Rook-Soph game now Rising Stars Challenge

[The X]

from wat i remember it was a rookie game before, it was east rookie and west rookie.

That's correct, although the problem was that some years you'd have trouble finding 16 decent rookies, so game wouldn't be that high quality & guns like Eddie Jones would dominate.

I agree with others that Rook/Soph East vs West game would be the best, once this Shaq vs Chuck TNT gimmick has run its course. I'd make it 4/5 rooks & 4/5 sophs per team, so it's not 8 sophs, 2 rooks since sophomores tend to take the leap in their 2nd year.

[Andrew]

The first couple of games were mixed teams made up of the rookie class, which worked out alright but East vs West feels a bit more organised. Before that they had the old-timers game, which saw a few injuries and while kind of cool to see, were a little sad at the same time.

[deihatein]

No Jeremy Lin

No Cole. Although the rookie class is only filled with PG's.

Lin added to All-Star weekend event

Jeremy Lin will play in the Rising Stars Challenge after all.

The Knicks point guard was added Thursday to the roster of players for the Feb. 24 game, just before Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley began drafting for their teams.

Lin’s breakout came after the pool of 18 players was selected, and the NBA was pressured to add him after he scored 136 points in his first five starts, most by an NBA player since the merger with the ABA in 1976-77.

Beyond his strong play, there has been enormous interest in Lin because he was undrafted out of Harvard and is the first American-born NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent. Other NBA players have praised his feats on Twitter, and even President Barack Obama is a fan.

But Commissioner David Stern had told USA Today that Lin would not receive a special invite to play in the game involving rookies and second-year players.

Barkley praised the addition, saying it was “really stupid the NBA denied him in the beginning.”

O’Neal took Lin with his third pick after starting with the Clippers’ Blake Griffin. Barkley took Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving at No. 2.

Miami’s Norris Cole also was added to make 20 eligible players.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=A ... gstars-lin

[Martti.]

Hell yeah. (For Cole)

[benji]

Barkley praised the addition, saying it was “really stupid the NBA denied him in the beginning.”

You could probably count the number of times that the entire TNT crew mentioned Jeremy Lin before February 4th on one hand.

[deihatein]

Rosters is set!

TEAM SHAQ
Blake Griffin – Los Angeles Clippers (Sophomore)
Jeremy Lin – New York Knicks (Sophomore)
Ricky Rubio – Minnesota Timberwolves (Rookie)
Greg Monroe – Detroit Pistons (Sophomore)
Markieff Morris – Phoenix Suns (Rookie)
Kemba Walker – Charlotte Bobcats (Rookie)
Landry Fields – New York Knicks (Sophomore)
Norris Cole – Miami Heat (Rookie)
Brandon Knight – Detroit Pistons (Rookie)
Tristan Thompson – Cleveland Cavaliers (Rookie)

TEAM CHUCK (#Team Chuck)
Kyrie Irving – Cleveland Cavaliers (Rookie)
DeMarcus Cousins – Sacramento Kings (Sophomore)
Paul George – Indiana Pacers (Sophomore)
Derrick Williams – Minnesota Timberwolves (Rookie)
MarShon Brooks – New Jersey Nets (Rookie)
John Wall – Washington Wizards (Sophomore)
Gordon Hayward – Utah Jazz (Sophomore)
Tiago Splitter – San Antonio Spurs (Sophomore)
Kawhi Leonard – San Antonio Spurs (Rookie)
Evan Turner – Philadelphia 76ers (Sophomore)

[Sauru]

ha wall is all pissed for being picked so low. cant say i dont know where he is coming from though. i assume we all have played ball growing up and a few times watched people get picked over us who we know were far worse. great motivation usually but since its a pointless game i assume he will just shoot every time he touches the ball

[Martti.]

Shaq's team has Blake, Rubio and Linsanity, Chuck's is more balanced. Shaq has 5 PG's, plenty of lobs to Blake, though I expect him to sit most of the time as he did last year.