I wasn’t surprised Rodriguez didn’t make the rookie team and that Jarrett Jack was left off the sophomore club for the Rookie Challenge during All-Star weekend. But I didn’t expect Aldridge to be slighted by the league’s assistant coaches, who voted for the nine players selected to each team. - Writer for newspaper somewhere...
Coaches, who weren’t allowed to vote for their own players, were given no directives on criteria for selection. It’s impossible to know the reasoning behind leaving out Aldridge, the No. 2 pick in last June’s draft, who ranks third among rookies in blocks (0.94) and field-goal percentage (.486) and seventh in scoring (7.“Normally, a No. 2 pick is invited because of just that,” coach Nate McMillan says. “LaMarcus has played enough minutes and done enough things, he ought to be there.”
“There’s no way there are nine rookies better than LaMarcus,” assistant coach Maurice Lucas says. “I don’t buy that at all.”
The omission of Rodriguez may be a moot issue, because the ankle he sprained Wednesday night against Denver could keep him out of action through All-Star weekend. But the Spanish point guard would have added to the Rookie Challenge, if only for his flair and creativity. On top of that, he ranks first among rookies in assists (3.3) and is second among all league players in assist/turnover ratio (3.55).
Patterson, miffed that Portland landed only Roy in the game, thinks the Blazers will have the last laugh.
“Just wait three years,” the Blazer exec says.
• Blazer swingman Ime Udoka is officially a third-year NBA pro, because he played four games for the Lakers in 2003-04 and eight games with New York last season. In major league baseball, a player must play a certain number of games before he moves beyond first-year status.
That’s the way it ought to be in the NBA, too. Though he turns 30 in August and is the veteran of several seasons of international and minor league pro ball, Udoka is every bit as much a rookie as Toronto’s Jorge Garbajosa, 29, who played a decade of European ball before joining the Raptors this season.
If there were an award for most surprising starter in the NBA this season, Udoka would win in a landslide. Added to the roster only three days before training camp, the undrafted free agent is the only Blazer to start every game. He draws the toughest perimeter defensive assignment and ranks second on the team in 3-point percentage (.385). No wonder he is McMillan’s favorite.0) and rebounds (3.8).
Coaches, who weren’t allowed to vote for their own players, were given no directives on criteria for selection. It’s impossible to know the reasoning behind leaving out Aldridge, the No. 2 pick in last June’s draft, who ranks third among rookies in blocks (0.94) and field-goal percentage (.486) and seventh in scoring (7.“Normally, a No. 2 pick is invited because of just that,” coach Nate McMillan says. “LaMarcus has played enough minutes and done enough things, he ought to be there.”
“There’s no way there are nine rookies better than LaMarcus,” assistant coach Maurice Lucas says. “I don’t buy that at all.”
The omission of Rodriguez may be a moot issue, because the ankle he sprained Wednesday night against Denver could keep him out of action through All-Star weekend. But the Spanish point guard would have added to the Rookie Challenge, if only for his flair and creativity. On top of that, he ranks first among rookies in assists (3.3) and is second among all league players in assist/turnover ratio (3.55).
Patterson, miffed that Portland landed only Roy in the game, thinks the Blazers will have the last laugh.
“Just wait three years,” the Blazer exec says.
• Blazer swingman Ime Udoka is officially a third-year NBA pro, because he played four games for the Lakers in 2003-04 and eight games with New York last season. In major league baseball, a player must play a certain number of games before he moves beyond first-year status.
That’s the way it ought to be in the NBA, too. Though he turns 30 in August and is the veteran of several seasons of international and minor league pro ball, Udoka is every bit as much a rookie as Toronto’s Jorge Garbajosa, 29, who played a decade of European ball before joining the Raptors this season.
If there were an award for most surprising starter in the NBA this season, Udoka would win in a landslide. Added to the roster only three days before training camp, the undrafted free agent is the only Blazer to start every game. He draws the toughest perimeter defensive assignment and ranks second on the team in 3-point percentage (.385). No wonder he is McMillan’s favorite.0) and rebounds (3.8).
