All-Star Saturday, Bill Russell, etc.

Greetings all....

• All-Star Saturday was about par for the course last night....some exciting dunks... a new innovation of HORSE...and that's...it? Yea... The 3-point contest was the worst in my recent memory (Congrats to Daequan Cook for proving me wrong when I had him either last or 2nd to last in the comp.....I'll admit it even if Kenny and Reggie just forgot to mention they had the same).... The new H-O-R-S-E/GEICO competition was....blah? NOt as creative as I would have hoped (save the shot by Mayo from the crowd and the Durant corner shot), it could've been much better....I need more trash-talk and more creativity...it could be awesome with the right mix....The skills competition pretty much always seems like a jogging competition, but Derrick Rose's finish with the double pump reverse was real nice...and I picked him...so I had a minor rooting interest.... That brings me to (and it's own bullet)...
• The Dunk Contest: Dwight Howard got jobbed....hear me out... What were the 2 best dunks of the night? That's easy to me....Dwight's 12-foot dunk (with absolute and utter ease I may add) and Dwight's side-of-the-backboard dunk to follow....It's not even a discussion.... Nate scaled his back and almost climbed...yea, it was nice...he's 5'8....that's not a worthy dunk to win the contest...it's just not...and I don't care if Dwight stepped over the line on the FT line dunk....that's not enough to overcome the 2 best dunks of the night....Rudy Fernandez's wrap-around dunk got punished by the judges because it was like his 10th attempt (why the heck was Pau trying to throw a behind the back pass?) but it was VERY nice....JR Smith was a surprising dud to me because he can fly....At any rate, I won't listen to anyone tell me Dwight shouldn't have won the thing...and while we're here...fan voting is the absolute worst way to determine the winner...as always
• Terry Porter to the chopping block in Phoenix? It seems imminent.... I'm almost in favor of this simply from a "what were you thinking?" standpoint....you can't play half-court with that team...you just can't...which is the reason the Shaq deal made no sense and the reason the Porter hire made no sense....Steve Nash (while aging no less) is infinitely less effective in the halfcourt, and the same goes for Barbosa, and to a lesser extent Amare....these are up-tempo players....I'm normally not in favor of Coach-bailing...but I think I agree with this one if it goes down...
• 3 amazing individual performances (and stat lines) from college basketball yesterday.....1) Hasheem Thabeet's 25 point, 20 rebound, 9 block performance....outrageous when considering the final score was 62-54 and he's not a scorer...he was absolutely dominant.....2) Blake Griffin's 40 point, 23 rebound explosion....40 and 23 speak for themselves, and he's the best player in the country, so it's almost ho-hum? But in a 40 minute game, those numbers are staggering.....3) Jodie Meeks' 45 point, 7 3-pointer, 7 board game....he scores 40 like every other game it seems like, and he's suddenly challenging Stephen Curry for "most explosive scorer" claims....and doing it on a much bigger stage...
• Ken Griffey Jr. to the...Braves? Seems like a possibility now....the 39-year old will reportedly be in serious discussions with the team....I, for one, am underwhelmed by this....I'm a huge Griffey fan....but you can't tell me he's reliable at this point....and you can't tell me he's a better option than Bobby Abreu would've been...and to the national league? He's lost a step (or 3) defensively, and is best suited to DH right now....we already have a bad LF defender in Matt Diaz...I'll pass....but hey, if you're going to get the healthy Griffey...I guess Frank Wren is looking for the miracle to save his rep...

And finally...

• David Stern does something good....great even.....The NBA Finals Trophy will now be named for legendary Celtic great Bill Russell....this is perfect, I can't think of anyone who transcends the sport like Bill Russell, He's the greatest winner/leader in the history of the game (11 titles!!!), and carries himself like a man of grace on and off the court to this day.... and one more thing, I'm tired of the "legend of the African-American community" stuff about him.....he's a LEGEND OF ANY COMMUNITY....he's one of the great sportsmen ever....so don't put him in the confines of his race....yes, he was a racial pioneer and he should be commended for that endlessly, but he's a great MAN, not just a great black man....Props to you Mr. Russell