Korver Amazing In Win Over Alston
[HOUSTON, Feb. 25] – With several big names coming into the contest, it figured to be a big event. Kyle Korver and Ray Allen were the favorites this year. Korver made it to the finals last year, but lost to Quentin Richardson 19-18. These two are the only ones back from last year, newcomers are the Jazz’s Andrei Kirilenko, Heat’s Jason Williams, the Raptors’ Rafer Alston, Knick’s Jamal Crawford, Philadelphia’s Gordon Giricek, and Golden State’s Mike Dunleavy.
Round 1
Andrei Kirilenko: Being the first to shoot, he probably wasn’t comfortable. On the first rack he missed his 3rd shot to receive a score of 5, but all hopes of continuing that were dashed as he only made one shot on the 2nd frame and 3, 4, 4, on the following frames for a total of 17. With shooters like Allen, Korver, and Giricek, that most likely would not have been enough.
Final Score: 17
Jason Williams: He is a surprise in the shootout because he’s more known for his flashy passing and less for his jumper, but did he prove the critics wrong. Williams was absolutely on fire for the first 2 racks hitting every ball. As for the other 3, he missed all the money balls and therefore lost 6 points for a total of 24.
Final Score: 24
Kyle Korver: Korver had an interesting outing. It looked as though was struggling, after hitting his first 3 shots, he missed the 4th as well as the money ball. He was perfect on the 2nd rack, but missed the middle ball on the straight up shots. He was perfect on the 4th rack and again missed the middle ball in the corner on the last rack, which put him one in front of Williams.
Final Score: 25
Jamal Crawford: The slasher, like Williams, is an oddity in the contest, but he managed to do fairly well. After struggling on the first 2 frames, he went on fire for the rest of the racks, though he did miss the last 2 money balls, which really cost him as he only managed 20 points. Overall he made only 2 money balls, on the 2nd and 3rd racks.
Final Score: 20
Mike Dunleavy: The sharpshooter from Golden State came in looking to do some damage and prove to the NBA that he isn’t just another soft white kid from Duke who can only shoot straight up jumpers… however he didn’t even managed to be able to do that today. The Good: Dunleavy made all of his money balls. The Bad: he missed
every other shot, and thus only scored 10 points and will definitely be eliminated.
Final Score: 10
Ray Allen: One of the favorites, and Allen did not disappoint. He looked like he was going for the perfect 30 as he cruised through the first 2 racks, but on the last 3 racks he missed all the money balls and took a tie for 2nd with Williams behind Korver.
Final Score: 24
Rafer Alston: Just like another Williams, people didn’t expect Alston to do well, but were they wrong. Alston made every normal shot, and added an money ball for insurance into the next round.
Final Score: 22
Gordon Giricek: A disappointment because he was expected to shoot the lights out after what he did at Utah, but he really struggled. His scores were literally mirrored. Critics guessed that perhaps facing his old team and old teammates rattled, and also going against the man he was traded for might have gotten him off his game. Anyways, he did not shoot well, and being the last shooter, he knows he wont advance.
Final Score: 18
Round 2
Jamal Crawford: Being with the lowest score, Crawford shot first and only managed a 16, with 2, 2, 3, 4, and 5 for his respective score. This probably will not be enough, perhaps the pressure got to him or something.
Final Score: 16
Rafer Alston: Only one word can describing Alston performance during this round: outstanding. He waved off all speculation that he is not a shooter and drained 23 shots for 27 points, missing only his first shot and the money ball at the end of the first rack. It was a performance of brilliant shooting.
Final Score: 27
Ray Allen: Just like the first round Allen, Allen was brilliant for the 1-point balls, but he was horrendous when it came to the money balls, making only one on the 2nd rack. This is not good for Allen because he had Jason Williams and Kyle Korver still to shoot.
Final Score: 22
Jason Williams: Perhaps his first round was a fluke as he only made 13 points. He made only one money ball on the 2nd rack. He was looking pretty decent through the first 3 racks with 13 points, but he missed
every shot in the last 2 racks, and completely fell apart.
Final Score: 13
Kyle Korver: The only thing that stood between him and the final showdown with Alston, needing to beat 22. Korver shot well and had tied Allen going into the last rack, he took the last rack slow, and made sure he sank the first shot to put himself into the finals again. He ended up scoring his jersey number.
Final Score: 26
Round 3
Kyle Korver: Because he scored one less than Alston, Korver has the unfortunate position of shooting first. He looked good out of the first 2 racks, hitting every shot, but the missed a shot on each of the next 2 racks, and middle the 2nd and 3rd shots on the last rack for total score of 26. Though this was a great school, it still leaves a little bit of room for Alston to pull in front of him.
Final Score: 26
Rafer Alston: Again money balls seemed to be the killer in this contest tonight. Alston was perfect for the 1-point balls, but only hit one money ball, and that really cost him as he lost to Korver 26-22.
Final Score: 22
Korver looking happy after winning the 2005-06 shootout trophy
Last edited by
Jing on Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:01 am, edited 2 times in total.