D-League Finals Preview: Sioux Falls Skyforce vs. Los Angeles D-Fenders

The D-League Finals are upon us! Game 1 on Sunday between the Sioux Falls Skyforce and the Los Angeles D-Fenders will commence the best-of-three series to crown the league’s champion for the 2015-16 season. The championship will be the first for either team and both have been in the league since the 2006-07 season. Surprisingly, these two teams did not meet once in the regular season, so we have been given no baseline to gauge from.

The Skyforce come in as the favorites having finished the regular season 40-10 and setting a new league record for wins. They have gone 4-0 by sweeping their opening round opponents as well. The D-Fenders were the fourth seed out West and had the worst record at 27-23 of any of the playoff teams. However, they have persevered by downing the No. 1 seeded Reno Bighorns and No. 2 seeded Austin Spurs, winning each round two games to one.

These are teams with two distinct philosophies — the Skyforce are more defensive-minded and the D-Fenders (despite the moniker) are a run-and-gun offensive juggernaut. Playoffs always bring changes to style of play and the D-League is no different. Sioux Falls is actually getting up and down much more while still holding opponents to a ridiculously low 97.3 points per game.

Obviously these are small sample sizes, but Dan Craig has his squad running at a slightly faster pace than Los Angeles and their net rating is a silly +15.2. Casey Owens’ bunch has slowed a bit by scoring two points per game less, but they’ve also buckled down on defense allowing three points less per game to opponents than they did during the regular season. The D-Fenders are the obvious underdog — Sioux Falls has been dominant all season long with a combined regular/postseason record of 44-10 and 24-4 when the league MVP Jarnell Stokes plays.

Sioux Falls Skyforce Starters

G — Bubu Palo (23.2 mins) — 8.3 points and 2.5 rebounds
G — DeAndre Liggins (38.1) — 10.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists
F — Rodney McGruder (42.7) — 25.3 points and 5.3 rebounds
F — Jabril Trawick (21.4) — 9.5 points and 2.8 rebounds
C — Jarnell Stokes (27.1) — 22.8 points and 8.5 rebounds

Key Reserves: G — Toure Murry (11.7), G — Larry Drew II (22.7), F — Greg Whittington (27.3), C — Keith Benson (19.7)

Los Angeles D-Fenders Starters

G — Josh Magette (41.5) — 14.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 7.2 assists
G — Andre Ingram (35.3) — 9.5 points and 4.3 rebounds
F — Vander Blue (42.4) — 27.2 points and 8.2 rebounds
F — Ryan Gomes (37.5) — 22.8 points and 9.8 rebounds
C — Justin Harper (37.3) — 20.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks

Key Reserves: G — Kenneth Smith (14.6), F — Justin Hawkins (11.1), G — D.J. Shumpert (8.3), C — Michael Holyfield (9.8)

X-Factors

The Skyforce are chalked full of former NBA players with Jarnell Stokes, Toure Murry, DeAndre Liggins, Keith Benson and Larry Drew II. While everyone has a specific role to play, it has been the increased productivity of Rodney McGruder which has vaulted the record-setting team even higher than before.

• Regular Season: 37.5 mins, 15.8 points and 5.3 rebounds on 51/38/74
• Playoffs: 42.7 mins, 25.3 points and 5.3 rebounds on 52/41/70

McGruder is taking one much more of the scoring load as he’s attempt almost six more shots and holding firm on his percentages as well. While he’s deadly from outside, the key to his scoring increase has been his aggressive play in attacking the basket. His free throw attempts have risen from 2.4 per game in the regular season to a robust 6.5 in the postseason — that mark is only second to L.A.’s Vander Blue, who gets to the line 8.7 times a game.

The offense garners the attention but McGruder hangs his hat on the defensive end which will certainly aid his team in this matchup since he will likely team up with Liggins to try and slow Vander Blue’s offensive attack. The 24-year-old wing should get numerous looks this offseason from NBA clubs needing a “3 and D” off their bench, but for now he will look to put the exclamation point on a record setting season in Sioux Falls.

The key cogs for the D-Fenders will be the frontcourt of Justin Harper and Ryan Gomes. Both have played exquisitely in the first two rounds and they will need to continue that play in the finals. The frontcourts are polar opposites in this matchup because Harper and Gomes are both stretch bigs and Stokes and Benson both prefer to play within 10 feet of the basket. If Harper and Gomes can pull the Skyforce bigs — especially Benson — out of the paint, it could open driving lanes for Vander Blue to drive and kick to find Andre Ingram and Josh Magette on the wings.

The starting five for the D-Fenders has been the rock of the team thus far in the postseason — they are all averaging 35+ minutes a night. The only reserves playing more than 10 minutes a game have been Kenneth Smith (14.6) and Justin Hawkins (11.1), so the starters will have to step it up if they want to bring home the championship. Luckily, fatigue should not come into play with the series only lasting three games, however, the depth of Sioux Falls could still pose a real problem.

Sioux Falls has seven guys averaging 20+ minutes a game and Keith Benson is at 19.7. Dan Craig is using an eight-man rotation as opposed to leaning on his starters too heavily. If L.A. finds themselves in foul trouble it could play a pivotal role in this series, while Sioux Falls could likely stay afloat with some starters with foul problems.

Synopsis

This is going to be a fast-paced, exciting series. While the Sioux Falls come in as the favorite, anything can happen in a three-game series and the D-Fenders have proven to be up to the challenge thus far. Both teams have excellent guard play, which will be essential as the teams hit late game scenarios that could sway the series one way or another. It’s difficult to see Sioux Falls losing two games out of three because they are just so well-rounded as a unit, but not too many people had Vander Blue & Co. in the finals. Winning this thing is certainly possible for them.

My pick is Sioux Falls winning the D-League Finals, 2-1.