Ainge Watching NC & UCONN

[wayray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

A busy weekend for Ainge.

Some good prospects at UCONN and NC
including Okafor, Felton, Gordon, McCants,
Villanueva and Sean May.

NBA execs get look at Husky prospects  		
		
Sean O'Rourke , New Haven Register Staff 	01/18/2004	
		
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.  There was an assortment of NBA player personnel experts at the Smith Center Saturday to watch a bevy of players play in the UConn/North Carolina game.   What the 25 talent evaluators  including Boston Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge  witnessed was that UConn junior center Emeka Okafor is worthy of a lottery selection, if not the top pick in the June draft.  What they also got to see was something unexpected from Huskies junior guard Ben Gordon. While Gordon had 10 assists with point guard Taliek Brown on the bench in foul trouble, he had an awful shooting game, something that is supposed to distinguish him as an elite player and possible lottery selection.  Gordon was 3-of-14 from the field, including a 3-point miss at the buzzer that would have tied the game, and scored just 10 points. It was the third straight subpar game for Gordon, who scored 11 points apiece in the Huskies' last two games against Georgetown and Oklahoma.  "Ben did a good job playing the point (guard position), but I'd like to see him score more points," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said.  Gordon is 11-for-40 (27.5 percent) from the field and just 7-for-21 (33 percent) on 3-point attempts in the last three games. the three-game slump, Gordon was averaging 20.7 points, but he is now at 18.3  "Some days the shots go, some days they don't," Gordon said. "It wasn't anything in particular, but next time I'll be better prepared."  It was also the second straight horrible shooting game at the Smith Center for Gordon.   In UConn's 68-65 loss to North Carolina last season, Gordon was 5-for-19 from the field and 0-for-8 on 3-point attempts, giving him a Smith Center total of 8-for-33 from the field, 3-for-11 on 3-point attempts and 20 total points.  The off-day didn't sway North Carolina coach Roy Williams' opinion of Gordon  "Gordon is a big-time player, but we caught him on a day that he didn't make shots," Williams said. 	<snip>