The Armor have used 20 different starting lineups in 41 games.
Guard Dominique Jones is the newest member of the Springfield Armor, joining the team Monday after three years with the Dallas Mavericks.
SPRINGFIELD – Considering all the personnel moves the Springfield Armor have made over the last couple of weeks, winning eight of their last 12 games has to be considered remarkable.
And nine of 13 would be even better as the Armor host the defending D-League champions Austin Toros on Thursday night at the MassMutual Center.
Tuesday’s win over the Erie BayHawks saw the Armor use a new starting lineup, their 20th of the season out of 42 games, and they still managed a 102-96 victory.
Newest newcomer Dominique Jones, signed Monday from the D-League’s available player pool, gave the Armor roster seven players who have NBA experience.
Jones, a first-round pick of the Dallas Mavericks who played three seasons and helped them win an NBA championship, came off the bench. He was joined their by Edwin Ubiles, last year’s D-League rookie of the year who was added to the roster earlier in the month.
Also on the bench was Ben Uzoh, who had started the previous 41 games for the Armor and has plenty of NBA experience, and Dennis Horner who made the Nets roster out of preseason last year.
Kris Joseph, a second-round pick of the Boston Celtics in 2012, and Nets assignees Tornike Shengelia and Tyshawn Taylor were in the starting five.
With that kind of NBA depth and experience one would think the Armor shouldn’t lose a game down the stretch, but the relationship between the NBA and the D-League is less symbiotic as it is parasitical.
Assigned players go to the D-League for playing time, and while their talent can help a team, the yo-yo that is the assign-call-up relationship – one that has seen 159 assignments to the D-League this season and 28 call-ups to the NBA – wreaks havoc with D-League team chemistry.
The key, at least for Nets guard Taylor, is to get a practice or two in before playing a game.
“I think it helps to be able to come down here for a couple of days and get a practice or two in and then play with your team because you get more comfortable with the guys and the coach and the whole system,” Taylor, who scored 30 with seven assists against Erie, said.
Then there are the guys who lose playing time because of the movement. Uzoh came off the bench for the first time and Horner was out of the starting five, but did their part in helping the Armor win on Tuesday.
“Ben Uzoh makes a big in-and-out play to get Tyshawn a 3 at the end and again that’s the sacrifice these guys make,” Armor coach Bob MacKinnon said. “Ben gives up kind of his job for Tyshawn coming here and still wants to win and I think it’s a testament to these guys.”
MacKinnon said Shengelia and Taylor are expected to be with the team through their homestand, which ends March 27 with the final home game. But that can change if the Nets see a need for either or both back in Brooklyn.