Friday, February 15, 2008

The NBA: Where Lee Happened

During the Rooks/Sophs game the topic amongst the TNT crew turned to David Lee and his 14 for 14, 30-point performance in last year's game.

"I call that guy shallow water because anything in the paint he's good at."-Kenny Smith on David Lee

"You put that guy on a good team and he'd be scary"-Charles Barkley on Davd Lee

Save the Date: September 6, 2008


It was announced today that my generation's Captain, Patrick Aloysius Ewing, is a Finalist for selection to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Akeem The Dream and Pat Riley are also up for selection in their first year of eligibility and all three seem like no-brainers.

Ewing, Olajuwon and Riley.

A weird combination with so many links and memorable moments shared between them. Also eligible are Chris Mullin, Adrian Dantley, Dennis Johnson, Don Nelson and a few other folks. The selections will be announced during the Final Four. And, the next day I'll start planning my trip to Springfield, MA for the ceremony.

Here's what the HOF website had to say about Pat:

PATRICK EWING - Player, a two-time Olympic gold medal winner (1984, 1992) and a three-time consensus First Team All-America (1983, 1984, 1985), led Georgetown University to three appearances in the NCAA Final Four and the 1984 national championship earning Most Outstanding Player recognition for his efforts. The 1986 NBA Rookie of the Year landed a spot on 11 NBA All Star rosters including ten in a row from 1998 to 1997. A member of the NBA 50th Anniversary Team, Ewing scored 24,815 points during his 17-year NBA career to go along with 11,607 rebounds. Named Parade Magazine's National High School Player of the Year in 1981, Ewing remains the New York Knicks, all-time leader in points, rebounds, blocked shots, steals and field goals made.

Sure sounds like a first-ballot Hall of Famer...

Check Your Local Listings: Rooks vs. Sophs

The best part of last year's All-Star Weekend was the Rookie/Sophomore game, where our very own David Lee won the MVP after going 14-14 from the field to score 30. That night was also the first time that the world (and by world, I mean the two dozen people who watch the Rookies vs. Sophomores game on cable TV) was introduced to Monta Ellis of the Warriors. This year's game is on TNT tonight and figures to be the most competitive part of the AS Weekend that ends up in your living room. If only that would just put the all-night-long, high stakes poker games and c-lo tournaments on ESPN News. Anyway, I recommend checking it out or at least recording it so you can turn it on Sunday night when the vets are missing ally-oops in the big boy game.

The Rookie Team:
Mike Conley
Kevin Durant
Al Horford
Jamario Moon
Juan Carlos Navarro
Luis Scola
Sean Williams
Yi Jinlian
Jeff Green

The Sophomore Team:
LaMarcus Aldridge
Andrea Bargnani
Ronnie Brewer
Jordan Farmar
Daniel Gibson
Rudy Gay
Paul Milsap
Rajon Rondo

My guess is that Rudy Gay will give us a taste of what to expect in the dunk contest while leading the Sophs and that Sean Williams will have a surprisingly good game for the Rooks just because he will run and rebound. And, I'm only 50% saying that because he sort of went to Boston College. Speaking of which, where's Craig Smith?