High School: St. Patrick's vs. Huntington on ESPN2 Tonight
Top ranked St. Patrick's High School of New Jersey will be squaring off against 6th ranked Huntington High School of West Virginia tonight at 7:00 on ESPN2. Best believe I will be sitting in my comfy chair tuned in to the station that those on ESPN affectionately refer to as "the Deuce." The game will boast a few future NBA players (possible all-stars), and multiple high Division One players.
*Star Watch*
St. Patrick's:
Jeff Robinson, 2007, 6'5" swingman, ranked top 75 (Memphis)
Corey Fisher, 2007, 6' guard, top 100 (Villanova)
Dexter Strickland, 2009, 6'3" guard, top 15 (undecided)
Huntington High:
O.J. Mayo, 2007, 6'5" guard, ranked top 5 (USC)
Patrick Patterson, 2007, 6'8" forward, top 15 (undecided - recruited by every elite college you can think of)
The NBA decided to change the rules for the dunk contest, yet again. Unlike the past two years, when dunkers had an infinite amount of time to complete their dunks (which we can thank for travesties like this - click here), 2007 dunk contest participants were given two minutes to complete each dunk. If time ran out, they got two more tries. Thankfully, the rule was pushed to its limit only once during the contest, when Nate finished a self-alley-oop'd 360° on his second try after his two minutes were up.
The common wisdom is that dunkers should make their first dunk something simple yet powerful, just to get themselves acclimated to the event. The problem is, with only two dunks, the contestants can not afford to do anything that isn't jump out of your seat spectacular. Dwight Howard started off with a simple yet very well executed windmill. Received a score of 43/50. His second dunk was one for the ages - I absolutely loved it. Approaching the hoop from the front, he jumped up on the left side, smacked the backboard high up with his left hand, and dunked with his right. Okay, so he hit the backboard where most people can't touch jumping off a trampoline. Wait... why is Dwight pointing at the backboard? Oh, he slapped a sticker of himself with this goofy smile on the backboard! He signed it too, but the cameras wouldn't stay zoomed in long enough to read what it said. Probably something like "Dwight was here" or "50, please!" (EDIT: The sticker says, "All Things Through Christ, Phil 4:13." Dwight is a very religious man). Unfortunately, this dunk actually received a lower score than his first dunk, which brings me to my next point.
Judges are too generous. In the first go around in the first round judges were already handing out 9's for dunks that deserved 7's. The scores are out of 10 for a reason -- no need to give everything an 8, 9, or 10. Save those for the spectacular. MJ, showing the type of savvy we have grown accustomed to, was the only judge to give the dunker the opportunity to improve in the later rounds. When Paul Pierce comes out and throws it off the side of the backboard, and Gerald Green activates the jet pack and throws down with his head a few inches above the rim, that dunk deserves a 45+. Dwight's aforementioned windmill? 43? Come on. Judges can't be giving that a 9. Jordan said it himself; he needs to use those 7's, because otherwise the ceiling is set too low for the high flyers.
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In the 3-point contest, the Hibachi heated up one round too early. In the first round, Gilbert scored 23, which was more than enough to advance him to the next round. With the best first round score, Gilbert went last in the finals. He watched fellow finalists Dirk and Jason Kapono shoot while he waited his turn. Dirk stunk up the joint, while Kapono defined the word 'pure.' Jason fell one point shy of the contest record of 25, set by Craig Hodges in 1986.
Gilbert shot himself out of it early. Even if he were to hit all of the money balls, he would still have to drain all but five shots (30 points on 25 shots, total, are available). Gilbert missed his fifth shot before he was half finished. On the last rack, Gilbert shot all balls one handed. Where have I seen that before? Oh yeah (link). Maybe it would have helped Gilbert if he were allowed to snap his fingers and take mock shots right next to Kapono during the contest. Just a thought...
Overall, this was the best pool of three point shooters that I can remember. Kapono, Mike Miller, Gilbert, Damon Jones, Dirk, Jason Terry are probably six of the top ten outside shooters in the NBA, with the possible exception of Terry.
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D-Wade defended his title in the skills competition. Afterwards, I heard what sounded like an extremely subtle Kobe diss come out of Wade's mouth. Cheryl Miller asked him if it meant more to him that he beat a competitor like Kobe, and Wade answered with a simple "no." Shaq has trained him well...
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Here's an edited down video of the dunk contest for your viewing pleasure (until youtube has to take it down for copyright infringement... when they do, go here (link))
Crazy? Debatable. Different? Most definitely. Selfish? Some would say so. Good for the game? Well...
Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas is known as much for his off-court antics as his offensive aptitude on the hardwood. For every one of his 40+ point games, there is a news story which details his quirkiness. Gilbert Scores 54, Admits to Trading Signed Shoes for a Box of All-Star Ballots. Gilbert Drops 60 on Kobe. Hibachi! It is at the point where some fans feel that "Agent Zero" is turning into a sideshow act, and that he needs to shut up and play.
Granted, every innovator will have his or her doubters. In that respect, Gilbert is no different. When news broke that he was playing poker on his laptop during halftimes of games, there was speculation that he did not have a great rapport with his coaches, so rather than listen to them, he would gamble (Gilbert maintains that he only played during downtime after the coaches finished speaking). After claiming that he would drop 50 points per game on the Suns and Blazers, it seemed to some that he did not care about winning; that he only set these personal goals to satiate his ego. Yet, the Washington Wizards, of whom Arenas is the unquestioned leader, currently find themselves sitting pretty atop their division.
Arenas is not in it for himself. Ask him about his teammates. He can not say enough about the evolution of starting small forward Caron Butler. And if you ask Caron what is responsible for his improvement, he will tell you that he owes a lot of his success to Gilbert Arenas. On Tuesday Night With Ahmad, the all-star explained, "Being a teammate of Gilbert Arenas, watching his work ethic, just following him in the gym and doing all the extra things..." have helped him. Wizards Center Brendan Haywood also feels that Gilbert is doing his job as the leader of the team. Obviously, Gilbert gets the approval of those who matter most -- his teammates.
It is refreshing to see such a high profile NBA player who makes an effort to connect with the fans. He is the only superstar who has his own blog, which actually is very entertaining to read, is updated frequently, and gives a lot of insight into the NBA, the Wizards, and "Gilbertology." After every game, home and away, he throws his jersey into the crowd. At the 2007 All-Star game in Las Vegas, in which he is a starter for the East, he plans on tossing 100 jerseys with "Agent Zero" embroidered on the back to the fans. He even plans on wearing one during the game, risking a fine from the League. "It's worth getting fined for," he explained, "because all those people who got the Agent Zero jerseys are going to feel special." It is as if, one day, Arenas asked himself "What would I have liked my favorite players to do for me?" and decided to do everything he thought of for his fans.
Arenas, with his fun-loving attitude is great for the NBA. The guy is an entertainer in the truest sense of the word. And, when it comes down to it, the NBA is in the business of entertaining. He is a rarity in that he is just as entertaining off the court as he is while he is tormenting opponents on it. He is not afraid to show us who he really is - a competitive, hardworking, outgoing, good-natured serial prankster. So when he says that he can boss his teammates around now that he is a starter on the All-Star team, don't take him too seriously; he doesn't.
Here is a video, provided by the Wizards, who are doing a great job of supplying the public with Gilbert's at it Again! stories. The video is of a shooting contest between Arenas and teammate Deshawn Stevenson. Arenas is shooting college 3-pointers with 1 hand, and Deshawn is shooting NBA three pointers. The contest was rumored to have $20,000 riding on it... make sure to watch it until the end.
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Other News: If you didn't already know, Andrea Bargnani is going to be a very good player in the League. His feathery shooting touch and ability to put the ball on the floor aren't the only reasons why. They say "it isn't the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog" that matters. Well at 7', 240 lbs, Bargnani boasts a competitiveness and mean streak that you do not often see among international players, as Commissioner Stern calls them, or rookies, let alone international rookies. Being drafted #1 overall means that you are expected to become a star. Bargnani should not disappoint.
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After Charles Barkley claimed, "I could outrun [veteran NBA official] Dick Bavetta right now!" it was on. There was no middle ground; either you were with Dick or you were with Charles. Commish Stern said, "I am not worried about Bavetta, but I will not be responsible for Charles, and his increasingly limited physical capacity." Shaq, a member of Team Chuck, explains, "I'm a big guy, Charles is a big guy, I'm sticking with Charles... Ain't no way Dick's gonna beat Charles." Reportedly, this All-Star Weekend, it is going down. Click here to see the trailer.
