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Sports

Expect All-Stars to be wild

Pro Sports Fan

Arika Jefferson

Next to the NBA finals, the All-Star game may be the favorite time of the season. With all the activities of the weekend -- the got milk? Rookie Challenge, the Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk Contest and of course the game itself -- it is quite the task trying to determine who will win what and who will be the star of the show. This year, it doesn't take a CSI detective to figure out the mystery of who is coming out on top. The Western Conference has dominated the All-Star game the last four out of five years and unfortunately for the East this year, it is not going to be any different. 

The West has put together a configuration of the strongest, most athletic and, other than Shaq, the most dominate players in the league. The starters alone are enough to make any group players cringe when they step on the hardwood to battle them. The Western Conference starters are Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Yao Ming. There is only one word to describe this lineup: fire. 

And the scariest thing about it is once you get past the starters, waiting to play are Amare Stoudemire, Manu Ginobili, Shawn Marion, Ray Allen, Steve Nash, and who can forget, the scoring power of Dirk Nowitzki. Let's face it, the Western Conference reserves could give the Eastern Conference starters a run for their money, and it would truly be a good game.

The West lost the most dominate -- and should be most respected -- player in the league to the East, and that just may be the best thing the East has going for them. Shaq can always be counted on to bring the "business" in any game. But it is during the All-Star game where the Big Fella can be seen doing some of his funky passes and break a defender down with the Allen Iverson cross-over. 

Speaking of AI, he is making his sixth All-Star appearance and I expect this year to be no different for him than any other, with spectacular moves and ally-oops for days. And he has enough people to throw the ball to, with high flyers like Vince Carter, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Jermaine O'Neal who all made the squad. With the help of Paul Pierce, Ben Wallace, Antawn Jamison and Grant Hill (who hasn't participated in an All-Star game since 2000 because of constant injuries), the Eastern Conference team doesn't look too shabby. But they are definitely going to have match-up problems on defense in more than one way on the court. 

The difference in the talent level is almost as great as that of the Rookie Challenge. The Rookies are going to be demolished by the sophomores with the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Kirk Hinrich, Josh Howard, Kyle Korver, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. 

The sophomores are going to make the Rookies look just like that -- Rookies. Loul Deng and Ben Gordon from Chicago, Devin Harris from Dallas, Emeka Okafor in Charlotte and Dwight Howard in Orlando are no match for the second-year players.

And just a side note, I have been disappointed in the Slam Dunk Contest since 2000 when Vince Carter put his elbow in the rim. Why aren't the best dunkers in the league in the dunk contest? Last year in Los Angles, Fred Jones stole Jason Richardson's two-year title. But I have no doubt that if T-Mac wanted to come in and claim the throne he could. I guess the dunk contest has gone through changes, the best not wanting to show they are the best -- much like the league that loves money, not the game. 
 

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