VEDINBURG — The scoreboards at Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg and Chase Field House in Wilmington, Delaware, will need to be in their best working condition this week, because they are going to be moving like a slot machine’s inner wheels — fast and furious.
The top-two scoring teams in the NBA G League begin their best-of-3 championship series at 8 tonight at Bert Ogden Arena as the Western Conference champion RGV Vipers play host to the Eastern Conference champion Delaware Blue Coats. Game 2 will be played at 7 p.m. Thursday in Delaware. If necessary, Game 3 will be held at 7 p.m. Sunday at Bert Ogden Arena.
The Vipers are looking for a G League-best fourth championship. They won the title in 2010, 2013 and 2019. The Oklahoma City Blue, Austin Spurs and Santa Cruz Warriors have two apiece. This will be the Vipers sixth championship series appearance, also a league best. Santa Cruz and Austin each have four finals appearances.
The Blue Coats are returning to the finals for a second straight year, losing a winner-take-all one-game championship to theLakeland Magic during a shortened season, playing in “a bubble” in Orlando, Fla.
The matchup couldn’t be much more equal or potentially exciting with the teams similar styles of play.
— The Vipers average 124.5 points per game, first in the league; The Blue Coats average 121.6, second in the league
— Delaware attempts 95.9 field goals per game (first); RGV attempts 93.8 (third)
— Delaware racks up 11.0 steals per game (first); RGV swipes 10.3 (fourth)
— RGV makes 14.8 3-pointers per contest (second); Delaware converts on 13.9 (fifth)
One of the biggest differences, however, and a staple of how the Vipers have played all season, is the rebounding edge. RGV is first in the league averaging 51.4 boards per game, including a league-leading 16.5 offensive rebounds per contest. Meanwhile,Delaware is 18th in rebounding (45.7) and eighth in offensive rebounds (12.2).
However, numbers are nothing more than a historical representation of what a team has done. They do, however, paint a picture of a high-scoring, running and gunning series. That’s exactly what was in mind when general manager Travis Stockbridge, head coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah and others put this version of the Vipers on the floor.
It’s also been the cornerstone of their success throughout the years, usually fielding teams that have never seen shots they didn’t like.
“We have a lot of six 6-foot-6 athletic guys, but for us it’s not just this year. It goes back multiple years,” said Stockbridge, in his third year as Vipers GM. “The NBA is more and more going to a positionless game where versatility and skill are at a premium and it’s something we’ve valued for the past few years and we built this team in mind.”
That versatility can be seen in the Vipers scoring. Eight different players led the team in scoring this year, five of them have done it four or more times led by Trevelin Queen accomplishing it eight times and NBA veteran and former dunk champion Gerald Green doing it seven times. Anthony Lamb and Marcus Foster have led the team in six and five games, respectively.
Rebounding is the same as nine Vipers have paced the team, led by Mfiondu Kabengele 14 times and Lamb nine times.
And, while the point guards do carry the load in assists — Nix, Queen and Foster garnering the most — there are eight different Vipers who have paced the team in that category this year, including maybe the most versatile player on the team, Lamb.
“Everybody has been on the same page this year since the start,” Abdelfattah said. “We saw it right away in practice. These guys have a work ethic that’s unbelievable and they hold each other up to a certain standard and accountability. They all want thatsame thing.”
Stockbridge emphasized that being versatile, or interchangeable, doesn’t mean irreplaceable.
“Their versatility and skill are what make them shine,” he said. “Knowing especially we would have a healthy dose of Daishen and thinking so highly of him as being an engine on this team, we built it with that in mind. We wanted to make sure we gave him, and our other players, an opportunity to play the way he can play.”
Nix signed a standard NBA contract with the parent Rockets late in the season and has been playing in Houston. The Rockets, however, assigned him back to the Vipers for the conference finals against Agua Caliente and he is on the roster for tonight’s game against Delaware.
“We wanted to find players who can fit that mold, who like to play, shoot a lot of 3s and switch defensively. Our guys walk thewalk very well. The, believe in the work they put in and the system and you can go down the list. Watching what they do makes us realize how good some of these guys are.
“Now I hope we have success here and come home with this thing.”
