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NBA Finals game 3 took place today, with the Magic fighting off a late Laker rally to win their first game of the series 108-104. A lot has been made about Lakers/Magic, about Kobe, about Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, Pau Gasol, etc. However, the two players who have curiously become afterthoughts in the series, are the two players who were on top of the sports world, or at least the college sports world, in 2006, Adam Morrison and JJ Redick.

In 2006, Morrison/Redick was the big rivalry in college basketball, even though Adam Morrison, then with Gonzaga, and JJ Redick, then with Duke, played on opposite sides of the country and never played a game against each other. The rivalry was for stardom and to see who could score more. In the 2005-2006 season, Redick, now with Orlando, scored 964 in 36 games, bringing his career total to an amazing 2769. Morrison scored just short of 964, with 926, though he did it in 33 games. Overall, Morrison, now a Laker, scored 1867 points in his college career, despite skipping his senior season to play pro ball. Although neither of them won the national championship, both ended the 2006 season on top of the college basketball world, ready for what the NBA would bring. Both were projected to be top 10 picks.

Morrison, drawing comparisons to Larry Bird, went 3rd overall in 2006, to the Charlotte Bobcats. Redick slipped out of the top 10, going #11 to Orlando. However, NBA scouts both overlooked a lot of things on these two prospects, focusing mostly on their ability to put the ball in the bucket. Neither were athletic. Morrison had the height of a power forward, but not the size, and he wasn’t good enough of an outside defender to play small forward against the best, most athletic scorers in the NBA. Redick, at 6-4, was two small to play shooting guard, but he couldn’t handle the ball, run the floor, distribute the ball, or run an offense well enough to play point guard.

Morrison’s rookie season was good offensively, as he scored 11.8 points per game in 29.8 minutes per game. However, his lack of athleticism showed greatly as he was unable to create his own shot, shooting only 37% from the floor. The transition to the NBA 3 was tough as well as Morrison, known for his long range ability in college, shot 33% from three. His lack of defensive skills and rebounding skills showed as well. Morrison, despite being 6-8 had 6 blocks all year and averaged 2.9 rebounds per game. He had only 28 steals as well. Then in 2007, he was hurt and missed the entire season. He never rebounded. He struggled even more in 2008, averaging 4.5 points per game, on a 36% clip. Midseason, the former 3rd overall pick was traded to Los Angeles, along with Shannon Brown, for Vladimir Radmanovic.

Redick’s career got off to a worse start. He played saw playing time as a rookie, getting 14.8 minutes per game. He scored well in those minutes, getting 6.0 per game, and overall his shooting percentages were higher than Morrison’s, but his lack of size and athleticism showed as Redick did not contribute much else on the court other than a situational shooter. In 2007, his career role became limited more. He played only 8.1 minutes per game, not even playing half of the games, as the 10th or 11th man on the roster. This season, Redick has gotten more of a role, actually making 5 starts, but again he only averaged 6.0 points per game in 17.4 minutes, and did very little other than score. However, his team surprised many in the playoffs, where Redick has actually made 8 starts, and they might the West’s best, the Los Angeles Lakers, where Adam Morrison sits at the end of the bench, yet to get any playing team for the Lakers’ deep roster.

Coming out of college, many believed Redick and Morrison could be the ones to take their teams to the Finals. Now here they are, in the Finals against each other, but in a completely different way than one could have imagined when these two were on top of the world back in 2006.