Aaron Gray gets some love on TNT

FROM KEITH GROLLER

As someone who covered his high school career at Emmaus High School, I have to say it still fascinates me that I am watching an NBA playoff game from The Staples Center -- complete with Jack Nicholson and Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels in the front row -- and watching Aaron Gray play so remarkably well.

Gray drew rave reviews from TNT announcers Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller as he helped New Orleans get off to a good start in pivotal Game 5 of the Western Conference first-round series late Tuesday night.

The Lakers did go on to win the game, 106-90 and take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series that resumes Thursday in New Orleans.

Gray played 13:48, but didn't score. In fact, he didn't take a shot. He had six rebounds and a blocked shot, with all but one rebound coming in the first half.

It was during the first half that the TNT announcers give him some attention, complete with a graphic charting his performance through the series.

"Aaron Gray, I mean totally out of no place, comes in and stars in Game 1 and has been steady pretty much the entire series," Harlan said after Gray blocked Ron Artest late in the first period. "He's already making his size felt in this Game 5."Aaron-gray

Miller tempered Harlan's praise somewhat.

"I felt he didn't make his size prevalent in Games 2 and 3, but in Games 1 and 4 he was 8-for-8 from the field for a combined 19 points," Miller said. "You're not asking for a lot from Aaron Gray. But he is a big body to match up with Andrew Bynum and he has skills offensively down low. He can score with either hand.

"But more importantly, he can block shots and clog the lane."

Miller, by the way, was a flashy player and since I like UCLA hoops, I liked him a lot in his playing days. But he comes off drabby as a color analyst.

Back to Gray. No matter how it ends, this series is clearly the highlight of his career to this point.

Whenever he's interviewed by one of us from The Morning Call staff, Aaron reminds us that very few people thought he'd be playing in the NBA at this point. Count me in as one who never saw this coming when I was watching him in Emmaus green and gold back in the early 2000s.

But Gray, who will turn 27 in December and is finishing his fourth NBA season, is a testament to what conditioning, desire and work-ethic can do when possessed in a 7-foot body.

He will never go down as one of the Lehigh Valley's best high school basketball players, but he will go down as perhaps the person who became the biggest surprise with what he did after high school.

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