Vipers finalize roster

PHARR — The Rio Grande Valley Vipers’ opening day roster features a good mix of veterans and rookies after the team made its final two cuts Wednesday. The Vipers open the season with back-to-back games at Austin beginning Friday.

The Vipers trimmed their roster to 11 by releasing former Baylor guard Henry Dugat and former Kent State forward Haminn Quaintance. Dugat was invited to camp after participating in a local tryout. He scored eight points and played 10 minutes in an exhibition against Austin on Saturday. Quaintance was acquired by the Vipers via a trade with Reno earlier this month. He had two points and two rebounds in 12 minutes on Saturday.

That leaves the roster with Houston Rockets’ assignee Joey Dorsey, a forward/center and four other former Vipers. Guard/forward Stanley Asumnu, a Viper since the first game, forwards Julian Sensley and Ernest Scott and center Kurt Looby made the team. In addition, the Vipers have other veterans like former Rocket Mike Harris, a forward and former LSU standout guard Garrett Temple.

Four of the team’s draft picks, including highly-touted guard Antonio Anderson, made the squad. Anderson, who was teammate of Dorsey’s at Memphis, was the Vipers’ first pick (12th overall). Others include second-round pick Jonathan Wallace of Georgetown, fourth-round pick Mickell Gladness of Alabama A&M and fifth-round pick Kenny Dawkins of Lamar. Wallace and Dawkins are guards and Gladness is a center.

“We feel everyone who is with us right now can contribute to our squad,” Vipers coach Chris Finch said. “It’s really about trying to find the right balance and then there are the intangibles: Who can accept their roles? Who can play two positions? Everyone’s attitude’s been great. Everyone’s understanding has been pretty high so those things have been consistent.”

DEFENSIVE-MINDED

The Vipers have placed an emphasis on defense in practice this week following their 101-98 loss to Austin in Saturday’s exhibition at South Padre Island. 

“I thought our effort was way too up and down,” Finch said. “We played well in the beginning, and then our bench let us down. Then our starters let us down and the bench was better. I understand it was preseason, and we were throwing out all kinds of combinations. We weren’t worried about the score or the clock, but the effort should be consistent.”

Finch thought that lack of effort at times caused the defense to suffer. Harris agreed and said the team is still coming together.

“We had some first-game jitters,” Harris said. “In the first half, we did a good job offensively moving the ball and with spacing. Defensively, we were scrambling a little. We’re still getting a feel for each other. We had good momentum and had some bad momentum.”

SLIMMING DOWN

Dorsey said he is about 10 pounds away from being fully in shape. Dorsey ballooned to 305 pounds after missing most of last season recovering from plantar faciitis. He played seven games for the Vipers last season before being shutdown for the season last January because of the injury.

He’s lost 30 points since returning to basketball last summer when he played for the Rockets’ summer league team in Las Vegas. Dorsey averaged 14.2 rebounds, a league-best, and 9.8 points during the summer. Dorsey realized after Saturday’s exhibition that his conditioning is still not there.

“I got tired out there because I’m still out of shape,” Dorsey said. “First half, I was real good at rebounding and blocking shots. In the second half, I got tired about couldn’t push through it.”

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