It was good to see Marquette's Steve Novak go to a team that really needs him.
Novak, one of the best 3-point shooters ever to play at Marquette, was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 32nd overall pick at the NBA Draft. He doesn't have a very diverse game; he lacks speed to play full-time on the perimeter and the size to consistently bang down low.
But what I think he can do in the NBA is what he did at Marquette his freshman year — come off the bench and hit a few 3-pointers. There's not much else that he's going to be able to give the Rockets, but that's OK. The Rockets don't need that. They were one of the worst shooting teams in the league last year.
In the Journal Sentinel story, Novak made mention that playing with Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady is just what he needs. He compared it to playing with Robert Jackson, Dwyane Wade and Travis Diener the year Marquette went to the Final Four.
Now, Novak's numbers weren't all that spectacular that year, but he was deadly during the NCAA tournament. Something that surely wasn't lost on the Rockets as they hope to make some noise some day in the NBA playoffs.
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I thought the way Steve Novak ruined Missouri in 2003 was the most amazing thing I had seen one guy do in a pinch. That lasted for six days -- until Dwyane Wade did worse to Kentucky.
But the Missouri overtime has to be the most impressive five minutes of basketball Marquette has ever played. They didn't miss a shot. They scored on every trip down the floor. Never a doubt.
The three he hit from about four feet off the floor in the corner to put the Pitt game out of reach in February is my honorable-mention best Novak memory. The Mizzou OT is runner-up. The runaway favorite has to be watching him pull up from 38 feet just like it was 8 against UConn -- the best game played by any collegian in the 05-06 season.
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