In the midst of grieving the passing of the teams young Video Coordinator Adam Cave (22), the D-Fenders had an additional reason to beat the Reno Big Horns, to win for Adam.
Never a dull moment in the Lakers Toyota Practice Center, tonight after Lakers D’Angelo Russell and Nick Young practiced without any contact, the D-Fenders took on the Reno Big Horns.
The NBA rookie out of Kentucky Skal Labissiere and Malachi Richardson out of Syracuse were two notable players on the Big Horns. Also, Darrick Martin, the Big Horns Head Coach, is not only a former Bruin but also a former NBA Player.
Vander was hilarious tonight, the first thing out of his mouth was to comment with a straight face on the opposing coach Martin’s Cologne, “You have to step back, you have too much cologne on, it’s giving me a headache.” Ha ha ha ha. He continued to drop18 points on the Big Horns by the end of the third quarter.
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The intimidation of Coach Martin didn’t stop with Blue. Josh Magette got into the action by staring down the coach after a great play. All of this banter got the media all wondering if there was a back story.
“He trains all of us here in the summer at UCLA,” said Blue, “I have a good relationship with him — Brandon (Ingram? Ashley?), Stanley (Johnson) — Matt Barnes — It’s all love, I call him my uncle he’s a good guy, he takes care of me.”
We looked up coach Martins experience. He played four years at UCLA, then started out his professional career in the D-League playing for the Sioux Falls Sky Force.
After one year he worked his way into the NBA playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves, then some other NBA teams. After that he went to play in Europe, then back to the US to play for the Harlem Globetrotters, then the D-League again and back in NBA. Experience is his middle name.
“We fell hard, and we now he wanted us to go out and win, and he’s smiling at us. I know where he sits during the game — he’s in a happy place, every day we play for him.” Vander Blue
You may be wondering why Vander Blue hasn’t been called up to the Lakers Due to recent injuries to their guards. The Lakers can only bring him up if there is a player who will be out for a significant amount of time (missing at least three games) or drop someone from their roster which they haven’t done. Calderon would have to be dropped for Vander to be given a chance, and that won’t happen.
About two hours before the game, when the D-Fenders got to the Toyota Center, Coach Karl had some somber news for his young team. One of their own had passed on from injuries suffered from a motorcycle accident. Adam was 22. It was their teammate, one of their own, Video Coordinator Adam Cave.
Vander expressed his sadness and motivation for beating the Big Horns. “It’s been a rough week for us, our team, losing a brother,” said Vander. He continued after a long pause, “We were just trying to win it for him, It’s really hard for us, we just found out a couple of hours ago. We fell hard, and we now he wanted us to go out and win, and he’s smiling at us. I know where he sits during the game, I usually talked to him during the game, he’s in a happy place, every day we play for him.”
“We are shocked and deeply saddened by the news of Adam’s passing. His energy, positivity, and passion for this organization were apparent and made him a favorite among our coaches, players, and staff.” – Joey Buss
There are life lessons to be learned when suffering through hard times, and that wasn’t lost on Blue, “The lesson I learned; bless every moment and appreciate everybody and be a good person.”
Luke Walton, according to the OC Register, opened his pre-game conference with prayers for Adam.
The D-Fenders President/CEO Joey Buss Joey Buss published this statement:
“We are shocked and deeply saddened by the news of Adam’s passing. His energy, positivity, and passion for this organization were apparent and made him a favorite among our coaches, players, and staff. Adam came to work each day with the goal of making this team the best that it could be, and that is a lesson that won’t be forgotten with his passing. We consider ourselves lucky to have known Adam.
On behalf of, our organization, I’d like to send our condolences as well as thoughts and prayers to his family. He is survived by his parents, Robert and Susan, as well as his brother, Ian.”
Coach Karl explained how difficult it was to practice and play after getting the news, “It’s an extremely difficult 48 hours and I give credit to these guys for coming out and being professional and putting up a fight for 48 minutes and really focusing, working with together and loving each other. We are going to miss Adam a lot. He was as happy, positive and as nice a kid as we have on our staff and as effective and efficient, he’s going to be missed all around, it’s really sad.”
“I give credit to these guys for coming out and being professional and putting up a fight for 48 minutes and really focusing, working with together and loving each other. We are going to miss Adam a lot.” D-Fenders head Coach Coby Karl
Coach Karl explained that Adam enjoyed and loved doing what he was doing, and his parents said he was never so happy. The team needs to love each other and work together to keep winning for Adam.
The D-Fenders beat the Big Horns 124-111. Blue scored a team-high 22 points, grabbed four rebounds and three assists. Travis Wear (UCLA) had his best game as a D-Fender to date, he scored 19 points and made six rebounds. In all seven D-Fenders scored in double figures including Justin Harper (13), Ivica Zubac (12 pts, 8 rebs), David Nwaba (15 pts, 8 rebs), Jeff Ayers (10 pts, 8 rebs), and Troy Devries (12).
So far this season, Zubac has averaged 16.6 points, 1.1 assists, and 8.4 rebounds, in 28.3 minutes per game. “I would like to play as much of the game as I can, it’s fun!” said Zu. He explained that the foul calls in the D-League are much greater than in the NBA, “You can’t touch anybody ,” he said.
The most impressive stat by any player was Josh Magette’s 15 assists. Josh leads the league with 11.1 assists per game, and these 15 assists upped that stat for one of the most intense point guards you will ever meet. Magette has dished 73 assists in six games.
“I guess when you can’t make a shot you gotta start passing, it was a good win,” said Magette, “It’s been a tough 48 hours, and I don’t know if anybody has really experienced losing somebody that close to our basketball team who meant so much to us. It was very hard and to get this game behind us; it feels really good.”
The other dazzling light that night was new addition forward Jeff Ayers who made every shot and free throw he put up. Ayers gave credit for his game to Magette, “He’s the leading assist leader in the league man, it’s crazy, it’s pretty impressive — He puts everyone in position, so it’s easy.”
Ayers celebrates after each dunk, it’s fun to watch, “I loved dunking the ball, anytime I get a chance to do it, I’m going to do it! It’s fun! As long as everything holds up, I will be as high as I can slamming as hard as I can!”
Saturday night the D-Fenders won their ninth game of the season against the Austin Spurs, one more win for Adam. Six players scored in double digits, but only one scored a double-double. And that would be Lakers rookie center Zubac who grabbed a team-high 16 rebounds and scored 18 points. Justin Hawkins scored a team-high 24 points, and David Nwaba scored 15 points and made six rebounds.
#myguys @ivicazubac scored a double-double with 18 pts and 16 rebounds, @Tru_Harp32 24 pts @dnwaba0 15 pts win 129-96 over @AustinSpurs 🎉 pic.twitter.com/dPVFmjtJku
— Shereen Rayan - Sports Broadcaster/Writer (@SportsCrazee) December 11, 2016
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The 9-3 D-fenders are now ranked No. 2 in their division behind the Northern Arizona Suns who are 10-1. Fun Fact: The Suns only loss was to the D-fenders who beat them 142-135.
It’s not going to be easy for the team to get through their grief, but winning games in Adam’s name is an excellent way to start. The Lake Show life extends their condolences to the Cave family and the D-Fenders organization. Any brother of the D-Fenders is a brother of ours. We are saddened by your loss and send you wishes for an easy healing process.