All Star Weekend’s are usually times for Warriors fans to take a break from another disappointing 1st half and wonder: “Wow, why don’t we have any players this good?” Well, even though the Warriors didn’t have an All-Star for a professional sports record 14th straight year, the Warriors had two representatives in other All-Star festivities. Stephen Curry competed in the three point contest last year and came in 2nd place to Paul Pierce. This year, the Warriors were represented by Dorell Wright, the league leader in three pointers (and attempts). Curry was curiously bypassed in the three point contest for the likes of Kevin Durant, James Jones and Daniel Gibson this year; confusing considering Curry’s success last year and his popularity with the fans. Curry wasn’t completely out of the All-Star festivities however as he competed in the Skills Challenge against great guards Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and John Wall. Warriors fans are undoubtedly still bitter over Monta Ellis’ snubbing from the All Star Game (Monta Ellis = Snubbed t-shirt anyone?), but the consolation prize were two Warriors competing on Saturday Night. We’re still frustrated, but we’ll take it.
With the Warriors not competing at a championship level for some time now, so these contests are miniature achievements in otherwise lost seasons for the franchise. Regardless, it’s always fun for Warriors to get some national love (minus Charles Barkley) and display their talents in front of the world. Stephen Curry began the night off for Warriors fans with an impressive display in the Skills Challenge. Although not one of the more exciting contests of the night, Curry handled his business and was able to beat out some of the top PG’s in the league. Curry wasn’t praised for his passing skills at Davidson, so it was interesting to see how he did in the contest. We often wonder whether Curry can be the PG of the future, well, he showed us some skills on Saturday night to support his claim. For one night, Stephen Curry was better than Rose, Paul, Westbrook and John Wall. Granted, I think Curry knew what he was playing for. Besides Wall, the other competitor’s respective teams will all be in the playoffs, and Curry clearly was trying the hardest out of the group. Curry is quietly becoming one of the more popular players in the NBA, and competing in contests like this can only help him and the franchise alike. Great to see Curry representing the franchise on a national level.
The next contest of the night was the three point contest. Dorell Wright’s admission in the contest was somewhat a surprise even though he leads the league in three’s made. Warriors fans thought Curry would be an almost automatic admission considering his almost-victory last year and his popularity with the national audience. Either way, the Warriors were represented and I was glad Dorell got the recognition he deserved for his efforts in the first half of the season. Wright rolled through the first two racks pretty nicely, but was able to only finish with 12 points. To further sting Warriors fans, Paul Pierce nailed his very last money ball to knock Wright out of the competition. A decent effort (Durant and Gibson…seriously though?) but not enough to get to the finals of the competition. It would have been awesome to see how Dorell did against the all-time NBA three point leader Ray Allen in the finals, but it wasn’t meant to be. Hopefully Wright keeps Pierce’s last second shot in his head, because what do you know, the Warriors play the Celtics Tuesday night at Oracle.
No Warriors competed in the dunk contest, but that won’t stop me from talking about it. I love the contest, always have, always will. After last season’s debacle of a contest we could only go up. I loved the idea of coaches this season, and it definitely helped the competitors out. Demar Derozan was my underdog pick to win, and I think he had the best dunk of the night with “The Showstopper”. Serge Ibaka, a somewhat odd pick for the contest, showed up big right off the bat. His free throw line dunk was VASTLY underrated and deserved a 50. Anyone else notice Dr. J’s face afterwards, you can almost read his mind: “Man, that dunk wasn’t better than mine. Nope. No way. He stole my dunk. 9.” Javale McGee had the most original dunks of them all: his off the backboard two balled dunk was incredible, and to follow that up with his three ball barrage was almost as impressive. But, we knew it was going to be the Blake show. If he went to the Finals, we knew he would win. Honestly, Blake had the least impressive dunks of the night and made me wonder what else he could have done. His contorted 360 was solid, his off the side off the backboard windmill was nice but not original. His best dunk was his off the backboard Vince Carter arm-in-the-rim one hander. I don’t think the fans appreciate this dunk as much as they should. That was awesome. The over the car shenanigans weren’t all that impressive to me. He easily cleared the hood of the car and Baron Davis showed that passing to Blake Griffin is the easiest job in the NBA. Throw it up Baron, Griffin will find a way to get it. Great contest overall though and looking forward to see the creativity in the future contests. Lebron, I’m calling you out. MJ did it, Kobe did it, now it’s your turn.
Last but certainly not least is the All Star Game itself. I picked the East to win, but always figured in the back of my mind it would be the Kobe show. The game was surprisingly un-exciting until the last few minutes when the game got close. I was hoping for a lot of alley oops, sick passes, nice isomotion-esque handles and a lot of drained shots. What we got was a TON of turnovers, too many stoppages and Kevin Durant thinking he’s Michael Jordan by throwing it up every time he got the rock. There were some highlights: Deron Williams alley-oop to Blake, Westbrook’s one handed stretch slam, Kobe’s dunk in front of Lebron (No, it wasn’t ON Lebron, as you can see, he was in front of Lebron as Lebron tried to swipe it from behind). But it was The Black Mamba who stole the show. There was no way he was going to lose his last All Star Game at Staples Center. Never. The fans knew it, his teammates knew it, and Justin Bieber knew it (Got a small case of the Bieber Fever after his crossover against Common). The East made it interesting late when it became clear it was a Lebron vs. Kobe show. Lebron tried to bring his team back and nearly did, but he passed up a possible three late in the game that would have tied the game. A good All Star game but definitely not great. It’s clear the NBA is in good hands with the amount of talent that was on that floor that night; the amount of young, athletic players is amazing. The NBA has the unquestionably the best All Star festivities in professional sports, and it’s not even close.
Although I’m still bitter that Monta didn’t make the All Star game, I still thought this was a very fun and entertaining weekend. I have always loved the All Star festivities. I just couldn’t help but think during Sunday’s game how great it would have been to see Monta in there with a Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin or Chris Paul. Kevin Love? Sure he replaced another player at his position, but the fans want to see excitement. This is “Where Amazing Happens” and not “Where Rebounds Happens”. Kevin Love is a great player, but he shouldn’t have replaced Yao Ming. Monta Ellis is one of the most exciting players in the league, and I’m positive he would have provided more excitement if he was in the game. This is neither here nor there, but when guys like Kobe Bryant and Blake Griffin are calling it out and saying Monta should have been there, it strikes a nerve. A great weekend and great showing from two Warriors, but there was something else to be desired. Warriors fans don’t usually gripe about potential All Stars, because, well, there usually aren’t any candidates. But, this year, the NBA missed one. A great weekend was soured by the taste of Monta Ellis sitting at home watching while Kevin Love lugs himself across the court. Hey, Mr. Stern, look over here; we got a player you need to see.
POSTED BY: J-RAM
Good read. It was fun seeing the Warriors repped at All-Star Weekend even if it wasn't in the actual game. I do think that Curry's involvement in the Skills Challenge is what prevented him from being involved in the 3-Pt Contest. For him to do all 3 (including Rookie game) would have been a little much. Which is a shame because I would much rather see him in the 3 Pt than in the Skills challenge. Also, I think you are overlooking Kevin Love and specifically his unbelievable outlet passes. Arguably the games most exciting play was CP3's buzzer beater which was only made possible by Love's great outlet pass. Even Sports Guy tweeted how awesome it was to watch his passes in person. Granted, I'm sure Ellis would have made some fun plays, but don't knock Love as some Oaf who just gets rebounds.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I wonder if there's a max # of events you can be in? Maybe he chose the Skills Challenge over the 3 point? Interesting. I definitely recognize Kevin Love's skills, but I think he is a little bit overrated. His team shoots like there's no tomorrow, and besides Darko he's the only legit rebounder on the team. So I think his double double streak is inflated in that regard. I havent seen too many of his passes but thats also a great skill to have as a big man. But either way what he's doing is amazing. I just think as an injury replacement you want a show stopper, someone to make the game more exciting. I think for any future injury replacements they should have the respective starters/reserves vote on who gets the spot. That makes a whole lot more sense and I think Monta would have gotten in had it been that way.
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