Alabi & Davis Being Sent Down to the D-League Soon

[Doc]

This courtesy of Doug:

Solomon Alabi and Ed Davis are with the team today but not for long, I’m told.

I think you’ll see Alabi assigned to Erie of the D League the first of the week so he can go down there and get some practice and game work with the Bayhawks.

And I’m told Davis may get some time down in the minors in the next little while (maybe a week or so away) to get some game work in as he comes back from knee surgery.

I guess both moves make sense, although I do think each of the young bigs would benefit almost as much from practicing against NBA guys than playing in a guard-oriented minor league, but as long as they’re not gone long, there’s no big problem.

The Davis move is the one I’m sure you’re most interested in, given the daily questions I get about his return.

Glancing at the Erie schedule, they play at home the 19th and 20th and then away the 26th and 28th so you’re logically looking at Davis getting back with the Raptors sometime after the 28th and – maybe – being in an NBA uniform for the Dec. 1 home game against the Wizards.

That’s if there are no setbacks, of course.

Source - Click here

[Buddahfan]

This is what I figured.

However Smith missed a major reason for sending Davis down to the D-league. Davis has only played about 75 minutes in NCAA or NBA related games; i.e. the LVSL since last February. He needs to get into game shape. He will better be able to do that by playing in the D-League especially since it is an up and down the court transition type basketball game as Smith mentions, than by just practicing against whoever.

So in my opinion the decision to send Davis to the D-League at least until he gets into game shape makes sense to me.

[Employee]

Yeah right on. This is a good call by the Raps.

[MangoKid]

Those two need some PT. Alabi hopefully stays down there. He needs to refine his game and needs all the PT he can get. Still very raw. Davis needs to shake off the rust and get into game shape.

[Tim W.]

You can only practice so much. Especially during the season when there aren't a lot of practices, quite frankly. You need to get out and play. I think this is very good for Alibi. I wouldn't want him down there for an extended period, but to stay sharp.

Sending Ed Davis down there is an excellent idea. He's played just a handful of games in the last year. Throwing a rookie into an NBA game without any training camp and as little gametime as he's had recently would be a mistake, I think. I'd give him maybe 4 or 5 games to get into playing shape and get his timing back. Obviously he's close to returning, so that's a good sign.

[RaptorDan]

I'm crossing my fingers that these two develop into something good. It seems like they have the potential.