Vipers meet Austin in Island exhibition

PHARR — The Rio Grande Valley Vipers could use Saturday night’s exhibition against Austin as a chance to get a good look at an opponent they are going to be seeing in bunches early in the season.

After all, three of the Vipers’ first five games are against the Toros, which includes back-to-back contests next Friday and Saturday at Austin to open the season.

But with training camp barely in its second week, the Vipers will be about the Vipers when they take on Austin at 7 p.m. on Saturday night at the South Padre Island Convention Center.

“Ninety-nine percent it’s about us,” Vipers coach Chris Finch said. “We’re going to learn about Austin, but we are not going to over prepare for them or worry about some of the things they are going to do. We are going to worry about us and make sure we got our stuff down.”

The next few days of evaluation will be critical. The Vipers have cut their roster to 13 and must release two more players by 4 p.m. Wednesday. The Vipers have started implementing some plays used by the Houston Rockets, and Saturday night offers a chance to see how well the team has soaked them in.

“The next few days is the biggest thing with everyone learning the plays,” said forward Mike Harris, a former Rocket and one of the two players that the D-League allocated to the Vipers. “We’ve only learned 10 percent of what they want to put in. The next few days are going to tell them whether we are at that level of maturity or whether we have a ways to go.”

Part of the process of determining that will be placing the players in game situations. It is an important evaluation because it’s the team’s only exhibition this season.

“We need to make sure the guys get an overall assessment in that environment because we have another cut (on Wednesday),” Finch said. “We want to see how the guys perform and how they handle what we are asking them to do and whether they really fit our style of basketball.”

Since the Vipers had their first cut on Wednesday when they released five players, Harris is beginning to see a team is becoming molded into the Rockets’ up-tempo and attacking style with an emphasis on shooting the three.

“We are starting to put in the formations and sets that they run,” Harris said. “Right now, everyone has to lock down mentally because in the NBA, that’s a big thing. You have to be able to learn on the fly and go with it.”

David Hinojosa covers the Rio Grande Valley Vipers for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can also reach him at (956) 683-4442.