Foil in the Oven: the President's Day Edition

All-Star Weekend was a really big deal for me last year. Even though there weren't any Celtics playing in the actual All-Star Game, I spent all week getting pumped and hoping that Gerald Green would win the dunk contest. After being legitimately amped for about four days, I cheered wildly for Gerald on that Saturday night as if it were game seven of the finals, and he won. Looking back now, it seems foolish for me to have been worked up about something so unimportant. But, what else did I have? It's amazing how much can change in one year. Last year, I would have killed to be able to watch one guy from the Celtics competing in the All-Star Game. As I approached this year's game, I kept hoping that Paul Pierce and Ray Allen would see very little action so that they would be as rested as possible for our playoff run. To be honest, sometimes I still have a hard time believing that everything the Celtics have done between then and now has been real. The success of the Celtics meant that for the first time in a long time, I could just relax and take in All-Star Weekend for what it was, an exhibition. I felt no need, as I have in the past, for Paul Pierce to have a great game in hopes that maybe fans outside of New England would give him the respect that he deserves. I felt no need, as I did last year, for a Celtic to shine on Friday or Saturday night in order to give Boston fans something to be excited about in the middle of an otherwise dismal season. Instead, it was just a great oppurtunity to sit back, relax, and be entertained by the world's greatest players.

Throughout the entire weekend, I couldn't help but be excited about what a great time this is for the NBA. Perhaps my vision is skewed by the success of the Celtics, but this season has been the best that I can remember in a long time. Who would have thought last year that the Hornets and Celtics would each have the best record in their conference? Who would have thought that we'd see Shaq, Shawn Marion, Pau Gasol, and Mike Bibby all change teams before the trade deadline? Who would have thought that we'd watch Jason Kidd start the All-Star game for the East knowing that paperwork was being filed for him to move out West. Who could have guessed this summer, in the midst of the Tim Donaghy scandal, that the NBA would be getting the best ratings that it's had in years and that the image of the league has been very solid all season long. There are nine teams in the West on pace for 50 wins. There is more than one legitimate contender in the East. The trades that have gone down over the past few weeks have totally shaken up the face of the West. For the first time in a long time, there is no way for anybody to predict how the rest of the season will unfold. These are good days for the NBA. Would this year's All-Star weekend be able to live up to all of this excitement?



The answer was a resounding yes. From start to finish, this truly was the greatest All-Star weekend that I can remember. The game itself, usually serving as some sort of anti-climactic after thought, had everything you could ask for. Not only were the high-flyers pulling out all the stops to entertain the crowd, but there was a genuine intensity on the court that is so often absent at these events. When LeBron James and Dwight Howard began setting each other up for sick throwdowns in the first half, I knew that this game was going to be really exciting. When Dwayne Wade drove to the basket with 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter, got knocked to the ground after scoring on a layup, and was helped up by his teammates that had sprinted over from the bench to the baseline to congratulate him, I knew that this was the best All-Star Game of my life. You just don't usually get emotional moments like this during these games. The game also helped to illustrate how much great talent is in the NBA right now. When I first realized that KG and Kobe wouldn't be playing (Kobe played 3 minutes), I feared that the game would lack some of the flare that those two always bring. However, I can't imagine it being any more exciting.

The homer in me has to say this: LeBron had 27 points in 30 minutes. Ray Allen had 28 in 19 minutes. Allen's shooting helped the East cling to victory down the stretch (I think it was 14 points in the last three minutes). In my mind, Allen should have been the MVP. Perhaps he can settle for NBA champion instead.

The All-Star game was incredible, and to me it really was the highlight of the weekend. However, I would be doing our readers a disservice if I didn't mention the dunk contest, which was taken to new heights this year by Gerald Green and Dwight Howard. Green's cupcake and Howard's Superman cape will go down in history as some of the most talked about moments that this event has ever seen. It's too bad that Green hasn't yet come anywhere close to realizing his potential as an NBA player. The guy is obviously a gifted athlete. It's easy to see why Danny Ainge was so enamored with him. Hopefully, his gifts will tranlate to success on the court in the coming years. As for Howard, he is an absolute freak. Although I thought that the dunk he threw off the back of the glass was the most technically impressive, the raw power and athleticism that he showed on the Superman dunk left me totally in awe. Where is this guy's ceiling right now? When he retires, I'd have to believe that we'll be talking about him the same way we talk about Shaq, Hakeem, Kareem, Wilt, and Russell.



What does the rest of the season hold? Who knows. Have the Lakers, Suns, or Mavericks (again, assuming that this thing becomes official) made the changes that they need to be the last team standing in June? Will the Spurs be able to finally capture the repeat championship that has eluded them in the past? Will AI be able to will Denver through the Western Conference playoffs? Will Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen be able to maintain the momentum that they built during the first half of the season? Only time will tell. I certainly look forward to finding out.