I
am still living on a high from it
all, the NBA All-Star Weekend, that
is. I have to admit I was a little
worried about this year’s All-Star
Game and how this blog would turn
out.
I hoped that it wouldn’t turn
out like last year. I would talk about
how All-Star Saturday Night delivered
and how the actual All-Star fell to
the wayside. I feared that fans would
watch a game that is supposed to be
played by the league’s cream
of the crop but would be left horribly
unsatisfied.
I knew that by looking at the rosters
anyone could tell that this year would
not be a blow-out but still such a
prediction can’t always be made
and so that thought still sat in the
back of mind.
HOWEVER, now with the 57th NBA All-Star
Weekend all over, I can confidently
say that it was UUHHH-MAAAAAAYY-ZING!
One for the history books even!
I don’t even know where to start...
• Boobie Gibson was on fire
Friday night as the sophomores took
the Rookie/Sophomore Challenge for
the sixth time. He took 20 shots for
beyond the arc and made 11 of them.
A shout-out to the rookie squad, too,
because on paper they kept up with
the sophomores and hung in there until
Boobie took over in both halves.
• A HUGE congratulations to
the Spurs squad of Tim Duncan, David
Robinson and Becky Hammon for winning
the “Haier Shooting Stars Challenge,”
a must since it was embarrassing last
year. After Tony Parker, Steve Kerr
and Kendra Wecker set the record in
2006 for the fastest time completed,
25.1 seconds, Kendra, Tony and George
Gervin came in third place the next
year taking more than a minute to
finish. So, here’s to Tim, David
and Becky for taking care of business
and the Spurs rep!
• Deron Williams set an All-Star
record for the fastest time in the
final round of the “Playstation
Skills Challenge.” His final
round was perfect, he made every shot
and every pass, and finished the course
in 25.5 seconds. (Steve Nash holds
the record for the fastest time ever.)
• Not too much can be said about
Jason Kapono; the boy can shoot them
three balls! He became the first player
to win the “Foot Locker Three-Point
Shootout” title in back-to-back
years and tied the all-time record
set in 1986 by Mark Price (25 points).
• And there was the “Sprite
Slam Dunk Contest”...and I seriously
don’t know really can be said.
I personally think nothing should
be said because that is what Dwight
Howard accomplished...he left us speechless.
He did dunks I don’t think many
even thought physically possible much
less considered attempting themselves.
Then Sunday night came around...and
seriously after Saturday night I didn’t
know if the game was going to be able
to live up to the standard the previous
night’s activities had set.
Needless to say I was pleasantly proven
wrong. The game was what a game played
by the league’s cream of the
crop should be. The East held the
lead for most of the game. There was
that same “Ally-oop Awards”
contest that broke out which was totally
entertaining for fans and players;
did anyone notice the reactions from
the bench? The West made a serious
comeback in the latter part of the
third quarter. The game came down
to the wire and finally the side with
the most gas in the end came out on
top.
Seriously, there was nothing to complain
about.
So I say, hats off to the NBA for
this year’s All-Star Weekend!
Oh yeah, and I can’t forget
to commend the league for the manner
in which it and its players reached
out to “The Big Easy.”
The NBA cares and this weekend’s
efforts in New Orleans proved that.
What were your thoughts
about the 57th NBA All-Star Weekend?
Post them at the Lake Front’s
official myspace page, www.myspace.com/ollulakefront,
and they will be put on the Lake Front
Online next week.
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