Chicago Bulls rookie point guard Derrick Rose won the NBA Skills Competition in Phoenix Saturday night, as part of the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities. The number one selection in the 2008 NBA Draft defeated New Jersey Nets point guard Devin Harris in the final round to clinch the win. Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Mo Williams as well as San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker also participated in the event. They were both knocked out in the first round.
We will never know if Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant could have hung with Larry Bird and Michael Jordan in that famous commercial from back in the day (”through the window off the floor nothing but net“.) However Durant continued his success during the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend by winning the H.O.R.S.E. competition Saturday in Phoenix. Durant beat out Memphis Grizzlies rookie O.J. Mayo, and Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson to capture the crown. Friday Durant led the NBA Sophomores with 46 points, as they defeated the NBA Rookie Team.
When the NBA Three Point Challenge began Saturday night, Daequan Cook was certainly not looked at as the favorite to win the competition. In fact in a field of six NBA players, he was most likely thought to be eliminated in the first round. Toronto Raptors three point specialist Jason Kapono had taken the title two years running and again was expected to win the award.
Well Cook made it out of the first round, and Kapono never made it past the second, as the Miami Heat guard defeated the Orlando Magic forward Rashard Lewis to win the competition in Phoenix. Cook scored 19 points in the final round to win the event. Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger, Atlanta Hawks guard Mike Bibby, and San Antonio Spurs guard Roger Mason were all eliminated in the first round.
Last year’s NBA Slam Dunk competition in New Orleans was magical, this year’s edition that took place Saturday night in Phoenix alas was not. Last year’s event brought back memories of the Doctor, MJ, and Dominique, this year’s evoked memories of Spud Webb. New York Knicks guard Nate Robinson in an all green Knickerbockers uniform (very strange) defeated last year’s Champion Dwight Howard by literally leaping over him to capture the 2009 NBA Slam Dunk Competition crown.
Going into this competition there was a feeling that it would take a lot to top last year’s theatrics, when the Orlando Magic center captivated the world dressed as Superman to get the title. This year seemed like a sequel to a movie that should never had been made. The special effects budget had increased, this year Howard had a phone booth (has anyone in the USA under the age of 30 ever seen a phone booth outside of the movies and or TV?) But it never recaptured the flair or the drama of last year.
Robinson won the crowds approval by jumping over the Magic center on his way to a dunk. J.R. Smith from the Denver Nuggets, and Portland Trail Blazers rookie Rudy Fernandez were eliminated in the first round.
Typically during the Rookie-Sophomore games during the All-Star break, you pretty much know who is going to win. The Sophs’ roster typically is far superior to the Rookies’ and the end results bear that out as they have had won seven straight and eight of ten with this format, which began in 2000. Last year’s game was one in which the Rookies surprised the Sophomores.
Those Rookies were this year’s Sophomores, but unfortunately for them, they would suffer that noted “Sophomore jinx”. While both teams shot well north of 50 percent (the Rookies shot nearly 57% while the Sophs shot nearly 54%), the duo of Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans and San Antonio forward DeJuan Blair led the Rookies to the convincing 140-128 win over the Sophomores at the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge Friday night at American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX.
The Rookies led 55-45 with just under 4 minutes left in the first half when Evans converted a difficult scoop shot and converting the three-point play; the Sophomores would then score six consecutive points as Eric Gordon scored a basket, then a dunk off an assist from O.J. Mayo. Anthony Morrow scored on a reverse layup, but the first-timers got all those points back.
Brandon Jennings would drain a 3, Jonny Flynn drove for a layup and Jennings then scored on a breakaway layup, mking it 61-51. The largest lead for the Rookies during the first half was the halftime score of 67-55, courtesy of an Omri Casspi turnaround jumper.
The Rookies would reach the 100-point mark with more than ten minutes left in the game on a short floater by Jennings, giving the Rookies a 100-86 cushion; the newbies would coast from that point to the comfortable win.
Evans led six Rookies in scoring with 26 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals while Blair, Jennings and James Harden scored 22 apiece – with Blair grabbing 23 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists while Jennings grabbed 6 rebounds, dished out 8 assists along with 4 steals; Harden grabbed 5 boards and dished out 2 assists.
The Sophomores were led by Russell Westbrook with a game-high 40 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals while Michael Beasley added 26 with 7 rebounds and 2 assists; Morrow chipped in 15 with 3 rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Evans would get the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge MVP award for his efforts.
To win the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, the winner had to successfully make a layup, a chest, bounce and outlet pass through hoops, a jumper and then a dribble with a finishing layup.
Steve Nash tacked on a bit more at the start: Fly to Vancouver, carry the torch in the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games, fly to Dallas to practice for the Westen Conference All-Stars, then do the skills. All in a 24-hour-plus period.
Nash has never gone through an obstacle course like this, one that weaved through two countries and two sports. But if nothing else, Nash demonstrated once again how he’s able to defy age and geriatric logic. At 36 he’s having one of the best seasons of his career — stunning when you consider two of them were MVP years — while battling a steady stream of younger point guards. Saturday night in the skills contest, Nash competed against Brandon Jennings (age 21), Russell Westbrook (22) and then Deron Williams (26) in the championship round.