News from May 19. Grant Hill (Orl) won the NBA Sportsmanship Award award. Hill received 134 of a possible 328 1st place player votes. The players were asked to give a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th place vote to the 6 previously announced divisional winners. Total position votes (328 player votes) Player Points 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Grant Hill (Orl) ........ 2778 134 78 58 27 15 16 Steve Nash (Pho) ........ 2370 63 79 86 49 34 17 Shane Battier (Mem) ..... 1988 36 65 69 73 37 48 Andrei Kirilenko (Uta) .. 1689 38 36 45 69 73 68 Jacque Vaughn (NJ) ...... 1685 33 47 41 58 87 61 Austin Croshere (Ind) ... 1298 24 23 29 52 82 118 New Orleans picked up their 05-06 option for Jackson Vroman. The NBA released the official list of underclassmen and foreign players under 22 years old who declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft. The deadline for declaration has passed. These 108 players (73 underclassmen, 35 foreign) can withdraw their names from the draft up to June 21. The NBA draft is June 28. Underclassmen who have declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft: Alex Acker (junior, Pepperdine, guard) Deji Akindele (sophomore, Chicago State, center) Kelenna Azubuike (junior, Kentucky, guard) Sean Banks (sophomore, Memphis, forward) Jose Juan Barea (junior, Northeastern, guard) Brandon Bass (sophomore, LSU, forward) Jermaine Bell (freshman, Indian Hills CC (IA), center) Martellus Bennett (high school senior, Alief Taylor HS (TX), forward) Andray Blatche (high school senior, South Kent Prep (Conn), forward) Andrew Bogut (sophomore, Utah, center) Brandon Bowman (junior, Georgetown, forward) Curtis Brown Jr. (high school senior, Beach HS (GA), forward) Dee Brown (junior, Illinois, guard) Keith Brumbaugh (high school senior, DeLand HS (FL), forward) Andrew Bynum (high school senior, St. Josephs HS (NJ), forward) Jermareo Davidson (sophomore, Alabama, center) Ike Diogu (junior, Arizona State, forward) Toney Douglas (freshman, Auburn, guard) Monta Ellis (high school senior, Jackson Lanier HS (Miss.), guard) Olu Famutimi (sophomore, Arkansas, guard-forward) Raymond Felton (junior, UNC, guard) Anderson Ferreira (sophomore, Chipola JC (FL), forward) Torin Francis (junior, Notre Dame, forward) Francisco Garcia (junior, Louisville, forward) John Gilchrist (junior, Maryland, guard) Gerald Green (high school senior, Gulf Shores Academy (TX), guard) Mike Hall (junior, George Washington, forward) Chris Hernandez (junior, Stanford, guard) Jibril Hodges (junior, Long Beach State, guard) Jarrett Jack (junior, Georgia Tech, guard) Amir Johnson (high school senior, Westchester High School (CA), forward) Dwayne Jones (junior, St. John's, center) Brian Kim (junior, Vanguard University (CA), guard) Armein Kirkland (junior, Cincinnati, forward) Linas Kleiza (sophomore, Missouri, forward) Carl Krauser (junior, Pittsburgh, guard) Julius Lamptey (freshman, Garden City CC (KS), center) Darshan Lucky (junior, St. Francis (PA), guard) Sean May (junior, UNC, forward-center) Rashad McCants (junior, UNC, guard-forward) Pops Mensah-Bonsu (junior, George Washington, forward) Calvin Miles Jr. (high school senior, Skyline High School (TX), forward) J.R. Morris (junior, Seton Hall, guard) Randolph Morris (freshman, Kentucky, center) Tim Parham (junior, Maryland Eastern Shore, forward) T.J. Parker (junior, Northwestern, guard) Chris Paul (sophomore, Wake Forest, guard) Pierre Pierce (junior, Iowa, guard) Kevin Pittsnogle (junior, West Virginia, center) Shavlik Randolph (junior, Duke, forward) and Anthony Roberson (junior, Florida, guard) Nate Robinson (junior, Washington, guard) Chris Rodgers (junior, Arizona, guard) Ray Rose (junior, Olivet Nazarene (IL), guard) Brandon Rush (high school senior, Mt. Zion Academy (NC), guard) Marcus Slaughter (sophomore, San Diego State, forward) Steven Smith (junior, La Salle, forward) Tim Smith (junior, East Tennessee State, guard) B.J. Spencer (junior, Jacksonville State, guard) Chris Taft (sophomore, Pittsburgh, center) Charlie Villanueva (sophomore, UConn, forward) Tiras Wade (junior, Louisiana-Lafayette, guard) Von Wafer (sophomore, Florida State, guard) Matt Walsh (junior, Florida, guard) Matrell Webster (high school senior, Seattle Prep, guard) James White (junior, Cincinnati, guard) Deron Williams (junior, Illinois, guard) Eric Williams (junior, Wake Forest, center) Louis Williams (high school senior, South Gwinnett HS (GA), guard) Marvin Williams (freshman, UNC, forward) Kennedy Winston (junior, Alabama, forward) Antoine Wright (junior, Texas A&M, guard) Bracey Wright (junior, Indiana, guard) International players under 22 years old who have declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft (foreign players who turn 22 during 2005 are automatically entered into the draft): Cenk Akyol (18 yrs old, Turkey, guard) Nemanja Aleksandrov (18 yrs old, Serbia-Montenegro, center) Martynas Andriuskevicius (19 yrs old, Lithuania, center) Luka Bogdanovic (20 yrs old, Serbia-Montenegro, forward) Ivan Chiriaev (21 yrs old, Russia, center) Rudy Fernandez (20 yrs old, Spain, guard) Marcin Gortat (21 yrs old, Germany, center) Mile Ilic (21 yrs old, Serbia-Montenegro, center) Ersan Ilyasova (18 yrs old, Turkey, forward) Paulius Jankunas (21 yrs old, Lithuania, forward) Viktor Keirou (21 yrs old, Russia, guard) Tomasz Kesicki (19 yrs old, Spain, forward) Yaroslav Korolev (18 yrs old, Russia forward) Marko Lekic (20 yrs old, Serbia-Montenegro, forward) Erazem Lorbek (21 yrs old, Slovania, forward) Ian Mahinmi (19 yrs old, France, forward) Steven Markovic (20 yrs old, Australia, guard) Miguel Marriaga (21 yrs old, Venezuela, forward) Drago Pasalic (21 yrs old, Croatia, forward) Kosta Perovic (20 yrs old, Serbia-Montenegro, center) Johan Petro (19 yrs old, France, center) Alexandr Rindin (20 yrs old, Azerbaijan, center) Dusan Sakota (19 yrs old, Greece, forward) Predrag Samardziski (19 yrs old, Serbia-Montenegro, center) Cheick Samb (21 yrs old, Spain, center) Carlos Matias Sandes (21 yrs old, Argentina, forward) Thabo Sefolosha (21 yrs old, France, guard) Tiago Splitter (20 yrs old, Spain, center) Tang Zhengdong (21 yrs old, China, center) Marko Tomas (20 yrs old, Croatia, guard) Caio Torres (18 yrs old, Spain, forward) Roko Leni Ukic (21 yrs old, Croatia, guard) Konstantinos Vasileiadis (21 yrs old, Greece, guard) Panagiotis Vasilopoulos (21 yrs old, Greece, forward) Marcus Vieira de Souza (21 yrs old, Italy, forward) SA 98, Sea 96 at Sea Tim Duncan (SA) had 26 points on 6-21 FG, 14-17 FT, and the game winning layup with .5 seconds left, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. Nazr Mohammed (SA) had 12 points on 6-9 FG and 8 rebounds including 5 offensive. Manu Ginobili (SA) had 13 points including 6-10 FT, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 turnovers. Robert Horry (SA) had 14 points and 5 rebounds. Antonio Daniels (Sea) had 22 points including 8-10 FT and 5 assists. Ray Allen (Sea) had 25 points and 6 turnovers. Jerome James (Sea) had 10 points and 8 rebounds. Rashard Lewis (Sea, sprained left big toe) and Vladimir Radmanovic (Sea, sprained right ankle) did not play. San Antonio takes the series 4-2 and advances to the Western Conference Finals. Det 88, Ind 79 at Ind Tayshaun Prince (Det) had 11 points and 8 rebounds. Rasheed Wallace (Det) had 14 points including 5-17 FG and 11 rebounds including 5 offensive. Richard Hamilton (Det) had 28 points including 10-16 FG and 6 rebounds. Chauncey Billups (Det) had 23 points and 8 assists. Jermaine 'Neal (Ind) had 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Jeff Foster (Ind) had 12 points on 6-7 FG and 6 rebounds. Reggie Miller (Ind) had 27 points including 11-16 FG and 4-8 3-pointers. Thus ends Miller's great 18-year NBA career as he is retiring. [And kudos to Det coach Larry Brown who called a timeout after Miller was subbed out so that the fans could continue to show their appreciation.] Det shot 22-24 FT and Ind shot 2-7 FT. Detroit takes the series 4-2 and advances to the Eastern Conference Finals. Playoff Standings 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Finals (Best of 7) (Best of 7) (Best of 7) (Best of 7) 1 Phoenix (4) ______ 8 Memphis (0) |_ 1 Phoenix (3) _____ _ 4 Dallas (2) | 4 Dallas (4) ______| |_ _ 5 Houston (3) _ 2 San Antonio (0) | | | 2 San Antonio (4) __ | | 7 Denver (1) |_ 2 San Antonio (4) _| | _ 3 Seattle (2) | 3 Seattle (4) ___| | 6 Sacramento (1) |_ _ | 1 Miami (4) ___ | 8 New Jersey (0) |_ 1 Miami (4) __ | _ 5 Washington (0) | | 4 Chicago (2) ___| | | 5 Washington (4) |_ 1 Miami (0) _____| _ 2 Detroit (0) 2 Detroit (4) _ | 7 Philadelphia (1) |_ 2 Detroit (4) _____| _ 6 Indiana (2) 3 Boston (3) ______| 6 Indiana (4) Second Round (Central times) *if necessary Friday, May 20 Game 6: Phoenix at Dallas 8:00 pm ESPN Sunday, May 22 *Game 7: Dallas at Phoenix 2:30 pm ABC Conference Finals (Central times) *if necessary Monday, May 23 Game 1: Detroit at Miami 7:00 pm TNT Wednesday, May 25 Game 2: Detroit at Miami 7:00 pm TNT Sunday, May 29 Game 3: Miami at Detroit 7:00 pm TNT Tuesday, May 31 Game 4: Miami at Detroit 7:00 pm TNT Thrusday, June 2 *Game 5: Detroit at Miami 7:00 pm TNT Saturday, June 4 *Game 6: Miami at Detroit 7:00 pm TNT Monday, June 6 *Game 7: Detroit at Miami 7:00 pm TNT