It’s been a struggle for the defending NBA Development League champs recently. It seems funny to say, sitting at 7-6, 1.5 games out of first place. But the Vipers have lost two-of-three and are now trying to avoid losing three-of-four for only the second time during the Chris Finch era. In a Western Conference that has shown a lot of parity (code word for mediocrity), how come the Vipers haven’t separated themselves from the pack?

One word: consistency.

Someone once told me that you can only control two things in sports – your attitude and your effort. The Vipers have not been consistent with their effort, that’s for sure. Let’s look at the last three games. The Vipers didn’t play well against Bakersfield last Saturday, yet only lost by six. Then they beat the stuffing out of New Mexico, playing a full 48 minutes. Then they get off to a rough start, tied game, then get knocked down again in a loss to the Texas Legends last night.

Here’s a great example:

The Vipers started off 8-for-9 from the foul line, but 9-of-20 free throws after that.

Beyond that, how about three-point shooting? The Vipers attempted 30 three-pointers on Sunday, tied for the second-highest total in franchise history. But they only hit nine of those. That tells me the Vipers either need to hit more of the threes they’re taking, or take fewer attempts.

The key for tonight? Come out with a lot of energy. A lot of Legends played 40+ minutes last night. A quick turnaround and a flight to Dallas should slow them down, but if it’s going to happen, we’ll know right away.

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How about the controversy surrounding the snow and sports recently? The NFL pushed back the Eagles game from Sunday-to-Tuesday so as not to play in driving snow and the governor of Pennsylvania blew his top. The pundits called it a dangerous precedent. The NHL refused to postpone an Islanders game despite Nassau County asking for it to happen. There were 3,100 fans in attendance at that game, by the way.

Interesting to note that football is played outdoors and hockey is played indoors. In both cases the teams were in town already.

So… what should have been done?

I tend to side with the NFL and Nassau County. I look at from the perspective of fans. Look, I think it’s BS for a league to say they’re moving back a game because they’re afraid fans will try to go to the game and get injured on the way. If that’s the case, we need to bring prohibition back. It’s up to the fans to recognize that it’s not safe to go to the game (like they did on Long Island). I think the leagues need to do their best to ensure that the most fans possible can enjoy their product. Otherwise… what’s the point?