The Hoop and The Harm

Wow. That’s all. What an unbelievable exhibition of basketball. Really, what else can you say? It left me so stunned that it took me until Friday morning to write about it. I was going to put up a long, entertaining article about how awesome the weekend was, but it’s probably better to let the highlights speak for themselves.

- If you missed any of the dunk contest - the best one in 20 years, by the way - you can see every dunk by all four competitors. (Unfortunately, you miss some of the more hilarious moments, like Chocolate Thunder knocking Gerald Green’s sneakers off the table after his final dunk, or the long, uncomfortable period between the end of the contest and the announcement of the fan vote results, where Green had to stand at center court the whole time even though everybody in the arena already knew he had lost.)

- The NBA has also provided similar abridged versions of the 3-Point Shootout, the Shooting Stars Competition, the Playstation Skills Challenge (no, this is not the NBA equivalent of the Madden Bowl), and the Rookie Challenge, as well as the All-Star Game in 15 Minutes. (All of these can be found via the above link.)

- And as for the H&H action? I thought the refs were going to swallow their whistles all game, but I guess they must like the site too. There were about half a dozen H&Hs during the All-Star Game, and by narrowly defeating Amare Stoudemire in the fan vote, the Hypothetical Trophy goes to: Pookie.

In keeping with the seasonlong tradition, here are the Top 10 Plays of the 2008 All-Star Game. (Wade’s play at number 4 beat out Stoudemire’s play at number 6 for the award. If I had to guess, it’s because of the clap. I know, that sounds bad. But not as bad as Marv Albert after number 2 - I’ve never heard a funnier sentence during an All-Star Game.)

The NBA All-Star Game: Where Superman Getting a Facial Happens.

All the All-Star and trade related links you might have missed.

• Kidd is a Maverick, finally. Wanted to be absolutely sure this time. My previous opinion of the deal still stands.
• Bibby traded to a worse a team with a better shot at making the playoffs
• CP3 put on a show last weekend
• Sonics look to be getting the boot
• KG hopes to return tonight
  
• Anti All-Star team
• All-Star Game Recap, Lebron wins 2nd MVP
• All-Stars miss you Diesel!
  
• Superman!
• Isiah’s on the offensive, be afraid
• Melo wants Ron Ron
• Slam Online’s All-Star Coverage

Thanks to espn.com, nba.com, si.com, and slamonline.com.

First a disclaimer. I am both a die-hard Blazer fan and a die-hard Brandon Roy fan. I said earlier in the season that it was unlikely that Roy would make the All-Star team. My main reasons were because of the high number of strong guards in the West and because he is a second year player that has plenty of time to be an All-Star.

When he got selected I was very happy, but up until tip-off I maintained the opinion that his minutes were going to be limited. With the bulk of the guard minutes being taken up by Nash, Bryant, AI, and Chris Paul. I said those things because part of being a Blazer fan is dealing with disappointment. I want to see the team and Roy do well, but I also don’t want to get my hopes up.

Having said all of those things, if the West had won, B-Roy was my choice for MVP. Here is his stat line: 18 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 28 minutes played. I know that if the West had won Chris Paul would have been the MVP, he deserved it and it was his home court, but seeing the way Roy carried himself there is no doubt in my mind that he will be an All-Star for many many years to come.

The 2008 All-Star game was a great contest. Congratulations to all the players, and especially to Brandon Roy. A great end to a great first half of the season!

In case you missed it……….. and even if you didn’t……….

Most creative dunk I’ve ever seen. I thought he would bring it, but that was ridiculous. I’ve been in a state of shock all night (and morning). Wow. The dunk contest is back people!

P.S. Honorable mention goes to Gerald Green’s birthday cake dunk

While the basketball world has been focusing on the upcoming NBA All-Star Weekend, there’s another group of ballers who are heading down to the Big Easy this weekend -the D-League All-Stars.

Perhaps some of these names look familiar. Well, unless you’ve got the nonexistent DirecTV package that allows you to see every D-League game live no matter what city you’re in, you’re probably reminiscing about the time you read about the D-League Draft on your favorite hoops website. In fact, 5 of the 13 players picked in that first round were named to the NBADL All-Star Game.

By the way - just because DirecTV doesn’t carry every D-League game doesn’t mean you have to live a deprived life. If you want to, you can watch every D-League game for the rest of the season right here (if you don’t have an NBA.com profile, you’ll have to sign up for one, but it’s free and takes less than five minutes.)

New to the world this year is ‘Dream Factory Friday Night,’ although I can neither confirm nor deny that this has any affiliation with the Dream Factory, a charitable organization similar to Make-A-Wish. Regardless, it sounds it could become a much-needed showcase for the League, not because of the similarities with the NBA’s events (Dunk Contest, Three-Point Shootout), but because of the differences (in the Hot Shot event, a team of two has one minute to score the highest total they can by taking shots from designated spots on the court, ranging from one point for a lay-up to five points for a half-court shot - it sounds a lot like the NBA’s Shooting Stars Competition, except instead of an NBA player, a WNBA player, and an NBA legend, there are only two players per team - a D-League player and a fan. Seriously. That’s pretty cool, minor league or not. Meanwhile, the other event is - no kidding - four players competing in a game of H.O.R.S.E.) If you didn’t know, H.O.R.S.E. was a part of the Association’s All-Star festivities back in the day, but hasn’t been for about three decades now - check out some of the vintage footage. And for more information about Dream Factory Friday Night, here’s the home page.

The NBADL All-Star Game will air on Saturday at 3 PM Eastern Time on NBATV.

I’m saying it now. Dwight Howard will win the dunk contest. Count it. It hasn’t even started and he has the craziest ideas in years. Just watch this.

Did he just oop off the back of the backboard?!?! Yes……..Yes he did. I’m telling you that’s just his practice?! What’s he saving for the actual contest?! Dude wanted to raise the rim to 12 ft this year, but the NBA won’t let him. After last year’s sticker dunk, you have to think he’s gonna come back this year and explode. He was robbed by the judges and will definitely come back with a vengeance. Mark my words. Dwight Howard 2008 Slam Dunk Champion.

Thanks to slamonline for the video

Brandon Roy gets selected to the All-Star game!

Look for LaMarcus Aldrige in the Rookie/Sophomore game.

“I dunk, therefore I am.” More truer words have never been spoken.

Gerald Wallace, aka G-Force, deserves to be in the slam dunk contest. Look at that picture and tell me you wouldn’t love to see him throwin’ oops at all-star weekend. And really, who couldn’t use a little more G-Force spice in their lives? I know he’s been in before, but THIS YEAR he’s gone berserk, leveled up if you will. We owe him a second chance!

All i’m asking is for you to keep G-Force’s ferocious dunks in your heart, that means you selection committee, and keep my dream alive of another tour de G-Force.

P.S. Don’t forget to send your “Ask Hoop and Harm” questions here.

This is what Chris Bosh is asking in this amazing video where he poses as a used car salesman. At the very least, he gets an E for effort. Can you blame him for trying with the likes of KG and Bron Bron in his conference? Of course not! Head over to nba.com or chris-bosh.com to vote.