Simply the Best

That's the Tina Turner song that blared over the sounds system at State Farm Arena after Craig Winder hit The Shot Heard 'Round the Valley just over two months ago.

It's also what I think about Vipers team President Brian Michael Cooper.

Before I continue, first let me congratulate Maine Red Claws President Jon Jennings on winning the first NBA Development League Executive of the Year. He led an expansion team into a market that's far from the NBA D-League's prior geographical foot print, sold out the season and had great all around success.

This is not a post to say that Brian deserved it over him. That'd be idiotic on my part. They're both very deserving, and no matter who got the award, I doubt anyone would argue.

Obviously I think Brian deserved it. I worked with him everyday. I'm biased. I did not work with Jon. If I did, my guess is I'd think he deserved it.

The point of the post is simply to make sure he gets the recognition he deserves for a dream-season.

Among his accomplishments:

Working Out the First Hybrid Agreement
It's easy to say that the business office has nothing to do with what happens on the court, but that's not necessarily true. Did anyone else notice Coach Finch thanked Alonzo Cantu and Brian on VERSUS after winning the Championship? Well, without Brian, there's always the question that we can't answer – would there still be a single-affiliation agreement in place between the Rockets and the Vipers? He worked very hard to make it happen. That eventually led to the All-Star Coaching Staff of Finch, Paul Mokeski and Jai Steadman, General Manager Gersson Rosas, Director of Player Personnel Gerald Madkins, Director of Player Development Brent "BJ" Johnson, Director of Scouting Phillip Jabour as part of an unprecedented basketball operations staff that was full of knowledge, skill, preparation and more. And of course that helped to lead to a Championship.

Rockets Beat Celtics on Vipers' Court in Front of Record Sell-Out Crowd
Bringing a Rockets pre-season game down to the Valley can debatably count towards the previous year, since it was announced in February 2009. However, the game and RGV Rocket Launch 2009 were major successes. Additionally, he helped to make sure the game would not only be a sell-out, but that lots of underprivileged children would get to see it thanks to the Corporate Angels program. That was a big thing for Brian.

Rockets To Keep Coming to RGV
Before the Rockets-Celtics game was even sold out, Brian struck a deal with the Rockets to keep them coming back for at least three more years and always against top opponents (like the Magic this year).

Extended Business Agreement with the Rockets
Why just partner with the Rockets on the basketball side when you can partner with them on the business side? We get to interact directly with our NBA counterparts, run ideas by them and get advice. It's incredible to have such resources available to us.

Parade of Hall of Famers and Superstars
Moses Malone helped us to open up the Pro-Shop, Clyde Drexler helped us hand out awards to Valley Freedom Newspapers' All-Valley HS Football Players and jumped on the broadcast for a whole quarter, Yao Ming and Luis Scola came to games, Aaron Brooks visits often...

Expanding the Brand
After playing on the road for our first two pre-seasons, we got to a host an exhibition game out on South Padre Island. That's a good hour and a half away and it was a wonderful chance for fans who don't normally get to come to games to watch the Vipers not only play, but practice. We also had an autograph session. In addition to that, we've held countless Youth Clinics all over the Valley and led the league in Community Appearances. After all, as Brian always says, "it's all about kids."

Straight Cash Homey
I'm sorry for pulling out a Randy Moss line, but the one thing that can't be denied is business is booming. We successfully launch a Pro-Shop, led the league in Season Tickets (which is extraordinarily hard to do when competing with expansion teams), Group Tickets and average attendance (4,712).

Always Hit It Hard
One impressive thing about the Vipers is that we want every day to be a memorable experience. We don't look at a Monday game and say, let's just play ball and we'll worry about our weekend games. We say, what can we do to make this fun and worth going to? You can thank Brian for that mentality.

Primetime Players
Anyone else notice that we were the only team in the league to get three regular season home games on VERSUS and that we got two more during the playoffs? There's a reason for that, and it's not just on-court success. Brian wanted this team to be run like an NBA team at all times. First class all the way. We may not have the same staff or resources that an NBA team has available, but somehow we always find a way to make it happen. Brian wouldn't have it any other way.

Yeah, We're Talking About Playoffs
Historically in the minor leagues, playoffs are a losing proposition. The games aren't on your pocket, magnet or poster schedules. There isn't usually much time to advertise the dates or sell tickets. Well, not only did we have great crowds, but we had a Vipers record sellout for the Final game, you know, when Winder hit that shot? 6,198. Well beyond maximum capacity. The only reason we didn't pass Rockets-Celtics was because we had more seats available for that game (there was no kids zone, for example, allowing for more seats).

It's funny, as a I write this I become dissatisfied with the award. Not the choice of winner, but the individualism of it. As Jon Jennings said when he got this award today, and as Coach Finch said when he earned Coach of the Year, it's a total-team effort. Individual awards are a reflection of those around you.

We have an incredible front office with the Vipers. However, I also have no problem with giving Brian a ton of credit. He's had a lot of great ideas and he's an incredible motivator.

It does, however, make me wish there was a Franchise of the Year award.

Although Brian didn't get the award, he could have, and it would have been well deserved.

And, of course, I'm still waiting for a Communications Executive of the Year Award and ADB is waiting for a Broadcaster of the Year Award.

Baby Steps

Pat on the Back for the Rockets

The Rockets drafted Patrick Patterson with the 14th pick of the NBA Draft.

In a way, this draft was less exciting than last year. We knew the Rockets had a pick, they kept the pick, and that was that.

Last year the Rockets had no pick and ended up with three second round picks, one of whom became a solid contributor (Chase Budinger) and one of whom became a Viper three times (Jermaine Taylor).

With just one player drafted this year, what does that mean for the Vipers?

Tough to say at this point. It all depends what happens in free agency and the trade market. For now, all we really know is Patterson is eligible to become a Viper and the Rockets love to use the Vipers for development.

We really won't know until mid-November at the earliest. What kind of training camp will Patterson have? Will he get playing time? If so, will they be meaningful minutes? Will he play well? Will the Rockets be healthy?

Here's what we do know.

On Tuesday, October 5, Patterson, Taylor, Budinger, Mike Harris, Yao Ming and company will take on Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic at State Farm Arena. Tickets go on sale at 10:00 a.m.

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Speaking of the draft, I accurately predicted Latavious Williams would go to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kudos to the Miami Heat for having the foresight to draft and trade him.

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Great crowd at the WhiteWings game Thursday night at Harlingen Field. I heard a fan scream "Let's Go Vipers!"

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I'm watching Cheers right now and I just noticed a Boston University pennant in Sam Malone's office. That is simply awesome.

You Know You've Really Made It When...

... you have your own debit card!

Stay On Target

The NBA Draft is coming up on Thursday, and that has the potential to be the first clue into what next year's Vipers roster will look like.

The Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen writes that the Rockets target potential ahead of roster needs.

--snip--

"At 14, we're trying to identify what's the best talent available," vice president of player personnel Gersson Rosas said. "We try to stay away from just picking for need or picking based on what the market says. We want to identify the best talent. We don't want to leave talent on the table after we pick.

--snip--

Just as they are not motivated to fit a player into their roster, the Rockets seem likely to value "upside," even if that means greater risk. Prospects such as Henry, Whiteside, Babbitt and George might be more long-term projects, but the Rockets are more likely to evaluate "what" a player will become rather than "when" he will reach that potential.

--snip--

"We value upside strongly," Rosas said. "We're also looking at things we feel translate a little bit stronger, whether it's skill set or physical, athletic tools guys have. There is some upside you feel the risk might be too high. It might hurt the chance of a player fully developing. I wouldn't say it's all upside. It's a combination of both.

"The way we look at this decision is not a one-year window. We look at it as a three- or four-year window. We use the example of Aaron Brooks. We got killed in the media. We got killed in the public. Teams were like, 'What are you doing?' We had four point guards — Rafer (Alston), Steve (Francis,) John Lucas and Mike James. We felt, 'This guy (Brooks) has special talent, speed combined with finishing and shooting.' His overall offensive upside was too special to pass."

It is possible the Rockets won't feel the need to move up in the draft.

"For us, it would be a productive night if at 14 we're able to identify a guy who has not only the talent but the ability to develop at a high level," Rosas said. "Overall, the talent in this draft is strong. Up front, it's pretty deep. We feel we're going to get a player we're excited about. This draft, compared to past drafts, has a little more depth."

--snip--

Notice the key word in that last snippet. Comes up twice – "develop."

If you're drafting near the top, yeah, you can probably get someone who can step right in and be star (not always true – see the Los Angeles Clippers' draft picks and Greg Oden for examples). Another example is Hasheem Thabeet, who was assigned to Dakota for seasoning. There's nothing wrong with that. It's probably beneficial to the player.

When selecting in the middle of the first round, the odds of getting a ready player who fits exactly what you need is unlikely. And, honestly, if you're relying on the draft to turn you from lottery team to major contender, you've probably got bigger problems. One player is rarely a difference maker, especially right away.

The Rockets could try to find a big man at pick #14 and force him into the rotation under the hope that it'll work out, but that seems to me more likely to bust than work out, and they seem to recognize that.

The Rockets had so much success developing players with the Vipers this past season, they have every reason to go after a high-upside player, who, if he's not good enough to an impact player in the NBA right away, can get experience playing Rockets basketball in a lower pressure environment. Same system, different location, better experience than riding the pine (ask Darko Milicic what that's like).

Will the Rockets select someone with the sole idea of assigning him to the Vipers? Doubtful. They might end up with the next Chase Budinger, after all. With that said, the Rockets certainly have more options in the draft than most other teams (except maybe the Spurs, Thunder, Celtics/Bobcats and Mavericks) because of the hybrid affiliation.

I am eager to see what next year's affiliation will bring and how many more teams go hybrid. We might get our first clue into that during the draft based on how teams outside the Top 10 select players and also what kind of value is assigned to second round picks (you might remember last year Rockets GM Daryl Morey bought three second round picks, one turned out to be Budinger and one turned out to be Jermaine Taylor).

Bookending the Year

The way I see it, the Vipers' magical NBADL Championship Season has been bookended by titles and a reminder of the ultimate goal.

Last night Shannon Brown won his second-straight NBA Championship. A Viper during the 2007-08 season, Brown helped the Lakers beat the Magic last year and the Celtics this year (how incredible is it to think that the last time we saw the Celtics they were busy losing to the Rockets at State Farm Arena and the next time we see the Magic they'll be playing the Rockets on the Vipers' court as well?).

Most would see the NBA Playoffs as the official end of basketball season, but last year, I saw it as more of the beginning. Vipers season was over, but we weren't going away, and we made that clear right away. We were already gearing up for 2009-10, and NBA playoffs watch parties were the start.

That was the springboard into new highs in season tickets that helped us to create a home court advantage thanks to the best sixth man in the league (the fans) that helped to fuel the fire of a team that tied a record for home wins in a single-season while putting the Rio Grande Valley on the map in nationally televised games... topped off by the greatest thing of all... an NBA Development League Championship.

While that was going on, as many as 10 Vipers alumni at a time were playing in the NBA... exactly where all of the Vipers wanted to be and why they worked so hard this season.

As the NBADL playoffs went on, the NBA Playoffs began with four Vipers alumni in action, but the one who got the most significant action was Brown. So how perfect is it that he's the one that gets the ring?

Brown almost didn't make it. He was assigned to the D-League, traded, re-assigned, bounced around a little more... Who thought he'd not only still be in the NBA by now, but a significant contributor who is loved by Lakers fans (see: website created to get Brown in dunk competition)?

Well, he worked hard and proved what is possible.

What Can Brown Do For You?

Ya know, Vipers alum Shannon Brown has been a regular rotation player all season and was in the slam dunk competition, but played a whopping 19 seconds in a game five loss to Boston. I couldn't believe it.

Tonight? 19:24. The results?



The second greatest words in sports – Game 7 (behind only Game 3, referring, of course, to the NBA Development League playoffs). Brown goes for his second-straight Championship on Thursday.

Staying Put

The news came down on Thursday that the Vipers are staying at State Farm Arena through the 2012-13 season.

I enjoy watching the Vipers play at State Farm Arena. It has the look and feel of a true sports arena. After making a trip out to Bakersfield this year, which is a completely different setting (and business model, for that matter), I think I realized just how lucky we are to have a place like this we can play in and the fan/corporate support to make it work.

The Jam's original business model had them in Rabbobank Arena. A bit bigger than State Farm Arena, I called one game there (UTPA men's basketball @ Cal-State Bakersfield) back in February 2008. It was nice, but a bit cavernous. Even when the Jam drew big crowds, it didn't look great, which was a shame.

Their new business model of playing in front of crowds of 430 is working for them, and I am not here to say anything negative about it. It's unique, and if it works, it works. However, I love playing in front of a packed house of 6,198.

The emotions that ran through me during the Championship game were some of the most intense I've felt, not just because of the situation, but because of the atmosphere. 6,198 fans chanting M-V-P when Mike Harris touched the ball, or DE-FENSE when they weren't even prompted to do so... and of course the incredible noise of everyone screaming out in unison when Craig Winder banked in the Shot Heard 'Round the Valley...

Those are priceless memories, so I'm glad the Vipers are staying in the place where it all happened.

I look forward to the banner raising ceremony in November/December.

Get the Low Down with the Big Resource

Make sure you check out Coach Mokeski's blog all summer long to get all of the insight of life as an assistant coach of TWO National Teams (Jamaican and Great Britain). Click here to take a Journey Around the Basketball World with Coach Mo.

Coming Full Circle

You know what just occurred to me? The Vipers' home opener was against... Tulsa.

Talk about coming full circle.

Of course, there are a lot of reasons to say we came full circle.

Such as starting the season off with Rocket Launch and a historic crowd (6,300) watching former-Viper Aaron Brooks lead a third quarter rally to send the Rockets past the Boston Celtics on the Vipers' home court and then ending with another historic crowd (6,198) watching the Vipers win the Championship, in-part because of a Houston Rocket (Mike Harris).

And, of course, The Shot Heard Round The Valley...

In a Year Full of History and Milestones...

... let's not over look the Vipers alumni contributing in the NBA Playoffs. You can follow their progress here.

Last year it was a huge deal that Shannon Brown won an NBA Championship with the Lakers. The first Vipers alumnus to win a title. He's now three wins away from repeating. Is it any less impressive or meaningful? Absolutely not. There's a lot more going on this year... a lot more story lines... but it's still impressive as heck that Brown is in that position again.






Brown has become a key contributor for the Lakers. I've occasionally read criticism of the NBA Development League, saying that it only churns out end of the bench guy who don't get much playing time. Certainly looked like Brown was going to fit that false stereotype early in his career. Until he reached LA. What was the difference in Cleveland, Chicago and Charlotte? I don't know, but I do know this, once Brown reached the Lakers, he became a better player. Call it coaching, call it the system, call it getting a better opportunity to play (which would seem unlikely with a team that is always consistently loaded like the Lakers)... whatever it was, everything clicked.

Guys like Brown, Aaron Brooks and LA's Jordan Farmar are poster boys for the importance of NBA assignments to the NBA Development League. Brown got a chance to play with the Vipers (and later the Iowa Energy) to get his confidence up and work on things that he would have otherwise never gotten. Did that help him to become a better NBA player? You'd better believe it.

We already know the Rockets, Spurs and Thunder recognize this. The Celtics do too. Memphis certainly recognized that when they sent #2 overall pick Hasheem Thabeet down to Dakota this year. Other teams do too. The word is spreading, but there is still work to do.

Last year, Brown barely played in the NBA Finals. In game one he played 17:27. Maybe if Brown can be a key contributor in the NBA Finals, particularly while winning a Championship, that will help to spell it out to teams who under-utilize the NBA Development League.

It's a great tool. Take advantage of it or fall behind.

Rockets Radio Stays Strong – The Trickle Down Effect

The Rockets extended their partnership with their flagship station in Houston, SportsRadio610, today. Affiliates around the state (which for the last two years has included ESPN 1240 AM) are likely to follow throughout the off-season (although some of them might be multi-year deals and therefore already set. I don't know such details).

The important news for me, ADB and all Rockets and Vipers fans in the Valley, though, was at the end of the release:

Rockets radio play-by-play announcer Craig Ackerman will call all the action during the team’s upcoming 2010-11 campaign with analyst Joel Blank serving as studio host forSportsRadio 610 pre-game, halftime and post-game shows.

Ackerman will be entering his third season with the Rockets. He's very entertaining and good at what he does. Blank's solid as well. He took over in December for my namesake, the original Doctor Professor, Adam Wexler, who now has a sports talk show on a rival station in Houston.

These are the guys Alex and I model ourselves after. We try to do our broadcasts the same way they do, which is a big part of why we introduced the studio host position this year for road games (instead of just doing color commentary for home games), which really gave me a chance to expand my role, something I have relished.

I think this is something that might be sometimes overlooked but really underscores the strength and closeness of the relationship between the Vipers and the Rockets. Everyone always talks about how the idea of the hybrid is to follow the baseball model and how that's the ultimate goal for the NBA Development League. Well, that's great, but I don't think AAA baseball teams have the kind of relationship with MLB teams that we have with with our parent club. Are we an exception to the rule? Possibly, for now anyway. However, I know we turned a lot of heads on both sides this year. NBA teams want to expand their brands to other markets (read: NBADL markets). NBADL teams want to show how strong their backing is from the NBA.

Well, if fans can listen to Rockets games in the Rio Grande Valley, and then they can spin the dial and hear Vipers games, and they sound the same, that just adds to the legitimacy and the seriousness of what the Vipers are doing here. After all, if you're going to do something, do it right.

I look forward to seeing Craig down here in October and to listening to him and Joel on nights we don't have games.