Was Your Favorite Player Picked?

Last week, the NBA All-Star teams were picked. While many were happy with the selections, some were not. Here is a list of both the West All-Stars and the East All-Stars:

East All-Stars
Carmelo Anthony
Dwyane Wade
LeBron James
Chris Bosh
Jimmy Butler
Andre Drummond
DeMar Derozan
Paul George
Kyle Lowry
Paul Milsap
Isaiah Thomas
John Wall

West All-Stars
Kobe Bryant
Russell Westbrook
Kevin Durant
Steph Curry
Draymond Green
Klay Thompson
LaMarcus Aldridge
James Harden
Chris Paul
Kawhi Leonard

So who got snubbed? Let's discuss this.

All-Star Game Recap (Written by Haley Greenberg)

In case you missed it, the NBA All Stars Game was Sunday. The West beat the

East 163-158. Russell Westbrook had an amazing game and deserved the MVP award. He

barely missed the All-Star scoring record with 41 points. In the first half alone,

Westbrook scored 27 points in 11 minutes. James Harden finished behind Westbrook

with 29 points for the West. The game consisted of a high volume of shot attempts, but

the teams combined to only hit 49% of these shots. Everyone was clearly there to score

some points! The East went 23-of-68 shots, which amounts to 34%. The Eastern

Conference had the most 3 point shot attempts at 68, while the West made 25 three

pointers.

Some of the best alley oops came from Stephen Curry, James Harden, LeBron

James, and Dirk Nowitzki—all should definitely be checked out on YouTube! LeBron

led the Eastern Conference with 30 points.

One notable player from the East was Kyle Korver from Atlanta. He had 21 total

points and went 6 for 9 of his three pointers. However, from the Eastern Conference, the

Knicks did not have the best night. Carmelo Anthony did not play well and then Amar’e

Stoudemire was bought out of his tenure contract. From the Toronto Raptors was Kyle

Lowry. He had no recorded dunks this season, but during this game he scored his first

one (even if it doesn’t technically count).

Overall, the game was exciting and a clear display of talent from both teams. The

East was able to tie the game up in the third quarter leading to an exciting 4th quarter.

A Closer Look at Zach LaVine

Small Recap

This past All-Star Weekend , many of us who watch the NBA got to witness "a breath of fresh air" in the Sprite Slam-Dunk contest. No, it wasn't Victor Oladipo's singing/rapping. It wasn't Mason Plumlee's near explosive dunks. Instead, it was the high-flying pogo stick also known as Zach LaVine. LaVine was able to dunk between his legs on TWO occasions, as well on behind the back. To many, although these were seen before, they brought some excitement to a Dunk Contest that many deemed "repetitive" and doomed.

Who is Zach LaVine?

 Zach LaVine is a player from Washington. In Washington, he was a 5-star recruit. There , he was named Mr.Basketball in the state of Washington. After graduation, LaVine decided to take his talents to UCLA. Once at UCLA , LaVine played one season with the Bruins. Coming off of the bench, LaVine was able to average 9 points per contest, and make the All Pac-10 Freshman Team. After his first year, LaVine declared himself eligible for the 2014 NBA Draft.

LaVine at UCLA

While Zach LaVine may seem like a guy-out-of-nowhere who happens to be a good dunker to many, LaVine has shown of  his dunking gift for quite some time now. Websites such as BallisLife have featured many of his highlights in high school in which he performed many dunks whether it be at tournaments, high schools games, or games for fun, LaVine has a knack for making extremely acrobatic plays above the rim.

Future Dunk Legend

After the Dunk contest, many say that LaVine is one of the best slam dunk contestants that the contest has seen in a while. The craziest thing about LaVine is that he has not even reached the age of 20! With his  jumping ability, I believe that LaVine can easily reach the point of being named as one of the greatest Slam-Dunk dunkers ever in the NBA (with respect to Michael Jordan and Vince Carter). The main thing that stands out when it comes to LaVine's dunks? The level of ease he has while performing those dunks. I believe that he could probably try something that people have never seen before.  With so much youth on his side, who's to say that he can't become the greatest Slam-Dunk contestant of all time? I sure won't.

NBA Playoffs

The best time of the year in sports has arrived:  the NBA Playoffs.This year, we will all be witnesses to  have some of the greatest first round match-ups in the NBA, especially in the West. The most exciting series will predicted will be the Clippers vs. the Warriors, the Portland TrailBlazers vs. the Houston Rockets, and the Brooklyn Nets vs. the Toronto Raptors. Look for these exciting series, as these will probably be the most exciting ones. The West clearly has more very good teams this year. The Dallas Mavericks( the 8th and final seed in the West) had 49 wins in the regular season. The 3rd seed in the East (Toronto Raptors) had 48 wins. Those stats say enough.

From the gamer standpoint, most will be playing NBA 2K to celebrate the playoffs. Others may play NBA Live, or another good basketball game. Look for special playoff apps that celebrate particular teams, players, and cities. As a basketball fan , there is nothing like the NBA Playoffs.

All-Star Weekend Predicitions

Every year, as fans of the NBA we look forward to watching All-Star Weekend. All-Star weekend is a weekend in which the NBA's best (voted by fans) participate in different events for fun and bragging rights.

On Friday, the first event will be the celebrity game. In this event , celebrities from all over come and play a fun game. The event following that is the Rising Stars Challenge. This event features the best rookies and (2nd year players) sophomores in the NBA go head-to-head to play a full game.

One Saturday , four events will take place. The first event is the D-league All-Star game, which does take place during the afternoon. The D-league is a league run by the NBA in which players play to earn a position into the NBA. The second event is the Sears Shooting Stars. Consisting of four people (current players, WNBA players, former players, etc) playing or played for a particular city have to make shots from 4 -5 different spots. The top two cities with the fastest time move onto the finals. From there, the team with the fastest time wins. The third event is the three-point contest. After two rounds, the player who hits the most threes wins. The following participants are: Arron Afflalo, Bradley Beal, Kyrie Irving, Joe Johnson, Macro Bellineli, Stephen Curry , Damian Lillard, and Kevin Love. Everyone and their moms believe that Curry will win this event. If he does, then that's no surprise. My sleeper picks in this event are Arron Afflalo and Marco Bellineli. Kevin Love can win as well. The fourth and final event is the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. This is the most exciting event of the night as a fan due to the high-flying creativity that guys come up with on a yearly basis. The Slam Dunk participants are: Damian Lillard , John Wall, Paul George, Harrison Barnes, Ben MacLemore, and Terrance Ross. My prediction for this event is that Terrance Ross will win. My sleeper picks in this one are John Wall and Ben MacLemore.

The final All-Star Weekend event will be the All-Star Game. These feature the best players in the NBA all playing in one game. Alot of offensive and spectacular plays take place in this game. I predict that the East will win this one.