These are the players that should represent CSU in The Basketball Tournament next summer

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — While COVID-19 delayed the NBA season and resulted in the outright cancellation of March Madness, The Basketball Tournament aka TBT, still provided plenty of entertainment for the basketball-obsessed individuals like myself.

Established in 2014, TBT is a single-elimination tournament consisting of independent basketball teams from around the country. The winner of the event this year received $1 million.

What makes the event so interesting, though, aside from how the winner takes all — is that the tournament uses an Elam ending to determine the final outcome. What this means is instead of playing a traditional fourth quarter, once the game reaches the 4:00 mark, the clock is turned off and a target score is determined by adding eight points to the leading team’s score. As long as they are up by at least 2, first team to reach the target score is the winner.

The other fun aspect of TBT is how unique the the field is. There are players from the G-League, professional leagues overseas, and even some guys with NBA experience.

The most dominant squad historically is Overseas Elite — a four-time winner featuring mostly professional basketball players from European leagues. Joe Johnson also joined their team this year but adding the longtime NBA veteran didn’t end up bringing Overseas Elite a fifth title in seven summers.

Many of the teams in the event also consist of alumni groups.  For example, the 2019 winner was Carmen’s Crew (Ohio State) and the 2020 winner was the Golden Eagles Alumni (Marquette).

So far, there has never been an official team made up of former Rams or people with ties to the green and gold. Although Stanton Kidd played for Team TMD (Teamwork Makes the Dreamwork) back in 2016. And both John Gillon and Jon Octeus have each participated a couple of times as well. The former for Boeheim’s Army and the latter for Armored Elite, then Men of Mackey.

While there has not yet been a Rams team, it appears that there will be a squad representing the green and gold in the future. The director of operations for CSU men’s basketball, Aaron Katsuma, hinted about the possibility on Twitter earlier this week and multiple former Rams chimed in saying that they would be interested. Since nothing is official at this point, though, I decided to explore who should represent a hypothetical CSU team next summer.

The Basics

First off, the team needs a general manager (GM). The GM can be a player, or non-player, but this person will be in charge of coaching the team, recruiting the members, and determining the shares of the prize money.

Assuming Becky Hammon is too busy breaking barriers and kicking ass with the San Antonio Spurs, there are a couple of perfect options currently on the CSU men’s basketball staff. Ali Farokhmanesh and JR Blount are both more than qualified to coach and/or play. Anyone that has seen these guys go up against the Rams in practice knows that they can still  get a bucket.

But this could also be a chance for Katsuma to raise his own profile in front of a major audience. TBT might not be the NBA Finals but the basketball is respectable — not to mention any type of major run would result in multiple games on ESPN — which definitely wouldn’t hurt the resume of an up-and-coming coach in the college basketball ranks.

For the purposes of this article, let’s say that Katsuma will be the GM and coach, while Farokhmanesh and Blount will both assist in some pre-tournament runs to help get the team ready for the real deal.

Now that the GM is in place, we can start to build a roster. Obviously, there are quite a few players that can be considered — so I wanted to try and explain how these players were chosen.

The biggest factor that I tried to consider is team chemistry. We obviously want to make the best team possible but we also want to factor in how playing styles might clash and whether or not the players have any previous experience with other guys on the roster.

Unlike a traditional basketball season where guys have months to learn how to play off each other — TBT is more of a summer deal — especially for the people that also participate in other leagues throughout the year. So there is quite a bit of value in having an established rapport.

Finally, although Jason Smith is easily the best CSU men’s basketball player from the modern era, we’re assuming that he is currently enjoying retirement and has no interest in the event. However, if he wanted to play, a couple of minutes of “J-Smooth” on the floor could be really fun. A true 7-foot-0 big man with 3-point range would likely be pretty deadly in a scenario like TBT.

Now that we have covered the basics, though, let’s jump into who I think should be on the team.

The Starters

• Prentiss Nixon (Guard) | Prentiss Nixon chose to finish his collegiate career at Iowa State — so I’m not sure whether would even want to represent CSU in TBT or not — but he already has a lot of playing experience with a big portion of this proposed roster. More importantly, he can run the point on offense and play solid defense. Nixon is not a tremendous 3-point shooter but he definitely can knock them down when they’re open. All and all, he makes a really solid option for starting point guard.
• Gian Clavell  (Guard) | Gian Clavell would be absolutely perfect for a situation like TBT. He already plays every game like it’s his last moment on the court and his ability to get hot from deep would make him really dangerous in a single-elimination tournament. The counter is obviously that he could also shoot the team right out of a game if he’s off. If you ask me, though, he’s absolutely worth the gamble.
• Stanton Kidd (Forward) | Stanton Kidd is one of the most slept on basketball player in Colorado State history. A 6-foot-8 forward with above-average athleticism and the ability to knock down 3’s? Feed him the rock immediately and let him do his thing. Honestly, it makes no sense to me why he has not found a more consistent role in the NBA.
• JJ Avila  (Forward) | JJ Avila played like Nikola Jokic before Nikola Jokic was cool. Everything about his game looks like it’s going in slow motion but his fundamental skills are so solid that it just seems to work. With an ability to get boards, knock down mid-range jumpers and score in the post, Avila’s versatility earns him a starting role at the four.
• Colton Iverson  (Center) | Simply put, Colton Iverson is a beast. His 7-foot-0 frame makes him a monster on the glass but what really stands out about his game is his touch around the rim. Unfortunately, Iverson’s NBA career never really panned out but he’d definitely be a mismatch for most opponents in TBT. Beyond that, it would just be fun to see him representing the Rams again.

The Rest of the Squad

• Daniel Berjerano  (Sixth Man) | DB is the type of player that can swing a game at any moment and that’s why I love the idea of him serving as a sixth man. When Bejerano is on the floor, I want him looking to score and playing extremely aggressive on both ends — and not focused on having to facilitate the offense for long periods at a time.
• Nico Carvacho  (Center) | Nico Carvacho could very well be the starting center – especially if Iverson is not interested in playing. But I really like the idea of having Iverson wearing down opponents early and then bringing in Carvacho to dominate the glass late. The big question mark for Carvacho is what kind of offensive impact would he make against bigger defenders?
• Joe DeCiman  (Guard/Forward) | Joe DeCiman is not the flashiest player in the world but he’s an excellent teammate, a great representative of Colorado State University, and he would give the Rams another option for the wing. Not to mention he basically would give the Rams another player-coach on the floor.

Other Options

• Antwan Scott (Guard)
• Dorian Greene* (Guard)
• Ali Farokhmanesh* (Guard)
• JR Blount (Guard)
• JD Paige (Guard)
• Kris Martin (Guard)
• Pierce Hornung (Forward)
• Che Bob (Forward)
• Emmanuel Omogbo (Forward)
• Andy Ogide (Forward)

The Name

Finally, the last thing we need to decide is what this team will be called.  “Men of Moby”, “The Knights of Green and Gold”, or “Team Ram Jam” would all be fine options. I personally like the idea of going by “FoCo’s Finest” though.