I posted this at FanHome and got an OK response - thought I'd throw it out to you guys and see what you think... I'm thinking that an interesting event to add could be a Europe vs World game. The NBA has been visibly trying to promote itself outside North America, plays exhibition games abroad and has even talked about possibly expanding outside the US and Canada. The latter is almost impossible and unlikely to ever happen - but one way to really promote the foreign talent would be to have a 2nd All-Star game, kind of like the Rookie game. <font color=red>TEAM EUROPE:</font> <font color=red>Guards:</font> Tony Parker (Spurs/France), Marko Jaric (Clippers/Yugo), Hidayet Turkoglu (Kings/Turkey), Mladen Sekularac (Mavs/Yugo), Carlos Navarro (Wiz/Spain) <font color=red>Forwards:</font> Peja Stojakovic (Kings/Yugo), Toni Kukoc (Bucks/Croatia), Dirk Novitzki (Mavs/Germany), Pau Gasol (Grizz/Spain), Andrei Kirilenko (Jazz/Russia) <font color=red>Centers:</font> Vlade Divac (Kings/Yugo), Rasho Nesterovic (Wolves/Slovenia), Zyldrunas Ilgauskas (Cavs/Lithuania) *other possibles: Raul, Lopez, Nikoloz Tsikishvili, Slava Medvedenko, Dalibor Bagaric, Zeljko Rebraca... <font color=red>TEAM WORLD:</font> <font color=red>Guards:</font> Steve Nash (Mavs/Canada), Oscar Torres (Rockets/Venezuela), Carlos Arroyo (Nugs/Puerto Rico), Emanuel Ginobili (Spurs/Argentina), Felipe Lopez (Wolves/Dominican) <font color=red>Forwards:</font> Jamaal Magloire (Hornets/Canada), Eduardo Najera (Mavs/Mexico), Nene Hilario (Nugs/Brasil), Sean Marks (Heat/New Zealand), Wang ZhiZhi (GS/China), <font color=red>Centers:</font> Yao Ming (Rox/China), Todd MacCulloch (Sixers/Canada), Mike Olowokandi (Clips/Nigeria) *other possibles: Obinna Ekezie, Ruben Boumtje-Boutje, Mamadou N'Diaye, DeSagana Diop... I like most of the events at All-Star weekend as it is but this is something that I can definitely see gaining lots of interest, international TV viewers and helping the NBA to promote itself abroad (as it seems so eager to do). I doubt it would work too well if the All-Star game was held in Memphis, Utah or Atlanta but it would work VERY well if held in a city like New York, Toronto, Chicago etc... so I also think it would be best to do every OTHER year. Partly so the NBA can target more diverse cities but partly so that any so that players can choose to play in it over the regular game if they are eligible to play in both. Any thoughts? Would you watch?
Pretty cool idea...but the NBA would do USA vs. the world before they do Europe vs. World(Excluding USA and Europe).
pretty good idea...just gotta work out the details. you can't avoid putting the USA into the game. It should be USA vs everybody else aka world or somethin like that.
We already play USA against the World in the World Championships, Olympics and whatnot. Why rehash that? Besides, USA would have the same problem as our National team with the top players all ducking out. And, they'd still kill everyone else. Europe vs. World is a better dynamic because it assembles players that don't otherwise play together. One question: do you really make Turkey part of Europe?
this is what i think would be pretty exciting. i think that there should be a 4 team tournament such as: canada -steve nash, rick fox, magloire, toddmac south and central america carlos arroyo, oscar torres, felipe lopez, eduardo najera, emanuel ginobili, nene hilario... europe -gasol, nowitzki, peja, tony parker, kirelenko... africa, asia, oceanica (australia, new zealand) -zhizhi, yao ming, sean marks the reason for the 4 teams with less major talent is so that you can see the different styles of certain areas portrayed and how they match up against each other...ex. canada's fundamentals, europes sharp shooters, south and central america's quickness, and whatever africa/asia/oceanica can put together. of course europe will probaby take it for the first few years...but it would be an exciting way to display what other countries other than the USA have to offer. start out with a 3 on 3 tournament this year or next year, and in 5 years when canada and the africa/asia/oceanica teams have more players (they will...guaranteed) make it a 5 on 5. it should not be a full 48 minute game...probaby a 30 minutes or somethin...especially with 3 on 3.
I think the European team has an advantage in that it has more real "stars". Gasol, Stojakovic, and Nowitzki are much better than any three of the "world's" players. The World has better overall depth, but when it comes down to it, Dirk, Peja, and Pau would dominate. This draft class could change that, though. Ming, Hilario, and Ginobilli are all very highly regarded.
I think it depends on how serious the game is. Most of the ALL-Star events are for fun, not for playing. The only somewhat-real game is the Rookie-Sophmore game, and it has some additional rules. The game itself seems more like a show, or at least from the last couple games it has been. If it was like a tournament, or real serious, I would think players would not play due to a possible injury. That said, it could still end up like the Rook game, with less time and things like that. I think it could be a good idea, especially for the players who don't get much PT. (like Oscar Torres.)
not a bad idea, but i'm with the others thinking that Europe would dominate. On another topic, i think it would be cool if they added a horse competition to the all-star saturday lineup. I've always wanted to see what some of these guys could come up with.
Why don't they do North America vs. Europe? I know it excludes Ming, but he's a rookie and who knows what his impact will be outside of Houston and China.
Good Point. But would Tim really want to play in it? He already has the all-star game the next day(As will Dirk, maybe Peja).
I still think there should be team three on three contests. such as three rockets versus three lakers. bench players only. That way we can honor the bench players on each team. A Group often forgotten, but who fans could get behind in an event like this. Also, why don't the players choose the best dunk, using a system like on susrvivor. No scores. Just names. Keep it simple. We all pretty much know who won just by looking.
Anyone remember that Chronicle article written by Micheal Murphy about players being chosen by their hometowns? Watching team Philly school team Europe would be worth the price of admission.
Everything sounds ok. But how about raising the rim on the Dunk Contest?? In increments of 2 or 3 inches. We can find out who indeed has the greatest hops...
why not just tell the short players that they shouldn't be in it and then do a normal dunk comp...that's basically all you would accomplish.
