Associated Press photo
Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
With Pierce out of the picture, Ray was up, needing a 21 to emerge victorious and put the icing on his recently acquired three-point crown. He didn’t.
He started off the final session cold, was actually eliminated before reaching the final rack and finished with 15.
"I wanted to win badly,” said Allen, “and I didn't need to talk about it. I just wanted to do it. So it just … again, if I could find a gym tonight I'd go through it again, just to get that feeling out of my stomach."
CSNNE: Allen, Pierce come up short in 3-point contest
Man, having that kind of drive and obsessiveness really is a blessing and a curse.
On the one hand, it's what made him what he is. The guy is perhaps the best shooter of all time because he works on his shot so obsessively. He's in the gym before everyone… he's there late. Doc said flat out Ray takes more jumpers than anyone he's ever seen.
On the other hand, he can't take a loss at a simple little event like the 3-point shootout without wanting to hit the gym immediately and rectify whatever he felt was off. I'll bet it ate at him for the rest of the night. Hell… I'll bet it's still bugging him this morning.
So yeah… his drive and desire are amazing. But that same drive and desire can be a curse too.
Related links: ESPN Boston: All-Star 2011: Jones tops Allen, Pierce | Herald: Pair of big shots can't charm C's 3's | Globe: Allen, Pierce miss on 3 point crown
On Page 2: Blake Griffin jumped over a car
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJYQKNiAmW4?hd=1]
This was the dunk-contest-winning dunk from last night.
Impressive. The actual dunk itself wasn't even in Griffin's top 10 dunks of the season…. but the creativity is interesting. There were a lot of props pulled out in last night. All in all, an interesting dunk contest… but the NBA's gotta figure out if it's gonna let guys use props or not.
Can you imagine running a team and seeing your franchise player try to jump over a car? I'm shocked that a Clipper didn't catch his foot on the hood and suffer a catastrophic leg injury. That risk is why most of these big names don't take part anymore.
The rest of the links:
ESPN Boston: Morning Shootaround: Jonesing for a title | All-Star 2011: Anyone seen Spike? | Chef Davis? | Broken records | Rest for the weary | CSNNE: NBA, union understand each other but still disagree | Celtics honored to share All Star experience | Joe Johnson remembers long forgotten Celtics teammates | Herald: Rondo's style hard to handle, but C's guard handles it all | Pierce gives back to Inglewood | Least of the East | Doc's built for the job | All four C's miss day of service | Globe: Rising Rivers | Photos: Doc's career highlights | Common cause becoming apparent
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