Hey, it's the NBA!

The NBA returned to action last night, and the Spurs picked up right where they left off. Kobe Bryant also put in his application to become the next Allen Iverson, as he hoisted up 32 shots, scoring 45 points, in the losing effort.

Despite the loss to the Spurs, LaMarcus Aldridge had a solid night for the Blazers. With the injury to Greg Oden, Aldridge is going to be relied on heavily this season to reach his potential in his second season. He got off to a good start, scoring 27 points on 12-19 shooting in 36 minutes. He also stayed out of foul trouble which was a consistent problem in his rookie campaign. The Blazers shot themselves in the foot a bit trading Zach Randolph before the season. Now with the injury to Oden, Aldridge will have every chance in the world to prove himself.

Kevin Durant begins his rookie campaign with a team with all kinds of question marks. It is obvious that this is Durant's team. He is their superstar. However, his durability is already becoming an issue with his sprained ankle that he's trying to come back from. However, the bigger question marks would certainly be the talent around Durant which is pretty non-exsistant. Durant will be fun to watch. The Sonics will not be. Though, I think you have to say the biggest questions mark is how far away this team is from becoming the Oklahoma City Sonics. Would they stay the Sonics? Or would they become something that locals can get behind, like the Oklahoma City This State Sucks?

TJ Ford will begin his second season at the helm for the Toronto Raptors. Ford is coming off career highs in points and assists and more importantly a season that he was pretty healthy throughout. While Ford is the starter in Toronto he will have to perform, as Toronto has quite a few people fighting for some playing time in their backcourt. He split time last season with Jose Calderon, and a late season trade added Juan Dixon. Now through free agency, Carlos Delfino and Derrick Martin joined the fray. Ford will get every opportunity to be the lead guy, but he will need to perform.

Daniel Gibson will start the season as the starting point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers, coming off his post-season emergence, where he become one of the few reliable and useful players that the Cavs had outside of LeBron. Gibson, in only his second season will have every opportunity to play regardless of his performance. This is the case when you have Eric Snow and Damon Jones as the only other people that could possibly take away playing time. Gibson is only in his second season, but it looks like he may have found himself a niche in Cleveland.

Royal Ivey finds himself in a new home in his fourth season, joining the Milwaukee Bucks after three years in Atlanta. Ivey finds himself in a contributing role with Milwaukee as he will be one of two guards to come off the bench. He should find himself as a backup at point guard as well as a rotational player in the lineup. He had his moments in Atlanta, but could never seem to find his place. Hopefully, in a place with a little more stability, he will be able to find his key in the offense.

Maurice Evans and Chris Mihm are back and healthy in Los Angeles. With the lack of a designated lineup and bench, minutes should be full and plentiful. Right now Mihm finds himself behind Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum, but as inconsistent as they have been, Mihm will certainly get a chance to get in the game and make something happen. Evans should remain a player that gets 15 to 20 minutes a game in the Los Angeles rotation.

Looking around, blast from the past, Kris Clack is on the roster for the Austin Toros, NBA D-League team. He is joined on the team with Brad Buckman. Also, former Longhorn Brian Boddicker has left his Turkish club and signed with Grupo Capitol in the Spanish League.

Catching Up With: Rookie 'Horns

What if? That's all we can ask at this point. Texas bowed out of the NCAA Tourney with an early, embarrassing loss to the USC Trojans. But what if? What if Texas had not been depleted by defections to the NBA last year? What would the fate of this year's team been? How would any team been able to stop a line up with P.J. Tucker, LaMarcus Aldridge, Daniel Gibson, A.J. Abrams and Kevin Durant? Well, we will never know. But lets take a look to see how the Texas early NBA entries faired for themselves as rookies...

Daniel Gibson- G -Cleveland Cavaliers: You know, even if Gibson doesn't make it as an NBA star, he can always tell his grandkids he played with Bron Bron, right? DGib hasn't been a total disappointment, but he hasn't been much of a contributor. His season averages total 4.9ppg, 1.6rpg and 1.4apg. Hardly world beating. But given the chance to start during the injury of Larry Hughes, Gibson showed signs of possibly being a contributor on the pro level. During his 5 game stint in the starting line up, Daniel put up 10 points a game and a 3-2 record. After that short foray into significant playing time, Gibson saw more of the court in February, upping his scoring average to 7.4ppg. DGib has returned to playing time after spraining a toe in early March. Overall, you would have to say this year has been a success for Daniel. He has improved this year and showed that he can contribute at the pro level. And he's getting paid. Overall grade for the decision to go pro: B-

LaMarcus Aldridge- C - Portland Trailblazers: By far the best year of the Texas rookie class. His stats so far this year are 9.1ppg, 5rpg and 1.16bpg. Though his playing time has been inconstant (and sometimes quite spotty), LA has put together a very impressive last month of the season. In March, LA has been seeing about 35 mins/game and averaged 16.4ppg and 8.5rpg. In three of his last five games, he has put up over 20 pts and on the 23rd, LA poured in a 27pt 14 rebound game (his best as a pro). Aldridge is becoming stronger in the post and has adapted to the pro level. LA has even cracked the starting lineup towards the end of the year. Overall, this year has been a success for Aldridge. Look for a solid year, next year while LA progresses as a solid NBA star. Overall grade for the decision to go pro: A-

P.J. Tucker- PF- (Formerly) Toronto Raptor/Colorado 14ers: What can you say? Everyone at Texas loved PJ, his work ethic and everything he did for the 'Horns. But I think we all knew that he was going to struggle as a pro. He is your classic 'tweener' with no real strength or position suited for the next level. And so it seems P.J. might be destined to go the way of James Thomas. A hard working, undersized, big man who really needed to have more of an offensive threat to make it in The League. PJ was with the Raptors for a total of 17 games and averaged less than 2 points. He as sent down to the NBDL's Colorado 14ers where he played in 19 games where he averaged 10.7ppg and 3.37rpg. Tucker was released March 24th to make room for Luke Jackson on the roster. PJ will probably give the NBA more shots, but will probably join the many US players in the European Leagues.

But lets take a closer look at PJ to see if he really made the right decision. What if he had come back for his senior year? Would his NBA status be any different? I actually think PJ did the right thing for himself. He got drafted 35th in the NBA draft and signed a $412,718 contract. The thing is, that is as good as Tucker could have ever done. There is no way he would have been drafted this year with as deep and talented a draft as the 2007 draft will be (not to mention the drop in stats after KD's arrival). He would have been left to fend for a free agent contract, which would not have been likely. PJ will, ultimately, end up on the court in Europe. And, is that really that bad? Salaries in the Euro Leagues run in the 6 figures and PJ will most likely be one of the better players there. So even though PJ isn't going to make it in the NBA, he made the right decision to leave Texas in 2006 by heeding the call of The Steve Miller Band by deciding to 'take the money and run.' Congrats to you PJ. You came out at the exact right time and got the best deal possible. So, kudos to you and surprisingly you will be get the highest grade of the UT rookies. Overall grade for the decision to go pro: A+