Spurs (Yawn) Win Again; Williams Has Skills

By Stan McNeal
Sean Deveney and Stan McNeal are on the ground in New Orleans, covering the All-Star festivities. Check back all weekend for updates.
Maybe passing through the metal detectors is taking longer than it should. Maybe everyone is waiting for the slam dunk contest. Maybe everyone decided to stay on Bourbon Street. Whatever the reason, New Orleans Arena is far from sold out for the Shooting Stars competition, the first event in the All-Star Saturday night lineup.
A quick description: Five teams, three members (a retired player, a WNBA player and an active NBAer) have to make six shots from different spots on the floor, the last one from just this side of half court. The team to make the five shots fastest is the winner.
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And your 2008 Shooting Stars winner: the Spurs’ David Robinson, the Silver Stars’ Becky Hammon and All-Star Tim Duncan. Robinson took seven attempts to make his first shot --- an 8-foot bank --- but he more than made up for that by sinking the near half-courter on his first attempt in the first round.
In the championship round against the Bulls, the Spurs shooters took only 35.8 seconds to go around the world for the victory. Duncan had said he was looking forward to getting back on the floor with Robinson for the first time since the Admiral’s retirement five seasons ago (time does fly, doesn’t it?). But Duncan figured the Spurs would be in trouble with the 7-footers having to make a couple of 3-point shots.
“If Becky (Hammon) doesn’t carry us, we don’t have a chance,” Duncan said before the competition.
Well, the Admiral showed he can still carry the load.
PlayStation Skills Competition:
An ongoing debate around the NBA is who is the better young point guard: Deron Williams or Chris Paul? That will take years to determine but 25.5 seconds told us one thing at All-Star Saturday night: Williams has bragging rights in the Skills Challenge.
Williams used a record round to beat local favorite Paul in the finals of a competition where players race through a series of skills -- layup, dribbling, chest pass, bounce pass, top of the key jumper, another chest pass, another bounce pass, more dribbling and another layup. Sound easy? Maybe if you have five minutes.
Williams cruised through the finals in less than half the 53.9 seconds Dwyane Wade took to complete the first round. Wade had won the competition the past two years but was out of this one early when the ball kicked off his foot as he dribbled. By the time he finished, a smattering of boos could be heard in the arena. Jason Kidd, the winner the first year this event was held, finished third. He still was representing the Nets, by the way.↵