Mr. 3,005

There was a moment there tonight when Will Conroy was sitting on 2,999 points that I was concerned he might not get a chance to take another shot. Or, worse, that he might continue to be unselfish and pass it off. The man had 14 assists and there were times when I wished he had less. Conroy passed up on at least two wide-open looks at three-pointers and I'm not really sure why he was tentative to let it fly. Conroy hasn't shot a lot of three-pointers this season for some reason. But when he did let loose, he hit them both, and they were huge.

Conroy, the NBA Development League's all-time leading scorer, is the first to the 3,000 point plateau. Is that a good thing? To quote Shakespear, "aye, there's the rub." What more does this guy have to do to get an extended look in the NBA? He's had three incredible games since returning to the Vipers from a 10-day contract with the Rockets.

Perhaps Conroy is a victim of bad luck. The Rockets, from all accounts, had every intention of giving Conroy a second 10-day contract, but because of the All-Star break, gave a contract to Garrett Temple instead. Temple played well and earned a second 10-day contract. And did you notice when the Rockets made that big trade Kevin Martin came in and not only complicated the guard equation, but took Conroy's #12? If Temple continues to play well, that spot could be his for the rest of the season.

So what does that mean for Conroy? He only came back to the NBA Development League so he could play for the Vipers since the Rockets had a lot of interest in Conroy. He was the last cut out of Rockets training camp, after all. Kyle Lowry is still out, so there's always hope, but what if it becomes clear the Rockets are no longer an option? I reject the notion that would be it for Conroy's NBA chances.

You can't tell me there's not a team out there that wouldn't be helped by having a jack-of-all trades veteran point guard who is not only solid on the court but great in the community.

Are you telling me the New Jersey Nets don't need a back-up point guard for Devin Harris? Conroy would be a perfect fit for the Nets. First of all, they're awful so they might as well see if Conroy can play consistently at the NBA level since they're looking towards next year. I hardly consider the soon to be 30-year old Keyon Dooling a serviceable backup point guard. They need him off the court too. The Nets need some good will in the community in the worst possible way. They're a horrible team and are planning to move twice (first two years in the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ followed by moving to Brooklyn, NY) in the next few years, making the IZOD useless. So why should anyone support them? I have no doubt Conroy could be the community ambassador to fix that.

I have no doubt I could find more teams that could use Conroy, but the point is made.

Look, from a selfish stand point I want Conroy with the Vipers because having him around presents the team with the best possible chance to win a championship. And I like having him around since that means the Rockets can call him up at anytime and he can fit right in since he's already running all of the same plays down here. Remember, the #1 mission of the Vipers is to help the Rockets win an NBA Championship, and having Conroy (and Mike Harris) available for a call-up and seamless integration at anytime certainly helps the Rockets towards that goal.

But I also want to see Conroy get the chance he deserves. He's worked so hard and in my mind Conroy has earned a legitimate chance to prove himself. He has never gotten that and it's about time that changes.