The Chicago Bulls fell to the Miami Heat 95 to 87 last night in Miami.

The game was a closely fought contest for most of the game, but the Heat pulled away during crunch time, as the Bulls failed to execute down the stretch.

There were two major problems that caused the Bulls demise in this game.

The first, is that they lacked a player who would take the game by its horns and lead the team to victory. The game was closely fought throughout, and the Bulls did a good job on the defensive end, but at no point in the fourth quarter did anyone in the Bulls string together a few shots in a row to give the Bulls a solid 6-10 point lead.

The other big problem I noticed was that the team’s execution was poor in the clutch. This seemed more like the players being scared to step up and making the wrong basketball plays, rather than any systematic problems with the Bulls clutch strategy.

Derrick Rose turned the ball over as a result of a wreckless baseline drive of his, and Salmons turned the ball over with 23 seconds left as he couldn’t handle the ball.

There was one play where Kirk Hinrich dribbled out of a three point shot, showing that he didn’t want to step up and be the man in clutch time. Then Luol Deng got the ball near the three point line, and decided that he was going to force action. Deng drove to the hoop, and missed the runner (although it looked like basket interference on the Heat). It was nice to see Deng step up and try to be the man in clutch time, but it was a stupid basketball play.

Luol Deng should have shot the three. At that point, the Bulls were down 93-87. Deng took his layup with 30 seconds left in the game. If he would have taken the three, he could have cut the Miami lead to 3 points, with around 30 seconds in the ball game. The Bulls could have gotten a stop, and would have still had time to have a chance to tie it on the other end. However, Deng decided to drive in for a two point attempt. If he would have made the shot, the Bulls would have still been down by 4 points, and would have been forced to play the foul game.

The one big positive for the Bulls yesterday was their team defense. The strength of the Bulls defense yesterday was in the help defense of their big men and Luol Deng. The players effectively moved into driving lanes to stop the Heat’s penetration. They also helped out effectively when the Heat’s big men had the ball in the paint. The two weak spots in the Bulls’ defense so far has been Derrick Rose and John Salmons, both of whom have difficulty staying in front of their man, and both of whom have trouble chasing their man around, allowing the opponent to have too many open threes.

The star of this game for Miami was Udonis Haslem, who finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. His rebounding and the midrange jumpers that he made were key in getting the Heat the victory.

Dwyane Wade added in 25 points, scoring his 10,000th career point in this game.

Luol Deng led the Bulls in scoring with 26 points. Deng had a nice game scoring 26 points and 8 rebounds. Deng was making his shots from midrange, which allowed him to score efficiently in the ball game. However, Deng still took 21 shots to get his 26 points. Deng really needs to work on that three point shot, so he can become a more efficient scorer. He scored efficiently tonight (56 TS%), but he isn’t always going to shoot that well from midrange, and when he’s not, his efficiency is going to suffer. 56 TS% is more around where we want Deng’s average for the season to be around, not his best games of the year, so I think Luol still needs quite a bit of work, but good performance tonight nonetheless.

John Salmons had his first good game of the year, scoring 17 points on 7-14 shooting. The alarming part is that Salmons only shot 1-5 from three point line. Salmons is going to need to make the three point shot in order to stretch the defense some, opening up more driving lanes for Derrick Rose.

The Bulls struggled at the point guard spot tonight. Kirk Hinrich put up a bad 7 points on 3-11 shooting, and Derrick Rose was downright awful, putting up 8 points on 4-15 shooting, along with 5 assists and 5 rebounds.

Tyrus Thomas had a nifty little game, finishing with 4 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks. For some reason, Thomas only played 21 minutes in the game, which was hard to understand, because it seemed like Thomas was active out there, rebounding the basketball and blocking shots.

Joakim Noah gave the Bulls 10 points and 7 rebounds and Brad Miller chipped in 11 points.

Michael Beasley finished the game with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Beasley strugged offensively, going 3-12 from the field, but he did some nice things on the defensive end, and he rebounded the ball well.

Mario Chalmers put in 11 points for the Heat, and Carlos Arroyo added 12 points off the bench.

With the loss, the Bulls fall to 1-2 on the season, and are currently slotted as the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference.

Closing Comments

The Bulls put up another good defensive performance last night holding the Heat to only 95 points. The Bulls just failed to execute down the stretch, as they lacked that player who can score in bunches to give you the lead or that player who hits the big shots in the clutch. The offense as a whole has been a big problem for the Bulls this year. They currently have the third worst offense in the league, with a 99.0 O-Rtg. Only the Charlotte Bobcats and Milwaukee Bucks have been worse.

Eastern Conference

1. Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Orlando Magic
3. Boston Celtics
4. Detroit Pistons
5. Miami Heat
6. Atlanta Hawks
7. Toronto Raptors
8. Washington Wizards
——————-
9. Chicago Bulls
10. Philadelphia 76ers
11. New York Knicks
12. Milwaukee Bucks
13. New Jersey Nets
14. Indiana Pacers
15. Charlotte Bobcats

Western Conference

1. Los Angeles Lakers
2. San Antonio Spurs
3. Dallas Mavericks
4. Portland Trail Blazers
5. Denver Nuggets
6. Phoenix Suns
7. Utah Jazz
8. New Orleans Hornets
——————-
9. Golden State Warriors
10. Los Angeles Clippers
11. Memphis Grizzlies
12. Oklahoma City Thunder
13. Minnesota Timberwolves
14. Sacramento Kings
15. Houston Rockets

Eastern Conference First Round

1. Cleveland Cavaliers over 8. Washington Wizards (4-1)
4. Detroit Pistons over 5. Miami Heat (4-2)
3. Boston Celtics over 6. Atlanta Hawks (4-2)
2. Orlando Magic over 7. Toronto Raptors (4-0)

Eastern Conference Semi-Finals

1. Cleveland Cavaliers over 4. Detroit Pistons (4-2)
3. Boston Celtics over 2. Orlando Magic (4-3)

Eastern Conference Finals

3. Boston Celtics over 1. Cleveland Cavaliers (4-3)

Western Conference First Round

1. Los Angeles Lakers over 8. New Orleans Hornets (4-0)
4. Portland Trail Blazers over 5. Denver Nuggets (4-2)
3. Dallas Mavericks over 6. Phoenix Suns (4-3)
2. San Antonio Spurs over 7. Utah Jazz (4-1)

Western Conference Semi-Finals

1. Los Angeles Lakers over 4. Portland Trail Blazers (4-2)
2. San Antonio Spurs over 3. Dallas Mavericks (4-3)

Western Conference Finals

2. San Antonio Spurs over 1. Los Angeles Lakers (4-2)

NBA Finals

San Antonio Spurs over Boston Celtics (4-3)

Coach of the Year: John Kuester (Runner Up: Gregg Poppovich)
MVP: Lebron James (Runner Up: Dwight Howard)
Rookie of the Year: Tyreke Evans (Runner Up: Blake Griffin)
Sixth Man of the Year: Manu Ginobili (Runner Up: Leandro Barbosa)
Defensive Player of the Year: Dwight Howard (Runner Up: Ron Artest)
Most Improved Player: Brook Lopez (Runner Up: Michael Beasley)

According to Yahoo Sports, Michael Beasley has checked himself into a rehab facility during a weekend filled with controversy. This past weekend, Michael Beasley posted a photo on his twitter account to show off his new tattoos. On the coffee table were two baggies, which many on the internet have speculated to contain marijuana.

Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley(notes) checked into an unidentified Houston rehabilitation hospital over the weekend, multiple sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Sources said the Heat encouraged Beasley to check into the facility to address possible substance and psychological issues. He is expected to spend time with former NBA player and coach John Lucas, who is renown for his success in working with troubled players.

When reached Monday morning, Miami Heat spokesman Tim Donovan declined comment. An NBA spokesman also declined comment.

Beasley’s admission comes after a handful of disturbing Twitter posts were recently attributed to him.

“Y do I feel like the whole world is against me…I can’t win for losin,” Beasley wrote.

“Feelin like it’s not worth livin!!!!!!! I’m done.”

I don’t think that Beasley has any serious substance abuse problems. He probably does smoke marijuana, but so do a lot of other NBA players, and people in general.

I think the Heat probably encouraged Beasley to check into a rehab center because he was having difficulty coping with a depression. Beasley has had a tough year after a disappointing rookie season, being forced to admit that he was in the room with marijuana at the rookie seminar, and having to see stories about how Dwyane Wade isn’t satisfied with him in the media.

This most recent twitter incident was probably just a breaking point for Beasley. Not only did he get accused of having marijuana (it is very possible that it wasn’t weed in that bag, of course it is also very possible that it was.), but he has had to deal with people hating on his new tattoo, which he wanted to show off.

Getting Beasley’s head on straight is key to the Miami Heat organization. Dwyane Wade and a max 2010 free agent might be able to win a championship together, but they wouldn’t be the favorites. If you throw Michael Beasley into the mix, and he reaches his potential, then the Heat could be a juggernaut.

Hopefully Beasley can get things going back on track. I enjoy watching him play, and think he can still be a superstar in the league. Beasley showed some of that potential in the last month of the season, averaging 20.6 points and 8.6 rebounds in April. His playing time was sporadic in the playoffs, but he put up an impressive 22 point and 15 rebound performance in a Game 6 win for the Heat in the first round of the playoffs.

I was one of the few people who wanted the Bulls to draft Beasley over Derrick Rose. If I was able to go back in time, and draft, I would take Derrick Rose now. This is just because Rose is a known commodity. We know that Rose will probably be an allstar level player at the very least. I still think that Beasley has a lot more upside than Rose, but he also appears to have a lot more downside. I think if Beasley can ever get his head on straight, he will be better than Rose, but it can’t be assumed that Beasley will ever get his head on straight.

Working in Beasley’s favor is that he has some good friends from back in high school, such as Kevin Durant, who are also in the NBA, and who appear to have everything order. Hopefully guys like Durant can help Beasley get out of it.

It would be a shame if Beasley’s career were to get derailed because of psychological issues and drugs. Beasley is a great talent, and it will be a shame if the NBA never gets to see Beasley at his full potential.

In the first game this season the Heat beat the Bulls easily by 13 points. In the second game, the Bulls had the ball at the end of the game with a chance to win, until Thabo Sefolosha threw the ball directly to Dwyane Wade and Shawn Marion dunked it in for the win. In the third game, John Salmons was stripped on the final posession in double overtime, which led to a Dwyane Wade buzzer beater three. The fourth time was the charm, as the Bulls decided to just blow out the Heat this time, beating them 106 to 87.

Again, this was a nice team win. No one really had a bad game, and the Bulls are beginning to play better as a team, moving the ball much better.

I think the win really started with the great outside shooting of Kirk Hinrich and John Salmons. When these two started hitting some shots in the third, in particular Salmons, the Bulls started to pull away.

Hinrich, who started at the point guard spot for the second straight game, scored 15 points, shooting 4-7 from three. Outside of a bad first quarter on defense, Hinrich did a pretty good job guarding Wade, slowing him down a bit. Wade finished with 31 points in the game, before being pulled for garbage time.

John Salmons led the Bulls in scoring with 27 points. He did a good job driving to the hoop and scoring, and hit some big shots in the third quarter to help the Bulls pull away. This is difference between the Bulls before the trade and after the trade. Before the trade, when Gordon struggled early on, the Bulls would probably fall behind in the third, and it would take a great fourth quarter performance from Rose or Gordon to come back. Now, with another great scoring option in Salmons, they can pull away when Gordon is struggling.

The Bulls got great performances out of their young big men. Joakim Noah had 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Tyrus Thomas had 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Thomas was just all over the place, blocking shots, and had some thunderous dunks, the best of which came on an alley oop from Derrick Rose. The great thing about the play of these guys is that it looks like the Bulls might be able to use them as trade chips for a really good player, and if not, they might become really good players for the Bulls.

Derrick Rose came off the bench and had a calm 9 points, 7 assist, and 5 rebound performance. He is starting to pull out a lot more highlight reel passes now.

Ben Gordon struggled with his shot early, missing some wide open three point attempts. Gordon found his stroke in the fourth quarter, hitting two threes. The Heat had difficulty stopping Gordon’s drive as well. Gordon finished with 18 points in the game. He’s been struggling to get going early in games, but has come back with good second halfs of late. Before the Bulls get to the playoffs, Gordon needs to figure out how to make his shots in the first half.

The Heat had four players in double figures other than Wade. Michael Beasley had 10 points off the bench and Mario Chalmers also had 10 points. Jermaine O’neal had 12 points and Udonis Haslem added in 13 points.

Brad Miller had 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists off the bench.

Dwyane Wade became the first player under 6′4″ to have 100 blocks in a season.

With the win, the Bulls improve to 35-38 on the season. The Bulls have now passed the Pistons and are the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference.

Closing Comments

Good win for the Bulls tonight. I made a challenge for Del Negro after one of the Bulls embarassing losses a few weeks ago, and that was, if the bull sare under .500, even if they make the playoffs, he should be fired. He still has some work to go to get the bulls to .500, but I think he will do it. He has to go just 6-3 from here on out to make it back to .500. The next stretch of games is a perfect opportunity to do that. Their next five games are against Indiana, Toronto, indiana again, New Jersey, and New York. Actually, in the Bulls remaining 9 games, only Philadelphia has a better record than the Bulls, and the Bulls get Philly at home. The Bulls really should have a monster record down this final stretch. 6-3 should be the absolute minimum, but with most of those teams going into tank mode, and the majority of the Bulls games being at home, the Bulls could potentially win out. I don’t think they will, but it’s definitely a possibility with the easiness of their schedule. The Bulls can really make a run at that fifth seed, they’re only 3.5 games out, and they have Philly one more time this season. Atlanta is definitely a winnable series for the Bulls.

One of my favorite plays of the game was a four on one fastbreak in which Rose made a nice no look bounce pass to John Salmons who flushed it down. Yes it was a beautiful play, but what I liked even more about this play is that the Bulls had four guys running the court, beating their Heat counterparts down the floor. We have the athletes and speed to do this, so it’s nice to see them doing this.

What do I think about the Miami Heat? Outside of my guy Dwyane Wade, they’re absolute crap. Michael Beasley has a lot of skill, but he hasn’t begun to put it together on the court yet. Even if Beasley improves, they won’t be that good of a team next year. It’s for this reason why I think they will aggressively pursue Ben Gordon this offseason. They need talent there to keep Wade happy. The thing Paxson has to remember going into this offseason is that the only way that a sign and trade can be completed is if the Bulls agree to it. Don’t make that an option (okay, unless the Heat are willing to part with Wade or Beasley). If Paxson takes that option off the table, then all the Heat can offer is the MLE, which the Bulls could easily beat, with an offer such as the one they offered last summer.

Oh, and with the win, the Bulls have now strung 3 wins in a row. This is the Bulls third three game winning streak of the year. This team is truly amazing…in comparison to last year’s mess.

Derrick Rose didn’t have a spectacular game in his first Allstar event of his NBA career. It’s not that he was bad in the competition, he was just being Derrick Rose. He played exactly as he plays for the Bulls and unfortunately, that isn’t that conducive to great play during an event like this. Still, Rose did finish with 4 points and 7 assists.

It would have been nice to see the Rookies get out and run a little more, but when players gave the ball to Rose, players often didn’t run the court, and often times, they wouldn’t even outlet the ball to Rose to initiate the fast break.

The Rookies actually looked really good tonight, it looked like they were going to win for awhile. But the Sophomore surged back, led by Kevin Durant, and got the win for the Sophomores.

This year’s game was a little bit different than past games. There was actually defense being played. I think a large part of this had to do with Dwight Howard and Dwyane Wade being the coaches of the teams. These are two competitive guys, and both wanted to win this game. Unfortunately for Wade, he was coaching the rookies, who began to have defensive lapses late in the game.

Kevin Durant gained MVP honors for his 46 points performance. Durant was by far the best player on the floor and used an arsenal of offensive moves to score at will on the Rookies. His 46 points are the most ever scored in the Rookie-Sophomore game, or any Allstar Weekend event for that matter.

The second overall pick in the draft, Michael Beasley, had a great game, scoring 29 points. Beasley showed off his great offensive skills, and really carried the Rookies on his back for a bit in the second half. One had to wonder why Beasley doesn’t make use of his great set of offensive moves more often in regular games. He is a really talented offensive player, he just needs to get his focus together. Once he does that, no one should be questioning whether the Heat should have taken Michael Beasley or O.J. Mayo with that second pick. With his teammate, Wade, as his coach, it was clear that Beasley was going to be the point of emphasis for the Rookies on offense.

I think longterm, Rose will look better when he is in the big game. The true stars of the league will probably get out running, and Rose will be able to set them up for more plays. Rose should also do better in the Skills Challenge then he did tonight, as his performance will not be tied to his teammates.

As John Paxson’s two lottery big men draft selections from recent years prove that they are not busts, one of Paxson’s first round picks, Thabo Sefolosha, continues to show that he is a bust.  With the game tied at 93 points with 4 seconds left in the game, the Bulls had a shot to win the game in regulation.  Sefolosha, who was inbounding the ball, passed the ball right to Dwyane Wade, who called a timeout as he was falling out of bounds.  The very next play, Tyrus Thomas rotated to stop a cutting Dwyane Wade.  Sefolosha rotated late onto Marion, who dunked on Thabo to win the game.

Ben Gordon had the entire corner wide open.

Thabo Sefolosha needs to go, he is a bust.  He let down his entire team.  That clutch block by Joakim Noah which ended in a Tyrus Thomas dunk off a pass by Ben Gordon?  Worthless.  The three clutch free throws by Ben Gordon to tie the game at 93?  Worthless.  The clutch steal by Kirk Hinrich to give the Bulls a chance to win in regulation?  Worthless.  When you are tied with 4 seconds remaining in the game and posession of the ball, you don’t lose the game in regulation.  It’s not supposed to happen, but it did, and it was all Sefolosha’s fault.

The worst part of this all is that Ben Gordon was wide open.  Ben Gordon would have had a wide open shot in the corner.  All Sefolosha had to do was lob a floater to Gordon and Gordon would have had a wide open look for potentially his second straight game winner.

Ray Allen will now miss the Allstar game and the East squad is in need of a replacement. Well, tonight Ben Gordon put in a pretty good audition for the spot, scoring 34 points and grabbing 5 rebounds. Gordon did it all tonight, making jumpshots, driving to the basket, dunking, drawing fouls, banking in some shots, and hitting his free throws. It’s a shame that Thabo deprived him of a shot at the game winner tonight.

Derrick Rose had a good, 18 points and 6 assist game. This was just some good solid basketball from Rose. Nothing special, but solid. Unfortunately, he was outplayed by the number two pick in the draft, Michael Beasley. Beasley had 21 points on a very efficient 9-10 shooting, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks. He was a big reason the Heat won tonight.

Kirk Hinrich had a nice game, finishing with 8 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals. His defense on Wade was great for stretches. Wade, who had 24 points on 9-23 shooting, did light up Hinrich for 6 straight points late in the fourth, but it’s not like anyone, besides maybe a prime Scottie Pippen, would have done much better. Wade also had 7 assists and wore an American flag band aid under his eye.

The Bulls young front court had another nice night. Tyrus Thomas had 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks. He did have 6 turnovers to go along with that though. Joakim Noah added in 5 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks. He had 4 turnovers. While neither could be considered stellar tonight, both had solid overall games, and were involved in some big plays down the stretch.

Daequan Cook added 14 points, making 4 three pointers. Shawn Marion, who had the game winning dunk, scored 12 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Udonis Haslem had 10 points in the game.

Luol Deng had another bad game, scoring 6 points on 2-6 shooting. Going into the trade deadline, the Bulls will have to take a long, hard look at whether they should cut their losses with Deng or not.

And a little more on Thabo Sefolosha tonight. He was horrible tonight, putting up one of the emphasis 0-0-0-0-0 games. That is 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, and 0 blocks. No positive statistics in the game. He was horrible.

This begs the question, why did Vinny put him in at the end of the game? Derrick Rose would have been a better option to be throwing the inbounds play.

But it’s hard to criticize Vinny too much for this collapse. An NBA player should be expected to be able to make a simple inbounds pass. The play Vinny drew up was actually pretty good. If Sefolosha would have made a good pass, Gordon would have been wide open in the corner with a chance to win the game.

With the loss, the Bulls go into the Allstar Break with a record of 23-30.

The NBA sent out a press release today announcing the participants in the 2009 Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam. Here is the press release that the NBA sent out.

NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2009 – Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose, the first overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant, the reigning T-Mobile Rookie of the Year, lead a list of 18 players selected for the 2009 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam to be held on Friday, Feb. 13 in Phoenix during NBA All-Star 2009.

The participants in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam were selected by the NBA’s assistant coaches, with each team submitting one ballot. For the first time in the game’s history, two current NBA players, All-Star starters Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat – veterans of the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and part of T-Mobile’s “All-Star Faves” – will serve on the coaching staffs, Howard for the Sophomores and Wade for the Rookies. The head coaches for the Rookie and Sophomore teams will be the lead assistants from the 2009 NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs.

Forward Jeff Green, Durant’s teammate in Oklahoma City, joins him on the Sophomore team, which also includes Atlanta Hawks forward/center Al Horford, Los Angeles Clippers forward Al Thornton, Philadelphia 76ers forward Thaddeus Young, New York Knicks forward Wilson Chandler, Detroit Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey and a pair of teammates from the Houston Rockets – guard Aaron Brooks and forward Luis Scola.

Joining Rose on the Rookie team are two sets of teammates – guard O.J. Mayo and center Marc Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies and center Greg Oden and guard Rudy Fernandez from the Portland Trail Blazers. Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, Clippers guard Eric Gordon, Heat forward Michael Beasley and New Jersey Nets center Brook Lopez round out the Rookie team.

The T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam will be televised live nationally on TNT at 9 p.m. ET and also will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio, while NBA.com will make live audio available to fans in multiple languages. Fans tuning in to TNT will also get a special treat, as NBA All-Star starter LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, a participant in the 2004 and 2005 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge, will join Kevin Harlan, Kenny Smith and Craig Sager as part of TNT’s broadcast as an analyst.

As title partner of the Rookie Challenge and overall NBA Rookie Program, T-Mobile has teamed up with the NBA and NBA Cares to create the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Phoenix students to experience NBA All-Star 2009. By successfully completing fitness, nutrition, and community service requirements, more than 3,500 “T-Mobile Stick Together All-Stars,” ages 11-15, from participating school districts in Phoenix will watch the game from the best seats in the house at US Airways Arena.

As a new element to the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, fans had the unique opportunity to design the official jerseys worn by the Rookie and Sophomore teams. Thousands of fans registered for the NBA LIVE Jersey Creator Contest hosted by EA SPORTS for the chance to win a trip for two to Phoenix, AZ for NBA All-Star 2009. The winning jersey is being produced by adidas, the official uniform and apparel provider for the NBA, and will be worn by all participating Rookie and Sophomore players, marking the first time that a fan designed jersey has ever been worn during an NBA game or event. In past years, Rookies and Sophomores wore their regular team jerseys during the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam. The winning design was created by 18-year-old Tim Ahmed from East Meadow, Long Island. Ahmed attended East Meadow High School and is currently a first-year student at Baruch College in Manhattan.

In last year’s T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, Cavaliers guard Daniel Gibson earned Most Valuable Player honors, making 11 three-pointers en route to a game-high 33 points, as the Sophomores cruised to a 136-109 victory. Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay added 22 points and Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar tallied 17 points and 11 assists. Durant, then of the Seattle SuperSonics, led the Rookies with 23 points.

The contest began its current format pitting the Rookies against the Sophomores in 2000 and the Sophomores hold a 7-2 advantage over the first-year players. The game will be played in two 20-minute halves. Individual foul totals will be kept, but a player cannot foul out. A team will be in the penalty situation after 10 team fouls or after the second foul in the final two minutes of each half. In the event of a tie game, there will be a two-minute overtime to determine the winner. The clock will stop after each successful field goal in the last minute of each half.

T-Mobile will provide basketball fans with the opportunity to have their vote count toward selecting the MVP of the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam by voting on NBA.com or via SMS on mobile phones during the second half of the game.

The NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 15, will air live on TNT and ESPN Radio beginning at 8 p.m. EST. The game will also be telecast in over 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages and broadcast on NBA.com.

NBA All-Star brings together the top NBA players and performers for a week of competition, community service and world-class entertainment. Among the many other exciting All-Star events are Sprite Slam Dunk, Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout, PlayStation® Skills Challenge, Haier Shooting Stars and NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by adidas.

Building upon its already strong appeal to the nation’s youth and as Official Partner of the NBA, T-Mobile is showcasing the NBA’s youngest players — the Rookies — through the T-Mobile Rookie Program. Highlights include the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, an All-Star competition between NBA rookies and second-year players, and rookie awards presentations including the T-Mobile Rookie of the Month and T-Mobile Rookie of the Year. To learn more about T-Mobile’s partnership with the NBA, visit www.t-mobile.com/nba.

Below are the rosters for the 2009 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam:

ROOKIE TEAM ROSTER
Player Team Pos. Ht. Wt. School/Country
Michael Beasley Miami F 6-9 245 Kansas St.
Rudy Fernandez Portland G-F 6-6 185 Spain
Marc Gasol Memphis C 7-1 265 Spain
Eric Gordon L.A. Clippers G 6-3 222 Indiana
Brook Lopez New Jersey C 7-0 260 Stanford
O.J. Mayo Memphis G 6-4 210 USC
Greg Oden Portland C 7-0 285 Ohio State
Derrick Rose Chicago G 6-3 190 Memphis
Russell Westbrook Oklahoma City G 6-3 187 UCLA

Head Coach – TBD
Assistant Coach – Dwyane Wade

SOPHOMORE TEAM ROSTER
Player Team Pos. Ht. Wt. School/Country
Aaron Brooks Houston G 6-0 161 Oregon
Wilson Chandler New York F 6-8 220 DePaul
Kevin Durant Oklahoma City G-F 6-9 215 Texas
Jeff Green Oklahoma City F 6-9 235 Georgetown
Al Horford Atlanta F-C 6-10 245 Florida
Luis Scola Houston F-C 6-9 245 Argentina
Al Thornton L.A. Clippers F 6-8 220 Florida State
Rodney Stuckey Detroit G 6-5 205 Eastern Washington
Thaddeus Young Philadelphia F 6-8 220 Georgia Tech

Head Coach – TBD
Assistant Coach – Dwight Howard

PREVIOUS T-MOBILE ROOKIE CHALLENGE RESULTS

1994 - Phenoms 74, Sensations 68
1995 - White 83, Green 79 (OT)
1996 - East 94, West 92
1997 - East 96, West 91
1998 - East 85, West 80
2000 - Rookies 92, Sophomores 81 (OT)
2001 - Sophomores 121, Rookies 113
2002 - Rookies 103, Sophomores 97
2003 - Sophomores 132, Rookies 112
2004 - Sophomores 142, Rookies 118
2005 - Sophomores 133, Rookies 106
2006 - Sophomores 106, Rookies 96
2007 – Sophomores 155, Rookies 114
2008 – Sophomores 136, Rookies 109

Source: Bulls.com