Quick Showcase takes on the D-League and the world

This much I know is true: The D-League Showcase is awesome.

The combination of readily available D-League players, coaches and front office members along with an abundance of scouts and several NBA executives plus fellow media members plus continuous basketball from 11 in the morning to 10 or 11 at night, all in an arena connected to the hotel used by most team personnel, has rendered this week devoid of dull moments. Over the last two days, every turn has yielded yet another acquaintance to make, another hoops junkie to talk to, another voice from which to glean insight. In between all the chatter, there has been plenty of basketball to watch.

So with all that said, I’ll ask that you politely excuse the current lack of absurdly long and rambling narratives from my time at Showcase.  With each day beginning before dawn and seeming to end just before the next day is ready to break, I’m still trying to process several of the fantastic experiences that have taken place over the last 48 hours.  Between hour-long chats with team presidents, a revealing dialogue with Idaho coach Bob MacKinnon about why he runs the offense he does, introspective hotel lobby conversations with Lanny Smith and Tre Whitted and a myriad of other encounters, I’m learning more about the D-League, its organizations, coaches and players than I ever could have imagined when I left the Playpen (read: my house) on Long Island at four antemeridian on Monday.  Over the days and weeks to come, we’ll be delving into all of that as well as the requisite several instances of your humble narrator making a complete fool of himself.

For now, we’ll refer those of you interested in gamer-type coverage to Scott Schroeder’s great work at Ridiculous Upside, extend congratulations to former Idaho Stampede guard Sundiata Gaines for being called up by the Utah Jazz on Tuesday and talk a bit about where the D-League stands in the global basketball scene.

The NBA D-League has made it clear that it aspires to offer the best basketball in the world outside the NBA. Its main competition in that regard is the variety of leagues overseas, especially in Europe. The ever-growing number of successful foreign-born NBA players and increased competition the United States has received at the national level in recent years has only increased the prominence of those overseas leagues. While I have watched a fair bit of D-League hoops at this point, I’m guilty of being a bit behind in watching basketball played outside North America (and the Olympics). So I consulted some folks more knowledgeable than myself in both areas for their thoughts on whether the D-League is achieving its goal at this point and found surprisingly mixed results considering the D-League bent of the small panel.

Vipers coach Chris Finch spent time coaching in England, Germany and Belgium before taking over in Rio Grande Valley this fall. While he wouldn’t pass definitive judgment in either direction, he called the D-League’s goal “ambitious” and offered an intriguing breakdown of two different versions of basketball.

“With the players often being young, often having several key deficiencies with their NBA games and playing NBA rules, naturally you’re gonna see some breakdown in the play,” Finch said.  “It may expose some people, and the game doesn’t look as crisp as it does overseas.  It’s certainly more athletic and powerful.  Overseas, it’s physical in a different way. The contact that they allow to go on overseas kind of messes up the game.  Even though the athletes here are more physical, it’s not a clean game over there. I don’t mean that they’re dirty overseas; it’s just refereed differently.”

Finch made a point of noting that there are several very good leagues in a variety of countries, even those not traditionally thought of us basketball powerhouses. While he didn’t quite take the age-old different-rules copout (and he gets some credit for that), he did beg out of putting forth a vote for either side, intimating instead that D-Leaguers may be less polished but possess more physical tools and play in a game that allows them to exercise those tools but not to abuse them.

Maine Red Claws President Jon Jennings concurred with the point Finch made about the issue of holes in the games of D-League players.

“I think it is [the best] for what we are,” said Jennings. “We are a development league. We are a professional league that develops players. As long as you understand that, then yes.”

I’m not sure what to make of that. I’m in agreement with Jon’s rhetoric as far as the primary purpose of the D-League is concerned. It’s absolutely about developing players. But when it comes to offering the best ball outside the NBA, it stands to reason that leagues where players possess more polished skills would be more appealing to some observers. Once again, it becomes a question of what “best” is. If being the best is about being the league that most prepares players for playing in the NBA, the D-League is in a great position thanks to its affiliations with NBA teams and mirroring of NBA rules. If it’s merely about watchable basketball, I’m not as sure. Without having watched much overseas play, I’m not qualified to make a judgment, but it’s interesting to me that both Finch and Jennings prefaced their comments with the notes about understanding that it’s about player development here.

Celtics Director of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge could be found courtside throughout the first two days of the Showcase and has done plenty of scouting in Europe as well. He noted that a number of high-profile players in Europe who weren’t ready for the NBA have come to the D-League.

“I don’t want to discredit the Euro leagues, and I can’t really say one way or the other,” Ainge said, “but I think some of the D-League teams could compete in some of the better leagues all around the world.”

D-Fenders coach Chucky Brown, never one to pull punches, registered the most starkly contrasting view to the idea of D-League as supreme non-NBA ball:

“I’d have to say it’s the best basketball in America outside the NBA.  Over in Europe they may have more seasoned guys. There’s some D-League guys that probably couldn’t get a job overseas because they probably aren’t good enough.”

We’ve reached the point where I’m normally prone to making some kind of pseudo-grand conclusion, but I don’t have one here. I haven’t watched enough basketball played outside North America to really have a clue. At the end of the day, I’m not sure it matters because of the differing ideals of what it means to be the best brand of basketball not in the NBA. But considering that title is a goal of the league, it seemed worth listening to the views of those more informed than I am. I’ll be continuing this discussion with executives in the future and hoping to get some views from those on the other side of the pond as well.