With the Miami Heat bringing in current D-League player and former Siena college standout Kenny Hasbrouck for a good look to fill one of it's roster spots, I thought I'd ask my ESPN Truehoop colleague Matt Hubert over at the D-League Digest to provide a little more info on the young man.
Hasbrouck is probably best known, especially this time of year, for his part in Siena's double-overtime win against Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year. He's the fifth player called up from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, who are currently first place in the D-League's West Conference. I'm a little surprised to see Hasbrouck get the call-up—not necessarily because he's not deserving of a shot but just because I think there are others that I'd put in line ahead of him. That said, Hasbrouck been averaging 16.9 points per game and shooting 50.4 percent from the field (38.1 percent from 3) in the 10 games he's played for RGV. His assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5 assists/turnover) is solid but not spectacular. My guess is that the Heat have kept tabs on him since he worked out for them back in the summer and received rave reviews from people in Miami's organization. That probably explains why he got the call-up as opposed to a player like Mustafa Shakur who has been producing more consistently in the D-League this season. Hasbrouck's last three games have been subpar performances, scoring in single digits twice and shooting just 38.7 percent.Ok, so who is Mustafa Shakur? Hubert thinks he's the best (but not the only ) choice for the Heat...
His Tulsa team has won four straight and eight of their last 10 games thanks to his leadership and production. He leads the team in scoring (20.5), assists (7.1), and steals (2.26) while shooting efficiently (50.5 percent from the field, 40.6 percent from 3, and 73.7 percent from the line). If they'd rather get a big body to battle inside, I'd recommend Dwayne Jones or perhaps Alexander Johnson, who actually does play for Sioux Falls (the Heat's D-League affiliate).Scott Schroeder over at Ridiculous Upside also has a great write-up about the Hasbrouck call-up with some more insight and background on this mysterious player (at least to me he is). Still no word yet as to when (or if) the Heat will actually sign him and whether it would be a 10-day contract or for the rest of the season. There is still one more roster spot left even if he's signed and with a limited amount of games left this season the Heat will need to either fill the spots up quickly in order to see what the new guys could bring to the table or simply go with what they have for the final playoff push.