2015 NBA All Star weekend: Preview and predictions

This weekend we see the annual celebration of the NBA, as the All Star weekend is co-hosted by the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets in the greatest city on Earth.

The big change this season involves the traditional rookie-sophomore game being turned into a Team USA versus Internationals showdown. Adding in a bit of national pride should produce more interest in the historical poor man’s version of the All Star Game.

Thankfully the NBA has ditched the East versus West concept for the Saturday Night entertainment, replacing it with a more conventional format.

Here’s what’s on the cards and my predictions.

Celebrity game – Saturday at 11am (AEDT)
They really should rename this as the Pro-Am game, as it rarely features many celebrities of note and includes several ex-players and current WNBA players.

This year the biggest celebrity name is Kevin Hart. Other names include Ansel Elgort (actor/Knicks Fan), Common (actor/rapper), Win Butler (Arcade Fire), Nick Cannon (TV host), Michael Rapaport (actor/basketball tragic), Kristen Ledlow (NBA Inside Stuff co-host), Chris Mullin (NBA legend) and Robert Para (Memphis Grizzlies owner).

Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe have been booted as coaches, replaced with unofficial New York Knicks mascot Spike Lee, and ‘Mike and Mike’ from ESPN Radio.

This game will only be on ESPN and you really have to be a basketball fan to tune in.

Rising stars challenge – Saturday at 1pm (AEDT)
I am excited about the new Team USA versus Team World format as it gives the game a purpose. The typical rookies versus sophomore concept was getting a bit tired and given the very weak class of 2014, the game might not have been the best quality.

Team USA will face some stiff competition by the recent influx of talent from all over the globe. Australia is represented by two of our finest in Dante Exum and Matthew Dellavedova.

This type of game isn’t new to some of these guys given most have played in the Hoops Summit, which uses the same format.

Team USA doesn’t look strong given the only guard on the roster that doesn’t throw up bricks is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and most of their bigs lack the explosiveness or length seen on Team World.

Team World boasts the next NBA superstar Andrew Wiggins, some very long bigs with great touch, and the Greek Freak himself Giannis Antetokounmpo. Watching them play will be just plain fun and if Dennis Schroder and Exum are feeling frisky then watch out for a barrage of alley-oop passes.

Team USA
Trey Burke, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Carter-Williams, Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad, Nerlens Noel, Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton, Mason Plumlee, Cody Zeller.

Team World
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bojan Bogdanovic, Gorgui Dieng, Dante Exum, Ruby Gobert, Nikola Mirotic, Jusuf Nurkic, Matthew Dellevedova, Dennis Schroder, Andrew Wiggins.

Prediction
Team World by 14 (Andrew Wiggins MVP)

Shooting stars – Sunday at 12:30pm (AEDT)
The most watched game of horse in basketball history is the opener to All Star Saturday Night, with four teams made up of a current NBA player, a former NBA player and a WNBA player trying to make three shots from various places on the court in the quickest possible time.

This year the teams look pretty evenly matched, with some big names competing.

Team Bosh
Chris Bosh, Dominique Wilkens and Swin Cash (New York Liberty)

This trio is going for the three-peat (maybe that is why Pat Riley trademarked it) after successful campaigns in 2013 and 2014. They are obviously strong but will they be able to make history? The tension will be unrivalled.

Team Curry
Stephen Curry, Dell Curry and Sue Bird (Seattle Storm)

Father and son team up to win glory but the big question will be who takes the three pointer? I’m sure a heated discussion has already taken place at the dinner table, it will be interesting to see if Dell still has authority over superstar Steph.

Team Nowitski
Dirk Nowitzki, Scottie Pippen and Elena Delle Donne (Chicago Sky)

With Anthony Davis pulling out of All Star Weekend with a shoulder injury I am assuming Dirk Nowitzki is taking his place. Even though Davis hit that amazing buzzer-beating three against the Thunder, this team’s chances skyrocket with Nowitzki subbed in.

Team Westbrook
Russell Westbrook, Penny Hardaway and Tamika Catchings

How will Westbrook handle this event? Will he take it super serious or will he lighten up and have a laugh? My guess is he has been practicing his half-court shots all week at Thunder practice while Scott Brooks tries unsuccessfully to get him to join the rest of the team. Look for a stare down and flailing legs dance when he nails the shot first go.

Prediction
Team Westbrook in 25 seconds.

Skills Challenge – Sunday at approx 1:15pm (AEDT)
This round robin event sees some of the top guards trying to make their way through a basketball gauntlet testing out their dribbling, shooting, passing and speed. This year they are ditching the East versus West concept and going head-to-head; the winner advances to the next round until only two remain.

This year we have Patrick Beverley, Trey Burke, Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, Kyle Lowry, Michael Carter-Williams, Brandon Knight and Isaiah Thomas competing for the crown.

Prediction
Jeff Teague

Three-point contest – Sunday at approx 1:45pm (AEDT)
This is the big event that everyone has circled as it features some of the hottest shooters in NBA history. Thanks to advanced analytics (listen up Mr Barkley) the three-point shot has become a valuable weapon in today’s game.

The line-up this season features eight players that are lights out from deep including the money man, Kyle Korver, who is shooting a ridiculous 52.8 per cent from beyond the arc while shooting over six per game.

Diving into the advanced stats a bit, Korver leads the league in catch and shoot, 3P per cent for players attempting over three per game with a 52.1 per cent mark. Out of the other contestants JJ Redick (45.7%), Kyrie Irving (44.7%), Klay Thompson (44.6%), Steph Curry (41.3%) and Wesley Matthews (39.3%) have the best mark.

Switching the focus to pull-up threes, the best in the league on this list is Klay Thompson (44.0%) followed by Steph Curry (40.4%), Wesley Matthews (39.8%), Kyrie Irving (37.2%) and James Harden (37.1%).

My money will be on Thompson given his uncomplicated shooting motion and performance this season. Korver will do well but his shooting action relies on a bigger jump and a lot of running off screens. Not sure if the standstill concept will benefit him.

Any one of these players could win it though, they are all great shooters.

Contestants
Marco Belinelli, Steph Curry, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Kyle Korver, Wesley Matthews, JJ Redick and Klay Thompson.

Prediction
Klay Thompson with 24 points.

Slam dunk contest – Sunday at approx 2:15pm (AEDT)
The dunk contest is the backbone of the All Star Saturday Night but has lost its way in the last few years. A lack of big names and confusing formats (never do East versus West again) has taken the shine off.

To address this the NBA is going back to the popular old-school format of the contest heyday – players attempt two dunks with a three-try limit. The two best scores from the panel of judges advance to the final, where they must perform two more dunks.

This year we still have relative unknowns but two names are getting me really excited. The first is high-flying rookie from the T’Wolves Zach LaVine. LaVine has some serious hops on him and is no stranger to an explosive in-game dunk, which will hopefully translate to this format.

The other is the ‘Greek Freak’ Antetokounmpo. The long and lanky wing from the frozen tundra of Milwaukee could do anything with those long arms but the only question will be if he has the time and creativity to pull out something spectacular.

Victor Oladipo is the dark horse here. Unfortunately I don’t see Mason Plumlee being able to provide enough wow factor to get past the first round.

Prediction
Zach LaVine

64th NBA All Star Game – Monday at 12pm (AEDT)
This is the big one, the best players in the world duking it out for 48 minutes to see which conference is the best. In theory it should be the best players competing but due to the ways the starters are selected via fan voting, we rarely see the best 24 best players on the planet.

It matters not, as the game isn’t less about competing and more about flashy moves, high-flying dunks and aerial bombing from beyond the arc. The exhibition format and lack of purpose for the game means it is just a novelty pick-up game involving some of the world’s most entertaining players.

Unfortunately this season injury has hit hard with Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin, Anthony Davis and Dwyane Wade being selected but having to withdraw. Their replacements are still great players but being deprived of Griffin and Davis dunking over everyone is a big loss.

With the game not counting for anything it is a good way for players to attempt things they normally wouldn’t do in an NBA game. Expect flashy crossovers, big men shooting threes and overly ambitious passes.

The Eastern Conference line-up reads like the Atlanta Hawks plus a few handy stars, with four Hawks starters making the grade thanks to Wade’s injury. Will Mike Budenholzer play his starters and only sub in one other player at a time? I really hope he does for the first half just to mess with everyone.

One man that must be pleased this year is LeBron James, who for once won’t have Kobe shadowing him with actual defence.

The Western Conference line-up has taken a battering with Kobe, Griffin and Davis all out replaced with Dirk Nowitzki, Boogie Cousins and Damien Lillard, who was pretty irked about not being selected in his own right. Will he play with a chip on his shoulder and light up Madison Square Garden like the fourth of July?

Eastern Conference
Carmelo Anthony, Pau Gasol, LeBron James, Kyle Lowry, John Wall, Chris Bosh, Jimmy Butler, Al Horford, Kyrie Irving, Paul Millsap, Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver.

Western Conference
Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Marc Gasol, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitski, LaMarcus Alridge, Damien Lillard and DeMarcus Cousins.

Prediction
East by 8 (LeBron James MVP)