Give and Go

After being released by the Erie BayHawks last week, forward Taj McCullough was picked up by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. The announcement was made today.

The BayHawks drafted McCullough in the second round of the D-League draft. He injured his left knee in Erie's game against Dakota on Dec. 18th at Tullio Arena.

His last game for Erie was ironically against the Mad Ants the next day at Fort Wayne. The 6-foot, 7-inch, 220-pound forward had four points on 2-of-5 shooting in five minutes and 55 seconds of action.

In his eight games with the BayHawks, McCullough averaged 6.5 points on 47.5 percent shooting from the field.

McCullough didn't tear any ligaments in the knee so he'll likely play for the Mad Ants either tomorrow (Jan. 3) or Sunday when they play Central Division leader Iowa both days at home.

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McCullough with Erie

The holiday season is over.

Basketball season isn't.

So it's time to get back to work. Oh by the way, I accomplished my five must-do things and even brought some lemon cake home.

I'll be working out tonight. Got to shed the extra pounds I put on.

Anyway, talked with Erie coach John Treloar today. I had to catch up on a few things.

Forward Erik Daniels has 17 points and 10 rebounds in the first half to lead the Erie BayHawks to a 42-33 halftime lead at Sioux Falls.

The BayHawks are looking to bounce back after losing at Dakota on New Year's Eve. Sioux Falls has lost its last two games.

Daniels played all 24 minutes in the first half. The BayHawks (8-5) will take on the Skyforce again tomorrow at Sioux Falls. The Skyforce (9-4) are a game ahead of the BayHawks in the Central Division as both teams are trailing divisional leader Iowa (8-1)

Iowa's only loss this season came against Erie in the BayHawks' home opener.
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The Erie BayHawks bounced back from a loss at Dakota on New Year's Eve to beat Sioux Falls, 87-81, on Friday night at Sioux Falls.

Forward Erik Daniels scored a game-high 28 points and added a game-high 13 rebounds for the BayHawks (9-5). Ivan Harris added 15 points while Mike Cook, in his fourth game with the BayHawks, chipped in 14 points off the bench for the BayHawks.

A former Pittsburgh guard, Cook was 10-of-11 from the free-throw line. This is the second game he's played in for the BayHawks after not playing in home games against Reno and Bakersfield last month.

Cook was cut during training camp for medical reasons, but was brought back after forward Taj McCullough had a knee injury. The BayHawks have since waived McCullough, who is now with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

Glen McGowan led the Skyforce with (9-5) with 27 points and 11 rebounds.

The Skyforce and BayHawks will face each other again tomorrow at Sioux Falls.

The BayHawks were unable to sweep their two-game series at Sioux Falls as they lost Saturday to the Skyforce, 110-92.

Erik Daniels scored 18 points and added eight rebounds to lead the BayHawks (9-6), who were tied with the Skyforce (10--5) heading into the game. Former Pittsburgh guard Mike Cook added 17 off the bench.

The Skyforce snapped a three-game losing skid while the BayHawks have lost two of their last three games.

The D-League Showcase begins Monday through Jan. 8 in Orem, Utah and the BayHawks play Tuesday against Tulsa.

Here are a few articles on the Tulsa 66ers (4-12), who face the Erie BayHawks (9-6) in the D-League Showcase today in Orem, Utah. The 66ers have lost eight of their last 10 games while the BayHawks are 6-4 in their last 10 games.

Tulsa evens series series with Colorado

Bighorns rally; trample Sixers

Utah Flash fly past Tulsa 66ers

The D-League Showcase is a chance for D-League players to display their talent and skills to a team representative from every NBA team this week. From Monday till Jan. 8, every D-League team will play two games in Orem, Utah, where the Utah Flash play, before NBA scouts, general managers and other team representatives.

So to preview it, the NBA did this article on the talent to look out for.

Good article, but it failed to mention one of the best players in the D-League - Erik Daniels of the Erie BayHawks.

He's fifth in the league in scoring (21 ppg.), eighth in rebounding (9.6) and tied for third in double doubles with eight on the season. The 6-foot, 8-inch Daniels is also shooting 38.3 percent from 3-point range.

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Looking at the Erie BayHawks' roster, many of these guys came from big-time college programs.

You've got Jackie Manuel, who went to North Carolina and won a national title. You've got Erik Daniels, who played at Kentucky, but Mike Cook has the most to smile about these days.

Cook played at Pittsburgh and the Panthers are ranked No. 1 in both national polls. They are 14-0 and to think Cook might be there now had he been granted that extra year of eligibility after having a season-ending knee injury.

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That's Cook while in college at Pitt.

The Erie BayHawks (9-7) lost their first game ever in the D-League Showcase to a team that had only four wins entering the game.

The Tulsa 66ers (5-12) never trailed in beating the BayHawks, 94-85, on Tuesday evening at the McKay Events Center in Orem, Utah.

Erie forward Erik Daniels lead the BayHawks with 20 points, but he shot only 6-of-19 from the field. As a team, Erie only shot 34.4 percent from the field.

The BayHawks have now lost three of their last four games and they'll try to rebound against the Albuquerque Thunderbirds (4-10) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the D-League Showcase.

The Thunderbirds have won their last two games, scoring a total of 231 points in those victories.

Before I even talk about the game, the crowd at this game was terrible. This was supposed to be part of the the D-League Showcase in Orem, Utah where the Utah Flash play.

How about having some faces show up at the game other than those NBA GMs, scouts and other representatives scouting D-League talent.

Anyway.

The BayHawks have now lost back-to-back games to teams that had only four wins entering the game. On Tuesday, they lost to Tulsa and tonight, Albuquerque (5-10) derailed the BayHawks, 96-95.

Oliver Lafayette lead the BayHawks (9-8) with 28 points on 8-of-16 shooting. He was 5-of-10 from 3-point range and the last one he hit got the BayHawks within one with a second left.

Ivan Harris added 16 while Erik Daniels and Jarvis Gunter had 12 and 11, respectively. Now they'll come home and have a chance to regroup when they take on Fort Wayne on Friday, but here is the concern the BayHawks must have.

They already are a small team to begin with. When they waived forward Taj McCullough and picked up guard Mike Cook, the BayHawks lost some size.

So now they're even smaller, which makes it imperative that they make shots because they're not a team that's going to pound the glass and get second shots.

That's why Coach John Treloar preaches defenses. Now can they turn it around? Sure, but when is the better question.

What ya'll think?

Ya'll know I'm part of the Stephen Curry fan club. Just watched Davidson's game against No. 2 Duke in Durham.

Of course Davidson lost, but Curry finished with 29 points. He got better as the game went on.

What was interesting about the game was ESPN switched commentators and had its pro crew of Mike Tirico, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson do the college game while Dick Vitale is doing an NBA for the first time in over 20 years.

Van Gundy and Jackson were debating how well Curry will play in the NBA. Jackson thinks higher of Curry than Van Gundy, but this is what I think.

Talking with Erie BayHawks guard Mike Cook this afternoon, the former Pittsburgh guard is taking much pride in the Panthers earning the No. 1 ranking in all of college basketball in both national polls.

This is the first time Pitt has ever been ranked No. 1 in the nation.

"I was excited for them," Cook said. "I know how hard they worked in the offseason. To have this opportunity and to finally get it. I texted everybody as soon as it happened. I was just really excited for the team and excited for the coaches. I know the amount of hard work that everybody puts in. That's really a special thing. Especially since it's the first time it's happened in school history. They've been playing for 100 years or something like that so it's good. It's good for the team. I'm happy for them."

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Cook back at Pitt

Here are a few stories on the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (5-10) heading into Friday's game at Tullio Arena against the BayHawks (9-8).

Sims helps Energy clip Mad Ants

Ants hoping to showcase NBA skills

Ants charge back

The Erie BayHawks have added some size to their roster by picking up Darian Townes, a 6-foot, 10-inch, 250-pound forward/center who finished his college career at Arkansas last season.

The BayHawks had to waive a player to get Townes so they parted ways with small forward Geary Claxton, who played at Penn State last season. Claxton was averaging 3.2 points and 3.3 rebounds for the BayHawks. He played in 15 games and was averaging 15 minutes a game.

The BayHawks now have seven roster moves left they can take.

Townes passed the physical this morning and was part of the team's morning shooting session. Since Townes hasn't practiced with the team yet, Erie coach John Treloar isn't sure he'll play him tonight against Fort Wayne.

How the BayHawks got Townes is a story in itself.

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The Erie BayHawks are going to play their game as scheduled against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants at 7 p.m today at Tullio Arena, the BayHawks just announced.

It's going to be very interesting to see how Fort Wayne forward Taj McCullough plays against his former team and if the BayHawks play their latest acquisition, center Darian Townes.

The BayHawks officially acquired Townes earlier this morning and released small forward Geary Claxton.

With the recent roster moves the Erie BayHawks have made, I took a little time to discuss them with their coach, John Treloar, after they beat Fort Wayne, 103-94, Friday night.

Before the game, I talked with Treloar about acquiring 6-foot, 10-inch, 250-pound forward Darian Townes and did an earlier blog post - Adding size. The BayHawks announced the addition on Friday.

In order to add Townes, Treloar had to release a player. He chose to waive Geary Claxton, a 6-foot, 5-inch forward who finished his career at Penn State last season.

Claxton averaged 3.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in 15 games with the BayHawks. Here's what Treloar said about releasing Claxton.

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Claxton

Taj McCullough always has something to say.

As we say back home, he's got jokes. I remember him clowning Brian Robinson during the Erie BayHawks training camp. When we were filming the Erie starters right before the season opener, McCullough jumped into the scene and began commentating on the situation in his usual humorous fashion.

So McCullough is never at a loss for words, but even he was almost speechless Friday night when talking about why the Erie BayHawks released him during the holiday break.

"To be honest, I really don't know why. I guess it was because (pause), I can't even make an excuse. (Coach John Treloar) said something about they needed a veteran, but I don't hold any grudges though."

Although he was one of the most talented players on the team, McCullough was waived by the BayHawks and they proceeded to pick up former Pittsburgh guard Mike Cook. Erie still had Cook's right because they released him for medical reasons during training camp.

On Friday, McCullough returned to Erie to play against his former team. Now with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, McCullough scored 26 points in a losing effort against the BayHawks.

However, McCullough had a good time playing against his former teammates. Right before tip off, McCullough, who finished his college career at Winthrop last season, went up and gave five to BayHawk starters Ivan Harris, Erik Daniels, Oliver Lafayette and Jackie Manuel.

Then proceeded to talk trash and splash a career-high scoring effort on them.

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McCullough as a BayHawk against the Mad Ants.

Darian Townes made his Erie BayHawks debut in their 103-94 win against Fort Wayne on Friday night at Tullio Arena.

Now Townes, who's listed as being 6 foot, 10 inches tall and weighing 250 pounds, is a big guy and brings much needed size to the BayHawks. Erie had to release small forward Geary Claxton to acquire Townes.

On Friday, Townes came out and hit his first shot in the first quarter, but didn't scratch the scoreboard after that. In 12 minutes and 49 seconds of action, Townes was 1-of-5 from the field, 0-of-2 from the free throw line, had three turnovers and committed four fouls.

He also had only one rebound, but Townes did block two shots. One of those came when he blocked Coleman Collins' dunk attempt. Collins cried foul, but it was a clean block.

Not going to judge Townes' offense right now. He hasn't practiced with the team and doesn't know any of the plays. He just finished playing overseas last month in Europe so his offense is rusty to say the least.

At the same time, his major value right now is he's someone who can guard a center and allow Erik Daniels to play a more natural power forward position and not have to defend bigger guys.

After the game, Daniels said Townes had to be the enforcer on the team and likes the idea of Townes defending the bigger bodies so he can have more energy late in the game.

Guarding those big fellas tends to wear Daniels down, but Townes can give him a breather in that area. The BayHawks will gladly take that and hope Townes find his offense later. As a senior at Arkansas this past season, Townes averaged 12.1 points a game.

Is this a case of the Boston Celtics just getting old all the sudden or are the Cleveland Cavaliers really that good?

Right now, I'm going to go with the latter.

On Friday night, the Cavaliers took it to the Celtics, 98-83, to improve to 19-0 and home and secure the top record in the NBA right now at 29-6.

You know LeBron James did his thing.

He dropped 38 on the Celtics, who have lost seven of their last nine games and their eighth straight game at Cleveland counting last season's playoffs.

The question I have is will Cleveland finish the year with the NBA's best record? Boston needed it last season to win it all and if Cleveland's going to do the same this season, having home court advantage in the playoffs would be huge for the Cavaliers.

So what ya'll think?

Has Boston, with having veterans Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce being the core of the team, applied for social security or is Cleveland just that much better than a team that started the season 27-2 and had people comparing them to the the Chicago Bulls team that won 72 games with Michael Jordan leading the way?

I, for one, was not one of those people just so ya'll know that.

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Here a few stories on the Iowa Energy, who play against the Erie BayHawks today at 7 p.m. at Tullio Arena.

The Energy (10-3) lead the Central Division while the BayHawks trail them with a 10-8 record. The BayHawks beat Iowa earlier in the season in their Dec. 11 season opener.

Ants shut down at 'Showcase' run

Iowa Energy sign former NBA big man

D-League: Energy lose to Dakota

Just got back from Monday's practice and three of the 10 Erie BayHawks were watching from the sidelines at Gannon University.

No need to get alarmed, though.

Leading scorer, forward Erik Daniels, was out with a toe injury. He's got some sort of turf toe going on with both of his big toes. He's expected to play Wednesday against Anaheim.

Defensive stopper Jackie Manuel, was out with a bruised chest. He took a charge or two against Iowa and really got crashed into on those plays, but he's expected to play Wednesday as well.

As for reserve center Jarvis Gunter, the left ankle sprain is still not where it needs to be to return. Erie coach John Treloar said Gunter has made great progress, but likely won't return until the BayHawks hit the road for Friday's game at Dakota.

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Gunter in action.

New acquired center Darian Townes has shown a toughness in the paint the Erie BayHawks desperately needed.

The 6-foot, 10-inch, 250-pound Townes has blocked four shots in his two games with the team and made some hard fouls to make drivers rethink the idea of going inside.

However, he's having a tough time finding his shooting touch. Since making his first shot as a BayHawk, Townes has missed 10 consecutive shots. He's scored five points in the two games.

"I'm not going to make any excuses," Townes said. "We're professionals, but once I get my legs back and wind and get used to the air here in Erie because it's real cold, my game is going to come back to normal. My shots are there. They're just real short. Once my legs get back, we're going to go from there."

Erie BayHawks forward Erik Daniels made honorable mention for the D-League All-Showcase team following the D-League Showcase last week.

Daniels, who didn't feel he played well during the two games Erie played in the showcase, averaged 16 points in the two games, but shot 11-of-28 from the field. Erie lost both games.

What I'm wondering is if Daniels will make the D-League All-Star team? He and forward Ivan Harris have put up the numbers to earn a place in Feb. 14 D-League All-Star game in Phoenix.

Still got time to vote for Daniels (below), Harris or any of the other BayHawks on the ballot.

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Now ya'll may not know this, but back in the day, I was a high riser.

Jumping off two feet, I had the off-the-charts hops. Still think I can touch the rim today, but not finish above it like before.

Yes, 10-foot high rim. See, I was what you call and undersized post player at 5 feet, 11 inches tall. Maybe that's why my career didn't extend beyond high school and playing in the Boys & Girls Club in Huntington, WV.

Where is this going you may ask?

Well, I've seen six Erie BayHawks games this season live in person and only witnessed FOUR dunks coming from them. When they played Fort Wayne, Mad Ants center Chris Hunter had FIVE dunks alone against the BayHawks.

Now small forward Ivan Harris has half of those BayHawk dunks I've seen in person and he's more known for cashing that jump shot from deep than taking it hard to the rim.

Before I go any further, one, I'm not anywhere near as good as they are. Not even worth thinking about making comparisons.

Two, all these guys can dunk. I've seen Mo Rice, who is shorter than the 6-foot 1-inch listing they have of him, dunk without a dribble after a practice, but where are the dunks in the games?

Now I know points is two points. Remember when Kobe Bryant had that Sprite commercial about this very subject. It was classic like when Kobe flushed one over Steve Nash.

Nasty.

The Utah Flash protested a scoring error after last month's loss at Colorado and got it granted. It's crazy to say the least. Check it out.

It involves Utah forward Bill Walker, who was sent down to Utah from its NBA affiliate, the Boston Celtics. Walker was called for a sixth foul and it was only his fifth foul with 25.2 seconds in the game. So since the protest was granted, the loss has been temporarily removed from Utah's record.

They're going to replay the final seconds of that game when they play again April 10 in Utah.

Here are some recent articles on the Anaheim Arsenal (5-13), who play at Erie on Wednesday night against the BayHawks (11-8). This is the first meeting between the two teams.

Anaheim has lost five straight games while Erie has won its last two.

Mad Ants end skid before hitting road.

Arsenal fall in overtime

Arsenal fall under Wizards spell

Although the Anaheim Arsenal are 5-13, they're bringing one of the D-League's best scorers to Wednesday's 7 p.m. game against the Erie BayHawks (11-8) at Tullio Arena.

Small forward James White, 26, is second in league in scoring with 24-point average. He's shooting 56.1 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from the 3-point line.

As hot as that sounds, White, who played college at Cincinnati, has been even hotter in Anaheim's last five games.

Jan. 3 vs. Dakota - 31 points (11-of-17 shooting from the field)

Jan. 6 at Utah - 31 points (13-of-13 from the free throw line)

Jan 8 vs. Colorado - 33 points (season high)

Jan. 9 vs. Idaho - 24 points (12-of-12 from the free throw line)

Jan. 11 at Fort Wayne - 31 points (11-of-17 shooting from the field)

Now granted Anaheim lost all those games, but the guy knows how to put the ball in the hole. So it should be fun to see if he can do the same against a team that prides itself on playing defense like Erie.

The BayHawks will likely put their defensive stopper, Jackie Manuel, on him. A 6-foot 6-inches tall, Manuel is only an inch shorter than White. Plus Manuel has quickness and great anticipation.

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Erie BayHawks (11-9) at Dakota Wizards (12-9)
Today, 8 p.m., at Bismarck Civic Center in Bismarck, N.D.
On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.nba.com/dleague (live streaming)

Projected starters: Erie - PG Maureece Rice (Scored in double figures in six of his last seven games) SG Oliver Lafayette (Since scoring 28 points on 8-of-16 shooting against Albuquerque, Lafayette has scored only 26 points in his last three games on 8-of-23 shooing). SF Jackie Manuel (Had 12 points in his last game against Dakota. Since then, he's only reached double figures once out of seven games). PF Ivan Harris (Shooting 50.7 percent from the field, 88.2 percent from the free throw line, but has only made 4-of-17 shots from 3-point range). C Erik Daniels (Leads teams in points (414) rebounds (193), minutes played (772), fouls (85) and turnovers (61).

Wizards - PG Blake Ahearn (D-League's third-leading scorer, Ahearn is averaging 22.9 points a game) SG Maurice Baker (A starter in all 21 games for Dakota this season, Baker played all 48 minutes in Thursday night's win against Utah), SF Renaldo Major (Scored at least 22 points in three of Dakota's last four games), PF Rod Benson (Rejoined the Wizards after playing overseas), C Richard Hendrix (A second-round draft pick of the Golden State Warriors in the 2008 NBA Draft, Hendrix was waived by the Warriors. He didn't play in a game for Golden State as he spent his time in the D-League with the Bakersfield Jam).

Coaches: Erie - John Treloar (first season), Dakota - Duane Ticknor (second season)

Before the Erie BayHawks went on a two-game road trip to Bismarck, N.D. to play the Dakota Wizards this past weekend, I talked with their shooting guard, Oliver Lafayette, about his recent struggles.

Lafayette shot 2-of-9 from the field in Wednesday's home loss to Anaheim. When I asked him what was wrong, he first gave me the normal response of he just had to keep shooting.

Then after we talked a little more, Lafayette basically said, "I just got a lot things on my mind."

Family things.

Lafayette didn't go with the team to Dakota because he went home for family emergency. Lafayette, who is from Baton Rouge, La., is expected to return to Erie on Tuesday before the BayHawks play at home against Sioux Falls.

Erie lost its two games against Dakota without Lafayette, who is averaging 14.1 points a game.

We hope and pray all is better with him and his family.

Iowa Energy 6-foot 11-inch center Courtney Sims became the fourth D-League player this season to get called up to the NBA when the Phoenix Suns grabbed him up Tuesday.

The former Michigan big man is averaging 22.3 points and 11.4 rebounds for the Energy, who lead the Central Division the Erie BayHawks are in.

During Tuesday's practice, I took time to ask players and coaches from the Erie BayHawks their thoughts about the inauguration of our nation's 44th president, Barack Obama, who is also the nation's first black president.

“It means that there is hope. Just knowing you can do anything you put your mind to.”

BayHawks guard Oliver Lafayette

"It means a lot to the African-American community. I woke up real early this morning to check it out. I called my mom and she was up early doing the same thing. I’m assuming my whole family is probably watching it. This is a special day for us.”

BayHawks center Darian Townes

“I’m thinking like everyone else. The country is about to have a change. With Barack kind of representing both sides of the main nationalities being white and black, he kind of has an understanding of what the country might need and being open to suggestions from all the other nationalities. I think it’s good. For my personal take on it, I just think it’s a great thing. I’m at a loss for words still at what is actually going on. Just to wait for him to actually have a chance to make stuff happen. It’s not going to happen overnight. I hope a lot of people realize that, but I do think a lot of positive stuff is going come out of it in the world.”

BayHawks forward Tejay Anderson

“It means so much not only for me, but for my parents and their parents. People who grew up in the times where you would have never thought there would be a black president. It means a lot not only to me and my family, but the whole country. It’s time for us to come together as one country and try to work our way out of the problems that we’re having. I think President Obama is a good start.”

BayHawks forward Jackie Manuel

Sioux Falls will play in Erie for the first time this season when the Skyforce (12-10) face the BayHawks (11-11) in today's 7 p.m. game at Tullio Arena. Erie is 1-2 against Sioux Falls.

The Skyforce welcomed back the 2007-08 D-League MVP, forward Kasib Powell, who starred for the Skyforce last season. He's expected to play against Erie tonight.

It will be his first game back since playing overseas in China. Last season, he also played in the NBA with the the Miami Heat.

Kasib Powell returns to Skyforce

MVP Powell to return to the Skyforce

Mad Ants win twice against Skyforce

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Powell with Miami Heat

The Iowa Energy lost a second player to the NBA when the New Orleans Hornets called up forward Anthony Tolliver on Wednesday.

Now Tolliver only played three games with the Energy, but with Iowa coming to Erie for two games this weekend, not having him or center Courtney Sims will make them less formidable.

The Phoenix Suns called up Sims earlier this month.

The BayHawks have already beaten Iowa in their two games this season. They face each other Saturday and Sunday at Tullio Arena.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were in the building Thursday night.

Cleveland team president Len Komoroski, general manager Danny Ferry and scout Wes Wilcox were in attendance for the Erie BayHawks' game against the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

Of course you know I had to track Ferry down for a minute or two.

Had to wake him up. He was yawning during the first half of the game.

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He's back.

Last year's D-League MVP, forward Kasib Powell, suited up for Sioux Falls on Thursday for the first time this season after going overseas to play in China.

Having played in the NBA with the Miami Heat last season, Powell took his game overseas, but has since returned the states looking to make another run at the NBA.

He's off to a good start.

With Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry watching, Powell scored 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting in Sioux Falls' 101-86 win against the Erie BayHawks at Tullio Arena in Erie.

Powell was 2-of-5 from 3-point range, had five rebounds, six assists, a blocked shot and zero turnovers in 30 minutes and 57 secconds.

Safe to say I had to talk to this guy after the game.

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The Iowa Energy will try to beat the Erie BayHawks for the first time this season in Saturday's 7 p.m. game at Tullio Arena. The Energy (12-6), who lead the Central Division, are 0-2 against the BayHawks (11-12).

The two teams also face each other Sunday at Tullio Arena.

Energy win after two overtimes

Ex-Drake star Leonard Houston on Iowa Energy team

Iowa's Courtney Sims called up to Phoenix Suns

New Orleans Hornets sign free-agent center Anthony Tolliver to 10-day contract

Stinson starring for Iowa Energy

Just finally got a moment to talk about that kid out of Kentucky.

You know.

The one who's wearing No. 23. Now he's not Jordan or LeBron James, but Jodie Meeks is doing his thing for the Kentucky Wildcats.

First off, he's got his own Web site. Needs some upgrades, but hey, he's probably hasn't had time to fix it up.

Too busy scoring at will for the Wildcats.

I watched the game against Tennessee when he just went coo coo for coa cao puffs in Kentucky's 90-72 win against the Volunteers earlier this month.

A 6-foot 4-inch junior guard out of Norcross, Ga., Meeks scored 54 POINTS, making 10 shots from 3-point range AT Tennessee.

Safe to say this established a school record for points in a game. At one point late in that game, he was laughing.

I was too, Jodie. He put a hurtin' on those Volunteers.

This is what MVPs do.

LeBron James's game-winning jumper at the buzzer to beat Golden State, 106-105, Friday night is an example of why he's the leading MVP candidate.

I was just talking to a friend of mine the other day about why Michael Jordan was so special. Michael was a guy that would hit that jumper with the game on the line to win games at the horn for the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards.

People look at LeBron and see he's so big and figures he should go to the basket every time when the game is on the line.

I used to feel the same way and still do so to a great extent, but the young fella would grow old real quick if he just went to the rim every time because the defense is set to stop that.

I think a big thing when you look at this game winner, it was from the wing, not the top of the key. When he goes at the defense from the top of the key, the other four defenders can converge on him. When you go from the wing, at the most, two guys can help.

That helped the play, but LeBron still had to make the shot over 6-foot 10-inch center Ronny Turiaf and did so.

That's what MVPs do.

Went to the Erie BayHawks morning shoot around at Tullio Arena and they were having a shooting competition to see how many shots a pair of players could make.

Since the BayHawks only have nine guys on their roster, assistant Ben McDonald joined in the shooting drill with guard Oliver Lafayette and caught fire, folks.

He made 8-of-12 shots from the corner.

Impressive.

In practice, McDonald usually coordinates and runs the drills so he's fairly active in practice, so it wasn't surprising to see him hustling to track the ball down and keep the drill going.

But to see him square up and nail 8-of-12 shots from about 18 to 20 feet out in the corner?

Crazy.

Now we all know he starred in college at Cal Irvine and played in the NBA, but McDonald is in his late 40s. He was cashing those jumpers with ease.

Earlier this season, Erie head coach John Treloar and I were joking about McDonald still having it while McDonald was taking and making free throws after practice.

McDonald smiled and said, 'Hey, I can do this, but that's about it."

I'd say he can do more after what I saw this morning. The BayHawks hope to add a player to their roster by early next week to replace Mike Cook, but if they choose not to, make McDonald a player/coach.

He's still got it.

Patrick Daniels said he's been having an up and down season for the Iowa Energy.

Well, he's on the rise right now.

Coming off a career-high 43-point performance, Sanders scored 28 points in Iowa's 90-80 win against the Erie BayHawks on Saturday.

The best thing about his performance is Sanders made clutch shots and clutch plays in the fourth quarter.

It was all in fun.

During Saturday's game between the Erie BayHawks and Iowa Energy at Tullio Arena, Durann Patterson and Kevin Jobczynski had courtside seats beside the Iowa bench.

So they were in position to talk a little bit to Iowa guard Curtis Stinson.

Boy, did they do some talking.

Patterson and Jobczynski were ragging on Stinson about everything from the way he was playing to the way his team was playing to the hairstyles his teammates were sporting.

The best part about it was Stinson was talking right back at them.

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Erie BayHawks coach John Treloar is still looking to add a player after waiving former Pitt guard Mike Cook earlier this month.

What I can tell you right now is that 1, the player is a perimeter player. Two, when I asked Treloar why he cut Cook, he said it was to upgrade his roster.

Cook said it was because Treloar told him Cook didn't think he was playing the amount of minutes he deserved.

Now back to the this secret addition, who third, is not a former NBA player according to Treloar.

So look for something to happen in the next couple of days. When you look at the moves Treloar has made so far, they've been somewhat puzzling.

Time waits for no man, but ya'll still got time to vote for you favorite D-League player to play in the Feb. 14 All-Star game in Phoenix.

Fans can vote through Jan. 31, which is Saturday and the All-Stars will be named Feb. 3. The game will be shown live on NBATV.

Now I'm not brain surgeon, but if Erik Daniels, who leads the D-League in double-doubles with 16, doesn't earn a spot in the All-Star game, something is wrong with the system.

The former Kentucky forward is averaging 20.6 points, 10 rebounds and shooting 36.9 percent from 3-point range, which is good for a guy that's 6 feet, 8 inches tall.

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Oh how time flies.

Didn't it just seem like yesterday that Erie was getting a D-League franchise? Now the BayHawks have already reached the halfway point of this 50-game season.

So with that being said, let's see where they are right now.

The BayHawks are 11-14, have lost six straight games and haven't show the same spark they did early in the season. They lack the ball movement, player movement that really made their offense so difficult to defend.

Maybe it's the fact they have a five rookies on the team. Think about this.

College players play an average of 30 to 35 games. Erie has already played 25. In college, a season is beginning to wind down at that point.

So maybe those guys have hit a wall. Then again, I've been told by more than one person that hey, these guys are getting paid to play, so tell it like it is.

OK. Here's the deal.