I’m going to be honest. Our list of NIT alumni in the NBA playoffs hasn’t gotten the pageviews I expected. I assume this is because you don’t remember it’s there. I hope it’s because you compiled your own list years ago and are using that list as your reference instead. I fear it’s because of neither of those reasons.
The first round is over. Long live the second round. Here’s who’s showed out so far:
PG: James Harden, 2008 Arizona State
We’re putting Harden at the point because he put up bigger assist numbers and Curry scored more points.
Still no postseason breakthrough for The Beard. Syracuse fans are nodding. They knew before anybody else.
SG: Stephen Curry, 2009 Davidson
Though he’ll always be best known for the 2009 Davidson run that nearly was, Curry’s showing again that even when you come up short on the biggest stage, it doesn’t mean your career is over. No, this series with the Rockets wasn’t on the same level as a 2009 NIT quarterfinal against San Diego State would have been. But good for Curry for continuing to make lemonade.
(Everyone should have known the Warriors were going to win Game 7, and that goes for me as well.)
SF: A.J. Green, 2022 Northern Iowa
For reasons discussed with Steve Helwick, every all-NIT alumni team in the NBA right now has to play small-ball.
Green’s another loser like Harden, but had the Bucks preserved that Game 5 lead, Green would’ve been on his way to hero status. Hit a bunch of threes. Missed relatively few threes. Stepped into the starting lineup adequately. He kind of got cooked on defense but that’s what you expect from a white guard who went to Northern Iowa playing in the NBA. No shame.
PF: Derrick White, 2017 Colorado
Again, I cannot stress enough how few big men in these playoffs have NIT experience. They left it all on the court in their college days. Should we play White at the 4? No. But this is an award, dammit. We are allowed to shoehorn.
Derrick White did Derrick White things against the Magic. Which reminds me: Derrick White looks like he’d really enjoy magic. His eyes hold a certain capacity for wonder.
C: Pascal Siakam, 2016 New Mexico State
Ok this could work. Four guards around Siakam? That’s still a bigger lineup than the Lakers.
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