Rookie Challenge Live Blog

(02/15/2008)

7:20

What an odd feeling. There are literally more media here than fans. That is not an exaggeration. I don't know where the fans are, but the aren't here. Meanwhile, the media presence here and across the street at the Superdome is Super Bowl-worthy. Like I said before, odd.

Friday February 15, 2008 7:20

7:24

[Comment From CaitCait: ]

This is an important weekend for our city, I think.

Friday February 15, 2008 7:24 Cait

7:27

That's a very fair point. It's not what one might call all-inclusive on its surface, but the Fan Jam event is definitely aimed at all members of the community, and the visiting players and NBA officials have been EXTREMELY active helping out around the city. They've sure been tuned into the notion of not portraying this as an "elite"event -- at least not to general public.

Friday February 15, 2008 7:27

7:31

[Comment From CaitCait: ]

I'm concerned about the vendors having been kicked out of Jackson Square, but I love the revenue this has brought into NOLA.

Friday February 15, 2008 7:31 Cait

7:31

[Comment From CaitCait: ]

Well, to be fair, crime has to be a concern. At the point where NBA players are being carjacked...

Friday February 15, 2008 7:31 Cait

7:32

Touche'.

Friday February 15, 2008 7:32

7:39

So the players are running out onto the court, and all the younger kids with the prime seats are going nuts. I wonder what I have to do to get seats like theirs? Is it as simple as wearing a pink jersey? I believe I'm comfortable enough in my own sexuality to wear a pink jersey ... but only just!

Friday February 15, 2008 7:39

7:40

[Comment From CaitCait: ]

I'm really excited to see how Durant performs tonight.

Friday February 15, 2008 7:40 Cait

7:42

Me too! I am curious to see how he performs against the big nasties the sophomores are sure to throw at him. Portland's dynamic duo of LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy are always a treat to watch, and of course Hornets tormentor Rudy Gay will be a guy I keep a close eye on. He's becoming one of the better players in the league.

Friday February 15, 2008 7:42

7:51

Yi Jianlian could be a guy who does well in this sort of wide-open, non-defensive contest. Plus he'll be motivated to do well in front of the 41,000 credentialed members of the Chinese media here tonight.

Friday February 15, 2008 7:51

7:56

I seriously don't remember an event with this much hype, both self-generated and in terms of number of media folk present, short of the two Super Bowls I attended. When one thinks of the deep pockets of the NFL, it's a little remarkable the NBA can stage something in the same general hype zone. Make no mistake, the Super Bowl is the biggest sporting event in the world, bar none. But this is actually bigger than the BCS Championship Game, and that surprises me.

Friday February 15, 2008 7:56

8:06

I don't think you've arrived yet if the P.A. guy asks you, "What's your name again?" Yeesh, that was not a warm welcome for the Lakers' Jordan Farmer. Then again, it was pretty funny.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:06

8:16

[Comment From NOLAguruNOLAguru: ]

By the same token... did the P.A. announcer ask your name yet?

Friday February 15, 2008 8:16 NOLAguru

8:17

Not yet, but that is beside the point. I am supposed to toil in obscurity. :)

Friday February 15, 2008 8:17

8:17

All the lights in here are turned off. It reminds me of being at the circus when I was a kid (which given the hoopla surrounding the weekend's events, may actually be appropriate). May as well embrace your circus-like tendencies and truck in a ton of kids and play the game in the dark. Man, the similarities don't end, do they?

Friday February 15, 2008 8:17

8:19

[Comment From NOLAguruNOLAguru: ]

I can understand obscurity... but toiling in the dark?

Friday February 15, 2008 8:19 NOLAguru

8:20

It's all very scandalous. Don't tell anyone.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:20

8:21

Durant has an early line of seven points and three rebounds -- it may be safe to say he's looking to make an impact in this game. Then again, in a game which could hit 300 total points scored, seven doesn't seem like a whole lot.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:21

8:21

[Comment From NOLAguruNOLAguru: ]

Mum's the word.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:21 NOLAguru

8:21

[Comment From CaitCait: ]

Scandalous, you say?

Friday February 15, 2008 8:21 Cait

8:21

Oops, too late.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:21

8:25

Jeff Green -- there's a name you don't hear all that often. He was a dominator back in college, but my handy dandy stats tell me he's averaging 8.6 and 4.4 this season -- not fantastic, but not shameful either. What's shameful is the Sonics' record through the halfway point. Yeesh!

Friday February 15, 2008 8:25

8:27

[Comment From CaitCait: ]

I won't be surprised if the Sonics leave Seattle soon.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:27 Cait

8:27

Better them than the Hornets (at least that's what the local sentiment seems to be).

Friday February 15, 2008 8:27

8:28

They whistled a foul? What the heck do they think this is, the ACC? The whistle should only come out if a guy loses an eyeball or something.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:28

8:32

(and I won't link the famous Alan Ray-eye photo -- methinks you can find it if you really want to)

Friday February 15, 2008 8:32

8:36

[Comment From NOLAguruNOLAguru: ]

http://www.yourdailymedia.com/i/u/TDUdmp8D.jpg

Friday February 15, 2008 8:36 NOLAguru

8:36

Uggh.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:36

8:40

Similar to a Hornets game, we have lots of late arrivers tonight. Still no full house, but it's filled out a little better. I wonder how much tickets to this thing cost?

Friday February 15, 2008 8:40

8:40

Sophs up 40-38 now. 5:59 to play in 1st quarter

Friday February 15, 2008 8:40

8:41

[Comment From CaitCait: ]

NOLA is a late city. We're tardy to everything.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:41 Cait

8:44

Timeout with the sophs up 45-40, and D. Wade makes an appearance for the fave five promotion. Regardless, the youngsters in attendance have gone absolutely nuts!

Friday February 15, 2008 8:44

8:45

[Comment From respectfansrespectfans: ]

Enjoy all-star weekend. I am sure New Orleans will be fine hosts. FYI- look to the sky tomorrow at lunchtime! Some Seattle Sonics fans are flying an airplane banner saying "Stop Clay [Bennett]- Sonics must stay! More generally if you think teams should stay put and respect the fans you could drop an e-mail to Stern saying no to relocation. Good luck to us both.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:45 respectfans

8:46

Great sentiment respectfans, thanks for dropping by! I was a big Sonics fan back in the Shawn Kemp glory days, and it would be great if they could stay in Seattle.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:46

8:46

[Comment From CaitCait: ]

I love Wade! D-Wave! Whoooooooooooooooo!

Friday February 15, 2008 8:46 Cait

8:47

Wade was an easy guy to root for when I was living in South Florida. In my honest opinion, it doesn't get any better than watching him or CP3 dominate.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:47

8:48

Those two are in their own league.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:48

8:49

[Comment From CaitCait: ]

Agreed. Wade was definitely a draw at Heat games.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:49 Cait

8:49

"What's your name?" with the assist! Nice play by him, and the sophs are beginning to take over.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:49

8:50

For the record, Farmer now has five assists. The absurd numbers are beginning to really take hold -- Durant with 13 and five.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:50

8:51

Sophs up 13 now.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:51

8:52

Durant has some sick kicks -- yellow customs. and he buries an alley-oop dunk for the final points of the half. Sophs still lead 66-52 at the break.

Friday February 15, 2008 8:52

9:04

Daniel Gibson, he of the Cleveland Cavaliers, is a slight surprise as the leading scorer with 21 points to lead everyone. Dude is 7-of-12 from three-point range ... and that is pretty good.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:04

9:10

Roy and Gay are also in double figures, as are Al Horford, Durant and Sean Williams.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:10

9:11

Actually, if you DON'T score in double figures in a game like this, it's more of a surprise than if you do.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:11

9:12

And Rondo gets a bucket ... one of the few scoreless chumps from the first half finally gets on the board! He's been great for the Celtics this year, it's time he stepped it up here tonight. Go Rondo!

Friday February 15, 2008 9:12

9:14

The nameless wonder, Jordan Farmer, leads all comers in assists (six) AND steals (three). Not bad for a guy so nondescript even the P.A. guy didn't know who he was.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:14

9:17

I alternatively love and loathe the appallingly bad defense on display in a game like this. On the one hand, you get all sorts of nifty dunks and such out of it. Plus, it's so amazingly terrible, it's sort of impressive in its own way. On the other hand, I am a purist and it makes me want to vomit. I'm so conflicted!

Friday February 15, 2008 9:17

9:19

The Sophs get their lead up to 79-60 and we have a timeout -- what were the Rookies waiting for, a 30-0 run? Then again, the mere concept of there even being timeouts in a game like this makes my brain want to melt.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:19

9:24

If I were the rookies, I would run nothing but a set of repetitive moving screens at the sophomores At the very least, it would make this game interesting ... though not necessarily in a good way. A brawl would definitely be more in the spirit of the game than a defenseless dunkfest, but yeah, we'll just pull for a clean game with no injuries for now.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:24

9:27

I want to see if the sophs can score 100 by the 10-minute mark. They'll have to step it up to make it.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:27

9:30

Well, they failed miserably. Here it is, nearly two minutes under said mark, and they only have 97. Pathetic.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:30

9:33

[Comment From CaitCait: ]

Muy pathetic...;)

Friday February 15, 2008 9:33 Cait

9:34

[Comment From NOLAguruNOLAguru: ]

I prefer tres pathetique...

Friday February 15, 2008 9:34 NOLAguru

9:36

This is a great event for the kids. Lots of games and promos and such geared toward the younger crowd. Of course my eardrums have been split into fragments everytime some teeny-bopper appears on the jumbotron, but it's a small price to pay for the kids' enjoyment. Or is THAT pathetic? I'm so confused. It must be my bleeding Cochlea.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:36

9:39

Sean Williams with a nice jam -- dude has some kinda crazy wingspan. He's had a good game with 17 and 9.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:39

9:42

Boo timeouts! Hooray beer! I could use more of the latter than the former, methinks. It would numb the pain in my ears, at least.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:42

9:46

Gibson has his sights set on a game-high for points scored, it would appear. He's up to 30 points and one assist, which is just the sort of selfishness this game demands.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:46

9:46

Kobe would be proud.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:46

9:47

Make that 33 and one. LOL.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:47

9:48

[Comment From CaitCait: ]

Kobe DOES enjoy being incredibly selfish. It's kind of his thing.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:48 Cait

9:50

So the game ends with a final score of Sophs 136, Rookies 109.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:50

9:50

[Comment From WingedWheelWingedWheel: ]

Kobe doesn't care about anything but Kobe

Friday February 15, 2008 9:50 WingedWheel

9:50

[Comment From CaitCait: ]

It's...who he is.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:50 Cait

9:51

[Comment From btbt: ]

he is getting better with that though.. especially with gasol around now

Friday February 15, 2008 9:51 bt

9:52

I totally love the nameless wonder coming out and shoving it in the face of the P.A. guy by scoring a ton and leading everyone in assists and steals. That was pretty sweet.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:52

9:52

Durant excelled, as one might expect. This is the sort of game he is built for.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:52

9:54

[Comment From WingedWheelWingedWheel: ]

Chocolate Thunder Eyes o' Wonder for the nameless wonder, sounds like a Darryl Dawkins dunk

Friday February 15, 2008 9:54 WingedWheel

9:55

Kobe better at sharing? I won't go that far ... yet. The Lakers are potent though.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:55

9:56

Freakin' Jordan Farmer had a great game tonight -- that tells you right there that the Lakers' talent is getting a lot better.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:56

9:57

[Comment From WingedWheelWingedWheel: ]

where's Kurt Rambis when you need him

Friday February 15, 2008 9:57 WingedWheel

9:57

Daniel Gibson with 33 points (and two assists) to grab the MVP award. His 11 three-pointers set a game record.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:57

9:57

He never met a pass he liked.

Friday February 15, 2008 9:57

10:04

Durant with 23 and eight boards.
Rudy Gay nabbed 22.
Al Horford scored 19 to go with seven rebounds.
Aldridge tabbed 18 and 9.

And my boy Farmer notched 17 points, 12 assists, four rebounds, four steals and one forgotten name by the P.A. announcer.

It's pretty hard topping that.

Friday February 15, 2008 10:04

10:05

[Comment From jillyjilly: ]

any final count on the crowd?

Friday February 15, 2008 10:05 jilly

10:05

No announced attendance, but it was probably over 12 and less than 15.

Friday February 15, 2008 10:05

10:06

[Comment From WingedWheelWingedWheel: ]

showing the NBA yet another reason to let the Hornets out the door

Friday February 15, 2008 10:06 WingedWheel

10:07

The kids were LOUD though. I think I'm liable to get run over by oncoming traffic once I leave thanks to my equilibrium getting thrown out of whack by my demolished ear drums.

Friday February 15, 2008 10:07

10:08

So that's it for me folks! I'm checking out for now, but come back tomorrow for another live blog of all the festivities tomorrow night! Thanks for coming by!

Friday February 15, 2008 10:08

10:11

This Live Blog has now ended.