If you are planning to use Twitter on Friday night around 9 p.m. ET or so… expect a lot of fail whales. That ubiquitous whale will be the symbol of you discontent Friday as you try desperately to tweet some crazed reaction to the highlight plays (thanks lack of defense!) that are sure to go down. Those #Linsane dunks you will be seeing could be doubly insane.
Yes, Jeremy Lin was added to the roster for the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge (formerly the Rookie game or Rookie/Sophomore Challenge… or whatever they call it). He and Norris Cole were added to the roster pool.
So what are the teams? Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley drafted their players and O’Neal seems to have been the runaway favorite to win with his selections. He may also break Twitter.
O’Neal took Clippers starting All-Star forward Blake Griffin with the first pick. He then proceeded to also take Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio and, yes, New York’s Jeremy Lin. And they called the Clippers Lob City.
It is hard to argue that those are not the three biggest names in the game. And the Rookie Game always features an excessive amount of dunks and fast breaks. There is never a lot of defense played either.
So expect plenty of Rubio to Griffin fast-break lobs and opportunities. Expect some electrifying play from Lin. And expect not to get on Twitter for a few hours if you follow a lot of NBA tweeters.
All three of those players have become Twitter darlings for the highlight plays they create. Rubio was a YouTube sensation long before he began turning heads in Minnesota this year. And I don’t need to tell you what Griffin and Lin have done on the social media network.
Joining those three star players on Team Shaq are Charlotte’s Kemba Walker, Detroit’s Brandon Knight and Greg Monroe and New York’s Landry Fields.
Team Chuck?
Barkley took Kyrie Irving with his top pick. So he will have an All-Star caliber player on his roster. He also added Washington’s top overall pick from last year, John Wall. His team is front-court heavy with DeMarcus Cousins, Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter anchoring the post. Utah’s Gordon Hayward and New Jersey rookie MarShon Brooks round out what is also a pretty solid roster.
Of course, Shaq’s team is going to take all the headlines and get all the notoriety for the players on the team. And he will likely take the win. This is a guard’s game and so a player like Lin, Knight and Walker are likely to dominate more than the big-man lineup Barkley put together.
But we will see next Friday night. And hopefully Twitter is getting their servers ready.
