Tag: Jalen Duren

NBA Rising Stars 2024: Bennedict Mathurin unanimously named MVP to lead Team Jalen to title

Pacers sophomore Bennedict Mathurin was unanimously named MVP of the 2024 NBA Rising Stars game to lead Team Jalen to the championship.

Indiana Pacers sophomore Bennedict Mathurin on Friday was unanimously named MVP of the 2024 NBA Rising Stars game to lead Team Jalen to the championship in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Mathurin produced 18 points in the opening game as Team Jalen defeated Team Tamika. He had four points, two assists and one steal in a 26-13 win in the final over Team Detlef, which consisted of seven of the top players in the G League.

While Mathurin did the bulk of the scoring in the semifinal round, Dereck Lively II had six points and Jordan Hawkins and Jalen Williams each chipped in five points in the final. Williams drained the game-winning 3-pointer to end it for Team Jalen.

The event featured four seven-player teams competing in a three-game tournament for the third straight year. The two semifinal games were played to a target score of 40, and the championship game was played to a target score of 25.

The pool of players for the game consisted of 11 rookies, 10 second-year players and seven players from the G League. The players from the NBA were selected by assistant coaches and the players from the G League were selected by the league office.

The four teams were coached by Hall of Famer Pau Gasol, Indiana Fever legend Tamika Catchings and former Pacers standouts Jalen Rose and Detlef Schrempf, who led the G League team.

Here is how the teams performed in the event.

NBA Rising Stars 2024: Full rosters revealed in draft announcement

The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the four seven-player teams for the 2024 NBA Rising Stars game.

The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the four seven-player teams for the 2024 NBA Rising Stars game on Feb. 16 as part of All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The event will feature four seven-player teams competing in a three-game tournament for the third straight year. The two semifinal games will be played to a target score of 40. The championship game will be played to a target score of 25.

The pool of players for the game consists of 11 rookies, 10 second-year players and seven players from the G League. The 21 players in the NBA will be drafted onto three teams. The seven players in the G League will comprise the fourth team.

The players from the NBA were selected by assistant coaches. The players from the G League were selected by the league office. Each team submitted a rookie ballot and a sophomore ballot featuring four frontcourt players, four guards and two additional players of any position.

Hall of Famer Pau Gasol will return as one of the four honorary head coaches for the event. Joining Gasol are Indiana Fever legend Tamika Catchings and former Indiana Pacers standouts Jalen Rose and Detlef Schrempf, who will lead the G League team.

Here are the rosters drafted by Gasol, Catchings and Rose.

NBA Rising Stars 2024: Player pool revealed for annual showcase at All-Star Weekend

The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the list of 28 players set to participate in the annual Rising Stars game on Feb. 16 at All-Star Weekend.

The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the list of 28 players set to participate in the annual Rising Stars game on Feb. 16 as part of All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The event will feature four seven-player teams competing in a three-game tournament for the third straight year. The two semifinal games will be played to a target score of 40. The championship game will be played to a target score of 25.

The pool of players for the game consists of 11 rookies, 10 second-year players and seven players from the G League. The 21 players in the NBA will be drafted onto three teams and the seven players in the G League will comprise the fourth team.

The players from the NBA were selected by assistant coaches. The players from the G League were selected by the league office. Each team submitted a rookie ballot and a sophomore ballot featuring four frontcourt players, four guards and two additional players of any position.

Hall of Famer Pau Gasol will return as one of the four honorary head coaches for the event. Joining Gasol are Indiana Fever legend Tamika Catchings and former Indiana Pacers standouts Jalen Rose and Detlef Schrempf, who will lead the G League team.

Assistant coaches from the NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs will join the honorary head coaches in coaching the Rising Stars teams. The NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs for both the Eastern and Western Conferences have yet to be determined.

TNT will televise the competition beginning at 9 p.m. EST.

14 most surprising omissions (Tyrese Maxey!) from the 2024 USA Basketball men’s player pool

Unless these players denied invitations, these are some very shocking decisions by Team USA.

USA Basketball announced a 41-athlete player pool as candidates for the Paris Olympics roster. Eventually, 12 players will make the final cut.

Among the 12 names that we initially projected to make the roster after the 2023 FIBA World Cup, 11 appeared on the first list. Those players were LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Damian Lillard, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Edwards and Mikal Bridges.

A few notable All-Stars to also earn invitations include Chris Paul, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard, Donovan Mitchell, Jaylen Brown, Trae Young, Jrue Holiday, De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Brandon Ingram, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jarrett Allen.

The other players were Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane, Scottie Barnes, Jalen Brunson, Alex Caruso, Aaron Gordon, Josh Hart, Tyler Herro, Chet Holmgren, Cam Johnson, Walker Kessler, Bobby Portis, Austin Reaves, Duncan Robinson and Derrick White.

Two players who we did not include in our surprising omissions were Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant. While both of these players may have helped the team on the court, they have faced off-court issues that made invitations unlikely — plus Morant is currently injured.

Otherwise, these were the most surprising omissions from the list:

Takeaways: Rockets blast Pistons as Alperen Sengun leads third-quarter explosion

Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green led the way with a dominant 47-25 third quarter, and that allowed Houston to cruise to Monday’s victory versus Detroit.

HOUSTON — At the midpoint of a seven-game homestand, the longest of the season, at Toyota Center, Alperen Sengun and the Rockets (16-15) finally returned to their winning ways with Monday’s 136-113 blowout victory (box score) over the lowly Detroit Pistons (3-30).

After leading by only four points at halftime, the Rockets blew the game open with a dominant 47-25 third quarter and ended a three-game losing streak. A fourth foul on Detroit’s Jalen Duren (12 points, 13 rebounds in 22 minutes) proved critical. Sengun quickly feasted against backup center James Wiseman.

In all, Sengun needed only 27 minutes to record a team-high 26 points and 9 assists. He shot 9-of-13 from the field (69.2%) and 8-of-9 on free throws (88.9%). Many of those assists went to fellow third-year prospect Jalen Green, who scored 22 points while making 5-of-9 from 3-point range (55.6%).

Other Houston players to score in double figures were:

  • Fred VanVleet: 15 points, 7 assists, 0 turnovers; 6-of-11 shooting (54.5%), 3-of-6 on 3-pointers (50%)
  • Jae’Sean Tate: 16 points, 3 rebounds; 6-of-10 shooting (50%)
  • Tari Eason: 17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals; 8-of-15 shooting (53.3%), 1-of-4 on 3-pointers (25%)

On a themed “Twin Night” at Toyota Center, Monday’s New Year’s Day clash was the first NBA meeting between Houston’s Amen Thompson and Detroit’s Ausar Thompson, his twin brother. Both rookies were drafted in the top five of the 2023 first round, and Amen had one of his strongest games yet — finishing with a career-high 12 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals in 28 minutes. Thompson made 5-of-6 shots (83.3%), including his lone 3-point attempt.

Dillon Brooks (right oblique strain) again sat out for the Rockets, while Jabari Smith Jr. (left ankle sprain) returned from injury to add 9 points and 5 rebounds in 22 minutes, shooting 3-of-4 from 3-point range (75.0%). Brooks remains day-to-day.

Here’s our look at Monday’s highlights and postgame interviews, along with reaction by media members and joyous fans. As Houston’s seven-game homestand continues, Game 5 comes Wednesday versus the Brooklyn Nets (15-18). The tip is at 7 p.m. Central.

Ranking the 23 best NBA players under 23 years old, with a FIBA World Cup star leading the pack

Where should Victor Wembanyama rank? Here’s the answer, along with the other best young NBA stars.

We are entering a new era of the NBA with Victor Wembanyama as one of several young stars vying to become the face of the league.

Now that the NBA’s 2023-24 season is less than a month away from tipping off, as we did last year, we have decided to re-rank the 23 best players who are under 23 years old.

But why 23? Well, it is not just because that was the number worn by Michael Jordan. Typically, NBA publications rank 25 players under 25 years old. You can read versions of that here, here, and here. I wanted to try out a similar thought experiment but with a new twist.

By the time NBA players are 25 years old, many have already graduated to their second contract and are in vastly different chapters of their careers than the league’s young players. It is harder to compare players like Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum, who will each earn more than $30 million next season, to players on rookie scale contracts.

The following rankings, meanwhile, are based predominantly on how we see NBA projections for next season. It is not as predictive of their future success or their potential in the league.

NOTE: For this exercise, all players included must be born after Oct. 24, 2000. 

Ranking the Top 10 big men for Team USA if Joel Embiid declines invitation to Paris Olympics in 2024

Anthony Davis is the top option but there are some interesting sleepers, too.

After shockingly failing to medal during the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Team USA has lots of questions to answer before the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

One of the reasons why Team USA struggled to even earn a bronze medal was due to a lack of size in the frontcourt. They struggled on the defensive end of the floor and had a massive deficiency when it came to rebounding the ball.

This is a team that will need legitimate big men in order to compete with tough international talent in the post such as Serbia’s Nikola Jokic as well as France’s Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama.

Team USA head coach Steve Kerr was asked about what changes may come before the Olympics and he mentioned that the team needed to have very specific intentions when it came to the types of big men they would target for the roster (via The Athletic):

“I think it’s a worthwhile point of discussion, but the discussion has to go to, ‘OK, then who is that?” […] “You can’t just say, we’re going to have size for size’s sake. You have to have players who are going to help you win, and you have to determine who those guys are. It’s not just the size, it’s the way the game is played. […] But I don’t think it’s as simple as saying it’s just size. I think you have to examine who you’re talking about if you go down that path.”

Of course, the first name that comes to mind is Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid. He could join the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon, who helped lead Team USA to win a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta after he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

The six-time All-Star is an international free agent who is eligible to play for Team Cameroon (after they clinched a spot to compete in the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament) as well as Team France and Team USA.

Team USA managing director Grant Hill said Embiid “knows our desire” to have him on the team. According to Brian Windhorst, however, it’s too early to assume that the league’s reigning MVP will decide to actually suit up for the Americans at the 2024 Olympics in Paris (via ESPN):

“Team USA has done some recruiting of Joel Embiid, who holds both United States and French citizenship, but the Philadelphia 76ers star has thus far been noncommittal.”

So if Team USA is not able to successfully recruit Embiid, here are the other top options that they could consider:

10 bold preseason predictions revisited from the 2022 NBA draft

Rookie Wire offered 10 bold predictions for the 2022-23 season in October and vowed to come back to see how we did.

Back in October, Rookie Wire offered 10 bold predictions for the 2022-23 season based on the available information and vowed to come back and see how we did.

Well, the time has come to look back and review the results.

We started this exercise prior to the 2019-20 season, which was our inaugural class on Rookie Wire, and we have kept up with it each year since then. Our annual revisit of these bold predictions can serve as a fun way to provide some sort of accountability around here.

This year proved no different.

We once again hit on some of our predictions but fell well short of the mark on others. In our defense, to be fair, we were very close on several of these. We just ask that you go easy on us and don’t alert the authorities at Freezing Cold Takes about the ones we missed badly on.

Here is how we fared last season.

2023 NBA All-Rookie: Paolo Banchero unanimously selected to first team

Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero was the only unanimous first-team selection this year.

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams and Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler headlined the NBA All-Rookie first team announced on Monday.

Banchero, who was named Rookie of the Year, was the only unanimous first-team selection, appearing on all 100 ballots from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Williams earned 99 first-team votes and Kessler garnered 95 votes.

Joining the trio of players on the first team are Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray and Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin. Murray was on 88 first-team ballots while Mathurin was on 71 in the final tally released with the announcement.

2022-23 NBA All-Rookie First Team

Player First Team Votes Second Team Votes Total Points
Paolo Banchero 100 0 200
Jalen Williams 99 1 199
Walker Kessler 95 5 195
Keegan Murray 88 9 195
Bennedict Mathurin 71 28 170

Jalen Duren (Detroit Pistons), Tari Eason (Houston Rockets), Jaden Ivey (Detroit Pistons), Jabari Smith Jr. (Houston Rockets) and Jeremy Sochan (San Antonio Spurs) were named to the All-Rookie second team.

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Paul George on Jalen Duren: ‘I see him as a baby Dwight Howard’

Duren has had a productive rookie campaign with the Pistons and recently earned high praise from Clippers forward Paul George.

Jalen Duren has had a productive rookie campaign with the Detroit Pistons, and the 13th pick recently earned high praise from eight-time All-Star Paul George.

Duren is averaging 8.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists on 63.9% shooting from the field in 63 games with the Pistons. He leads the rookie class in rebounding and is second in double-doubles (17) and is fifth among all players in offensive rebounding (3.4 per game).

Speaking on “Podcast P with Paul George,” the Los Angeles Clippers forward compared Duren to future Hall of Famer Dwight Howard and offered a scouting report on his game.

I like his game. I see what I think he will be in the league. I see him as a baby Dwight Howard. He is built like a grown-ass man. … Detroit has so many big men over there. They have (James) Wiseman, Marvin Bagley and Isaiah Stewart. I just hope that they don’t stunt that kid’s growth because I think he’s going to be a big-time player. He is only 19. He has got the size. He has got good feet, he can move.

It isn’t the first time Duren has been mentioned alongside Howard.

Duren, as the youngest player in the NBA, is putting up numbers no rookie has since Howard in the 2004-05 season with Orlando. He recently recorded his 200th offensive rebound and joined Howard and Moses Malone as the only teenagers in history to accomplish that feat.

The similarities between the two players are certainly there as Duren is emerging as one of the top rebounders in the game. He has been a force inside the paint and brings seemingly endless energy and effort off the bench.

The frontcourt is awfully crowded in Detroit, as George discussed, but Duren projects to have a bright future ahead with the Pistons. He checks a lot of boxes on the court and will be a hard player to keep off of the court next season and beyond.

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