9:26 p.m. -- Josh McRoberts just grabbed a great rebound with 6.3 seconds remaining that should seal the game for Idaho. Randy Livingston needs to hit two free throws to secure the win. Idaho leads 91-89.

McRoberts is scoreless, but the Duke product has done a lot of other things — rebounding and passing — to help the Stampede win this game. Sort of the same story he had at Duke, where he was expected to carry the scoring burden, but he's better in a support role.

He battled three Rio players for the key board in the final seconds and got it back to Livingston. Great play.

9:19 p.m. -- Idaho 91, Rio 87. Should be a good final two minutes.

9:05 p.m. -- Things aren't going so well for Josh McRoberts, assigned from Portland to Idaho last week. McRoberts is scoreless (0-for-5 from the field) with less than seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

He does have eight rebounds and four assists.

8:58 p.m. -- Lance Allred and Randy Livingston recorded double-doubles through three quarters for the Idaho Stampede.

For Allred, it is his sixth consecutive double-double. And it couldn't come at a better time as many of the scouts in attendance are keeping a closer eye on him.

Hard not to love Livingston, the reigning D-League MVP. A consummate professional who knows exactly what a point guard is supposed to do, that's Randy Livingston.

As Stampede coach Bryan Gates often says when asked about why his team plays well, "We have Randy."

8:55 p.m. -- Thanks to Scott Picken at Today's Channel 6. He had a teddy bear delivered for me. Thanks, Scott.

And thanks to Joe Hughes with Today's Channel 6 for the nice TV package he did on my stay at here at Qwest Arena.

8:47 p.m. -- I'm going to be clapping my hands in my sleep. And all next week. Tomorrow, I want to be in charge of the music.

8:35 p.m. -- Idaho's Lance Allred is displaying a variety of skills tonight. Just threw a great pass to Brent Petway for a dunk.

8:21 p.m. -- Rio Grande Valley (which is too long so I'm shortening it to Rio) shot just 40 percent from the field in the first half.

A chief reason: Shannon Brown, who was assigned from the Cleveland Cavaliers, was 6-of-16 from the field in the first half. Brown led Rio with 14 points, but he needed 16 shots to do it.

That's not good offensive efficiency.

Brown, however, does have six rebounds (three offensive).

8:18 p.m. -- Great energy in Qwest Arena tonight as the Stampede lead the Vipers 54-51 at halftime.

Part of it is from the crowd and part of it is from the many scouts milling around. Seems like there are more scouts on the concourse level than at any other point. That's because with the additional fans in the stands, the scouts have been chased to the concourse level.

8:03 p.m. -- Don't know who Lauren Conrad is?

As for why she's pertinent to this blog, keep reading.

Well, LC said last August that she is thinking about retirement.

I promise (sort of) that this is the last post about Lauren Conrad. Her tenuous connection to the D-League Showcase has been exhausted.

7:58 p.m. -- Now this is really what a blog is for — quickly clarifying things you just posted.

The Josh McRoberts-Lauren (LC) Conrad rumors are from the summer of 2007, about six months ago. Since there have been no more sightings between the couple — at least none that anybody shot with their cell phone cameras — let's assume they are dating no more.

I'm sure some radio station will soon be reporting that LC is in the Treasure Valley.

Britney Spears, anyone?

7:51 p.m. -- If the Showcase is an audition for Stampede center Lance Allred, then the Weber State product is acing it. In the first quarter against Rio Grande Valley, Allred scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor. He also had six rebounds, including two offensive.

Let's see what the scouts think about that.

7:48 p.m. -- Now this is what a blog is made for.

Rumors are that the newest member of the Stampede, former Duke star Josh McRoberts, is dating Lauren (LC) Conrad, star of MTV's "Laguna Beach" and "The Hills."

See for yourself here and here.

Apparently there is some debate whether or not McRoberts is the young man in the photos.

I vote yes.

7:33 p.m. -- Bakersfield coach Scott Roth earned his first victory (98-76 against Anaheim) and after the game had some interesting things to say about the D-League.

His Jam team improved to 4-20 with the win. Bakersfield has had three coaches this year.

"They've been through a lot. I feel for them. I'm a product of this league. I know you can get head down very quickly. This is a league for men. I believe this is the toughest league in the world, tougher than the NBA, tougher than Europe. There are a lot of things that go on in this league, a lot of travel issues, just a lot of things. You have to be really mentally tough to play in this league," Roth said.

6:31 p.m. -- Keeping tabs: For those following at home, here are the results of today's three games:

Los Angeles 110, Fort Wayne 97

Colorado 98, Albuquerque 81

Bakersfield 98, Anaheim 76

Next: Idaho vs. Rio Grande Valley

6:28 p.m. -- Bakersfield Jam coach Scott Roth is headed to his first victory in the D-League. Hired on Jan. 11, Roth lost his first two games as the Jam's lead man, including the Showcase opener.

Roth spent the previous four-plus seasons as a scout and special assistant to the general manager for the Milwaukee Bucks before taking over the struggling Jam.

Bakersfield is 3-20 entering Tuesday's game with Anaheim. But the Jam leads by 24 points late in the fourth quarter.

When Jim Harrick resigned as head coach on Dec. 29, Bakersfield was 3-15. The Jam lost all three games under interim coach Sean Rooks, who remained as an assistant for Roth, who dropped his first two games.

6:11 p.m. -- The music they play at sporting events is terrible. Always has been, always will be. But usually you get just one game's worth of it.

Now that I'm on game six (of 14), some of the noise is starting to get to me. The worst: Clap, clap, clap your hands.

4:45 p.m. -- Picking up the lingo:

In NBA circles, the NBA is known as the League.

The D-League is the D.

And the WNBA — yes, it still exists — is the W.

Go ahead, impress your friends.

4:38 p.m. -- Working on a little longer piece about Terry Stotts, the former Milwaukee and Atlanta coach. Stotts was recently hired as the D-League's coaching consultant.

Stotts, who spent many years as an assistant for George Karl, is still hoping to get a chance to coach in the NBA again.

"It's another way of staying involved in the game," Stotts said of his new gig. "There are 14 teams, 14 coaches. I see things I haven't seen before. you can always learn from somebody."

3:40 p.m. -- It's official: Chucky Brown gets credit for L.A.'s victory, his first official win as a coach.

3:28 p.m. -- Stu Jackson, the NBA's executive vice president of basketball operations, used his trip to Boise for the Showcase to catch up with a former teammate — Boise State head coach Greg Graham.

Jackson and Graham were classmates and teammates at the University of Oregon, where they both played for the Ducks. Only coach Dick Harter didn't like the nickname, so he insisted that his team be referred to as the "Kamikaze Kids."

Jackson, Graham and current Oregon coach Ernie Kent arrived at Oregon in 1973.

Jackson offered a quick scouting report on Graham, the player: "He was 6-foot-1, 6-2 and may have weighed 165 pounds. ... Excellent ball handler, great vision, good medium-range jump shot. He was a good player."

Jackson said he has followed Graham's coaching career at Boise State, but has not seen him in a while. The two met Monday at Qwest Arena.

"It was good to see him and get caught up on his family," Jackson said. "I’ve been monitoring their progress this year with some interest and I know they're off to a good start. That's great. I'd like to see him do well."

2:28 p.m. -- Former Stampede coach Joe Wolf is on the sidelines with Colorado for the second game of the day. Talked with Wolf earlier. He said he maintains a residence in the area and lives there in the off-season.

Wolf is 9-9 in his second season with Colorado.

1:55 p.m. -- The player I've been looking forward to watching the most during the Showcase is now on the floor.

Alando Tucker, the Wisconsin product considered one of the best players in the NCAA last season (non-Kevin Durant division), is playing for Albuquerque after being assigned by Phoenix. He was the Big Ten Player of the Year, a consensus All-America and one of four finalists for the Naismith Trophy.

Tucker is averaging 30.4 points per game in seven games with the Thunderbirds. He has scored at least 32 points in each of his last four D-League games.

1:39 p.m. -- Chucky Brown career statistics: 12.4 points, 6.5 rebounds per game in 694 games over parts of 13 seasons.

1:33 p.m. -- The D-Fenders held off the Mad Ants 110-97 in the first game Tuesday.

Devin Green, who went to Hampton but arrived in the fall of 2001 after the Pirates' upset of Iowa State in the 2001 NCAA Tournament in Boise, led the way with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

L.A. was without head coach Dan Panaggio, who missed the game because of illness. Former NBA standout Chucky Brown, an assistant with L.A., filled in and earned his first win in the D-League.

No word on who gets the official victory.

12:57 p.m. -- Outside of the Showcase's first game (a 22-point blowout win for Utah), the contests have been extremely competitive affairs.

Today's first game is no different with L.A. and Fort Wayne tied with less than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

L.A.'s Devin Green has put together a very nice game and should finish with a double-double.

12:01 p.m. -- Qwest Arena has a much livelier feel today than it did yesterday. Much of the energy in the building is due to the hundreds, maybe more, of school kids in the building.

11:45 a.m. -- Anthony Mason's career statistics: 10.9 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game, 3.4 assists per game in 882 regular-season NBA games with six franchises.

In 1996-97 with the Charlotte Hornets, Mason averaged 16.2 points, 11.4 rebounds and 5.7 assists.

Always liked Mase, especially during his days with the New York Knicks. For more on why I am giving Anthony Mason's career statistics, keep reading.

11:15 a.m. -- If you've been out to a Showcase game — and chances are you haven't yet — you probably noticed that the players' names are located below their numbers on the back of the uniforms.

It's a league-wide rule. D-League president Dan Reed said there are some logistical reasons for it (NBA assigned players have the logo of their NBA team above the uniform number and it's easier to fit longer names there) but the primary reason was simply to be a little different.

This is the first year the league has styled the uniforms that way. Sounds like they may keep it.

The placement is growing on me.

11:09 a.m. -- Los Angeles and Fort Wayne begin the action today in a battle of the league's best nicknames.

L.A. is the D-Fenders, a clever play off the D-League. Fort Wayne is the Mad Ants, which comes from the city's namesake, Revolutionary War Gen. "Mad Anthony" Wayne. Great names, especially the Mad Ants.

Got to see where I can find a Mad Ants shirt.

10:44 a.m. -- Catch up with Day 1 of my experience at the D-League Showcase.

Check out the official NBA D-League blogs.

10:34 a.m. -- The D-League Showcase is primarily a basketball event, a place for NBA scouts and general manager to see all of the talent in the D-League in one place.

But the D-League scheduled several community events for the week, a way to give back to the Treasure Valley.

As part of its D-League Cares initiative, the league hosted more than 1,000 children from Boise-area schools for readings at Qwest Arena. The kids will also receive pizza and watch a game during the Showcase.

Anthony Tolliver of the Iowa Energy read Stephen King's "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon," a pop-up book to Ms. Bluemer's second grade class from Base Primary School in Mountain Home. First Lady Lori Otter also read to a group of children.

9:53 a.m. -- Among the (many?) perils of living at a basketball arena is that people use the basketball court. As so it today that around 6:15 a.m., I woke up to the rhythmic sound of dribbled basketballs. Thus, Day 2 at the NBA Development League Showcase began.

The early morning pick-up game is something of a ritual for D-League personnel. There were scouts, several assistant coaches, D-League vice president Chris Alpert and former college stars and NBA players Shawn Respert and Sean Rooks.

And me.

I'm 5-foot-11 and consider myself a point forward, something in the mold of former Knick Anthony Mason. That works fine during city league games or pick-up games at Riverglen Junior High in Boise.

Today, however, I was just trying to get out of the way, grab some rebounds, play defense and not fall down. In my first game, I managed that. Even grabbed a rebound and, of course, missed the putback. In my second effort, however, I found myself open for a game-winning 3-pointer. What the heck. I launched. It went in.

How about that? It was a cool moment.

And a reminder — allow me some reflection here — that basketball is a great game. There was about 18 of us — all shapes, sizes, colors, ability levels — playing a game that everyone was able to contribute in.

Calling out screens, hoisting 3-pointers, boxing out. Sure some do it better than others, but everyone can work up a good sweat on the court.

And, if your shot happens to fall, be the hero.

Alas, none of the scouts offered me anything more than a high five.