Netlinked 11/25/12: Springfield Armor Make Their Season Opener a Successful One

These three guys (from left: Scott, Uzoh, Mays) are the core of the Armor and might be called up to the big-league squad later this season if they keep playing this well.

The Nets' D-League affiliate, the Springfield Armor, started off their season the right way last night by defeating the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers' affiliate, in an overtime opener on the road. Kevin Jones of the Charge led all scorers with 31 points in addition to grabbing 16 boards, second-highest in the game to the Armor's James Mays, who had 17 rebounds on the night and scored 23 points. Mays, as you may remember, was a training-camp invitee with the Nets who was cut just before the regular season began.

Fellow invitee Carleton Scott added 13 points for the Armor in the win and former Net and D-League draft-day acquisition Ben Uzoh had a double-double, notching 16 points and 10 boards to go along with six assists. The Armor traded for Uzoh a few weeks ago in exchange for a draft pick, a move which appears to have worked out well already.

Springfield Armor Make a Pair of Trades

Coming on the heels of Friday's D-League Draft, the Springfield Armor, the Nets affiliate, made a pair of trades involving two of the nine players they selected in the Draft. The first move the Armor made was to trade their 1st-round pick, 6'11'' forward Tim Ohlbrecht from Germany, to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers for point guard Ben Uzoh. Uzoh played 42 games for the Nets in the 2010-11 season, averaging 3.8 points and 1.6 assists per game in 10.4 minutes per.

The other deal Springfield made was to trade their 6th-round pick in the Draft, guard Stefan Bonneau out of C.W. Post, to the Austin Toros for forward Andrew Lovedale. Lovedale was picked in the 3rd round of the Draft and is best known for his four-year college career at Davidson University, where he played with college standout and current Golden State Warrior Stephen Curry.

Nets Cut Roster to 15 By Waiving Carleton Scott and James Mays

James Mays (pictured above) and Carleton Scott just didn't get enough of a chance with the Nets in preseason to warrant a roster spot. They probably will start the season with the team's D-League affiliate, the Springfield Armor.

The Nets trimmed down their roster to the maximum size for the start of the regular season, 15 players in total, by waiving James Mays and Carleton Scott yesterday. Mays and Scott, who were brought into training camp by the Nets on unguaranteed deals, didn't get much of a chance to play with the Nets and will most likely start the year in the D-League, with the Armor.

Springfield Armor Eliminated from D-League Playoffs by Canton Charge

Former Hofstra star Antoine Agudio led the 7th-seeded Canton Charge with 24 points in a stunning win in Springfield.

The Nets' D-League affiliate Springfield Armor, the regular season Eastern Conference champion of the NBDL, fell to the Canton Charge, the affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers, at the MassMutual Center in Western Massachusetts last night. The crucial third game of the best-of 3 series, in which the Charge and Armor split the first two games in respectively, was won by Canton by a score of 115-106. Recent Net call-up Dennis Horner scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Armor while perennial D-League All-Star JamesOn Curry scored 24.

The quick playoff exit was extremely disappointing for a Springfield team that has its best ever regular season in the D-League this past year and seemed poised to win an Eastern Conference that they owned during the season. However, the season was a major success for the franchise and only bodes for more success in the future, and hopefully more effective players for the big-league Nets to call up.

Nets Sign Dennis Horner to 10-Day Contract

In order to fill up the available roster spot left on the team after not renewing Jerry Smith's 10-day deal, the Nets have called up forward Dennis Horner, who started the season in New Jersey, to another 10-day contract. Horner didn't show much in the five games he played for the Nets towards the beginning of the season but without many other options left for healthy bodies, Horner got the call.

The signing comes on the news that Shelden Williams will probably be out until April 5th because of the eye injury he suffered on Wednesday against Indiana. Jordan Williams' concussion symptoms leave him day-to-day while Anthony Morrow is listed as probable. Jordan Farmar is also out until at least April 6th and might even miss the rest of the season with his groin injury. The Nets keep dropping like flies but they keep trying to patch up the holes of their roster with replacement-level guys. Who knows, maybe Horner, a rookie from NC State, turns into a stud like Gerald Green. The Nets could use the healthy bodies and talent.

Nets Call Up Jerry Smith From D-League

To fill up the empty roster spot that they have from today's earlier trade, the Nets have called up Springfield Armor and former Louisville Cardinal shooting guard Jerry Smith, according to Smith's Twitter account. Smith is the Nets' 5th D-league call-up of the season and is leading the Armors in points (19.1) and steals (1.91) per game this season.

All-Star Saturday: Armor Do Well, the Nets Not So Much

The nice tribute Morrow made to Petrovic, a great shooter in his own right, didn't help him much in his debut appearance in the 3-point contest

In today's All-Star weekend festivities (ok, it was yesterday), the Nets and their D-League affiliate, the Springfield Armor, were really busy. On the D-League side, three Armor players (JameSon Curry, Jerry Smith, and Jeff Foote) played in the D-League All-Star game while L.D. Williams played (and won) in the dunk contest that took place at halftime of the game.

In the game, the East team (with all three Armor players) ended up losing 135-132 to the Western Conference D-League All-Stars. Curry scored a game-high 25 points off the bench on 10-for-16 shooting along with 8 assists. Smith started the game and scored 14 while Foote grabbed 7 rebounds but couldn't find his groove at the offensive end. In a weird note, Andre Emmett, whose 10-day deal with the Nets ended on Wednesday, played on the Western Conference team and scored 15. Emmett wasn't on the East squad because New Jersey didn't call him up from the Armor, but rather the Reno Bighorns.

Netlinked 2/15/12- Brook Practices, Armor GM on NBA Today, Armor on a Winning Streak

The Nets need Brook back healthy soon, or else this losing stretch will continue through the whole month of February

Finally some good news: Brook Lopez has finally returned to practice for the first time since breaking his foot right before the season and according to the Nets' [current] franchise center, his injured foot felt good. Since the injury nearly two months ago, Brook has missed roughly eight weeks of action which could serve as a nice indicator of his possible return as the original prognosis for the injury was that Lopez would miss 6-8 weeks. I'm sure that with a player as important to the Nets like Lopez is, both as an on-court talent and as a trade asset, the team's medical staff will be as cautious as possible in determining his return which hasn't officially been set yet. I'm hoping for a return to the court for Brook on February 28th, when the Nets return from the All-Star break in Dallas against the Mavericks.

The general manager of the Nets' D-League affiliate, the Springfield Armor, who happens to be Milton Lee, appeared on ESPN.com's NBA Today podcast as a guest to discuss the day-to-day operations of the D-League and what its like to be a GM of one of the teams. I highly suggest you guys listen to the podcast as it is very informative as are the rest of the NBA Today shows which go in depth on topics concerning the NBA as a whole.

The team that Lee runs is also doing very well on the court right now as his Armor squad  extended its current winning streak to five consecutive games after a blow-out win over the Fort Wayne Mad Ants on Sunday night. Six Armor players scored double-figures in points in the game and that group of players was led by 7' center out of Cornell named Jeff Foote was incredibly efficient on the evening, making eight of his 10 field goals in the Springfield win. The streak is the Armor's longest of the season and they being so successful because of the scoring depth of the team which is highlighted by six current Armor players averaging at least 10 points per game, including Dennis Horner who started the year with the big-league Nets but was sent to Springfield after playing only a total of 16 minutes with the team.