Any updates on this guy from the Inside?

thanks.

McD's all american game should be huge tonight.

I'm going, got a great deal on tix for only 30 bucks each. I'll tell you how it looked in person.

NBA Draft: Bracing for another High School invasion

After seeing Kwame Brown flounder, Tyson Chandler stumble, Eddy Curry look lost and DeSagana Diop languish on the bench, you'd think the NBA might finally be getting its fill of drafting high school seniors in the lottery. Right?

McDonald's All-American Amare Stoudemire is no Kevin Garnett. He's no Kobe Bryant, no Tracy McGrady, no Jermaine O'Neal. He's not even Kwame Brown. In fact, after playing at six high schools in four years, the only NBA player he remotely resembles is Chris Gatling -- both guys know how to keep their bags packed.

However, when David Stern begins welcoming players into the NBA June 26th, it's pretty much a given that Stoudemire will hear his name called nice and early.

The McDonald's All-American game goes down tonight at Madison Square Garden and, as usual, the crowd will be infested by NBA types hoping to rob the cradle. While everyone seems to agree in theory that players are better off with a few years of college under the belts, no one, in practice, is willing to card these kids at the door.

Even the players themselves think too many high school kids are heading straight to the pros.

"I think that is true," Stoudemire told the N.Y. Post. "Guys hurt themselves by going in too early, but it's everyone's own decision." Which is why, shortly after the game ends, Stoudemire is expected to follow the lead of those foolish high school kids and declare for the NBA draft.

"I'm different," Stoudemire says in his own defense. "My work ethic is better than most. I'm going to make it work."

Everyone in the NBA seems to disagree. "The NBA is a cruel league," Magic coach Doc Rivers told the Orlando Sentinel. "It waits for no one."

"It's going to be a rude awakening," said the Bulls' Chandler, one of four high schoolers taken in the first eight picks in last June's NBA draft.

Of course, neither of them has much room to talk. Rivers is currently riding the back of McGrady, who was told he'd ruin his career if he declared for the draft straight out of high school. At the ripe old age of 22, he's now being mentioned as a legitimate MVP candidate. Ditto for Bryant and Garnett, who went before him. Given the chance, do you think Rivers would pass on the chance to add Stoudemire to his already depleted frontline? The Bulls traded away an All-Star, Elton Brand, just for the chance to develop Chandler's upside.

In fact, of the high school players who've been drafted in the first round, only one, Leon Smith, has been a bust. Stoudemire, who's projected as a lottery pick by just about everyone, has to love those odds.

"I was a junior at the camp [last year] with [seniors] Tyson Chandler, DeSagana Diop, Ousmane Cisse and Dajuan Wagner and I came out No. 1 at the camp," Stoudemire said. "People were saying I could have gone into the league [NBA] as a junior, just to boost my head up or whatever, but I don't listen to all that."

Right. Despite Stoudemire's off-the-court troubles, scouts drool over the one advantage that Stoudemire has over all of his high school predecessor's -- his size and maturity.

Stoudemire is a man-child, a chiseled 6-foot-10, 245-pound power forward who has the aggressiveness and physical strength to step in and compete right away. The same couldn't be said of other phenoms like Chandler, Garnett and O'Neal.

"He's a very high pick, like lottery," Magic GM John Gabriel said. "He seems very mature for his age -- and quick."

Still, there are plenty of knocks on Stoudemire. While he's a beast on the block, he doesn't have a face-up game, has questionable hands and lacks many basic fundamentals -- even for a high school player. His nomadic high school career may have something to do with that. But with the draft focusing almost exclusively on upside, Stoudemire has plenty of it -- fundamentals be damned.

Stoudemire won't be the only player at MSG getting a look. DeAngelo Collins of Inglewood, Calif., a lithe 6-foot-11 forward, is leaning toward declaring straight for the draft. Scouts have him pegged as a late first-round, early second-round pick based on sheer raw potential. Collins' future seems less secure if he slips into the second round. The Sonics' Rashard Lewis is the only high school draftee to survive in the league after slipping out of the first round. Lenny Cooke, who didn't play high school ball this year, and therefore was ineligible for the McDonald's game, also is likely to go pro. Cooke, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, also is projected as a late first-round, early second-round pickl.

Other McDonald's All Americans such as Oak Hill star Carmelo Anthony (committed to Syracuse) and Long Island native Jason Fraser (committed to Villanova) have flirted with going pro but now seem adamant that college is the best route. Anthony, a dynamic 6-foot-7 shooting guard who may be the best scorer in high school basketball, says it's hard to resist the NBA's siren call.

"It's real hard not to think about it and we all have different opinions. Everyone thinks about it and the money is right there. For me, I want to play in college for at least a year," Anthony told the Post. He admits that he has been influenced by the struggles of his predecessors. "I want to play. I can't imagine having to just watch so many games. Why not wait a year or two before going to the NBA? You get to play, have fun and get better. But if people want to go, if they need money, nobody should stop them."

Posted by Knixkik:

I'm watching DeAngello Collins play right now and he's really a good player. He's athletic, plays above the rim, and can suprisingly shoot, which most guys coming in that are 6-11 can't do. He would be a great second round pick for us. As for Stoudemire, i'm not that impressed with him. He's got a long ways to go to be a good player in the NBA. Chris Wilcox is by far a better pick.

What is Stoudemire like???

Thanks for the recap of the game. How did that guy dunk on his own basket??? Was it at the end of the game or something??

I watched the game and first of all Deangelo Collins looks no where near 6'11 he was dwarfed by Amare Stoudamire, next it was Amare that packed Collins shot about 20 feet..lol... Amare is raw but really has no basketball skills at all, but if you think that he can be coached and develop skills, remembering he is only 18, then his physical skills will make him a beast in the NBA.. His upside on athleticism alone is tremendous.....