Hodge Named Performer of the Week ...

NEW YORK - Julius Hodge of the Albuquerque Thunderbirds today was named D-League.com Performer of the Week for games played during the week of March 10. Hodge averaged 25.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists in four games this week. He is the third Thunderbird to earn the honor this season, and the only D-League player to be awarded the honor in two different seasons.

The North Carolina State product set season highs in points and rebounds on Tuesday, when he scored 34 points and grabbed 12 boards in a win over Austin, the first of four consecutive victories for the Thunderbirds.

This season, Hodge is averaging 25.7 points and 8.3 rebounds in seven games. Originally a first-round pick (20th overall) in the 2005 NBA Draft, Hodge spent part of last season in the D-League with Albuquerque, the Colorado 14ers, and Idaho Stampede averaging 15.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in 22 games.

Other top performers in the D-League last week included Dakota's Blake Ahearn, who averaged 29.0 points and 7.0 assists while shooting 9-of-15 from three-point range; Albuquerque's Will Conroy, who averaged 19.8 points and 12.8 assists; Colorado's Eddie Gill, who averaged 19.3 points, 11.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds in three games; Adam Harrington, who averaged 31.5 points while shooting 7-of-14 from three-point range for Tulsa; Rio Grande Valley's Desmon Farmer, who averaged 35.6 points, 6.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds, while shooting 13-of-26 from three-point range; Kasib Powell, who averaged 28.0 points and 4.0 points in two games for Sioux Falls; and Albuquerque's Alando Tucker, who averaged 34.0 points in his first two games on assignment from the Phoenix Suns.