The Perpetual NBA Thread

[spiff]

well reggie wasnt really a spot up shooter.. no one found open spots better than he did... always ran around like a monkey.

[empy]

Nate was unbelievable, but I honestly think Kenny Smith ruined the Slam Dunk contest. I wouldn't have probs with AI or Nate winning, both made jaw dropping dunks (but I liked AI2's the best, that was just wicked)... Kenny changing the 10 to a 9 in the last second just screwed it up.

if you watch carefully after AI2's second dunk in the finals....he hesitated for awhile while looking at the other judges' scores....it really looked like he was trying to fix it to ensure a dunk-off, imo.

[theveed]

Sakin ok lang yung fix nila for a dunk-off, di naman importante yung scores, mas importante yung show off value, pero yung nagtaas na sya tapos nagpalit yun ang nagsira sa event... may nagbo-boo nga diba nung tinotal yung 3rd dunk and yung inannouce si Nate... killed the moment lang.

[theveed]

Ooooo

NO RESPECT

Tim Duncan and McGrady came to the post-game interview room together and Duncan left in mock disgust when McGrady dissed the centers.

"This is more of a guard's game," said McGrady, who scored 36. "Myself and guys like Kobe and LeBron (James), Dwyane Wade, Allen Iverson. It's a guard show. It's hard for big men to get touches because we handle the ball 95 percent of the time.

"Every now and then, we'll throw the ball inside to the big guys. There's really no excitement throwing the ball to them down there."

With that, Duncan threw up his hands and walked out of the room, sparking laughter from McGrady and a throng of reporters.

Duncan scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

"Hey, Tim!" McGrady yelled as Duncan departed. "Your game is effective, but it is boring! Come on, man, it's an All-Star game. You want to see dunks."

Duncan didn't return to the room. And if Shaquille O'Neal had been around, he might've left too.

"Shaq tries to give you flashes every now and then, but he's rusty," McGrady said. "Tell him I said that."

[theveed]

and I agree...

UNHAPPY IVERSON

Allen Iverson is upset.

The Philadelphia 76ers All-Star thinks his teammate Andre Iguodala should have won Saturday's dunk contest.

The 6-foot-6 Iguodala lost to 5-9 Nate Robinson by one point in a dunk-off. Robinson didn't complete his last dunk off until the 14th try.

Iverson contends that the judges purposely forced the contest in to a tiebreaker to extend the fun for the fans.

"It's still not sitting right with me," he said Sunday. "Just because he's a young guy and that's something that he wanted for himself, for his family, for his people in Philadelphia and for it not to happen it was bad.

And the way it happened, I think he deserved to win."

Others were upset that Robinson was allowed so many chances to complete his dunk.

But Kenny Smith, one of the judges of the event, said he only cared about dunks that were completed. He discounted attempts, so didn't penalize Robinson for needing so many tries before getting his title-winning dunk down.

"The final dunk, Nate Robinson's dunk was better," he said.

Commissioner David Stern said the league always looks at ways to improve All-Star Saturday night, but thinks "the right rule is not to penalize them."

Former champion Vince Carter wasn't interested in offering his opinion.

"I leave that alone, it's not my business," he said. "I don't want to hear from the NBA."

After the event, Iguodala said he "wasn't too worried about it," but Iverson is concerned that that isn't the case.

"I don't think he's even going to want to do it again," Iverson said.

[kimpOy]

well tapos na rin...let's go into second gear...now the real regular season begins....
Narrowing their options

[ILuvDetailing]

interesting read

The year was 1995 and the country was in a transitional period. MJ had just returned from his hiatus, O.J. was on trial, and Coolio’s "Gangsta’s Paradise" was hot for a minute. Then it happened. Twenty-two young cats from across the country converged on St. Louis for one memorable weekend to create the greatest collection of high school talent ever seen.

Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Chauncey Billups, Vince Carter, Stephon Marbury, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Antawn Jamison, Robert "Tractor" Traylor, Jelani McCoy, Wayne Turner, Shammgod Wells and Naismith Prep Player of the Year Ron Mercer – at the time, the most-hyped player in the game – were some of the prep superstars invited to St. Louis that first weekend in April.

Before the game, though, each coach had all week to practice and get a feel for his players. "I remember standing underneath one of the baskets," recalls West coach David Luechtefeld, "and Ryan Robertson stole the ball back at center court and was coming at the basket I was standing under. I thought no one was close enough to stop the bucket – it looked like an unopposed lay-up. I watched him put it up on the top of the box and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, someone caught the ball! I said to myself, these are different kids. Who was it? It was Vince Carter."

Later that week, Carter made a name for himself and further showcased his athletic prowess when he took the Slam Jam slam dunk competition behind three ridiculous dunks garnering 50s in the finals.

We worked our contacts and called in a few favors to get ourselves a copy of the actual game broadcast. It was well worth the effort. The 18th annual McD’s game was broadcast live that Sunday on CBS, hosted by Bill Raftery and Verne Lundquist in front of a Kiel Center crowd of 16,201. The fans were ready for lots of scoring, fast breaks and dunks, and they got all of the above. The starting lineup for the East was Carter, Marbury, Abdur-Rahim, Mercer and Sam Okey. The West boasted Garnett, Robertson, Albert White, Derek Hood, and Kris Clack, sporting Billups’ jersey with tape across the name since Clack’s jersey - along with Pierce’s and Taymon Domzalski’s - was stolen from the locker room the night before. Chauncey couldn’t play anyway, as he was sidelined with a shoulder injury.

Garnett and Abdur-Rahim jumped. The East got the ball and scored first - which might have been their only lead of the afternoon. In the first five minutes, Clack had three monster dunks, including a phat two-hand flush on a fastbreak and Mercer was 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. Garnett was swatting everything in sight, including a couple on Abdur-Rahim and even one from his future teammate, Marbury. The last block prompted this remark from an announcer: "Put your No. 2 pencils away, we’ve got plenty of erasers here today." Classic.

While Mercer might’ve had the biggest name and the most hype, Garnett stole the show and went on to win the John R. Wooden MVP Award behind 18 points, 11 rebounds, four dimes and four blocks. Not to mention he had four dunks and nailed his only three-point attempt. Garnett garnered support from Pierce, who notched a game-high 28 points on 11-for-14 shooting off the bench wearing McCoy’s uniform. When the two were out there at the same time, the commentators jokingly asked, "Who’s the Real McCoy?" Pierce’s 28 were just two shy of the all-time game record set more than a decade earlier by none other than Michael Jordan. In all, eight players for the West reached double digits. The East was paced by Mercer’s 19 points and Marbury’s 11 points and a record-tying 10 assists. The defenses were equal in the end - equally generous - as the West beat the East, 126-115.

"I had heard a lot about Garnett before the game", recalls Luechtefeld. "The thing about Garnett is that even in practice he played very, very hard. He’s all business once he got out on the floor. Off the court and in practice he clowned around a lot, but once he got out on the floor, he really played harder than a lot of the other kids. Really, the kid that played better than I [expected], after practice, was Paul Pierce. When I saw him play, I never thought he had a chance in the NBA and I was really wrong about him."

While the game had been amazing, its aftermath was monumental for the game of basketball. Most of the players were committed to college programs. Marbury was going to follow Kenny Anderson to Georgia Tech, even though Derrick Coleman tried to sway him towards Syracuse. Mercer was deciding between Miami, Tennessee and Kentucky. And then there was KG - undecided and toying with the idea of making the jump. "I haven’t decided yet where I’m going," Garnett told the Associated Press after the game. "I don’t know what my next step will be, except I want to step off this floor and into a shower."

Well, you know the rest. When Garnett announced his intentions to forgo college and make the jump to the pros, the move was both surprising and highly controversial. Following Darryl Dawkins, no high schoolers had jumped to the NBA for twenty years. After that, there was no looking back.

"I’ve coached all the All-Star games, but the McDonald’s game is an exception," recalls East coach Steve Smith. "You can only do it once - they spread it around. I’m glad they picked me that year - it will be a game Ill never forget."

[Biggs]

Francis traded to NY

Let the fun begin!

[cardo]

I think Isiah needs to go to problem management classes Hindi ata nila alam kung ano problema ng knicks at kung pano iresolve yun problems na yun hehehe

Just trade isiah!!! mwahahaha

[kimpOy]

the most expensive backcourt duo...
30 Million na sila dalawa...50M yata ang salary cap