On Wednesday in this space, I picked the Tulsa 66ers to unseat the top-seeded Iowa Energy en route to the D-League’s 2010 Finals. The call-ups of Mustafa Shakur and Byron Mullens to the playoff-bound Oklahoma City Thunder earlier this week lend to a much different picture of the series than initially expected, but because I’m not convinced they won’t be back at some point during this series (and since I’m a man of prognosticating integrity if not accuracy), the pick stands as made.
But that doesn’t make me any less intrigued by a certain high-energy slasher wearing purple and orange: Mark Tyndale.
Tyndale appeared in all 50 regular season games for the Energy this year, coming off the bench in all but three of them. On a team that had three players called up to the NBA (Othyus Jeffers, Cartier Martin and Earl Barron), an occasionally contributing NBA assignee (Taylor Griffin) and a do-it-all All-Star point guard (Curtis Stinson), it’s easy to overlook the contribution the team’s aggressive sixth man made throughout the season.
A 6-5 swingman from Temple, Tyndale doesn’t bring a great outside shot to the table. But he has no shortage of aggressiveness and athleticism around the rim. All season, he sparked the Energy with his ability to put the ball on the floor, get to the rim and finish, draw fouls and sometimes combine all of the above. Despite shooting less than 30 percent from beyond the arc (and taking less than an attempt a game from out there) and shooting 69.6 percent from the foul line, Tyndale averaged 12.3 points in 23.3 minutes per game. Most impressively, he got his points on a super-efficient 60.6 percent true shooting. He scored 20 points on nine occasions in the regular season before posting 24 in the series-clinching Game 3 win over Utah in the first round.
When I watched Tyndale in person in Springfield around the turn of the calendar, he sat the entire first quarter and still managed to post 30 points in just 22 minutes. While it helped that he took on the league’s worst team (and worst defensive unit) that night, the attacking approach that got Tyndale those points comes to the gym with him each night. He understands his limits offensively, doesn’t try to do too much and rarely forces shots from the outside. But he looks to go to the rim with abandon, and his ability to absorb contact and shift the positioning of the ball on his way up make him quite effective once he gets to the cup.
While the recent recall of Taylor Griffin to the Suns leaves us uncertain as to whether Tyndale will start games on the floor or seated the rest of the way, he will no doubt play a significant role in determining the Energy’s fate. The 66ers had best be ready to protect the rim from 18 in purple.
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