All-Star Weekend

Here's my pre-All-Star game semi-live blog notes which were posted well after the events occured. I apologize for it being a little bit old, like the guys in the picture above.

Rookie/Sophomore Challenge

Aside from the kids with diseases who wore pink T-Mobile shirts and just screamed all game long, this Challenge was pretty entertaining. The guys looked like they wanted to win by not constantly lobbing lame alley-oop passes to each other with a 10% possibility of actually working. Bullet pointing is now necessary for the amount of thoughts I'd like to throw out there but not expound upon:

• Beasley will be a mediocre pro. Dude just doesn't have the fire. Plus, he shoots jumpers almost completely sideways and that's just weird.


• Durant is awesome. He's 6'10" and can drain with mad range. His new found confidence will carry him forward to many All-Star appearances. He single handedly brought the sophomores back in the last 10 minutes after the rookies were out playing them all game long. Stud.


• I can't believe that Beasley and KD are buds and grew up in the same area. It's amazing to me that the #2 pick two years in a row grew up in the same area of Maryland. ESPN Tha Mag said it was some sort of AAU hotbed, but still.


• Where the heck was Anthony Randolph on the rookie team? Oh, that's right, Don Nelson didn't display his talents until 3 games ago.


• Why didn't OJ Mayo start for the rookies? Are we seriously saying that Rudy Fernandez and Eric Gordon are better than him? Maybe he was just resting up for the H.O.R.S.E. competition the next day.


• Oden with a DNP for the "rookies". That's funny in two separate ways. (update: an MRI on Oden's knee revealed a bone chip. Sounds painful.)


• Stuckey will eventually be the shit. Just keep waiting........which makes me think that we've been waiting a long time for this guy.........which makes me realize that he is only in his second year and feel strange about that fact.


• Why is this game played in two 20 minute halves? Is this not the NBA? What is the (commercial) reason for this?

H.O.R.S.E. Game

• Joe Johnson, OJ Mayo and Kevin Durant are dope-shiz NBA'ers for sure. But are these guys mute or are they really this nervous?
• Not sure why TNT replayed every shot, even the terrible misses, in the early going.
• Why do they need the ref to touch the ball before every shot?
• They should really be playing some music during this thing. Either that or get the crowd more fired up with t-shirt cannons and free pizza.
• EJ is great at what he does.
• Joe Johnson looks hung over. He just has that squinty gleen while standing there in the bright Phoenix sun.
• KD couldn't hit shit in the early going. It's crazy that he has G-E-I-C before anyone else had a letter and still won.
• OJ Mayo looks and sounds like he is much older than Joe Johnson. JJ is 27 and 7 years older than OJ.
• Loved OJ's shot from the stands. That was super stylie.
• These guys are boring as fcuk. I sense the competitiveness but they should at least be joking a little bit.
• KD from the deep corner was dinero!
• Joe Johnson airballs an underhanded "Rick Barry" free throw? Are you kidding me? Who hasn't tried this shot before.

Sprite/T-Mobile/Skills Challenge

• These guys were all VERY hung over. Friday night is when you go huge on All-Star weekend if you're a pro/former pro. You rest up on Saturday night (get to bed at like 4 am) to get ready for the Sunday game.
• Devin Harris is faster than that. Pathetic. I wish these guys would try.
• Reggie sucks. Quit saying the same thing over and over again.
• At first glance, Derrick Rose looks to be in his late 20's. He's like OJ Mayo in this regard. D. Rose is really 20.
• This shit is boring. I don't even care who wins. Tony Parker is gay.

3 Point Contest by Sprite

• I love this contest. Pure precision artistry. One of my favorite things about the 3 point contest is guessing if guys will make or miss based on their shot-release. After the first rack, you can usually get it right.
• Rashard Lewis has a jacked up shot. Can't believe this guy drains so much!
• Can Reggie quit referencing himself?
• Kapono's shot is smoove like butta. I wish I had that shot and his contract.
• Reggie doesn't know how to pronounce his sister's name.
• Why is Granger in this contest? He's not a 3 point shooter. Anthony Morrow should have been there in his place. He would have won. Morrow is fucking cold blooded.
• Daequan Cook's motion is pretty smooth. But his release looks really flat. Does anybody know if he gets blocked on the arc more frequently than most?
• I expected more from Mike Bibby. By the way, Mike Bibby cannot call himself anything other than white. I just don't see it.

Right Guard Slam Dunk Contest

• This contest is almost hyped up too much.
• Kevin Rudolf is a sweet guitarist/singer/songwriter/douchebag. This music/song sounds like a WWE intro.
• D-How is great for the NBA. Please never change.
• The only thing fresher than JR Smiff's double bounce dunk is the interpretation of his tats. That thing was scored WAY too low.
• Rudy Fernandez shouldn't be in this contest. Joe Alexander is a much better dunker. But maybe I'm just xenophobic.
• Nate Rob is an insane athlete. Did you know that he went for 33 points, 9 rebounds, 15 assists and 5 steals vs. the Clippers right before All-Star break? Did you know he's only 5'9"?
• No comment on the "launch of Chandler's back" dunk. LAME
• Loved D-How's rip off the Jameer Nelson backboard pass on a 12 foot-ish hoop. By the way, that was a shitty pass by Jameer.
• Did you notice how Stern called the phone for "Superman" Howard to go in the phone booth? I couldn't believe that Reggie Miller missed this one. Wasn't it in his notes?
• Despite what tards say, Nate Rob's jumping over D-How was sweet and he did not push over him. He just reverse t-bagged Dwight, and that's OK in the world we live in today.

All-Star Game presented by Army

No comments necessary other than Shaq was super hung over.