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Star attractions Three things to watch out for in Sunday's gamePosted: Sunday February 09, 2003 1:43 AMBy John Hollinger, SI.com All-Star Weekend has already given us a spectacular dunk contest, a 3-point Shootout controversy, and an annoying bruise on Carlos Boozers' forehead. But there's more to come in the main event on Sunday. It would be impossible to prepare you for the whole spectacle, so instead let's focus on the important stories. Here's three things to keep an eye on while you're watching the game:
The Jordan effectMichael Jordan may not want the spotlight, but he's going to get it anyway. The roar he received when introduced as a judge in the Slam Dunk Contest Saturday should be nothing compared to the lovefest the NBA will have prepared for Sunday. And don't think for a second that it's just something manufactured by the TV folks. Jordan's final All-Star Game may be his last hurrah, but it hasn't diluted the mythic respect that fellow players have for the living legend. Players are unanimous, for instance, in how daunting it was to face him for the first time. "My first meeting with him last year in Washington, my legs were shaking, my hands were shaking," Peja Stojakovic said. "I was so excited." Pat Garrity added, "I was just trying to enjoy it. To be honest it was a little intimidating." Jordan graciously refused a starting spot that was offered to him by both Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady. "I would rather for it to happen that way because I think that's the chain of change," Jordan said. "That's how things happen. ...I've had my chance to start 13 years. The 14th year, I'm not going to lose sleep about." But the NBA is losing sleep about it. Expect Isiah Thomas to play Jordan plenty of minutes, and expect him to be fed the ball frequently (that is, presuming Isiah doesn't freeze him out again). While defensive players' treatment of him may not match the kid gloves Magic Johnson saw when he came out of retirement to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, it won't be too far off.
The international gameYou may be about to puke if you hear one more thing about how the NBA is becoming more international. But you're going to hear more anyway, so get the barf bags ready. Not just because of the six international players in the game, which breaks the previous record (Stojakovic, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming and Tim Duncan, if you're keeping track). Not just because of the increased international presence throughout the league, including current imports Marko Jaric, Nene Hilario and Emanual Ginobili. No, the main reason you'll hear more about it this year is the Yao factor. Yao is the NBA's connection to a billion Chinese people who can be potential consumers of its products, and they're not going to stop until all one billion of them are sucked into the vortex. The fact that Yao is such a swell guy in addition to being a good basketball player is music to the league's ears (to the tune of 'cha-ching'). Meanwhile, the NBA is busily laying the groundwork for more Yaos in the future -- and not just ones from China, either. Sunday's game is going to be broadcast in 212 countries in 41 different languages. Apparently it's very important to the NBA that you know this. In fact, you'll probably be 'treated' to part of Sunday's game being broadcast in Mandarin, or Hungarian, or perhaps Zyllelanarian. (Actually, we just made that last language up to see if you were still paying attention). We'll probably hear something about potential expansion in Europe and Mexico, too. Um, can we nail Vancouver first? And of course, we can expect to hear at least three different takes on the fundamental soundness of overseas players, on the difference in how the players are trained, especially in their late teens, and on how the game is changing because of the international influence. All of which is true, of course, but good heavens, can we discuss something new this week?
Running and gunningYou saw the Rookie Challenge, right? If you didn't, here's a brief summary: 40 minutes, 244 points, 24 dunks. There were about three post-up plays the entire game, there were abundant 3-on-1 breaks, and both teams were playing a 2-3 zone with more holes in it than the plot of an Ashley Judd movie. You can look forward to more of the same on Sunday night. Perimeter players have won seven of the past eight All-Star Game MVPs, and the lowest-scoring game in that time was the East's 111-110 win two years ago. Halfcourt specialists like Ilgauskas, Yao, Brad Miller and Antoine Walker will mostly be innocent bystanders. Guards Steve Francis and Kobe Bryant will dominate the action for the West, giving the ball up only for an alley-oop pass to a Kevin Garnett or Shaquille O'Neal, while in the East Allen Iverson and company figure to do much of the same. Look for the West to prevail in a defenseless, dunk-filled, 135-130 shootout over the East. But don't expect anybody to get a ball dribbled off their head. |
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