Anderson accepts D-League route to NBA

PHARR — As one of the Charlotte Bobcats’ last cuts, Antonio Anderson needed a couple of days to regroup before thinking basketball again. The 6-6 guard from Memphis whom the Rio Grande Valley Vipers made its first-round pick (12th overall) two weeks ago said he hasn’t had much time to wallow in that disappointment. Instead, he’s looking ahead.

“It’s hard,” Anderson said Wednesday during the team’s media day event at Summit Sports Club. “Not everybody gets in (the NBA) right away. Sometimes, it takes one year, sometimes two years. You never know. I’m just going to keep working hard until something happens.”

In college, Anderson earned a reputation as a tough defender. He was Conference USA defensive player of the year and a member of the conference’s all-defensive teams his sophomore, junior and senior seasons.  At the pro level, the Vipers would like to see him become involved on the offensive end.

“He’s a high-level defender and a really good athlete,” Vipers coach Chris Finch said. “We’re going to try to get him to be a little more offensive-minded. I think he has it in him.”

Anderson averaged 8.5 points and was a 30.7 percent 3-point shooter in four years at Memphis. Finch loves Anderson’s vision and thinks he will be able to attack the basket well on transition. The thing he lacks, Finch said is consistency on the 3-point shot.

“He’s got the form,” Finch said. “He’s not far off from being a really good shooter, and it’s our job in the next four or five months to make him a better one.”

Anderson has every faith in the world that will happen.

“I feel they’ve drafted me and have given me an opportunity to move up,” Anderson said. “If not here, then somewhere else. They’ve told me they can help me get to where I want to be, and I believe them.”

DEVELOPING CHEMISTRY

The nature of the NBA D-League is to develop chemistry on the fly considering that most players do not play with each other from season to season. Finch believes his team is good in that department. It helps that Anderson and Joey Dorsey, the Houston Rocket assigned to the Vipers, played together in Memphis.

“Chemistry is always one of those tricky things,” Finch said. “It can take a team a long way. It starts with bringing in good people first and foremost, and if they are good players, it makes it even better. … The basketball world is pretty small. Some of these guys played with each other or against each other somewhere. I think our guys are getting along real well right now.”

FIRST CUTS

The Vipers trimmed its roster to 12 Wednesday, announcing that guard Cliff Clinkscales, guard Antonie Hood and forward Rashad Woods had been cut. The Vipers also waived guard Jamarcus Ellis and forward DeAngelo Alexander because of injury. Clinkscales played with the Vipers the last six games last season. Ellis (third round), Hood (sixth round), Woods (seventh round), Alexander (eighth) were drafted by the team on Nov. 5.

The Vipers must cut their roster to 10 by Nov. 25. Dorsey does not count against the roster limit.

“It’s been a good, competitive camp,” Finch said. “Unfortunately, we had some tough decisions, and we are going to have some tougher ones.”

OUT OF POCKET

Four Vipers, including Dorsey, didn’t practice nor attend the team’s media day event because they were suffering from what the club described as “flu-like symptoms.”  The others were Garrett Temple, Jonathan Wallace and Julian Sensley.

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