From the Vault: 1992 NBA All-Star Game Play-by-Play

In honor of the NBA All-Star Weekend as well as the 20th Anniversary of Magic Johnson's landmark first playing appearance post-HIV announcement (as well as a cheap way to put up "new content") we are digging up Matt Domino's Play-by-Play of the 1992 All-Star Game from February 2010.

That's What a Golden Age Looks Like: NBA All-Star Weekend 2010

 

The 2010 All-Star Game was a success.  Although the weekend was marred by probably the worst or one of the worst dunk contests of all time, the rest of the events held up. 

As I mentioned in my brief post on Saturday, the weekend started off right with the Rookie/Sophmore challenge on Friday night.  This game pits first year and second year players up against each other so that they may exhibit the skills that they are usually prevented from showing when they are on their actual teams and limited by veterans and limited minutes.  This game featured a ton of highlight worthy dunks and moves and was characterized by plenty of fast and loose action.  What this game showed was that in young stars like Tyreke Evans (Sacramento), Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City), Dejuan Blair (Spurs-next Charles Barkley like loveable persona), Brandon Jennings (Milwaukee), O.J. Mayo (Grizzlies), Eric Gordon (Clippers), and Brook Lopez (Nets – unfortunately) that the NBA will have plenty of marketable faces for years to come.  Out of the 18 players in this game, it is not a stretch to say that 9 or possibly 10 of these young guys will end up being All-Stars (Evans, Mayo, Gordon, Beasley, Curry, Blair, Westbrook, Lopez, Jennings, M. Gasol) and the rest will be almost at that level and at least likeable guys (Love, Flynn, Harden).  This has not often been the case with young talent in the NBA over the past ten years.  While I was watching the Rookie/Sophmore game, I muttered to my roommate, Erik Gundel,  “if this game is this good, I can’t wait for the actual All-Star Game.”  The league is once again building a solid foundation of players from winning college programs who learned under excellent head coaches.  Although, the “Lebron Rule” only keeps most of these players in college for a year before entering the NBA, I believe that they get a certain sense of discipline and perspective from having that one year of college experience as opposed to jumping just from high school to the NBA.  That is how the NBA rose to its golden era in the late 80’s and 90’s.  Guys went to college, played under winning coaches and in winning programs and then entered the NBA were they were humbled playing under greats like Magic, Bird, Dr. J, McHale, Parrish, Isiah and Jordan.  The same thing is happening now.  These young guys are all supremely talented, but they now enter a league where they have to face guys like Wade, Lebron, Kobe, Carmelo, Howard – legitimate stars who are larger than life and who have actual “good guy” personalities (yes, even Kobe in some respects).  This is all good.

Saturday night of All-Star Weekend is usually the most entertaining night because of the skills competition and of course the Dunk Contest.  This year there was an entertaining 3-Point Shootout with Paul Pierce winning in surprising fashion over Chauncey Billups and Stephon Curry, who I am sure will be in the contest many times. Steve Nash won the Skills Competition over younger players like Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook and Brandon Jennings.  Finally, Nate Robinson won the Dunk Contest in disappointing fashion of Demar DeRozen.  This year’s dunk contest featured too many obscure players in order to garner any actual interest or excitement.  The league really needs to figure out how to incorporate the stars back into  the contest in order to make it exciting.  There needs to be some kind of campaign within the ranks of the superstars where they talk each other into doing the contest again, otherwise the Dunk Contest may fall back into obscurity after its resurgence in the past few years thanks to Nate Robinson and Dwight Howard.

Now, the All-Star Game itself. I already broke down the merits of the rosters in my preview of the weekend and although the rosters were slightly tweaked because of injuries, the replacements that were put in were more than serviceable.  There are no two back to back weekends that are more similar or more entertaining in sports than Super Bowl Weekend and NBA All-Star Weekend.  With the record crowd of 108,713 on hand to watch the game, the NBA went for the true Super Bowl spectacle effect. Much has been made today in the aftermath of the game that the NBA cannot go back to doing the game in regular arenas and they should cater to the large domes, much like the Super Bowl caters to warm weather environments with excellent stadiums. I don’t know if I would get that worked up about the concept yet.  There is a certain novelty to the size and newness of the new Cowboys Stadium that may not be present in other domes.  I  happen to enjoy the touring aspect of the All-Star Weekend that allows each city with a franchise to play host.  It allows for crowd favorites and a certain pride for the history of each franchise to be showcased for good and for bad.  However, it is terrific to know that the NBA is able to draw a crowd of that size to witness its product.  It is something that is encouraging to a lifelong fan of the game and the league such as myself.

The actual game, too, was terrific.  The East seemed to have the game locked up with maybe not total superior talent, but a superior competitive edge (Lebron and Wade), until the West staged a late comeback.  Deron Williams’ mental error in fouling Wade when he didn’t have to ended up costing the West the game.  The final score: 141-139.  It had all the offense you could want and even some excellent defensive plays from time to time.  Each player had his chance to showcase his abilities and at each time there was one player whom you thought would take away the MVP: Carmelo early, then Dwight Howard, then Lebron, then Durant for a short period, then Wade, then Lebron, then Wade, then Lebron, then Wade, then Carmelo if he makes this three at the buzzer-NO!.

In the end, Dwyane Wade (my man) was named the MVP.  And with the line that he put up, there was no argument: 28 points (game high), 11 assists, 6 rebounds and five steals.  He simply did what he does all year round and play perhaps the most complete all around game in the NBA.  He and Lebron worked seamlessly together and put on a fantastic display of dunks, passing and (most importantly) defense.  Watching the two of them play together is truly amazing and it will be treat to see this continue for hopefully most of this next decade.  I don’t want them to ever be on the same team, because it is too much fun to watch them compete.  Even in the game, they were neck and neck with scoring and you found yourself rooting for each one to top the other.  While Lebron sat out in the second quarter, Wade upped his scoring.  Then, when Lebron was back in, he became more aggressive and you could almost sense he was thinking “gotta match Dwyane, gotta match Dwyane.”  I don’t know if there have been two players so closely linked in their styles and competition in the history of the NBA.  That is not to use “closely” as an adjective to describe their similarity in style, but to describe the scrutiny that each has  placed on them by the rest of the league and in their comparison to one another.  Wade edging out Lebron to win this award just ups the ante that much.  Lebron has two All-Star MVPs and one League MVP, while Wade as one All-Star MVP, one Finals MVP, one Championship and one Scoring Title.  These guys could go back and forth with the accolades and awards for years to come and we will be all the richer for it.  Especially if the NBA begins is climb back to the forefront of cultural consciousness as it once did when Michael Jordan ruled the court and the world.  I hope these two are able to bring it back to that level because then the world can be further exposed to the great personalities and talents that were on display last night from players such as Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, Rajon Rondo, Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams, Paul Pierce, Chris Bosh and Derrick Rose.  These players are all terrific but they need the powers of Wade and Lebron to bring this game to everyone’s TV sets and not just to devoted, beerswilling fans like me.

The mixture of  aging veterans (leadership and poise), rising veterans (awe, grace, envy or the “I wanna be like Mike Effect”), and young players (hope, skill, potential) that is present in the NBA right now is bound for success.  All of these aspects were on display this past weekend and it left me, while I was watching the All-Star Game on Sunday Night, mumbling “Now things are finally back in order.”  And this year more than I ever I truly believe it.  After a decade of trying to fill the shoes of Michael Jordan and restore order to the league, it seems that the solution is not to find the next M.J. per se, but to find a level of competition, sportsmanship and personality for the league that will breed the next M.J. or transcendant player.  Lebron may be that player, Wade may be an M.J. copy and neither of them will ever be the “next M.J.” but they are laying and have laid a foundation for the league to be that great again, for the league to produce players that have the competitive fire, the knowledge of the game and the extreme level of skill that the majority of the stars in M.J.’s era had.

We will never get Michael back again.  But we can get his league back again.  And in many ways, that is a much better reward.

Small Updates

Saturday morning.  Found this picture while cleaning up the old computer.  This was from about a year ago I believe.

Small little update to some of the content on the site.  Now, at the top, you will see that I have added the "Blogger" function called "Pages."  I now have a separate page as part of this blog, which is aptly titled - Puddles of My Friends.  This is a space I will be using to post up live events that my friends are putting on.  This could include concerts, art shows, recitals, pick-up basketball games, eating chinese food, etc.  As they let me know I will let you know, which is actually one in the same so now this have become sort of meta, hasn't it?  So check it out up at the top.

Anyway, the rave reviews are coming in for my 1992 NBA All-Star Game play by play.  This has led me to think about doing a play by play for tomorrow night's game.  I think I may try to do that but ultimately just make some notes about it.  I'll have my dog at the apartment as well so I'll be busy.

 

Speaking of NBA All-Star, the Rookie/Sophmore game last night was a real treat to watch.  I'll be providing my thoughts on that game when I do the whole All-Star rundown after the weekend.  Dunk Contest and the rest of the Skills Competitions are tonight. 

Now, the next installment of "From Here to the Last Mound of Dirt":

Maggie turned toward the door.  It was hard to discern from the wall.  She went to take a step forward, but before she did she looked at James.  He didn’t make a move.  Maggie stepped –there is something off about him.  What is he trying to prove by this?  How is he playing this into his favor?  Get rid of this imposter and give me my brother! – toward the door.  She took one step after the other, watching her feet on the red carpet.  As she reached the door, she went to touch the gold square that served as the handle.  The tips of her fingers touched the gold and she turned back to the front entrance of the home.  There was only a slant of light coming in.  It’ll be a beautiful funeral.

Maggie faced the door and slid it open.  A strong blast of mixed perfumes hit her and she was overwhelmed. Death smells so much like life.  A garden, I guess.  She couldn’t focus on the people, the family that were there.  All she could see was the coffin standing up above the seated figures.  There were flowers – of course – but she only saw the form of the coffin, its smooth looking edges, the shining wood finish.  The gold that lined the sides.  Maggie felt like crying as she sniffed in the overbearing scent of wellwishers.  Is Liza going to cry?  Is James?  An image came into her mind of standing next to him at church on Easter.  She’d kept stomping his boot with her heel.  But he didn’t do anything.  He’d just looked at her, no emotion at all.  How did he do it?

She looked back and James was right behind her, still holding Eve’s hand.  He wasn’t looking at the coffin.  He had his eyes set on a man, tall and gaunt, standing at the far corner of the room.  His face was well defined by sharp cheekbones and, although it was reddish with a few lines by the eyes, held a vitality and ease in its skin.  Uncle Connor’s hair was full, whisping by his ears – a little longer than Dad’s – where the brown seamlessly became grey – a little greyer than Dad’s.

Maggie followed James’ glance.  She looked at Uncle Connor standing upright, very straight as he always had.  He looked like Thomas Jefferson – or at least what Thomas Jefferson’s portrait appeared as.

“Do you see?” Maggie whispered to James.

“Of course I do.”

“Does he?”

Maggie craned her head past James and saw her father staring at Uncle Connor. Uncle Connor remained unmoved by their presence.  He kept his head bowed.  Maggie had been so taken in by his presence that she hadn’t noticed Aunt Erin sitting in the chair right in front of him.  The man stands and the woman sits.  It’s like that in so many ways. Not only in the bathroom – though I did sit and pee while he stood and shaved before we had sex – but in the many other poses of life.  Now where’s my camera?

She felt an arm on her shoulder.  It was James’.  He nodded in the direction of Douglas Bryant who was puffing his cheeks and breath impatiently.

“Let’s go.  We have to sit up front.”

“Oh, right.”  Maggie thought briefly of the dog funeral she’d kneeled for in the snow.  That ceremony appealed more to her than what she was now engaged in.  To her, this seemed already like a pagent after a few moments, while that burial had never seemed forced, only natural.

Maggie led the way to the front.  She kept from looking at faces as she passed.  All she saw where the curved archs of the chair backs.  She didn’t even notice that they were poorly gilded with imitation gold.

James watched his sister hurry in front of him with her red hair bent.  He felt inclined to do the same, but kept himself erect.  There was something in him that couldn’t help but scan the crowd.  It was tied to the same feeling he’d felt at the Checkmate the night before.  It was a longing to see someone he knew, to be reminded of his youth, that he hadn’t felt in so many years.  And as his eyes settled on the shape of  James Cicero and Paul Gertz sitting next to each other, he felt a dread in the pit of his stomach at knowing what tied those feelings together and made them one.

Cicero was still thin, but Gertz had gotten much rounder – especially in  the face.  I knew that would keep happening to him without the sports.  He was a good drinker.  Actually, he was more of a big drinker.  Of course all that sloshing and slugging and chugging caught up to him.  James nodded towards the two of them.  Cicero and Gertz nodded back.  But I’m judging what has happened to them? Why is that my defense against what’s sitting up there?  And all of this around me - the flowers, the home, the funeral arrangement, what happens from here to the last mound of dirt – I didn’t plan.  None of this is me.  But at the same time it is. He looked away from his old friends; the friends who’d fed him liquor; helped him learn how to get girls.  He looked away from them and down to Eve at his side.  James took her hand and pulled it close to his thigh.  He wrapped his free hand around it also and squeezed.

As he walked embracing her hand, adding once more to the already innumerable times he’d held it, kissed it, outlined it, and simply looked at it, a wash of ease came over him and gave him goose bumps.  He thought of Eve.  He thought of her delicate nature, the nature that always instinctively told him to swoop her off her feet right now and hold her high into the air.  Twirl her in some way.  Would it be wrong if I did that in front of the family and friends gathered here? Would it be wrong for the baby? James pictured Eve huddling over a swaddled child.  The baby looked generic, a movie baby.  His mind couldn’t wrap around it.  He’d had images of getting a dog, but could never pull the trigger on that.  What was more important than being young, recently married and completely in love with your wife?  He looked back out at the crowd.  Someone out there would tell him “Nothing was wrong with it,” he was sure of that.  In the fourth row from the front, he thought he saw his senior English teacher, Mr. Roland.

Maggie reached the front row of seats set up on the left side of the room.  All of the places were empty.  James was struck by the large amount of flowers that were set up along the left corner, directly across from the front chairs.  There were small potted red flowers and then there were also huge arrangments, pink, white and yellow flowers.  He didn’t know the names, but there were anemones, peruvian lilies, bunches of baby’s breath, daffodils, hyacinths, roses, and carnations.  In front of these startling arrangements were two boards that were set on easels.  In the center of each was a picture of Rose.  The one closer to the coffin and her body had a picture of her when she was young.  James couldn’t remember seeing it before.  Her head was turned slightly away from the camera or whomever was taking the picture.  She looked off, past the limits of the frame, and out.  There were out of focus trees behind her and, even though the picture was black and white, her hair seemed vibrant – redder than if it were in color.  It’s amazing that a color can stand out even when its taken away.  I can’t believe I never saw that picture before.  Mom looks fantastic.  I look at Maggie and then I look at the picture of young mom.  I can feel my heart about to burst comparing them.  I always knew they looked similar but this is unbelievable! Who took that picture?  On the board furthest from her body was a more recent photo.  It was in color.  She was in the backyard wearing loose sweatpants.  There was a straw hat on her head and she knelt close to the dirt of the flowerbed by the den windows, clutching weeds in one hand, while her other was frozen in a wave.  My heart won’t slow down.  Mom looks so old in that picture!  I need to breath.  I squeeze Eve’s hand again.  I hope it isn’t bothering her.  It probably isn’t.  She can understand all of this.  I can’t understand who did all of this.  I know dad didn’t arrange for it to all be done.  Was it Aunt Erin?  Uncle Connor? James let Eve sit first next to Maggie.  Then he sat next to her, he let his eyes focus on his mother’s dead body for the first time.

NBA ALL-STARTLING GAME 2010

Hahaha.  Ok, so I am already a little off my schedule, which I set up for myself on the last post.  What can I say? Things come up and I've got to take care of them, but I still care about and love all of you. So, I unload onto you, my breakdown of the 2010 NBA All-Star Team rosters.


After the All-Star lineups were released, I looked around and realized that before my very own cliched eyes, the league that I love is suddenly full of high level talent again.  I had the vague sensation that my wishful thinking was coming to reality, but this point was emphasized not just by the All-Star lineups, but also because in his column last week on ESPN.com, Bill Simmons praised Lebrown for his excellence in a "loaded league." And we all know that the man knows his basketball.


Now let's take a look at the lineups and each of their lines thus far this season:


East:
                              MIN     PPG     REB    AST     FG %

G Allen Iverson      31.5      14.6       2.7      4.2       45.2

G Dwyane Wade    36.5      27.2       4.8      6.2       46.9

SF Lebron James    38.5      29.4       7.2      8.0       50.2

PF Kevin Garnett   30.8      14.7       7.3      2.5       53.7

C Dwight Howard  34.9      17.5      13.2     1.5       60.1


PF Chris Bosh        35.9      24.0      11.3     2.1      52.0

SF Paul Pierce        36.0      19.1        4.7     3.5      47.7

G Rajon Rondo       36.8      13.9    4.3    9.6       52.7

G Joe Johnson        37.7       21.4    4.8    4.7       45.7

C Al Horford          34.5       13.5    9.7    2.2       57.2

SF Gerald Wallace 42.0        18.8      11.0   1.9       48.0

G Derrick Rose      36.5        19.7    3.7     5.9       47.4


West:

                                 MIN     PPG     REB    AST     FG %
G  Steve Nash          33.5        18.5    3.1       11.0      52.4

G  Kobe Bryant       38.4         28.2    5.4       4.7       46.2

SF Carmelo Anthony 37.9      29.7    6.5       3.3       46.4

PF Tim Duncan         32.5       19.8    10.7     3.3       52.6

PF Amar’e Stoudemire 34.5    20.6     8.2     1.0       55.3


SF  Kevin Durant    39.9          29.3     7.3     3.0       48.2

PF  Zach Randolph 37.4          20.9     11.6    2.0      50.4

G  Deron Williams  37.1          19.0      3.9      9.5      49.3

PF Dirk Nowitzki   37.9           25.1      7.8      2.5      47.6

G Brandon Roy      38.3           23.1      4.6      5.0      48.4

G  Chris Paul         38.7           20.4       4.6     11.2    50.4

PF Pau Gasol         36.4           17.6      11.0     3.3     53.4






I look up and down each of these rosters and I don't see a weak spot.  You may say Gerald Wallace is a bit of a fluke, but he is having a monster rebounding year and is always good for about 18 a game as you can see.  Plus, with Stephen Jackson now in Charlotte, the Bobcats have even become a somewhat interesting team who could make some noise in the second half of the season and are about a piece away from being a playoff team, which would a quite a coup for that franchise.

Now, this year you might call  Iverson a weak spot as well and as much as it pains me, you would be right.  He is having his worst season as a pro and you can see him deteriorating each time you watch a Sixers game.  To me, this has been one of the most painful aspects of this season.  There was nothing like watching a young Iverson.   He was the fastest player I will probably ever see and some of his off the dribble moves were just phenomenal.  Plus, Iverson is listed at 6'0" - and that is a generous 6'0" - and he used to finish off alley-oops and dunks like he was 6'5" or 6'6".  He was a freak of nature.  Too talented and provocative to be understood by a league that was still fascinated by Jordan.  Had he been embraced, they would have realized that he was made of the same stuff, except maybe he was a littler harder.  But maybe that's what made him so interesting, that he wasn't loved.  I'm not going to get into the psychology, but in any event, Iverson holds one of my two favorite bad ass moments in NBA history.  The first is in the 1992 Eastern Conference seminals. Knicks vs. Bulls.  Game 3.  The Foul Game.  Jordan and the Bulls are getting hammered by the Knicks in every direction.  Riley is instructing Starks, Ewing, Oakley, Mason and McDaniel to take the Jordan Rules to the next level.  Finally, in the third quarter, there is a loose ball at mid-court.  Jordan picks up the ball and drives to the paint.  Xavier McDaniel and Ewing jump to try knock him down, but Jordan evades, slides through them and lays the ball in as Ewing topples over into the photographers at courtside.  As Ewing tries to get up, Jordan stands over him pointing his finger in his face and saying something along the lines of, "Yeah mother fucker. Don't ever try that." No technical foul.

The second belongs to Iverson.  2001 NBA Finals. Sixers vs. Lakers.  Classic matchup, except the Lakers are juggarnaut defending champions and Iverson is the league MVP only because he dragged a bunch of marginal role players and Dikembe Mutumbo to the Finals on his hard work and prolific scoring.  Anyway, the game is right and the Sixers are looking to steal the first game at the Forum.  Tyronne Lue is guarding Iverson in the corner.  Iverson makes a move to the baseline, crosses him in the despicable way that he could from 1995-2002.  As he is crossing up, Iverson steps back, Lue moves to go with him, but can't keep up.  He loses his balance and falls towards the Lakers bench.  Iverson shoots as Lue falls, draining the shot.  Seeing Lue on the ground, Iverson takes two big, deliberate steps over Lue, eying him intensely as he does so with a look that says, "don't ever try to guard me or get close to me again.  You'll be out of this league in 4 or 5 years."  Check it out. If you don't get chills, maybe sports aren't for you.

Anyway, back to the rosters. Just take a look at the starting fives for each side.  Each is a Hall of Famer, save maybe, Amar'e Stoudemire.  You can't deny Lebron is having another MVP year and he did trump Wade in their showdown last week, but Wade is still better than Lebron.  You have Dwight Howard who is having a somewhat down year for him but who has been adding some significantly improved low-post moves to his game this year and of course, you have Garnett who is over the hill but still as smart a player as ever (if more hesistant than ever to go low post).  Bosh is having a career year and he is a reserve! Rondo is maybe having the top year for a point guard (alright, alright I know that Nash and Paul are out there in the West).  Have any of you been watching Rondo?  Sure he still makes some stupid plays, but his palm the ball layups have become one of my favorite moves to watch.  His hands are insane! Its like watching Jimi Hendrix hold the neck of a guitar.  He now makes at least 4 or 5 plays a game on average that make you say, "Whoa, he's really getting it." Derrick Rose has had an under the radar year mostly because of early injury, but he has started to turn it on as of late and may lead the Bulls to another second half surge  just like last year.  Joe Johnson and Horford have both been solid for a suddenly imposing Hawks team that could have also sent Mike Bibby (resurgence) and Josh Smith (slightly dipped numbers).  Pierce rounds it out and this year he's been the same as his whole career: tough, consistent, reliable, creative on the offensive end and a surprisingly tenacious defender.  He is another Hall of Famer on the roster.  The East could have also potentially sent the following: Ray Allen (Boston - always), Kendrick Perkins (Boston-underrated), David Lee (Knicks), Mo Williams (Cleveland), Stephen Jackson (Charlotte-switched conferences), and Danny Granger (Indiana - no room).  Maybe I am being too generous, but you get the picture.  We've got depth.

As I said earlier, the West is the same.  Four Hall of Famers are starting (sorry Amar'e) with one sure Hall of Famer (Dirk) coming off the bench and five possible Hall of Famers - fingers crossed - in Paul, Durant, Roy, Williams and Gasol (Roy, Williams and Gasol may be stretches, but they are damn good).  The weak spot here is Randolph who hasn't quite sold me with his inspired play this year - he's tricked us before - although, he has been a human double double and Memphis has been a terrific surprise and are continuing to surprise as we had into the All-Star break.  Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo (both Memphis) both had first half performances that could have been All-Star caliber in a more diluted year.  And Durant is bound to be battling Carmelo for years to come for the starting small forward spot, which could develop into an interesting rivalry over the years.  I'm actually surprised that no one has mentioned that possible storyline yet.  I'll pat myself on the back for that. Seriously, though, it is great to see a stand out college star like Durant developing into a stand out NBA star as expected.  It is talent and potential realizing itself that perpetuates greatness, that sustains a league and holds the imagination.

On a final note - Kobe.  He has really won me over this year.  Not because he is playing up the "getting it with my teammates" angle like last year, but because he is playing hurt and playing tough.  He has also really worked on his post-up moves and footwork and is playing like 1997 M.J.  It's really quite striking.

So that's it. The 2010 NBA All-Star game is going to be exciting and  I believe that it is going to be one that we remember and talk about for years to come as a great snapshot of where the league was and where it was going.