Yes, this alley-oop pass from Rajon Rondo to Kenneth Faried was ridiculous. Yes, I’m excited to be writing about a real life basketball play rather than a make-believe deadline David Stern pulled out of his you-know-what. Yes, the announcer — “I’ve gotta see it again. I’ve gotta see it again! Oh, and the dunk. Onions!” — was almost as awesome as the play.

But who in the world are Rondo and Faried playing? It looks like my college alumni game, not an All-Star exhibition that should be featuring NBA players. Either that, or it looks like a beer league softball team won some kind of lottery and got to try its hand against Rondo and the Kentucky All-Stars.

The Kentucky “Big Blue All-Stars” were playing the Union College Bulldogs — yes, that’s right, the Division II Union College Bulldogs, and beat them 125-104. Union spends most of its time trying to defeat teams like Milligan College, Alice Loyd College and Bluefield College, finishing .500 last season, and then, oh yeah, why don’t they try to stop Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins?

No matter what, that’s a sick pass. But if Rajon Rondo ever gets hurt while playing an exhibition game against the freaking Union College Bulldogs, I’m personally marching to David Stern’s house and becoming an arsonist. If Wyc Grousbeck isn’t going to protect his assets, somebody has to do it.

But the real story of this highlight tape is Josh McRoberts, who briefly became Vince Carter at the 0:59 mark. I don’t think I’m hallucinating, but then again, I also don’t think McBob is capable of doing a backwards 360 dunk equipped with a between-the-legs maneuver. In a game that sees Jeff Green pull down 12 rebounds, I guess anything is possible.

The lesson, as always: Jeff Green is far more likely to succeed when the defenders act like statues. Then again, I guess everybody’s far more likely to succeed in that scenario.

But especially Jeff Green.

(h/t Red’s Army)

You thought I would be impressed, right? Wrong. Austin Rivers stole that crossover straight from me. I was roasting 35-year old dudes with the same move in my summer league game Wednesday night. I even almost scored a couple times. I didn’t see Rivers in the crowd at my game, but he must have been there taking notes. There’s no other explanation.

Bill Simmons wrote a piece about the expanding primes of today’s generation of NBA players, including Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Here’s what he wrote about Allen:

I hope you enjoyed the “Reggie Miller versus Ray Allen” debate. It’s been over for a year. Right now, Ray ranks second in 3-pointers made (2,543, just 17 behind Reggie; nobody else is within 800 of them) and second in 3s attempted (6,388), only he’s made 40 percent of them (one of 40 players who can say that). He’s also the fourth-best free throw shooter ever (89.4 percent). Given his phenomenal work ethic, we can safely say 25,000 points, 3,000 made 3s and a 45-40-90 career percentages are in play. I just don’t think we’re seeing that again. His extended prime made him the most efficient shooting guard who ever lived; throw in his clutch shooting numbers (see sidebar) and it’s been a wildly underrated career.

Other than Reggie, you know who the biggest loser is here? Sam Presti, who made a totally defensible trade when he was rebuilding Seattle around Kevin Durant in 2007 (Allen and the rights to Glen Davis for the rights to Jeff Green, Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak’s expiring contract) and never imagined he was giving up five or six more killer Ray Allen seasons.

You know what’s the perfect description of Ray’s game? It’s exactly like Yosemite Falls. Just ask Bill Walton.

I was proud to call myself a Boston Celtics fan yesterday. More proud than usual.

Only a fan base that understands basketball can appreciate Perk enough to offer him such a long, standing ovation. Only a fan base that values hard work can feel so much love for Perk, the classic hard hat player without very many offensive skills. Some places, Perk’s contributions would go unnoticed. But not in Boston. No way.

I loved how Perk acknowledged his reception, too. Just a small wave, as if to tell the crowd, “I hear you.” Then, as usual, Perk went back to work. He didn’t smile, because he doesn’t do that on a basketball court. He waved his arm to accept the gracious support, then boxed out his opponent like his life depended on securing the rebound. Not even the standing ovation, which must have felt so great to hear, could keep Perk from concentrating on his job.

“They showed a lot of love,” he told WEEI after the game. “It was a great feeling.”

But during the game, Perk remained focus on completing his job. Not even the perfect reception could get him off track.