Many have eagerly waited for the new season of Pros vs. Joes to debut, the first episode this season was a special one.  Rather than having three unknown Joes they had NFL players as Joes playing against NBA Pros, whoever thought of the idea is a genius.  The teams were Donovan McNabb, Antonio Gates, and Terrell Owens for the Joe team, and Rick Fox, Kenny Smith, and Hakeem Olajuwon for the Pros team.

The first contest that was up was called “Cut Throat” where they went 1 on 1 against each other, if the player scored on the defender then the defender had to rotate.  If the defender stopped him from scoring then the offensive player would have to rotate with one of the others.  First team to five points wins the game.

T.O. starts out against Olajuwon, and T.O. takes a jab step to back Olajuwon up and then drains shot over Olajuwon who was anticipating a drive to the basket from Owens.  Rick Fox is then rotated onto defense, and T.O. wastes no time and takes Rick fox to hole scoring a layup over him.  Kenny Smith then comes on to guard T.O., and T.O. tries to pump fake Kenny.  Kenny does not fall for it and successfully defended Owens who missed the 15 foot jumper.

Kenny Smith then goes on offense, and he fakes a drive to the basked against Donovan McNabb.  But McNabb does not commit to the basket fully and managed to get a hand in Kenny’s face as he misses the jump shot.  Gates fouls Olajuwon to prevent him from scoring, and gets rotated off.  T.O. comes on to guard Olajuwon, and he fouls him, but Olajuwon still manages to make the shot.

McNabb rotates on to guard Olajuwon, he backs McNabb down into the post and scores over him easily.  It was now Antonio Gates turn to guard “The Dream”.  Olajuwon drives to the basket and scores over Gates in the paint.  T.O. comes on and manages to prevent Olajuwon from scoring by stripping the ball away from him.

T.O. then drains a shot over Rick Fox who was totally lost when he came on to defend.  T.O. used his size to back Kenny Smith down in the post, but he was fouled by Kenny Smith which was a smart play to prevent T.O. from an easy bucket.  Olajuwon comes on, and gets closer to T.O. this time.  T.O. takes a jab step, but decides to do a step back three pointer.  He shoots an air ball because Olajuwon gave him less room this time.  McNabb comes on and has to stop Olajuwon or the Joes lose the first challenge.  Hakeem goes to his patented move and Dream Shakes McNabb, nothing but net the NBA Pros win the first challenge.

The next challenge is a game called Buzzer Beater where the offensive team tries to inbound the ball and get a shot off in five seconds.  Each team gets three tries and the highest score wins.

McNabb Steals Rick Fox’s pass on the give and go, it was a horrible pass by Fox.  They start again and pass the ball around, eventually working a Pass to Olajuwon in the paint who scored easily.  McNabb Steals Pass from Olajuwon on the inbound when he tries to tap it out to Kenny Smith.  The teams switch sides, and McNabb Misses 3 pointer.  They inbound the ball to Gates who misses 2 point jumper from the elbow.  They inbound to McNabb who pass back to, who then T.O. misses layup but taps the rebound out to Gates who drains 3 pointer Joes win.

The next game was Fast Break where two defenders try to stop all three offensive players running a fast break, each team gets three chances to score with the most points winning.

T.O. and Gates decide to stop Olajuwon and make Kenny Smith beat them with jumpers, “the jet” drains a jumper when they left him wide open.  T.O. says he will miss eventually and they employ the same strategy, Kenny Smith Drains another jumper against T.O. and Gates.  They say that he can’t make three in a row and go with the same game plan, and Kenny Smith Drains yet another jumper against them.

They NFL Joes get their chance and they run a Give and Go with McNabb and Gates, McNabb lays it in over Kenny Smith for an easy score.  The NBA players sub in Olajuwon for Kenny Smith, and that caused T.O. to avoid going all the way in the paint and he missed a runner in the lane.  Gates gets the rebound, but Olajuwon affects the shot and snatches the rebound.  The NBA Pros take this challenge.

That now brings us to the Final Game where they have a five minute three on three basketball game, and of course the highest score wins.  The NFL Joes start out with three points because they won one challenge.  Joes start out up 3 – 0 and taking a bunch of jumpers, McNabb drives to the basket and lays it in 5 – 0 Joes.  T.O. blocks Olajuwon and kicks it out to McNabb who drains a 3 pointer to make the score 8 – 0.  Rick fox hits a two from the baseline to put the Pros on the board 8 – 2, McNabb makes one of the free throws after being fouled by Rick Fox.  Terrell Owens steals the pass from Kenny Smith hits a three pointer and the Joes go up 12 – 2 on the pros.

Gates fouls Olajuwon which seems to be the game plan for the Joes, they take the ball out.  They throw it in to Olajuwon again and he hits both free throws to make the score 12 – 4 joes.  Pass it in to McNabb who backs Kenny Smith down and passes to Gates for a backdoor layup on Olajuwon.  T.O. pump fakes the dream goes around him to the hole and gets fouled by Rick Fox, T.O. misses both free throws and Olajuwon gets the rebound, it is kicked out to Kenny Smith who drains a three pointer to make it 14 – 7 joes.  Gates gets a pass on the wing and he takes Olajuwon to the hole and scores on him baseline to mek the score 16 – 7.  Olajuwon hits a shot over Gates gets fouled and misses the free throw.  T.O. misses a drive to the basket Kenny Smith grabs the rebound kicks it out to Rick fox who drains a three pointer.

Gates gets the ball and is fouled hard then misses both of the free throws, Olajuwon gets a deflection and scores to make the score 16 – 14 Joes.  Olajuwon backs Gates down in the post and gets fouled, but hits a shot and then he misses the free throw.  The score is now tied, T.O. does a step back three pointer and drains it.  Olajuwon is then fouled by Antonio Gates and drains both free throws to make the score 18 – 18 with 21.8 seconds left in the game.  The Joes try to run the clock out, and McNabb takes a turnaround layup I the lane and misses, and the ball is rebounded by Olajuwon as Rick Fox calls timeout with 1.5 seconds left.  Olajuwon misses the shot from the inbound pass by Rick Fox, and the game goes into overtime.  T.O. takes a shot gets his own miss and lays it in over Rick Fox.  Rick Fox in bounds to Olajuwon and he is immediately fouled, he misses the 1 and 1, T.O. rebounds kicks out to McNabb who drains a 3 pointer to make the score 23 – 18 Joes.

They foul Olajuwon again who misses the 1 and 1 which is rebounded by Gates, the joes miss a shot and the ball gets kicked out to Kenny Smith who drains another three pointer.  Gates gets the pass from McNabb drives to the basket and is fouled by Rick Fox, gates makes 1 of 2 free throws.  On the miss Kenny Smith misses a three pointer and T.O. grabs the rebound and knocks down a 2 poitner to make the sore 26 – 21 joes.  Olajuwon gets a quick pass and shot in the basked to make it 23 – 26.  They joes inbound the ball to McNabb who backs down Rick Fox and is fouled, he sinks both free throws to make the score 28 – 23 joes with 13.1 seconds left in overtime.  T.O. breaks up the pass to Olajuwon and kicks it out to McNabb who runs out the clock to seal the victory for the joes.

What a great way to start the season, the NFL Joes surprisingly beat the NBA Pros.  I think Kenny Smith and Hakeem Olajuwon were great choices, but Rick Fox was the weak link.  He hardly scored and he played fairly garbage defense, which led to a lot of shots and opportunities for the team of McNabb, Gates, and Owens who all contributed to the win.  T.O. was the star though, hitting shots, blocking Olajuwon, and making a ton of hustle plays he can probably play in the NBA right now.  We will see what Michael Vick does on the show next week, but it’s good that this show is back on the air finally.