Primarily a collection of news links about all 11 Horizon League teams on a daily basis, culled from online newspapers, school athletic websites, the conference website, and school newspapers, plus some other content from time to time.
Allen’s decision means the Heat will enter free agency Monday with 12 players signed to guaranteed contracts: Allen, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Mario Chalmers, Udonis Haslem, Shane Battier, Mike Miller, Norris Cole, James Jones, Joel Anthony and Rashard Lewis.
Unlike year's past, the Heat staff will focus mostly during the summer on players who weren't on the current roster. Last season the attention was on the development of guard Norris Cole and center Dexter Pittman. Cole played a key role for the second straight year on a championship team while Pittman was traded at midseason. Forward Jarvis Varnado, who played sparingly, is the only player from the 2012-13 team who will participate in summer league.
With Allen opting in, it leaves the Heat with 12 players under guaranteed contract for next season: Allen, James, Wade, Bosh, Haslem, Lewis, Shane Battier, Mike Miller, Joel Anthony, James Jones, Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole.
For the Heat, still basking in a second consecutive championship, the concerns are limited, with 12 players already under guaranteed contract for next season: Allen, James, Wade, Bosh, Lewis, Battier, Jones, Chalmers, Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller, Joel Anthony and Norris Cole. In addition, neophyte center Jarvis Varnado has a non-guaranteed contract in place that starts to become guaranteed if he is on the opening-night roster.
Through it all, it means the Heat now have 11 players under contract for next season: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem, Shane Battier, Mike Miller, Joel Anthony, Norris Cole, Lewis, Jones and Jarvis Varnado (who holds the lone non-guaranteed contract of the group).
2013-14 contract status: Cole is under contract for $1.1 million next season, with the Heat controlling his rookie-scale draft rights for two additional seasons.
How the math works: Perhaps most cost-effective labor on the Heat roster.
Minnerath first became exposed to scouts when they came to see his teammate, point guard prospect Ray McCallum but left with Minnerath looking just as impressive. Minnerath averaged 14.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game for Detroit. For teams looking for a forward with a jump shot that can have an offensive impact at the next level, Minnerath has become extremely attractive. He has had 7 workouts (2 with the Celtics).
Following Sacramento’s selection of Ben McLemore and Ray McCallum in the NBA Draft, get reaction from Ranadivé, D’Alessandro, Malone, Kings fans and more.
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Before the celebratory evening drew to a close, the Kings nabbed Detroit guard Ray McCallum – a three-time All-Horizon selection and 2013 Horizon League Player of the Year – with the 36th-overall pick.
“(McCallum is) one of the classiest, classiest young men you’ll ever meet and a heck of a player,” said D’Alessandro.
The Lute Olson All-American led the conference in scoring (18.7 points per game) and steals (1.9), while finishing second in assists (4.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2) and sixth in field-goal percentage (49.1 percent).
As the Kings strive for all-around improvement, Head Coach Michael Malone believes both draftees will make a significant impact on the court and in the locker room.
Ginobili converted a three-point play after drawing a baseline foul on Ray Allen. He buried a hang-in-the-air floater over Norris Cole. He found Splitter for a reverse layup.
Finally, he scored on a six-foot bank shot, blowing past Cole and beating Udonis Haslem's block attempt.
• The Heat’s point guard play has deteriorated in the past week.
After an impressive showing earlier in postseason, Norris Cole has shot just 6 for 22 in the Finals. And after his 19-point, no-turnover gem in Game 2, Mario Chalmers scored 13 points on 4-for-19 shooting in the past three games, with more turnovers (10) than assists (7).
“We haven’t been getting the same looks we had in Game 2,” Chalmers said.
Sunday, though, it was Allen unable to contain Manu Ginobili, Norris Cole unable to corral Tony Parker, Mario Chalmers unable to control his worse instincts.
4. Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole have to give something. Anything would be better than their Game 5’s. After four games, Tony Parker decided he was going to take them to the basket every time he got the ball. Cole, especially, may have played himself out of the series against the best point guard in the game (or anyone else, as LeBron and Wade also tried to cover him). On four straight possessions, Parker had four scoring plays (three field goals, two foul shots). What’s more, they’re not making Parker exert energy on defense. Chalmers shot two-for-10. Cole missed his only shot. Since scoring 19 points in Game 2, Chalmers has totaled 13 points in the following three games.
Cedric Jackson
Cleveland State 3/5/86 6'3" 190 lbs Guard
Played for the NZ Breakers for two seasons (2011-13) and was named the 2013 Australian NBL regular season and finals MVP. Played in the Australian NBL All-Star Game in 2013.
In 2009-10, played in 12 games for three NBA teams – Cleveland, San Antonio and Washington – and averaged 1.7 points, 0.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.
Played in the NBA D-League from 2009-11 with the Erie Bayhawks and Idaho Stampede, where he averaged 14.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game. Jackson participated in the D-League All-Star Game in 2011.
Spent two years at St. John’s for college before transferring to Cleveland State after the 2006 season. He competed for Cleveland State from 2007-09
In addition to Boeheim and K, Greg Kampe (Oakland), Rick Byrd (Belmont), and Fang Mitchell (Coppin State) have all been at their jobs since the mid-80s.
Triton’s Clay Yeo, a Valparaiso recruit, scored 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting and 2-of-2 free throws for the Seniors. Yeo’s total included a 3-pointers.
The Veteran Presence – The Horizon League Network:
Back before there was the Horizon League Network there was John Servizzi. The Butler graduate was experimenting with streaming the Bulldogs’ games on the Internet. At the same time, Horizon League commissioner Jon LeCrone was looking for a way to get more out of the conference’s Game of the Week broadcasts. Online streaming seemed like an option.
In 2006 WebStream Productions and Horizon League Network (HLN) were born. The online portal now provides a place for any Horizon League fan to catch conference and non-conference games. The site showed more than 450 events during the 2012-13 academic year and had more than 30,000 unique viewer streams.
“It’s become one of our chief marketing tools,” said Bill Potter, the Horizon League’s director of communications and new media. “From a marketing perspective we know that everyone around the country can find our games in one to two clicks. Coaches can tell parents, ‘You’ll be able to see your kids play.’ From a marketing, visibility, coaching and recruiting standpoint it’s been great for us over the past seven years.”
Servizzi is now the CEO of WebStream Productions, which is also working with the Missouri Valley Conference and Ohio Valley Conference. The Midwestern client base can be attributed to a corporate headquarters in Indianapolis. WebStream produces more than 1,000 streams annually.
“They’re great partners. There’s a trust that’s been built between their office and our office,” Potter said.
Throughout its entire history HLN has been a free service. It turns out that one of the hardest decisions a league has to make is whether its streaming will be free or have some sort of pay model attached. Potter said that internal discussions about making HLN paid come up, but that it would come at the cost of losing about half the league’s online audience.
“Initially we just wanted to expose it to as many people as possible,” Potter said. “From there once people caught on and they knew it was free and they liked that it was free, so we valued it more and more.”
HLN is still innovating. Their iPad application lets fans get to games almost instantly and has made the second screen an important viewing tool. The league has also embraced HD streaming. The rise in the numbers of online viewing options means every league must put out a top-notch product.
That includes the broadcasting teams as well. Most HLN basketball games rely on the home team’s radio broadcasters for audio. While it’s possible for away team fans tuning in to feel a little bias, Potter said that broadcasters have worked hard to be knowledgeable about both teams and that they use the technology to their advantage.
“What we’ve found is that our announcers, knowing that they are broadcasting both for a home and a road audience have really adjusted to being more neutral in their calls and they’re also using the HLN broadcast on their call as well,” Potter said. “It’s been another nice tool for our announcers and they continue to get better year in and year out.”
Put it all together and the Horizon League Network has become a model that other leagues are looking to follow as they move into online streaming.
For Chalmers, the turnaround — however small — was welcome. Through the first six quarters in San Antonio, Chalmers was a nonfactor. He was hit with three quick fouls in Game 3 and was held scoreless, missing all five of his shots and turning it over four times. Making matters worse for the Heat, backup Norris Cole hasn’t been much better, hitting 3 of 12 shots in Games 3 and 4.
Parker had 13 points, shooting just 5 for 14 with as many turnovers (five) as assists (five).
“We tried not to let him get comfortable with one matchup,” said Mario Chalmers, who outscored Parker 19-13 and defended him for a good chunk of the night, with James and Norris Cole also sharing the defensive load.
The next step for Chalmers is to play with more consistency. He endured lapses throughout the season where he struggled, even being outplayed by backup Norris Cole during stretches. Now, he has played Parker to a standstill thus far in the series.
Kendrick Perry, Youngstown State: Perry will enter his senior year with the Penguins next season and you may start to hear his name more and more outside of the Horizon League. He has become one the nation's most efficient guard over the past couple of years averaging over 17 points, 4 assists, and 5 rebounds per game this past season. He helped lead the Penguins to the CIT this past year, which was the first postseason basketball appearance in school history.
Keifer Sykes, Green Bay: Speaking of the Horizon League, how about Keifer Sykes from Green Bay. In his sophomore campaign for the Phoenix he put up 16 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds per game in route to being named to the All-Conference First Team. Sykes will add some stability to a program that has seen its fair share of instability this offseason.
Before Thursday’s game, Spoelstra said the Heat had to be aggressive when it came to defending the quick and shifty Parker. When Miami was able to have Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole stay close, Parker was more apt to dish the ball off.
When they sat back a touch, as Cole did in the fourth, Parker attacked the basket and made Miami pay for it.
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Said Cole: “A couple of them were just tough shots. That last one on LeBron was a busted play, a tough shot.”
Prior to that dagger shot, Parker’s biggest make of the night came at the midway point of the fourth when he turned the motor on and roared to the basket.
Parker left Cole frozen as he spun around and hit the layup to give the Spurs their first lead since the first quarter.
The most disappointing aspect of Parker's strong finish is that the Heat defended well for three quarters. Problems arose when he beat Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole for a couple of baskets. That prompted Spoelstra to turn to LeBron James.
