All-Star Festivities

3-POINT SHOOTOUT
James Harden
Chris Bosh
Klay Thompson
Stephen Curry
Kyle Lowry
J.J. Redick
Khris Middleton
Devin Booker

SLAM DUNK CONTEST
Zach LaVine
Andre Drummond
Will Barton
Aaron Gordon

SKILLS CHALLENGE
Isaiah Thomas
Patrick Beverley
Jordan Clarkson
C.J. McCollum
DeMarcus Cousins
Draymond Green
Anthony Davis
Karl-Anthony Towns

NBA 3-Point Contest

Presenting the #FootLockerThree Point Contest Field at #NBAAllStarNYC! pic.twitter.com/z9q8piE3hM

— NBA (@NBA) February 6, 2015

Real good group. (from left to right): Klay Thompson, James Harden, Marco Belinelli, Kyle Korver, J.J. Redick, Wes Matthews, Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving

Slam Dunk Contest & 3-Point Shootout Odds

Tomorrow night in Houston NBA stars players will compete in the Dunk & 3-point contest.  If you don't like watching it anymore (I admit, I still like it), then maybe putting a few clams on it will make it a lot more interesting for you.  Here are the odds:

SLAM DUNK CONTEST:

James White, Knicks = 29/20
Gerald Green*, Pacers = 7/2
Terrence Ross, Raptors = 7/2
Eric Bledsoe, Clippers = 11/2
Kenneth Faried, Nuggets = 13/2
Jeremy Evans**, Jazz = 8/1

*2007 Champion with the Celtics
**2012/defending Champion

3-POINT SHOOTOUT:

Stephen Curry, Warriors = 19/10
Steve Novak, Knicks = 13/4
Ryan Anderson, Hornets = 15/4
Kyrie Irving, Cavaliers = 9/2
Matt Bonner, Spurs = 5/1
Paul George, Pacers = 8/1


My picks: James White and Matt Bonner

Odds courtesy of Bovada

2012 NBA All-Star Weekend Participants

The 2012 NBA All-Star weekend is one week away. The festivities will take place down in Orlando, and it will serve as a goodbye party for Dwight Howard, er I mean it will be a showcase of the games best players. Let's take a look at who will be taking the floor.

The Rookie-Sophomore Game has been retooled into the "Rising Stars Challenge." It will still feature the best 1st and 2nd year players in the league, however this year, Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley drafted teams of 10 to compete against each other.

TEAM SHAQ: (had 1st pick, list is in order drafted)

1. Blake Griffin, Clippers
2. Jeremy Lin, Knicks
3. Ricky Rubio, Timberwolves
4. Greg Monroe, Pistons
5. Markieff Morris, Suns
6. Kemba Walker, Bobcats
7. Landry Fields, Knicks
8. Norris Cole, Heat
9. Brandon Knight, Pistons
10. Tristan Thompson, Cavs

TEAM CHUCK:

1. Kyrie Irving, Cavs
2. DeMarcus Cousins, Kings
3. Paul George, Pacers
4. Derrick Williams, Timberwolves
5. MarShon Brooks, Nets
6. John Wall, Wizards
7. Gordon Hayward, Jazz
8. Thiago Splitter, Spurs
9. Kawhi Leonard, Spurs
10. Evan Turner, 76ers

Going to be fun to watch. Look how far John Wall fell. He could have a monster game.

3-Point Shootout:

James Jones, Heat (Defending Champion)
Joe Johnson, Hawks
Kevin Love, Timberwolves
Ryan Anderson, Magic
Anthony Morrow, Nets
Mario Chalmers, Heat

Eh. I'll take Morrow for the win.

DUNK CONTEST:

Iman Shumpert, Knicks*
Chase Budinger, Rockets
Paul George, Pacers
Derrick Williams, Timberwolves

Excuse me? Defending champ Blake Griffin is abstaining, courteously I'm sure. Also no Howard, LeBron, Westbrook, Rose, DeRozan, Gay, you name it. They got two rookies in the field. After a couple steps forward, the dunk contest is taking one back this year (in names anyway.) If Jordan, Wilkins, and Kobe are going to do the Dunk Contest, I think LeBron and Wade can enter.

*Not a good sign when they biggest excitement for the Dunk Contest is that Jeremy Lin is going to assist in 1 or more of Shumpert's dunks. Weak.

ALL-STAR Game:

EAST:

Derrick Rose, Bulls
Dwyane Wade, Heat
Carmelo Anthony, Knicks
LeBron James, Heat
Dwight Howard, Magic

Paul Pierce, Celtics
Deron Williams, Nets
Chris Bosh, Heat
Joe Johnson, Hawks
Luol Deng, Bulls
Andre Iguodala, 76ers
Roy Hibbert, Pacers

WEST:

Chris Paul, Clippers
Kobe Bryant, Lakers
Kevin Durant, Thunder
Blake Griffin, Clippers
Andrew Bynum, Lakers

Steve Nash, Suns
Tony Parker, Spurs
Marc Gasol, Grizzlies
Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks
Russell Westbrook, Thunder
Kevin Love, Timberwolves
LaMarcus Aldridge, Trail Blazers (hurt right now)

Biggest Snubs: Rajon Rondo (Celtics), Brandon Jennings (Bucks), Monta Ellis (Warriors), Josh Smith (Hawks), and Rudy Gay (Grizzlies).

Enjoy the weekend!

-Keefe

All-Star Saturday Night

Make your picks for All-Star Saturday Night. We just saw the Rookies with a surprise win over the Sophomores last night where John Wall set a Rookie Challenge record with 22 assists including some crazy ones to Blake Griffin (posted below). DeMarcus Cousins went for 33-14. In a losing effort James Harden (who was a late replacement for Tyreke Evans) dropped a smooth 30.

Business picks up tonight with 3 more events. Here are the participants with my winner in bold.

Skills Challenge:
Chris Paul, Hornets
Russell Westbrook, Thunder
Derrick Rose, Bulls
Stephen Curry, Warriors
John Wall, Wizards

3-Point Shootout:
Paul Pierce, Celtics
Ray Allen, Celtics
Kevin Durant, Thunder
James Jones, Heat
Dorrell Wright, Warriors
Boobie Gibson, Cavs

Slam Dunk Contest:
Blake Griffin, Clippers
Serge Ibaka, Thunder
DeMar DeRozen, Raptors
JaVale McGee, Wizards

Should be a great night.

FYI Sports Brief fans, coming soon the first Sports Brief Podcast. Terms are currently on the table for the debut pod. Stay tuned...

-Keefe

3-Point Shootout Participants

Paul Pierce will defend his 3-point shootout title this upcoming All-Star weekend in LA, and his toughest competition will likely be from his teammate Ray Allen. Here are the "sharp shooters" invited to take part.

Paul Pierce, Celtics
Ray Allen, Celtics
Kevin Durant, Thunder
Boobie Gibson, Cavs
James Jones, Heat
Dorrell Wright, Warriors

Well you got 3 All-Stars and 3... others. What about Kevin Martin or Mike Bibby? I'd rather see Reggie Miller dust himself off and get in there over the Gibson-Jones-Wright 3-headed monster.

Some history on the 3-point shootout. It began back in the glorious 85-86 season where, surprise surprise, Larry Bird won. In fact Bird took home 1st place in the first 3 (why not) competitions. Dale Ellis got a win in the 4th year, then sharp shooting, never playing Craig Hodges of the Bulls ripped off 3-straight.

Mark Price captured back-to-back titles, Glen Rice, the obnoxious Tim Legler was in there, Steve Kerr, Jeff Hornacek (2), Ray Allen in 00-01, Peja (2), Voshon Leonard (remember him?), Q-Rich, Dirk, Jason Kapono (2), Daequan Cook (the Gerald Green Dunk contest winning parallel), and then Pierce last year.

I'll tell you what, the dunk contest with Griffin, McGee, DeRozan, and Ibaka will definitely be the highlight of the night, and maybe the weekend, but I'm down to watch Pierce and Ray go head-to-head in a 3-point shootout, throw the league's leading scorer in there as well and I don't even care about the 3 also rans.

I'll find a way to enjoy the shootout, probably not as much as the picture above though.

-Keefe