NBA All-Rookie Teams

The NBA Awards and Honors continue to come out.  Today the All-Rookie Teams were announced.  No huge surprises here.

ALL-ROOKIE 1st TEAM:

Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Hornets
Dion Waiters, Cleveland Cavaliers
Harrison Barnes, Golden State Warriors

ALL-ROOKIE 2nd Team:

Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons
Jonas Valanciunas, Toronto Raptors
Michael Kidd-Gilcrest, Charlotte Bobcats
Kyle Singler, Detroit Pistons
Tyler Zeller, Cleveland Cavaliers

No big snubs here.  I liked Alexey Shved of the T-Wolves and Moe Harkless from the Magic, but this is a solid 10.  Lillard was the only unanimous 1st team pick, also was the Rookie of the Year. 

In the preseason I gave you Lillard, Beal, Davis, and Barnes.  I was way off on Perry Jones III and Kendall Marshall.  I liked Jared Sullinger, and he was solid before getting hurt. 

I'll pat myself on the back for saying Austin Rivers and Fab Melo would be bad.  Good for me. 

Looking forward to next month's NBA Draft, I'll have a lot more on it in the coming weeks.

UK + UNC = Ridiculous

#1 Kentucky and #5 North Carolina squared off on Saturday afternoon at Rupp Arena. UK won the game 73-72. It was a great college basketball game, but the NBA fanatic in me could not get over the number of legit 1st round talent participating in the game. We know both these schools have storied histories and both coaches (John Calipari - UK and Roy Williams - UNC) can recruit as well as anyone in the country.

(The last few years Calipari has coached: Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, John Wall, Patrick Patterson, DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton, Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, and more.)

Check out the NBA prospects (with ESPN's Chad Ford's rankings) that played in this game.

1. Anthony Davis, Kentucky, Freshman
2. Harrison Barnes, North Carolina, Sophomore
9. John Henson, North Carolina, Junior
11. James McAdoo, North Carolina. Freshman
12. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky, Freshman
13. Terrence Jones, Kentucky, Sophomore
17. Tyler Zeller, North Carolina, Senior
18. Marques Teague, Kentucky, Freshman
29. Doron Lamb, Kentucky, Sophomore
40. Kendall Marshall, North Carolina, Sophomore
45. P.J. Hairston, North Carolina, Freshman
96. Reggie Bullock, North Carolina, Sophomore

That's insane. As you can see, 12 of the Top 100; 11 of the Top 50; and 8 of the Top 20 players in the country play for either Kentucky or North Carolina. What a game. Won't be surprised if we see this one again in late March/ early April.

-Keefe