Weekend Road Sweep Nets Huge Gains for Skyforce as League Leading RGV Looms

The Skyforce performed honorably this past weekend.  As a team that aspires to reach the playoffs, Sioux Falls picked up a pair of road wins against the two teams at the bottom of the league.  Combine Erie and Delaware’s win totals and you equal the Sioux Falls victory tally.  

Extra credit was earned for gaining those wins without Miami Heat call-up DeAndre Liggins for both of those games and Coach Pat Delany was absent for the Erie contest.  There are now 13 games left in the Skyforce season.  Playoff time is still over a month away, but a bad week can make the post-season a supreme struggle.  A look at the standings underscores the tight conditions and pressure involved as the season enters the final stages.  Check the distance between #2 and #9.  It’s a spread of 2.5 games, so no room for a slump is allowed in that setting.

1.) Rio Grande Valley (25-11)
2.) Fort Wayne (23-14)
3.) Iowa (21-13)
4.) Reno (20-13)
5.) Canton (23-15)
6.) Sioux Falls (22-15)
7.) Santa Cruz (21-15)
8.) Los Angeles (20-15)
9.) Idaho (20-17)
10.) Tulsa (18-20)

High importance matchups among contenders in this week’s NBADL schedule:

Santa Cruz at Reno (Mon and Tues)
Rio Grande Valley at Sioux Falls (Thursday and Friday)
Idaho at Reno (Friday and Saturday)
Rio Grande Valley at Iowa (Sunday)

Even though both teams are not contending, Iowa has a road swing to Frisco to face the Texas Legends Thursday then to Austin on Friday.  After this week’s slate of games, we shall see if the picture we see becomes more clear or clouded.