Tuesday, February 13, 2007

"Tuesday morning wake-up call"

Last night I watched as Kevin Durant had a decent night in Texas' 83-54 dismantling of Oklahoma State. Durant scored 21 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out three assists, made two steals and blocked a shot. Amazingly, it was a below-average night for the freshman, who's averaging 24.9 points, 11.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game.

On Wednesday, I'm hoping, I'll get a chance to watch the nation's other freshman phenom, Ohio State's Greg Oden, when the Buckeyes take on Penn State in a nationally televised game. Oden, busted hand and all, has averaged 15.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game, while also affecting the flight of just about every opponent's shot inside the lane.

How lucky are we to be witnessing this? Check that. How lucky is the NCAA, the Buckeyes and the Longhorns?

They should be bowing down to David Stern right now. There's no way the NBA-ready Durant and Oden would be in college right now if Stern hadn't instituted an age limit for the NBA, put into effect before last June's draft. All players have to be out of high school for a year before becoming eligible for the NBA.

So Durant and Oden chose two universities and have made them, likely, hundreds of thousands of dollars this year off ticket sales, merchandise sales and television.

And college basketball fans across the country have gotten to see two of the best freshmen of all time perform like seniors, making incredible play night after night.

In Boston, where the Celtics are riding an 18-game losing streak, there is actually hope because of Durant and Oden. I was in the city this past weekend, and all the newspapers made sure to not only mention the Celtics' struggles, but also where they sat compared to the league's other teams (dead last now) and what their chances would be in the NBA lottery this spring.

Can you imagine the drama there will be for that lottery? Teams' representatives might as well be on their knees, praying for one of the top two picks. Celtics followers will pray that they don't get screwed with the third pick - as was the case in 1997, when they had the worst record and were salivating about Tim Duncan, only to receive the third pick and end up drafting Chauncey Billups.

The whole basketball universe is benefiting from Stern's decision. College basketball analysts are never lacking in material to talk about with Oden and Durant playing twice a week. Just today I saw an article comparing LeBron James and Oden. And the NBA can't wait to steal these two players in a matter of months.

This cycle could repeat itself, too. Who knows? Maybe next season, O.J. Mayo will be tearing up the Pac 10 with USC.

It's a beautiful thing for basketball fans from East Coast to West Coast.

And this might only be the beginning.

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