People ooh and aah over crossovers when the defenders fall or look flabbergasted. Most of the time, it's a guard or wing who crosses over a defender who plays the same position.
But during the Wizards' 114-100 win over the Bulls on Monday night, we saw a post player cross over a guard instead, when Drew Gooden III crossed over Derrick Rose:
The crossover and the subsequent score are impressive enough. But there's more to this act of greatness.
In October, Otto Porter performed a nice crossover where he fooled a couple defenders in a preseason win over Brazilian team Bauru. Gooden was impressed with the play, but also noted that "the best thing was [his] reaction on the bench," because it's "winning basketball."
Now with this play, it's safe to say that DGIII has one-upped Otto for several reasons.
- Gooden just fooled an NBA player in a regular season game.
- That player was an NBA MVP.
- Gooden scored while making a difficult shot, especially for his position.
- Gooden is an old man for a basketball player -- he's 34. Remember, he was part of the original AARP unit of the 2013-14 season that included Al Harrington, Martell Webster, and Andre Miller! None of those three are with the Wizards now, while Gooden has developed into the team's sage.
If I was DGIII, I'm certainly letting 22-year-old Otto hear about it. Sure, he can't do it all the time. But sometimes, a vet has gotta show the kids that he can still bust a move when he has to.