http://www.syracuse.com/sports/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1113727114223980.xml&coll=1 Blatche sharpens skills for NBA Ex-Henninger star gets 26 points, 16 rebounds, named Jordan Classic co-MVP. Sunday, April 17, 2005 By Mike Waters Staff writer New York He was the biggest star on the court, but Andray Blatche was far from being the biggest star at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. Among the 6,436 in attendance for the Jordan Classic were luminaries such as Michael Jordan, Spike Lee, NBA star Vince Carter, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens and rappers Jadakiss, Fat Joe and Doug E. Fresh. Amid that galaxy of stars, Blatche still shone. The 6-foot-11 kid from Syracuse scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds in just 28 minutes. Blatche earned co-MVP honors as his White team lost 127-126 to the Gray squad. "It was a little nerve-wrack, nerve-wrack, I can't even say the word right now," Blatche said, flashing a broad smile. "I was nervous. You've got Jordan right there. Jadakiss. Spike Lee. All of them there on the front row. T.O. Vince Carter. I was nervous, but I just kept playing." And scoring and rebounding and generally impressing all in attendance that he was ready to make the leap straight from prep school to the NBA. Blatche had 11 points and nine rebounds at halftime. At that point, one NBA scout summed up his play with a simple, "He's ready." Then Blatche came back with 15 points and seven rebounds after halftime. "He's just as good as anybody," White team coach Maurice Hicks, the head coach at Manhattan's Rice High School, said. "He's skilled enough and athletic enough. He can make the jump. I can see him getting it done." Blatche's only blunder of the night came with nine seconds left when he inadvertently tipped Calvin Miles' missed free throw back into the basket, giving the Gray team a 127-126 lead. Emanuel "Tiki" Mayben, the Syracuse-bound guard from Troy, dashed up the court and drew a foul with three seconds remaining. Mayben, who was a perfect 4-for-4 at the line to that point, missed both of his attempts. It was an ill-fitting ending to Mayben's fairy-tale experience in the week leading up to the Jordan Classic. Mayben had been slated to play in the Classic's preliminary game between New York City high schoolers against a team of suburban stars. He was added to the National Game when Monta Ellis, a highly regarded prospect from Mississippi, pulled out due to an injury. Mayben proved he belonged on the big stage, scoring 13 points and doling out seven assists in 15 minutes. "I feel right now like I got a lot of respect," Mayben said. "In a way, I wasn't supposed to be here and then finishing the game, I'm right there with a chance to win the game for my team." In the game's final minutes, Hicks went against his game rotation to make sure that Mayben was on the floor. "That's a credit to Tiki," Hicks said. "He's a great player. He did a good job. He was a great addition to our club." Mayben quickly shook off the disappointment over the missed free throws and focused on his future. "I'm here to be a sponge and soak up the atmosphere," Mayben said. "It was a good opportunity for me to play at MSG before the Big East Tournament, so I'm not nervous in college when it really counts." While Mayben was looking forward to wearing Syracuse orange on his next trip to the Garden, Blatche's next visit to the World's Most Famous Arena will be as a Bull or a Celtic or a Bobcat or some other paid professional in the NBA. The former Henninger High School star's game showed remarkable improvement after spending this past year at South Kent (Conn.) Prep. In particular, he exhibited a willingness to establish position in the low post and power his way to the basket. "The best part was I tried big down low and I ran the court pretty well for a big man and rebounding," Blatche said. "I have to run the court and rebound and I think I did that real well." His presence even altered the free-wheeling style associated with all-star games. "Most of the time all-star game are guard games," Hicks said. "We made an emphasis on getting it inside to him. He's very active and very agile. I thought he had an advantage in the post, so we wanted to go to him." Blatche's participation in the Jordan Classic marked his third all-star game appearance. NCAA rules limit high school seniors to just two all-star events, so now Blatche's future is certain. Certain up to a point. It's a certainty that he will enter the NBA Draft. But when he hears his name called on June 28 remains in doubt. However, the stars seemed aligned here at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. And Blatche was a shooting star. "As far as my stock rising, I don't know, I think I played fairly well," he said. "I'll have to wait and see. "I'm just going to go back to school and get back in the gym and work out. I work out every day. So every day, I'm getting prepared for the tryouts." Jordan Gray (127) Hansbrough 9-17 5-7 24, Miles 7-16 2-4 16, Rolle 3-8 1-4 7, Fields 7-16 2-7 18, L.Williams 8-17 3-5 20, S.Williams 6-11 1-2 15, Downey 2-9 2-2 6, Bynum 6-9 0-0 13, Rogers 2-6 0-0 4, Wright 2-7 0-2 4. 52-116 16-33 127. Jordan White (126) Hendrix 3-6 3-6 9, Webster 7-13 6-6 22, Blatche 12-17 2-4 26, Downs 4-7 2-2 11, Mercer 8-10 2-4 19, Clinch 4-7 3-4 13, Boateng 1-5 1-2 3, Mayben 4-8 4-6 13, Brumbaugh 3-5 0-0 6, Brockman 2-4 0-1 4. Totals 48-82 23-35 126. Halftime- Jordan White 61-54. 3-Point goals- Jordan Gray 7-32 (S.Williams 2-4, Fields 2-6, Bynum 1-1, Hansbrough 1-2, L.Williams 1-7, Wright 0-1, Downey 0-5, Miles 0-6), Jordan White 7-19 (Webster 2-4, Clinch 2-4, Mercer 1-2, Downs 1-3, Mayben 1-3, Hendrix 0-1, Brumbaugh 0-2). Fouled out- Rolle, Mayben. Rebounds- Jordan Gray 56 (Rolle 10), Jordan White 59 (Blatche 16). Assists- Jordan Gray 20 (Downey 6), Jordan White 30 (Mercer 9). Total fouls- Jordan Gray 23, Jordan White 29. A- 6,436.
http://draftcity.com/dcdaily.php Blatche Declares for NBA Draft By Jonathan Givony Sunday, April 17, 2005 Andray Blatche played extremely well tonight at the Jordan Classic in New York City. Afterwards, he told our very own Prerak Shah that he will indeed declare for this year's NBA draft, without hiring an agent (as of right now) in order to test his stock. Blatche was arguably the best player on the floor tonight in New York, finishing with 26 points (12-17 FG), 16 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 assists in 28 minutes. He showed off his terrific ball-handling skills numerous times, even going coast to coast for a thunderous dunk once after a coming up with a big rebound on the other end. Tyler Hansbrough was the second best scorer with 24 points and the game winning basket on an offensive rebound. Martell Webster had 22 points on 7-13 shooting, to go along with 1 assist and 5 turnovers. A first-hand report from the game will be posted later on tonight.
Here's a picture of the "kid" (I'm the new Weisbrod) I don't know where all these guys are going to fit in line, but you look at Josh Smith, who went #17 in last year's draft, and my hope is that if there isn't a clear-cut "help us now" player, that they can roll the dice on a young player. I mean moving past Sacramento not only makes our playoff matchup more difficult, but moves us down a spot* in the draft! * unless of course the teams tie, in which case it goes by a coin-flip type tiebreaker and not playoff seeding tiebreakers.
I'm intrigued by Angelo Gigli. From his DraftCity profile, he sounds like a Robert Horry-type - thin, tall, athletic, smart player, good defender, good weakside shotblocker, good passer, but also weak. Shooting doesn't sound one way or another. Mixed on rebounding. A lot of interesting PF prospects in our range. I'm not sold on any of them yet, but I wouldn't be disappointed if we drafted any of them either.
I dreamt last night that the Rockets drafted Blatche. The BBS was disappointed because he looked like a bust. From this I conclude absolutely nothing.
