All-star 2004

[Fresh8]

Wat r ur predictions?

Here's mine:

ALL-STAR GAME

Top Performers:
WEST: POINTS- Shaq, REBOUNDS- Duncan, ASSISTS- Garnett
EAST: POINTS- Iverson, REBOUNDS- Wallace, ASSISTS- T-mac

GAME: West wins by large margin and Shaq wins the All-star MVP...Dennis Rodman asks teams to let him try out... Yao Ming does awesome but not too great...Jack Nicholson sontests most of the ref's calls made against Shaq....

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ROOKIE-SOPHORMORE

Top Performers:
ROOKIES: POINTS- Melo, REBOUNDS- Melo, ASSISTS- Bron
SOPHORMORES: POINTS- Yao, REBOUNDS- Boozer, ASSISTS- Jaric

GAME: Lebron provides a show and forces the gam into overtime with a jordan-esque performance....But the Sophormores win and Yao Ming is MVP....

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SATURDAY:

Dunk Contest: J Rich will three-peat
3-point shootout:Brent Barry gives Peja a fright but Peja wins it all...again

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Wat do u guys think will happen?

[- Ace -]

Midseason musings
Will Shaq dominate All-Star Game? Should Cuban shut up?
Posted: Wednesday February 11, 2004 2:05PM; Updated: Wednesday February 11, 2004 3:16PM



This just in: As part of the new modesty movement in sports that has followed the Janet Jackson affair, at this weekend's NBA All-Star Game, commissioner David Stern will not -- repeat will not -- undo the top button of his Oxford dress shirt during the 3-point shootout.

Here's an interesting thought, though: Dennis Rodman is now playing minor league hoops for a team in Long Beach, Calif. We assume he will show up at the All-Star festivities sometime during the weekend, possibly to ask for a tryout with an NBA club, and we wonder if he'll reach deep into his closet and come up with a bustier. At any rate, if you're looking for trouble in L.A., the Rodman party might be the place to go, considering that he's been busted several times for noise-related offenses since taking up residence in the southern California area a few years ago.

Anyway, as we head into All-Star Weekend, my first thought is whether Shaquille O'Neal will make an effort to dominate the game in his home city. You remember Shaquille O'Neal? The, uh, backup center for the Western Conference? Few big men become All-Star MVPs because the game turns into a track meet that leaves the classic pivotmen behind. O'Neal, however, is among the seven centers who have won the MVP since the All-Star Game started in 1951, having shared the award with San Antonio's Tim Duncan in 2000. So Shaq is someone to keep an eye on. Here are some other random thoughts at this February checkpoint:


Mark Cuban has started yet another controversy.
John W. McDonough/SI
GIVE IT UP: Call me crazy, but I like Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. He adds a certain, well, flavor to the game. But he might as well give up his carping about pro players -- or "assets" in his words -- participating in international basketball. Mark, your concern about paying millions of dollars to players who could get injured when they're not even in your team's uniform is understandable, but that genie is out of the bottle.

DON'T GIVE IT UP ...YET: Another pet Cuban topic is NBA expansion to Las Vegas. Not surprisingly, he has gotten the Maloof brothers, Joe and Gavin, owners of the Sacramento Kings and Vegas entrepreneurs, to join the chorus. There was a time when I thought this never could happen, given Stern's outspoken objections to gambling and point spreads. But that was before The Commish allowed Connecticut's WNBA franchise to move to the Mohegan Sun Casino. There are several cities, Atlanta foremost among them, that don't deserve to have franchises. If Vegas would support a team, it's worth a look.

YELLOW CARD: Around the league there has been quiet discussion, and there will be more, about penalizing players for flopping, perhaps with a technical foul or loss of possession. (Nothing would turn Shaq into a fan of the league office quicker than that.) Sources say that the NBA office is upset not only with defenders taking a dive in an effort to draw an offensive foul, but also with shooters pretending they've been maimed in an effort to get a whistle. Soccer adopted this rule several years ago, and it has been fairly successful in limiting Academy Award performances.

THE WINDEX AWARDS: I love the hard-nosed players who collect more rebounds than points. According to my calculations -- and, look, please don't check my math -- there were nine players in the league in that category through Monday's games. (To make it statistically relevant, I decreed that a player must have at least 200 rebounds.) The leader by far is Detroit's Ben Wallace, who has 38 percent more rebounds than points. In second place is Indiana's Jeff Foster at 28 percent, just ahead of Denver's Marcus Camby (27 percent) who quietly is putting together a redemptive season. One of the big reasons for Denver's success is the fact that Chris Andersen (22 percent) is also a selfless board-crasher. The others in this category are Houston's Kelvin Cato (19 percent), Chicago's Jerome Williams (15 percent), the Lakers' Horace Grant (14 percent), and New York's Dikembe Mutombo and Portland's Dale Davis (both 13 percent).

LOOMING PICKUP: Some contender, soon, will sign Charles Oakley, the perfect veteran to collect some playoff fouls, do some pounding on an opponent's top scorer, and hold the locker room together with toughness. Houston made a play for him in December but Oakley said, "It was too close to Christmas." He said that right around the All-Star break is "when I'll put it in gear." Oak, it's time to start bustin' people upside the head.

THE FOUL IS NOT FAIR AWARD: Among regulars, only one player in the league shoots better from the floor than he does from the foul line. You can guess who. O'Neal is a .563 shooter on field goals and only .511 from the free-throw line. But there are other players -- good players -- who are also having unusual, as well as inexplicable, difficulty from 15 feet. In order they are: Dallas' Antoine Walker (averaging only eight percentage points better from the floor than the foul line); San Antonio's Duncan (nine percentage points); Wallace (10 percentage points); Golden State's Erick Dampier (11 percentage points); Portland's Darius Miles (14 percentage points).

MEMORABLE ALL-STAR MOMENT: At the 1990 game, the Eastern Conference All-Star team was surprised when Charles Barkley raised his hand in a pregame meeting and said he'd like to sketch out a play for the opening tipoff. "This is one we used when Moses [Malone] was in Philadelphia," said Barkley. So Barkley stood, took the chalk, went to the board and drew four players running back to defend their basket. "That sumbitch NEVER won a tip," Barkley said as everyone cracked up.

YEAH, RIGHT, THIS WILL HAPPEN: Retired point guard Terrell Brandon talked recently about becoming a head coach, perhaps in the ABA. Here's a guy who didn't like the game or play particularly hard when he was in uniform. Does he know coaches actually work? And then they get fired.

THE NOV. 22, 1950 AWARD: This esteemed honor goes to the Golden State Warriors, who during a Feb. 8 game against the Raptors scored two points in the fourth quarter. (They eventually lost 84-81 overtime.) The award is given in memory of the night the Fort Wayne Pistons nipped the Minneapolis Lakers 19-18 in the lowest scoring game in NBA history, a contest that helped inspire in the invention of the 24-second clock. By the way, even in that game both teams scored more than two points in every quarter except the fourth when the Lakers scored just one.

DR. STOCKTON: Sam Cassell is an All-Star for the first time at 34. Perhaps it never would've happened if not for a conversation he had with future Hall of Famer John Stockton a few years ago. "How do you stay in such great shape?" Cassell asked the Utah point guard after a game. Here was Stockton's advice: "Watch what you eat and never let your weight get ahead of you." They talked diet for a while and Cassell vowed to change his right then and there. To keep his weight exactly at 191 pounds, he now eats almost no red meat and desserts and very little pasta, the staple of NBA diets. He has also cut down eating late at night, even after games. "I go to bed awful hungry sometimes," said Cassell.

LOOMING FREE-AGENT DILEMMA: Defending champion San Antonio is one of a handful of teams that will have money to go after a big-name free agent when the season is over. Depending, of course, on what happens in Eagle County, Colo., Kobe Bryant could be that free agent. The Spurs, remember, were willing to go after Jason Kidd last summer, even if it risked offending incumbent point guard Tony Parker. If they make a run at Kobe, the player most affected could be emerging star Manu Ginobili, who is also a restricted free agent.


Sports Illustrated senior writer Jack McCallum covers the NBA for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com.

Here's an interesting thought, though: Dennis Rodman is now playing minor league hoops for a team in Long Beach, Calif. We assume he will show up at the All-Star festivities sometime during the weekend, possibly to ask for a tryout with an NBA club, and we wonder if he'll reach deep into his closet and come up with a bustier.

You wrote what he wrote too about Rodman trying out for an NBA team.

[Andrew]

In days gone by, the other All-Stars would defer to the hometown players in an effort to help them win the All-Star MVP trophy. Perhaps the Western players will do that for Shaq and/or Kobe this year.

I can't really predict what will happen with Dennis Rodman. I wouldn't be surprised either way. A team could very well take a chance on him, but he's also pretty much worn out his welcome. Let's say both possibilities are equally likely.

YELLOW CARD: Around the league there has been quiet discussion, and there will be more, about penalizing players for flopping, perhaps with a technical foul or loss of possession. (Nothing would turn Shaq into a fan of the league office quicker than that.) Sources say that the NBA office is upset not only with defenders taking a dive in an effort to draw an offensive foul, but also with shooters pretending they've been maimed in an effort to get a whistle. Soccer adopted this rule several years ago, and it has been fairly successful in limiting Academy Award performances.

I'm not sure about this one. Flopping is a cheap way to play defense, but will such a rule be enforced properly? Will players be penalised for simply taking a charge and the contact, having been unfairly called for flopping? I have a feeling there would be more than a few erroneous calls.

The best way of punishing players who flop is to simply not call the offensive foul, allowing the offensive player an open look at the basket.

MEMORABLE ALL-STAR MOMENT: At the 1990 game, the Eastern Conference All-Star team was surprised when Charles Barkley raised his hand in a pregame meeting and said he'd like to sketch out a play for the opening tipoff. "This is one we used when Moses [Malone] was in Philadelphia," said Barkley. So Barkley stood, took the chalk, went to the board and drew four players running back to defend their basket. "That sumbitch NEVER won a tip," Barkley said as everyone cracked up.

Ah, Sir Charles. Truly one-of-a-kind as far as NBA personalities go.

[Drex]

3-point shootout:Brent Barry gives Peja a fright but Peja wins it all...again

Barry has a broken finger or something. He will be out for like 4 weeks.

[Gripni]

All-Star: East
Rookie: Rookies
3pt: Voshon Lenard
Dunk: Jason Richardson
989 Sports Skills: Earl Boykins

oh yeah, the thing with the wnba and celebriteis and retired people... who's playing again?

[hmm]

.

[Fresh8]

If u think about it....Rodman plays minor 'pro' ball in the area...and since there will be coaches/scouts or watever there...if i was him i would hang around and try and get invited to tryout!

[hmm]

.

[Boyk]

I'm not sure about this one. Flopping is a cheap way to play defense, but will such a rule be enforced properly? Will players be penalised for simply taking a charge and the contact, having been unfairly called for flopping? I have a feeling there would be more than a few erroneous calls.

thats a good point andrew, but you gotta think about the player on the offensive, the calls there getting now.
there getting the unfair calls at the moment.
this i think should stop it.

i hope it does, i would love to see vlade divac get hit with the T for flopping, then get up and start winging to the ref or fake an injury to make it look like he was actually hit.
bloody pansie he is i hate him!

[Andrew]

It would definitely have its advantages, but I'd hate to see the offensive foul rule ruined by a "no flopping" rule. The league would have to be sure to clearly define what they consider flopping. As I said before, I'd hate to see players who put their bodies on the line to draw a legitimate charging call be penalised.

I use the following example of how a good idea can result in ridiculous calls. Back in 1996, the league was in the midst of an effort to clean up the game by eliminating taunting. During the Bulls/Magic series, Shaq dunked on Luc Longley, and vaguely smirked at Longley as he ran back on defense. An official (I forget who) decided this was taunting, and T'd Shaq up.

Now, I'm not a Shaq fan and I wasn't disappointed that the Bulls got a point out of the whole affair. But there's no question it was a bad call. The same kind of thing could happen if technicals are assessed for flopping. A couple of bad calls for flopping, and a player will be ejected.

[Boyk]

It would definitely have its advantages, but I'd hate to see the offensive foul rule ruined by a "no flopping" rule. The league would have to be sure to clearly define what they consider flopping. As I said before, I'd hate to see players who put their bodies on the line to draw a legitimate charging call be penalised.

I use the following example of how a good idea can result in ridiculous calls. Back in 1996, the league was in the midst of an effort to clean up the game by eliminating taunting. During the Bulls/Magic series, Shaq dunked on Luc Longley, and vaguely smirked at Longley as he ran back on defense. An official (I forget who) decided this was taunting, and T'd Shaq up.

Now, I'm not a Shaq fan and I wasn't disappointed that the Bulls got a point out of the whole affair. But there's no question it was a bad call. The same kind of thing could happen if technicals are assessed for flopping. A couple of bad calls for flopping, and a player will be ejected.

Good Point