In most arenas, the most important stat for any sport is wins and losses. Coaches lose jobs if they do not produce more W's than L's. Conversely, coaches are revered when they do produce victories, such as a Coach K, John Wooden or Vince Lombardi. But there is a league existing out there that places the onus on player development rather than a team's record.
That arena would be the National Basketball Developmental League, created by David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA -- the NBDL's big brother. And coaches in the NBDL, such as Huntsville Flight's Ralph Lewis and Roanoke Dazzle's Kent Davison, know that player development is perhaps more critical than the wins and losses.
"We know we are here to improve the player's chances of entering the NBA," said coach Kent Davison after a recent Dazzle-Flight game. "I was proud or happier that one of our guys, Mikke Moore, got the call up to the NBA recently (Moore got called up on January 28 to the Utah Jazz)."
Lewis also contends that, on this level, player development is more important than statistics or the team's record.
"I am here to see that the players on my team are improving day in and day out," said Lewis. "I am here to help Eric Barkley to improve his jump shot, for Ken Johnson to develop the intensity he needs to make it in the league, and so one."
One of his players, Ronald Dupree, the high-flying scoring wonder out of LSU who went undrafted in last year's NBA Draft, got the call up earlier this season to the Chicago Bulls. And Dupree, after one 10-day contract, received an offer to stay with Bulls for the rest of the season.
"When Dupree got that contract for the rest of the season, we at the Flight Organization were happy for the young man," said Lewis. "We know he's gone to a place where all of our players (in the league) want to get to, or for some of them, get back to."
One of the ex-NBA ballers to whom Lewis was referring is Omar Cook.
The ex-St. John's performer, who bounced around a couple of stops in the NBA his rookie season before playing in the NBDL, said earlier in the 2003-04 NBDL season, "My goal is to make back to the league; that's why I work so hard and put in the effort."
As of February 18, "O", as he's called by his teammates, collected his second 10-day contract with the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers. Cook was at the time, the NBDL's sixth call-up to the NBA. Desmond Pinegar (Asheville Altitude to Orlando Magic) and Mamadou N'Diaye (Altitude to the Atlanta Hawks) have soon followed Cook, Dupree, and Moore into the league.
The bottom line: The number eight is far more important than any number on the scoreboard - eight is the number of NBDL players that have gotten the call up to the NBA. That is what the NBDL is about.
