Orange In The Pros: Regular Season Wrap
4/25/2014 11:36:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The NBA regular season is complete, which means our weekly "Orange In The Pros" updating is coming to a close for the 2013-14 season. A total of 19 former Orange men had the opportunity to play professionaly this past year, inclduing six who were listed on NBA rosters at some point and time. Two more got experience with the NBA Development League and one with the Premiere Basketball League, while the rest played overseas from Eruope to China.
Don't forget to continue to follow along with you favorite former Orange stars as they wrap up their respective season. You can find their bio pages here.
Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks – Anthony wrapped up his third full season with the New York Knicks, finishing the season second in scoring at 27.4 points per game, behind only Kevin Durant, to go along with a career-high 8.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per outing as New York was just game out of the final playoff spot on the Eastern Conference. In the middle of the season, Anthony made his ninth All-Star game appearance and the following day after being named to the team, set a Knicks and Madison Square Garden record with 62 points. Anthony also had a stretch of three games out of four where he dropped at least 42 points in each outing.
Michael Carter-Williams, Philadelphia 76ers – Carter-Williams started off his pro career with a bang, just missing out on a quadruple-double with 22 oints, 12 assists, nine steals and seven rebounds in leading the 76ers to a win over the defending champion Miami Heat in his debut. Two games later, Carter-Williams posted his second double-double with 26 points and 10 assists on his way to being named the NBA's Player of the Week. He finished his first season with 16.7 points, 6.3 assists and 6.2 rebounds per game - all of which lead the rookie class. Carter-Williams was named the NBA Rookie of the Month four times out of six opportunities. For the season, the point guard had 16 double-doubles, with two of them going for triple-doubles.
Dion Waiters, Cleveland Cavaliers – Waiters and the Cavaliers wound up just five games out of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but the guard enjoyed his best season in two years in the NBA. He finished second on the Cavaliers only to All-Star Kyrie Irving with a career-high 15.9 points per game and dished out 3.0 assists per contest, good for third on the team. However, after missing seven games due to an injury in late February, Waiters came back and recorded 18 straight games with double figures scoring and averaged 20.1 points over the final two months of the season.
Wes Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers – Johnson completed his fourth NBA season and first with Lakers, leading the team in games played, matching his career high of 79. Statistically, Johnson had his best season, averaging a personal-high 9.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. In place of the injured Kobe Bryant, Johnson started 62 games, which was second on the squad.
James Southerland, New Orleans Pelicans – Southerland started off his first professional campaign with the Charlotte Bobcats, playing one game before being picked up by the Los Angeles Defenders of the NBA Development League after being let go in mid-December. There, Southerland went on to help the Defenders earn the second-seed in the playoffs by averaging 14.7 points and 6.5 rebounds in 42 games with Los Angeles going 29-13 in that span. His season did not end there though, as Southerland was called up to the New Orleans Pelicans and played in three games before the 2013-14 year ended. In those three contests, Southerland averaged 4.7 points and 2.7 rebounds, scoring a career-high 10 in his debut with New Orleans.
Arinze Onuaku, Canton Charge - Onuaku's season started where Southerland's ended, with the New Orleans Pelicans. He played three games with them before returning to the Canton Charge for his second straight season. With the Charge, Onuaku was a D-League All-Star for the second year in a row, and was a beast, setting new career-highs with 14.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. He notched 16 double-doubles during the course of the season, and was elevated to the Cleveland Cavaliers for two games after putting up 22 points and eight rebounds in the All-Star game.
Scoop Jardine, Tulsa 66ers – Jardine completed his comeback after suffering an injury shortly before the NBA Draft in 2012 and was added to the Tulsa 66ers roster in mid-January. He didn't dissappoint in 23 games, registering 7.8 points, 4.5 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game.
Donte Greene, Donguan Leopards (China) - Greene played in 41 games for the Leopards during the 2013-14 season, averaging 19.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. The points were second-best on the team while the rebounding avergaing was tops. He scored in double figures in all but six games and dropped in at least 20 points 23 times, to go along with 12 double-doubles. Dongguan concluded its season falling in the semifinals of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Paul Harris, SLCU Nancy (France) - Harris and SLCU Nancy still have two games left to go of the regular season, but through 28 games, Harris ranks second on the squad with 13.8 points per game and third with 6.4 rebounds per game. Harris has reached the double-figure plateau 19 times and scored a season-high 30 points on two occassions. He also has six double-doubles to this point, including a stretch of four in a row earlier this campaign.
Demetris Nichols, Krasnye Krylia (Russia) - Nichols has played a combined 31 games for Krasnye Krylia between two leagues, 14 in the EuroChallenge and 17 in the VTB United League. Between the two leagues, Nichols is averaging 13.3 points and 3.9 rebounds. Although his scoring average is slightly better in the VTB United League (14.9 points), Nichols displayed a better all-around game in the EroChallenge with 12.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per outing. Nichols' club will begin the VTB United League playoffs on May 1.
Rick Jackson, Galil Gilboa (Israel) - Just like Nichols, Jackson's squad competed in two leagues. He has participated in 41 games between Israel and the Balkan League. In 27 games in Israel, Jackson averaged 12.7 points and 7.5 rebounds while putting up 14.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in the Balkan League for combined averages of 12.1 points and 7.4 rebounds and is third in scoring and first in rebounding. Galil Bilboa begins the semifianls round of the Balkan League on April 25.
Kris Joseph, Elan Chalon (France) - In 27 games so far with Elan Chalon, 22 in the French League and five in EuroCup, Joseph is averaging 13.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, scoring in double figures in 21 of those games. That scoring average ranks him third on the team in scoring. Elan Chalon closes out the regular season int he French league with two more games between now and May 3.
Josh Pace, Nelson Giants (New Zealand) - Pace's season with Nelson is still just getting underway, having played only four games with the Giants after a 23-game season with the Townsville Crocodiles that ended in late March. With Nelson, Pace is second in scoring at 17.3 points and first in rebounding with 9.5 boards per game. During his time in Australia with Townsville, Pace averaged 14.9 points and 5.0 rebounds, good for second and third on the squad, respectively. He tallied double-digit scoring in all but one game.
Brandon Triche, Trento (Italy) - Triche has nearly wrapped up his first professional basketball season, playing in 29 games for Trento with one still left to go on April 27. He has proved to be one of Trento's best all-around players. leading the team with 16.4 points per game,. ranking second with 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals and fifth with 3.3 rebounds. Triche reached double-figures in scoring in all but two games to this point, which includes eight 20-point efforts.
Darryl Watkins, Spirou Charleroi (Belgium) - Watkins' team Spirou split time between Belgium and the Eurocup leagues, playing 31 for the former and 10 in the latter. In the EuroCup, Watkins averaged 11.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game. With the league in Belgium, which still has five games left of the regular season, the big-man is recording 10.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest. He has scored in double-figures in 11 of the last 12 games, notching is only two-double-doubles during the span.
Hakim Warrick, Liaoning Flying Leopards (China) - Warrick was arguably the best player for Liaoning this season, finishing second on the team with 21.3 points and first with 9.1 rebounds in 21 games. He registered double-figure scoring in every single game, including 15 20-point outbursts. He posted 11 double-doubles with five coming in a row at one point. The Flying Leopards concluded their season with a loss in the quarterfinals.
Louie McCroskey, Rochester RazorSharks (PBL) - McCroskey helped lead the RazorSharks to its fifth Premiere Basketball League championship after falling short in each of the past two seasons. Rochester lost only two games all season, its second conests of the year and game two of the Championship series. In between, the team reeled off 17 straight wins. McCroskey had a big hand in helping the club capture the PBL championship, as one of two players to see action in all 21 games. He averaged 8.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists. Rochester is coached by former Orange legend Lawrence Moten.
