the Vipers’ season opener Nov. 23 against Austin included Watson and Kenny Taylor at the guards, Gabe Muoneke and Jarred Merrill at forward and Kevin Bookout at center. Those five, along with Houston Rockets assignment player Steve Novak who sat that game out with back spasms, are looooong gone.
At the beginning of the season, namely when the Vipers were 7-2, I believed tonight’s game against Tulsa would have playoff implications. Unfortuntately for the Vipers, the ones with the postseason hopes are the 66ers. Tulsa is 25-23 and clinging to slight playoff hopes. The 66ers need to win tonight and Saturday at Austin and then have Colorado lose its remaining two games to make the playoffs. The Vipers snuffed out Albuquerque’s postseason dreams a couple of weeks ago by beating them three straight, so they obviously relish the role of spoiler.
Speaking of those three wins, the Vipers are 3-0 since acting coach Brian Walsh took over for Hoffman. Ownership reportedly is interested in making Walsh the team’s permanent hire, but the NBA is reportedly holding the process up from what my sources tell me.
Just had a brief chat with Fang, the Vipers’ mascot. His long red tongue is back attached (it was missing during the last home game). It’s a family blog, so I won’t even try to interpret what he/she told me what happened to it.
Vipers point guard Quannas White is in street clothes, meaning he’ll miss his third straight game to finish the season. White was one of Hoffman’s guys so I think this is probably the end of his Vipers’ career. If that’s the case, White will go down as one of the team’s class guys. He was a guest on an early episode of my video show On The Beat and did a good job while Stanley Asumnu was shooting free throws in the background.
Vipers 15, Tulsa 12, 5:39 remaining in the first quarter
Tulsa got the early jump, but the Vipers have heated up of late to take the lead at the first mandatory timeout. Desmon Farmer, who is chasing Utah’s Morris Almond for the D-League scoring title, has five points on 2-of-4 shooting, but has hit his last two. If he doesn’t get at least 40 tonight this is one blogger who will be shocked.
Vipers 28, Tulsa 20, end of the first quarter
Farmer has nine points and the Vipers are looking like the team that finished March with three straight victories (this is their first game of April). They’re shooting 52.4 percent from the field and are receiving contributions from Stanley Asumnu (seven points, three rebounds, three steals) and Quin Humphrey (six points, 2 for 2 on 3-pointers).
Tulsa is led by Mike Hall’s six points, but starting point guard Jeremy Kelly has two fouls.
Vipers 35, Tulsa 31, 5:36 remaining in the second quarter
While Kelly has two fouls, that’s not necessarily good news for the Vipers. That’s because backup point guard Jason Fontenet killed RGV last time they played. Don’t remember the particulars, but the 5-foot-10 Fontenet was huge in that game. He’s already got six points and is finding his way into the lane.
Humphrey has nine points for the Vipers while Farmer still has seven as he took a blow to start the quarter. Hall leads Tulsa with nine.
Vipers 40, Tulsa 36, 2:49 remaining in the second quarter
It looks like Tulsa is making a concerted effort to shut down Farmer. Not necessarily because they don’t want him to win the D-League scoring title, but because they want to win the game.
That being said, Farmer has a game-high 12 points, but he’s going to need a lot more than that to catch Almond (toast Almond?). Tulsa’s harassing D has limited Farmer to eight shots (he’s made five of them).
The Vipers’ defense has been impressive as well. Tulsa is shooting just 37.1 percent. Can’t remember the last time the Vipers were this deep into a game and an opponent was shooting under 40 percent.
Vipers 48, Tulsa 42, halftime
Despite being outrebounded 28-22, the Vipers are holding the lead at the break. Farmer still has 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. He leads all scorers and also have five assists, including a thread-the-needle dime at the end of the half that led to an Asumnu dunk. Speaking of Asumnu, he has 10 points, six rebounds and three steals. He’s been a force since being inserted into the starting lineup. Looks like a really good move by Walsh to get more minutes for “The Animal”.
Ivan Johnson has eight points off the Vipers’ bench. The only problem for the Vipers was that the burly power forward hit his first 3-point shot. Of course, that convinced him to shoot two more, which were off.
Tulsa is shooting just 15-of-40 (37.5 percent) and has committed a whopping 16 turnovers. The 66ers have lost four straight, and if they continue that performance it’ll be five in a row. Talk about the wheels falling off at the end of the season (you can also use “leaking oil” if you’re looking for another sports cliche).
Highlight of the first half was getting the thumbs up from Vipers play-by-play man extraordinaire Alex Del Barrio when I asked him what he thought of the Snake Charmers’ videos we had on www.themonitor.com this week. I enjoyed them myself.
Vipers 65, Tulsa 56, 4:59 remaining in the third quarter
The Vipers are playing without a point guard as Kris Collins has not played since the first quarter and Quannas White is out. Nevertheless, they’re still winning. Don’t know what Collins’ malady is, but as soon as I find out, I’ll let all three of you know.
Farmer is being more aggressive. He’s been calling for the ball and taking some wild shots. As long as the Vipers are winning, it’s all good. He has a game-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Asumnu is continuing his fine play. He already has a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Russell Carter, not the guy who was an SMU defensive back in the 1980s, leads Tulsa with 13 points.
Vipers 74, Tulsa 65, end of the third quarter
Announced attendance tonight is 5,009. Not quite a sellout, but a pretty good crowd nonetheless.
Farmer is up to 20 points for the Vipers and they’re looking like a good bet to make it four straight wins to end the season. 20 is the magic number as that’s also the number of turnovers Tulsa has through three quarters. Very sloppy. The 66ers are shooting 40 percent on 24-of-60 from the field.
Scott Merritt and Carter have 14 points apiece to lead Tulsa.
The Asumnu Watch has The Animal with 18 points, 11 rebounds and four steals through three.
Johnson has missed two more 3-pointers.
Vipers 91, Tulsa 82, 5:38 remaining in the fourth quarter
Johnson just dropped off a nice pass to Humphrey on the break for a layup and forced Tulsa coach Joey Meyer to call a time out.
The 66ers had pulled to within 76-74 after Fontenet netted a 3-pointer with 9:49 remaining. But Johnson hit a 3-pointer (you read that right) and then Farmer hit a jumper and Trent Strickland converted a three-point play.
Farmer has a game-high 23 points for the Vipers, who are already in the penalty.
Vipers 97, Tulsa 89, 1:51 remaining in the fourth quarter
Tulsa has turned it over on two straight possessions. Farmer’s layup has just given the Vipers an eight-point lead.
Vipers 98, Tulsa 93, 47.6 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter
The Vipers have just turned it over. Tulsa ball.
Vipers 101, Tulsa 95, final score
Farmer hit a clutch corkscrew layup past the tough defense of Kelly to put the Vipers up 99-95 with 16 seconds remaining, then Mike Hall was called for clearing out on a 3-point shot attempt. That led to a pair of clutch free throws by Quin Humphrey.
Derrick Dial’s final 3-point attempt was off the rim and out, securing the Vipers’ fourth-straight win to close the season.
Farmer finished with 27 points and likely won’t get the scoring title, but his layup clinched this victory. He also had nine assists and four rebounds.
For Tulsa, it’s the end of the line for them as well as the loss officially eliminates the 66ers from the playoffs.
Kudos to Humphrey as he had to play point guard most of the game once Collins went down. Tulsa started doubling the ball in the second half, but the Vipers still managed to pull out the victory. Humphrey had 15 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Chris Ellis led Tulsa with 17 points off the bench.
