FanHouse Aaron Gray

Rookie hazing is a fact of life in the NBA, and it takes many forms. Some veterans make the rookies pay for a lavish dinner on the road, while others, like Gilbert Arenas, go so far as to steal a rookie's car and paint it pink. So considering the alternatives, making a rookie get a certain brand of donuts before practice doesn't seem like that big of a deal. As it happens, though, that's when Ben Gordon crossed the line. From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Speaking of Gordon, he paid penance Wednesday for taking a sponsor's name in vain. Seems the Bulls' marketing department was none too pleased that Gordon went public with his complaint that Joakim Noah brought the team doughnuts from Dunkin' Donuts each day, instead of from Krispy Kreme, as part of Noah's rookie initiation.

Dunkin' Donuts is a Bulls sponsor -- which is why Gordon found himself serving up pastries and coffee at a Dunkin' Donuts near the Berto Center after practice.

Call it karma, if you will, but I'm not sure that's accurate: if anything, Gordon has all the more reason to step up his hazing game, which can only mean bad things for Chicago rookies Noah, Aaron Gray and JamesOn Curry.

You know what we haven't had enough of yet this pre-season: Position battles. And I'm not talking "this logjam has been here forever" discussion--I want seemingly random, unnecessarily clever coaching tweaks that get us all buzzing.

Like how about this daring duo of moves that, well, almost seem like veiled threats. First, you have Scott Skiles telling the Chicago Tribune that rookie Aaron Gray might start:

"We have to decide, balancing both units, do we want a couple of defensive players in the starting lineup or do we want more offense. Aaron has shown-and I think he will in the regular season-that he can score. Do we want to use that to start a game? It's something we have to think about."

That would mean that Gray--a second-rounder--has leapfrogged lotto guys Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas. Which does make a certain amount of sense, since pairing Gray with Ben Wallace at least gives them an outside shot at offense in the post.

Over at The Knicks Fix, word is that Brian Scalabrine might take Kedrick Perkins's starting spot on the Celtics. This is nothing against Perk, just that "Scalabrine's ability to hit the deep ball and pull one big out of the paint opens up room for Garnett to work on the post." Hmmm. Seems like addition by subtraction to me, when Perkins actually adds something to the team.

The Bulls kicked off their Fan Appreciation Scrimmage at the United Center with a little karaoke competition, pitting three rookies against each other while singing (what else?) Sweet Home Chicago. Thanks to Only the Bulls, we can see that Aaron Gray and JamesOn Curry held their own, but (surprise, surprise) no one got into it as much as Joakim Noah, who somehow managed to exude hustle and energy even while singing a song.
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Some great games this weekend from the Big Ten, here's what I'll be paying attention to:

• #2 Pitt at #7 Wisconsin 12:00 EST - I'm really interested in this game because I think it'll be a great test for Wisconsin. This early in the season it's hard to tell how for real a team is, but if the Badgers play Pitt tough then we'll all know that Wisconsin is a legit top 10 team. That being said, if Pittsburgh is missing 7 foot center Aaron Gray then Wisconsin should roll, and they won't really be tested again until their game against Ohio State on January 9th.
• Purdue vs. #18 Butler 1:00 EST - This is the early game of the John Wooden Classic being held in Indianapolis. A week ago I wouldn't have thought Purdue would have much of a chance against Butler, but that was before Butler lost to Indiana St. last Saturday. It's tough to tell exactly what's going to happen here, but if the Butler that easily beat Tennessee comes to play then Purdue is going to have a long day. But if the Butler that lost last Saturday takes the court the Boilermakers have an excellent shot at pulling off the upset. Carl Landry needs to take over the game if Purdue hopes to win.
• #4 Ohio State vs. Cincinnati 3:45 EST - This is a game that's been a long time coming. These two teams haven't played since the 1962 National Championship game, despite being natural in state rivals. It's a shame that the game comes now, when Cincinnati's basketball program is in shambles. Ohio State will more than likely win big, but hopefully this game can still eventually become a yearly event. UC lacks size, and it's hard to see them having much of an answer for Greg Oden.