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AUSTIN CONVENTION CENTER - Early Friday, I thought the Austin Toros could be considered contenders, if not favorites, for the NBA D-League Championship. Ridiculous Upside thought the same thing. But after the Phoenix Suns called up center Dwayne Jones on Friday afternoon, taking the Toros only true big man, Austin’s title hopes might have disappeared and the Toros lost 120-115 to the Utah Flash.

The Toros didn’t face dire straights on the boards without Jones; while they didn’t dominate the boards like they have many times this season, the Toros were only out-rebounded 35-34. The only times the Toros were unable to finish defensive possessions with a rebound was when they were without any big men. The Flash only finished with 10 offensive rebounds to the Toros 11.

Starting in place of Jones was recently-reacquired forward Eric Dawson, who stands only 6′7″ but boasts a 7′6″ wingspan. Unfortunately for the Toros, Dawson hurt his knee in the first half and didn’t play at all in the second. The extent of his injury and any possibility of him returning this season are both unknown.

His loss and the tendency of Luke Bonner to gravitate more towards the perimeter, left forwards Michael Joiner and David McClure to be the “big men” on the floor at times for the Toros. Austin had trouble stopping penetration and bothering shooters without a the backbone of their defense and allowed the Flash to shoot 59% from the field and 52% from the 3-point line.

“We started switching everything in pick-and-rolls and we were giving up contested jump shots, which usually is pretty good,” Toros head coach Quin Snyder said after the game. “You’d think with all these little guys, we’d get hurt at the rim, which we weren’t.”

But despite shooting 56% from the field and 43% from the field themselves, the Toros defense gave up enough points to undermine their own offensive efforts. With the size many of the D-League’s playoff teams boast, Quin Snyder and his coaching staff must get creative to figure out how to use the team’s lack of size to their advantage in the playoffs or risk a short April schedule.