Charlotte Bobcats' D.J. Augustin is an emerging star PG in the NBA./AP Photo

With the NBA in lockout mode, it may be easy to forget how the 2010-11 season reestablished the league as one of the best in pro sp0rts.

While the owners and players try to work things out, here’s a look at my five favorite players who I consider to be under the radar. They can play.

Just aren’t on TV enough for people to notice or they’re playing for bad teams or they’re part of a team that’s a playoff contender or they’re one of many who excel at the same position (Hint! Hint!).

Now I tried to avoid guys who have made the all-star team. That kept hem from including Al Hortford. Guy is an very good player, but teammates Joe Johnson, Josh Smith and even Jamal Crawford get more pub than him in Atlanta.

I could have put guys like Houston Rockets forward Luis Scola on there, but people talk so much about how underrated he is, we all know who is he now.

In closing, I really wanted to put Philadelphia 76ers forward Thaddeus Young on the list, but I want to see how he does with coach Doug Collins for another season. I love Young’s game.

Look for more Top 5′s from me at www.goerie.com/blogs/giveandgo.

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Kyle Goldcamp will throw his body around for the BayHawks for a second straight season starting Friday night.

Been pretty busy as of late.

Trying to do two beats at once (college football/Erie BayHawks) isn’t easy so I need to catch my breath.

So while I’m doing that, you can catch up on the latest BayHawks news heading into Friday’s home opener against Springfield right here, right now.

Cavaliers to send former 1st-round pick Eyenga to BayHawks.

BayHawks whittle down roster 10 for for Friday’s opener.

Raptors rookie to gain experience with Erie BayHawks.

BayHawks hold off Mad Ants (preseason game).

On Friday, look for stories on the Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Christian Eyenga, who is in Erie to play for the BayHawks, a season preview of the BayHawks and a feature on second-year BayHawks forward Kyle Goldcamp.

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Like the first digit of his jersey number, Kentucky freshman point guard John Wall is the top player entering the NBA Draft.

Can five players from one school all wind up being lottery picks in the same year?

John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson, Daniel Orton and Eric Bledsoe sure think so.

They each left the University of Kentucky this year for the NBA Draft, which is next month.

All five are NBA talents and many experts say all five will go in the first round.

The question I have is will Wall, Cousins, Patterson, Orton and Bledsoe be lottery picks. A lottery pick is someone taken in the first 14 picks of the draft.

We all know the 6-foot-4 Wall, who is blessed with tremendous talent, will be the first overall pick. Unless he gets hurt or the Washington Wizards know something the rest of us don’t, they will take Wall with the first overall pick.

Unless you got Kobe Bryant, point guard play is paramount in the NBA. Just see how Rajon Rondo has made Boston a legit title contender.

Didn’t Rondo go to UK too?

So let’s assume the Wizards draft Wall, where would the other four guys fit in the remaining 13 picks in the draft. Let’s take a look.

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Erie BayHawks rookie point guard Cedric Jackson left his mark with the Washington Wizards.

In Washington’s final game of the season, Jackson hit the eventual game-winning shot to beat the Indiana Pacers, 98-97, Wednesday night.

Called up by three different NBA teams – Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Wizards – Jackson should earn a spot on an NBA roster next season.

While looking for highlights of Wednesday’s game, I came across this video of Jackson doing an interview while with the Wizards about the NCAA Tournament.

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“Having said that, this team here offensively, I got to make sure everybody understands that offensively, the last three years, we weren’t good mainly because of me.”

Cleveland coach Mike Brown still preaches defense, but he knows offense, too.

After Cleveland’s 102-84 Game 1 win against the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, I asked Cavaliers coach Mike Brown if this was the best offensive team he’s had either as a head coach or assistant.

Remember Brown was an assistant at San Antonio when the Spurs won a championship and also worked with the Indiana Pacers before going to Cleveland.

There was a time when Cleveland struggled scoring. It was painful to watch to be honest. Now they’re one of the best offensive teams in the league.

So how did Brown address my question?

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