Known for his defense, ability to pass the ball and his leadership, Carter played relatively well last year. In 78 games, he averaged 5.3 points and 4.7 assists in 22.9 minutes per game. He shot 43.3% from the field and 73.1% from the line.

In the playoffs, Carter played well against the Dallas Mavericks in the second round but struggled against both the New Orleans Hornets and the Los Angeles Lakers.

For the 2009-10 NBA season, Carter is expected to have a smaller role. During the 2009 draft, the Nuggets traded for point guard Ty Lawson and Lawson is expected to be Chauncey Billups’ backup next season. As a result, Carter will likely be the team’s third point guard and could be used as a defensive specialist in certain situations.

Anthony Carter - Denver Nuggets (Image: Zuma Press)

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Nuggets Re-sign Point Guard Anthony Carter

Last season, Lawson averaged 16.6 points, 6.6 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game. He shot 53.2% from the field, 47.2% from three-point range and turned the ball over just 1.9 times per contest.

Lawson’s biggest asset is his quickness. From end to end, he’s lightning. He’s also an underrated athlete and is able to get to the rim and finish in a heart beat. As his numbers indicate, he’s also a good passer and knows how to take car of the ball. His 2.1 steals per game show he’s active on the defensive end.

What are the knocks against Lawson? First of all, he’s only about 6-feet tall and his arms are average length. With that size, he could find it difficult to score against bigger and more athletic players. Scoring-wise, he doesn’t have much versatility and there’s some question if he can knock down the NBA three-pointer with any consistency.

Additionally, there have been a couple red flags about his character over the last 18 months — although most scouts agree that he’s a good kid.

According to most draft experts, Lawson could go as high as number 8 to the New York Knicks but will more likely be selected between 10 and 15.

Ty Lawson - NBA Scouting Report (Image: Zuma Press)

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Ty Lawson – NBA Scouting Report

Short of creating a mock draft, I listed which players I personally think rank in the top ten as far as prospects go. I think they are the cream of the draft crop. Whether or not NBA scouts agree with me is another question.

Lyndsey’s Top Ten 2009 NBA Draft Prospects

Blake Griffin will most likely be the number one pick in this year's NBA draft.

1. Blake Griffin (F/C) — If he doesn’t go number one I’ll be dumbfounded. He’s got the size, skill, quickness and innate athletic talent to make an immediate impact.

2. Hasheem Thabeet (C) — Can you say Dikembe Mutombo? The only different is that I think Thabeet is much more than a rebounding/shot-blocking machine.

3. Ricky Rubio (PG) — This kid, and I stress kid, is talented. I’m excited to see what he can do in the NBA.

4. Ty Lawson (PG) — He was the difference maker in UNC’s Championship season. I don’t think they would have won the NCAA Tournament without him. He’s smart, quick and has the upper body strength to compete in the NBA.

5. Stephen Curry (G) — Curry is probably a mid-to-late first round pick.
But I believe he has the talent to develop into a an amazing player. He’s got to put on a few pounds first though.

6. James Harden (SG) — Great shooter, def. an asset to any team.

7. Tyler Hansbrough (F/C) — I know a lot of people think Tyler is going to be like Christian Laettner … great college career,  not so great in the NBA.  I think Tyler has the drive to work hard and improve at the NBA level. Besides, Laettner may not have been an all-star caliber player but he lasted 13 seasons, which isn’t too shabby.

8. Jeff Teague (G) — Great offensive presence. He’s smart and he’s a scorer. He needs to work on his defense a bit.

9. Jordan Hill  (F/C)— Considered one of the most improved college players since last year. He averaged a double/double for most of the season.

10. Brandon Jennings (PG) — Went to Italy last season because he couldn’t jump right to the NBA due to the age regulation. While he hasn’t made a huge splash overseas, he has the potential to be a big time player here at home with his athleticism and size.

Photo provided by Newscom

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Lyndsey’s Top Ten 2009 NBA Draft Prospects

There was hardly a blink of an eye when Hasheem Thabeet, Ty Lawson and Blake Griffin — for example — announced that they were entering the 2009 NBA Draft.

UCONN Center Hasheem Thabeet hired an agent as is more than ready for the NBA.

But players like Eric Devendorf and Roderick Flemings (Hawaii … I know …) make us scratch our heads and say, “Huh?”

The NBA Draft is a tricky thing. It’s like Forrest Gump and his box o’ chocolates — “You never know what you’re gonna get.”

The following is a list of underclassmen who have decided to “test” out the NBA Draft. Some have hired an agent, others have not.

Photo provided by Newscom

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Who’s Testing The NBA Draft?

Once he arrived in Detroit, Lawson headed straight to the casino to try his luck.

Ty Lawson is the good luck charm for UNC.

It looks as though his lucky streak is a hot one. Lawson won $250 playing craps.

Some media outlets are already passing judgment on Lawson and suggesting that NCAA gambling regulations be enforced.

But Lawson is of legal age and playing craps for about an hour hardly qualifies as a gambling problem. It’s not like he’s the next Charles Barkley or anything.

Cut the kid some slack and let him ride his luck a little bit further. I’m sure that  UNC fans all around the country are hoping his lucky streak carries them through to an NCAA Championship.

Photo provided by Newscom

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Ty Lawson Has Already Won At The Final Four

Most Exciting Game

Slim pickings. Gonzaga v. Western Kentucky was dynamite though. Mendez-Valdez and Slaughter hit some tough shots but at the finish the defense was just scattered as all hell, allowing Demetri Goodson to essentially take a h-o-r-s-e shot for the win. Jeremy Pargo, the cat I thought was running the ball up the court there at the end, causing me to wrongly shout ‘freakin Pargo’, was feeling it a little in the second half. Pargo hasn’t played that good, well, all year.

Most Surprising Game

Purdue v. Washington. Purdue is about as interesting to watch play hoops as listening to Andy Rooney babble on about the history of erasable pens is. That saying about how offense wins games but defense wins championships could not better identify what Matt Painter is stressing with his Boilermakers.  They get after it. They have to, their offense is weak.  Although the second half defense they played against Washington was pitiful.  But for the most part I didn’t think JaJuan Johnson would be as Kevin Garnetty as he was. Johnson v. Thabeet will be something intriguing to watch for in the upcoming Sweet 16 matchup.

Best Individual Performance

I could argue that JaJuan’s 22 points, 6 boards, and 4 swats was the finest, or that Travis Walton’s (MSU) career high 18 points, 6′6 Terrence Williams’ 24 points and 15 boards, Sherron Collins’ 25 (11-19 fg), Nic Wise’s 21 (10-10 ft) and 8 feeds, Sam Young’s 32 points-8 boards and 3 rejections, Blake Griffin’s “quiet” 33 and 17, Ty Lawson’s 23 and 6 helpers, Matt Bouldin’s 20 points-8 boards and 6 feeds, Orlando Mendez-Valdez’s 25 and 7 assists, or Jon Scheyer’s heady save was the ultimate best.

But I won’t.

It’s Cole Aldrich.

The sophomore deserves the honor for his truly anti-Ostertag like TRIPLE-DOUBLE (13 points, 20 boards, and 10 blocks).

Would you like some Aldrich with that? (Image: Newscom)

Worst Moment

Buzz Williams acting like a mad man on drugs. Or more accurately, a mother ostrich.

You decide.

The runner-up Worst Moment would be the refs who repeatedly bent over to appease Blake Griffin on Saturday. I will leave it at that.

Game I Cared Most About

Well, besides the Michigan v. Oklahoma game, which was essentially taken over by the refs, I hoped Texas would punt Duke far far away. That didn’t happen, but Paulus only played two minutes and Singler made a really athletic play, so I guess that was refreshing enough to keep me from trolling on the Duke message boards for at least another night.

A Prediction For The Sweet 16

I will be glued to the T.V.

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Round 2 Wrap

Ty Lawson led all scorers with 25 points. Tyler Hansbrough had 17 and Danny Green and Wayne Ellington had 15 points each.

Green and Hansbrough did something that’s never been done in the Mike Krzyzewski era – they went four for four at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke was led by Kyle Singler‘s 22 points. Jon Scheyer added 20 and Gerald Henderson tossed in 17 for the Blue Devils.

Honestly, after the Blue Devils (20-4, 7-3) took a 52-44 lead at halftime, I thought the outcome just might be different this time around.

But as I was switching between the game and a good rerun of “Two and a Half Men,” (it was a really funny episode) North Carolina (22-2, 8-2) just took over this game and really put it out of reach with a 14-0 run midway in the second half.

Part two of North Carolina vs. Duke is at North Carolina, and it should be another good one. It’s on March 8 and is the last game of the regular season.

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Just Call Cameron Indoor Stadium “Danny and Tyler’s House”

This is clearly Greg Paulus’s fault. The truth is that if Greg was in the game he would have swatted that layup away. Greg, what are you doing on the bench?

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North Carolina and Wake Forest get it done late

Not only did lightning quick (tell that to Ty Lawson) sophomore guard Kalin Lucas struggle, virtually no points came from Michigan State’s frontline, and to make matters worse, the Ford Field crowd had the intensity of a mid-August Royals crowd at Kauffman Stadium.

Spartans Weblog author kj was actually at the drubbing,

…the environment at Ford Field didn’t help. The sparse crowd (relative to the size of the arena) never gave the team any kind of emotional lift. At one point in the second half, the crowd gave a Bronx cheer after a made field goal–something I’ve never witnessed in my years of attending MSU basketball games.

So we’ll give the team a gigantic pass on the final twenty minutes of the game.

Watching the Spartans from time to time so far this season, I get the feeling this team is missing one ingredient. I believe that one ingredient is a healthy and explosive Delvon Roe. Once he gets back that extra lift he had prior to the knee surgery, look out. He’s currently averaging 5.5 rebs/gm and 1.2 blk/gm. He’s shown some flashes. He has a high basketball IQ.

Unfortunately for State fans Delvon won’t be back at full strength until next season. Wait, actually that’s a great thing.

Just think about next season …

Jr. Kalin Lucas
Jr. Chris Allen
Jr. Durrell Summers
Sr. Raymar Morgan (iffy)
So. Delvon Roe
So. Korie Lucious
So. Draymond Green

Not even counting the couple solid freshmen coming in.

I know I know, it’s not always about next season. Predictable trap everyone gets sucked into at certain times.

But next season does look good for Sparty.

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Spartans not looking so mighty

1st team:

Guard: Darren Collison

Guard: Stephen Curry

Forward: Blake Griffin

Forward: Luke Harangody

Forward: Tyler Hansbrough

My only beef with this team is at the top.

Darren Collison is an overrated defensive player. Sure, Darren is adequate enough, but could Darren slow down Ty Lawson or Jonny Flynn? Tyrese Rice?

Would Tyreke Evans dominate Collison like Derrick Rose did?

Offensively there’s not much to critique. Not many point guards can shoot the trey as well as Collison did last season. Nor can they break down a defense as well as he did either.

But, don’t let me fool you.

He automatically makes this young UCLA squad top 10 caliber.

Darren has the intangibles.

So hopefully for UCLA fans, team success outweighs individual success.

Right, Mario?

Second and third teams can be found here

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One Man’s Preseason All-Americans