Everyone including myself was super stoked about the return of number 9 the Spanish Unicorn. He did not disappoint, with the between the leg passes, diving on the floor for loose balls and getting into passing lanes. With all the PrimeTime Ricky brings to the team I think one of the most overlooked benefits of his return may how his return effect the teams highest ever draft pick, the Caged Lion himself Derrick Williams.

They came in the league together both possible rookie of the year candidates. As the season rolled on one of them lived up to the billing. Constantly in the top plays of the night, dazzling the crowd with his amazing court vision and making his teammates better. Derrick on the other hand was very inconsistent, one moment he would be raining threes and attacking the basket with some ferocious dunks. The next moment acting like he had never dribbled a basketball before.

On Saturday we saw Derrick get a little bit of that swag back. He had 16 points and 6 rebounds in only 19 minutes on the court. He had 2 ally-oops from Ricky that although didn't hit the mark, were a telling sign that when they get a little more time together, they could be a deadly combo. If Aldeman decides to start using Cunningham at the 3 and have Derrick spell Love at the 4, we could see the "rise and shine" connection again.