Kevin Love (UCLA) and Michael Beasley (Kansas State) were clearly the best players on the court tonight in the 30th McDonald's game, but the West had to see O.J Mayo (USC) miss a wide open 3 in the last 5 seconds of the game before they could celebrate their victory. Nobody would confuse this year's game for the talent in the 2006 game, but it was certainly an entertaining show.What was expected to be a showdown between Mayo and a star studded West backcourt never really materialized as Mayo struggled to hit jumpshots and the West backcourt collectively sputtered most of the night. Indeed, it was the West frontcourt that really made their mark with Beasley and Love controlling the boards and scoring in the paint, and Cole Aldrich (Kansas) coming off the bench to provide more muscle and even some *gasp* post defense.
The East countered with a pairing of Georgia products in Gani Lawal (Georgia Tech) and J.J Hickson (North Carolina State) who are both known more for their athleticism and energy than polish. Lawal in particular did not disappoint with a series of explosive dunks that had Len Elmore questioning why he hated rims so much. A brief interview with Timbaland had him confusingly naming the 6'9" 230lb. Lawal as the player most like Dwayne Wade in the game, making you question if Timbaland is really as big of a fan of the Heat as he says he is.
It's hard to make any type of impression of players off of an All-Star game like the McDonald's game, but here's my list of the most impressive players of the night: Nick Calathes (Florida), Kevin Love (UCLA), Michael Beasley (Kansas State), Gani Lawal (Georgia Tech), J.J Hickson (North Carolina State) and Kyle Singler (Duke). Guys like O.J Mayo and Eric Gordon might not have played as well tonight, but there's no doubt they'll be huge contributors at the next level.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
OJ Mayo showed his true colors last night. He is a selfish basketball player and will go to USC for one year. He had a wide open lane last night but chose to try the three when he had 5 seconds to get the ball in the paint for a lay up or short jumper. Maybe he was on "the stuff" during the game. They should of had the kid Calethus from Winter Park, FL take the shot or at least one of the Georgetown Recruits. I hope Tim Floyd enjoys his ONE YEAR with OJ. Hmmmmmm USC has two OJ'S and they're both criminals.