26 year-old and 6-foot-1 Boston born Will Blalock will join the Townsville McDonald’s Crocodiles in 2010/11 after playing for NBA D-League teams the Reno Bighorns and Maine Red Claws in 2009/10.
Reno were in the West Conference play-offs this season but were bundled out of the finals by Championship winners Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
Blalock will be the Crocodiles’ Point Guard at The Swamp and although he is not a prolific shooter the Crocs believe his ball delivery skills should complement the talents his teammates bring to the court and bolster the team’s ability to capture a maiden championship.
Blalock was a starting player in 30 games this season for the Bighorns shooting at 44.8% from the field and 76.3% from the free-throw line and averaging 11.8 points per game. He can get points on a board effortlessly which will contribute to the team but more significantly it is his ability to distribute the ball and set up play that the Crocodiles identified as a key piece of the puzzle they were searching for.
“He can penetrate and find the open man and we feel with the lineup we’ve got we need a guy that’s a pass first guy to hit our shooters and to hit our bigs.
“Will is very unselfish in that way and he has great court vision, ball skills are excellent and we had a chance to pick him up and it was a no brainer on my part,” said Coach Trevor Gleeson.
Will averaged 7.4 assists and1.4 steals for Reno and 5.6 assists and 1.1 steals at Maine this past D-League season. In 2006/07 he was drafted to the Detroit Pistons in the second-round with 60th pick and played 14 games for them averaging 11.9 minutes per game.
At today’s announcement Crocodiles management admitted the club had received a lot of negative criticism about recruitment decisions in the offseason and how Blalock’s signing will subdue negative feelings about the club’s decisions.
“Will has ticked a lot of boxes for us and we believe he will be the type of point guard who will deliver the ball to the existing talent we’ve got in a way that certainly will improve our performance this year.
“We’ve copped a lot of flack around the ridges about who we did and did not recruit but from a recruitment perspective both Trevor and I are happy with the makeup of the squad and Will finishes and rounds off that group of eleven players,” said the Townsville McDonald’s Crocodiles CEO.
Outside of the United States Will has spent some brief time in the Israel Premier League and Germany Premier League.
He will arrive in Townsville mid-August in time for the Crocodiles Club’s official pre-season preparations.
Will Blalock NBA-D League statistics
Playoffs | Team | G | GS | MPG | FG% | 3p% | FT% | OFF | DEF | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PF | PPG |
First Round | RNO | 3 | 3 | 35.3 | .321 | .200 | .789 | 0.3 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 7.7 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 2.67 | 4.00 | 11.3 |
Playoff Averages | RNO | 3 | 3 | 35.3 | .321 | .200 | .789 | 0.3 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 7.7 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 2.67 | 4.00 | 11.3 |
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Season | Team | G | GS | MPG | FG% | 3p% | FT% | OFF | DEF | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PF | PPG |
09-10 | RNO | 28 | 28 | 34.0 | .436 | .338 | .750 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 7.4 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 2.89 | 2.00 | 11.8 |
09-10 | MNE | 25 | 17 | 27.9 | .422 | .258 | .816 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 5.6 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 2.12 | 2.00 | 8.5 |
Career |
| 106 | 85 | 31.6 | .439 | .337 | .755 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 6.1 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 2.39 | 1.00 | 11.0 |
Will Blalock profile
DOB: September 8 1983 (26), Boston, MA
Height: 6’1
Weight: 200lbs
Position: Guard
College: Iowa State (NCAA)
