It seems like just yesterday that I was a 17 year old high school student. I don’t remember too much of the classroom part. But outside of my pursuits for higher learning I was beginning to make moves with my first born, MidStateHoops.com. At the time we were just two young kids who were excited to be doing something we loved; closely following the game of basketball. We were unconcerned with everything other than being the best in our field. No other goals existed and we did almost no reflecting on some of the cool things we accomplished. In lieu of the most recent NBA Draft I thought now would be a good time to finally to a bit of reflection.

My partner and I were less than a year into the venture when I had the opportunity to do some work for Rivals.com(Yahoo! acquired Rivals.com for $100 million in 2007). Among the stories I wrote for them were features on Evan Turner and Patrick Patterson. After successful collegiate careers, both Patterson and Turner were selected early in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft two weeks ago. Turner was selected #2 to the Philadelphia 76ers and Patterson #14 by the Houston Rockets.

It’s funny how things develop over time. Turner was a rising player on the state scene at the time of my article. But was only considered by most the second best player on his own team(Westchester St. Joseph) to Demetri McCamey. We at MSH knew he was special and were the first to put him ahead of McCamey and behind Derrick Rose. At the time people said we were crazy. But time has shown us to be correct. The interesting part about that story is Evan quotes nearly a dozen schools, non of which were Ohio State where he would eventually land and become one of the greatest Buckeyes ever.

A similar situation goes for the Patrick Patterson Q&A I conducted. He listed Kentucky among numerous others but did not even have an offer from them yet. He also said Wake Forest and Virginia Tech were his leaders. Patterson was certainly a larger star by comparison to Turner in high school. He was the state of Virginia Mr. Basketball and the state’s headliner until OJ Mayo arrived to play alongside him at Huntington. Turner on the other hand climbed from the bottom out of obscurity and into stardom. In either event, nothing is a sure thing at the prep level. A guy who is great in high school can fizzle out in college.

No such case for either of these two players though. They both went on to do great things and disappointed absolutely nobody. Despite the number of schools that pursued Turner, I believe that he still managed to exceed anybody’s expectations winding up where he did over the course of his career and now being the #2 pick in his draft class. The story of the class of 2007 in Illinois was Derrick Rose and not much else.

Looking back, Evan Turner was extremely humble and Patrick Patterson was experiencing growing pains en route to maturing into a fine young adult. 5 years later Evan is every bit as humble as he was and Patterson became the example of a stand-up student-athlete. Both of these guys got to where they are because of their mentality towards the game, and their work ethic. If you have ever watched either play then you know nothing is flashy or fancy about them. They just put their heads down and get results. Look for more of the same in the NBA.

Reports surfaced yesterday that LeBron James will be switching his jesey number for the 2010-2011 season to 6. He wants to trade in his 23 to pay respect to his hero Michael Jordan and the number 23 which he says should be retired, Jackie Robinson 42 style. Or at least that’s what he wants you to think. I don’t buy it for a moment. These Jordan prototypes are getting too predictable and it isn’t impressing me at all.

First there was the ultimate Jordan wannabe, Kobe Bryant, switching his 8 out for 24 several years ago. And now LeBron figures he needs to get his 45 on…45 like Jordan, after retirement when he couldn’t wear 23 for a season. Its so obvious these guys are so captivated by Jordan’s everything that they have to do everything he did, including having 2 numbers, even if they have no reason to.

Since Kobe Bryant has entered the NBA, I haven’t liked him. As a Chicago Bulls fan I could never stand the way he talked like Jordan, wore the leg brace like Jordan, did the fist pump after wins like Jordan, and shot that fade-away like Jordan when he was in his early twenties and had all of his athletiscm yet chose to play like Jordan in his later years after he had lost the bulk of his advantageous physical abilities. Its always been too much. That having been said, Kobe is the best player in the NBA, the best player of his era. And when its all over he may be number two all time.

As Kobe matured he let go of some of his Jordanisms but there was one last thing for him to do. He had to change numbers like Mike, for the sake of people knowing him for two numbers, like Mike. And now here we have King James deciding he has to do the same thing. When LeBron came into the NBA I was disappointed that he chose 23. Why would you choose a number that will always be associated with one person when you are talented enough to maybe be the second best player ever? I considered it a major marketing mistake. You can’t confuse people like that. They won’t remember you as well if your trademark is already somebody else’s. LJ23 for Nike seems a lot like MJ23 for Nike. Somebody should have talked LeBron out of it.

Alas his Jordan stannery was too strong and LeBron chose to be unoriginal by following in Jordan’s footsteps instead of being distinctive and forever recognizable. To LeBron’s credit he is very much his own man and acts nothing like Jordan and doesn’t in the least bit try to. Its just that number…

I think LeBron, in all of his efforts to be the first billionaire athlete came to a realization. LeBron has massive goals and is every bit the business man. He no doubt figured out that he can be as popular as he wants to be now, but what will history remember? When people see 23 who will they think of? Can he erase the memory of Jordan? Obviously not.

LeBron now has the chance to be remembered with the numbers. 13, 23, 32, 33, 44, and perhaps 6. The rest is up to him. He has the talent, he just needs to build the legacy.

On a side note, I do not think 23 should be retired. I have no problem with regular players wearing it. When they put it on it’s just a number. But when the greats put it on it’s kind of awkward. Ultimately as great as Jordan was, its still just a number and should be kept around for people to wear for the foreseeable future.

I caught pretty much all of the festivities surrounding the all-star game as well as the game itself and I have a couple of thoughts after taking it all in. Here they are…

The Dunk Contest must be discontinued. Nate Robinson won for the third time. The fact that Nate Robinson has 3 dunk titles speaks volumes to the shape the event is in nowadays. To Nate’s credit, he gives the competition everything he has and is a tremendous athlete. More power to him for taking the crown as long as nobody else wishes to be serious about it.

What needs to happen to revive the event you ask? Lebron James needs to enter. There is no reason for him not to, other than the fact he is probably scared of losing. But he shouldn’t even care about that. All the great athletes go in and earn their stripes. Kobe, Dominique, Jordan, Carter, McGrady and now Lebron must. If he doesn’t then I think he loses some credibility. Nobody will think less of him as a player but one has to wonder why wouldn’t he? Between this and the attempted wiping of the footage of him being posterized from about a year ago paints a portrait of Lebron as someone who shies away from friendly competition and anything that may damage his pristine reputation as a supreme player. He needs to loosen up and go in. And if he does that then you know the best will try to go against him, just so they can say they beat him. Thus, the competition of the event would rise back to where it belongs.

The skills competition, 3-point shootout, and team event were all good. I can’t figure out why the female player for Team Sacramento no longer plays for Sacramento but other than that I think it continued to be an excellent event. I had a hard time understanding why the 3-point shootout didn’t have any three-point shooters in it. Steph Curry is about the only player who I would consider a three-point shooter. The others just shoot threes sometimes during a game. The event was still good though.

The NBA has the best all-star event without question. They have for a while and they probably will for the foreseeable future. They understand better than all the other major leagues the value of a strong fan experience. I think they’re biggest advantage is that they embrace the demographics of the league’s players and they leverage that to tap into the culture of the sport. David Stern does not try to make or present the NBA as something that it is not. Everything from the commercials that are run down to the music, performers, and merchandise are a reflection of its biggest stars.

If only he could force people to enter the dunk contest…

I can’t remember much about the 2006 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, except it was the worst one I had ever seen. Even worse than the year Fred Jones won. Maybe that contest wasn’t so bad, it’s just that Fred Jones won. As I’ve said, when I am at college I don’t catch the latest and greatest in the sports world as often as I did in the years of my youth. I actually missed the Dunk Contest completely last year. So I’m watching the previews for this year as I am sure to not miss it again and would you know 50 Cent Nate Robinson won again last year? I’m probably late but still. Nate Robinson? Twice? Who let that happen? If he wins again they need to cancel the contest again like they did after Kobe won and make all professional dunkers reconsider their craft.

This weekend Derrick Rose will represent the Chicago Bulls in the NBA All-Star Game. I can’t remember the last time the Bulls had an All-Star. I think it was Michael Jordan, but I could be wrong. Well, in celebration of the all-star drought coming to an end here is Derrick against the Phoenix Suns a couple of weeks ago getting loose on Goran Dragić. Since I’ve been back in school I almost never watch sports anymore but I was lucky enough to have been watching this game live and it was impressive to say the least. The fact that he dunked on Dragić is cool but not that big of a thing to me since he’s only 6-4. But I love the way he literally punched the ball in and showed emotion. Because if you have been watching Rose since his freshman year of high school like me or if you are a dedicated Bulls Fan, also like me, then you know that he is stoic about 90% of the time. And Stacy King had a classic call, gotta love it.

Just in case you missed what Reggie Bush did to the Arizona Cardinals in the Divisional Playoffs Sunday here are his highlights. The move he makes at 30 seconds in has to be the best of the year. Nobody else in the league could make that cut. Reggie Bush is certainly not a bust. It is clear the Saints don’t use him enough. While this would seem like a major mistake on their part, all they do is win so it’s difficult to argue with their game plan. But make no mistake about the talent of Reggie Bush. Simply amazing.

There has been recent chatter about who should have won NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Most of this talk is in light of the Packers taking a first round defeat from the Arizona Cardinals while the New York Jets continue to rise. I just have to throw my two cents in on this debate.

I have watched Darrelle Revis the past two weekends and I gladly admit that he is probably the best cover corner back in the NFL. If Charles Woodson didn’t have the season he had then he probably does deserve the Defensive Player of the Year award. But Charles Woodson had a ridiculous season. 9 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles, and 3 touchdowns is quite a stat line. Charles Woodson is not the cover corner back he use to be. When he came into the league you could leave him alone on an island with any receiver and confidently believe that they would be taken out of the game. Revis is at that stage in his career and is probably one of perhaps 3 CBs in the league who can do that right now.

The thing is this, Charles Woodson is a complete defensive back. Darrelle Revis is a shutdown corner back. Woodson is the type of player who gets in on tackles and can be trusted to make plays in the open field on running backs, blitz the quarterback and get a sack, and of course get interceptions and pass deflections. Darrelle Revis just plays pass defense. That’s not a knock on Revis because that is all he really is suppose to do. But when somebody like Woodson fills up the stat sheet like that you have to give him the award. It just makes sense. Darrelle Revis agrees.

Health permitting, I can see Woodson having a second career as a safety after he becomes too old to keep up with receivers one-on-one ala Rod Woodson. He is complete enough of a player to do that and I think he could make the transition nicely when the time is right. Hopefully he can stay healthy long enough to do it.

In full disclosure I should point out that I became a Charles Woodson fan back in 1995 and thus had a 12 year run as a faithful Michigan Wolverine football fan before enrolling at the University of Illinois. Woodson is the only reason I became interested in them and I loved them for over 10 years solely on my admiration for what he did while he was there. So yes Woodson was one of my favorite players for many a year. But what I had to say on this matter was completely unbiased, obviously.