As the Brooklyn Nets (with a five-game winning streak) get set to take on the Los Angeles Lakers on the road tonight, their newly built home court will be occupied by a few players who will be in the discussion for the top pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.
And if Otto Porter of Georgetown does to No. 1 Indiana what he did against UCLA, he will have officially stolen the spotlight from Shabazz Muhammad.
Coming into the Legends Classic tournament, the focus from the media was placed on the Indiana Hoosiers, the UCLA Bruins and their star freshman, Muhammad. The Georgetown Hoyas were somewhat of an afterthought as it related to the hype and the spotlight, but that all changed last night when the Hoyas controlled their matchup and won 78-70 over the youthful Bruins.
Markel Starks scored 23 points for the Hoyas on Monday night and looked very promising in doing so while helping to control the tempo of the game, but from a scouting perspective Hoyas sophomore forward Otto Porter stole the evening and in the process turned this tournament into an excellent scouting forum.
“Otto’s first full game if you look at the stat sheet – which I normally don’t look at – was a full game,” said John Thompson III. “18 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 blocks, 3 steals and then there’ s a whole lot of other stuff he did that doesn’t show on this piece of paper.
“We’re a better team with him on the court,” said Thompson III, pausing to chuckle. “It’s good to have him back out there.”