D-League Bulls turn in stellar debut performance
For the first game in franchise history, the D-League's Windy City Bulls were remarkably well-prepared, on and off the court.
The Bulls steam-rolled the visiting Long Island Nets 123-94, while the season opener at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates drew an enthusiastic crowd of just under 4,000.
"It was great. They were talking on the bench that they've never seen a D-League crowd like this, chanting and stuff," said Bulls forward J.J. Avila. "It was a great experience."
The Bulls' starters rolled up a quick 23-8 advantage and the lead peaked at a whopping 58-23 with 4:45 left in the second quarter.
Avila led the Bulls with 21 points, guard Spencer Dinwiddie finished with 17 points and 11 assists, center Alec Brown added 17 points, while guard Thomas Walkup contributed 13 points and 6 steals. The Bulls piled up 42 assists on the night and shot 55 percent from the field.
Shooting guard R.J. Hunter, on assignment from the NBA Bulls, was the one starter who had an off-night, hitting just 3 of 13 shots for 10 points.
"We just mesh well," Brown said. "You see a lot of D-League teams that just have one or two guys taking all the shots. I could kind of tell right away that we really wanted to move the ball and get everyone looks. You really get the best looks (for shots) and you could see it tonight."
Clearly, the Bulls had a good plan on how to build the D-League roster, led by assistant GM Brian Hagen and Windy City manager of basketball operations Jeff Feld.
Teams are allowed to send four affiliate players - guys released by the parent team - to play in the D-League. So when Walkup, Avila and guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera signed with the Bulls before training camp, they knew their eventual destination was Hoffman Estates.
Most every day in October at the end of Bulls practice at the Advocate Center, coach Nate Loenser worked with those three, often adding second-round pick Paul Zipser to the mix. Convincing Dinwiddie to play in the D-League after he was released late in Bulls camp was another important move. When the Windy City Bulls got together on Nov. 1, their key players were already familiar with each other.
"Our front office put a lot of time and effort into getting some of the right guys in here," Loenser said. "Some of this was done before I was even named head coach. We've got good guys. It was just neat to see the guys out there sharing it and playing for each other."
The extra attractions at the Sears Centre included a fun zone for kids in one end zone, time out entertainment and the unveiling of a new mascot, basically a light brown version of Benny the Bull.
The team will be tested again right away. The players were set to return to the Sears Centre at 5 a.m., bus to O'Hare, fly to Cleveland, then bus to Erie, Pa. for the first road game Saturday night against the Erie Bayhawks.
"A lot of us really haven't done that ever," Avila said. "So it will be pretty fun to do that and see how it goes."