Former BayHawks Update: Erik Daniels

We're still about a month away from the D-League draft that will help shape this season's Erie BayHawks roster. So, over the next few days/weeks leading up to the draft, I'm going to do my best to track down the current whereabouts of as many of last year's BayHawks as possible.

For starters, I'll take a look at Erik Daniels. Daniels was the team's best player last year, earning 1st-team All-D-League status.

The former Kentucky Wildcat just recently played his first game of the season for Azovmash Mariupol in Ukraine, scoring 14 points on 6-9 shooting in a one-point loss.

Daniels weighed in via Twitter after the game, saying, "[W]e lost our first game by one point. I didn't play my best game but I still managed to get 14 points. We need to work on our free throws."

Daniels' Twitter feed also included some additional insights. He said he'd never played for a European team that practiced so light, and he also said he plans to 20 points and 10 rebounds this season, which he did last year for Erie.

Hopefully Daniels continues to keep the tweets coming to keep us updated on his progress in Ukraine. His presence will be missed on the court for the BayHawks this season.

Replacing Erik Daniels

News broke over the weekend that former Erie BayHawks forward/center Erik Daniels had signed a contract to play next season with Azovmash Mariupo in the Ukraine Superleague.

As a first-team All D-League selection last year, Daniels was a key part in the BayHawks' inaugural season. His presence gave the team stability and helped the young team qualify for the playoffs as an expansion franchise.

Still, it should come as little surprise that Daniels won't be back in Erie for a second season. Despite the numbers he put up last season, Daniels received little attention from the NBA and saw almost no playing time as part of the Memphis Grizzlies Summer League team. The rationale is that he played much of the season out of position at center for the BayHawks when he's more likely a 3 or 4 at the NBA level.

Also, at age 27, Daniels understands that he's old by NBA Development League standards, so it's hard to blame him for taking what I'm sure is a hefty raise to play overseas. It's hard to track down a lot of information about the signing, but if I can trust Twitter, Daniels is already over there. His update (@danielserik) from September 15 said, "2 more days in the mountains then off to the ukraine." Blog Talk BayHawk wishes the ex-BayHawk nothing but the best.

As for the BayHawks, I think they new this was going to happen sooner or later, but coach Treloar and company now has to face the reality of it. Their team MVP will not be back, and it will not be easy to replace his statistical production nor his veteran savvy.

First, the BayHawks need to find a way to replace a player who averaged a double-double over the course of the season while anchoring the BayHawks' defense in the post. I'm not sure if there's one single player in the D-League pool who fits that description, so it may take a combination of players.

And secondly, Erie has to look for someone with some experience under their belt. In a league filled with first- and second-year players, I think it's very beneficial to have one or two high-character veterans that have been playing professionally for a handful of years to help accommodate the youth that's going to populate the roster.

Daniels' departure leaves a definite hole to fill. In my opinion, replacing him has to become priority number one for the coaching staff right now as they get ready to formulate the roster for the upcoming season. Erie's success this season may very well depend on how well they're able to replace Daniels' productivity in the paint and presence in the locker room. If they can find another player of the caliber of Erik Daniels, a second-straight postseason appearance may be in the cards for the BayHawks. If not, they'll likely find it very challenging to duplicate their first-year success.

Summer League Players in Review: Erik Daniels

With the NBA's Las Vegas Summer League officially wrapping up yesterday, I thought I'd take this week to look back at some of the Erie BayHawks-relevant stories. Today, tomorrow, and Wednesday, I'll recap the performances of the three former BayHawks players who participated in the Vegas league. And then, on Thursday and Friday, I'll take a closer look at Erie's affiliates, breaking down the Cavaliers and Raptors Summer League team performances.

First up is the man who led the BayHawks to the playoffs this past season as a 1st-team all-D-League selection, Erik Daniels.

The 6'8" forward from Kentucky saw no playing time through the first three Summer League games, but the Grizzlies organization finally gave the veteran some burn in games four and five. Daniels played just under 13 minutes in each game.

Against Phoenix, in a game the Grizzlies won going away 97-60, Daniels saw his first Summer League action and made the most of his short time on the court. He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting, grabbed 3 rebounds, dished out 2 assists and blocked a shot.

In the Grizzlies Summer League finale, which they won 76-75 versus the Spurs, Daniels again found little ways to contribute in limited minutes. His only two field goal attenpts were 3-pointers, but he hit one, and he added 2 rebounds and a steal to his statline. In his two games played, he did not commit a turnover.

Daniels' Summer League experience was surely not what he was hoping for. It's hard for any player to show what they can do in just 25 minutes of playing time, but Daniels did what he could with the opportunity he was given. Since he likely didn't get to showcase his abilities enough to earn a spot on an NBA roster this coming fall, Daniels will likely head overseas next season, as Duane Rankin of the Erie Times-News reports.

For fans of the Erie BayHawks, it's no surprise that Daniels won't be back in Erie next year. The money just isn't there, and at this stage of his career, Daniels is older than most of the players in the D-League. Still, the fans in Erie will remember Daniels as one of the key components of the success of the franchise's inaugural season.

Summer League Weekend Wrap

There's a lot to get to after a full weekend of Summer League action in Las Vegas. First, I'll take a look at the Summer League squads of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors, the two affiliates of the Erie BayHawks. Then, I'll also give an update on a couple of other former BayHawks and what they've done so far in Summer League play.

Cavs results
The Cavs lost their Summer League opener against the Lakers as well as their second game against the Bucks, but Summer League games are not really about wins and losses as much as player development. Also, check out John Krolik's quick thoughts on the Summer League over at Cavs: The Blog, including the important note that points scored is not really the stat to look at when viewing the Summer League box scores.

Five starter points of interest for Cleveland through two games:

• Second-round pick Danny Green is tied for the team lead with 27 points, but more importantly, the UNC alum has shot 5-10 from 3-point range and is a perfect 6-6 at the line. It looks more and more like he'll be a Cavalier and not a BayHawk during his rookie season.
• It's no surprise that Darnell Jackson leads the team in minutes played, but Jamont Gordon is right behind him, taking up a lot of the point guard minutes (and producing nine assists to six turnovers.)
• Maureece Rice has played just 25 minutes, shooting just 1-9 from the field. He does have five assists to his three turnovers though, a slightly better AST/TO ratio than Gordon, but the former BayHawk point guard will need to step it up over the next few games if he's going to make an NBA roster.
• Tarence Kinsey hasn't shot the ball well, but he leads the team with 11 rebounds.
• First-round pick Christian Eyenga had just one point in his debut against the Lakers, but he bounced back with 10 points on 4-6 shooting against Milwaukee.

Cavs remaining games
Tuesday vs. Washington
Thursday vs. Dallas
Friday vs. Detroit

Raptors results
Toronto also lost each of its first two games, falling to the Lakers and Pistons on consecutive nights.

Five starter points of interest for Toronto through two games:

• DeMar DeRozan is one of the most notable players partaking in the action in Vegas. While he's shown some scoring prowess, he's also shot 14-32 with 0 assists and 3 turnovers. On the flipside, it was good to hear that DeRozan is a bit of a gym rat, the first to arrive (via TrueHoop).
• Brent Petway showed off his athleticism with a highlight dunk and 3 blocks in limited minutes vs. the Lakers.
• One-time BayHawk Quincey Douby had a pretty efficient game two, netting 21 points on 13 shots, including 2-3 from downtown. He did have 2 turnovers to go with his three assists, however.
• Smush Parker has struggled with his shot, but he leads the team with 8 assists.
• Patrick O'Bryant was the only Raptor to pull down double-digit rebounds, grabbing 10 to go with his 10 points against the Pistons.

Raptors remaining games
Today vs. Portland
Wednesday vs. Phoenix
Thursday vs. Milwaukee

Other Erie BayHawks News to Note

• All D-League 1st-team selection Erik Daniels is on the Memphis Grizzlies Summer League roster. And in their first game yesterday he gets a DNP? I'm not sure what happened here, especially considering the final score of the game was 86-57 Grizzlies. For what it's worth, three other players did not play either, according to the box score.
• In other news, former BayHawk Darian Townes, who played in the Orlando Summer League with the host Orlando Magic, will be on the training camp roster for the Miami Heat.
  

Players in Review: Erik Daniels

No matter how you slice it, Erik Daniels was undoubtedly the MVP of the 2008-09 Erie BayHawks. The former Kentucky Wildcat led the team in minutes played, scoring and rebounding plus he was second in assists.

Most impressively, Daniels averaged a double-double (21.1 points and 10.0 rebounds per game) while playing all 50 games. Only three other NBDL players accomplished that feat (minimum of 25 games played). To really put into perspective how impressive it is to average a double-double for a full season, only six NBA players accomplished that feat this year. Players that came close but DID NOT make that list: Yao Ming, Pau Gasol, Antawn Jamison, David West, Shaquille O’Neal, Dirk Nowitski and Lamar Odom.

Daniels was Erie’s lone representative in the D-League all-star game, and he was recently named as an All-NBDL 1st team selection. With all of his success this season, it’s hard to envision Daniels back in Erie next season.

As one of the top players in the NBDL, he’ll likely get an invite to an NBA camp or wind up overseas next season.

While I’m sure coach Treloar would love to have the luxury of building a team around Daniels next year, the nature of the D-League is such that the best players don’t hang around for long. After all, the goal is to get from the D-League to THE league.

Whether Daniels, at age 27, can make that jump is to be determined. But he gave Erie fans plenty to cheer about in the team’s first season, and he’ll go down as the leader of the first bunch of BayHawks to ever lace ‘em up in Erie.

Erie BayHawks Begin D-League Playoffs Tonight

The Erie BayHawks had so much fun during their inaugural NBDL season that they decided to keep playing into the postseason.

As part of the D-League’s innovative playoff system, the seventh-seeded BayHawks were handpicked by the top-seeded Colorado 14ers for a first round playoff battle that takes place tonight in Colorado.

Although the 14ers claim that there was no real motivation for the selection, you have to imagine that coach John Treloar has his BayHawks team believing that they were disrespected by the 14ers. In the D-League’s one-and-done opening round format, that extra motivation could be the difference between playing on and going home.

During the season, the BayHawks lost both meetings with Colorado. Erie lost their January 27 meeting in Colorado 114-110. The BayHawks also lost 119-103 at home on March 27.

With both teams scoring in triple digits in the two regular season games, another high-scoring affair is expected. Having seen the BayHawks twice in person, they certainly have the firepower to score in bunches.

It starts with Erik Daniels, Maureece Rice and Ivan Harris. Together, Daniels, Rice and Harris combine to score more than 55 points per game. Those three players are not only the top scorers on the team, they’re also the only players to play in all 50 regular season games.

BayHawks fans hoping to see the team play again this season, cheer for the upset. Of course, you can catch all of the D-League playoff action online with FutureCast. But the only chance Erie has of playing another home game this season is if they reach the best-of-three championship series.

Hopefully that journey starts tonight in Colorado.