Who knows if the NBA season will start on time, but one thing is for certain: the college season will begin according to plan. The one guy who most have their eye on this upcoming season is Duke’s Austin Rivers. In my opinion, he’s entering his post-high school career with as much hoopla as the two guys that I think were hyped the most over the past decade exiting high school: LeBron James and John Wall.
A few days ago, Rivers took part in the NC Pro-Am and displayed a few crowd pleasing moves. Also taking part in this Pro-Am was former intimidator and mean-mug champ, Rasheed Wallace. Here are some highlights, courtesy of Hoopmixtape.com :
Something bothers me about this video. At the :07 mark, Rivers drives past Wallace for a 360 dunk. Then at the :22 mark, Rivers catches the ball near the top of the key, recognizes that the lane is open and drives in for another dunk, before posing for the crowd. But standing under the basket is Rasheed Wallace. Rather than contesting Rivers’ dunk, seeing how he just embarrassed him at the :07 mark, and possibly putting the kid on the floor (not to hurt him, but just to let him know what time it is), ‘Sheed moves out of the way. Since he didn’t jump, that doesn’t qualify as “getting dunked on” in my book, but what’s that about? I realize this isn’t Pistons vs. Lakers in the ’04 Finals, but I didn’t expect Wallace to go out like that. Then at the :35 mark, Rivers throws it up to himself and catches it off the bounce for another dunk. Who’s right there looking on again? ‘Sheed. Maybe this really isn’t a big deal, and I understand rough play isn’t what the Pro-Am is about, but part of me would have grinned if Wallace resorted to one of his old Portland tactics to shake Rivers up a bit (who probably has no idea who Rasheed Wallace even is).
If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then you’ve come to the wrong place, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook
