NBA AWARDS 2009

It's April. That means it's time to hand out some NBA superlatives.

I have been writing these pick columns for 20 years now, and I offer the same disclaimer year after year, to no avail: these are my picks. They only have to make sense to me, not to you. So it is pointless for you to send me notes which "prove" through some amalgam of PER, formulas rejected as unsound by Daryl Morey and your grandma's home-spun philosophies that Anthony Morrow is a better player than Kobe. I will happily read your awards selections on your blog. But this is, at least for now, my column.

So, let's get to it.

Rookie of the Year

WINNER: Derrick Rose, Chicago

We don't really have to have a debate about this, do we? Rose has been the one outstanding constant in the Bulls' up and down season, which has ended with an unlikely playoff berth. To their mutual credit, GM John Paxson and Coach Vinny Del Negro didn't mess around; they gave Rose the ball from minute one. Rose has responded with rock-solid numbers (16.8 points, 6.3 assists) on 47 percent shooting, along with a flair for the dramatic in the last minute. Haven't heard a peep from him off the court, either -- and remember, Chicago is his home. He's a great building block.

RUNNERS-UP: O.J. Mayo, Minnesota; Michael Beasley, Miami; George Hill, San Antonio.

Sixth Man of the Year Presented by Kia Motors

WINNER: Jason Terry, Dallas

There were a lot of worthy candidates, but in the end, it came down to this for me: the Mavericks don't make the Playoffs without Terry's great season (19.5 points, 36 percent from 3-point range) in reserve. Yes, he's always on the floor at the ends of games, and he's a bench player in name only, but hey, he meets the criteria. And give Terry credit for embracing this role; think about all the former starters who've chafed at any thought of coming off the bench (AI, I'm looking at you). To my knowledge, Terry hasn't made a peep, or at least one that caused a distraction.

RUNNERS-UP: Lamar Odom, Lakers; J.R. Smith, Denver; Nate Robinson, New York.

Defensive Player of the Year Pres. by Kia Motors

WINNER: Dwight Howard, Orlando

A third easy call. Superman 2.0 is first in the league in blocked shots, which almost always end the opposition's possession, and first in defensive rebounds, which definitely ends the opposition's possession. Howard's control of the paint means fewer opponent drives to the basket that draw fouls (the Magic is 7th in the league in fewest free throw attempts allowed per game), more low-percentage perimeter shots (Orlando is tied for third in defensive field goal percentage) and gives his teammates the time to close out on shooters (the Magic is tied for second in 3-point field goal percentage allowed per game).

RUNNERS-UP: Shane Battier, Houston; Kevin Garnett, Boston; LeBron James, Cleveland.

Most Improved Player Pres. by Kia Motors

WINNER: J.R. Smith, Denver

Smith epitomizes what this award should be: a recognition of someone who came into the league with a certain amount of skill and who has not only added upon those skills, but has become a better basketball player -- not someone who we all expected to be great, like Kevin Durant. A true knucklehead when he came to Denver, Smith has matured on and off the court, reached a certain comfort with Nuggets Coach George Karl and has become an often lethal sixth man for the vastly improved Nuggets. "The first couple of years, he didn't know if he wanted to be 'Melo or Allen," a Nuggets insider divulges. "Now, he's just J.R. He's not perfect, but he's much more comfortable in his own skin than he's ever been."

RUNNERS-UP: Paul Millsap, Utah; Al Jefferson, Minnesota; Devin Harris, New Jersey.

Coach of the Year

WINNER: Mike Brown, Cleveland

Brown was honest enough when he came to Cleveland that offense wasn't his strength, so he often defers to his assistants. He is secure enough to let his players police themselves in the locker room. But he's been strong enough to demand more out of LeBron James with each passing season, and this season it's all come together. The Cavs are first in the league in points allowed and defensive field goal percentage allowed. They have the league's best record. They are disciplined and tough and together, what San Antonio has been all these years under Gregg Popovich. That's about as good a comparison as I can come up with for a coach.

RUNNERS-UP: Rick Adelman, Houston; Nate McMillan, Portland; Erik Spoelstra, Miami.

Executive of the Year

WINNER: Danny Ferry, Cleveland

Ferry looked at a team that was in the Finals two years ago and said 'nah, not good enough.' He's spent the last two years re-making that team built around LeBron James into an even better one. The Cavs had one legit shooter in '07 in Daniel Gibson; now they have four (Mo Williams, Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak and Gibson). He got rid of Larry Hughes three years after giving him $70 million once it became clear Hughes thought he should handle the ball instead of James. Last summer's trade for Williams was a gamble, and it paid off (and then some: Joe Smith, who was sent to Oklahoma City as part of the deal, came back to Cleveland for the stretch drive, meaning Ferry got Williams and Smith, in essence, for Damon Jones). And Ferry's tough negotiations with Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic in '08 have left the Cavs in very solid shape this summer to add another big piece.

RUNNERS-UP: Mark Warkentien, Denver; John Paxson, Chicago; Otis Smith, Orlando.

Most Valuable Player Presented by Kia Motors

WINNER: LeBron James, Cleveland

Is James a better player than Kobe Bryant? No. Has he been more amazing this season than Dwyane Wade? No. But his value is immeasurable: to the Cavaliers, to the state of Ohio, to the league. Look at the Cavs on the bench. They're clapping for one another, on their feet, enthusiastic, into the game. Which is hard enough to do at the pro level, but doggone near impossible when one player gets all the attention, all the adulation, all the money.

Two years ago, the Cavaliers put James on the opposition's weakest offensive player; now, he often takes the best one. Two years ago, James would break off plays before they started so he could sweep to the basket; now, he patiently runs through the options. He's always believed in the team, but now he believes in his teammates. Big difference.

You take Kobe off the Lakers and they're not a title contender, but they still are a playoff team, with Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom up front, and Derek Fisher at the point. You take LeBron off the Cavs, and, no offense, it's Secaucus Time. (You take D-Wade off the Heat, and, oh, my goodness. It's his best argument for MVP.)

The stats speak for themselves: Cleveland's defense, Cleveland's record (including its near-impregnable home mark), James's own individual numbers. But the most impressive number James has this season is this: he's tied for 10th in the league in assists per game.

Let me write that again.

LeBron James, who is asked to score 30 a game every night, and rebound, and defend at a much higher level than in the past, and sell out arenas across the country, and do every interview, and every commercial, and host every show, and help his country win the gold medal halfway around the world (so, too, were Bryant and Wade, to be fair) is tied for 10th in the league in assists per game.

Yes, he has the ball in his hands all the time. So do Tony Parker. And Devin Harris. And Andre Miller. And Chauncey Billups. And Derrick Rose. Any of whom you'd happily have run your team from the point any day of the week. And James has more dimes per game this season than all of them. (Kobe, by comparison, is 35th in assists per game. Which is not bad at all, considering how much defensive pressure he faces every night. But the other guy is 10th.)

Best of all, James allows Mike Brown to coach him. I'm not in Cleveland every day, and I'm not in the Cavs' locker room, or their huddles, or their practices. But it certainly seems like James has the same kind of relationship with Brown that Tim Duncan has with Gregg Popovich, and that Kobe now has with Phil Jackson. Mutual respect, mutual trust.

"For me, that's bigger than anything else," Brown told me Wednesday. "I'm not Phil Jackson. I haven't won titles. I don't have the credibility that [Jackson] has. For me to have a young superstar, who everybody's anointed as the best player in the game, for him to allow me to coach him, makes it that much easier for me to coach everybody else."

Two days after the Cavs lost to the Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, James was back in the gym. Shooting. Lifting. Four or five hours a day. He was furious that the Cavaliers lost with the season on the line, and he was determined -- manically so -- that it never happen again. He has done everything possible this season to make that so.

RUNNERS-UP: Kobe Bryant, Lakers; Dwyane Wade, Miami; Dwight Howard, Orlando.

ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM
Guards: Kobe Bryant, Lakers, Dwayne Wade, Miami
Forwards: LeBron James, Cleveland; Kevin Garnett, Boston
Center: Dwight Howard, Orlando

SECOND TEAM
Guards: Chris Paul, New Orleans, Tony Parker, San Antonio
Forwards: Carmelo Anthony, Denver, Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas
Center: Yao Ming, Houston

THIRD TEAM
Guards: Chauncey Billups, Denver; Brandon Roy, Portland
Forwards: Paul Pierce, Boston, Pau Gasol, Lakers
Center: Shaquille O'Neal, Phoenix.

DUDES WHO'VE HAD GREAT SEASONS THAT FEW WILL RECOGNIZE
Guards: Jose Calderon, Toronto, Deron Williams, Utah
Forwards: Danny Granger, Indiana, Antwan Jamison, Washington
Center: Joel Pryzbilla, Portland.

BEST FANS: Chicago. Year after year, through good teams and bad ones, and years after Michael Jordan left town, Bulls backers still come out in the brutal cold winters of the Second City and fill up the United Center -- this year, they were second to Detroit in average attendance and filled their arena at 97 percent capacity.

BEST OWNER: Dan Gilbert, Cleveland. Yeah, he's got LeBron, but he hasn't just settled for sellouts -- he's given the green light to aggressively take on more big contracts when necessary (Ben Wallace, Mo Williams, etc.) to keep winning. Given that his primary business, Quicken Loans, has suffered major losses in this economic tsunami (though Quicken apparently has fewer of those "toxic" subprime home loans on its books), Gilbert's willingness to put his money where his mouth is makes him a true winner.

And now, it's your turn.

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Nike Hoop Summit: A friendship reunited 

by Kevin Hudson, The Oregonian

A Northwest basketball reunion on a national stage

TUALATIN -- A year ago, Avery Bradley and Abdul Gaddy appeared poised to take on the state of Washington. Now, after spending their senior year of high school more than 800 miles apart, they're ready to take on the world.
For the two guards out of Tacoma, tonight's Nike Hoop Summit is a chance to reunite after their equally promising high school basketball careers diverged onto distinctly different paths.

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Bradley decided to leave Washington for a prep school in Nevada after his junior season for academic reasons, he said, breaking up the dynamic on-court duo and straining their off-court friendship. "When he told me he was leaving, I was devastated," Gaddy said Thursday, after a U.S. team practice for tonight's game against an international team. "But I had to get through it."
Looking back from the pinnacle of high school basketball, though, both players agreed the aftermath of the decision was instrumental to the success they've enjoyed this year and the achievement of their shared dream -- Division I college basketball and beyond.

Thomas Boyd/The OregonianAvery Bradley.

A friendship forged
Four seasons ago, as freshmen fighting for playing time at Catholic school Bellarmine Preparatory in Tacoma, Bradley and Gaddy became fast friends.
"That real good chemistry has always been there," Gaddy said. "It's just natural between us. I always knew where he was going to be on the court."
By their junior year, they had developed into dominant guards whose games complemented each other: the 6-foot-3 Gaddy a more traditional point guard with his ball-distributing ability and smooth outside shot; Bradley the explosive finisher and tenacious defender.
Bellarmine coach Bernie Salazar dubbed them "fire and ice" for Bradley's passion and determination and Gaddy's cool demeanor and almost effortless style. They averaged 25.7 and 23.2 points, respectively, that season and led Bellarmine to a 25-4 record and the 4A state semifinals.
A state championship seemed well within reach their senior season. Gaddy said he wanted nothing more than to win that title with his best friend, Bradley.
But Bradley was struggling. His grades were slipping, and he was on the brink of derailing his Division I dreams. A transfer to Findlay Preparatory at Henderson International School, a three-year-old program near Las Vegas, gave him a change of scenery and, he said, a chance to refocus on school.
"It was just focus. I had lost that," Bradley said. "Down there there's less people in the classes, like six people, and you can't slack off or not pay attention. I feel like it really helped me."
Said Gaddy: "It was a real learning year for me, and it looks like it helped him out a lot, too."
Both claim that the year apart helped them grow in ways they might not have experienced had Bradley stayed at Bellarmine. Gaddy said he had to learn to be more of a leader and trust his younger teammates without Bradley to finish his thread-the-needle passes. Bradley bore down on his academics and said he thinks he is back on the right path.
"Now we can inspire each other," Bradley said. "Because we both picked up new parts of our game that weren't there last time we played together. It's fun."
Dreams realized
Tonight's Nike Hoop Summit marks the second of three all-star events the two will play in together this month as a victory lap of sorts for their decorated high school careers and a reunion for best friends.
The first was the McDonald's All-American Game on April 1, when the 6-2 Bradley won the dunk contest. The last will be the Jordan Brand Classic in New York's Madison Square Garden next Saturday.
Their selection to these three all-star games is a testament to the individual growth each claims to have achieved this season and a chance to bring closure to last summer's painful separation.
The Summit also offers them the unique chance to represent their country in their native Northwest.
"When you are playing for your country, you've got to represent," Gaddy said. "It's such an honor even to be asked."

Thomas Boyd/The OregonianAbdul Gaddy.

U.S. coach John Olive said he feels lucky to have two guards so familiar with each other. The team will have practiced just four times before tonight, but Gaddy and Bradley showed their chemistry right away, executing flashy two-man plays in the team's first practice Thursday morning.
"They know how to play very well with one another and they're very well-coached," Olive said. "They're quality guards that we'll play a lot together."
The two won't get another chance to play together after next weekend, as both have signed letters of intent -- Bradley with Texas and Gaddy with Washington, where he'll play alongside another close friend, point guard Isaiah Thomas.
Gaddy and Bradley remained in close contact throughout their year apart, texting and calling after big games or big performances. This will continue in the future as they look forward to watching each other's careers develop from afar. Tonight, they will relish what could be some of their final moments together on a basketball court.
"There's going to be a few plays where we just connect and people are going to be like, 'Wow,'" Gaddy said. "But it's just going to be normal to us because back home we did that all the time."

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Jordan gets inducted to the Hall of Fame

One of the greatest NBA basketball players to ever grace the courts accepted an invitation into the 2009 Hall of Fame on Monday.

Michael Jordan will be honored Sept. 10-12 at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

According to an article in The Chicago Tribune Jordan said, “I would never have envisioned myself at any point being in any hall of fame.”

The announcement came on the day of the men’s Final Four championship in Detroit, Mich. Jordan’s alma mater North Carolina was getting ready to play Michigan State for the national title.

He will be honored along with former greats such as David Robinson who conquered two NBA championships in 14 seasons with the Spurs, John Stockton who holds the NBA record for assists. Coaches Jerry Sloan of the Utah Jazz and C. Vivian Stringer of Rutgers University were inducted as well.

Players who are inducted into the Hall of Fame must have been retired for at least five years. Contributors to the game of basketball, who did not play, can also be inducted at any time. Although there is a slight controversy to the process, Jordan’s numbers leave no doubt he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

Jordan transcended the NBA during his 15-year career on and off the court. He dominated on the courts, toying with his opponents and playing like a kid with no worries in the world.

He even flashed signs of greatness during his college years at North Carolina with his contribution to their national championship title.

Drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1984, Jordan quickly became a household name. He branded the term “Air Jordan” while soaring over his opponents at will.

During his time in the league he averaged 30.12 points per game, won six championships and six championship mvp awards with the Chicago Bulls. He was also the most valuable player of the league five times.

Jordan even conquered the basketball scene on an international level by wining two gold medals in 1984 and the 1992 Olympics, in Barcelona. Jordan, along with teammates Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley and a host of NBA legends, devoured any competition that was placed in front of them.

Off the court, Jordan turned the sneaker industry upside down. The Jordan brand is the standard of shoes and clothing. It all started in 1984 when Nike was falling behind in the fast paced shoe industry and needed a way to get back in the game. Nike offered him a contract for $2.5 million. The Air Jordan 1 was released in 1985 and the rest is history.

Jordan has done so much for the game, it became a question of not if, but when would he get that invitation to the Hall of Fame.

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Nike Hoop Summit

by Kyle Laggner,

In only their second practice together as a team, The World Select Team from the 2009 Nike Hoop Summit prepare for competition at the Trail Blazers' practice facility in Tualatin Monday 4/6/09. From L to R: Tomislav Zubcic, Croatia; Zhang Dayu, China and Milan Macvan, Serbia. - (Fredrick D. Joe/The Oregonian )

What: Annual basketball game between the USA Basketball men's junior national select team (made up of high school seniors) and a world select team (made up of international players 19 years old or younger).

When/where: 7 p.m. Saturday, Rose Garden. The game is making its second consecutive appearance in Portland.

Who: Each team has 10 players on its roster. Among the U.S. players is Mike Moser of Grant High School in Northeast Portland. Moser is a 6-foot-8 forward who has signed with UCLA. Nine of the top-25-ranked seniors are on the U.S. roster.

Alumni: Four alumni of the Nike Hoop Summit are on the Portland Trail Blazers roster: Martell Webster (2005) and Jerry Bayless (2007) played for the United States, and Sergio Rodriguez (2004) and Nicolas Batum (2007) played for the World team.

Another game of interest: Two U.S. team members took Monday's NCAA championship basketball a little more personally than most. John Henson, a 6-foot-9 forward from Tampa, Fla., and Leslie McDonald, a 6-4 guard from Memphis, Tenn., are in North Carolina's 2009 recruiting class. The Tar Heels beat Michigan State 89-72 for the men's Division I championship.

Teammates now, Southland opponents later: Grant's Moser is joined on the U.S. team by Renardo Sidney from Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. Sidney has orally committed to USC. Another U.S. team player, Abdul Gaddy of Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, is headed to a Pacific-10 Conference team -- Washington.

Tickets: Available from the Rose Quarter ticket office, by phone (877-789-7673) and online at www.rosequarter.com.

Highlights: The I-5 Elite AAU Team 17U tryouts

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TEAM FLIGHT BROTHERS

Flight Club

Team Flight Brothers have become a YouTube sensation thanks to their gravity-defying slam dunks.

by Matt Caputo


Millions of users from around the world are hooked on the instant gratification of seeing themselves on YouTube, the world’s foremost video website. Team Flight Brothers, a group of nearly two dozen of the best dunkers from around the planet, have built their reputations off constantly uploading videos of their mind-bending dunks for YouTube’s huge audience—forcing an alternative hoops mini-revolution in the process. Eleven thousand subscribers, 700,000 channel views and nearly 13 million video views later, TFB rivals only the NBA in YouTube’s basketball content catalogue.


“Team Flight Brothers are a great YouTube success story,” says YouTube Sports Editor Andrew Bangs. “They started out as a regular user account, started getting lots of views and becoming more popular, we got them into our partnership program and now we promote them on the site. In the YouTube universe—if you will—production values are not king. It’s opposite. It’s about substance and content and those guys just hit on a formula. Their videos are very YouTube friendly. They did it guerilla style, they did it smart and went right for what the kids want: the dunks!”

Some might say that dunking is the most overrated part of the game of basketball. They’ll argue that the two points scored by stuffing the rock through the hoop and hanging on the rim could be tallied with much less energy via a simple lay-up. Others will argue that dunking is the sport’s most exciting play and, no matter what the score is, a good jam is sure to keep the crowd live, inspire the dunker’s teammates and dishearten their opponents. There is also a growing faction of baFlight Brothersketball fans who can appreciate dunks for their aesthetic value, degree of difficulty and creativity—irrespective of when the dunk takes place—in or out of game. That is, essentially, the basis of TFB’s appeal.

“I always thought there was a way to get these guys paid for this stuff,” says Team Flight Brothers founder and operator Chuck Millan, himself a dunker of some note. “But I never imagined we’d be getting millions of views on YouTube. It’s brought us a lot of exposure, and as time went on our guys just starting getting paid decently to do dunk shows. Now there’s talk about sending us overseas to tour.”

Millan, who is 5-10, began earning props as a dunker himself at age 16. He later traveled to Taiwan as a member of the Slam Nation dunking crew. He visited and performed in dunk shows in places he’d only dreamed he’d see. When he got back to the States, Millan unofficially formed TFB in 2004 after realizing there was no comparable dunking outfit serving North America. The idea was to gather the best dunkers in the country and commence touring—much like the AND 1 Streetball Tour format, except strictly dunks. And so, on a small level, Team Flight Brothers was born.

Although Millan was living in Lowell, MA when he launched, TFB consisted of less than a handful of dunkers from Millan’s home state of Florida, including Brandon “Werm” Lacue, Robert “Shayboi” Parker and Tim “Flight” Lowe. The first TFB shows took place in the Lowell Boys & Girls Club, as well as local parks and by invitation at small venues in New Hampshire. While crowds were impressed with the seemingly natural ability of TFB’s members, there was little indication that their early performances were the birth of a phenomenon.

Before returning to Florida in 2008, Millan recruited Terrell “TDub” Cournoyea, a slight, Minnesota-based high jumper generously listed at 5-9. Like many of the TFB members, Cournoyea wasn’t a highly touted prep prospect and he didn’t play college ball, but nevertheless he’s a large part of the group’s mystique. His name has flopped around the streetball scene for a while and TFB was the perfect opportunity for him to display his freakishly organic abilities.









“I was just sitting back at home when Chuck hit me up and at first I thought it was a joke,” says Cournoyea, who hasn’t played organized basketball since high school. “I always knew I wanted to be a famous basketball player, but I never really thought I would be this famous just for dunking.”

Once he officially joined the group, Cournoyea became TFB’s hottest asset. He captivated live audiences and YouTube’s viewers by proving that, even at minimal height, he possessed a rocket-launching leaping ability seldom seen by a person of his stature since Spud Webb in the 1986 NBA Dunk Contest. Besides his hardcore hops, Cournoyea’s command of the basketball during his leaps is strong and well thought out. His manipulation of the rock is probably equally as difficult as the actual jumps and over the past few years, people have begun to notice.

Although Millan had been posting TFB videos since 2006, Cournoyea’s clip entitled “5-9 Best Dunker in the World,” was nominated by YouTube for its “Best Sports Video of 2007” during their annual awards voting. The video, which has eclipsed two million views, featured Cournoyea completing a “540 with two hands,” a “360 between the legs” and other difficult dunks that have never been done in the NBA, nor probably anywhere else for that matter. In a matter of hours, the video received tens of thousands of hits and rested atop YouTube’s main page for nearly two days.

Ryan WilliamsAs demand for TFB videos on YouTube grew, so did the demand for live performances at halftime shows, dunk contests and other exhibitions, which in itself created a need for the team to expand. In ’08, TFB added two of the world’s most well-known dunkers—Ryan “Special FX” Williams and Taurian “AirUpThere/Mr.720” Fontenette—to an already strong arsenal that is now about 20 deep. They include Brandon Lacue aka “Werm,” Kareem Ward aka “Air Bama,” Justin Darlington aka “JusFly,” Troy McCray aka “Rudeboi/TFly,” Kevin Kemp aka “Golden Child,” Zach Jones aka “Jonsey,” Quintin Slaughter aka “Elevator,” Guy Dupuy aka “Easy Jumper,” Danny Ford aka “4D,” Mike Villa aka “Murda,” Haneef Munir aka “Easy E,” Kyle Rische aka “2Easy,” Raphael Hall aka “Windmill Prince” and Chand Wickran aka “Area51.”

“In the last two years, dunking has really skyrocketed,” says Justin “JusFly” Darlington, a Canadian member of TFB. “I feel that Team Flight Brothers has really had a big impact on that. We push each other and we push anyone else who is trying to dunk to do better. I can’t see anyone comparing to us out here.”

In the last year, TFB’s presence stretched beyond YouTube. At the ’08 AND 1 Mixtape Tour Finals, Kareem “Air Bama” Ward won $25,000 in prize money and a chance to play in the ’09 Tour. Similarly, Ryan “Special FX” Williams won the ’08 Dunkman (Shaq’s signature shoe brand) Dunk Contest to collect a prize of $10,000. Brandon “Werm” Lacue won the Rudy Gay Dunk Contest, while Cournoyea collected Dunk titles at both the Super Bowl Celebrity Hoops contest and the Sprite Slam Dunk Showcase in Atlanta. The list of TFB accomplishments goes on and on, with many of the biggest moments preserved on YouTube.

While the future is not so clearly mapped out, TFB’s mission is still pretty clear. They’ve continued to raise their rep by using YouTube—even releasing a series of vids challenging the NBA to allow one TFB member, Dupuy, into the ’09 NBA Dunk Contest in Phoenix. They’ve signed into a partnership with K1X and will be heading out to Asia this spring to promote both brands via a dunk show tour. While the dunk is nothing new, Team Flight Brothers is changing the way people look at the slam itself.

“You don’t see the things that someone on TFB does every day,” says Ryan “Special FX” Williams, who played college ball at St. John’s and is probably the best true basketball player associated with TFB. “You can’t go to a gym and see a 5-9 guy put the ball between his legs and jump over somebody or a 6-5 guy do a 360, behind-the-back dunk. It’s just stuff that you don’t see every day.”

This is really great guys.

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Basketball:Top high school players join Nike Elite Camp

Top high school players from around the country, including members of the Nokia Pilipinas RP U-16 team, will attend the Nike Elite Camp set April 3-8 at the Brent Mamplasan in Laguna.

Nike Elite Camp director Alex Compton said that the camp will aim anew to add on or improve on the participants skills through several drills aside from the much-anticipated Life Talks pertaining to behavior off the court and the All Star games to be featured on television with the backing of San Miguel Corporation (SMC).

?Nike Elite Camp remains to be a pioneer in gathering all these top high school players under one roof to further mold them to be players capable of reaching it to the next level, whether on basketball or in life,?Compton said.

Camp participants are determined through the nomination of high school coaches and the later through the evaluation of a committee which includes Compton.

This camp is even more significant as it will feature for the first time players from Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Olongapo and Iloilo.

Among the participants are Ryan Monteclaro (UE), Masshu Okubo (Perpetual), Loui Philippe Vigil and Keith Agovida (JRU), Glenn Khobuntin and Jarelan Tampus (Letran), Jomar Adornado (La Salle), Ricci Gonzales (Brent), Mark Juruena, (Adamson), Erickson Galacgac (Davao), Gryann Mendoza (Davao), Excel Nocu (Gensan), Bon Jovi Cipriano (Ateneo), Ivan Enriquez (Ateneo), Eduardo Daquiag (BIS), Nico Elorde (DLSZ), Benjie Teodoro (Informatics), Hans Cabrera (Cebu) and Jessmar Sabangan (RTU).

Also in the list are Baser Amer (San Beda), Raphael Banal (Ateneo), Aljon Mariano (La Salle), Kyle Neypes (UST), Art de la Cruz (San Beda), Gwynne Capacio (DLSZ), Jethro Rosario (TIP), Russel Escoto (FEU FERN), Terrence Romeo (FEU FERN), Von Chavez (San Beda), Luis Pujante (San Beda), Joseph Eriobu (Perpetual), Christopher Javier (San Beda), Zack Tabriani (International School), Albert Tanquintic, Dave Moralde (San Beda), Paolo Pe (Ateneo), Alfonso Gotladera (San Beda), Luigi Pumaren (La Salle), Martin Pascual (Ateneo), Mark Cruz (Letran), Luigi de la Paz (DLSZ), Hero Tomilloso (Iloilo), GJ Ylagan (Lucena), Jeffrey Ongteco (Letran).

Completing the participants are Francis Donahue (Iloilo), Rafael Melocoton, Sean Benedict Lucero, Orly Pelopero, Elmer Labis (Cagayan de Oro), Hans Sabal, Lomell Loyola (Olongapo), Raffy Octobre, Kristoffer Porter, Gabe Branzuela and Joven Sepe from Cebu along with Reden Celda, Kinsman Frando, Larry John Malanday and Jhul Ian Elle (Davao). (PNA)

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Like Mike? How Lebron Could Transcend Him

More than two decades after Mars Blackmon hustled America into buying Air Jordans and the "Be Like Mike" jingle had us reaching for the Gatorade, the model for how to turn a gifted basketball player into a worldwide icon remains largely unchanged. LeBron James, the latest and most worthy heir to Michael Jordan's throne, is trying to be like Mike. Some very smart people think that's a huge mistake.

Though Kobe Bryant's hang-gliding game has born the closest resemblance to Jordan's on the court, Bryant never fully captured the imagination as a marketer, spokesman or pitchman. So the vacuum left by Jordan, the first international basketball icon, has yet to be filled. James intends to fill it.

But how?

"I think it's really unfair to compare people to Michael," said David Falk, the super-agent who created the Air Jordan paradigm that James is trying to replicate. "There'll never be another Michael."

No, there won't. And there will never be anyone better as long as the next challenger falls into the same trap of trying to imitate Jordan instead of trying to surpass him.

In sheer dollars and market share, LeBron's off-court accomplishments through the first six seasons of his NBA career are "staggering," said Paul Swangard, director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. 60 Minutes, in a profile of James on Sunday night, placed his annual income from basketball and other sources at $40 million last year. The Harvard Business School said James is now the third-biggest name in the sports world behind Tiger Woods and David Beckham.

"I think the challenge for LeBron is to do what Michael did 25 years ago -- to raise the bar, to create a new paradigm, a different way of looking at how an athlete is marketed," Falk said. "That's what he needs to take advantage of. He's got to create his own comparison. He's got to do it differently."

How?

"I get paid a lot of money to answer that question," Falk said.

Since he didn't attend college, James, 24, is two years younger than Jordan was at this stage of his career. Jordan won his first NBA championship in his seventh season, a mark that James could eclipse in a couple of months with the Cavaliers, who are vying with the Lakers for the best record in the NBA. Due to inflation and the economic expansion of the NBA -- in which Jordan was complicit if not primarily responsible -- the dollars are incomparable. Jordan's basketball salary in his sixth NBA season was about $2.3 million. James is paid $14.4 million this season, which is nearly $5 million more than the entire NBA salary cap in 1989-90, Jordan's sixth season.

Jordan's first endorsement deal with Nike was for $2.5 million over five years, plus royalties. James, riding those coattails, signed a seven-year, $90 million contract with Nike - when he was still in high school.

With his engaging smile, the swoosh on his shoes, the No. 23 on his jersey, and the deep voice and speech patterns -- listen to James talk about "the game of basketball" with your eyes closed, and you'd swear it's Jordan talking -- he has modeled himself after the master. If he's happy spending his entire basketball career being "the next Michael," then James would only need to keep doing what he's doing. No need to take risks or try anything different. The problem with trying to separate yourself from the best, of course, is that you might fail.

"Well, you know, I suppose averaging 35 points a game and being defensive player of the year and the MVP is probably a start," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who coached Jordan to six championships with the Bulls -- or was it the other way around? "But winning seven championships will probably be the one that'll make a difference between what Michael did in his career and some other player."

And off the court?

"Maybe changing sports and being MVP in baseball," Jackson said, "something Michael couldn't do."

He doesn't have to do anything that drastic, but if he wants to eclipse Jordan, LeBron is going to have to take chances.

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