NEW YORK — Austin Rivers

Entering Tuesday’s New Orleans Hornets game at Philadelphia, the 6-foot-4 former Duke star has gone scoreless in four straight games.

In Sunday’s 100-87 loss to the Knicks, Rivers didn’t even attempt a single shot. He went scoreless and played less than four minutes.

“I think this is my fourth game in row I haven’t scored,” a dejected Rivers told SNY.tv in the visitors’ locker room at Madison Square Garden. “I didn’t even shoot a shot [Sunday]. You know what I mean?

In Tuesday’s 111-99 win at Philadelphia, Rivers went 0-for-1 with one point.

The No. 10 pick in June’s NBA Draft, Rivers is averaging 6.4 points and 2.1 assists in his rookie season, a far cry from the 15.5 points he averaged last season at Duke or the 29.2 points he averaged as a senior at Winter Park (Fla.) High School when he was named the Naismith High School Player of the Year in 2011.

“It is frustrating,” Rivers told SNY.tv. “It’s a lot more because I’ve done well this year, so it’s just like I know I can do it. Now people [on the Hornets] are back, everybody’s healthy, so my leeway is really tiny. So I just gotta go out there and just keep playing. It’s just tough.”

Rivers has started 22 of 36 games for the Hornets, with his season-high of 27 points coming Dec. 14 in a loss to Minnesota. But he hasn’t reached double-figure scoring in a game since a Dec. 28 loss to Toronto.

“I gotta go out there and be aggressive,” he said. “That way when you earn more time, you get more plays. When you get more plays, you get more rebounds and stops and you talk more and you be more of a leader. And that all starts with just playing hard. And you gotta just start that I guess in practice, that’s where I gotta do it. And just earn my way back to the point where I’m playing more.”

So far this year, 25 members of the 2012 NBA Draft class have been assigned to the NBA D-League, including former Kentucky standout Darius Miller of the Hornets, as well as younger players like Jeremy Lamb (Oklahoma City Thunder), Kendall Marshall (Phoenix Suns), Terrence Jones (Houston Rockets) and Doron Lamb (Milwaukee Bucks).

Rivers said he doesn’t think he or those younger players came out of college too early because they had to take the opportunity to play in the NBA when it came.

“A lot of times, guys are in tough situations,” Rivers said. “You look at players like Doron Lamb and any of those guys, they’re in a situation where if they stay one more year, it might hurt them. And that’s just the way it works. Unfortunately, that is the way it works.”

Asked if he felt that way, Rivers said: “No, I felt like, no offense, with the team that they have this year [at Duke] I probably could’ve went higher [this year]. But I wasn’t really worried about if I was the 10th or fifth pick, my whole thing was, I have an opportunity ahead of me and this is my dream and I want to get here. And the sooner I get here, the better I’ll get. And that’s what my whole thing is, and I have.”

Hornets coach Monty Williams, whose team also features Anthony Davis, the No. 1 pick in the draft, understands things can be rough for rookies.

“I think that’s what you’re going to deal with the younger guys and I totally understand it,” Williams told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. ”You’re going to have those ups and downs.”

Rivers hopes the downs go away in the next couple of days. That date with his father is looming on Wednesday in Boston.

“He’s know my game better than anyone else in this league,” Austin said. “He knows my tendencies, not all of them.

“I got a couple tricks up my sleeve that I don’t share with my pop. But at the end of the day those guys don’t (know). Even though he knows everything he can’t share every thought he has about my game. Just like I watched Paul Pierce every game, it doesn’t mean I can stop him.”

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NEW YORK 

Without the Boston Celtics to coach, Doc Rivers attended his son’s first eight games at Duke, including making that, ahem, tough trip to Maui.

“My first eight games he was at every single game front and center supporting me, which is really neat,” Austin said after scoring a team-best 18 points despite fouling out in No. 5 Duke’s 86-80 win over Washington on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

“I’ve never once been part of an NBA lockout, and the fact that my dad got to come to my games for once was pretty neat because he usually never got to. Back in my high school and my whole life, he’s come to one to three games a year.”

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Two future Duke players and a pair of Kentucky signees showed a glimpse of the talents they will bring to their future schools at the Nike Hoop Summit.

During a 92-80 win over the World Select Team Saturday night at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore., the USA was led by 20 points from Duke-bound guard Austin Rivers.

The USA also received a double-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots from 6-9 Kentucky commit Anthony Davis; 16 points, five rebounds and five blocks from 6-7 Kentucky-bound forward Michael Gilchrist and 12 points and three assists from future Duke point guard Quinn Cook.

“This is my first time playing with USA Basketball, and it’s a great opportunity that I got selected and got to play with them, and playing against the top talent in the world,” said Davis. “We really locked down on defense. Defense leads to offensive fast breaks, and that’s how we got our points. Luckily we came out with the win.”

(Photo, release courtesy USA Basketball)

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Who is the National High School Player of the Year?

“I think I have worked hard, and it would be a blessing to win,” the Duke-bound Rivers said Thursday by text.

Speaking on behalf of Gilchrist, St. Patrick coach Kevin Boyle said: “On the year he had with the schedule we had, he has as much right to that as anybody, Austin Rivers or other guys that are mentioned, without question.”

The 6-foot-4 Rivers has already captured the Naismith High School Player of the Year award, beating out three future Kentucky Wildcats — Gilchrist, Marquis Teague and Anthony Davis.

Rivers announced on Twitter: “Found out that I’m the Naismith Player of the Year! Truly blessed….I got to thank god, my family, and all my supporters! Love y’all!”

There are several other National Player of the Year awards — Morgan Wootten, USA Today and Gatorade.

Rivers led Winter Park (28-5) to its second straight Florida 6A state title this year. He averaged 25.5 points during the playoffs, 3.5 below his season average.

The 6-7 Gilchrist averaged 19.4 points for a St. Patrick team that finished 26-1 after losing the unofficial national championship game to St. Anthony, 62-45, Wednesday night at Rutgers. He averaged 13.6 points in three state tournament games.

Kentucky coach John Calipari was on hand to watch Gilchrist struggle to get 7 points on 2-for-11 shooting while grabbing 14 boards and making 5 blocks.

“I would throw out [Wednesday] night’s game,” said longtime New York recruiting analyst Tom Konchalski, who attended the game.

“If I had a vote for National Player of the Year, I would vote for Michael Gilchrist.”

Konchalski has watched both Rivers and Gilchrist numerous times.

“Austin Rivers is the transcendent talent in the Class of 2011,” he said. “But I think Michael Gilchrist is the best high school player. He plays every possession. He plays for the name on the front of the jersey.

“He never played against the the kind of help defense that he played against [Wednesday] night. Lucky Jones did a great job of staying in front of him and  he got help.

“Michael Gilchrist, the adrenaline was pumping too hard [Wednesday] night. He was too jacked up. He usually lets the game come to him. He lost his composure and he tried to do too much.”

[poll id="8"]

Gene Pingatore of St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Ill. will lead the West team and Bob Cimmino of Mount Vernon (N.Y.) will serve as head coach of the East team.

WEST

Wayne Blackshear (Louisville)

Branden Dawson (Michigan State)

Myck Kabongo (Texas)

Austin Rivers (Duke)

Marquis Teague (Kentucky)

Khem Birch (Pittsburgh)

Anthony Davis (Kentucky)

LeBryan Nash (Oklahoma State)

Adonis Thomas (Memphis)

Amir Williams (Ohio State)

Kyle Wiltjer (Kentucky)

Cody Zeller (Indiana)

EAST

Brad Beal (Florida)

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Georgia)

Michael Carter-Williams (Syracuse)

Quinn Cook (Duke)

P.J. Hairston (North Carolina)

Shannon Scott (Ohio State)

Chane Behanan (Louisville)

Rakeem Christmas (Syracuse)

Michael Gilchrist (Kentucky)

James McAdoo (North Carolina)

Johnny O’Bryant III (LSU)

Marshall Plumlee (Duke)

NOTES:

**Oak Hill has had 26 McDonald’s All-Americans, including Cook, Brandon Jennings, Ty Lawson, Eric Devendorf, Rajon Rondo, Carmelo Anthony and Jerry Stackhouse.

**North Carolina has had 44 McDonald’s All-Americans.

**Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has had 41 himself.

**All four Kentucky recruits for 2011 made the game.

**Five Big East recruits were selected: Blackshear and Behanan (Louisville), Carter-Williams and Christmas (Syracuse) and Birch (Pitt).

**Birch is Pitt’s 6th Mickey D’s All-American, following Dante Taylor, Charles Smith, Jerome Lane, Bobby Martin and Brian Shorter.

**Cody is the third Zeller brother to play in the game, following Luke and Tyler.

**Kabongo, Wiltjer and Birch are all Canadians.

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Gilchrist, the 6-foot-7 Kentucky signee, held up his end of the bargain by dropping a career-high 34 points and 13 rebounds as Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick downed Mater Dei, 71-61, in the semifinals of the City of Palms Classic in Fort Meyers, Fla.

But Duke-bound Rivers and Winter Park came up short, 63-62, to Milton (Ga.) in the other semi.

St. Patrick, ranked No. 11 by USA Today, will face No. 15 Milton at 9:30 on ESPNU.

Mater Dei meets Winter Park in the consolation game at 7:30.

“I’m a team guy and I don’t care about the rankings at all,” Gilchrist told the New York Post. “I’m my own man, I just try to play my game every night and I just try to win.”

“I thought he was great that he was so diverse tonight,” St. Patrick coach Kevin Boyle told the Post. “He pushed to the rim and scored, he posted and scored, he hit some threes and some mid-range shots off of screen-downs for him. The kid is just a winner.”

Western Kentucky commit Derrick Gordon, who scored his career-high of 37 points in St. Patrick’s victory over Whitney Young (Ill.) Saturday, added 17 points and freshman big man Dakari Johnson put up 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Gilchrist and Rivers will tangle on Jan. 14 when the teams meet up at Winter Park in a game to be shown on ESPN2.

MCLEMORE, COOK LEAD OAK HILL TO TITLE

Duke-bound point guard Quinn Cook and uncommitted senior guard Ben McLemore paced Oak Hill Academy to the Iolani Classic title with a 58-44 win over Montverde Academy Tuesday night in Hawaii.

Cook was named MVP after posting 22 points and five assists and Jordan Adams had nine points and 14 rebounds. McLemore was named Most Outstanding Player of the event.

In the consolation game, West Virginia-bound point guard Jabarie Hinds of Mount Vernon dropped 30 points in a 69-57 win over Dr. Phillips (Fla.).

All Tournament Team:

• Treg Setty – Mason County
• Micah Dunhour – Academy of the Pacific
• Micah Christensen – Kamehameha
• Shane Larkin – Dr. Philips
• Charles Mitchell – Wheeler
• Trevyn Tulonghari – Iolani
• Steve Missi – Montverde
• Taylor Martin – Lexington Catholic
• Mason Kualii-Moe – Kaimuki
• Zeqi Wang – Tsinghua
• Wesley Armbrust – Moanalua
• Jordan Adams – Oak Hill
• Jabarie Hinds – Mount Vernon
• Patricio Garino – Montverde
• Scott Schuette – Lexington Catholic

JORDAN CLASSIC MOVING TO NORTH CAROLINA

The 2011 Jordan Brand Classic will not take place at Madison Square Garden.

Instead, it will be held in Charlotte, N.C. on Saturday, April 16, 2011 at the Time Warner Cable Arena.

“We are thrilled that for 10 years the Jordan Brand Classic has been the premier destination where the biggest names in youth basketball can display their talents in a competitive environment while also receiving teaching that will leave them equipped to reach their goals of being successful both on and off the court,” said Keith Houlemard, President of Jordan Brand.

This marks the second major high school event to leave New York City in the past year. The Boost Mobile Elite 24 game shifted to Venice Beach, Calif., from Harlem’s Rucker Park.

RELATED CONTENT

**Elite high school hoops schedule

**ESPN high school schedule

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Rivers now has 70 points in two games at the event.

“He just continues to amaze me and everybody else in the stands,” Wildcats coach David Bailey told the Orlando Sentinel.

Winter Park faces Alpharetta, Ga., Milton (9-1) in one semifinal Tuesday at 7 at Bishop Verot High School.

Winter Park is Florida’s defending large-classification state champ. Milton is Georgia’s defending large-class (5A) state champion.

In the other semifinal, Kentucky-bound Michael Gilchrist and Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick meet Mater Dei (Calif.), a 59-54 win over Christ School.

ESPNU will show the third-place game Wednesday at 7:30 and the championship at 9:30.

OAK HILL, MONTVERDE IN HAWAII FINAL

Oak Hill Academy and Montverde Academy will face off for the championship of the Iolani Classic Tuesday night in Hawaii after both teams won their semifinal matchups.

Oak Hill downed Dr. Phillip (Fla.), 81-51, behind a game-high 22 points from Keith Hornsby, son of the musician Bruce Hornsby.

Unbeaten Oak Hill (14-0) features Duke-bound point guard Quinn Cook but is playing without injured Arizona commit Sidiki Johnson (foot).

“Sidiki Johnson rehabbing well, should be back second semester,” Warriors coach Steve Smith tweeted. “Hope to have him for the Hall of Fame game in Springfield, MA.”

Montverde beat Mount Vernon, 64-37, behind Steve Missi’s 18 points and Patricio Garino’s 17.

West Virginia-bound point guard Jabarie Hinds paced Mount Vernon (N.Y.) with 13 points.

Dr. Phillip and Mount Vernon meet at 6:30 Tuesday Hawaii time in the consolation game.

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**Elite high school hoops schedule

**ESPN high school schedule

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St. Patrick, ranked No. 11 by USA Today, beat Chicago Whitney Young, 92-68, in the quarterfinals of the City of Palms Classic behind 37 points from Western Kentucky signee Derrick Gordon.

St. Pat’s on Tuesday will face the winner of Monday’s game between Mater Dei (Calif.) and Christ School (N.C.).

Gordon’s made 12 of 20 shots, including 6 of 9 from 3-point range, to go with three steals.

Kentucky-bound Michael Gilchrist added 13 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists.

Ohio State commit Sam Thompson scored  17 points to pace Young. Paul White added 14.

Also at the City of Palms, Duke-bound guard Austin Rivers scored 28 points on 11 of 17 shooting as Winter Park downed Reserve (La.)-Riverside, 75-63, in the first round.

Rivers is now eight points shy of moving past former Brooklyn Lincoln star  Lance Stephenson for third place on the City of Palms’ all-time scoring list.

MOUNT VERNON, OAK HILL INTO SEMIS IN HAWAII

At the Iolani Classic in Hawaii, West Virginia-bound guard Jabarie Hinds posted 22 points and six assists to lead Mount Vernon past Mason County (Ky.), 59-53.

Mount Vernon, ranked No. 14 by USA Today, faces Montverde (Fla.) Academy in Monday’s semis. Montverde beat Lexington (Ky.) 59-47.

In other quarterfinal action, Duke-bound guard Quinn Cook dropped 31 points as No. 1 Oak Hill Academy beat local Iolani High, 81-53.

In the other semi, Oak Hill plays Dr. Phillips, which edged Wheeler, 63-62.

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2010 Naismith Boy’s High School Player of the Year Watch List

NEW YORK

Austin Rivers is a 6-foot-3 shooting guard from Winter Park (Fla.) who signed with Duke last month. If he and Irving were to play together, they could form one of the most explosive backcourts in the nation.

“Oh yeah, he’s hoping to play with Kyrie,” Doc said Wednesday before the Celtics-Knicks game at MSG. “That still may or may not happen, whether he’s injured or not. But I’m just hoping Kyrie is back and healthy. He’s a terrific player.”

Irving, a freshman out of West Orange, N.J. and Elizabeth St. Patrick, has been out with a toe injury since the Dec. 4 victory over Butler at the Izod Center. It remains uncertain when he’ll return.

Irving is projected as a lottery pick in the 2011 NBA Draft and it is unclear whether he would come out after an abbreviated freshman season or not. Doc said he didn’t think a potential NBA lockout would influence college players. The NBA Draft will take place before the collective bargaining agreement is set to expire June 30.

“I don’t know,” Doc said. “I don’t think the lockout will honestly matter whether guys come in or stay out. I think they’re gonna do what they’re gonna do.”

What is clear is that Rivers, who dropped 46 points in his season opener, would love the chance to play with Irving, who dropped 31 on Michigan State before the injury.

“He would love to play with him,” Doc said. “Yeah, that’d be fun.”

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