Ft. Worth Flyers and the NBA D-League

On the day after Thanksgiving, we visited lovely downtown Ft. Worth and got to check out some NBA Development League basketball.

The game on Friday night was pretty cool.

We arrived for the game, just prior to go time.

No crowds. No trouble parking. No muss. No fuss.

We walk in, no line to wait in to give our tickets and get in. We get in and walk around until we find the floor access. We turn the corner and there right in front of us are the Ft. Worth Flyers. Turns out that floor access went down past the locker rooms, so we stood behind the team as they were introduced to go out for the shootaround.

I teased Cadi that I should wait for the next introduction and, then, bust down the tunnel and run out with my hands held high...HA!

But I didn't, wouldn't have done to get thrown out before the tip off. Or being slammed flat on my back by a 7-foot tall stork in a blue jersey and gym shorts.

Our seats were directly behind the Flyers end of the scoring table. If I looked one way, I could look over the shoulder of the guy broadcasting the game on local radio and if I looked the other...I could look over the shoulder of the Flyers head coach(Sam Vincent).

It was like being right in the huddle.

But, man...there were a lot of empty seats.

Keith Langford looked good, as did Ime Udoka and Majic Dorsey. Udoka was in the NBA for awhile last season with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The BSWG, Luke Schenscher, played just like a BSWG(re: BSWG = Big Stiff White Guy), but as I told Cadi, he was 7 feet tall...and you can't teach 7 feet.

And there are two Anthonys on the team. And I don't know if the guy in the stands was a relative of one of them or what, but one of them would do something sort of hinky and you'd hear, "What was that ANTHONY! You can't play like that."

Or one of them would do something good and you would hear, "That's how you play ANTHONY. That's how you play."

After four quarters of this and going into overtime, I see Anthony Terrel muscle up in the paint and before I can stop myself, I'm yelling, "That's how you play ANTHONY. That's how you play."

At this point, Cadi leans away from me trying to act like she doesn't know me.

Anthony Terrel had a career high that night. He scored 17 points for the first time in his professional career. Cool stuff.

It was so cool being able to look at the board while the coach is drawing up plays.

The game was cool.

The Flyers won in overtime, 115-109. Ime Udoka scored 20. Schenscher got 11 boards.

Now, I know, if these guys were playing in the NBA, they would have a serious bag. But against like competition, they were great. And I could see Udoka, Dorsey, Langford, and the BSWG stepping up sometime soon.

Pretty cool stuff.

For more info on your Ft. Worth Flyers click here.

If you find yourself in Ft. Worth and the Flyers are playing a home game, if you are a basketball fan, ...make the time.

Highly recommended.