Delaware Blue Coats Game to Air on NBATV (watch Jonah Bolden!)

According to the NBA G-League Twitter account, the Delaware Blue Coats’ second game of the season will kick-off a slate of 20 games to be televised on NBATV:

I get it if you’re not too jazzed up about the ability to watch G-League basketball. But at the very least, Sunday’s Blue Coats game will provide a nice supplement to an Eagles-less Sunday. To make things a bit more interesting, there’s definitely going to be some players worth monitoring.

Demetrius Jackson

Jackson received the ire of Sixers fans when news broke that the team would be using a two-way contract on him. Demetrius was a very exciting college basketball player and he’s a hard worker, but it’s been tough for many fans to see how exactly he could make any sort of significant positive impact for the Sixers this season. There’s no clear path for him to do so with three point guards already on team, four if you count Landry Shamet’s ability at the position. So I’m not going to go overboard here, but there is slight incentive to watch Jackson given that he could see some time on the court in a Sixers uniform this season.

Jonah Bolden

Just yesterday, Bolden was demoted to the G-League, and I think it’s for the best. He’s not ready to play in the NBA so he can’t get on the floor outside of garbage time (just 15 minutes total for Bolden so far this season), and the more and more he marinates on the bench, the less opportunities he’ll have to develop. With that being said, I’m personally still excited to watch him play and now we as a fanbase will have that opportunity. He’s definitely a lot further behind than at least I anticipated, and I think some have even already written him off all together as an NBA player. But he has encouraging athleticism for a big, and the Sixers likely just need him to provide competent minutes as a fourth big (deep bench) in the future for him to get minutes, so the bar is low.

Shake Milton

THE reason I’ll be watching Sunday’s Blue Coats game against the Maine Red Claws. Milton was drafted 54th overall by the Sixers in the 2018 NBA Draft, and typically, one shouldn’t expect much from a player who was 6 selections away from going undrafted. But Milton’s poor combine showing and injury concerns tanked his draft value. It wasn’t too long ago that Milton was considered by some to be a first round talent. Milton’s ideal self profiles as a two-way wing off the bench who can do some ball-handling and maybe even some facilitating. He’s got a long way to go to get there, but Sunday will give us some insight as to where he’s at in his development.

Other players I’m interested to see include DJ Hogg, Norvel Pelle and Cam Oliver. Also, the Maine Red Claws are the G-League affiliate of the Celtics, and so there’s a bit of a rivalry angle to the game.