what are you arguing? someone said that it wasnt in the teams best interests to have francis finish out last nights game, when in the same situation last year, he was more than capable of performing under the pressure. flip managed the game horribly, if he wanted to give ray more minutes, he couldve sat kobe's ass down instead of letting him stay on the floor for 26 minutes and accounting for 6 TOs.
Allen's steady hand? Lol. He and Francis played the same number of minutes and he had 3 turnovers to Francis' 1 on the same number of assists. Plus, Allen shot terribly for an All-Star game -- 6 of 13 compared to Francis' 6 of 9. I think the minutes should have gone to Sam Cassell (who led the team in assists despite playing only 13 minutes) with the season's he has had. Maybe Flip wanted to make sure he was well-rested.
Yao was great, Franchise was hot and cold...But of course, I suspect that is the way it is suppose to be as its all in fun for the most part... Where the hell was CAT Saturday... Anyway, I saw Cribs on MTV2 last night and there was CAT...Nice house and rides...I didn't know he had a kid...He is definitely a Metrosexual...
Yao did a great job, but I understand that he had to sit down, because the game is on Shaq's home court. Steve did play as well as Kobe, and better thank Ray Allen in the times during the game when he was in. Again it was Kobe's home court so he should get the minutes. But Ray Allen really didn't do anything, and Steve should have been in there instead of Ray Allen. But that being said. I was very happy that there were three Western players who were on their feet cheering the team on. They were Steve, Yao, and Sam Cassell. That shows a good spirit, despite the fact that they probably wanted to be on the court. Both our Rockets had a strong showing, so that's the good thing.
Who was the coach and which team he coaches? If I was Flip, I would not play my 34 year old point guard heavy minutes either. This game means nothing to the coach. Those that are coming means a lot: each single one of them ...
I really wanted to all the seven foot line-up PG - KG SG - Dirk SF - Tim Duncan PF - SHAQ C - Yao That would have been awesome. I wish flip saunders put that team in.
Rick Carlisle quotes about VC and all-star game "I felt more confortable playing Ron Artest, Kenyon, and Redd in front of Carter". "I dont care who get's the most votes, im going to play who I want to play" "I tried to find a balance, so I could get everyone in the game" "Jermaine and Ron deserved the minutes they got". What a jackass.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/allstar2004/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=1736237 East's good day still not enough By Marc Stein ESPN.com LOS ANGELES -- If you take every team in the Eastern Conference and condense it down into one team, you can honestly say what George Constanza once said so eloquently about his entire life being condensed down into one day. It looks decent. The punching bag known worldwide as the Leastern Conference actually looked better than decent Sunday night at Staples Center, for whatever it's worth. That's not much solace for what happens all season and in the playoffs, when the Least gets bullied all over the floor, but the underdogs should have won the NBA's 53rd All-Star Game and definitely staged the better show. "Absolutely," Tracy McGrady said. Shaquille O'Neal had a big third quarter and then a coast-to-coast rumble for a dunk that helped win him the game's Most Valuable Player trophy he wanted so badly. Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant was almost as good as Shaq and probably should have shared the hardware, if only so commissioner David Stern could have ordered them onto a podium afterward for a group hug to formally start the second half of the season. Yet it was the East that truly entertained, serving up countless highlight-reel moments. Jason Kidd, Allen Iverson and McGrady -- to himself, as usual -- routinely used the backboard for passes to set up dunks that left mouths gaping. All of which, mind you, were overshadowed by one of the greatest alley-oops in game conditions that you could wish to see, not surprisingly a Kidd-to-Kenyon Martin connection. That one had Kidd slyly advancing down the middle, giving no hint that he was monitoring Martin's movements, and lobbing the ball with his left hand -- underhanded -- for K-Mart to deliver his typically emphatic punctuation. Yes. That's underhanded with his off-hand. "Everyday thing for me and him," Martin insisted. Wrong. "J-Kidd wasn't even looking at him," McGrady said. "He amazes me every time he steps on the court." The East, unfortunately, couldn't handle the routine on this night, and that cost the conference a victory its collective ego could have sorely used. Iverson and McGrady combined to miss five free throws in the fourth quarter, and three of those misses really changed the finish. Iverson's two clanks kept the East from taking a four-point lead into the final two minutes, and McGrady missed one of two with 35.8 seconds left that would have kept the East on course for overtime at least. "You saw the game tonight," said Detroit's Ben Wallace. "The size didn't really matter. It's about making free throws and doing things down the stretch." In this format, true. The East can overcome its size shortcomings with speed and athleticism because it's not as if an All-Star environment generates any defense or anything close to playoff intensity. Now, though, Martin and Wallace and the rest of the East's interior operators have to go back to spending every day hearing how they'll have no shot at competing with any West team they see in the NBA Finals. "We wanted to win this game for that reason," Martin conceded. Said McGrady: "Man, it's the truth. It really is. You got guys that are very dominant on the post. To win in this game, you have to have a dominant big man. And they have a lot of them over there. That's just the facts." At least there was a measure of enjoyment for the poor Leasterners, even in defeat. Even if it's only the condensed version of the conference that can play the mighty West on even terms. "I needed this," McGrady said. "Especially with what I'm going through with the Magic, I definitely needed (an enjoyable game) like this."
Heared that shaq was absent of today's practice for the game against blazers. Is he too tired of being a MVP ?
