Toasted Jam? Not So Fast

On first glance, it's easy to dismiss the Bakersfield Jam. They're 10-25. They're 15.5 games behind the Vipers. They're in last place. The fans voted on the head coach during the off-sesason.

The Jam started the season 0-9. And that was all she wrote, right? Not so fast. After an inconsistent 4-9 stretch that saw Bakersfield fall to 4-18, Bakersfield beat Albuquerque on January 22, kicking off a stretch of six wins and seven losses. On the surface... Good? No. Better? Yes.

But let's go inside those seven losses. Average margin of defeat? 4.7 points per game. In order, they lost by: 2, 6, 3, 4, 9, 8, and 1.

The Jam have six players on their roster averaging double-digits scoring. But wait! There's more. Of the nine players currently on Bakersfield's roster, only seven played last night in a win at Austin (no easy feat) and the same seven played in their win over Albuquerque a few days prior. Center John Edwards (left ankle sprain... 10.1 points, 5.4 rebounds) and guard John Williams (viral... 8.8 points, 3.4 assists) are out right now, though Edwards is listed as probably to play tonight. So that means either five of the seven or six of the eight players are averaging double-figures.

The burning question tonight, how will Bakersfield respond to a quick turnaround. It's tough to answer that question right now. Depends on their itinerary. After playing Saturday night in Austin, I have to think they jumped on a bus for six hours to get to the hotel in the RGV and then are getting the chance to sleep-in before the 5:00 tilt tonight, but you never know. It's possible they stayed the night in Austin and took the first flight out to Dallas/Houston followed by a flight down here. Either way, fatigue could certainly be a factor, especially if the Jam are only using seven players.

The Vipers beat Bakersfield in the Showcase, 115-107 in early January. That was around the start of the Jam starting to find themselves and right before they acquired Blake Ahearn.

On the Vipers side, I'll be interested to see if they look to establish the three-ball early again. It made sense against Springfield since the Vipers were having trouble getting inside early on and were taking advantage of mismatches. The Jam have a lot more guard play than the Armor. So it'll probably be a bit of a different game.

Jonathan Wallace's shot has been looking good over the last two games, which has also helped Will Conroy (like he needs help?) to become more open for three-pointers. Conroy's hit four in five attempts over the last two games. The great thing about what the Vipers can do with all of those long range shooters (I mean, Ernest Scott started at power forward Friday and attempted 12 three-pointers) is really stretch the floor. It forces mismatches since opponents generally don't have four guys who know how to guard the perimeter on the court at the same time. The Jam might be able to boast that from time to time, so perhaps the Vipers will look to establish Kevin Rogers and Mickell Gladness early. Both had big games on Friday.

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If the Vipers win tonight, they not only cinch the first winning season in franchise history, but they'll push their franchise record to above .500 for the first time since they were 9-8 back in December 2007.

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Chag Purim!