With the world championships set to begin in august i believe, it's almost time to see if this new u.s. team can return our country to basketball dominance and not embarass us again. we should be the obvious favorites going into it because we have the most talent and depth, but then again we should be the favorites every year and look what happened in '04. we all know about the chemistry issues, poor shooting, and the simple fact that international ball has caught up with us. in trying to globalize the game, david stern and the nba have leveled the international playing field and made world basketball much more competetive. but that is no excuse for us losing, and i think that we will win the world championships and hopefully the olympics. they have been holding the tryouts for the past week or so and have already made the 1st cuts, letting loose bobcats rookie adam morrison and 3rd year sonics point guard luke ridnour. these guys were basically put on the team to be cut, even if that sounds harsh. morrison is just here to get a taste of olympic basketball so that he may be ready for the future with a little more experience than his fellow draft class members, while ridnour was there in case any of the higher profile point guards got injured and they needed some emergency depth. morrison is a great scorer with all sorts of moves and shooting ability but he will need to get his speed, strength, and defense up to an nba-level before he goes international, while ridnour is one of the nba's best ball handlers and passers, he is an impressive leader with playmaking skills beyond his years, but he is a little guy with defensive problems and an inconsistent shot. shawn marion will not be in the world championships because of injuries, even though he is a freak athlete and playmaker there are better players and he would have only been there for depth anyway. jj redick won't bring his sharpshooting to the world games because of back problems while kobe bryant is having knee surgery as well as paul pierce, chauncey billups is having a kid and micheal redd is getting married. while these are all fantastic players and they will be missed the u.s. still has plenty of superstars and depth and we can do without them. there are plenty of point guards so chauncey will not be missed too much, but we could have used redd's shooting and kobe's exciting play and dominate scoring would be fun to watch on an international level, but maybe the "team" will be better with kobe watching from home.

Update: Team USA got off to a nice start and showed off some promising attributes in a dominating exhibition game win over puerto rico, a compelling matchup because of the fact that puerto rico whupped the U.S. in their 1st game of the Olympics 2 years ago. carlos arroyo became a national hero in that game serving some ass-kicking and really showing up the american's point guards, and though he did a good job in the world championship tune-up he and his teammates had no answer for the u.s.'s depth, surprising passion and energy, and their dominating defense, especially in the 2nd half. Team USA got off to a slow start, looking kind of like the Americans of '04, but they demonstrated their depth in the 2nd half by bringing in a completely different group of guys that played even better than the starters. if the U.S. can keep on using their supreme depth without messing up chemistry they will dominate international competition. and they also played with surprising intensity and hustle, looking like a team fighting for their lives as the underdog instead of the world's best as they fought hard and made it look like it wasn't "just an exhibition game". it's just a scrimmage but if the american's can keep playing the way they played against the puerto ricans and dominate the rest of their world championship tune-ups, than they will be successful and should bring home the gold once again. on monday night we will be playing a yao-less china team, as he is still sitting out from his foot injury.

Update: The US completely destroyed the Chinese team on monday, displaying their amazing speed, strength, and athleticism advantages, newfound intensity and defensive tenacity, and unrivaled depth, plus some much better shooting even though the court was smaller and the three point line 3 inches closer to the basket. china was undermanned in the 1st place without their stars yao ming, still nursing a broken foot, and wang zhi zhi, who was injured in a different exhibition, but they lacked any confidence at all against the americans, looked intimidated every time the ball landed in their hands, and even though they shot the three really well when they got enough time and were open they committed tons of turovers from the american's pressure defense (which they used till the end) and their inside game stood no chance without yao, plus they jacked up a crazy shot whenever the ball landed in their hands out of fear of the faster and stronger americans. lebron james had the best game with 22 points, he showed off his superior physical ability and nice three point jump shot, while carmelo showed some nice shooting and finishing in geting 17 points and brad miller came off the bench ot hit three consecutive three pointers and end up with 14 points, a real energizer off the bench. whenever the last two cuts are made i think it should be between antwan jamison, who has not shown much that he deserves to be on the team, chris paul, who is incredibly talented but who hasn't played much or shot with much confidence, or bruce bowen, as they already have shane battier as the perimeter defensive stopper, and battier is younger and can do more things offensively than bowen.

Update: haven't dropped an update in a while so there is much material to talk about. arenas got a minor injury and didn't wanna risk screwing it up even more so he decided to sit out the world championships, and bruce bowen was cut because he hadn't even scored a point in any of the exhibition games and his offensive game just wasn't up to par with the rest of international competiton, while battier is just as good a defender while providing better skills in other areas, like three point shooting and youth. the three u.s. captains are the big three from the draft class of '03, d-wade, lebron, and melo. all three have been suberb and have asserted themselves as the face of the new nba, and players like chris paul, dwight howard, and joe johnson have all been spectacular and fresh-looking for the nba as well. the americans crushed puerto rico in the world champ. opener, carlos arroyo's spark was not enough this time as the dominate athleticism and speed, not to mention depth and tenacious full-court defense that we put on opponents for the entire game, of the u.s. team just could not be stopped. these are the reasons that we should be the best, because we are the most talented and deep by far, the only time that we look vulnerable is when we don't play as a team and give up big leads late in the game because of a lack of effort and drive. yao came back when we played china, but we just put the defensive clampdown on him and noone else on the chinese team could step their game up well enough or handle the athleticism and full-court "d" of the u.s. slovenia was handled quite easily a few days later, even though we looked sloppy at times, especially down the stretch when a lack of effort contributed to losing the gigantic lead a bit. dwight howard played really well and had some monster stuffs here as well, while wade dropped a couple highlight worthy dunks and displayed his amazing hangtime on a particular alley-oops where he basically went over the head of slovenia (and toronto raptors) center rasho nesterovic. so far wade's play has been more than impressive coming off the bench but he makes such an impact and is so talented that he should probably start. melo has been the star of the tourney and is carrying the team with his versatile scoring and nice three point sharpshooting, his impressive play and the hunger he is displaying should be very positive things for nuggets fans. lebron has been typical, jaw-dropping lebron and just as key a player as he is a leader, while howard has asserted his spot at the center position with his physical, dominate play, especially on defense and the boards and with some strong finishing, while joe johnson provides some great complementary scoring and chris paul some playmaking and flashy passing and court vision usually only seen in veterans. we finally got our wake-up call and a harsh reminder of '04's disappointment on wednesday morning when we struggled to beat italy, a talented shooting and finesse team without much nba talent but a team that really plays the game right and plays it hard. we played sloppy, commited pointless turnovers, and just looked lazy and boring at times, luckily melo played a pretty classic game and could not be stopped, hitting three after three and converting more than his fair share of and1's on his way to a 33+ point game. d-wade played real well, but lebron was a no-show and we are lucky melo played great or else we would have lost. the americans finished up their undefeated preleminaries with a whuppin of senegal, a severely underhanded team that lacked guard play and offensive skill, its a country with lots of promise as a basketball power but the team is raw and they are young in international basketball development. the u.s. showed some nice positives and things that were different from their disaster from the last olympics, they looked a lot happier and more confident on the court, they played with a much better and more visible intensity, and they have better team chemistry and defensive effort. some may say the depth and constant rotation changes and subs may be hurting them, but the depth is a huge advantage the americans have over everyone else and really beats the other teams down after we've gotten the lead. obviously we have the huge athleticism, speed, and strength advantage but there have been times when we have played too much one-on-one and lost the effort and eventually the lead, like the italy game, but we have played well enough, blown teams out, and shown the positives that should win us the world championships. brazil, france, spain, serbia, lithuania, and even austrailia, who the u.s. plays on sunday, will all be dangerous and they all have pretty good nba players on their squads so we cannot take this lightly and act like we have already won it. chris bosh has largely been an afterthought so far but he showed a huge spark off the bench against senegal with 20 points and plenty of offensive boards and flashy putbacks and and1s. d-wade didn't play but lebron carried the scoring load and melo continued his hot downtown shooting with 12 points off of threes.

I have decided to profess my newfound love for the minnesota vikings, even though my timing may be off. why was i not a fan in the days of glory, when daunte culpepper and randy moss at least made the squad competetive and entertaining? not now, when the quarterback is old, average brad johnson and the running back and recievers might as well be your typical average joe for all the casual fan knows. but seeing them fight through adversity (and use condoms) last year through that disastrous season and the sex boat scandal and come out respectable, and the fact that they drafted my favorite hawkeye player of the last couple years, linebacker chad greenway, i think it is time for my team to be the nfc-north contender minnesota vikings. the nfc-north is often credited for being the weakest division in professional football, at its worst it's been called pathetic and at best it is called competetive. you cannot tell me the nfc north is not tough and competetive from top to bottom, every team has a chance for the division title every year because every team is usually so bad. last year the bears made the playoffs and showed that they had the best defense in the league, so they should be the obvious favorites again. the lions should be much ebtter with mike martz handling their underacheiving offense, but the lions are the lions and we should never expect great things from them. the packers are just a really weak team, they don't have the parts around favre and it would be a huge surprise if they mustered up any semblance of success. which leads to my vikings. the vikings played much better when culpepper went down with injuries last season, but i don't know if brad johnson can keep up his superior play consistently for an entire season. he is old now and would be a perfect backup because he is the type of QB you play when you are trying "not to lose", not trying to win. he is still solid and doesn't do much wrong, but he doesn't do one thing well either. the recieving corp may be a problem because i don't recognize too many names. koren robinson has star potential and showed signs of limiting his drops and getting more consistent last year, him and brad had some nice chemistry going there as well and i think that they will be an underrated QB-WR duo this coming season. everyone (including sports illustrated) is hyping running back chester taylor and saying he will be perhaps the biggest sleeper in the entire league, and i don't blame them. he is versatile and has few flaws, he is a bargain in the price range as well, and since noone knows his name because he has been backing up that guy in baltimore he has the chance to surprise a lot of people with his production. starting for the 1st time can be a good thing in that the person will be hungry to prove that they don't belong on the bench, but it can also be a bad thing in that you never know what kind of consistent production that the player will dish out over an entire year. but i expect big things out of taylor and i think he will be the key to minnesota's offensive success. the vikings line is fearsome on left side especially and they have great overall size, which is great when you have an immobile quarterback and a new running back. their tight end, who shall remain nameless because his name slips me at this time, is a big guy who is a deep threat thanks to his size, but he seems out of shape and inconsistent with passes. so with all that, i believe that their offense will be better than most people think, especially the running game, which should be enough for them to use a run-1st, conservative pass attack that should be effective enough. their defense looks much improved as well, especially against the run, which was a key fault last year. they still have veteran darren sharper, who is own of the best defensive playmakers and ball-hawks in the game and who can still make the big play happen after an interception, something he is known for. the addition of my boy chad greenway should make their open-field tackling much better and he will wreck havoc in the running and passing game with his intense style. improved defense and underrated offense should be enough to keep this squad in division title contention, but i don't think they have enough anymore, epecially on the offensive end, to do much in the playoffs. but i am willing to root for them all the way.

I expect great things from my hawks football team this year, they really underacheived last season thanks to some key players, like drew tate, who were banged up and to the inexperience of the defensive line, which showed major signs of improvement towards the season's end. they ended up with a 7-5 record, even though i think they would have won their bowl game against florida if it wasn't for the horrible officiating, but they lost a couple games that they really should have won and their overall team inexperience contributed to, like their collapse against northwestern and their overtime defeat at the hands of michigan. they also got spanked by rival iowa state early in the year and then ohio state a couple games later, two games where their offense was anemic and they failed to score a touchdown. luckily they got in the groove by big ten season and finished average and respectable. but with all the talent and experience they have this season there will be no excuses for failure or anything less than big ten title contention and another january bowl, the defensive line should be excellent with an extra year of seasoning, ken iwebema in particular, and norm parker should feel free to let loose and blitz a lot more this season than he did last year, when his conservative defense often frustrated me. the secondary faces some key losses at cornerback but there are impressive playmakers at saftey, most notably marcus paschal. the linebacker corp faces the biggest question because two of the best linebackers in the nation, abdul hodge and chad greenway, both graduated to the nfl. they have one returnee in edmond miles and the unit should be decent but will not wreck the havoc of last season. drew tate kind of had a disappointing season when he was expected to carry on the momentum he had from that miracle capital one bowl finish in '04, but he was banged up and his heart and competetive nature actually got the best of him at the beginning of the season when he got a concussion after tackling a defender who had intercepted his pass. tate may be small for a division 1 QB but he has a big time arm and a knack for making the big throws and the big plays, he is one of the toughest and most competetive players i have ever seen play any sport and he is deceptively quick and known for being elusive and hard to sack. i predict a rebound year for tate, especially because this is his senior season and his small stature basically soldifies the fact that he won't have success at the nfl level. he is a great, tough leader who should lead the iowa offense to become one of the better ones in the big ten, even with no clear star in the recieving corps after the departures of ed hinkel and clinton solomon, two senior stars. iowa's tight end, the big and sure-handed scott chandler, is a candidate for best tight end in college football this year (john mackey award) and has become perhaps tate's favorite target. chandler is always reliable and a consistent option and iowa should use him a lot more in the red zone now, he is a big target and hardly ever drops anything. the recievers should be led by speedy big play threat herb grigsby, who has the most potential to be the hawk's prime target,and calvin davis, who has the most experience and proven ability to lead the recieving squad and finally become a productive wideout in his final year in the gold and black. iowa's offensive line is always solid and one of the nation's best, they always get the big homestate boys well-fed off of mamma's good cooking and getting massive, tough, and hard-nosed linemen is just a given with iowa. this year is no different and even though they lost their talented center, brian ferentz, they will probably find someone just as good to replace him. after that disastrous running game in '04 it was very refreshing to see the hawks become a great running team again last year with the emergence of versatile playmaker and threat every time he touches the ball, albert young, and the speedy big play threat and return man damien simms. young showed all the impressive stuff he can do last year (catch, grind it out, break away) in somewhat limited time and should be one of the big ten's best with a full season, while simms is perfect in his role as a deadly complementary speedster. and finally, iowa's kicker kyle schlicher is and has been the best kicker in the big ten for at least two seasons now, and in his final year i'm sure he will get even better and more consistent, sometimes you take for granted having a kicker as solid and reliable as schlicher, who's specialty is the deep kick and who oddly is more consistent from deeper out. iowa should at least contend for the big ten title this season and anything less would be a big disappointment, ohio state seems too stacked on offense to lose the big ten title but for the rest of the conference, besides iowa and michigan, it looks like an off year and one where iowa has a legitimate chance to land a BCS berth, even the national title race looks wide open to me. besides ohio state and all their offensive playmakers, michigan is still one of the nation's most talented teams and with chad henne getting even better and mike hart recovered from injuries all that horrible underacheiving from last season should stop, even though underacheiving is the wolverines' reputation. penn state lost too much pass rush on defense and the big ten offensive player of the year in versatile quarterback micheal robinson to compete for the title, but with their young talent at wideout and their linebacker core they should at least be tough. minnesota lost their ground game and key parts to their offensive line so i doubt that bryan cupito can carry the whole team at QB, even though he has improved. michigan state should have a powerful offense but the defense will decide whether or not they are competitive, and wisconsin lost too much coaching-wise in barry alvarez and with their all-world running back brian calhoun to be legit big ten champ contenders.

This team is made up of who i believe are the most talented in the league and those who have the right attitudes to coexist with each other, lots of good players left off but if i had one season to win a title this would be my squad, there is no salary cap either.

PG-Steve Nash: The two-time mvp would lead my dream team, he can do it all and he can lead the offense to perfection, he knows how to run the fastbreak, make plays for himself and others, and his only faults are his slight build and stature for an nba player and the fact that his size makes him a defensive liability at times. his penetration is 2nd to none in my opinion (you too tony parker) and the whole team would thrive off of that, and even though nash is a great shooter who can create his own opportunities with his speed and amazing ballhandling to get off his signature fadeaways, he is still very unselfish and would be happy to fire off countless one-handed passes to the other stars on this team while he drained the occasional three for himself. nash would rack up plenty of assists dishing to lebron and d-wade on the fastbreak and with all the speed and athleticism on this squad this team should just try to outscore everyone and run the fastbreak every time, too much offensive talent to beat and nash knows how to manage it all, they wouldn't even have to play defense because they would be so unstoppable.

SG-Dwayne Wade: I really was torn between whether or not to put kobe bryant here, because i believe that he is the most talented player in the league, but he lacks the mental game and attitude to be put on this list and kobe could not exist with all these superstars, so i put the unselfish and mellow d-wade on instead, especially after seeing him break out as the new face of the nba in the finals (perhaps the game's best, but i still think kobe is) and watching kobe's mental breakdown in game 7 of the 1st round where he took a grand total of one shot in the 2nd half of that game. wade has been unstoppable with his drive and at getting to the basket since coming into the league and he plays with a fearless and almost reckless style, putting his body at major risk driving into the heart of 4 defenders while finishing the play with some acrobatic, jordan-esque scoring move. he has now proved to the world that he is a sharpshooter from the midrange as well, especially with the bankshot, and his hops and jaw-dropping hangtime make him nearly unblockable and make him the most exciting and one of the more unstoppable scorers in the game today, his moves bring the jordan comparisons to mind but he has not won all those titles yet and he doesn't play the defense yet, not that you need to play defense on a roster like this. basically a shorter and more succesful lebron james.

SF-Lebron James: Like the rest of the world after the nba finals, i was enamored by dwayne wade's performace and was ready to annoint him the crown and make him the face of the new nba, but i quickly remembered a man by the name of lebron james and the amazing breakout season and playoffs he had this year, and i remembered that he did not have a counterpart on his squad even close to rivaling shaq either. lebron is the most marketable star in the league and he is very similar to dwayne wade, he can do it all and do some things better than wade, and like wade lebron does not play defense, which puts him behind kobe in talent as well. james is a physical and athletic phenom, he put the cavs on his shoulders this year and almost lead them to the eastern conference finals with a severe lack of scoring support. james exudes cool and confidence when he plays on the court and when he is off it, which makes him similar to micheal jordan, but even though lebron is not on mj's level he has ascended faster than his airness and is a much better floor leader and playmaker for his teammates than jordan was at the same point in his career, but lebron is not a good as shooter as jordan was even though his scoring may rival jordan's as well. the talents of kobe, dwayne, and james all come pretty close to matching mj's ability, but lebron is the only one who truly matches the confidence, intensity, mental focus, and marketability of micheal, with dwayne wade in a close 2nd. but enough with these comparisons, comparing anyone to micheal is unfair, but lebrons amazing acheivements already at such a young age are amazing and he may be the only player in the history of basketball to have exceeded the immense hype he received coming out of high school. james brings the passing ability, ball-handling, and court vision of magic johnson with amazing quickness and athleticism, impressive hops, and an unrivaled build which allow him to get to the basket and score at will, he has now developed a dangerous perimeter jump shot as well which is just another piece of his fully-honed game. james would fit on this roster because he is unselfish and would do whatever it takes to win, he could be the primary scorer if he wanted to and gladly pass it on to another player the next night at the sake of this squad winning, and his confidence would be great for team chemistry.

PF-Kevin Garnett: KG is the most versatile and talented power forward in the game, he really changed the whole perception of that position with his speed and athleticism. he is ultra-competetive and would do whatever it takes to win, like making the big defensive plays or grabbing the boards instead of shouldering the scoring load. KG deserves credit for his attitude during the period of these last few years when the wolves have not made the playoffs thanks to garnett's massive contract and poor decisions made by the front office, his restraint in staying with the team and his stauch loyalty are very impressive and say something impressive about his character. garnett would be a great leader and teammate for these guys and would be happy as a complementary talent at the sake of doing something he hasn't done much in his career, which is to win. KG can shoot from the midrange and can score all over the court, he is also one of the game's best shot blockers and rebounders with his length. it wouldn't matter if the guards on this squad let other guys penetrate every time because the frontcourt duo of garnett and shaq will swat your shot out every time.

C-Shaquille O'Neal: Shaq is on this team not because of his scoring or talent anymore, but because the dominance of his size brings so much pressure from opponents that it opens up the offense for everyone else and shaq is still the best big man in the game today at passing out of double and triple teams, and with the players on this roster they would finish and score every time they get the ball wide open, you just cannot afford to double anyone on this team. shaq cannot give out a high level of play for very long anymore, he is slow, is shooting free throws worse than ever, and is getting in foul trouble almost every game because his physical skills and athleticism are definitly on the downslide. shaq is still dominate for short periods of the game with his size and the heat would not have won the title without all the attention shaq drew in the middle which opened things up for wade, and teams would be out of their minds to try and drive on the big fella because he will knock you on your ass if you come in his area. still good for short stretches but mostly on this team because of his size and the pressure he draw from other teams.

Bench: Yao Ming-best center in the west, with his height and offensive skills and highly-tuned post moves yao is unstoppable on offense when he is aggressive, which he showed that he can be when tmac was hurt last season. yao would get plenty of playing time with shaq getting tired often and would be perfect on this team coming in for shaq, he could be the focal point of the offense whenever he comes off the bench and his height and length would make him an intimidating defensive presence in the paint to go along with KG and dwight howard, this team would dominate on the offensive glass and on the defensive side in the paint, noone could score on this squad in the paint (which is jeff van gundy's coaching philosophy) and opponents would have to settle for jumpshots. yao would be great in spelling shaq and providing a major offensive option.

Ray Allen-dream teams like this need shooters, not just athletic scorers, and ray allen is the best pure shooter in the game today. he would get tons of open looks with this team so he will not complain about that, and if ray is open he will make the shot, and if he is contested he even has a good chance to make it. ray allen has range and he has the stroke, and he will more than fill the need for a shooter on this roster.

Bruce Bowen-this team needs a defensive stopper on the perimeter and bruce bowen is the most aggressive and tenacious perimeter defender in the game today, he always guards the other team's best player and always seems to frustrate him into insanity because bruce is in the opponent's grill for literally the entire game. he is physical, he uses his hands, and he will provide the defensive presence, leadership, and hustle that an all-star squad like this needs and he will knock down the corner threes to boot.

Dwight Howard-howard is one of the brightest young stars in the league and the best rebounder, offensive or defensive. he uses traditional box-out moves and his impressive strength and hops to grab the boards and will make sure that this team will get multiple offensive chances and make sure that the other team only gets one chance to score by mopping up the rebounds. he will be another fearsome defensive presence in the paint for the dream team and will block plenty of shots, and he knows how to finish around the rim and will put the touch on plenty of nash and kidd alley oops.

Jason Kidd-kidd is underrated at this point in his career and is still one of the best point guards in the league and he is the best pass-1st guard period. kidd will get tons of assists dishing to this super-athletic and offensive happy crew, kidd has unrivaled floor vision and is the perfect teammate to have in the fastbreak because he is always gonna find the best option to score and throw you a nice pass. he won't have to score more than 6 or 8 points with the occasional wide-open midrange shot because his team will handle the scoring, and he will be happy to be penetrating and dishing all day long because this dream team knows how to finish and how to score.

Tracy Mcgrady-even though this team doesn't really need another superstar, i just cannot leave my boy tmac out. he is one of the most talented and exciting stars in the league and i am convinced that he would gladly take a large dip in his production and minutes at the sake of winning, something he has really never done since coming into the league (he has never won a playoff series). tmac should not have to play major minutes anymore anyway because of his back issues and as long as this team is winning and dominating tracy would be satisfied. he can score all over the place with his strength and athleticism, he can shoot over the defense like kobe, and he could play the role of a defensive stopper if he had to, something he did in toronto. play him on the floor with yao and vince carter because the team chemistry there would be amazing.

Vince Carter-some may find the decision to put vince on the team questionable, but vince has not won much in his career either, and i think he would settle down his iffy shot selection and be content with making momentum-changing plays off the bench if this squad was winning games. vince could drop some crazy dunks and be the ultimate finisher on the fastbreak and his high-energy plays would fire up the team and could take the life out of opponents. playing with jason kidd would be perfect for team chemistry, as kidd knows how to settle carter down and get him the shots he wants, and a tmac-vince reunion would be fearsome to behold.

1) the summer league has been somewhat boring and lacking in interest these past few years mostly because it is filled with rookies and young players battling for roster spots and 10-day contracts. back in the day vets would unexpectedly show up and play with their younger counterparts in the high-energy, pickup style games, which created more excitement and energy. this year has been better because ron artest is playing with sac-town's team to tune up for the preseason and because superstar amare stoudemire is playing to get back in shape and get back in the groove of playing after being sidelined all of last season thanks to arthroscopic knee surgery. his play in particular has been very solid and should be good news for phoenix fans, obviously his legs and athleticism haven't completely returned to him yet but he has been displaying his versatility and scoring in a variety of ways, making suprisingly flashy and impressive passes, and just playing really well and complementing the overall really weak young guys that make up the sun's summer league squad, phoenix has one of the league's weakest summer team. my rocket's summer team has been very dominate and impressive in summer league play so far thanks to the electrifying play of john lucas and the sharpshooting of rocket's draft pick steve novak and pat carroll. john lucas played breifly with the the rockets thanks to injuries last season and his main problem is just that he's too little, he can score, shoot, pass, and is a real high-energy playmaker. novak displayed his three point shooting ability by hitting on 9 of 16 attempts from long range in the 1st 2 games, and houston's team is 3-0. randy foye has been unstoppable with his scoring and driving to the basket for minnesota, he dropped 30 in the last game and is looking impressive. brandon roy and lamarcus aldrige have been nice and solid for portland, while not other rookies have really stood out. 2nd year player bracey wright has stood out for the t-wolves with his impressive scoring and kevin martin has been carrying the kings on his back with his scoring and driving. undrafted rookie curtis stinson had 16 in the last summer game while darius washington has not even been able to get in games for houston, showing how volatile the nba potential of undrafted rookies is. basketball scrub turned blog writer turned bsaketball scrub again paul shirly is back playing on the t-wolves summer team and he dropped a nice 12 points off the bench in a win recently. the young core of the boston celtics, most notably ryan gomes and gerald green, have played very well as has casey jacobsen for the nuggets, a taleted shooter and decent all-around player who is currently not on an nba roster but who is doing a good job putting the younger players on his team on his back. maurice ager has been putting up nice scoring numbers in dallas and rawle marshall has been decent with scoring and all-around play, super-tall russian prject pavel podzlokin even showed a flash of greatness with 10 points and 9 boards in the last game. ron artest made his debut on friday with a quiet 12 points on 5 for 12 shooting, but he mostly sat back and let kevin martin and the young players handle the scoring while he showed off his lockdown defense on awe-struck youngsters.
2) other stars of the summer league so far include number one draft pick andrea bargnani, who put up a nice 20 point debut and showed an impressive quickness and aggressiveness in attacking the basket as well as a nice perimeter jumpshot. martell webster has led the young trail blazers team with his scoring theatrics, while brandon roy has been very solid overall and put up an impressive 17 points in the last game. for the most part lamarcus aldrige has been pretty quiet, solid but not spectacular or number 2 pick worthy. amare stoudemire has been very good since playing, he had 24 in his 2nd game and even though he is still rusty he has been very impressive, even eye-popping. former 2000 draft lottery pick marcus fizer has been leading the young hornets in battle but they have yet to win a summer league game, maybe because marcus is trying too hard to take things into his own hands and prove to the coaches of the nba that he deserves a spot. he has been showing off his offensive ability though. randy foye continues to amaze with his impressive scoring, dropping his third straight 23-plus game yesterday and looking like the early favorite to win rookie of the year. 3rd year hornet's swignman kirk snyder has played poorly and seems to be playing out of the hornet's rotation, which is deeper than last year's. kevin martin is scoring like crazy and looking pretty unstoppable at getting to the basket. bargnani also became the 1st player yesterday in this year's summer league to foul out of a game, with 10 fouls. andrew bynum, the raw young center for the lakers whos development will be key for their team, was very good in a game against the mavs, using his size to grab 15 boards while also dropping 14 points and 5 stuffs. john lucas is still dominating with his scoring and high-energy play, he deserves a roster spot from the rockets becase they are thin in backcourt depth, and novak has been pretty consistent with his shooting as well. maurice ager is proving he deserves a key role with the mavs, he has been leading the summer league squad with his scoring. as a final note, shannon brown has also been great with his scoring for the cavs and has been impressive, with all this talent on display from michigan state its a wonder they didn't do better last year in college, exiting in the 1st round after a defeat from george mason.

3) summer league wrapped up friday with few surprises, and a few closing notes is all i need. my rockets finished undefeated and the stellar overall play and leadership shown by 5-11 point guard john lucas III should get him a permanent spot on the roster, especially since houston failed in their pursuit of mike james. steve novak showed off his sweet shot even though he struggled in a few games, while chuck hayes put forth the work on the boards and on defense that van gundy expects out of him, even with that embarassing free throw shot. renaldo balkman of the knicks showed some nice and positive play, especially in a fearsome baseline dunk, but nothing he could do would justify the odd pick that isaih made by selecting renald oin the 1st round. the real stars of the whole summer league were brandon roy and randy foye, 2 stars in the making who seem to be the preseason frontrunners for rookie of the year along with adam morrison, who is currently tearing it up in the orlando league. roy has not disappointed with his nba-ready all-around play and his versatile skill set is very impressive, he can shoot, handle the ball, post up, is very quick and athletic and adept at slashing to the basket, he can play defense, has good size, and he can even handle the point, just to give you a taste of all that roy has shown in the summer league. granted, it is still summer, but roy should have no problem making the adjustment to the nba. meanwhile, randy foye has justified the poor man's d-wade comparisons by getting into the paint at will, noone has been able to stop foye from his slashing and scoring and i believe he is the leading scorer in vegas. he has not shown off his jumpshot too much yet but he has not had to. andrea bargnani has shown flashes with his aggressiveness in attacking the basket and his perimeter jumpshot, but he has no apparent inside game or rebounding ability and has not shown much effort on defense either. lamarcus aldrige has been solid, and has been much more than solid in blocking shots, but he has not been scoring much and is getting pushed around by weaker summer league competetion, which just brings to light how much more strength he needs to put on if he wants to be an nba-caliber post player.