'Snubbed' Rookies, Friends Lash Out

When assistant coaches have to pick just nine rookies and nine sophomores for the Rookie Challenge to be played on All-Star Friday, it's likely that a good player or two will be left out. Big names (Greg Oden) earn deference, bit players on good teams (Rudy Fernandez) get a bump in recognition, and sometimes the snubs and their associates feel a little spurned.

Maybe the most biting comments came from Kevin McHale, who coaches a fairly high-performing lottery pick in Kevin Love. For his part, Love called the vote "bulls---" and said it inspired a 17-point, 10-rebound performance against the Pistons. McHale, donning the attitude of a CIA interrogator, started asking questions.

From Jerry Zgoda's Minneapolis Star-Tribune story on the matter:

Wolves coach Kevin McHale called Love's omission a "travesty."

"That's utterly ridiculous; who picks that team?" McHale said. When told assistant coaches do, he said. "No way."

There is no way assistant coaches could be so stupid! It's a Portland-based conspiracy, I tell you!

Jason Thompson had a similarly insulted attitude about his snub, according to Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee.

J.T. dropped 21/11 on the Celtics, doing most of his damage against starters Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett.

"Oh yeah," he said when asked if he was disappointed. "That was a statement right there, to anybody that voted. I definitely feel like I deserved it."

It's hard to fault the assistants in the end -- you could make an argument Love belongs over Oden or Thompson belongs in place of Fernandez, but it's a small difference and Portland's winning a lot of games. (Though Minnesota has been, as well.) The real prize sits in April, when the All-Rookie team is named. All these guys have a tough slog to get there, but it's possible.