Alright UK fans. Who are you gonna root for in the NBA Finals???
By Staff
That’s right, Kentucky fans. Get ready to stand and cheer for YOUR Orlandoooooooooooo Magic!!!
No this is not a NBA blog nut we have officially reached a dead time in team news. The Memphis violations have been beat to death and Calipari is headed to China for a week starting on Wednesday, so don’t expect any team news to be released till about the 10th or so. So right now, it’s all about Jodie Meeks as far as actual UK basketball news is concerned.
And sadly, there really is not a lot of news about Jodie. NBA.com’s David Aldridge opened some eyes and set blue tongues wagging today when he listed Meeks in a group of players that
href=”http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/david_aldridge/05/30/rookies.combine/”were likely to be drafted in the first round but should stay in school .
As Cat fans know, the first round has long been a benchmark where Meeks has said he would stay in the draft if picked there. I don’t know if Aldridge is alone in his views Jodie would be picked that high or if Jodie has played himself into a good draft position with his work at the combines.
And now, back to my Magic and why they should be the Bluegrass’s pick for the NBA title.
Now, I know that neither team currently have any UK alumni listed on their roster but Keith Bogans did play in 36 games for this this year and WKU’s Courtney Lee is a major reason why the Magic have made it so far.
In the last 7 years, Bogans was a near constant in Orlando. He was drafted in the 2003 by Milwaukee with the 43rd pick and was traded to Orlando on draft day. Bogans had a solid rookie season, appearing in 73 games but was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats. Bogans did come back to Orlando and resigned in July 2006 as a free agent. Bogans played in 59 games in 2006-2007 and started all 82 games in Orlando last year. Unfortunately, the Magic had to trade Bogans to Milwaukee on February 5 as Jameer Nelson was lost for the season and the Magic needed point guard help from Tyronn Lue. The one good thing that Bogans did as a member of the Magic was to help keep Dookie JJ Redick buried on the bench.
Also in the 2003-04 season, Bogans was teammates with current UK assistant coach Rod Strickland. Strickland played in 46 games for Orlando that year, averaging 6.8 points. Other UK notables in a Magic uniform over the last 7 years are UK/Villanova star Michael Bradley for 8 games in 2004-2005 and Shawn Kemp for 79 games in 2002-2003. OK, Kemp was never a Wildcat but if he would have gone to college instead of to the pros from HS, he would have been a Wildcat.
Yea, I know my reasons for the Magic being Kentucky’s team are kind of stretching it. But the Magic’s colors ARE blue and white.
But consider that except for a short span by Joe Crawford on the preseason roster this year (August 27-October 22), the LA Lakers have had NO UK alumni on their roster the last 7 seasons. And don’t say you are rooting for LA because of Pat Riley. True, Riley won 4 NBA titles in LA, but he left the Lakers in 1990.
Plus, the real reason NOT to root for LA is that during one of their previous victory celebrations, the Lakers unleashed this horrid Mark Madsen dance, proving once again white boys can’t dance. So as you view the video below, say to yourself, GO MAGIC.
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