Well, the 2007 All-Star Game has come and gone, so here are a few random observations from the weekend:
Do you think David Lee’s stellar play in the Rookie Challenge (30 points on 14-14 shooting with 11 rebounds and four assists) will earn him any more minutes for the Knicks? Not if Isiah continues to divvy up the minutes…The league should really get rid of the Shooting Stars competition. Who wants to see Bill Laimbeer hoisting up half court shots? They could use the time to expand one of the other contests, or add a one-on-one tournament. Now that could be interesting…What’s with the lackadaisical pace in the Skills Challenge? LeBron headlined a great lineup (Kobe, D-Wade, Chris Paul) but went at about half speed in the first round and was eliminated. Wade beat Bryant in the final round. What’s the point of having these superstars compete if they’re not even going to compete? LeBron’s lack of competitiveness says a lot about his game…Congratulations to Jason Kapono for winning the Three-Point Shootout. He tied a Shootout record in the final round with 24 points, outlasting Gilbert Arenas and defending champ Dirk Nowitzki. Most importantly, he did it all without wearing that ugly-ass headband…The league needs to tweak the Slam Dunk competition. Watching Nate Robinson miss his dunk in the final round over and over got pretty tedious. Gerald Green deserved the win – his first round dunk where he caught the ball off the side of the backboard and slammed it home was awesome – but Dwight Howard had the dunk of the night. It looked to be a simple alley-oop, but Howard placed a sticker near the top of the backboard with his other hand. The dunk was much more impressive in instant replay, but the judges (specifically Michael Jordan and Julius Erving) only gave Howard an 8 out of 10 and Howard was eliminated…Charles Barkley beat Dick Bavetta in a race and then the two shared a smooch on the lips afterward. I’m still not sure what that was all about…The All-Star Game itself was kind of a snoozer (the West won, 153-132). Shaq proved he didn’t deserve to be there (10 points on 5-13 shooting), while Dwight Howard (20 points, 12 rebounds) proved that he should have started for the East. It was clear that Amare Stoudemire was on a mission to be the game’s MVP, hoisting 22 shots in just 21 minutes (scoring 29 points), but that honor went to Bryant, who scored 31 points and dished out six assists.
