2012 NBA Rising Stars Challenge Draft

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This year the NBA changed its annual Rookie-Sophomore game into a "Rising Stars Challenge" where a pool of players would be picked playground style by two "coaches", Shaquille O'neal and Charles Barkley. It was a way to generate some more excitement to an event that's been an afterthought to each All-Star weekend. Fellow writer Igor suggested that we use this opportunity to fill the roles of Shaq and Charles and draft the players ourselves. Obviously i agreed right away and this is what we came up with. Igor won the coin toss and will be in charge of Team Shaq while I am Team Barkley.

Shortly after this was written the NBA added Jeremy Lin and Norris Cole to the roster of available players. Since Igor got the first pick in the actual draft I will be getting it in this supplemental one. And with it I'm taking LINSANITY. Igor will take (be stuck with) Norris Cole.

Igor

With the first pick in the draft I'm going to take Jeremy Lin...ok I'm kidding he's not available but they should somehow include him. Anyways, I'm going to pick the best player (and only allstar) from the field of rookies and sophomores. I wonder who that is? You guessed it! Blake Griffin! His game is built for all-star weekend and he's bound to supply ESPN with a bunch of highlights from this game as well as from Sunday's game. As long as there's no hack-a-Blake he should thrive on Friday night. Side note: It's kind of sad that he's not in the dunk contest this year since the field looks pretty weak and apparently it will be 3 dunks per player where the winner will be determined by fan voting...terrible decision by the NBA.

Luka

I find it amazing how the NBA keeps managing to make the slam-dunk contest worse year after year. If I'm them I just go all the way this year and make the contestants Brian Scalabrine, Luis Scola, Aaron Gray and Gregg Ostertag (he can come out of retirement for this). Who wouldn't watch this? (Everybody). For my pick I'm taking the most exciting point guard from a passing point in the roster of available players.. Ricky Rubio! He's had an amazing year so far (way better than I thought he'd have) and you need a pass-first point guard running the show in any type of all-star game. Also, if you don't think my team is playing Hack-a-Blake then something's wrong with you.

Igor

Yeah, do your Hack-a-Blake and ruin the game for everyone (F you Don Nelson...F you!). That dunk contest would be awesome, but sub in Big Baby instead of Scola. After watching him get stuffed by the rim last year I have my doubts whether he could dunk or not. Good pick with Rubio, but I'm taking the best PG from the pool of players, John Wall. Wall is going to connect with Blake for at least 5 alley-oops and he can also turn it on by being a scorer whenever the team needs him to be. He's increased his assist totals in the last month finally showing us he's the player we were expecting him to be. Wall will finish this game with at least 15 assists.

Luka

Good pick. I think Wall won't want to take off his jersey from this game because for two wonderful hours he won't be a Washington Wizard. With my second pick I'm going to take DeMarcus Cousins who I can see having a monster 20 point 20 rebound game with at least 5 plays that make you say "that guy knows he's getting paid to play a sport right..?". It'll also be nice to see Cousins play with a real point guard (sorry Tyreke).

Igor

If Blair can get 20-20 a few years ago, Cousins probably can too. Next I'm going with less athleticism and more skill and pick Greg Monroe. This guy is one of the more skilled big man passers in the NBA today and is having a beast year overall. As happy as Wall will be without a Wiz jersey, Monroe will be equally as happy without a Pistons jersey. This locks up my starting frontcourt.

Luka

Really like Monroe. Wish he didn't play for a team that seems like they're inventing new ways of losing each night. I'm going to take Paul George with my third pick. He can shoot the three, can catch an alley-oop from Rubio and finish and should be rewarded for having a great second year while playing big minutes for a legit playoff team.

Igor

Well George is in the dunk contest so he could give us a tease as to what he's going to do on Saturday. Kobe Bryant Jr. is my next pick. MarShon Brooks has really impressed me this year with his scoring and passing abilities. His jumper looks like Kobe's and he can explode on any given night (hopefully does for this game). The kid really knows how to play smart basketball and even though he's been slightly sub-par recently (he was injured), I think he will be in form for this game.

Luka

Like most of the New Jersey Nets (other than D-Will who should not be an all-star) I don't really have a strong opinion on Brooks but he's a scorer and in a game of no defense that's always a good thing. I'm taking Kyrie Irving. The current favorite for the rookie of the year award has (just like Rubio) exceeded expectations and has made the Cavs watchable. I don't care that I have 2 point guards now since position doesn't matter in this game and I'm more than willing to go to war (or in this case, a half-hearted battle) with a Rubio-Irving backcourt.

Igor

Irving has greatly exceeded my expectations, I mean he's shooting 50% from the field, 40% from three and 80% from the line. Only a few others are as efficient as him and this is especially impressive since he's a rookie point guard. Now the talent drops off a little bit so I'm going to add in some defense. Landry Fields is my next pick and I think he fits well on this team. He can shoot the three, rebound well for a guard, and I believe he can defend Paul George. Not to make things boring, he also has some hops so expect him to finish a few alley-oops from Wall.

Luka

Fields has been completely rejuvenated by Lin (who hasn't) and is a solid player. To counter I'm going to take Gordon Hayward because he's a shooter who will get plenty of open looks this game and for the unintentional comedy that we'll get from him playing with Cousins. Side-note: anyone who gets drafted by Shaq has already lost. They'll have to spend the entire game pretending to laugh at his labored, bad jokes. I mean has there ever been a case of someone who everyone thought would be good at a certain position (in this case Shaq as a studio guy) only to be terrible at it? (Cut to everyone who voted for Obama trying not to nod (just kidding)).

Lin-sanity Rolls On

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Perhaps one of our contributors said it best on Twitter.

Please note that this article was not planned, but it had to be written after tonight's incredible ending between the Knicks and the Raptors. However, the content will not be purely about Jeremy Lin, as something else is happening that has been just as fun to watch. Let me begin by saying that I am fully a part of the stampede to get a spot on the Lin band-wagon (at this point, you'l get into the white house faster), how often can we get the chance to cheer for a guy who comes absolutely out of nowhere and who had been abandoned by two teams already. I'll tell you: not often. The Knicks are 6-0 since he started getting play-time, with the teams two stars, Carmelo and Amar'e, missing 5 of those games (and Melo' all 6). During that stretch Lin has managed to best another up-and-coming PG (Rubio), out-duel Kobe Bryant, and sink a game winning three with less then a second to go in a game.

But none of those accomplishments compare to his best one of all: making the Knicks a real team. Before Lin's arrival, this team was abysmal to watch  (whether that was because they lacked a true point-guard or because Amar'e and Melo' cannot coexist remains to be seen), they played slow, they played selfish, and they played a very ugly brand of basketball. So how exactly did Lin change all of this? Probably through a combination of the D'antoni system, which we know thrives with smart point-guards, and the Knicks role-players realizing that they would now be rewarded for their dirty work. The beauty of a good point-guard is that he is able to keep every player happy. Whether its through the occasional lob to Chandler, a kick-out to Fields, or feeding Shumpert on the break, it makes a difference. Suddenly, Chandler is crashing the boards and playing more ferocious defense, Landry Fields starts making smarter decisions, and Shumpert decides to lock-down the opponents best player (the job he did on Calderon tonight was awe-inspiring). With all due respect to Melo', who is a great player, he simply can't make everyone else happy like Jeremy Lin can. He simply lacks that gene that all great passers have, and he is much better when he is allowed to focus on what he excels at (scoring). Will Melo' struggle playing with Lin? Probably not, because I firmly believe that Lin will be able to keep both the stars and the role-players involved enough to keep the Knicks playing at a high (and beautiful to watch) level.

In this crazy NBA season we were waiting for that random guy to explode on to the scene and surprise everyone (it happens every year), and make no mistake that Lin is that guy. What we were not waiting for, was that same random guy to potentially swing the East. I say potentially because we have to see how the Knicks will play when everyone is healthy. But a team with two stars, great defenders who are embracing their roles and are offering something offensively (Chandler, Fields, Shumpert), a true play maker (the guy this article is about), and veteran locker-room leadership (Bibby, don't laugh) is a contender by any measure. I have not even mentioned the ultimate wild-cards: Baron Davis and the return of Wilson Chandler and JR Smith from China. With a little bit of luck in the form of a signing, and the 'good' version of Baron Davis in addition to the team the Knicks now have, I mean, anything is possible right? Not only has Jeremy Lin become the star of the season, he has also brought hope to the Mecca of basketball. That might be his greatest accomplishment when it is all said and done.