PORTLAND — When the Maine Red Claws travel to Erie, Penn., this weekend for a series with the Erie Bay Hawks, they will be dealing with a big load in the middle of the paint.
Not only will Maine be dealing with the talents of Bay Hawks center Ivan Johnson, they will be doing it without their talented åbig men Tiny Gallon and Magnum Rolle.
Gallon will miss the series because of a sore back and will remain in Portland. Rolle has been out since the opening game of the season with an injured knee.
That will leave the Red Claws focusing on speed and better offense when it travels to Erie, Red Claws coach Austin Ainge said.
“Obviously that’s a huge hole we need to fill for this weekend,” Ainge said. “We will need to try to score a lot of points to make up for the lack of big men.”
The Red Claws waived Rolle, the second such player this season to be waived because of injury. Stephane Lasme was waived earlier in the season after an injury. He was the last cut of the Red Claws NBA-affiliate Boston Celtics.
Ainge said the injuries have been difficult and the most frustrating part of this season.
“They happen,” he said. “It’s been difficult to deal with, especially when considering the players that have been affected by the injuries.”
Many NBA pundits consider both Gallon and Rolle as having the most NBA-potential of almost every big man in the league with the exception of Patrick Patterson of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Houston Rockets affiliate.
Their loss produces a greater challenge for a team that is loaded with rookies as the Red Claws will try and slow down Johnson who is averaging nearly 17 points and 10 rebounds a game.
“We need to pick up our offense and try to play quickly and limit our turnovers,” Ainge said. “We have to play quickly but also not take quick shots if we want to limit Johnson’s impact.”
The Red Claws enter the game at 3-4 and are tied for fourth place with Springfield in the East Conference. Erie is 4-3 and in third place in the conference.
“We need to become more consistent,” Ainge said. “With as many young players as we have that will take some time, but I think we will be all right once we become more consistent on the defensive end.”
Both games are Friday and Saturday in Erie, starting at 7 p.m.
Kansas flavor coming to Maine
Former Kansas Jayhawks star guard Sheron Collins was recently reassigned to the Red Claws and will join the club for this weekend’s series against Erie.
Collins, a 5-11 point guard, has appeared in 12 games for the Charlotte Bobcats this season for only 29 minutes. He hasn’t been able to make the most of his time as he’s hit just one of his eight shot attempts, that coming in an 18-point loss to the Philadelphia 76ers over the weekend.
Collins wasn’t drafted last summer, but the Bobcats picked him up as a free agent.
While playing all four years for the Jayhawks in college, he averaged 13.2 points per game and nearly four assists per game. He was also a consenus first team All-America selection last year. His best season statistically came his junior year when he averaged nearly 19 points per game and five rebounds per game.
“We’re excited to have him,” Ainge said. “It will be difficult for him at first to adjust since he won’t have a lot of time with the team, but I am excited that he’ll be here.”
Ainge said he doesn’t know how long Collins will be in Maine, but expects him to be with the club at least through next weekend’s home games against Idaho and Springfield.
Talent level rising in D-League
While some fans might consider the D-League a lesser caliber brand of basketball, especially with its counterpart the NBA, that’s simply not the case.
Yes, the NBA has the Hall of Famers, the big players such as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, but across the board the talent in the D-League isn’t that much behind the talent in the NBA, Ainge said.
“Many times the D-League players will outplay their NBA counterparts when they come down here,” Ainge said.
The D-League is full of bigger names that are NBA ready such as Patrick Patterson and Sherron Collins. Both players were stars on the college stage and have fallen victim to roster limitations.
Patterson was a top 10 pick by the Houston Rockets last summer and was one of five University of Kentucky players drafted in the first round. One of those players was teammate Daniel Orton (29) who played a few games for the Orlando Magic’s New Mexico Thunderbirds before being called back to the Magic earlier this week.
— Contact Al Edwards at 282-1535, ext. 317
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