Rio Grande Valley Vipers looking for season consistency
PHARR — Developing chemistry is an ongoing process in the NBA D-League. The Rio Grande Vipers are no exception as they prepare to play their third season opener — and their first with the NBA's Houston Rockets owning their operating rights.
“We have good chemistry, and our guys get along well,” Vipers head coach Chris Finch said. “Usually, that means one of two things. It means they are all rotten or they are all pretty good, and I think they are all pretty good. Their true character is going to come out when we are a little more battle-tested.”
The Vipers bring an 11-man roster for tonight’s season opener in Austin. They play the Toros tonight and Saturday. The Vipers play their home opener next Friday against Tulsa. Finch makes his Vipers’ coaching debut after spending the last 12 seasons coaching professional basketball in Europe.
“I’m looking forward to the challenges that the D-League brings (like) having to reshape your roster,” said Finch, who will also coach Great Britain’s national team at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. “Of course, I don’t have to have to do that if I don’t have to, but reacting to it. I’m also looking forward to the game when you can have so much more control at the end of games.”
Chances are not all 11 will not play together until the very end of the season. For players like 6-8 center Joey Dorsey, playing with the Vipers is a chance to get back in shape after missing most of last season recovering from plantar faciitis. Dorsey made the Rockets’ 15-man roster, but was assigned to the Vipers after he did not get any playing time early in the season.
“I was mad at first,” Dorsey said about getting assigned to the Vipers. “But then I thought about it. I was just sitting on the bench. It’s great to be in the NBA, but I wasn’t playing and I didn’t feel like I was helping my team.”
Dorsey played seven games for the Vipers last season before he was shut down last January to recover from the injury. With Yao Ming expected to miss the season, there are opportunities for big men on the Rockets’ squad.
“The biggest thing is to develop more of my game and my defense,” Dorsey said. “I’m so powerful and quick for my size. … I wasn’t playing that much in the beginning of the (Rockets’) season. They want me to come down and play a lot of minutes. I just want to get back in shape and play a lot of basketball. It’s good because I’m doing what I love again.”
Until Dorsey gets that highly-coveted call-up, he said he’s going to do the best he can to help the Vipers win. Stringing together a cohesive unit isn’t as difficult as one might think in the D-League, but it does take some work. Dorsey believes the Vipers are off to a good start with veterans like Mike Harris, a former Rocket, and RGV veterans like 6-10 Kurt Looby, 6-9 forward Julian Sensley and 6-5 guard/forward Stanley Asumnu, a Viper since the first day.
“We are building camaraderie,” Dorsey said. “Down here, we have a great group of guys, and we know each other because we have played each other. We are always around each other. Bringing that unity together as a team is going to help us out a lot.”
Since the Rockets own the basketball operating rights of the Vipers, the Valley squad is being molding after the Rockets’ style of play with an emphasis on defense, transition basketball and hitting the three. It helps a player to be versatile as the Rockets showed in last year’s Western Conference Finals against the Lakers when they had to improvise after losing Yao to injury. The versatility is one of the strengths for the Vipers.
“We have so many options,” Harris said. “We have a down-low presence, guys who can rebound and block shots, guys who can shoot the ball tremendously well from the outside. We can create so many mismatches on the floor.”
David Hinojosa covers the Rio Grande Valley Vipers for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can also reach him at (956) 683-4442.
