Blog SH Preview For All-Star Weekend

ALL STAR SATURDAY

 By: Jack Kavanagh

     The Three-Point Competition is constantly over shadowed by the Slam Dunk Contest on All-Star Saturday especially this year with the dunk event containing numerous high profile names.  This year’s Three-Point Shootout contains 8 prolific shooters who all rank in the top 70 among three point percentage and in the top 37 for three pointers made.  If we go by percentages Marco Belinelli would be the favorite however if we based our predictions on three pointers made, Steph Curry would win while Belinelli would finish in last.  Whoever catches fire will win as is the case every year but I think the best chance lies with either Beal or Belinelli.  Both are catch and shoot/spot shooting specialists and should excel at the stationary racks.  In the end it will be Beal who comes out on top because he possesses the purest jump shot in the league.  Overlooking Curry might be insane especially because he has been called by some the greatest shooter of all time but he excels shooting off the dribble and over defenders not wide open while picking balls off a rack.

3 Point Contestants and their 3PT Statistics

-Stephen Curry – 171 Made 3PT – 41.5%

-Kyrie Irving – 90 Made 3PT – 36.9%

-Arron Afflalo – 93 Made 3PT – 42.5%

-Bradley Beal – 89 Made 3PT – 43.0%

-Marco Belinelli – 81 Made 3PT – 44.8%

-Kevin Love – 114 Made 3PT – 37.0%

-Joe Johnson – 94 Made 3PT – 39.0%

-Damien Lillard – 149 Made 3PT – 40.4%

      After years of mediocre dunk contests, (topped off by my least favorite Blake Griffin jumping over the front of a mid-sized family sedan and being awarded champion solely because there was a car on the court) the NBA finally decided they needed to revamp the competition in two ways.  First they decided to bring in more than one superstar contestant which had been the case for a number of the more recent contests.  The other change is that the NBA has decided to alter the rules and divide the dunkers into teams decided by conference.  The dunkers will first have a freestyle round and will then be picked to go up against one another in a battle where the loser is evidently eliminated.  Whoever the last man standing is has won the event for his conference.  The actual individual winner will be decided by a fan vote and will be crowned “Dunker of the Night”.  These rules changes are interesting and should be beneficial to the long term success of the dunk contest but we will see how everything plays out.

     Almost all of the contestants in this year’s Slam Dunk Contest are intriguing with Ben McLemore’s inclusion being the only head scratcher.  We all know what defending champion Terrence Ross can do as well as past participant Paul George.  I don’t know what to expect from John Wall or Damien Lillard although both are superior athletes who can defy gravity and fly.  Harrison Barnes has a good dunk reputation and is tied for the tallest participant with George.  The fans love to see a small player win but they also like to see a superstar win so in that department George and Lillard both have a good chance.  Ross would not be a bad bet to repeat as champion but I think the favorite does have to be Paul George.  Ross will not be able to live up to last year’s performance and Lillard will be too burnt out from competing in 48 other events this weekend. We saw what George can do in game a couple weeks ago and he will demonstrate some more of that creativity and athleticism en route to winning the first ever “Dunker of the Night”.

Dunk Contest Contestants and their Height

-Harrison Barnes – 6’8 - 

-Damien Lillard – 6’3 - 

-Terrence Ross – 6’6 - 

-John Wall – 6’4 - 

-Paul George – 6’8 - 

-Ben Mclemore – 6’5 – 

McLemore could be a prop in the contest… but let’s be fair here we go! 

NBA All-Star Game 2014

By: Sal Pellone

When: February 16^th  8pm

Where: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana

Host: New Orleans Pelicans

     Imagine a Skills Challenge, a Three-Point Contest, and a Dunk Contest all mixed into one game. You are saying to yourself, “Wow that would be pretty sick, the NBA should do this.” Little do we know, this jumble of all three events into one is known as the NBA All-Star Game. This year’s game will be the 63^rd edition and will be played in The Big Easy. New Orleans previously held the event in 2008 (I always knew David Stern and Adam Silver were huge Mardi Gras fans). This year we anticipate more exotic colored sneakers, sleeved jerseys, and less and less defense.

Jerseys 

     I do not like the NBA’s transition into sleeved jerseys one bit. They look like those cheap fake jerseys you would get as a kid at Modell’s. I do admire the creativity of the logo design though. The logo is the Fleur-de-lis symbol that is presented on the jerseys of most New Orleans sports teams and defines the city’s rich background.

     I LOVE the warm-up jerseys for the all-star game. I immediately got goose bumps after seeing these. These jerseys represent the accolades of each player and they get to wear it with pride.

Snubs

     As you should know, the fans vote for the NBA starters that will participate in the All-Star Game. The coaches get the privilege to select their bench players. Many players have gotten belligerently snubbed from the big game. So I picked my NBA Snub teams for the Eastern and Western Conference.

EAST All-Star Snubs

G: Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors) 16.7 PPG, 7.6 APG, 4.5 RPG

G: Lance Stephenson (Indiana Pacers) 14.1 PPG, 5.1 APG, 7.3 RPG

F: Arron Afflalo (Orlando Magic) 19.4 PPG, 3.7 APG, 4.1 RPG

F: Evan Turner (Philadelphia 76ers) 17.5 PPG, 3.6 APG, 5.9 RPG

F: Al Jefferson (Charlotte Bobcats) 20.1 PPG, 10.5 RPG

WEST All-Star Snubs

G: Mike Conley (Memphis Grizzlies) 18 PPG, 6.3 APG

G: Goran Dragic (Phoenix Suns) 20.3 PPG, 6.2 APG, 3.5 RPG

F: David Lee (Golden State Warriors) 18.8 PPG, 9.8 RPG

F: Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans) 20.5 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 3.1 BLKPG                                                                    

*Note Davis was originally snubbed but is now on the roster

F: DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings) 22.5 PPG, 11.7 RPG

Game Prediction

     Now, lets get to the big game we are all waiting for. The Western Conference has been more superior to the Eastern Conference this year and the past 3 all-star games. The West definitely has the more star-studded roster with stars galore. Although the East has Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel who is a great defensive coach, expect absolutely no defense from both teams.

West OVER East

MVP

     Every player is competing for that MVP award secretly. It is so hard to predict when LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Stephen Curry and others stars are competing. I am going with the unexpected pick for MVP, he is going to have alley-oops to Anthony Davis, Blake Griffin, Dwight Howard, and Kevin Durant. The ex New Orleans Hornets player wins it.

Chris Paul