The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Well Represented In NBDL Finals
4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
April 23, 2012
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Three former UAB men's basketball players will square off on Tuesday night in the opening game of the 2012 NBA Development League Finals, presented by BBVA. Elijah Millsap and the league-leading Los Angeles D-Fenders (38-12) will match up against Squeaky Johnson and Jamarr Sanders of the Austin Toros (33-17) for the best-of-three series, with the winner claiming the 2012 NBDL title.
Millsap, who is one of the top scorers in the D-League, played at UAB during the 2009-10 campaign, helping the team match the school-record of 25 wins (25-9). That season, the Blazers began the year with a school record 18 victories in their first 20 games and eventually reached the NIT Quarterfinals before losing to North Carolina.
The 6-6, 215-pound guard helped the D-Fenders etch their name into the record books as the team finished the 2011-12 regular season with a 38-12 record, the best in NBA D-League history.
In 41 games (33 starts) for Los Angeles this season, Millsap averaged 19.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.9 steals in 33.0 minutes per game. The 2012 NBA D-League All-Star has scored in double-figures 38 times, recorded five double-doubles and two triple-doubles.
Millsap, who earned his first-ever D-League Player of the Week honor for the week of April 9, has stepped his game up even more during the postseason. In the D-Fenders' four postseason contests, Millsap is averaging 23.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 2.5 assists per game. He scored 34 points in the opening game against the Bakersfield Jam and averaged an impressive 28.5 points a game in the semifinal series.
Meanwhile, both Johnson and Sanders have been valuable contributors in the Toros' championship run. Johnson played at UAB from 2003-06 and was a part of three NCAA Tournament teams. Sanders spent time in Birmingham from 2009-11, helping the Blazers to the program's first-ever outright Conference USA regular-season crown and an NCAA Tournament birth in 2011.
Johnson, who began the season with the New Orleans Hornets, has played in 20 games for the Toros, making 12 starts. He has averaged 8.2 points, 5.7 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game this season for Austin. Facing a must-win situation in game two of the recent series against the Canton Charge, Johnson accounted for 16 points and a team-high six assists off the bench to lead the team to a victory.
Meanwhile, Sanders has also played a big role this season, seeing action in 43 contests while making 17 starts. He has averaged 7.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists a game. He is one of the team's top three-point shooters, averaging 41.6 percent from beyond the arc this season.
The 2012 Finals tip off on Tues., April 24 at 8:30 p.m. ET, when Austin, the No. 3 seed in this year's NBA D-League playoffs presented by BBVA, hosts Los Angeles, the top seed, at Cedar Park Center in Cedar Park, Texas. The D-Fenders will then host the Toros for Game 2 on Thurs., April 26 at 10:00 p.m. ET, and Game 3, if necessary, on Sat., April 28 at 9:30 p.m. ET, at Toyota Sports Center in Los Angeles.
UAB fans can watch the series as each game of the best-of-three series will be televised nationally on NBA TV and streamed live for free on NBA Futurecast at nba.com/dleague.
