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Ricky Rubio certainly didn't disappoint the crowd with his flashy and effective passes and a couple crafty layups. Derrick Williams, on the other hand...didn't do much of anything, perhaps he's saving it all for the Dunk Contest tomorrow night... Ricky Rubio started for TEAM SHAQ. Joining him was Knicks' phenom Jeremy Lin, Detroit's Brandon Knight & Greg Monroe and L.A. Clippers' Blake Griffin. Derrick Williams started for TEAM CHUCK. Joining him was Cleveland's Kyrie Irving, Philadelphia's Evan Turner, Indiana's Paul George and Sacramento's DeMarcus Cousins. If you've watched the Rookie-Sophomore Game in the past, you know it's all about high-flying dunks and playing as little defense as possible. This year was no different. Guys like John Wall, Blake Griffin, Paul George and almost every player on the court contributed to the highlight reel! All about putting on a good show and all in all that's what they did. Also joining Rubio on TEAM SHAQ: Miami's Norris Cole, Phoenix's Markieff Morris, Cleveland's Tristan Thompson, New York's Landry Fields and Charlotte's Kemba Walker. Joining D-Will on TEAM CHUCK: Washington's John Wall, Utah's Gordon Hayward & Derrick Favors and New Jersey's MarShon Brooks. San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard was also supposed to play, but a strained calf kept him out. Ricky Rubio finished with 12pts, 3rebs, 7ast, 1stl, 3tos, 5-9 FG, 2-6 3PT in 21:24 minutes. Derrick Williams finished with 2pts, 3rebs, 1ast, 1fl, 1stl, 1to, 1-4 FG, 0-1 3PT in 18:33 minutes. The #1 pick in the previous draft has now won the MVP these past two seasons. Last season John Wall took home the honor, but this year it was Cleveland's Kyrie Irving. Irving finished with 34pts, 3rebs, 9ast, 2stls, 3tos, shot 12-of-13 FG and a perfect 8-of-8 from 3, in 27:03 minutes. Kyrie joins Zydrunas Ilgauskas (1998) and Daniel Gibson (2008) as Cleveland's MVP winners in this contest. Here's a link to the box score, if you're interested... http://www.nba.com/games/20120224/SHQCHK/gameinfo.html ls=gt2hp0031100002#nbaGIboxscore Plenty of guys in the crowd (all-stars) and other Rising Stars players had 'nice' things to say about Rubio. West All-Star Chris Paul said: "He's been great. He's an unbelievable passer....He's going to continue to get better and better." Cleveland's Tristan Thompson said: "We've been hearing about Ricky Rubio since like 400 b.c." East All-Star Deron Williams added: "His court vision, his basketball savvy is amazing. He just seems like has another set of eyes out there." Magic Point Guard Jameer Nelson said: "He knows the game well and his passes, even when you guard him, you know he'll do something during the game." Plenty of praise for the rook. I didn't find any quotes on Derrick Williams though....hopefully he'll turn some heads tomorrow and garner some respect in the Slam Dunk Contest... Some other key notes from tonight: Broadcaster Kenny Smith was asked what position Derrick Williams is in the NBA, responding: He's a definite three, he just needs to work on a reliable and consistent three-point shot. Clearly Kenny hasn't watched too many TWolves games this season or watched D-Will play much in the NBA this season. It has nothing to do with Derrick's offense why he can't play small forward. His perimeter defense isn't up to par for a small forward and Rick Adelman has asked him since training camp began to focus on playing solely power forward..........There were plenty of ooohs & aaahs from the crowd and on Twitter about Ricky's passing and playmaking..........Blake Griffin & Jeremy Lin, both didn't play much (Lin: 9min., Blake: 10:30) as their teams had played back-to-back games leading up to this game............Paul George jokingly talked about tomorrow's dunk contest saying: "I think I can take him down. He's still a rookie." In reference to his TEAM CHUCK teammate, TWolves Derrick Williams..... That's all for now, we'll be back tomorrow night with updates on the Three-Point Contest (Kevin Love) and the Slam Dunk Contest (Derrick Williams). Until then, enjoy the All-Star break--thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! Just one last thing....check out this play....
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Cody AndersonA TWolves fan, bringing you the daily updates. News Archives
August 2017
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