Shaq, Kobe share MVP honors in All-Star win
Mike Monroe
PHOENIX — NBA All-Star Weekend, which often seemed overshadowed by the disarray of the host city's team, ended Sunday with a game that lacked most of the showmanship basketball fans have come to expect from this annual star-studded game.
An All-Star Game without a single lob-and-dunk until the fourth quarter?
Was it the 2009 All-Star Game, or the 1959 game, when the co-MVPs were Elgin Baylor and Bob Pet ?
There were co-MVPs in this one, too, and the fact they were former Lakers teammates Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant at least provided some postgame intrigue to an event that was otherwise lacking in drama.
The Western Conference scored a 146-119 victory — the sort of blowout that usually sends much of the crowd home long before the final buzzer. It seemed a fitting end to a weekend that NBA fans in the Valley of the Sun will remember most for the negativity around their hometown team.
Could there be some sort of curse hanging over US Airways Center, where the host Suns have played themselves out of playoff contention and are about to fire their head coach, Terry Porter, after less than one full season?
The best thing that happened for the Suns all weekend? O'Neal's All-Star turn.
The Phoenix center, making his 15th All-Star appearance, did his best to add some entertainment value, before, during and after the game.
He showed off his dance moves during pregame introductions and toyed with the crowd during the game, as well.
For that reason alone, he deserved his portion of the game's Most Valuable Player Award, which he shared with Bryant.
Inevitably, the two former teammates were asked if Sunday's game made them wistful, perhaps hoping they could have a full-time reunion in the future.
“We are not going to go back to the room and watch ‘Steel Magnolias' or something like that,” Bryant said. “You know what I'm saying? Crying, all that stuff. We had a good time. That's all.”
O'Neal gave in, ever so slightly, to the melancholy.
“It felt like old times,” he said. “He was really looking for me, especially when we went to a pick-and-roll and they had Rashard Lewis on me.”
In just 11 minutes of court time O'Neal made 8-of-9 shots and scored 17 points, while having more fun than any All-Star.
The 7-foot-1, 325-pound veteran with a “Superman” S tattooed on his biceps danced with the hip-hop dance group “JabbaWockeeZ” during pregame introductions and treated the game as if he were showing off on the playground.
He sparked a 19-0 run for the West in the second quarter and had four dunks in a three-minute stretch of the third quarter.
Bryant had 27 points to lead all scorers.
Spurs guard Tony Parker, playing his third All-Star Game, made 7 of 11 shots and scored 14 points, his best performance in three All-Star appearances.
It was Parker who finally gave the crowd an All-Star type of play to enjoy, a lob pass to Brandon Roy for a dunk with 9:32 left in the third period. He finished with four assists.
“I was trying to bring a little bit of excitement,” Parker said. “I got an alley-oop for Chris Paul, too. I don't get a chance to do any alley-oops all year in San Antonio, so I had to take advantage of my chance.”
Parker credited Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who coaches the West, for giving him the green light to create some offense.
“I was just trying to be aggressive,” Parker said. “Phil told me to try some pick-and-rolls, the same thing I do in San Antonio, so that's what I did.”
Spurs forward Tim Duncan, voted a starter for the 10th time, scored six points, on 3-for-5 shooting. He had three rebounds and two assists.
Spurs' showings
Tim Duncan: 18 minutes, six points (3-of-5 shooting), three rebounds, two assists, one steal, one block
Tony Parker: 20 minutes, 14 points (7-of-11 shooting), four rebounds, four assists, two steals
I dont know, tonight it seemed like both teams where actually trying to win to prove a point. west wanted to prove they are still the best (and they still are) and East was definately gunning for a win at the beginning. To me it dewfinately didnt feel like a regular all-star game.
1.2.3. EAST.4.5.6 WIN!
STFU Lebron, West still owns the East.
So sad to see that Timmy couldn't win MVP
Not really. Its a meaningless game. Tim has done it (The All-star game) too many times and doesnt have the Ego Shaq, Kobe and Kg have. It was pretty obvious Tim was just going through the motions.
do not ever quarrel with idiots, they will just make you slip down to their levels and finally beat you with their "experiences".
“I was trying to bring a little bit of excitement,” Parker said. “I got an alley-oop for Chris Paul, too. I don't get a chance to do any alley-oops all year in San Antonio, so I had to take advantage of my chance.”
- that's funny.
+1.
In relation to pursuit of an NBA championship this game is meaningless. It only becomes meaningful when someone gets injured.
Good for Dunks to play it safe with low ego emissions as usual.
Now go get that 5th le!!!
The other day i saw one play where Malik was running the floor ready to get one of those... Still TP didn't pull the trigger... it's just another basketball play... Haven't seen that a lot from us... i think an athletic big would change that though... not sheed... Pops maybe?
I remember when Jax used to throw those to Manu... or when TP tried to repeatedly use it with TD in the Jazz series in 07...
Tony needs to be quiet because he sucks hard at throwing oops! (that said, it's not easy to throw oops to Spurs players)
Though I will give him credit for the lob to Chris Paul of all people. That one surprised me.
what ??
i can't even remenber tony making a bad alley-oops pass, even if he doesn't try it so much considering his unathletic teamates. as far as i can remember, he almost always succed in alley-oops pass (especially for Tim).
and the less your teamates are athletics, the harder this kind of pass is, because you don't have too much margin. i could throw blind alley-oops pass to LBJ with my left hand, and he'll still find a way to catch it. not the same thing with Oberto or KT, even Tim.
what are you talking about ?
Hey, I'm not hating, I see the french flag under your name and I'm not picking on Tony. I love the guy. He is completely underrated by Spurs fans, but he is not good at throwing alley oop passes. I know becuase I have been watching Tony since late 2001. I'm sure there will be plently of other posters who will agree with me.
The second part of your post I agree with. It's a lot harder to throw a lob when you are throwing them to Timmy rather than Amare...
Way to go, guys!
I was proud of our guys but wanted the East to win- so that Kobe and Shaq has no chance of getting the MVP.
Total hometown horse that shaq got co-mvp I mean he had 17 and 5 boards. amare had 19 and 6 boards, paul had 14 pts and 14 assists. kobe had 27 and 4 asst, So why is he sharing and why with shaq? The league has been in love with this fat for far too long good riddance you piece of crap!
forget my flag and all your TP praising, we're talking about alley-oops passes from tony.
i've seen tony succeed in almost all of his alley-oops pass (like the two he threw in ASG), so once again i disagree on this one.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
