The Utah Flash haven’t exactly started off on a tear in their inaugural season.
But with the addition of Morris Almond, the Utah Jazz first-round pick in the 2007 draft whom was sent down in early December, the Flash has found the offensive leader they were lacking.
Almond has already paid dividends‚ scoring 51 points to tie a D-League single-game record‚ by becoming the third-leading scorer in the league with 29.9 points per game.
Flash coach Brad Jones said that Almond is doing it with others playing a significant role as well.
"Everyone’s going to talk about Morris Almond’s 51 points," Jones said. "He was terrific and he got it within the flow of the offense.
"But we had so many little plays that won’t show up in the paper tomorrow. John Millsap getting a loose ball. Morris Almond going to the basket at the end to make something happen instead of settling for a jumper when he played 40 something-minutes."
A big moment of the Flash came against the Albuquerque Thunderbirds on Dec. 29 in a 113-96 come-from-behind win.
Down by 20 points in the third quarter, the Flash went on a 44-4 run to get the big win.
"I was disappointed at halftime by the toughness we showed," Jones said. "When the first group went back in there and tried, missed some layups, it just wasn’t working. So I thought if we are going to go down, we are going to do it with a bunch of young guys playing their tails off."
It was a big deal for the team in a game that could have given the Flash two straight losses.
"Some of them in there said it might be a statement game," Jones said about his players’ reaction afterwards. "Let’s put it this way, I hope it is."
Helping out the Flash for the long-run now will be Kyrylo Fesenko who was sent down for the third time this season by the Jazz‚ the maximum amount.
It’s expected that Fesenko will be around for a while to season his game.
But how long he’s here is still not set in stone.
"With assigned guys, I have no idea how long he’ll be here," Jones said. "I think the thought is they (Jazz) would like for him to be here for a while, because they were pleased with what he did while he was here."
The Flash are back in action Wednesday and Friday at the McKay Center.
