Game Thread: All Star Game
by sungo on Feb 15, 2009 4:37 PM CST
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PrintIn case anyone wants to chat during the game...
I couldn't find the exact quote, but a PtR member, in some FanPost, wrote that die hard NBA fans don't watch the All Star game. I vehemently disagree. The All Star game is about the best NBA players getting together for an exhibition. It's supposed to be fun. It's not supposed to be a competitive game. It's pomp and circumstance, but it's supposed to be.
Now, if you're primarily a die hard Spurs fan, and wouldn't go watch the Toronto play Charlotte even if you had courtside seats, then this game isn't for you. It's not supposed to be.
If you love the NBA, you watch the All Star game just for kicks. You grab some popcorn and hope something memorable happens. Maybe Kobe and Lebron will make the third quarter a contest to see who can score more points. Maybe Tim Duncan will do his best Tragic Johnson (copyright Sean Elliott) impression and do a no look bounce pass to a celeb in the front row. Maybe Yao Ming will make a 3 and maybe Shaq will even break a sweat. Who knows.
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it can’t be a collection of the best NBA players if a certain big-nosed Argentine isn’t invited. Nonetheless, I’ll watch because nothing else is on and my girlfriend is working. Plus, I can always count how many alley-oops Tony screws up.
"Like feel or follow or fuck" she said...
we could even make a drinking game out of it.
"Like feel or follow or fuck" she said...
by Aaronstampler on Feb 15, 2009 4:42 PM CST up reply actions
No, Powell, diehard NBA fans enjoy the competitive nature of the game. The all-star game is for the fair weather fan who wants to see dunks and fancy passes with no regard for basketball. This is a game for all the people who jumped on the Suns bandwagon 3 years ago.
Sorry, long day. Feeling combative. Enjoy your game. I bet it will be fun.
Stampler, whatever you do, don’t play a drinking game involving turnovers. It’s the all-star game AND Tony is involved.
We specialize in misinformation around here. Facts and stats just get in the way.
by Wayne Vore (ATS) on Feb 15, 2009 5:51 PM CST reply actions
Hey, some guy just won a rain-shortened thing for driving around in circles. I think the ASG will be more entertaining than that.
"Well if I am truly crazy, don't you know I like my life that way"
Ok, you got me there. SCS – 1. ATS – 0.
We specialize in misinformation around here. Facts and stats just get in the way.
by Wayne Vore (ATS) on Feb 15, 2009 6:10 PM CST up reply actions
I might want a bit of it… but it’s risky business. Been neglecting my GF a bit (her words), and she’s cooking me dinner right now.
To risk or not to risk?
Straight from the No-Stat Zone to your computer!
Hamburgers and scrambled eggs. Yum. Already in my tummy.
Straight from the No-Stat Zone to your computer!
For an All-Star game… are you insane? Spend time with the Girlfriend… this will pay dividends in May.
I am happy. I am proud. - Manu Ginobili
But wait, don’t just say you’re not gonna watch the all start game. Say the All Star game is one of the most important games in the NBA bar playoffs, but for her, FOR HER, you’ll make the sacrifice and not watch it.
When you look like I do it's hard to get a table for one at Chuck E. Cheese- Zach Galifianakis
I’ve never watched a truly interesting All-Star game. Sure, you always think it’d be great to see LeBron and Howard play together, or watch Timmy pass to Kobe for a dunk, or shit like that. Truth is, they don’t care. There’s no defense whatsoever for 3 quarters and 8 minutes, and if the game is close maybe it gets a bit competitive in those final 4 minutes. That’s it, year after year, rinse and repeat.
Something should be done to make them care. Anything. Ideas? Well, my crazy and completely impossible idea would be to have the All-Star game decide HCA in the NBA Finals. Wouldn’t that make them play at full throttle? How would it change the All-Star voting dynamics? How pissed would guys playing for contenders be at any Durant type playing for a bottom-feeder team that doesn’t care about the outcome and thus gives a lackluster performance? (Not that Durant would… He certainly gave his all in the Rooks challenge.)
I know it’s crazy talk. Anyone has worthwhile ideas?
Straight from the No-Stat Zone to your computer!
i dunno. i just straight up don’t care about the game, just like the players who are in said game. To me, it’s really marketed mostly for people who are only semi-interested in the NBA and just like the flash of fast-breaks and dunks and showmanship. Also I watched most of the dunk contest, and most of the 3pt. challenge (didn’t get to see RMJ though) and the whole thing is pretty lame to me.
I’ll just stick to my boring spurs team and be happy.
What the Bowen giveth Horry taketh away. --LatinD (2008 Playoffs Round 2, Game 1)
the Spurs do not defeat you so much as they grind you into tiny shards of psychological wreckage.
-the Denver Post
by Hamer_SpursFan on Feb 15, 2009 6:43 PM CST up reply actions
I agree completely with the premise that they could use some incentive to care, but...
I think baseball has done a good job of showcasing why home-field/court advantage being decided in the all-star game is a terrible idea.
Baseball had issues with home field advantage for the World Series, because the teams from different leagues never played each other. Even with interleague play, there were not enough games to compare records to determine the best team, so they just alternated. One year the National League team would have homefield advantage, the next year the American League team, and so forth. Then in 2003 or so, the commissioner decided that homefield would be awarded to the league that won the All Star Game. Baseball purists were infuriated, since it is obviously ridiculous to have someone on a last place team determine which of the best teams would get homefield. They left out that the alternating thing was equally ridiculous, but ridiculous + tradition seemed to win the day in their minds.
I mentioned that possibility in my post. Bottom line is, I bet all those people that complained about it really cared about the outcome of the game. That kind of pressure would influence the attitude of those players from losing teams.
Straight from the No-Stat Zone to your computer!
It’s not so much that players from a losing team don’t give a great effort. One of the flashpoints of the debate was when a player from the Texas Rangers, Michael Young, hit a game winning triple in 2006.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2006/
The controversy on sports radio talk shows was that a player who played neither for the Detroit Tigers nor the St Louis Cardinals (the eventual world series participants) determined which of those teams got home field. In fact, it was a player who didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of even making the playoffs. The equivalent would be Kevin Durant hitting a three at the buzzer to win the game, thus giving a 55-win Spurs team HCA over a 60-win Boston team (for example).
I actually think it makes sense in baseball and like that they are competing for something, because the sport is so individualized, you can make the argument that the better collection of individuals=better league, and therefore, deserves home field in an interleague matchup. However, since the teams from the different conferences play each other a lot in basketball, I think HCA should go with the record.
I also don’t have any issue with the players playing to the crowd, having fun, etc. The whole Western/Eastern conference thing doesn’t matter to players anymore, with free agency and all, so the games are not likely to be overly competitive.
If you did want them to go at it, though, having Team USA vs. the World would be pretty awesome. TP, Manu, Dirk, Nash, Yao, Gasol, Turkoglu… TD might even play for the World team. Team USA with Lebron, Kobe, KG et al might be favored, but I’m not so sure they’d win that one.
Porter Out in Phoenix
That didn’t take long -
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3909711
"Tim Duncan is a human trophy, not a flighty canvas of mood and invention: not a winner, just someone who wins games." - The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac
The players do care about the All Star Game. They just don’t care about winning. They care about putting on a show. I’m ok with that.
Where can I watch this online. I need one of them altavista links… they seem to work best for me.
It’s not altavista but…
http://www.dwert.webs.com/livestreams.html
Give it a second to kick in.
"Tim Duncan is a human trophy, not a flighty canvas of mood and invention: not a winner, just someone who wins games." - The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac
No problem!
If you click the full screen on the dwert stream it takes you back into JustinTV and the access code to enter that room is – werunthis.
Not advertising. I just like the full screen so I can cook and still see the computer.
"Tim Duncan is a human trophy, not a flighty canvas of mood and invention: not a winner, just someone who wins games." - The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac
I gotta say, at the risk of the NSA snooping on me. I never really liked the Sta-Spangled Banner.
When you look like I do it's hard to get a table for one at Chuck E. Cheese- Zach Galifianakis
Shaqtus
Outstaged everyone at the show i think. Looked pretty cool even with his lack of feet movement :P
Did anyone catch that Kevin Rudolf guy lip synching last night?
by Linix129 on Feb 15, 2009 8:09 PM CST reply actions
Here's a fun trade
To New York:
Louis Amundson
Amar’e Stoudamire
Mike Miller
Alando Tucker
To Phoenix:
Wilson Chandler
Jerome James
David Lee
Brian Cardinal
Ryan Gomes
Mark Madsen
Sebastian Telfair
To Minnesota:
Stephon Marbury
Leandro Barbosa
by Linix129 on Feb 15, 2009 8:14 PM CST reply actions
Hey all, it’s 4:45 AM in palestine and I am jet-lagged as hell. What’s up?
I'm comfortable winning -- Emmanuel Ginobili
C’mon, Paul, you ballhog. That was a pass to Timmy for the triple…
Straight from the No-Stat Zone to your computer!
I wish Manu was here and doing scrappy-doo’s job at halftime. How awesome would it be if the Suns’ fans booed him during an NBA cares announcement?
I'm comfortable winning -- Emmanuel Ginobili
Shakira doing her belly dance would’ve been cool…
When you look like I do it's hard to get a table for one at Chuck E. Cheese- Zach Galifianakis
When I didn’t have a gf, he gave me hope that one day it would be possible to be with a good looking girl.
When you look like I do it's hard to get a table for one at Chuck E. Cheese- Zach Galifianakis
If that was all there is to it, it ended being convenient when she made a crapload of money with her english songs.
When you look like I do it's hard to get a table for one at Chuck E. Cheese- Zach Galifianakis
Injustice! Why isn’t Manu representing the Argentina National Team?
When you look like I do it's hard to get a table for one at Chuck E. Cheese- Zach Galifianakis
I’m gonna go pass out now. Let me know if Timmy or Tony get the MVP.
Straight from the No-Stat Zone to your computer!
Pretty thin attendance in this thread today… anyway, the game has become a blowout. I’m just intrigued who’ll get the MVP. I think it’s co-MVP honors for Kobe and Shaq.
by silverandblack_davis on Feb 15, 2009 10:09 PM CST reply actions
Scripted Game
My takes on the game,
This is a showcase of what the NBA is all about, scripted big city big star propaganda bullshit.
The Kryptonite glow green attire of Nate Robinson dove head first into comic book level buffoonery.
The big story of the weekend was Iverson’s hair.
Kobe and Shaq Co-MVPs? Are you kidding? Even Vince McMahon couldn’t keep a straight face on this one. I thought the Malone-Stockon MVPs were bad, but congratulations Stern, you have topped yourself.
It’s not just the Kobe is an A-hole the size of New Hampshire, but how he fakes sincerity that gets me. His interview at the beginning of the game was a joke. Yeah, I don’t expect to play many minutes. Then, he goes out and jacks up the most shot attempts in a quarter in 50 years. A complete ball hog. It was funny though when CP3 started freezing him out late in the fourth. I guess he had all he could stand of the Kobe chuck and duck show.
I haven’t seen an all-star game ever that had the players caring less. Not only that, but where has all the talent in the NBA gone? We used to see games with Magic, Worthy, Kareem, Bird, Dr J, Thomas, Robinson, Hardaway, Richmond, Mullins, KJ, Price, MJ. Now we get Kobe, James, CP3 and a pile of dump. Mellow, Wade and the rest of the next generation are a far cry from the NBA studs of the past. Not only that, but they are gimps.
David West made Matt Bonner look like Moses Malone. The heart and desire is nowhere in the NBA right now. Everybody has their paycheck and could give a F’ less. The attendance numbers this season reflect that and are horrible. The record setting vote getter, Howard, is a lumbering oaf that can’t score from more than 2 feet from the basket and he has the fundamentals of a twinkie.
If Tony P is going to just half ass it around, he should give his spot to Manu. Horrible display. Timmeh also had the fade away game going. He was in no hurry to post up and mix it up with Howard.
Finally, on the Russell birthday cake. Nice try, but the association doesn’t really give a flip about it’s history. Remember what they did when Wilt died a couple years ago? Possibly the greatest player in history. They gave a 2 minute video during a time out on the overhead screen. This is a selfish association, with selfish players, selfish owners, selfish officials with egos to match.
Thank God, we here in SA have a little more going for us in the character department. When Ice walks before us, we show respect. When big Dave makes an appearance, we salute the man.
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