After being down 10 at the half, the Armor came storming back Monday night to take their eighth straight, beating the Bakersfield Jam, 114-110. The Armor's two big men, 7'0" Jeff Foote and 6'9" Dennis Horner, combined for 42 points --21 apiece-- and 26 boards to lead Springfield. JamesOn Curry also had a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists.

The Armor, now 21-13, are done for the All-Star Break, completing an undefeated month of February. Foote, Curry and Jerry Smith now head for Orlando and the D-League All-Star Game. L.D. Williams will also be in Orlando to defend his Slam Dunk championship.

• Springfield Armor beat Jam to complete undefeated month of February - Jeff Thomas - Springfield Republican
• Jam at Armor Game Info - D-League

The Springfield Armor are hot right now. They've won seven straight and nine of their last 10. They've been featured in ESPN's Baseline to Baseline podcast. Ben Couch has written about them this weekend on the Nets website.

And why not? In the two years prior to the Nets taking over basketball operations 150 miles north of East Rutherford, the Armor record was 20-80, the worst in the D-League. Monday night, they play the Bakersfield Jam at home. A win and they could go into the All-Star Break with the best record in the East. And at the D-League All-Star game, they'll have four representatives, All-Stars JamesOn Curry, Jerry Smith and Jeff Foote and Slam Dunk defending champion L.D. Williams. Another Williams, Jordan, got valuable time on court with them last month.

So, not to be outdone, we interviewed the key players and took an in-depth (really in-depth) look.

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Milton Lee and Bob MacKinnon, the Nets brain trust in Springfield, are two of Jeff Foote's biggest fans. They both think the seven-foot 24-year-old out of Cornell has NBA potential, with Lee telling NetsDaily "he could make our team next season." MacKinnon goes even further, saying, "I think you're looking at a guy who could have a 10-to-12 year NBA career."

Foote of course would be the second Ivy Leaguer to make the NBA in the last decade following you-know-who. He and Lin were All-Ivy League in 2010 and Foote isn't afraid to tell you he thinks his Cornell teammate Louis Dale was better. But as Yale coach James Jones tells the Star-Ledger, most Ivy League types thought Foote was a better prospect.

As MacKinnon tells NetsDaily, "He's young to the game. Just daily, daily he's getting better. He works at it. If you tell him something, it happens and he just keeps coming and coming. He's a seven foot guy who can run the court, who has great hands and good foot work."

• Jeremy Lin's rise with Knicks makes Ivy League proud - Jorge Castillo - Star-Ledger
• Armor Center Jeff Foote on rookie season, All-Star game, and Jeremy Lin (Video) - Terrence Payne - Nets are Scorching
  

The Springfield Armor are for real. The Nets' D-League affiliate won their seventh straight game, crushing Eastern Conference-leading Iowa Energy for the second time in two nights. While Thursday night's game was somewhat close for a while, Friday's was a 32-point blowout, right from the beginning. The Armor are now 20-13, a half game out of first. The 20 wins match the number of victories Springfield had in the two years before the Nets took over.

The Armor had eight players in double figures, led by ex-Net Dennis Horner's 25 and 11. Jerry Smith (21 points), L.D. Williams (16 points, 4 steals), Damian Johnson (13 points, 3 blocks), Jeff Foote (12 points, 8 rebounds), JamesOn Curry (12 points, 7 assists, 0 turnovers), Eugene Spates (12 points) and Preston Knowles (11 points, 7 rebounds) all scored in double figures.

• Springfield Armor complete two-game sweep of Iowa Energy - Jeff Thomas - Springfield Republican
• Energy at Armor Game Info - D-League
• Could that really be Jerry Smith? - Rich Bozich - Louisville Courier-Journal
  

The Nets' foray into the D-League has had a few successes and if the Armor keeps rolling, a championship trophy is not out of the question. The doormat of the D-League in its first two years of operation (20-80), Springfield won again Thursday night, handily beating the Eastern Conference leading Iowa Energy for its sixth straight victory.

The Armor are now one and a half games out of first place in the East. In the 117-102 home win, six Armor were in double figures with no player having more than 19. JamesOn Curry and Jerry Smith each had 19 while fellow all-Star Jeff Foote had another solid game, with 15 and 8. The seven-footer out of Cornell played 40 minutes. The game was marred by six technicals, including the ejection of Patrick Ewing Jr.

• Springfield Armor win wild one over first-place Iowa Energy - Jeff Thomas - Springfield Republican
• Energy at Armor Game Info - D-League
  

The Springfield Armor are on a roll. Sunday, playing the second half of a home-and-away back-to-back, they beat the Fort Wayne Mad Ants by 31, 118-87. It was their fifth straight and seventh win in their last eight. At 18-13, they now rank fifth in won-loss records and would qualify for the D-League playoffs, a franchise first.

Once again, scoring was balanced with six players in double figures for the second straight game. The Armor were led by their four NBA training camp invites: Jeff Foote, who played for the Blazers who led the game with 21 points, and the three Nets camp invites: Dennis Horner, JamesOn Curry and Jerry Smith.

• Armor trounce Mad Ants 118-87 - Paul D. Bowker - Springfield Republican
• Game Report: Armor at Mad Ants - D-League
  

For the second time this season, the Springfield Armor have a four-game winning streak, which is longer than any winning streak the team had before the Nets took over basketball operations last May. The Armor beat the Texas Legends, the Mavs' D-League affiliate, 109-103, Saturday in a game that didn't have to be so close.

After going up by 19 at the beginning of the fourth, the Armor lost it all in a 23-4 run by the Legends, who feature ex-Nets Sean Williams. The Armor and Legends then went back and forth before Jeff Foote and JamesOn Curry tallied key baskets down the stretch. Jerry Smith, last week's D-League Player of the Week, had 28 points while Dennis Horner had another double-double with 17 and 10. Sean Williams finished with 19 and 7.

Also on Saturday, Bojan Bogdanovic scored 11 points in 16 minutes for Fenerbahce in a Turkish League game, shooting 3-for-6, including 1-for-2 from deep. Fener, expected to be one of top teams in Europe, lost its second straight and has largely been a disappointment.

• Springfield Armor hold off Texas Legends for fourth straight win - Jeff Thomas - Springfield Republican
• Game Report - Springfield Armor vs. Texas Legends - D-League
• Boxscore - Fenerbahce Ulker vs. Bandirma Kirmizi - Turkish Basketball League
  

Dennis Horner scored 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting and grabbed 11 boards, outplaying Sean Williams, as the Armor beat the Texas Legends, 114-98, in Springfield. Swat wound up with 17 points, nine rebounds and one block. He's the property of Mavericks, the Legends' parent club.

The Armor's three D-League all-stars combined for 53 points. JamesOn Curry, who had 21 of the 53, Jerry Smith and Jeff Foote, will play in the D-League classic on Saturday, February 25, at 2 p.m. The game will be on NBA TV.

Meanwhile in Istanbul, a future Net, Bojan Bogdanovic, scored 15 points for Fenerbahce who lost by 10 to Panathinaikos of Greece. Bogdanovic shot well from two (5-for-9) but was only 1-for-4 from three. He also handed out three assists.

• Near flawless offense leads Springfield Armor over Texas Legends - Jeff Thomas - Springfield Republican
• Game Report: Legends at Armor - D-League
  
• Boxscore - Euroleague
• Game Report - Panathinaikos vs. Fenerbahce Ulker - Euroleague