Vipers open preseason in Austin on Wednesday

PHARR - For a number of Vipers hopefuls, Wednesday night's preseason game at Austin is their last best chance to make an impression on first-year coach Clay Moser.

Rio Grande Valley plays its only NBA Development League preseason game at 7 p.m. against the 2007-08 D-League finalists, but more than the final score is at stake. Although the Vipers have had less than one week of training camp, Moser has to trim five players off his team's roster by Thursday afternoon.

"We still have some serious evaluation work to do with our roster," Moser said. "We have some tough decisions to make. We need to (find out) what our rotation is more than likely going to look like, and we have to make some decisions on roster spots."

The Vipers will have to be down to 10 players by next week in advance of their Nov. 28 season opener against Tulsa at Dodge Arena.

"Everybody's fighting for a spot. Everybody's fighting for a spot, fighting for a job," guard Craig Winder said.

Probable starters

When reached on the bus Tuesday en route to Austin, Moser couldn't completely divulge his starting lineup for Thursday night's game, either because he hadn't completely decided on it or because he didn't want anyone to hear him. But with some name association he was able to give an answer of "probably" or "probably not" when asked a name.

As such, here are the probable starters tonight against the Toros:

>> Smush Parker, Fordham, point guard

>> Quin Humphrey, Youngstown State, shooting guard

>> Trent Strickland, Wake Forest, small forward

>> Kendall Dartez, Louisville, power forward

>> Alton Ford, Houston, center

Dartez hurt a knee during Monday night's practice, but is expected to play (and start) tonight.

He's out

Shooting guard Alpha Bangura will miss tonight's game and is extremely doubtful for the season opener after suffering a second-degree hamstring strain. Moser said the team will err on the side of caution before putting the St. John's product on the court.

Farmer update

Desmon Farmer, who averaged over 26 points per game for the Vipers last season, was released by the Spurs on Sunday. The Vipers own Farmer's rights should he decide to return to the D-League after clearing NBA waivers. If Farmer isn't claimed by another NBA team, he'll have to decide whether he wants to return to the D-League or take a more lucrative offer in Europe if one is forthcoming.

"There's no sense of urgency at the moment," Moser said. "We'll see how he's feeling and what his agent has to say and what they've got planned."

The last word

"I didn't know where Rio Grande Valley was. Mission, Texas. McAllen, Texas. I didn't even know these were all part of Texas. It's going to be an experience. It'll be a good experience and I'm going to take it and I'm going to make the most of it."

- Smush Parker

Todd Mavreles covers the Rio Grande Valley Vipers for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4451.