The Ramu Memorial Basketball Tournament, a prestigious all India basketball competition now in its 26th edition, is ready to tip off from Feb 21. The tournament is held at the Indian Gymkhana in Mumbai and will last a whole week. It features some of the top (men and women) teams in the country fighting for the coveted trophy.
From the official website:
The hallmark and annual feature of [the Gymkhana's] activities is the Ramu Memorial Basketball Tournament, which was first started in the year 1966. Besides, the various tournaments and events that gymkhana organizes, Ramu Memorial has become an Household name in the basketball and sporting circles, not only in the western part of the country, but all over. In 2009, the Silver Jubilee of All-India Ramu Memorial Basketball Tournament was conducted in a very grand and befitting manner. The most significant aspect and highlight of the tournament was honoring of all former greats of Basketball, who had played an important part in popularizing the tournament, since early 1970s / 1980s.
This tournament is played in a specially erected stadium, having a seating capacity of 5000 spectators and the matches are held under floodlights.
This year's tournament will feature the following teams:
Men:
Western Railway ONGC Chennai Customs Vijaya Bank Indian Overseas Bank Services Punjab RCF - Kapurtala
Held to much fanfare, last year was the Silver jubilee of the tournament, won by Western Railways and Southern Railways in the Men's and Women's competitions respectively.
Indian basketball fans - this is your chance to support and watch some of the best of our country's talent. The tournament will be an entertaining event and be a big push towards promoting basketball in India. DD Sports and All India Radio FM 101.7 have already been partnered for live coverage of the tournament's semi-finals and finals.
When basketball players step on to the court, something in their nature changes. They are no longer the desk clerk, the IT technician, the law-student, the father of two, the Hindu the Muslim, the Marxist, or the Shiv-Sainik. They become basketball players.
Before taking their first step on the revered basketball court, it is common practice for the player to bend down and touch the ground, taking its blessings, just like he would do before entering a temple. That is the reverence a basketball court has – so much so that it is worshipped and respected in the same manner as a God would. It blurs every other thing in the player’s life, and basketball becomes the only focus in his or her mind.
But what is the point of reverence when it is nothing but a farce? When games are played not to win but to pave way for the ‘natural order’ of sport in the country; when results are determined not by the team with the more talent but the team with the stronger voice?
Earlier this month, the All India Inter University Basketball tournament concluded in my hometown of Varanasi. Hosted by the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), this tournament featured the best four teams from each of the four zones in the country. The press release of this tournament would probably tell you that the best 16 university teams in the country took part in an exciting competition, leading up to the final which featured two of the local teams, the hosts BHU and the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth (MGKV). BHU beat MGKV 63-56 in a close-fought final game to lift the trophy in front of their home fans, and thus became the best university basketball team in the country, providing a memorable finale to the career of retiring BHU coach KN Rai.
But the result is far from the entire truth. Players from visiting Delhi and Rajasthan universities claimed that they had to forfeit or lose their games over threats at gunpoint. In the final, the MGKV played without their starting five, including star player Vikram ‘Dicky’ Parmar, and their rallying reserves threw away a one-point lead in the final minutes to pave way for a BHU victory.
The most shocking fact about this farce isn’t that the above mentioned incidents took place; it is that everyone involved with the tournament and the teams taking part in the finals silently let it happen. The crowd, although uncomfortable with the happenings on court, simply sat back and watched. The media made a soft whimper about it on the following days, but the organizing associations turned a blind eye. Even the coaches and players of the MGKV could only respond with a sigh, agreeing that “these things just happen.”
They just happen. When I spoke to former UP player and Varanasi-based basketball coach Jitendar Kumar about this incident, his only response was that these things are “natural” in such tournaments – everyone from the referees, gun-toting bullies, and even opposing coaches and players get involved in making sure that the home squads take the trophy. The teams agree to the result: that is what is “supposed to happen”, because it always does.
So it is compulsory for the best four teams from each zone to participate, even though participation is truly absurd when the winners have already been decided. Even former BHU player and Indian national Women’s team star Divya Singh wrote, “I know these University championships are like this… whoever hosts the championship does whatever they want... referees are corrupt in these championships.”
But the players who participate in these championships are the same players who will become our countries best basketball players in the future – if the biggest university-level championship is treated under such conditions, we are doing nothing but corrupting the very core of what will shape our national basketball in the future. What is the point of being true to the game that won’t be true to you? If Indian authorities are really serious about promoting basketball as a major sport in India, it should first clean out such practices in all levels.
When basketball players step on the court, something in their nature changes, to beautifully make them one with the game they respect and with nothing else besides it. Let’s not convince our players to corrupt the one thing they love the most: basketball.
The TimesNow.tv article mentioned this: "... the Indian Olympic Association has denied permission since Geethu is also the captain of the Indian women's Basketball team. According to the explanation given by the IOA, the Basketball Federation of India is supposed to organise a National camp during the same time."
The release, posted by former women's national team captain Divya Singh reads something like this:
Basketball federation of India refutes the blame of denying their National player for playing in Australia. One of the recently published articles stated that Geethu Anna Jose, an outstanding and highly reputed International Basketball Player of the country was denied the opportunity to train and play in the Big V Women’s program in Australia from 15th February to mid August, 2010 by the Ringwood Basketball Association, Victoria, Australia by the Basketball Federation of India. BFI clarifies that Jose sent her E-mail to the Federation at 8:42 PM on 25th January, 2010. The 26th January, 2010 being a National Holiday the office was closed. Her permission to participate in the above program in Australia was given on 27th January, 2010 addressed to Head Women’s Coach Ringwood Basketball Association Inc, Australia by Email and a copy of the letter was also forwarded to Geethu by Email. “We never deny any player, until unless it comes to our commitment towards the nation” says, Harish Sharma, Genl secy BFI. In few months Geethu, a member of the Indian team, will be representing at the reputed Asian Games. Basketball Federation of India is planning the National Coaching Camp and Foreign Exposure for the Men & Women teams in order to prepare Indian teams for the Asian Games this year where it is mandatory for the selected players to participate in the Coaching Camps & Foreign Exposure prior to their respective International participation and the Asian Games. In such cases, BFI always considers National interest, and it is expected of every player selected, to attend the National Coaching Camps for the preparation of International events. Basketball is a team game and the whole team needs to practice together for the work-outs on offensive as well as defensive strategies & team coordination.
I applaud the BFI if they really did give permission to Geethu to join the team in Australia. But if the BFI isn't stopping her, then why is she still here?
I wholeheartedly agree that national interest should stand above all, but it shouldn't come in the way of player progress if possible. Geethu had been quoted saying that her league season in Australia would end three months before the Asian Games, giving her ample time to practice with the team. In situations like these, doesn't she deserve to go and improve her skills abroad?
I was finally able to contact Geethu and get her side of the story.
This is what Geethu said about the issue: "... About the Australian league: What really happened was, finally [the BFI] gave me the permission to go, but also they said i have to be back for this Asian games camp going to be held at next month."
What she means is this: the BFI did allow Geethu to go, but expected her back much too early, and for her to return in a month would mean that she misses a large part of her professional season with the Ringwood Hawks in Australia.
Geethu was, after all, the top scorer in all of Asia (!!) during the FIBA Women's Asian Basketball Championships in Chennai in November. Pardon me for thinking that she deserves a lot more respect and recognition for her efforts.
These questions remain to be answered for the conflict to be fully resolved. But this is just a start of such conflicts - if we are hoping that Indian players improve their quality of play, then they will eventually be wooed by better basketball leagues in other countries - Australia, Europe, and hopefully in my lifetime, the NBA. Will this be a reoccuring situation every time our players want to head out of India?
Indian federations / associations need to learn from incidents such as those of Geethu and, of course, from the problems faced by our only Olympic individual gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, who was involved in a tussle with the NRAI.
Based on the opinion of most of the players and coaches I have spoken to, the BFI's General Secretary Harish Sharma seems to be determined in helping promote basketball in India the right way. He should be thanked for his swift response to this issue, but I feel that there is a long way to go before we have a smooth system of dealing with these complicated issues.
108,713. A hundred and eight thousand, seven hundred, thirteen. That's how many people showed up at the Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington, Texas, making it the most attended basketball game of all time. The record was certified by Guiness Book of World Records.
The All Star Game itself didn't dissapointment, with the Eastern Conference taking a close 141-139 victory over the West. Dwyane Wade finished with 28 points, 11 assists, and 5 steals to become the game's MVP. It was an exciting game from start to finish, and it needed to be too, considering the snore-worthy events of the night before.
Let's go back to the first night's events. Some celebrities beat some other celebrities to win the Celebrity Game on Friday night. What was of interest was the Rookie Challenge, which, surprisingly, the rookies won behind great performances by Tyreke Evans (the game's MVP), Dejuan Blair, and Brandon Jennings. The D-League did something somewhere also that night.
Now, All Star Saturday was to be the beginning of the real events. The programme was shown live in India on Sunday morning, but I couldn't catch it until the repeat late on Sunday night. Star Sports decided to skip H.O.R.S.E. for the repeat, which was won by Kevin Durant.
Here are my running notes for the rest of the broacast.
- it begins with the thoroughly uninteresting Shooting Stars competition. - i don't understand the rules, and i dont want to understand them - c-webb is alive - hometown star dirk nowitzki gets the loudest cheer during introductions. - the commentators are taking this show a bit too seriously. they're actually mad at the competitors for not being as serious about it. Can't say I blame them. - kenny smith is hilarious - team 'texas' win. yawn.
- should be fun: Russell Westbook, Brandon Jennings, Steve Nash, Deron Williams.. - i like to have a favourite for each competition... before i could understand and side with the sacramento team in the shooting stars tournament, they were already knocked out... skills challenge? go deron (last year's winner). - Derrick Rose, who was supposed to be here, suffered an injury. He's been replaced by westbrook. - nash should be a comedian - brandon jenning's hair is AWESOME - jenning's on fire... for most of the time - even the skills challenge makes kg's emotional - the vets in the final: deron vs. stee
- steve's got everyone off their feet. STEE! - oh its over! STEE wins - and he's the oldest guy of the 4... respect
Former US Presidents "Dubya" Bush and Bill Clinton come and talk about haiti support. bush looks like an idiot. haha i can't stop laughing. its great that nba is supporting haiti. but bush is still an idiot.
- this is a good lineup... paul pierce, chauncey, curry, gallo - i'm talking to my friend about shaq... just realized, that they should put HIM in a 3-point challenge. - actually... they should put shaq in the skills challenge. i might die laughing. seriously. - the all star game without game without shaq will suck - barkley looks stoned. He's talking shit.. well, barkley always talks shit... but more than usual this time. - chauncey's jump shot is beautiful. sexy, actually. - stephen curry's got an impressive jumper, too. - gallo, my great Knick hope, has dissapointed - curry loses... The truth wins. paul paranoid pimpin 3-pointing pierce ... Arnold The Governator is in the crowd, and he is happy too. So is KG, obviously. - its fitting that pierce is the first celtic since larry to win this. It's also hilarious that he called himself "One of the best shooters in the world." He is The Truth, after all.
- two good things about not watching this event live 1. i don't have to wake up at an ungodly hour 2. we get to skip all the misses. no thanks, nate 2006 - i think DeMar DeRozan (who beat eric gordon in the dunk-in) will take it. - apparently, derozan had his first dunk at 11... sixth grade... awesome... - take that back--- the misses are not skipped - all dunks look good in slo-mo - derozan/shannon are mildly impressive, gerald "crash" wallace underwhelms - i want vince. - NATE!!! - not bad..! - im very much against fan voting in this... let's keep the fan bias out of the actual event. - we have a kobe appearance - i expected better, shannon - ok, so i like gerald's 2nd dunk - barkley is still talking shit - oh my GOODNESS!!! derozan finally gets EVERYONE off their feet... amazing dunk... that's a 50 isn't it? - nate: nice - nate vs derozan for the finals... - and after missing the 1st dunk a couple of times.... that's it? that's the final dunk? - nate is bored of this. derozan should win. - derozan's dunk: not bad, but its been done before. - now that's a dunk... nate's second ones's good... plus he grabs a pompom from a dallas cheerleader... awesome. - Ugghhh! this is the worst dunk contest ever. i don't care who wins anymore. - wow, great time for commercial break. leave me hanging over a decision i dont even care that much about. damn you star sports. - Nate Robinson wins... 3 times champ. knicks, go! very uncreative... barkley actually added "maybe nobody should win". and i agree.
So that's it. I wasn't impressed by the events tonight, except perhaps that one derozan dunk and by paul pierce. And steve nash's facial expressions. Hopefully tommorow morning's game brings more to the table.
So, I woke up Sunday morning, 7 AM, definately expecting better. The Slam-Dunk contest was embarrasingly bad. The NBA needs to learn from this, and the superstar players need to have less of an ego about participating in this event. I'm calling out Vince Carter, Wade, LeBron, etc. here.
- ive always left the player intros... friggin hilarious. Shaq's dance with the Jabbawokeez last year was probably the best intro ever. - steve nash is still funny. - duncan is showing emotion, and it seems like he's trying hard doing it. I know he'd rather be on sleep mode - usher is there from 2004. - dirk is starting instead of kobe... but joe johnson instead of AI?... where's rondo? - the crowd of 90,000+ is the largest to ever watch a basketball game... twice more than any other all star game! - east will win... i know it
1st quarter - dirk starts with a crowdpleasing jumpshot - dirk again! - they're really hoping for a dirk hometown mvp arent they? - wade does a self-alley oop... nice! - Dwight just hit a three!!! hilarious - duncan is still taking bank shots - wade to lebron is a great combo. i'm knick dreamin - my main man boshasaurus check in
- melo's on fire
2nd quarter - david lee is in, and he scores... - rose and horford in for the east too, nice to see new players getting the attention on the big stage. There are 9 first time all stars this year. - beautiful move by rose - deron to durant, another alley oop - they did this several times tonight - wade!!! oh this game is getting great - durant is showing the world how damn good he is. - its amazing to think that gerald wallace gets nearly 11 rebounds a game - "One of the best shooters in the world" is still shooting.
- east make a comeback and take a big lead, thanks to lebron who is doing whatever he feels like, and al horford. - lebron blocks melo, it's a goldtend, and lebron jumps on melo in celebration - great passing, lebron to bosh to rose - bosh is now playing point guard. - jason kidd is sucking - dirk is DYING to be mvp, taking every shot in sight - melo again - 17 points in the half + 8 rebounds... wade has 10 pts and 7 asssists halftime score: a defensively mindblogging east 76-69 west
- halftime performers are alicia keys and shakira. i'm getting myself a cup of chai to watch this - rule of life: you cant go wrong with a half-naked shakira in a cage. in barkley's words: "can you say sensory overload?" - alicia keys is milking that uber awesome empire state of mind chorus as far as she can... we need jay-z... She's changed the lyrics to "welcome to all star..." - kobe got a bigger cheer/ most fanfare in the team usa player introductions... more than lebron. I'm just saying.
third quarter - dwight coast to coast - and just as i celebrate that... the power goes... i think I heard alicia keys singing "welcome to ind-iaaaa". Lame. - ok, so 8 mins later, power is back. phew! east is up 97-88 - amazing lebron to wade alley oop... seriously, they work well together. - bron is doing some awesome playmaking now - wade has 18 and 10 - kobe calls the all star game the "greatest pick up game in the world". he's right. - deron steal, nice move... he has 14, kicking ass - nash is on the jumbotron singing the canadian national anthem. legend. - another three for paul "best shooter in the world" pierce - the durantula hits a buzzer beating three to end the third. - attendance is 108,713... AMAZING!
4th quarter - west are cutting the lead down. It's suddenly a 2 point game - this looks like its gonna be a good finish. 120-119 east with 9 mins to go - great sequence of crazy passes between wade, lebron, and rondo, finally getting wade to the free throw line - CHAUNCEY! - ah, nothing better than some good ol defence - rondo to wade alley oop again. Flash has had around 80 of these tonight. - alley oops remind me of NBA 2K5. actually more of NBA Street. - deron is playing major minutes here. - lebron playing pg now - bosh has 21 and 10 - class of 2003 REPRESENT - but where's melo? - big shot AGAIN by chauncey. - bosh misses an easy alley oop from LeBron. - chauncey again! that shot was so well defended by wade too. game tied at 137, 1 minute left. - wade steals it with 20 seconds left!!!! game tied at 137 - deron sends wade to the line unnecessarily - wade hits both 139-137. 12 seconds left - i agree with reggie commentating right now. give ball to chauncey - who takes final shot for west? - dwight fouls nowitzi! 7.7 seconds. two free throws. game tied at 139 - east now has final shot... i say wade - bosh is tripped, 5 seconds, he gets 2 shots. another dallas native, btw - bosh hits both 141-139 - my (west-biased) friend thinks that this game would've been over ages ago if kobe was playing. - melo misses the three...bad shot... east win 141-139... well defended by wade - bosh's free throws win it - funny that dallas had to see another d-wade takeover. Memories of the 2006 finals are still haunting the crowd.
Wade is mvp with 28, 11, and 5, shooting 12-16.
So, an exciting end to a fun game. The game was broadcast in 215 countries in 41 languages. 215 countries!!!! They're not many places where it wasn't shown. Maybe Antartica. And Bangladesh.
Another fun fact: This was the first all star game to be played without Shaq AND Kobe since 1997 (Kobe's rookie year). In the end, the West had many options of the final shot-taker, was it going to be Melo, Chauncey, or Dirk? If Kobe was playing, I don't think there would have been any question about it. Actually, a Kobe-less result will always have an asterix with it, won't it?
Great performance by the 2003 Draft Class. Apart from Wade's MVP heroics, LeBron added 25, 6, and 5, Bosh had 23 and 10, and for the West, Melo scored 27 points with 10 rebounds.
Kobe Bryant (health reasons) and Allen Iverson (personal reasons) are both set to miss Sunday night's All Star game. They will be replaced by Jason Kidd (Mavericks) and David Lee (Knicks), respectively.
Let's do a Good, Bad, Ugly here, shall we?
The Good: David Lee is an all star!!! Booyakasha bitches!!! Finally... Lee becomes the first Knick all star since Allan Houstan and Latrell Sprewell made it back in 2001 - a whole nine years ago!! That was also, perhaps not so coincidently, the last time Knicks had a winning record. We don't have that, but, I'll take this for now. Baby steps.
Lee is the fifth most effecient player in the league, only behind likes of LeBron James, Chris Paul, Chris Bosh, and Kevin Durant. He is also sixth in the league in double-doubles, and sixth in rebounds per game. Lee's season averages stand at 20 points and 11.4 rebounds per game.
So Josh Smith fans, you mave have a bit of an argument here, but don't tell me Lee doesn't deserve this.
Along with Nate Robinson in the dunk contest and Gallo in the three-point shootout, David Lee now makes it three Knicks attending the All Star Weekend.
Yo, Z-Man, you owe me some Colonel. 2 piece chicken, 1 Zinger Burger (extra cheese), 3 hot wings. Maybe some fries and a Coke, too.
The Bad: It's sad to see Iverson and Kobe not participate. Mamba is obviously one of the best bball players in the entire planet, and AI, despite the fact that he doesn't deserve to make it, is a huge fan favourite. An all star game without Kobe suddenly loses a majority of it's luster.
Here is my quick list of all the (non-injured) players who deserve to make it over Kidd in the West:
jason terry (his more deserving teammate) aaron brooks luis scola marc gasol rudy gay oj mayo david west tony parker russell westbrook lamarcus aldridge carlos boozer monta ellis (i'm not entirely sure if he's healthy, actually) tyreke evans
I'd be surprised if even Dallas fans wanna see Kidd in the all star game. Hell, I'd rather see Mark Cuban play than Jason friggin Kidd.
Knicks have shown faint interest in the Rockets' Tracy McGrady aka T-Mac aka China All-Star #1 for a while, but now, the interest is actually converting into actual trade scenarios. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Knicks could lose Al Harrington as part of a three team trade that would send McGrady to New York:
The centerpieces of the trade would include the Washington Wizards shipping forward Caron Butler(notes) and center Brendan Haywood(notes) to the Rockets. The Knicks would send Al Harrington(notes) to the Wizards. For the Wizards’ part, they would still need another player, as well as a draft pick and cash to make this a workable scenario, sources said.
The Rockets have been peddling McGrady’s expiring contract of $23 million since exiling him in late December.
McGrady has played a shade below 35 minutes the entire season! He's featured in six games for the Rockets, he has averaged a scintillating 3.2 ppg and even 1 assist per game. So obviously, the Knicks would want to trade away one of their leading scorers in Harrington to obtain him.
Sounds like an awful deal right? Actually, I don't think so. Although he has been effective, Harrington is dispensable. His stats can be fairly easily replaced by giving more minutes to any of the other jackers rusting away on the Knick bench. McGrady is a shade of the superstar he was earlier in the decade, when along with Vince Carter, Kobe, and Iverson, he was probably the deadliest perimeter threat in the league. But I still feel that if he figures things out, gets back some swag, he can be of some use. Otherwise, there is always an expiring 23 million dollars at the end of the season that never hurt anybody.
I feel that the Rockets will be the obvious winners in this trade. Butler is one of the most hardest working and underrated players in the league, and will take this overachieving team to greater heights. The glow of Yao-love from China would also make him a starter in the 2011 all star game.
Wow, it's All Star Weekend already... The NBA season just seems to be blurring past us, isn't it? The "show" begins in Dallas on Friday and concludes with the main event, the All Star Game, on Sunday night. Here is a list of some of the weekend's highlights (please forgive me if I purposely skip over the the Taco-Bells and the T-Mobiles and all the other dumbass sponsor names in the event titles):
All eyes are on Sunday night's bonanza, which like every year, will features most of the league's finest stars. As you may be aware, the league allows fans to vote in their starting 5's. Unlike most sport writers and critics, I like to vote for these players based purely and unabashedly on passion instead of their actual talent/performance. There, I admitted it. Stop criticizing me, bro.
So, my starting fives were:
East:
G: Dwyane Wade: my favourite player.
G: Vince Carter: Ya, I've heard the disses. Half Man/Half Gimpy Knee. No heart, etc. etc. Whatever, I'm still a fan since the rookie year - I still wear #15 on my basketball jerseys. Somewhere in France, Freddie Weis is still shaking in a dark corner.
F: Kevin Garnett: Yes, he was injured for most of the season, and no, I don't care.
F: Chris Bosh: Along with Wade, this is my second "deserving" pick for the starting five. 'The Boshasaurus' has arguably been the best big man in the league this season.
C: Al Horford: Because someone has to play center. And because I hate Dwight.
West:
G: Baron Davis: Try using him in NBA 2K5, the guy is murda. Zyman, if you're reading this, I'd just like to add the word 'posterize'.
G: Deron Williams: Cuz he deserves it, and cuz Iverson only played three games in the west.
F: Ron Artest: I had a faint suspicion that he will start a brawl with all the other all stars and get the best of the NBA suspended for the season and thus lead to David Stern's suicide. Okay, time to wake up again.
F: Pau Gasol: I'm not the biggest Laker fan, but Gasol has always been one of my favourites.
C: Amar'e Stoudemire: He likes to dunk. And I love that needless apostrophe in his name.
That's right, no love for LeBron, Kobe, Dwight, and definately none for gimpy ass T-Mac. The final rosters are unsurprisingly very different from my picks:
East:
Dwight
KG
LeBron James (leading vote getter)
Wade
Allen Iverson
West:
Amar'''e
Carmelo Anthony
Tim Duncan
Kobe Bryant
Tracy Mcgrady
Luckily, T-Mac will not be taking part, and the much-deserving Steve Nash has taken his spot instead. As of today, there are also doubts about AI and even reigning ASG co-MVP Kobe missing the game. Unlike several criticisms, I don't have too much of a problem with fan voting. The game is after all an "exhibition" more than an actual serious affair, and the NBA makes no qualms before admitting that it is designed specifically for the fans. If the fans wanna see AI and T-MAC, then give them AI and T-MAC. (okay, maybe not T-MAC). My solution is that the system shouldn't change, but the names on the ballots should. Only players who have averaged a given minimum average of minutes per game in a given minimum amounts of games played should be in the list. This would mean that the NBA needs to chill and not post the ballot list out too early in the season. This way, we can get rid of all the players getting voted in despite much contribution to the league.
The reserves roster looks like this:
East:
Horford
Bosh
Paul Pierce
Gerald Wallace
Joe Johnson
Rajon Rondo
Derrick Rose
If Iverson does skip out, I am hoping that the league does me a favour and makes David Lee the first Knick all star since Allan Houstan.
West:
Gasol
Kevin Durant
Dirk Nowitzki
Zach Randolph
Chris Paul
Chauncey Billups
Brandon Roy
Chris Kaman
Deron Williams
Chris Paul and Brandon Roy are both injured and will not participate in the game, hence the additions of Billups and KaveMan in the lineup.
Me being a Knick fan, and most of my favourite teams playing in the East, my allegiances are going to lie with the Eastern Conference taking this one. D-Wade for MVP.
Now, on to the other exciting events. The Dunk Contest will obviously be a great crowd pleaser like always, but I am still waiting to see players like LeBron, Kobe, Wade, Vince, Josh Smith etc. come into the fray of things. This year, we will see the dunkaholic Nate Robinson take on the likes of Gerald Wallace, Shannon Brown, and either DeMar DeRozan or Eric Gordon. All great dunkers, but my money is on DeRozan.
Speaking of Vince and dunk contests, here you go. Thank me later:
The Three-Point Shootout is another fun event. Knick Sophomore and my favourite for this tournament Danilo Gallinari is going to cause some damage here. Remember where you heard it first - the guy is the best shooter in the league. "Gallo" will be beating Billups, defending champion Daequan Cook, Stephen Curry, Channing Frye, Paul "Paranoid" Pierce on his way to the victory stand. Btw, credit the "paranoid" nickname to hours on the playstation and bullshit conversations in my university years while playing with Pierce on the aforementioned NBA 2K5.
I don't care much about the Skills Challenge, Shooting Stars, Celebrity Game, the NBDL Dream Factory (because I don't care about the NBDL), and especially about friggin H.O.R.S.E. (seriously, H.O.R.S.E.? how about C.H.O.O.T.? let's play that, shall we?)
The Rookie/Sophomore game on Friday night should be fun. The Sophomores usually take this one very easily, but the Tyreke Evans led rookies seem to be determined this time around. Some of the players I'm looking forward to performing well here are Evans, Jonny Flynn, James Harden, and Brandon Jennings for the rookies.
The Sophomores are gonna take this one though. They have way too much talent: A lineup of Michael Beasley, Marc Gasol, Gallo, Eric Gordon, Brook Lopez, Kevin Love, Anthony Morrow, OJ Mayo, and Russell Westbrook seems too damn good to be beat. AND, they are playing without Derrick Rose, who would rather save his energies for the friggin Skills Challenge the next day.
Come to think of it, the 2008 draft class is pretty damn awesome.
I was frantically hunting for All Star TV Timings in India, but nothing was listed on the Global NBA Programming schedule. Following a few short moments of despair, I discovered that ESPN/Star Sports WILL be showing some of the events live here (phew!). The Saturday night events will be on live at 7 AM on Sunday morning on Star Sports and then repeated at 10 PM. Sunday's All Star Game will be shown Monday morning here, again at 7 AM on Star Sports with a repeat at 2:30 PM the same day.
Hopefully it's another memorable All Star Weekend. I'll recap what I saw next week.
P.S.: I still think Ron Ron should be at weekend somehow. H.O.R.S.E.? Coaching the Celebrities? Coaching the cheerleaders? Whatever... just get him there.
