On Tuesday the 2010 rookies got together at an Olan Mills and had their pictures taken. Below are our favorites:
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Jeremy Lin of the Golden St. Warriors with the goofy smile. The GSW jersey seems felt-heavy!
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Kentucky’s five first-round picks: DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, Patrick Patterson, John Wall and Daniel Orton
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Cole Aldrich, of the Oklahoma City Thunder is ready! Are you?!
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Eric Bledsoe, Al-Farouq Aminu and Willie Warren of the Clippers will all be playing for some other team in less then 5 seasons. Welcome to the Clippers! Aminu should ball in the glasses he wore on draft day.
Both games between the NBA champion Lakers and the Miami Heat, led by their All-Star triumvirate of Chris Bosh, reigning NBA Most Valuable Player presented by Kia Motors LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade, will air nationally. The Lakers host the Heat on Christmas Day on ABC (5 p.m. ET), with the Heat hosting in Miami on March 10 on TNT (8 p.m. ET).
One of the league’s most experienced and battle-tested teams matches up against one of its youngest and most explosive squads on Nov. 19, when Boston’s quintet of stars – Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O’Neal, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo – hosts reigning scoring champion Kevin Durant, emerging star Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder (ESPN, 7 p.m. ET).
TNT’s Thanksgiving night doubleheader will begin with All-Stars Joe Johnson and Al Horford leading the Hawks against the Washington Wizards and John Wall, the top overall selection in the 2010 NBA Draft (8 p.m. ET). The second game features Blake Griffin, last year’s top overall selection, and the Los Angeles Clippers hosting reigning T-Mobile NBA Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans and the Sacramento Kings (10:30 p.m. ET).
In James’ first visit to Cleveland as an opposing player, the Heat takes on Antawn Jamison and the Cavaliers on Dec. 2 (TNT, 8 p.m. ET).
Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey on Houston Sports Radio 610:
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In one of the league’s best rivalries, All-Stars Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony lead the Denver Nuggets when hosting the Los Angeles Lakers and All-Stars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol on Friday, Jan. 21 (ESPN, 10:30 p.m. ET).
The Orlando Magic, led by reigning Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard and star guard Jameer Nelson, hosts All-Star Derrick Rose and the new-look Chicago Bulls, including star forward Carlos Boozer, on March 4 (ESPN, 7 p.m. ET).
The NBA has released the national network schedule for this season’s games on Opening Week, Christmas Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The full NBA schedule will be released on Aug. 10. The season doesn’t start till October 26th.
*Noteworthy Games:
The Los Angeles open their title defense at home against the Houston Rockets, who return to nationally televised games. The Lakers will get their rings and sadly Trevor Ariza will watch his old team get their back-to-back bling.
Miami and the Lakers will be undoubtley get the maximum 34 nationally televised games. The Heat open their season in Boston against the Celtics. The last games of the playoffs for both LeBron James, and Dwayne Wade took place in Boston, how fitting.
On October 30th the two of the NBA future teams , Chicago and Oklahoma City battle. Out of the games announced today the Thunder have more then the Celtics, Lakers, or Heat.
No nationally televised games(so far)for the Raptors, Mavs, Spurs, Bucks, Pacers, Pistons, Bobcats, Timberwolves(how will Rubio see the games?), Hornets, Nets, 76ers or Cavs.
The Madison Square Garden Theater was ready for draft night as early as 4 am, when fans begin to line up to assure they had a seat when the $15 tickets went on sale at 11 am. Fans from across the country were in attendance to cheer for their respective teams, and boo Commissioner David Stern every time he walked out to the podium. The Chicago Bulls stole some of the early shine by proposing the trade of Kirk Hinrich to the Wizards. Not to be outdone by the Bulls, the Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen decided to part ways with GM Kevin Pritchard on draft night, but let him still make draft decisions….? The 2010 NBA Draft went pretty much as expected early, with the exception of the Utah Jazz stealing Gordon Hayward from the Pacers. The University of Kentucky set a record with 5 first round selections.
Here is a break-down of pick #1-#15:
First pick, Washington Wizards: John Wall, 6-4, 195, Kentucky, point guard.: The lock No. 1 pick, Wall has been called the most electrifying player in this year’s draft. A product of the John Calipari one-and-done mold, Wall averaged 16 points, six boards and four dimes. Wall brings the Wizards superior speed, athleticism, and late-game shot making, plus a relief from the circus of last year.
Second pick, Philadelphia 76ers: Evan Turner, 6-7, 205, Ohio State, guard. There was nothing Turner didn’t do for Ohio State, and he’s the most dynamic player in the draft. He averaged 20 points, 9 boards, and 6 dimes last season. With a good game around the basket and a solid midrange shot, Turner only needs to work on his outside shooting and ball handling. He shot 36% from three-point range and turned the ball over 4.4 times per game. Doug Collins new head coach of the 76ers gets another chance to coach a future superstar as he did in Chicago with MJ.
Atlanta Hawks with a must win on the road played with more then they have all Playoffs. After a closely contested first half, the Hawks outscored the Bucks 29-11 in the third quarter and held on to win 83-69. Atlanta got 22 points from Joe Johnson and Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford finished with 24 points.“The bottom line today is we brought our hard hats and not our fishing caps,” Smith said. “We established ourselves early. They gave us a fight, but we were just hungry tonight. I haven’t seen us play like this the whole series.” Atlanta heads back to the Philips Center where the city will turn down Wacka Flocka Flame on the radio and tune into the Hawks game.
Milwaukee had a chance to finish off the Hawks at home and advance to the Eastern Conf. Semifinals, instead they left their offense in the locker room. Bucks shot 25 of 76 from the field for 32.9%, and 7 of 26 from deep. John Slamons and Brandon Jennings combined for 20 points on 6 of 28 shooting. Carlos Delfino had 20 and was the only player with more then 13 points. Bucks. Milwaukee may have to put the blame solely on Jerry Stackhouse for this:
Stackhouse said it was his fourth time singing the national anthem. “I’m a little disappointed that my mojo didn’t work,” he said. “I’m 3-1 now.” Series tied 3-3.
(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Once again the Lakers came out fired up, jumping out to a 13-4 lead, before the Thunder woke up to gain the lead 27-26 by the end of the first. After a back and fourth game, it came down to the final possession. Kobe missed a fade-away jumper and Pau Gasol was there to tip the ball in with .05 on the clock given the Lakers a1-point lead. Kobe lead all scorers with 32 points, and the only other Lakers in double figures were Derek Fisher, and Shannon Brown both with 11.
Ron Artest’s defense on Kevin Durant was the x-factor in this game and the series. Durant shot 5 of 23, for 26 points, which came mostly from the charity stripe where he went 14-15. Jeff Green had 16 in his best game of the series, and Russell Westbrook was solid with 21 points and 9 assists. Thunder were unable to execute with less then a minute left and the lead, allowing the Lakers multiple chances to win the game. Phil Jackson came up with an unexpected answer to a question about why visiting teams are generally more vulnerable. “You have to remember these men are out there in their underwear, in their shorts. These aren’t like the old days but they are pretty scantily clad, and they are, you know, in front of their fans. If you’re at all self-conscious, there you are.”
After a 50-win season and their first appearance in the playoffs, Oklahoma City gave the city and their fans an exciting and competitive series against the Lakers.
(Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
In the most disappointing series of this years playoffs, the Nuggets got completely embarrassed by the Utah Jazz. the above pic describes the awkwardness of this entire series. Denver was without its head coach George Karl as everyone in the world knows, and it had to affect the team in a major way. They seemed easily shook, and out of sorts on defense. Chauncey Billups led Denver with 30 points and Anthony finished with 20 points on 6 for 22 shooting.
After Carmelo’s explosion in Game 1 the Jazz won three straight and ended the series in Game 6 in front of their fans 112-104. 91 combined free throws were attempted…damn! Matthews went 13 for 15 from the free throw line.
Deron Williams had 14 points, and 10 dimes. Boozer had 22 points and 20 boards. Utah now heads to Los Angeles for a rematch of last years Round 1 matchup where the Jazz where dismissed in 5 games. Lakers were without Bynum, and the addition of Artest should be too much for the Jazz.
The Bobcats are disappointing Michael Jordan and making him look bad in front of his girlfriend. The Magic on the other hand are impressing everyone.
In Game 3, the Magic once again played the majority of the game without their Defensive Player of the Year, Dwight Howard. For some reason Dwight continues to set-up in the post with his arms high, ramming them into poor Tyson Chandlers face, and drawing offensive fouls. For the third straight game and two days after Orlando was assessed $70,000 in fines for complaining about the officiating, Howard played about half the game, finishing with 13 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks. The Magic haven’t looked shaken by the lose of Howard and instead have gotten amazing performances from Jameer Nelson, who finished with 32 points.
The only good news for Charlotte is the crowd of 19,596 was the largest to see the Bobcats in their 5-year-old arena.Magic 3-0
(AP Photo/Don Ryan)
Big emotional boost for the Blazers from the return of Brandon Roy who had surgery eight days ago. He scored 10 points, including a key 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, and the Portland Trail Blazers evened their playoff series with the Phoenix Suns at two games apiece with a 96-87 victory on Saturday. “I just didn’t feel right sitting in the training room knowing that I could contribute — so I just had to keep begging coach,” Roy said afterward. McMillan said it was a “long, sleepless night” in deciding to play Roy, the team’s unquestioned leader. He even brought owner Paul Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, in on the discussion.”All kinds of things went through my head, thinking about the risk of him reinjuring himself,” McMillan said. “But our doctors didn’t feel like Brandon could hurt himself.”
LaMarcus Aldridge was key with 31 points and 11 rebounds. I wish he and Amare Stoudemire who had 26 points, could just play one-on-one for the series. Back to Phoenix for Game 5! Series Tied 2-2
The Milwaukee Bucks are going to need a miracle. Salmons played better in Game 2 but Brandon Jennings went from 34 points in Game 1 to 9 points in Game 2.
Josh Smith had 21 points, 14 boards and 9 dimes. Atlanta’s last triple-double in a playoff game was by Mookie Blaylock (14 points, 10 rebounds, 13 assists) in 1994
Look for Milwaukee to gain confidence from the Home crowd, but sadly the Bucks are nearing summer vacation
Hawks played everyone but Jason Collins for the second game in a row, that’s funny.
Hawks won a Game 2 for the first time since a best-of-five series against Detroit in the opening round of the 1999 playoffs. Hawks 2-0
(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
No KG for the Celtics, no problem. Ray Allen shoots 7-9 from long range finishing with 25. The “Ticket Stub” Glen Davis fumbled to the rim for 23 points.
Celtics have won the last three games they played against the Heat without Garnett.
The Heat aren’t making a good case to keep Dwayne Wade in Miami. Every Heat player not named Dwayne shot 18-59! Wade finished with 29 points on 11-18 shooting.
Boston outrebounded Miami 60-37
In the first half the Heat had just one offensive rebound and took just four free throws while Boston tried 16. Celtics 2-0
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Grant Hill and Jason Richardson combined for 21-27 shooting for 49 points. They are a combined 66 in age.
Steve Nash ad 13 points and 16 assists, 12 at the half.
Suns have not lost two in a row since Jan. 26
Blazers need a good dose of the Rose Garden to reclaim the magic from the first game. Marcus Camby blew easy layups and Andre Miller finished with 16 points after getting 31 in Game 1. Suns-1/Blazers-1
Kobe seemed determine to put on a show, maybe it was the critics or his Dad sitting court side. Kobe had 39 points in a game the Lakers were trying to lose.
Ron Artest’s defense on Kevin Durant was stellar once again, but he has to start making open jumpers, going 2-10 from the field with 5 points.
Pau Gasol was nearly unstoppable with 25 points and 12 assists.
Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 32 points and Russell Westbrook added 19, making all eight of his free throws.
Thunder squandered points early on missed dunks, and layups. Heading home will be comforting but alas, the end is near for the Thunder. Lakers 2-0
All 16 teams in the playoffs have played and the most exciting game was the last one.
Phoenix and Portland came down to the last seconds in a game the Suns should have won, but played like it wasn’t the Playoffs. Andre Miller was too much for Steve Nash and the Portland defense was mightier then the 11 threes Phoenix made. Portland leads 1-0
