James' Jam Punctuates East's Win
New Orleans had a real Cleveland flavor during All-Star Weekend. Daniel Gibson stole the show in the Rookie-Sophomore Game before finishing second in the Three Point Shootout. Then, LeBron James led the East to a 134-128 victory in the All-Star Game, winning his second All-Star MVP in three years. Here is my fourth report about All-Star Weekend (10/7/15 edit: the link to HoopsHype.com no longer works, so I have
posted the original article below):
The Sunday Legends Brunch is a can't miss event every All-Star Weekend. It is a tremendous gathering of all-time basketball greats and many of today's stars. The ninth annual edition included the presentation of six awards, with several of the honorees having ties to Louisiana's rich basketball tradition: Eugene "Goo" Kennedy (Legends Humanitarian Award), Branford Marsalis (Legends Humanitarian Award), Teresa Weatherspoon (Legends Career Achievement Award), Pete Maravich (Legends Commemorative Award), the New Orleans Jazz (Legends Commemorative Team Award) and Willis Reed (Legend of the Year). TNT's Ernie Johnson emceed the event, with a little help from his TNT studio partner Kenny Smith. Chris Tucker once again left the crowd in stitches with his impromptu standup routine at the conclusion of the brunch.
Julius Erving presented Weatherspoon with her award. In addition to providing a complete recap of Weatherspoon's career, he said, "Everyone here knows, my 'five' was, is and always will be (Oscar) Robertson, (Jerry) West, (Elgin) Baylor, (Wilt) Chamberlain and (Bill) Russell and that my sixth man is Connie Hawkins coming off the bench and playing guard, forward and center. I am very grateful and very, very happy and honored that Teresa has included me in her 'five,' as she has told me many times."
Gail Goodrich, who briefly played for the then-New Orleans Jazz at the end of his career, introduced 11 Jazz players and former Jazz Coach Elgin Baylor so that they could collectively receive the Legends Commemorative Team Award. Jackie Maravich accepted on behalf of her husband, the late
Pete Maravich. She and their two sons Jaeson and Josh also accepted the Legends Commemorative Award after an introduction by current New Orleans All-Star Chris Paul. A highlight video of Maravich's career drew audible gasps of wonderment even from the great players in the audience and Paul shook his head in disbelief when the house lights came back on after the video ended.
Near the end of the brunch, Karl Malone stepped to the podium to make some remarks. He candidly admitted that he was a last minute selection as a speaker and that he was nervous talking in front of a group of people who included so many of the players who he idolized growing up. Malone, who was somewhat notorious for his wayward elbows during his career, stressed how much he admired and respected all of the players in the room even if--and he chuckled when he said this--it may not have seemed like it when he played. He offered heartfelt words on a variety of topics, including a passionate plea regarding retired players who have fallen on hard times. Malone declared that with the league making so much money and today's players earning fortunes because of the foundation laid by previous generations, "It's up to us to help them out." He pledged to take a more active role going forward to make sure that this happens. Malone also expressed how thankful he is for the work done by our troops to protect our freedoms, a sentiment that he later reiterated when he spoke briefly to the crowd during the All-Star Game.
With so many activities going on during All-Star Weekend it is important not to forget what is supposed to be the crown jewel of the event, the All-Star Game itself. A lot of pregame talk and speculation centered around the playing status of Kobe Bryant, who is putting off finger surgery to try to help the Lakers win a championship--and to hopefully lead Team USA to a gold medal in next year's Olympic Games. The Lakers preferred for Bryant to skip the All-Star Game entirely in order to give the injury a better chance to heal but league rules stipulate that a player who plays in the last regular season game prior to All-Star Weekend must either play in the All-Star Game or else receive a one game suspension. The league office would not bend on this but on the other hand it is obviously not in anyone's interest to see the sport's best player get hurt in an exhibition game, so common sense ultimately prevailed. During his pregame media availability, West Coach Byron Scott said that he spoke with NBA Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Stu Jackson and Bryant and that the solution they reached was that Bryant would start the game but only play three to four minutes. As it turned out, Bryant got one rebound in exactly 2:52 of court time before leaving the game for good. He spent most of the contest sitting on the bench with his finger wrapped in ice.
The East never trailed in the first quarter and led by as many as 11 points and the West team seemed sluggish. The East converted a lot of dunks and Chris Bosh--starting in place of the injured Kevin Garnett--was the early scoring leader with eight points as the visitors led 34-28 after the first 12 minutes. The East pushed that lead to 74-65 in a high scoring second quarter. LeBron James had 10 points, four assists and three rebounds in the second quarter alone and with 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds at halftime he seemed to be well on his way to posting just the second triple double in All-Star history. Dwight Howard also had 12 first half points, making all five of his field goal attempts.
The East went up by as much as 16 points in the third quarter but somehow the game never really felt out of reach; the West quickly countered with a 14-3 run that cut the margin to 98-93. The Boston connection of Paul Pierce and Ray Allen scored two field goals apiece to make the score 106-93 going into the fourth quarter. At that moment, James had a game-high 19 points and needed just two rebounds and two assists to get a triple double, so the MVP seemed like it was his to lose. New Orleans' own Chris Paul tried to steal that honor late in the game, producing nine points and five assists in the fourth quarter, helping the West go up by as many as three points. Allen stemmed the tide with a lights-out shooting display, racking up 14 fourth quarter points while shooting 3-4 from three point range as he made his own late run at capturing MVP honors, finishing with a game-high 28 points. "I was supposed to be in the Bahamas this weekend," Allen said with a smile after the game, alluding to the fact that he made the team as an injury replacement.
In the end, though, the MVP had to go to James, who topped off his excellent all-around performance by scoring eight fourth quarter points, including a monster dunk that gave the East the lead for good at the :55.5 mark; he drove around Tim Duncan and then seemingly put the hammer down on the entire West team. "We had two people on him and it still wasn’t enough," marveled Paul. James finished with 27 points, nine assists, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.
James offered a very matter of fact description of what he was thinking while he converted the play of the night: "The game was tied. I didn't want to settle for a jump shot." He acknowledged that the West's 153-132 win in last year's game definitely fueled the fire for the East this time around.
Bryant spearheaded that rout by the West, winning the MVP after scoring 31 points and making six steals in a little over 28 minutes of action. As Scott said after the game, "There's one player we really, really missed today and that’s Kobe."
During the late stages of the game, the West went with a big lineup that featured Duncan, Amare Stoudemire and Dirk Nowitzki. East Coach Doc Rivers realized that he could not match that group's size, so he countered with quickness, using a small lineup with LeBron James at power forward. The East survived on defense by swarming Duncan whenever he caught the ball in the post against James and then scrambling after Duncan passed out of the trap. On offense, the East used their speed and quickness to great effect, which is why Allen repeatedly got open. "It's a game of chicken, basically," Rivers said of his strategic adjustment, meaning that whichever team blinked first would lose.
Dwyane Wade had a solid game (14 points, four rebounds, three assists) but he made a couple big plays in the last minute. First, he scored a layup that put the East up 129-125 and then he stuffed a Nowitzki three point attempt that could have pulled the West to within one point. Other double figure scorers for the East included Howard (16 points on 7-7 field goal shooting), Bosh (14 points) and Pierce (10 points). Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony and Brandon Roy led the West with 18 points each, while Paul had 16 points, a game-high 14 assists and four steals. Stoudemire threw down a driving dunk right in Howard's face early in the fourth quarter, leading to an exclamation by ESPN's Chris Broussard that Stoudemire had found the kryptonite to counter Howard, who used his Superman persona to good effect while winning the Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday.
From the NBA's extensive community service efforts to help rebuild New Orleans to Jam Session to All-Star Saturday Night to the Legends Brunch to a thrilling, competitive All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend 2008 in New Orleans will long be remembered for showcasing all that is good about the NBA on and off the court.
Labels: 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend, Julius Erving, LeBron James, Pete Maravich, Ray Allen
posted by David Friedman @ 12:35 PM
Gibson Shoots Down Rookies
Cleveland's Daniel Gibson shot 11-20 from three point range and scored 33 points as the Sophomores defeated the Rookies, 136-109. Read all about that, the Hall of Fame press conference, Brandon Roy's reaction to getting his first All-Star ring and more in the second report that I filed from New Orleans for HoopsHype.com (10/7/15 edit: the link to HoopsHype.com no longer works, so I have
posted the original article below). In case you missed it, here is the link to my first report:
Learning About the French Quarter
The NBA rookies saw too much "boobie" in New Orleans on Friday--Daniel "Boobie" Gibson shot an amazing 11-20 from three point range as the Sophomores once again routed the Rookies, 136-109. This has become a nearly annual rite of passage for the first year players: they show up "star struck," as their coach Darrell Walker put it after the game, and basically look like they are moving in cement shoes on defense as the Sophomores make up for their defeat from the previous year. No doubt this year's rookies will exact a measure of revenge in next year's contest.
Gibson did not attempt a single two point shot. One time when he was being closely guarded he did the old Larry Bird move: step back and shoot an even deeper three pointer. Of course, Gibson made that shot, too. Rudy Gay added 22 points for the Sophomores, LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists, Jordan Farmar contributed 17 points and 12 assists and Brandon Roy--the only participant from either team who will play in the big game on Sunday--had 17 points and seven assists. Kevin Durant, who likely would have been the best player in college basketball this year had he not turned pro early, is understandably more comfortable playing against players who are closer to his own age. He led the rookies with 23 points on 10-19 shooting--a much better than normal percentage for him--and he also had eight rebounds and four assists.
On the other hand, Durant played little defense and tied for the team-high with five turnovers. On several occasions, Durant completely stalled the team's ball movement by trying in vain to break down his defender with one on one dribbling moves that led nowhere. He can be a decent ballhandler at times but I am still much less impressed with this aspect of his game than other commentators appear to be. The Rookies turned the ball over 24 times, a number that would give a coach a heart attack if it happened in a regular season or playoff game.
After the game, I asked Durant why the Rookies annually take such a pounding in this game. He replied quite sensibly (if a bit unimaginatively), "I wish I could tell you; then we would have won the game...It's tough to win when a guy makes 11 three pointers." Gay countered, "If he would have only hit five (three pointers) we still would have won. We were in a similar situation last year and the Sophomores just took it to us." Even though this is just an exhibition game, I think it really provides a dramatic demonstration of the difference between being fresh out of college versus having a year and a half of NBA experience under your belt.
Earlier in the day, the Sheraton hotel hosted the annual press conference to announce the 15 finalists for Hall of Fame induction, a group headlined by NBA coaches Pat Riley and Don Nelson and NBA players Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Adrian Dantley, Richie Guerin, Dennis Johnson and Chris Mullin. Guerin, Dantley and Mullin were also finalists last year. The Basketball Hall of Fame encompasses all levels of the game, so it is fair to wonder if NBA players are overlooked in the selection process--and that goes double for ABA stars like Artis Gilmore, Mel Daniels and Roger Brown. In 2005 and 2007, no NBA players were inducted, something that Jerry Colangelo, a Hall of Famer in his own right, described to me as an "anomaly" that he sincerely hopes does not happen again.
I asked Colangelo what he thinks of the idea of the NBA establishing a pro basketball hall of fame to honor NBA and ABA players, much like college basketball and other entities have their own halls of fame. He replied, "Personally, I would be against something like that. There are plenty of other Halls of Fame and we don't need another one to compete with what exists. I think that for the most part it has been a fair process and players get their due. Hopefully, as I said, what happens going forward will be the proof in the pudding. I think that it will balance out."
I specifically asked him about the plights of ABA legends Artis Gilmore, Roger Brown and Slick Leonard, who have yet to be inducted in the Hall of Fame despite their tremendous accomplishments. I mentioned that ABA fans think that the fierce rivalry between the leagues may still be affecting the voting process decades later. Colangelo did not say anything directly about Gilmore, Brown and Leonard but offered this general response, "I don't think that anyone should be given the short end of the stick. Some of these (ABA) players played in both leagues and went back and forth. Again, I am hopeful that over a period of time these people will be recognized for their contributions."
Nets General Manager Rod Thorn was a New York Nets assistant coach in the ABA, so he witnessed firsthand how great that league was. ABA fans may be a bit disappointed in his take on the subject of the ABA and the Hall of Fame. When I asked him whether he thought that the ABA has been slighted--citing Gilmore and Brown by name--he answered, "Those players were great players, as you intimated. They certainly have been considered for the Hall of Fame. To me, I think that the really great players from both leagues are in the Hall of Fame. I don't think that there is a need for another Hall of Fame, to tell you the truth. I think that this one takes care of all aspects of basketball. There are great players and really great players and I think that the really great players end up getting into the Hall of Fame."
Dominique Wilkins was one of 11 Hall of Famers who sat on the stage as TNT's David Aldridge read the names of this year's Hall of Fame finalists. After the ceremony, Wilkins candidly spoke with me about the experience of waiting to hear his name called prior to his nomination: "It's a lot less stress; I've been through it and I've done it, it's over and I can just welcome the new guys coming in. It's stressful, man, not knowing if you are going to be selected or not. You go through months of stress. This is the honor of honors, individually, to be appreciated and respected by your peers and others. It's nerve wracking."
The fact that Wilkins did not make it on the first ballot--he was voted in the second time around--reinforces the belief that there is something wrong with the system but Wilkins does not fault the process even though it slighted him initially: "You're honoring people across the world. It's hard, because you're looking at more than just basketball talent--character and respect. It's a very tedious and hard process. I think that our Hall of Fame is unique because it is the only one that covers the whole world. I don't think that we should change that."
After the Hall of Fame press conference, the media availability sessions for the All-Star Saturday night participants and the All-Stars themselves were held in succession. Not surprisingly, Kobe Bryant attracted the largest crowd. I fought my way through to get close enough to hear him talk about his injured pinkie finger and even managed to get in a few questions. Someone asked Bryant if he considered competing in the Three Point Shootout lefthanded. I remember when Bryant attempted to play in an actual game with a separated shoulder before Coach Phil Jackson yanked him out of the contest when it became apparent that he could not raise his arm over his head and therefore had to shoot lefthanded, so I would not put anything past Bryant. He instantly shot this idea down, though, noting the pedigrees of the Shootout competitors and saying, "I'm confident, but I'm not that confident."
I asked Bryant if his doctors have discussed with him the possibility that he may permanently damage the finger if he elects to forgo surgery and play out the rest of the season. He replied, "No, I'll just be the cool grandfather who can stretch his pinkie all the way out to here (gestures to the side). There is no ligament there holding it in. I got lucky. This knuckle right here (points to the base of the finger) was down here (points midway down his hand) but I didn't hurt this one (points to the middle of his pinkie finger). So I'm not going to have any damage or any fingers that look like Larry Bird's." He added that the most painful part of the injury happened when trainer Gary Vitti pulled it back into place, a moment of agony that was captured on national television. "After that, it felt like the finger just wasn't there. It felt like a spaghetti noodle," Bryant concluded.
While a veritable horde gathered around Bryant, Brandon Roy played the role of the lonely Maytag repairman. When I walked over to his table, I pulled up a chair and basically had a one on one conversation with him for a few moments. I asked him if he liked having things this way or if he would prefer to get as much attention as Bryant does. He answered, "I like it this way. I'm a low key, under the radar type of guy. I don't need attention and I am more comfortable this way." I pointed out that the flip side of that is that this could lead to Roy being underappreciated, because the guys who get the most attention are usually the ones who are considered to be the best players. "I think that those guys have done tremendous things in their careers," Roy said. "I'm not at their level yet. Hopefully, one day--even though I don't need attention--I will be mentioned as an MVP candidate."
I said to Roy that the truly great players always work on something new each off season and I asked him what his project will be this summer. He answered that he plans to improve his midrange jumper and his three point shot. I noticed that Roy was perhaps the only player who brought his All-Star ring to the media availability session. I asked him if he would open the box and show it to me and he happily complied. It occurred to me that I never learned how the rings are distributed, so I asked Roy how he got his. He told me that the players went into a room and the individually labeled boxes were on a table and the coach handed them out one at a time. The veteran All-Stars played it off, Roy said, but he was quite thrilled: "I was like, 'Wow.' I was in awe. I keep looking at it. I'll probably put it on my finger once I go back to my room and then wear it around all day. It's truly an honor."
Labels: 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend, Brandon Roy, Daniel Gibson, Dominique Wilkins, Jerry Colangelo, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Rudy Gay
posted by David Friedman @ 10:07 AM
Learning About the French Quarter
All-Star Weekend is well underway. Here is the link to my first report for HoopsHype.com (10/7/15 edit: the link to HoopsHype.com no longer works, so I have
posted the original article below):
This is the fourth time that I have covered NBA All-Star Weekend and each time represented the first time that I had visited the host city. In Denver (2005) I immediately noticed the fresh air and beautiful mountain skyline. Houston (2006) made an instant impression by virtue of its sheer physical size. Las Vegas (2007) has the glitz and the glamour, the landscape dotted with gaudy hotels/casinos. The first sensation I experienced in New Orleans was a wonderful aroma of food in the airport; I'm not sure what was being cooked but whatever it was smelled great.
The newest flavors that have been added to the city are huge posters/billboards promoting All-Star Weekend. One of them features Kevin Garnett and the tagline, "Basketball is a brotherhood."
During the shuttle ride to the Marriott we did not see many signs of the devastation that Hurricane Katrina wrought upon this city, partially because of the rebuilding efforts that have taken place since then and partially because we did not travel through the most afflicted areas. We passed by some of New Orleans' famous cemeteries and our driver Derek explained why the tombs are above ground: the whole area is below sea level, so the ground is saturated with water and people do not want to bury their loved ones in those muddy conditions.
After arriving at the Marriott and picking up my credential, I had several hours of free time before the day's NBA activities formally began. I decided to explore the French Quarter on foot. Louisiana has a rich basketball legacy that includes the likes of Bob Pettit, Pistol Pete Maravich and Karl Malone but it has an even older chess legacy that dates back to New Orleans-born Paul Morphy, whose career eerily foreshadowed Bobby Fischer's: both earned recognition as the best chess player in the world before abandoning the game and spending their latter years struggling with mental illness. The current king of chess in New Orleans is chess master Jude Acers, who has held court in the French Quarter for decades, taking on all comers. I hoped to challenge him to a game but alas I apparently just missed him on this day, arriving at the Gazebo restaurant on Decatur Street just moments after he packed up his board and left. I hung around for a while because some of the locals thought that he might return; at the Gazebo I enjoyed one of the juiciest, best tasting hamburgers I have ever eaten but Acers did not come back and I soon resumed my explorations.
The French Quarter was not directly hit by Hurricane Katrina but of course its impact was heavily felt there because people who worked and shopped there were displaced--including Acers and many others. You can learn a lot about what New Orleans' citizens are thinking by reading the slogans on various t-shirts that are being sold in the French Quarter. My favorite reads simply "Recover, Rebuild, Re-New Orleans." Some of the slogans are funny, if slightly politically incorrect ("Beer…Helping White Men Dance Since 1842"). Malapropisms prompted by drunkenness are a frequent theme (for example, "Officer, I swear to drunk I am not God"). Many of the slogans are definitely not safe for work (or this site), but I can clean one of them up enough to convey its flavor: "Fema Evacuation Plan: Run (expletive deleted) run."
Although I did not meet Acers, I encountered a very talented artist of a different kind: William Warren, who is a proud member of the Jackson Square Artist Colony. Warren explained that the roots of the colony date back as far as the Civil War era, "probably making it the oldest outdoor art colony in the United States." Warren studied at the Rhode Island School of Design but 10 years ago he relocated to New Orleans for two reasons: the existence of the vibrant art colony and the opportunity to do more outdoor painting due to the more temperate nature of the city's climate. Members of the colony must purchase licenses from the city of New Orleans. The cost is not high but one of the provisions of the agreement between the colony and the city is that the artists will only produce original, handmade work--no machine made or mass produced items. Warren describes the colony's mission: "Promoting and preserving the art of painting and drawing." He says that a hand painted image is different than the mechanical image produced by a camera because it is organic and vibrant and conveys emotion instead of being a precise, by the numbers depiction.
While Warren spoke with me he continued to paint one of a series of works that he is doing about the city's lamp posts. He does not like the fluorescent bulbs that the city sometimes places in these old fixtures, so his paintings depict a burning flame shining brightly, an example not only of the triumph of the organic (fire) over the mechanical (a light bulb) but also symbolizing his hopes for the city's revival. Watching him work, I commented that it seems to me that the artist differs from the average person in both his heightened visual perception and his ability to use his fine motor skills to accurately portray what he sees. Warren agreed with this observation and added, "The hand is being lost to the computer." He is disappointed that a greater emphasis is not placed on art in the schools.
New Orleans is a very compact city where it is much easier to get around on foot or via public transportation than by car and this is even more true now with so many people arriving in town this weekend. The Marriott literally sits on the border of the French Quarter and it is a brief walk away from the massive Ernest M. Morial Convention Center, host of NBA All-Star Jam Session. If you are able to make it to New Orleans during All-Star Weekend but cannot score tickets to the big game or the side events then Jam Session is a wonderful alternative. Current and former players are available for demonstrations and autograph sessions and there are numerous opportunities for fans young and old alike to participate in various interactive basketball activities. The Jam Session site also hosts events like the NBA/National Wheelchair Basketball Association All-Star Wheelchair Classic and the Legends Shootout.
I wrote about the Wheelchair Classic last year and was so impressed by what I saw that this has become a can't miss event for me. The participants are selected by the NWBA and comprise the top players from its teams; this year, Christina Ripp became the first woman to qualify for the game. The West All-Stars defeated the East All-Stars 64-57, with Bobby Nickleberry--who makes Wes Unseld-like outlet passes--winning East MVP honors and the sharpshooting Chuck Gill winning West MVP honors. I had the good fortune of watching most of the game while sitting next to Susan Katz, the communication coordinator of the Lakeshore Foundation. Katz played wheelchair basketball for the University of Illinois and won a Paralympics gold medal as a member of Team USA in 2004; her insights and patient explanations greatly increased my understanding of the strategic aspects of wheelchair basketball. Most of the rules of the game are the same; two differences are that offensive players are allowed to stay in the lane for four seconds and the ballhandler is allowed two "pushes" of his chair for each time he dribbles the basketball.
The obvious limitation that wheelchair athletes face is not being able to jump but Katz mentioned to me that the lack of lateral mobility is a key element in wheelchair basketball strategy. Players have to spin and/or travel in an arc to move from one side to the other, so the back pick is a devastating weapon in wheelchair basketball and if it is properly executed it always leads to a wide open shot. She noted that at the highest levels of the game the players have such great chair skills and speed that this advantage is minimized somewhat, much like how the opening to get a shot off in the NBA is very small.
The legs are the most important part of the shot for a jump shooter. Obviously, wheelchair athletes have to rely on different sources of power. During halftime of the game, Jeff Griffin and Trooper Johnson set official Guinness World Records for most free throws made in one minute by a wheelchair athlete (25 each), as certified by Stuart Claxton, a Guinness World records representative who was present on site. Katz graciously arranged for me to speak with both athletes. I asked them if they had played basketball prior to their injuries. Johnson told me, "I played mostly football before my accident but I've been playing sports all of my life so once I had my car accident the transition back into sports and athletics was natural."
How did they make the adjustment to shooting without using leg power? Johnson answered, "It's something that you just get used to. You start understanding that all of the power has to be generated by your arms and once you get used to the form from sitting in the wheelchair it's just repetition, like anything else; the more you do it, the better you get at it and the stronger you get at it." Players must deal with both muscular and cardiovascular fatigue during games. Johnson noted, "If you don't maintain your hydration level then you will get cramps. You also have to work on your cardio so that you don't get winded on the court."
Like Johnson, Griffin was a football player prior to his injury, playing wide receiver at the junior college level. "Like Trooper said, I got hurt but my competitive drive continued. Being able to compete in a wheelchair against other guys who are in similar situations is just a great opportunity to keep that drive going." Griffin dismissed my question about the difficulty of learning how to shoot from a wheelchair by saying simply, "When you are competitive you find a way. You find a way to adapt." Echoing Katz' observation about back picks, Griffin told me that even though he had played some competitive basketball prior to his injury that he never fully understood the pick and roll play--and how it can help you get a shot off against a player who is more athletic--until he started playing wheelchair basketball. Johnson added that able-bodied players can grab jerseys and fight their way through picks but, as Katz suggested, when a wheelchair athlete is picked then he stays picked for several seconds.
This year's Legends Shootout featured George Gervin, Detlef Schrempf, Jo Jo White and defending champion David Thompson. The contest consisted of shooting from racks located on each baseline and at the top of the key. The players could shoot 20 foot jumpers but Schrempf elected to shoot legit NBA threes. He and Gervin advanced to the Finals, where Gervin won after Schrempf missed a "money ball" that could have potentially tied the score.
Labels: 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend, George Gervin, Jude Acers, NWBA Wheelchair Classic, Susan Katz, William Warren
posted by David Friedman @ 11:25 PM
