The participants in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge were selected by the NBA’s assistant coaches, with each team submitting one ballot. The head coaches for the Rookie and Sophomore teams will be the lead assistants from the 2006 NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs. Sidney Lowe, Detroit Pistons assistant coach, will serve as the head coach for the Rookies and the Sophomores will be led by Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Del Harris. NBA Legends Elvin Hayes (Rookies) and Moses Malone (Sophomores) will serve as assistant coaches.
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Villanueva and Bogut will try to lead the Rookies to their first win over the Sophs since 2002.
Gary Dineen/NBAE/Getty Images |
In last year’s contest, the Denver Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony led the Sophomores to a 133-106 victory, and earned the Most Valuable Player award after scoring 17 of his 31 points in the second half.
Joining Bogut on the Rookie team are Luther Head of the Houston Rockets; Danny Granger and Sarunas Jasikevicius of the Indiana Pacers; Chris Paul of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets; Channing Frye and Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks; Charlie Villanueva of the Toronto Raptors; and Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz.
Teaming with Howard on the Sophomore team are Emeka Okafor of the Charlotte Bobcats, who is injured and will not participate; Luol Deng, Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni of the Chicago Bulls; Devin Harris of the Dallas Mavericks; T.J. Ford of the Milwaukee Bucks; Nenad Krstic of the New Jersey Nets; Jameer Nelson of the Orlando Magic and Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers.
If a rookie or second-year player is selected to play in the All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 19, he will also play in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge on Friday evening.
This is the seventh year of the rookie-sophomore format with the Sophomores leading the series 4-2. The game will be played in two 20-minute halves, with each team allowed one full timeout and one 20-second timeout per half. There will be one mandatory TV timeout in each half. Individual foul totals will be kept, but a player can not foul out. A team will be in the penalty situation after 10 team fouls or after the second foul in the final two minutes of each half. In the event of a tie game, there will be a two-minute overtime to determine the winner. The Clock will stop after each successful field goal in the last minute of each half.
For the second consecutive year, NBA.com will provide basketball fans with the opportunity to have their vote count towards selecting the MVP of the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge, as part of the site's exclusive NBA All-Star 2006 coverage.
The NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 19, will air live on TNT, Rogers Sportsnet and ESPN Radio at 8 p.m. EST. The game will also be telecast in 215 countries and broadcast on NBA.com.
ROOKIE TEAM ROSTER
| Player | Team | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | School/Country |
| Andrew Bogut | Milwaukee | F | 7-0 | 245 | Utah |
| Luther Head | Houston | G | 6-3 | 185 | Illinois |
| Channing Frye | New York | F | 6-11 | 248 | Arizona |
| Danny Granger | Indiana | F | 6-9 | 228 | New Mexico |
| Sarunas Jasikevicius | Indiana | G | 6-4 | 197 | Maryland |
| Chris Paul | NOK | G | 6-0 | 175 | Wake Forest |
| Nate Robinson | New York | G | 5-9 | 180 | Washington |
| Charlie Villanueva | Toronto | F | 6-11 | 240 | Connecticut |
| Deron Williams | Utah | G | 6-3 | 210 | Illinois |
Head Coach – Sidney Lowe, Detroit Pistons Assistant Coach – Elvin Hayes
SOPHOMORE TEAM ROSTER | |||||
| Player | Team | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | School/Country |
| Luol Deng | Chicago | G/F | 6-9 | 220 | Duke |
| T.J. Ford | Milwaukee | G | 6-0 | 165 | Texas |
| Ben Gordon | Chicago | G | 6-3 | 200 | Connecticut |
| Devin Harris | Dallas | G | 6-3 | 185 | Wisconsin |
| Dwight Howard | Orlando | C/F | 6-11 | 265 | SW Atlanta Christian Academy |
| Andre Iguodala | Philadelphia | F | 6-6 | 207 | Arizona |
| Nenad Krstic | New Jersey | C | 7-0 | 240 | Serbia & Montenegro |
| Jameer Nelson | Orlando | G | 6-0 | 190 | Saint Joseph’s |
| Andres Nocioni | Chicago | F | 6-7 | 225 | Argentina |
| *Emeka Okafor | Charlotte | F/C | 6-10 | 252 | Connecticut |
Head Coach – Del Harris, Dallas Mavericks
Assistant Coach – Moses Malone
* Will not participate due to injury
PREVIOUS T-Mobile ROOKIE CHALLENGE RESULTS
1994 - Phenoms 74, Sensations 68
1995 - White 83, Green 79 (OT)
1996 - East 94, West 92
1997 - East 96, West 91
1998 - East 85, West 80
2000 - Rookies 92, Sophomores 81 (OT)
2001 - Sophomores 121, Rookies 113
2002 - Rookies 103, Sophomores 97
2003 - Sophomores 132, Rookies 112
2004 - Sophomores 142, Rookies 118
2005 - Sophomores 133, Rookies 106
