After spending most of March on the road due to South by Southwest’s takeover of the Austin Convention Center, the Toros play the rest of their 2009-10 season at home. Austin sits comfortably in the second spot in the NBA D-League’s West Conference and third overall in playoff seeding. Toros guard and ex-Baylor Bear Curtis Jerrells has been on a tear of late, earning D-League Player of the Week honors last week and continued his excellent play into this week being named the Adidas Player of the Game in Austin’s 118-109 homecoming defeat of Springfield on Tuesday. He averaged 32.7 points, 6.3 assists, and 5.7 rebounds in three games last week, including a double-double on the road vs. Bakersfield (33 points, 10 assists). [Breaking news: It was announced as we went to press Wednesday that the Spurs signed Jerrells then immediately assigned him back to the Toros, apparently an attempt to keep other teams’ hands off him.] Another Toro standout, forward Marcus Williams has returned to the squad after a stint with China’s Zhejiang Wanma Cyclones. Williams scored 23 points and nabbed eight assists in Tuesday’s win over the Armor and will help fill the void left by Alonzo Gee‘s call-up to the Washington Wizards. Gee recently signed his second 10-day contract with the former Bullets and netted his first-ever NBA double-double on March 16 vs. Denver with 13 points and 10 boards. The Toros host a dance clinic this Saturday, March 27, 2-4pm, for girls ages 7-16. For $25, clinic attendees get a T-shirt and a ticket to that evening’s game, where they’ll perform a routine during the contest against the Bakersfield Jam. Vs. Bakersfield: Sat., March 27, 7:30pm; Sun., March 28, 5pm. Vs. Los Angeles: Tue., March 30, 7:30pm. Vs. Tulsa: Wed., March 31, 7:30pm. Austin Convention Center, 500 E. Cesar Chavez, 236-8333. $8-23, (more for courtside seats); $5 tickets available on Wednesdays. www.nba.com/dleague/austin.
This article appears in March 26 • 2010.