The Erie BayHawks must make two more cuts to trim its roster to the league-mandated 10 by Thursday at 5 p.m. Tell me, who is the heartless person that thought it would be nice to make Thanksgiving Day the final cut. I know the season starts Friday, but as Uncle Jesse always said, "Have Mercy, NBA D-League." OK, so he left out the NBA D-League part, but you get the idea.
Anyway, the BayHawks have to make two cuts. And whether that news comes down tonight, tomorrow, or Thanksgiving Day, it will be disappointing to two players who fought through training camp for a shot at a roster spot.
After watching Erie's 106-100 preseason victory over Fort Wayne (the official D-League box score wasn't loading as of this posting, but it's back up now) on Friday, it's my opinion that four men are battling for the BayHawks' final two roster spots.
Erie's starters on Friday included four returning players: Jarvis Gunter, Ivan Harris, Jackie Manuel, and Oliver Lafayette, and this year's first-round draft choice Donell Taylor. I think it's safe to say they're safe. Rod Wilmont led the team in scoring to secure his spot. I believe point guard Cedric Jackson also did enough to earn a spot with his play off the bench as he's probably the team's best ballhandler. Alade Aminu, another first-round pick, showed flashes of why Erie traded for him. That makes eight that are all but locked in.
That leaves big men John Bryant and Kyle Goldcamp as well as guards Martin Zeno and Zach Sowers. My hunch is that Erie will keep one of the bigs and one of the guards. For what it's worth, Sowers and Goldcamp did not see the floor until the second half against Fort Wayne. Bryant saw the most quality action of the foursome and played down the stretch. As I mentioned, I'm unable to view the box score right now, but I believe Bryant saw twice as many minutes as Goldcamp. Judging by that, you'd have to say that Treloar is leaning toward Bryant, but Goldcamp was very active defensively and was part of a key BayHawks surge in the late third quarter.
As for the guards, Sowers' game seemed to be perimeter-oriented. He demonstrated a quick release and did not shy away from the moment. Zeno's game was a bit quieter on Friday, but his Texas Tech resume speaks for itself.
Every spot matters on a 10-man roster, so you can bet that the coaching staff is doing everything it can to evaluate these players before deciding who to keep and who to cut. It won't be an easy decision to let any of them go, but we'll find out in the next 48 hours or so as the BayHawks set their official opening day roster.
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