Vipers locking down on defense

HIDALGO — The Rio Grande Valley Vipers commitment to defense over the last two weeks was evident during the team’s most-recent road swing when they won three games — one at Texas and a back-to-back sweep at Maine.

The Vipers (10-6) turned in their three best defensive performances of the year, holding the Texas Legends to 93 points and the Maine Red Claws to 83 and 81 points. Those were the lowest amount of points they had allowed in a game this season. Before that, the Vipers had given up 104 points or more in each of their previous eight games in which they went 3-5.

“We are very much improved,” Vipers coach Nick Nurse said of the team’s defense. “We’ve put a lot of work into it, and we’ve spent a majority of our practice time on it.”

The Vipers will try to continue their tough defense beginning tonight when they open a back-to-back home series against Dakota (6-6) at State Farm Arena.

It’s no coincidence the Vipers’ defense improved when 6-foot-7 power forward Tyren Johnson returned after he participated in training camp with the Indiana Pacers. Johnson was the team’s leading scorer and rebounder when he left. He’s averaged 16.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in the last three games.

The addition of 6-10 center Greg Smith, who was in training camp with the Houston Rockets, has been a boost, too. Smith recorded double-doubles and combined for seven blocked shots in his first two games last weekend. The Vipers also added 6-8 forward Damien Saunders, another Rockets training-camp participant, last weekend. Saunders is averaging 8.3 points and 6.3 rebounds in three games.

“It helps when you get Tyren Johnson back, who’s probably your best player,” Nurse said. “Then, you get two others who are long. You are going to get better. What’s been nice is that it’s come on the defensive side of the ball.”

The Vipers will have an added dynamic this weekend with the addition of 6-9 forward Marcus Morris, a rookie from Kansas who is on assignment from the Rockets. Morris was the 14th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft after being named the Big 12 Conference player of the year. He had appeared in three games for the Rockets before his assignment.

“We are happy to have him,” Nurse said. “We’ll see how he fits in. He’s a very, very talented player. … He can play. He’s just not a scorer, but he can play. I think he’s going to be fun for our guys to play with.”

One area of emphasis for Morris is guarding on the perimeter.

Nurse still intends to use the hockey-style line substitution, but will likely make some slight concessions in order to get Morris the work the Rockets want from him.

“I’ll go in with a soft game plan going in,” Nurse said. “It can always change going in. I have some ideas of what I want to do. We’ll stick with what we’ve been doing. We’ve had some success with that. It’s been fun to get everyone involved.”

David Hinojosa covers the Rio Grande Valley Vipers for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4442 or via email at dhinojosa@themonitor.com