knbaallstarbulls

720 Slam Dunk

2006-08-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, not really any All-Star news, but maybe you will be seeing something like this in future slam dunk contests? 720 degree slam dunk by Taurian Fontenette AKA "Air Up There" from AND1.

Expensive Weekend in Vegas

2006-07-31T22:31:00.000-07:00

For those who want to experience All-Star weekend in Vegas, prepare to pay the price. Here are some of the listed hotel prices as of today:

DateDayMandalay BayLuxorMGMBally'sNY NYMonte Carlo2/14WedSold Out$200$210$90$180$2002/15ThurN/A$150$210$90$180$2002/16FriN/A$390$500$300$350$2902/17SatSold Out$460Sold Out$300$400$3602/18SunSold Out$400$560$300$300$280
You could wait and look for a hotel deal but if you want to stay on the strip and book a room soon, prepare to pay the price.

NBA Draft Preview 2006

2006-07-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

HM's NBA Draft Preview 2006

Using the picks identified on nbadraft.net at noon today, I have come up with my initial thoughts on the top 11 and a few other guys. I will give a 1-100 rating at the end of each guy, 100 being the next LeBron, 84-100 being a multiple time NBA all-star player; 70+ being a consistent NBA starter, 45-69 being a guy who will see decent time but not start. Enjoy.

1. Toronto Andrea Bargnani 6-11 240 PF Italy 1985 (73)

At Best – Dirk Nowitski; At Worst – Matt Bullard; Probably – Darko Milicic (which is not as big of an insult as it seems, barring injury, Darko will be a 15/8/2 man in this league for 8-10 years)

2. Chicago Tyrus Thomas 6-8 217 PF LSU Fr. (53)

At Best – a young Antonio McDyess; At Worst – Kenny Battle; Probably – a slightly better Stromile Swift

3. Charlotte Rudy Gay 6-8 222 SF UConn (74)

At Best – young Grant Hill; At Worst – DerMarr Johnson; Probably – Ron Harper/Jerry Stackhouse

4. Portland Adam Morrison 6-8 198 SF Gonzaga Jr. (72)

At Best – Reggie Miller; At Worst – Kyle Korver; Probably – Wally Szczerbiak

5. Atlanta Shelden Williams 6-9 258 PF/C Duke Sr. (68)

At Best – Karl Malone; At Worst – Doug Smith; Probably – Carlos Boozer

6. *Minnesota Brandon Roy 6-6 207 SG Washington Sr. (82)

At Best – Paul Pierce; At Worst – Courtney Alexander; Probably – Corey Maggette

7. *Boston LaMarcus Aldridge 6-11 234 PF Tex. (81)

At Best – Kevin Garnett; At Worst – John Wallace; Probably – a better Tyson Chandler

8. Houston Randy Foye 6-3 212 PG Villanova (77)

At Best – Joe Dumars; At Worst – Sebastian Telfair; Probably – Raymond Felton (whom I like)

9. Golden St. Rodney Carney 6-6 204 SF Memphis Sr. (55)
At Best – young Michael Finley; At Worst – Ndudi Ebi; Probably – Andre Iguodala

10. Seattle Patrick O'Bryant 7-0 249 C Bradley So. (72)

At Best – Brad Daughtery; At Worst – Rasho Nesterovich; Probably – a better Sam Dalembert (or just Sam D. when he used to try)

11. Orlando JJ Redick 6-5 190 SG Duke Sr. (68)

At Best – Jeff Hornacek or Jeff Malone; At Worst – Damon Bailey; Probably – Voshon Lenard

Guys I Like After 11 (not in order):

Daniel Gibson 6-2 190 PG Texas So. (can actually play basketball, yet is projected late 2nd) 44

Ronnie Brewer 6-7 223 SG Arkansas Jr. (his dad was a great player in college, Ronnie will be the better pro) 72

Hassan Adams 6-4 201 SF Arizona Sr. (played at a high level, projected very low) 39

Eric Williams 6-8 285 PF Wake Forest Sr. (if he can get in shape, he could be a great bench forward; will never play enough D to start, but can score) 48

Pops Mensah-Bonsu 6-9 232 PF GW Sr. (tremendous physical ability, when he went down, GW was not nearly as good) 54

Rajon Rondo 6-2 171 PG Kentucky So. (picking guys who starred at Kentucky is always a pretty good bet, they are in the league forever) 66

Alexander Johnson 6-9 230 PF FSU Jr. (lost a lot of weight, could be a very good player) 54

Nik Caner-Medley 6-8 234 SF Mary. Sr. (lookk, I personally hate all Terps, but Nik does not suk so badly that he deserves to be projected at 50-58; explain to me how Luk(e) Jackson is a lottery pik but Niky is almost out of the draft completely? I thikk they are the same player). 44

Darius Washington, 5’10” 195, PG Memphis – I like his mental and physical toughness and the fact that he is a winner 56

Guys I don’t Like

Marcus Williams 6-3 215 PG UConn Jr. (fat computer stealer) 57

Allan Ray SG Villanova Sr. – (not before #50-58, you can find a selfish inaccurate gunner on any playground w/o having to spend a draft pick) 22

Saer Sene 7-0 237 C Sen. 1986 (Projected to go way too high -- Yinka Dare anyone?) 40

Their Own Category

Shawne Williams 6-8 227 SF Memphis Fr. (you have to like a guy whom everyone who has worked him out says is good, but I just can’t get over a supposed world-class athlete showing up for a combine and not being able to bench 185 one time.) 49

Kevin Pittsnogle 6-10, C-F West Va. -- I grew up on the sticks, so I knew a lot of guys who look like Pittsnogle, and none could play ball. So I am torn. I can't imagine him playing in the NBA, but a law school classmate once called me "the worst-looking great athlete I have ever seen" so I sort of owe it to Pittsnogle to support the poor body-type guys. If pushed, I guess I gotta go pro-KP unless he heads to a team (Phoenix, Lakers for example) I hate............... 35

6 Thoughts on 06/06/06

2006-07-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

1) I hope that all the hosts and callers of WEEI are on record with their hasty conclusions on the Bronson Arroyo-Wily Mo Pena deal. Admittedly, ther 'Nati has had the better end of the deal over the past two months. Bronson Arroyo is off to a hot start in the national league and, now, Wily Mo is on the disabled list and David Pauley is the team's fifth starter. In vintage sports radio form, the trade has already been labeled a "mistake", a "failure" and a "joke." Ultimately, they may be right. Bronson Arroyo might turn into an all star pitcher and Wily Mo may never develop into anything more than a platoon outfielder. But let's look at the two and see if this deal really can be considered "one of the worst in baseball history":

Pena - The most glaring number on Wily Mo's baseball card is 24. That's his age. He turned 24 in January. He is over a year younger than Jonathan Papelbon, over two year's younger than NL Rookie of the Year Ryan Howard. Most players under 25 are considered prospects and haver potential. Why is Pena any different? It seems as though people wanted him to be a 40 HR guy right away and those kind of expectations are simply too high. David Ortiz was a rookie at 24 and managed ten homeruns. Derrek Lee had his first good season at 24. Carlos Delgado did, also. Will Pena be the next David Ortiz? Probably not. But I'm not giving up on him yet, especially with Trot Nixon's contract running out this year.

Arroyo - 29 years old. Career .500 pitcher entering this year. Though he usually provides quality starts, career ERA is 4.50. Undoubtedly, he was a great guy and wanted desperately to play in Boston. He is off to a great start, but doing so in the National League. With his stuff, it is hard to believe he'll ever become anything more than a better-than-average pitcher.

Bronson is going to have the better year this year. He might have the better year next year. But he is five years older than a guy who has proven he can hit for power in the major leagues. In two years, when Pena is heading towards a .280-35-120 season, everyone on WEEI will claim that they always believed in the trade. I believe in the trade now.

2) The NBA finals are going to be enjoyable and difficult to predict. I can't imagine not enjoying the NBA finals, but even "casual viewers" should enjoy Shaq/Wade/Pat Riley vs. Dirk/Cubes. Story lines abound and the basketball should be entertaining also. I am rooting for Miami (the Walker factor), but I will take Dallas in 7. The determining factor is going to be the two-headed Dampier/Diop monster. O'Neal is motivated to get another ring. The Mavs won't be able to stop him, but they (particulary Diop) did a sufficient job of containing Duncan and they will need to do it again in this series. Nowitzki on the other hand simply can't be contained. I'm convinced that he is the best player in the NBA. He is a particularly bad matchup for the Heat. Udonis Haslem is nowhere near quick enough. Antoine Walker would get torched. James Posey is probably the guy but he is only 6-8 and has been playing about 25 minuts per game. O'Neal and Wade will keep every game close but Nowitzki will be too much, especially with games 6 and 7 in Dallas.

3) Antoine Walker is still, far and away, my favorite NBA player, but his game has devolved to historic proportions. This is a guy who averaged 17 and 9 as a rookie. This is a guy who was an all-star in his second year. He's been to three mid-season classics. He's averaged 20 points or more 6 times. He was on the cover of NBA Live '99. Before this year, he averaged almost nine rebounds a game for his career. He lead his college to a national title.

Now, who is Antoine Walker? He's a three point specialist who isn't even very good at shooting 3's. He averaged 12 points and 5 rebounds. He is a role player. Almost fifty percent of his shots are threes. He has no back-to-the basket game to speak of. He can't shoot free throws. He doesn't rebound. Most people attribute this to the fact that he is playing with Shaq and DWade. This is bogus. Just because you are playing with good players doesn't mean you're game has to get worse. Watching Walker, you would think that he i a 38 year old gunner giving it one last shot. He's 29. He should be in the prime of his career. Third option or not, he should not be an afterthought. He should still be able to take games over. Employee #8 has been a good soldier in Miami, but it is hard to believe he used to be a great basketball player.

4) NBADraft.net has the Celtics taking Villanova's Randy Foye with the #7 overall pick. That is exactly who I hope they end up with. Foye isn't a perfect prospect. He might not be an NBA all-star, but he is the most polished player and could help the Celtics next year. Foye can shoot, can make his own shot and is an adequate defender. The Celtics don't need another project (Bargnani), another raw big man (Aldridge) or an average point guard that may or may not beat out Orien Greene next year (Williams). Assuming Adam Morrison and Tyrus Thomas are long gone, that will leave the Celtics with Foye, Rodney Carney, Brandon Roy or Rudy Gay. They all have question marks: Carney's jump shot, Roy's athleticism and Gay's experience. Foye lacks size, but if he could convert himself into a point guard, that would be all the better.

5) The Jonathan Sullivan for Bethel Johnson trade is essentially a bust-for-bust swap. It is seemingly impossible to try to figure who got the better end of such a deal. Sullivan had enough talent to be a top 10 pick. If Belichick and co. can't get anything out of him, he doesn't have anything. People have been saying Sullivan can't keep himself in shape and lacks motivation. If he doesn't change that, he'll be gone in August. Just ask David Terrell. Bethel Johnson didn't come into the league with as much acclaim, but his speed made Patriots fans envision a guy who could dramatically help the offense. It never happened. For a myriad of reasons (injuries, work ethic, unable to grasp offense), Bethel didn't play much over the last three years. He was a productive kick returner and made some big catches, but spent too much time on the pine. It's actually sort of shocking that he hung on this long. Coach Bill doesn't waste space on the 53. You can't teach speed, however, and that Johnson still has. With all his problems, it's surprising the Pats were able to pick up a player even of Sullivan's quality. Although, the Saints may be thinking exactly the opposite. Only time will tell if either player makes any sort of impact.

6) After watching Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals tonight on the OLNVS Channel 65 network (a welcome retrieve from the Sox debacle), it made me even more upset at the sorry state of Boston's NHL team. The Bruins had (another) chance to start over in a positive way this offseason. They had a chance to hire a new GM, a new coach, get some new blood into the morose organization. Any signs of life would have appeased Bruins nation, even if just a little. Instead, they found a way to bungle everything. First, they have allowed coach Mike Sullivan to remain a lame duck coach for far too long. The guy didn't get the job done. It's time for a change. Why let it fester? Then, media and fans were lead to believe that the B's had found their GM: Ray Shero. The deal was done. And then, as always, money came into play. Within days, Shero was out of the running. A scroll down the list of candidates lead to Peter Chiarelli. Again, the Bruins botched the deal. They actually managed to get Chiarelli in the fold. Well, sort of. In order to get him, they had to part ways with a high draft pick, something very rare for a move like this in professional sports. Despite this, Chiarelli still works for the Senators. He doesn't work for the Bruins yet. With the draft and free agency around the corner, the Bruins now have no GM. The man in charge (Harry Sinden) has most likely reached the point of senilus maximus. He can't even put sentences together. I wish I could say that these problems are something new, but they are more the norm. The Carolina Hurricanes can become a great franchise, but an original six team in a great hockey city is good for nothing more than a few laughs.

All right, that's it for now. In the very near future, I will have a World Cup preview up and continue with the 100 greatest games feature.

Texas' Turn

2006-07-20T22:48:00.000-07:00

(Dallas skyline, above)

My recent, seemingly innocent post about New York very quickly generated some defensiveness from Texans. Well, from Dezmond.

And before I (slightly) stand up for what I like about the big ol' state with delusions of nationhood grandeur, I thought it would be a lot of fun to further fan the flames. (And to use alliteration.) So, here are two writers on Texas. The first is Bill Simmons, ESPN's "Sports Guy," who covered several big events in Houston a few years back, and wrote this after the final one:In the past four years, I made four separate trips to Houston and spent a total of 24 days here. And you know why I did it? For you, the reader. I covered the Galleryfurniture.com Bowl, the Super Bowl, baseball's All-Star Game, and now, the NBA All-Star Game. And you know what? That's too much freaking time to spend in Houston. My editors just bleeped me, I don't care. Maybe Houston doesn't suck any more or less than 20 other major cities, and maybe the people are friendly and likable, but the fact remains, you would never come here for any reason, other than these three:

(1) For work.
(2) To gain weight.
(3) To get shot.

You just wouldn't. And yet, dating back to the Super Bowl XXXVIII in February 2004, three of the last eight major sporting events were held in Houston. Does this make any sense? There are 30 to 35 American cities that could host the Super Bowl and/or either of the All-Star Games ... and yet Houston pulled off the Ultimate Pro Sports Trifecta in a 24-month span, despite the fact that it's a sprawling city with traffic and safety problems (the three intangibles you always want to avoid for major sporting events). Here's what really frightens me: I have spent so much time here, I actually know my way around. Can I have this information removed from my brain? Is there a pill I can take?But that's nothing compared to Edward Abbey, famed author and environmentalist -- and hardly a Yankee sympathizer -- and what he had to say about the entire state:Why does every American with any sensibility and wit despise Texas? Is it merely a joke, a national gag? Not at all -– there are good and sufficient reasons for this serious and widespread attitude. Why pick on Texas? Because it typifies, concentrates and exaggerates most everything that is rotten in America: it’s vulgar -– not only cultureless but anticultural; it’s rich in a brazen, vulgar, graceless way; it combines the bigotry and sheer animal ignorance of the Old South with the aggressive, ruthless, bustling dollar-crazy brutality of the Yankee East and then attempts to hide this ugliness under a façade of mock-western play clothes stolen from a way of life that was crushed by Texanism over half a century ago. The trouble with Texas: it’s ugly, noisy, mean-spirited, mediocre and false.That sound you just heard was Dezmond's head popping off from the rest of his body. So now that he's properly apoplectic, here's my take:

As Simmons' feelings indicate, Texas cities aren't great at first impressions. They're basically giant suburbs, with few satisfying hubs for communal life. With the exception of the hill country north of Austin, they're fairly flat and ugly, not particularly green or inviting. Abbey's anticultural comment was made a long time ago, and it's no longer fair -- Fort Worth, in particular, is home to several world-class museums and the relatively new Bass Performance Hall, which is universally praised. That said, no one's going to confuse Dallas for a bookish city. There's a lack of pretension that comes with that, but also, in my opinion, a lack of inspiration.

In short, Texas is not a destination. Despite a popular bumper sticker down there that reads, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could," people don't flock there on vacation and then decide to move, driving up real estate prices.

But in that way, it has the appeal (an appeal I find more significant with the passing of time) of a place that isn't descended upon by all stripes of hipsters and hangers-on, but manages to engender in its native population an abiding affection. (The irony of this affection, as illustrated by Dezmond, is that Texans are neck and neck with New Yorkers when it comes to hometown arrogance. I don't get the sense that Ohio or Minnesota is cranking out bumper stickers like the one mentioned above. New York might, though, if New Yorkers weren't so allergic to appearing to care about stuff.) Also, back to being nice, the flatness can provide incredible views at sunset, which views are also accompanied by a feeling of relief that it will get three... degrees... cooler when the damn fireball (it feels eerily more like an oven light on most days) finally falls past the horizon. What culture it does have values, among other things, live music and drinking beer on sunny weekend afternoons. Nothing wrong with that.

The thing I don't understand is Dezmond's (and others') insistence on disputing fairly objective facts. New York is different from Dallas and Houston in kind, not in degree, the same way those cities are different from Fargo. This is rooted in any number of historical and sociological factors that Dezmond, being a history buff, should revel in, not try to flatten.

Ultimately, though, Texas is like anywhere else that does its best to cobble together claims to fame, rather than gaudily and immediately seducing you like New York and only a handful of other places can. To a point my sister made in the comments, living somewhere long enough is a way of coming to love it. Unlike my siblings (one of whom spent almost no time there, and one of whom spent just enough to know she wanted out), and cheesy as it is to say, I pretty much became the person I am while living there. I fell in love for the first (and second) time; I befriended some of the funniest, smartest, most grounded people I've ever known (and am lucky to still know); I drove around the 635 loop in the wee hours of the morning listening to The Bends with the windows down and day(night?)dreaming about other places to live; I discussed Kant and Rawls with my high school debate friends until I could convincingly pretend I knew what I was talking about (a still-valuable skill, for sure); and I packed up and left after 12 years feeling much heavier of heart than I ever expected to.

EnWritten and EnBlogged: The Good, the Great and the Merely ...

2006-07-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

Our reader representative, Hidalgo Hidalgo, who’s been assigned to scan the Houston Chronicle while we finish our giant colored-macaroni collage of David Stern we hoped to unveil at halftime of the NBA All-Star game, reported to us earlier this week that his counterpart at the daily newspaper had proudly noted that the publication had gotten a pat on the back for its “excellent” Enron trial coverage from CBS Martketwatch.

OK, it’s not a Pulitzer. But it’s something.

We must confess that our own passion for Enron trial news, while white-hot when the show opened, had cooled to a low, dull flame by midway of the second week. We’re down most days to a peek at the first few graphs of the Chronicle’s main story, along with a full reading of Loren Steffy’s columns and the occasional gander at his Full Disclosure blog. Steffy’s the genuine article: he can report, write and think on his feet (and possibly chew gum as well, we don’t know the dude) and he’s got his Enron facts and context down cold from having covered the sprawling epic as a reporter before he came to the Chronicle. Still, he’s got to walk that fine line of MSM decorum, although he’s made it pretty clear he wouldn’t be too upset if Lay and Skilling were stripped to their boxer shorts, placed in stocks in Market Square and subjected to the public ridicule of their fellow Houstonians from sun-up to sundown for a few months (he had a great line in his Friday column regarding one sleight-of-hand behind Skilling’s fiction that Enron Broadband Services was worth $35 billion: “It’s a mind-bending concept, the accounting equivalent of a black hole, a bottom line without a top line.” [Emphasis added])

The Chronicle’s trial reporting for the actual newspaper has been pretty good, too, although the Trial Watch blog, written (and real quick, too) by the reporters who are watching the trial (clevah!) for the paper, already shows signs of exhaustion, with headlines such as “Redirect begins just before lunch” (hope it was long one) and entries such as this:
Before former Enron Broadband Services CEO Ken Rice resumed testimony Thursday afternoon, he arrived back at the witness stand early and looked overwhelmingly bored as he waited for prosecutor Sean Berkowitz to continue redirect. Then someone commented on the springlike weather. "It's such a beautiful day, I [sic] would be nice to be outside instead of in here," Rice said. An open microphone broadcast his thoughts to the spillover gallery. Apparently he’s not nice when inside. But that's a notch or two above this dispatch:
Today, the three rows of reporters in the courtroom remained filled but fourth-floor overflow room now has plenty of seats …Several reporters are commenting on the frigid temperatures in the overflow room and some are not too happy about the noise. Just after the trial broke for lunch, one reporter requested a couple of chatting journalists to keep it down while he wrote. The response? A flat out "No!" A war of words ensued climaxing with an offer of "You wanna step outside?" The offer was laughed off and no fisticuffs occurred. The room is still cold and the work continues. Fascinating! Another no-fisticuffs moment. That was just the second day of the trial.

One thing we have noticed, though, is the uniformly reverential approach the Chronicle has taken to the proceedings, as if it were covering a Kennedy funeral (JFK, RFK or JFK Jr.). This tendency is especially pronounced when the paper writes of any attorneys involved in the trial: Prosecution, defense or judge, they are all brilliant legal minds, master courtroom tacticians, honors graduates of the finest law schools and devilishly handsome (except for the lady prosecutor, we guess) and/or exceedingly well-coifed. As opposed to being overpaid bullshitters with Bar cards.

Even their perfume smells exceptionally sweet--- even when they slather it on in the potentially toxic quantities usually favored by 6th grade boys! (Skilling mouthpiece Dan Petrocelli must be a real piece of work---after the newspaper reported that he offended a juror’s olfactories by overdosing himself on his perfume [what a brilliant legal strategy!] the paper was forced to run a correction saying it misidentified the cologne because of bad information it was provided (by ... ?). In both the original Page 1 story and the correction, the sweetish stink was branded Tabacco by i Profumi di Firenze. The was the second bizarre correction the paper has published regarding an Enron barrister, and we’ll leave it to greater minds than ours to figure out why. [We used to wow the ladies with a fragrance called tobacco, back when we burned 2 or 3 packs a day.])

Which is why we so enjoyed a full-throated, foul-mouthed diatribe on the trial by Matt Taibbi in the recent Rolling Stone (a magazine we ordinarily read once or twice a year, if we find one laying around the babrershop or must make an especially long airline flight, but which for some reason has been delivered to our home, unbidden and apparently gratis, for the past few issues). Taibbi, a drop-in who doesn’t have to worry about offending the lawyers, the defendants or their attendant flacks, cranks out a spew of bracing invective at the whole sorry spectacle, providing a nice complement to the Chronicle’s fair and balanced coverage. The overly-sweetish-smelling Petrocelli is
Grating and pompous … a fat-faced, heavily moussed Californian … While prosecutor John Hueston empties such a grab bag of tortuously mixed metaphors that Taibbi finds himself writing in his notebook:
Enron: Big rubber barrel full of trucks.
Trucks=shitty investments.
But
Describing the corruption of Enron is like describing distances in the universe: impossible to express in rational numbers. Hence the dump trucks and cookie jars.

The local counsel, Lay mouthpiece Mike Ramsey, is a “likeable character with a homespun demeanor” [read: a good actor to an out-of-town audience] who Taibbi says injected a somber note of believability in the bullshit when he proclaimed, in his client's defense:

"Failure is not a crime …"

Only to undercut it with a colossally inappropriate non sequitur:

"... If it was, we’d have to turn all of Oklahoma back into a penal colony---heh heh."

Taibbi writes:

The courtroom didn’t laugh with him; not a peep from anywhere in the room. This is how Ken Lay asks for forgiveness---by calling all of Oklahoma a bunch of losers?

We couldn't find Taibbi's piece online, but you can probably check it out next time you visit your barber (unless he or she also perms the silvery locks of Dashin’ Dan Portobello, uh, Petrocelli).

NBA Draft Preview 2006

2006-07-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

2006-05-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

For the second time in the event’s history, Houston has been

selected as the host city for NBA All-Star. The 55th annual

All-Star Game will be played at the Toyota Center, home of the

Houston Rockets on Feb. 19, 2006.

Houston first hosted the midseason classic in 1989 before a record

crowd of 44,735 at the Astrodome. In that game, the West posted a

143-134 victory behind MVP Karl Malone’s 28 points and John

Stockton’s 17 assists, which included an All-Star record nine in a

single quarter. Chicago’s Michael Jordan scored 28 points for the

East, while the Los Angeles Lakers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic

Johnson’s injury replacement on the West roster, played a record

18th and final All-Star Game. In All-Star Saturday night

festivities at the Summit, New York’s Kenny Walker took home the

Slam Dunk trophy with a record high score of 148.1 in the final

round and Seattle’s Dale Ellis collected the Three-Point Shootout

crown.

2006-04-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

knbaallstarbulls new articles for Tuesday, April 11, 2006Barco and Impact Video Score with the NBA
Impact Video’s LED Screens helped to usher in a constellation of basketball stars at the 2006 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge, 2006 NBA All-Star Saturday Night presented by AOL, and the 2006 NBA All-Star Game. The events, held February 17th ...

NBA Hardwood Classics: Upsets & Underdogs
Former NBA all-star Bill Walton walks you through a thrilling collection of the greatest upsets in professional basketball, including the inspirational championship run of the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977 and their victory over the ...

NBA Shaquille O'Neal: Like No Other
To say that NBA all-star Shaquille O'Neal is unlike any other player in professional basketball is a serious understatement -- because the truth is, he's in a league of his own. Packed with thrilling game footage, this retrospective ...

2006-07 Preview: ACC
And they return six of their top scorers, including All-American Tyler Hansbrough. ... Meanwhile, Wright should star on a front like with Hansbrough and ... The graduation of Robert Hite along with the NBA entry of Guillermo Diaz means ...

It’s Her Game 2
Her Game 2 Productions fuses fashion and commercial events that showcase established as well as upstart designers in shows like the Circle of Sisters Expo in New York City, the NBA All-Star Weekend Gala and turns out eye-popping fashion ...

Sir Charles
During his career with the Philadelphia 76ers (1984-1992), the Phoenix Suns (1992-1996) and the Houston Rockets (1996-2000), Barkley was selected to 11 NBA All-Star games as well as the All-NBA First Team five times and the All-NBA ...

Top Heavy NBA Lacks Possibility
The Suns, on the other hand, think every game is the first half of an All Star game. They can score 130 points a night but they might give up 150. After that, there’s nobody in either conference. That’s what’s missing in the NBA. ...

Requiem for Three
For instance, the selection of Robinson and Allen – but not Cassell – to the 2000 All-Star Game triggered a subjective crisis over the boundaries of Big Three membership. After starting the season an impressive 25-20, the Bucks spiraled ...

These mofo’s better beat Washington both times we play them the ...
He was an All-Star (long story) and generally considered on the rise in the NBA. Then he gets his finger injured, drops more than 200 points off his FT%, and has played terribly ever since. The Bucks were rumored o have him on the block ...

NBA NEWS :: Kamla: Living the Fantasy
And we are back with a vengeance after two weeks off to posh with the All-Stars in Houston and then recoup the following week with the family in Ft. Myers. Seriously, freaks, that's the only way to do it," writes Rick Kamla. "All-Star ...

The poor guys just can’t win. Last summer, the NBA’s dresstapo ...
The NBA reportedly wanted to ban the tights after the All-Star break, but decided to wait until the end of the season to avoid another controversy like the pre-game suit scandal. So enjoy seeing your favorite NBA star in spandex while ...

Sports Bits: Last Charge For Toros, Opening Day For Express, and ...
Simmons made a glowing reference to Austin while mocking Houston during NBA All-Star weekend:. But let's look at a place like Austin versus a place like Houston. I LOVED Austin. Loved the downtown. Loved the pockets of bars. ...

Houston's image and the NBA All-Star Game
I covered the Galleryfurniture.com Bowl, the Super Bowl, baseball's All-Star Game, and now, the NBA All-Star Game. And you know what? That's too much freaking time to spend in Houston. My editors just bleeped me, I don't care. ...

The price of dunking
... you go up to dunk and you feel like you want to break that backboard, break that rim,” said Warriors guard Jason Richardson, who with Michael Jordan is the only player to win consecutive slam dunk titles during NBA All-Star weekend. ...

Our Picks for the 2006 NBA All-Star Teams
The always controversial announcement of the NBA All-Star Reserves will drop on Thursday night, as the East and West squads round out their rosters with the addition of seven studs. One thing everyone will need to keep in mind is that ...

Take it easy, Bulls fans (and stop blaming Scott Skiles)
Around the NBA... The first of many all-star campaigns for Chris Bosh has most likely come to an end after he sprained his thumb on Sunday. It's sad, but it doesn't really matter on a team like the Raptors and it doesn't take away from ...

NBA NEWS :: Heat's Wade Sits With Wrist Injury
"A team spokesman said Wade suffered the injury before the All-Star break and aggravated it during Miami's 103-96 victory at Boston on Wednesday night. He was listed as day to day." Read more... _________________ ...

NBA NEWS :: Iguodala Ignored? Not So, Says Cheeks
"After scoring 58 points in his first three games after the all-star break, Andre Iguodala has managed just 11 points and has seen his playing time cut by 15 minutes per contest in the last two games," writes Joe Juliano of the ...

Meh...
I once enjoyed events like the Super Bowl, NBA All Star Game, NCAA Final Four etc., but now I could care less. I'm just wondering where my interest went. I've actually blocked ESPN's family of channels on my satellite dish...the HORROR! ...

Sports: Austinist Gets All Houstonist For NBA All-Star Weekend
On Saturday, Austinist rolled down 71 and I-10 to Houston for NBA All-Star Weekend. Our seats could only be described as nosebleed-arific, but hey, we got to go. The event started swimmingly when a Tony Parker-led Spurs team won the ...

knbaallstarbulls

2006-02-27T17:29:00.000-08:00

Other major events include Friday Night's Rookie Challenge and Saturday Night's Slam Dunk Contest, Three Point Contest, and the Skills Challenge event (started in 2003) which pits the league's top point guards in an obstacle course of dribbling, shooting and passing, and the new Shooting Stars Competition which features a retired NBA player, a current NBA player and a WNBA player representing their team's city in a shooting competition.