2008 All-Star Game

Thoughts so far?

Kobe not being heavily involved is obviously a downer but so far I'd say it's a more enjoyable game than last year. We've had the usual sloppiness as players misfire on fancy passes but they've connected on some very entertaining plays, particularly the "volleyball" alley-oop with Kidd, LeBron and Howard. It helps that the game is closer this year which should mean we'll get a competitive one down the stretch in addition to the razzle dazzle.

Any early picks for MVP? If the East emerges victorious, I think LeBron has to be one of the frontrunners especially if he finishes as the leading scorer and pushes a triple double (or gets one). He's only a few boards and assists shy of doing that already.

LeBron's gonna get a triple double.

If the East blows it, (and LeBron doesn't win MVP because of it) the front runners at this point are Melo, Brandon Roy (that would be something) and CP3 IMO.

It has been a good ASG. Last year's was garbage.

I miss some Knicks...

But if they played the West would lead by 20. LOL

This has bored the hell out of me.

I sorta lol'd at that one moment back in the second quarter when the ball was bouncing around at the West end; somehow only Lebron, Dwight, and Chris Paul were at the basket. Lebron first lobbed it to Dwight but he decided to just hold it, and Chris Paul was just standing there inbetween the two, jumping trying to get the ball but couldn't. Then Dwight holds the ball up, way over Chris Paul, and then lobs it right back to Lebron for the finish. Sorta looked like two older, taller kids bullying a little short kid .

There was also David West getting owned three times right under the basket .

EDIT: Bosh getting owned twice driving baseline

LeBron still gets my vote if the East take it. If the West take it, right now I'd have to give it to Chris Paul.

EDIT: East win it. Has to be LeBron.

If its not ray allen then he has to share it with bron...but bron shouldn't win it by himself. Ray allen's impact was too huge...he's my mvp.

Voted for LeBron as well. In a standard game he would have gotten his triple double.

EAST win!!! Finally they got it.
Game was great, not just an Allstar game but also exciting plays in the last minutes...hard fights.

I voted for Ray Ray. I miss having him on the Sonics.

I would have preferred Ray Allen to win it over Lebron.

Allen was big in the fourth quarter but LeBron was spectacular throughout and had the points that put the East ahead for good on that emphatic dunk (though the way in which he scored them doesn't factor into being an MVP, it was just fun to watch). Allen hit some clutch shots though and he was the game high scorer but for me at least, it's hard to past LeBron.

Had the West won, it would have had to have been Chris Paul getting the MVP nod which would have been a fine moment as well. All in all I thought that was a very entertaining game, much better than last year thanks to the game being more competitive along with some impressive high wire acts. Great to see the players get into the game too.

Yao Ming played just 13 minutes. Why?

This All-Star Weekend >>>>> Last Year's All-Star Weekend easily. Its too bad Ray didn't get it, but LeBron certainly was deserving.

Yao Ming played just 13 minutes. Why?

Because its the all-star game and he cant hog all the minutes

Yao Ming played just 13 minutes. Why?

Did Yao even play the second half at all? I don't remember seeing him at all in the second half.

Yao Ming played just 13 minutes. Why?

Did Yao even play the second half at all? I don't remember seeing him at all in the second half.

He did. That's when he put up those two threes.

*just having fun with Mofo's signature* LOL

Was he injured? A ton of Chinese viewers might have cried the whole game.

Anyways...it's 5:30 am here and my mind met some nice beers.

I dont know if i like the idea of the mvp being decided by fans. We're gonna have people voting for their fav player as opposed to who deserves it. Man chris paul is gonna be the best thing at PG since john stockton if he keeps this up.

That final dunk by lebron simply brought the house down...breathtaking. When gibson won the mvp on friday he said sunday would be his night and i guess he delivered.

I think it just worked out that way. A couple of years ago Vince Carter played sparingly despite being voted in as a starter, even though he wasn't injured at the time (so far as it was reported, anyway).

Votes are bad. Keep it in mind. In Austria there was this musical show. Different canditates participated, the viewers voted for those who should reach the next round. As always not the best advanced but the ones with the most votes. Who gets the most votes? Cute 18 year-old boys...voted by 15 year-old girls spending all their money for SMS and phone calls.

I think it's similar for all telephon votes. Quantity > quality. Sad but true.

That's always going to happen with reality TV but frankly, there's not much one can do to lower the quality of reality TV any further than the premise itself.

With an event like All-Star Weekend, a celebration of basketball and the NBA and an event for the fans as much as anything else, fan voting isn't that harmful. It's not as though fans voted a player into the game that couldn't remotely be considered an All-Star, picked a player who couldn't conceivably be the MVP or voted for the least impressive participant in the slam dunk contest. You can argue the logic (or lack thereof) behind the voting but the results aren't too different from the selections a "qualified" panel would be likely to make.

Yeah, I hate when fans vote for their favorite player in a game about the fans getting to choose their favorite players to see in the game.

What the hell...why does anyone even care about All-Star MVP? What's wrong with letting the fans vote for something meaningless like that?

Who in the hell, for that matter, is qualified to choose?

What's wrong with letting the fans vote for something meaningless like that?

Exactly. It's not as though they picked Kobe Bryant or someone else who couldn't really be singled out as the standout player of this year's game.

I feel sorry for the people who don't have nbaTV...cause i've been enjoying the behind the scenes action all weekend. I saw lebron and kidd make the guiness book for half court shots...then i saw chris paul break it and he now holds the record. Now im enjoying the post all-star game behind the scenes interviews n' shit.