I know Eddie was more interested in playing last year (in front of his home town) and he was quoted as saying this game wasn't a big deal, but... Six international players selected to compete on got milk? game on All-Star Saturday Gasol, Yao Head Rookie Challenge Selections NEW YORK, Jan. 16 -- Memphis Grizzlies forward Pau Gasol, the 2002 NBA got milk? Rookie of the Year, and Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, the first overall selection in the 2002 NBA Draft, lead a list of 18 players selected to play in the 2003 got milk? Rookie Challenge on NBA All-Star Saturday, February 8 in Atlanta's Philips Arena. The participants in the got milk? Rookie Challenge were selected by a panel of 14 former NBA players and coaches who currently work as broadcasters covering the league. A record six international players will be participating in the contest. Memphis' Gordan Giricek (Croatia), Denver's Nene Hilario (Brazil), and Yao (China), will compete on the Rookie team while Gasol (Spain), Utah's Andrei Kirilenko (Russia) and San Antonio's Tony Parker (France) will play on the Sophomore team. The got milk? Rookie Challenge, which will be broadcast live nationally at 4 p.m. EST by TNT, Rogers Sportsnet and ESPN Radio, features this year's top rookies against the league's best second-year players. Last year, the Rookies defeated the Sophomores, 103-97, with Jason Richardson of the Golden State Warriors earning the Most Valuable Player award. Gasol and Richardson will be joined on the Sophomore team by Tyson Chandler of the Chicago Bulls, Gilbert Arenas and Troy Murphy of the Golden State Warriors, Richard Jefferson of the New Jersey Nets, Kirilenko, Parker and Jamaal Tinsley of the Indiana Pacers. Yao is joined on the rookie team by Chicago's Jay Williams, Cleveland's Carlos Boozer and Dajuan Wagner, Hilario, Miami's Caron Butler, Memphis' Giricek and Drew Gooden and Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire. If a rookie or second-year player is selected to play in the All-Star Game on Sunday, he will not play in the Rookie Challenge. The 14-member selection panel included Sean Elliott, Tim Hardaway, Tom Tolbert and Bill Walton from ESPN; Danny Ainge, Kenny Smith and John Thompson from TNT; Phil Chenier from Comcast Sportsnet; Mike Glenn from the Hawks Television Networks; Tom Heinsohn from FOX Sports Net New England; Rod Hundley from FOX Sports Net Rocky Mountain; Steve Jones from Blazer Broadcasting; Calvin Murphy from Rockets Television; and Jack Ramsay from ESPN Radio. This is the fourth year under the current rookie versus sophomore format with the rookies holding a 2-1 edge. The game will be played in two 20-minute halves, with each team allowed one full timeout and one 20-second timeout per half. Individual foul totals will be kept, but a player can not foul out. A team will be in the penalty situation after 10 team fouls or after the second foul in the final two minutes of each half. In the event of a tie game, there will be a two-minute overtime to determine the winner. Tickets to the got milk? Rookie Challenge are priced at $30, and are available at the Philips Arena box office, Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com, NBA.com and 1-800-4NBA-TIX. NBA All-Star Saturday Night presented by America Online, featuring Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk, 1 800 CALL ATT Shootout, 989 Sports Skills Challenge and Jeep All-Star Hoop-It-Up will also be broadcast live nationally at 8 p.m. EST by the same broadcast outlets. The NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, February 9 will be broadcast live nationally on TNT and ESPN Radio from Philips Arena at 8 p.m. EST. The got milk? Milk Mustache campaign is sponsoring the NBA Rookie platform to highlight the importance of milk's bone-building calcium and eight other essential nutrients for active people, teens especially, who add about 15 percent of their height during these years. The platform includes the got milk? Rookie Challenge, the got milk? Rookie of the Month awards, the got milk? Rookie of the Year award and the got milk? All-Rookie Team. Below are the rosters for the 2003 'got milk?' Rookie Challenge: Rookie Team Roster: Player Team Pos. Ht. Wt. College/Country Carlos Boozer Cleveland C 6-8 258 Duke Caron Butler Miami F 6-7 217 Connecticut Gordan Giricek Memphis F 6-5 210 Croatia Drew Gooden Memphis F 6-9 227 Kansas Nene Hilario Denver F 6-11 260 Brazil Amare Stoudemire Phoenix F 6-8 233 Cypress Creek, HS Dajuan Wagner Cleveland G 6-1 193 Memphis Jay Williams Chicago G 6-2 195 Duke Yao Ming Houston C 7-5 296 China Sophomore Team Roster: Player Team Pos. Ht. Wt. College/Country Gilbert Arenas Golden State G 6-3 191 Arizona Tyson Chandler Chicago F 7-1 235 Dominguez HS Pau Gasol Memphis F 7-0 227 Spain Richard Jefferson New Jersey F 6-7 222 Arizona Andrei Kirilenko Utah F 6-9 205 Russia Troy Murphy Golden State F 6-11 245 Notre Dame Tony Parker San Antonio G 6-2 177 France Jason Richardson Golden State G 6-6 220 Michigan State Jamaal Tinsley Indiana G 6-1 199 Iowa State http://www.nba.com/milk_rookie/rookie_challenge_2003_030116.html
Why they selected Yao to play the game? Did they try to sell out by selling Yao? I heard that Yao will take part in the All-star game and wouldn't attend the Rookie game under the rule of NBA.
Griffin has slight edges over Chandler in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. Chandler is shooting 52% from the field, but he has 100 less field goal attempts. Eddie definitely has a case to be in the game...was Chandler in the rookie game last year? That might have been the difference maker... With Yao Ming not in the game, I think the Sophs will roll. Gasol, Kirilenko, and Murphy are a solid, albeit skinny, frontcourt, Richardson and Jefferson can both get to the rack and score, and Parker can both distribute the ball well...This is definitely going to be a lob fest...
Murphy has betters stats (averaging a double-double but with more minutes). Chandler's numbers of pretty similar... Eddie has slightly better scoring, rebounding, and significantly better blocks; Chandler better FG%; Eddie plays a little more MPG. I can only guess that they say Chandler as a C (not a PF) or they wanted to get a Bull on the team. Either way... Griffin deserved to go (though it wasn't an obscene oversight).
i would say there is a small, small chance of gasol making the all-star team, and griffin taking his spot. although the west is loaded with forwards. we can still keep our fingers crossed though.
We have to go in the "question of the game" thing .........(u know that HP thing) and ask Calvin what's happen. Our team has a winner record for goodness sake and Griffin's defense is a big part of that. But who knows Calvin probably tried his best to get him on the team. But like Griffin said it's no big deal.
Troy Murphy isn't as talented as Eddie, but as of right now he is a little more polished in his overall game than EG, although Murphy is two years older. With that having been said... TYSON CHANDLER? Now that I look at who was actually on this 14 person selection committee, this choice does not surprise me. After all, Boston Celtic announcer Tommy Heinsohn is on it, as well as fellow rocket scientist Tim Hardaway. Knowing Heinsohn, I'm sure he's pissed that 2nd year Celtic player Kedrick Brown didn't make the Sophomore team. Moving on: Chandler isn't a bad player, and he's actually a few months younger than Eddie, having been drafted out of high school, but: 1) He plays for a considerably worse team. Chicago is 14-24, Houston is 22-15. 2) Griffin has put up better stats, and although he is the lesser known player (Chandler was the #2 draft pick), I don't see anything in Chandler's game that would warrant him starting this game over EG. If you want to ask which player has made a bigger contribution to his team's success (or lack of total failure in the case of the Bulls), the answer would obviously have to be Eddie. Not a huge deal, though, I've seen the NBA make way worse mistakes than this one.
2nd straight year Eddie gets punked from the game. That sucks! You would think after last year's glaring omission they would have selected him this year. I was really looking forward to seeing him play. I guess Eddie doesn't get enough respect from the media. I am not quite sure how Tyson Chandler even makes the team, he barely even starts for his own team! Chris
On the bright side (if there is one), maybe this will light a fire under E.G. to probe those morons wrong.
Marko Jaric is the one who got snubbed; I would take him over Giricek any day. Giricek is a better scorer, but Jaric is better in every other way. And yes, I also think Griffin should be in the game instead of Chandler.
