NBA Acc Basketball

Let me tell ya: this whole Ty Lawson saga just keeps getting weirder. After announcing he will enter the NBA Draft, he's had nothing but drama.

• He bitched about people saying he's testing the waters.
• He didn't like Tar Heels fans slamming him.
• He announced he'd come back to school if he wasn't guaranteed to go in the top twenty picks.
• After playing one game in the NBA's Pre-Draft camp, he sat the rest of the time with a hip pointer.
• He doesn't show up to a workout with the Nuggets, who hold the #20 pick.
• He gets arrested for drinking, playing loud music and other stuff.

Mind you, he still has a week to make a decision on whether or not to come back to North Carolina (he hasn't signed with an agent, keeping his eligibility), so lord knows what else could go wrong.

Well, add this to the list: Lawson rolled his ankle while working out for the Washington Wizards. The Wiz hold the #18 pick and ... let's just say ... they have a thing for UNC players (Antawn Jamison, Brendan Haywood, assistant coach Mike O'Koren).

Remember that Lawson has hurt his ankle during the past season at UNC.

You want to see how the NBA's Phoenix Suns run their offense? Just watch the Duke Blue Devils. They do it pretty darn well. A team filled with a bunch of 6-6 guys who all can dribble, drive, pass and shoot may be the best team in college basketball.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski doubles as the USA Basketball head coach where he works alongside the Suns' coach Mike D'Antoni. Coach K came away from that experience with an idea of how to incorporate what the Suns do to the college game ... where three pointers are shorter and zones are more prevalent.

Does it work? Watch Duke's spanking of North Carolina last night. The Blue Devils spread the Tar Heels out used movement and high screens to create mismatches and ended up with any shot they wanted. It also negated the Tar Heels' biggest advantage -- their size. UNC had to go smaller and ended up so spaced out that they weren't in good rebounding position.

Josh McRoberts is intriguing to the New Jersey Nets at No. 17, so much so there was some discussion within the franchise of guaranteeing the 6-foot-11 Duke forward the spot.

Nice airball on the layup, J.J.

Dick Vitale spent much of the 2005-2006 season telling everyone in earshot of his voice that Duke's J.J. Redick will make in on the next level. Now, I'm not sure if by 'next level' he meant the NBA. He could've meant the USBL or the D-League....because nothing so far has me believing that Redick can make it. As of now, he's averaging 6.2 ppg, barely over 1 rpg and barely under 1 apg. Meanwhile, co-Player of the Year Adam Morrison is averaging twice that with the young Charlotte Bobcats....and has scored 16 or more points [which is Redick's season high] in 22 games this season.

Over the last five games, Redick has played just 18 minutes....and includes three DNPs. To be fair, he did come out a bit blazing in early February, averaging 12.6 ppg in the first five games on the month. In the 7 games since, he's scored a total of 18 points.

If you notice, this shot above was in the closing moments of a home loss to the Knicks. Redick, tried the ol' finger roll and it just didn't work out too well.