The Orlando Magic were well represented in the NBA All-Star weekend by Dwight Howard and Grant Hill. Howard played in the Rookie game and Hill made his 7th All-Star appearance. I would have still liked to see a Hedo Turkoglu 3-pointer or Steve Francis dunk in the other festivities, but you get what you pay for.
Howard was the victim of the same guard-focused offense and crazed coaching. Howard was matched up against Chris Bosh of the Raptors and would clearly had an advantage if the Rookies could have taken advantage of it. I'm sorry, but none of this years' Rookies are going to out-run Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony. The best bet would be to slow the pace and pound the ball inside. Then again, some people would think that would be a boring game. Howard finished with 14 points, 3 blocks and 5 rebounds in limited playing time.
In the All-Star game, Hill looked good out on the court, putting up 6 points, 2 assists and 3 rebounds. Hill was not played much during the second half as the East went on to win 125-115, snapping the 3 game winning streak of the west. Aside from the off-the-backboard dunk by Vince Carter, the most exciting play for me was watching Hill go up for an alley-oop and dunk. I was surprised to see him up there about the rim.
As for the overall entertainment factor of the weekend, it was average. Both games were pretty exciting to watch, but the 3-point contest and slam-dunk contest were not as entertaining. For a three point contest, there were not a whole lot of three's being made. I would have like to see Hedo Turkoglu or even Pat Garrity in the contest. As for the slam dunk competition, I just don't get too excited about a 6'10" player dunking in exhibition. It's more impressive in-game over another forward or center - but let's face it. We all want to see the guards fly through the air. Steve Francis would have been a good choice here.
