All Star Weekend = ZZZ's

Another NBA All-Star weekend is in the books with the West beating the hell out of the East 146-119. The West simply ran away with this game early in the 2nd half and the outcome was never in doubt. Kobe (27 pts 4 Rebs 4 Assts) and Shaq (17 pts in 10 min) ended up sharing MVP honors for the game, which seemed a little staged if you ask me. There appeared to be an agenda to get Shaq the ball every time he was on the court. As for Kobe, he may have had his own agenda in trying to steal the MVP from Shaq jacking up 23 shots in 29 minutes. Altogether a fairly uninteresting game. The highlight of the night was a Shaq and Chris Paul give-n-go where Shaq passed the ball between Dwight Howard's legs and then cut to the basket for the two-handed slam. Shaq put on a show in the limited time he was on the floor.

This All-Star weekend sticks out to me because of how boring it was. I had high hopes going in with the addition of HORSE to the Saturday schedule. In the end, every event including the game managed to disappoint me. Here are some of my thoughts on the events from the weekend:

• I loved the idea of expanding All-Star Saturday to include HORSE or GEICO as TNT transformed it into. The problem wasn't the game, it was the environment. These players needed more than half a sport court with bleachers right up against the sidelines to work with. Also, we need to get some more charismatic players involved in this contest. We need players that aren't afraid to try any shot. There seemed to be a feeling-out period for the players first few shots before they branched out and started attempting some trick shots. HORSE can work if done properly.




• The biggest joke of the whole weekend was the skills competition. Could the NBA have found 4 less interested participants? Derick Rose dogged the entire competition and walked away the champion. The obstacle course is a joke and the players know it. You will never see a bounce pass in an NBA game like the one that is required to get through this course. If the NBA wants to keep this skills competition as a part of All-Star Saturday then I suggest they get big men to attempt the course. At least that would be funny right?




• As far as the Dunk Contest goes, I could take it or leave it. The whole superman thing is played out. Not really any amazing dunks. Nate Robinson pushed off to be able to jump over Dwight Howard. The Howard 12 foot dunk was nice but it had no element of surprise. Once we see another basket being hauled into the arena we immediately knew what was coming. We've seen the free-throw line dunk before and Howard being a big man made it look awkward and ugly. Give me the Brent Barry free-throw line dunk over his any day...maybe. Spike Lee might have almost shat in his trousers after he saw Robinson slip when he tried to use Wilson Chandler's back as a foot stool. Although I have to give it to Dwight Howard for letting Robinson dunk over him for the win. That was a classy move and although I wasn't a fan of any of Howards dunks he's an awesome dude and its easy to see why the fans love him.




• Lebron James tried to steal spotlight away from Dwight Howard when he jumped in and announced he will be in the 2010 dunk contest in Dallas. Yea, right, I'll believe that when I see it.




• TNT really missed Charles Barkley this weekend. Chris Webber really knows his stuff, even more so than Charles, but at an event like All-Star weekend, Barkley is there for comic relief. I needed to hear his thoughts on Dwayne Wade's obsession with the Steve Urkel look and I just didn't get it. Also if I have to hear Reggie Miller one more time I'm going to take my own life. "LEX LUTHER IS IN THE BUILDING!!!" Kill me now.

• Was it just me or did the All-Star jersey colors have nothing to do with the Suns?




• The C0-MVP's thing was a joke. This was setup before the ball was even tipped. You want the real MVP look no further than Chris Paul who had 14 pts 14 assts with only 1 turnover and 3 steals not to mention he orchestrated the entire game and was the only player on the court playing defense. CP3 got robbed.

Let's hope 2010 in Dallas is a hell of a lot better than this year.