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Bobby Motus
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Thursday, February 23, 2017
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THE END of the All-Star festivities signals the start of the last half of the NBA season. The weekend exhibition of talent was simply that, an exhibition. There was the celebrity game with several bloopers earning nominations to the Shaqtin’ a Fool show. First and second year players had their day and with defense not on the agenda, the young stars rose to the occasion and took turns lighting the scoreboard for a combined two-team total of 291 points.
In what was supposed to be an exciting Slam Dunk Contest, it turned out to be ho-hum. Someone who most NBA fans never knew turned out to be this year’s best dunker. Glenn Robinson III is a third year pro but has already played for three teams. A back-up shooting guard/small forward with the Indiana Pacers, he is the son of retired NBA player Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson, 1994 top rookie pick.
In my mind, he was 2016’s dunk king and that jump-sit over a mascot cannot be replicated even by Aaron Gordon himself. But Gordon forced things, tried to do some stuff that resulted in several missed attempts. It always excites the crowd when you nail your aerial acrobatics on your first try but when you miss it for the second and third attempt, the interest fades. Last weekend’s dunk fest had more misfires than completed slams and the absence of the league’s top rim rattlers added to the tepid state of things.
Last Monday’s marquee tune-up game again threatened to hit the 200-point mark for the winning team. With a non-existent defense, the West stars continued their domination over their East counterparts with a 192-182. The West had won the past three stagings over the East. Since 2000, the Western team has won 12 times. But the Eastern squad still leads in their head-to-head battle with 37 wins to the West’s 29.
15,701 paying fans trooped to the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans for this year’s ASG but the record attendance for an NBA All-Star Game was in 2010 when 108,713 fans packed the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The second highest attendance on record was at the Alamodome in Houston, also at Texas with 44,735. I suppose the saying “Everything is big in Texas” holds true.
I agree with Coach Steve Kerr. It would be more interesting if both teams play defense and be more competitive. I don’t know how the league will address the matter but eventually, we will tire of all those half-hearted plays. No matter the highlight dunks, it’s still good for two points. For a change, it would be nice to see our favorite stars get serious in an exhibition game.
NBA All-Star Trivia : The league selects every year a city with an NBA franchise to host the ASG. 2007 was an exception. The ASG was held in Las Vegas, Nevada in an attempt to hold talks for a new NBA franchise. Cities that are yet to host an NBA All-Star Game are Portland, Sacramento, Memphis and Oklahoma, all Western Conference teams.
The 67th All-Star will be at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for a record sixth time. It’s a dual hosting by the Lakers and the Clippers. LA last hosted an NBA All-Star in 2011. The city also hosted the event in 2004, 1983, 1972 and 1963./PN
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