Rookies vs Sophomores: 2009 Edition

So today the NBA announced the players of the Rookie/Sophomore game, including guest assistant coaches in Dwayne Wade (Rookies) and Dwight Howard (Sophomores), interesting twist.  The head coaches haven't been announced yet, but the players are in.  I suppose I should make this a little more than just telling you that it's there because most of you probably found it yourselves, so a little analysis is in store.  I'm not gonna go with who I would've had instead, because that would bore you, so just straight analysis.  As if you haven't heard this enough already, this is just my take, by no means take this as the official starting rosters.

Rookie Squad:

Starters:

PG- Derrick Rose

SG- OJ Mayo

SF- Michael Beasley

PF- Brook Lopez

C- Greg Oden

Reserves:

Guards: Russell Westbrook, Rudy Fernandez, Eric Gordon

Center: Marc Gasol

Keys for the Rookies:

Transition Offense-

Another starting lineup I could see for this is starting Rudy or Mayo at the 3 slot and sliding Beasley to the 4.  Regardless, while the Rookies are able to put upwards of 3 7-footers on the floor, I think Beasley will likely start at the 4 and if they play small, this will turn into a running game.  While it might be fun to see Mayo iso in the corner, the team (especially with the likes of Westbrook, Rudy, and Rose) really needs to run.  It'll be a lot of Oden/Lopez/Gasol rebound outlet passing up to Westbrook or Rose to initiate a break.  While you do have 3 7 foot centers at your disposal, none of Oden, Lopez, or Gasol are dominant enough to focus the offense around.  They'll be in trouble if the game turns into a half-court battle, however, running the ball could potentially be an issue too.  It's hard to say, their bigs are kind of slow.  Another option is to have Mayo, Gordon, and Fernandez start spotting up and try an inside outside, utilizing their 7-footers' size to their advantage.  It's a pretty versatile team.  

Sophomores:

Starters:

PG- Rodney Stuckey

SG- Wilson Chandler

SF- Kevin Durant

PF- Thaddeus Young

C- Al Horford

Reserves:

Guard- Aaron Brooks

Forwards- Al Thornton, Jeff green

Center- Luis Scola

Key for the Sophomores:

Play like their size-

Aside from not having a true center, this is a big team, or rather, maybe long is a better word.  Kind of reminds me of the Atlanta Hawks, playing like 4 long athletic forwards with a point guard, though Stuckey is also 6-5 so he's a big point too.  The nice thing about this kind of a team, is that all of the players are athletic enough to run with a faster team like the rookies, so that might take a run and gun game out of the picture.  This team reminds a lot of the Atlanta Hawks for some reason, though Wilson Chandler is by no means the same kind of perimeter threat that Joe Johnson is.  However, this is a long team and they need to remember that, they can make a lot of trouble for the opposing team on defense.  I think if Chandler focuses on containing Mayo, and they run an isolation play for Kevin Durant, who will have one of Beasley, Mayo, or Rudy guarding him, then it's an obvious mismatch right there.  Rebounding over the likes of Oden, Lopez, and Gasol might be an issue, and they don't really have a 3pt threat outside of Brooks, but they have the advantage so long as the perimeter game doesn't get out of hand.