Idaho puts its stamp on title
Qwest Arena hosted a party Friday night - a party more than a decade in the making and one that culminated with an NBA Development League championship for the Idaho Stampede.
A 108-101 victory over the Austin Toros in Game 3 of the best-of-three series made the Stampede champions for the first time in their 10-year history.
'This thing still hasn't sunk in,' Stampede coach Bryan Gates said after receiving hugs from just about everyone at the party.
The party had plenty of guests of honor.
There was Randy Livingston (6'4''-G-75, agency: Elfus-Siegel Management (ESM), college: LSU), the veteran point guard who has played more games in a Stampede uniform than any other player and appeared in 11 consecutive NBA seasons.
He said Friday's game was his last.
'This is the most amazing way to end,' said Livingston, who had eight assists and six points. '... Any championship on any level is one you relish, one you savor. You can't take it away.'
There was guard Mike Taylor (6'2''-G-86, college: Iowa St.), the sparkplug who had come off the bench several times this season to provide his team with some electricity. Friday night, he definitely lit it up again.
Taylor hit four 3-pointers in a row in a span of less than 3 minutes in the fourth quarter to push Idaho's lead to an insurmountable 95-77 with 8 minutes, 23 seconds left in the game.
He finished with a team-high 27 points after going 7-of-10 from beyond the arc.
'After I hit the first couple I kind of knew they were going to go in when I shot it,' Taylor said. 'It was just kind of like that feeling you get in practice when you hit 12 in a row.'
The D-League doesn't award a Finals MVP, but Taylor was certainly the MVP of Game 3.
'It was Mike Taylor tonight,' Gates said. 'But, overall, we'd be nowhere without No. 32 (Livingston).'
There was Cory Violette (6'8''-C/F-82, college: Gonzaga), who fell one rebound short of posting a double-double in all three Finals games.
Violette has won a championship in Boise before - when he was a sophomore at Bishop Kelly High.
'It gets better and better the older you get, especially when you get paid a little bit of money to do it,' said Violette, who had 20 points, nine rebounds and hit a prayer from deep in 3-point territory that went in as the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter.
There was another local product in former Boise State standout Jason Ellis (6'7''-F-82, agency: Worldwide Hoops, college: Boise St.), who posted a double-double in the first half with 11 rebounds and 10 points.
'It's big to be able to bring home a championship to Boise,' Ellis said. 'At the beginning of the season there was a question of whether they brought in three local guys to just sell tickets, but over the course of the season we proved that we can play. (Ex-Bronco Roberto Bergersen (6'6''-G/F-76, agency: Priority Sports, college: Boise St.)) and Cory showed it right out of the gates, and I had to wait my turn.'
And, as far as managing investor Bill Ilett was concerned, there were the season-high 4,124 fans who attended the party.
'It's so much about the fans,' he said. 'We've built a great fan base here, and we're looking forward to the weekend after Thanksgiving. We're ready to go again.'
Gates said earlier this week that his whole season would be judged by the final two games of the D-League Finals.
But after the coach of the year has some time to reflect he will realize this season was about more than just Idaho's final two contests.
The Stampede put together 18 wins in a row, more than any other team in D-League history.
Idaho clinched the West Division title with the best record in the league.
Idaho finished with the best winning percentage in D-League history (72 percent).
The Stampede had 21 regular-season home wins, setting a league standard.
Livingston was named to the D-League first team, and Lance Allred (6'11''-C-81, agency: SportsTalent, college: Weber St.) was named to the second team. Violette and Mouhamed Saer Sene (7'0''-C-86) were honorable mentions, and Sene was named the co-defensive player of the season.
Allred was called up by the Cleveland Cavaliers and is signed with the Cavs through next season.

Courtesy of Statesman

  All-D-League Awards 2007-08
D-League Most Valuable Player: Kasib Powell (6'7''-F-81) of Sioux Falls
Rookie of the Year: Blake Ahearn (6'2''-G-84) of Dakota Wizards
Dennis Johnson Coach of the Year: Bryan Gates of Idaho Stampede
Co-Defensive Players of the Year: Stephane Lasme (6'8''-F-82) of Los Angeles and Mouhamed Sene of Seattle
D-League Impact Player: Morris Almond (6'6''-F-85) of Utah Flash
Jason Collier Sportsmanship Award: Billy Thomas (6'5''-G-75) of Colorado 14ers

  2007-08 All-D-League Selections Announced
Headlined by current D-League MVP (Kasib Powell (6'7''-F-81, college: Texas Tech)) and last year's winner (Randy Livingston (6'4''-G-75, agency: Elfus-Siegel Management (ESM), college: LSU)) the 2007-08 All-NBA Development League ETams have been announced.
* - player currently in NBA
2007-08 ALL-NBA DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE FIRST TEAM
Position Player Team
Guard Randy Livingston Idaho Stampede
Guard Eddie Gill Colorado 14ers
Forward Kasib Powell Sioux Falls Skyforce
Forward Sean Banks Los Angeles D-Fenders
Center Ian Mahinmi Austin Toros/Spurs

2007-08 ALL-NBA DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE SECOND TEAM
Position Player Team
Guard Andre Barrett Austin Toros
Guard Blake Ahearn* Dakota Wizards
Forward Kaniel Dickens Colorado 14ers
Forward Lance Allred* Idaho Stampede
Center Rod Benson Dakota Wizards

2007-08 ALL-NBA DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE HONORABLE MENTION
Position Player Team
Guard Adam Harrington Tulsa 66ers
Guard Desmon Farmer Rio Grande Valley Vipers
Guard Ramon Sessions* Tulsa 66ers/Bucks
Guard Earl Calloway Fort Wayne Mad Ants
Guard/Forward Dermarr Johnson Austin Toros
Forward Stephane Lasme* Los Angeles D-Fenders
Forward Justin Reed Bakersfield Jam
Forward Mike Hall Tulsa 66ers
Center Mouhamed Sene Idaho Stampede/SuperSonics
Forward Cory Violette Idaho Stampede
Guard Nick Fazekas* Tulsa 66ers/Mavericks
Center Chris Alexander Sioux Falls Skyforce

  D-League All-Star Game 2008
The NBDL All Star game is one event in the NBA weekend where the players give full effort.
Some of these guys will eventually play in the NBA and this game showcases the best talent in the D-League.
Every year the NBDL has a lot of players who will get called up to the NBA and some players have been allocated from the NBA to the assigned D-League franchises.
In the first half the blue team marched to a 53-43 lead with the quality play from Jeremy Richardson (6'7''-G/F-83) with 11 points.
Elton Brown (6'9''-F/C-83) dominated the inside play in the first with a collection of nice post moves to tally 13 points.
In the third quarter the blue team opened up an 87-67 lead with Richardson leading the way.
Elton Brown and Kaniel Dickens (6'8''-F-78) looked good for the red team but the blue team had better all around play.
The red team won the game by a 117-99 margin and Jeremy Richardson won the games MVP honors by scoring 22 points.
However Morris Almond (6'6''-F-85) definitely was a factor in the MVP voting as he chipped in 20 points for the winners.
Elton Brown led the red team with an impressive 20 point performance.

H.O.R.S.E.
Two preliminary rounds of two games each were played with the winners of the first two rounds competing in a final round for the title of H.O.R.S.E. Champion. Each round was capped at five minutes, and utilized a 24 second shot clock. Contestants were be outfitted with a wireless microphone in order for fans to hear the player call his shot.
Winner: Lance Allred (6'11''-C-81) Idaho Stampede
Finalist: Morris Almond of Utah Flash
Kasib Powell (6'7''-F-81) Sioux Falls Skyforce
Jeremy Richardson of Fort Wayne Mad Ants

Hot-Shot
Hot-Shot contestants took to the floor to compete in a race against the clock to score the most points with the help of a D-League fan.
Winner: Carlos Powell (6'7''-F-83) Dakota Wizards
Finalist: Andre Barrett (5'9''-G-82) Bakersfield Jam
Randy Livingston (6'4''-G-75) Idaho Stampede
Billy Thomas (6'5''-G-75) Colorado 14ers

Three-Point Shootout
Each contestant had 60 seconds to sink up to 21 three-pointers from seven shooting stations assembled around the three-point line. Each station had two orange balls (worth one point each) and one 'money' ball (worth two points) which may only be attempted after both orange balls have been shot. Fans enjoyed one preliminary round and a championship round featuring the contestants with the top two scores from the first round.
Winner: Adam Harrington (6'5''-G-80) Tulsa 66ers
Finalist: Kaniel Dickens of Colorado 14ers
Josh Gross (6'6''-F-83) Albuquerque Thunderbirds
Keith Langford (6'4''-G/F-83) Austin Toros

Slam Dunk Contest
Winner: Brent Petway (6'9''-F-85) Idaho Stampede
Finalist: Mike Taylor (6'2''-G-86) Idaho Stampede
Eric Smith (6'8''-F/G-83) Fort Wayne Mad Ants
Doug Thomas (6'8''-F-83) Iowa Energy

2008 RED TEAM
41 Lance Allred (6'11''-C-81) (Idaho)
24 Elton Brown (6'9''-F/C-83) (Colorado)
50 Kaniel Dickens (6'8''-F-78) (Colorado)
44 Nick Fazekas (6'11''-F-85) (Tulsa/Mavericks)
10 Eddie Gill (6'0''-G-78) (Colorado)
32 Randy Livingston (6'4''-G-75) (Idaho)
23 Dwayne Mitchell (6'5''-G-82) (Iowa)
15 Kasib Powell (6'7''-F-81) (Sioux Falls)
18 Billy Thomas (6'5''-G-75) (Colorado)
33 Cory Violette (6'8''-C/F-82) (Idaho)
Head Coach: Bryan Gates (Idaho)
Assistant: Ray Lopes (Idaho)

2008 BLUE TEAM
24 Morris Almond (6'6''-F-85) (Utah/Jazz)
18 Sean Banks (6'8''-F-85) (Los Angeles)
7 Andre Barrett (5'9''-G-82) (Bakersfield)
10 Rod Benson (6'10''-F/C-84) (Dakota)
44 Kyrylo Fesenko (7'0''-C-86) (Utah/Jazz)
15 Keith Langford (6'4''-G/F-83) (Austin)
32 Ian Mahinmi (6'9''-F/C-86) (Austin/Spurs)
00 Jelani McCoy (6'10''-F/C-77) (Los Angeles)
15 Carlos Powell (6'7''-F-83) (Dakota)
23 Jeremy Richardson (6'7''-G/F-83) (Fort Wayne)
4 C.J. Watson (6'2''-G-84)* (Rio Grande Valley)
Head Coach: Dan Panaggio (Los Angeles)
Assistant: Chucky Brown (Los Angeles)
* - Watson will be replaced by Andre Barrett due to his active status with the Golden State Warriors.