Vipers Notebook

McALLEN - The Vipers grew accustomed to losing players to overseas teams last year, so it should come as no surprise that power forward Kendall Dartez on Monday officially signed to play for a team in China. He was sidelined for last Friday's game against Los Angeles with a sprained ankle and did not make the trip for Sunday's game at Dakota.

The 6-foot-11, 225-pound Dartez leaves for China after averaging 13.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. One year after losing starters Gabe Muoneke and Kenny Taylor and sixth-man Jarred Merrill to teams overseas, the Vipers see another key contributor leave for greater riches.

"It's huge," Vipers coach Clay Moser said of losing Dartez. "We're actively looking to replace him right now. We want to make sure we sign the right guy. His goal was to get an NBA call-up. He actually had three NBA teams that expressed different levels of interest to him but nobody committed to him. He just got an offer he couldn't refuse."

Dartez's loss is tempered by the addition of NBA assignment player Joey Dorsey from the Houston last week. But Moser said the Rockets haven't told him how long Dorsey will be with the Vipers.

Big addition

The loss of Dartez makes the addition of Dorsey all the more vital to the Vipers (6-8) as they try to stay afloat during this current stretch that features nine of 12 games away from Dodge Arena. Following Sunday's 121-98 loss at Dakota, the Vipers are 1-4 on the road.

In two games with the Vipers, the rookie from Memphis has averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench. With the Rockets, Dorsey played two minutes in three games.

Moser said the Rockets' hierarchy wants Dorsey to get practice time in, which has yet to happen as he arrived the morning of last Friday's game then traveled all day Saturday to Dakota for Sunday's game. And, of course, the Rockets want Dorsey to have some game action. Moser said Rockets GM Daryl Morey watched the Dakota game on the D-League's NBA Futurecast.

Parker off the bench

The Vipers took Smush Parker out of the starting lineup for the past two games because he missed both practices last week, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, without permission. Moser said Parker said after the fact he was with family. There is no timetable for Parker's return to the starting lineup.

Sent to the D

The Nets on Monday assigned forward/center Sean Williams, their first-round choice in the 2007 NBA Draft, to the Colorado 14ers. Williams started 29 of the 73 games he played in for New Jersey last season, averaging 5.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. It's possible the 6-10 Williams will still be with the 14ers when they visit the Vipers on Jan. 14.

Player of the Week

Speaking of Colorado, Josh Davis was named the NBA Development League's Player of the Week on Monday after leading the 14ers to a 3-0 record last week. He averaged 20 points and eight rebounds per game during that stretch while shooting 63.2 percent from the field.

Coming up

The Vipers will practice Wednesday and Thursday in preparation for games Friday and Saturday against Albuquerque at Dodge Arena. They will then head to the D-League Showcase in Utah where they'll play Reno on Jan. 5 and Sioux Falls on Jan. 7. From there, RGV heads to Albuquerque for back-to-back games against the Thunderbirds on Jan. 9-10.

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