Instant Reaction | NBA All-Star Saturday Night In Indy 2024

Summary

Podcast Summary: No Dunks – Instant Reaction | NBA All-Star Saturday Night In Indy 2024

Released on February 18, 2024, "No Dunks" is The Athletic's daily NBA podcast hosted by Skeets, Tas, Trey, and JD. In this episode, the hosts provide an in-depth analysis of the NBA All-Star Saturday Night held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Below is a detailed summary capturing all key discussions, insights, and conclusions.

---

1. Introduction and General Impressions

The episode kicks off with the hosts sharing their initial impressions of the event's atmosphere and logistics.

• J.E. Skeets welcomes listeners live from Lucas Oil Stadium:
  “Good evening, sweet world, and welcome to no Dunks live from the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.” [00:12]

• Tass Mellis humorously remarks on the chilly weather:
  “Hey, Tassie, it's a little chilly up here as well. I wish there was some oil around me to make me a little warmer.” [00:33]

Overall, the hosts agree that the night was star-studded and enjoyable despite its length.

---

2. Dunk Contest Recap

The hosts delve into the highlights and controversies of the Dunk Contest, evaluating performances and scoring decisions.

a. Overall Assessment

• J.E. Skeets provides a broad overview:
  “Not a bad dunk contest. I don't think it's going to be remembered as one of the greatest of all time, but clean dunk contest, not a lot of missed dunks.” [00:50]

• Trey Kerby comments on scoring biases:
  “I feel like we had two curves in effect tonight. We had Jaylen Brown, you're an All-Star, you're in the dunk contest, so maybe you're getting your score goosed a little bit. Curve. We also had Mack McClung... scoring was harder for him.” [01:15]

b. Jaylen Brown's Glove Dunk

A standout moment was Jaylen Brown's inventive dunk involving a glove, which sparked significant discussion.

• Tass Mellis expresses surprise and amusement:
  “I don't think Jaylen Brown should have made it through to the second round, but I'm glad he did because he pulled out the glove.” [02:02]

• Trey Kerby highlights its memorability:
  “For me, the most memorable dunk... Jaylen Brown's left hand glove dunk.” [03:03]

c. Mac McClung's Performance

Mac McClung's impressive display, including a dunk where he jumps over Shaq, was a decisive factor in the contest's outcome.

• Trey Kerby praises McClung's dunking prowess:
  “It is what it is. Clearly the best dunker of the four.” [02:57]

• Tass Mellis notes the consistency of McClung's performance:
  “But the best dunker won. Mac McClung won again.” [02:57]

d. Controversial Scoring and Judges' Decisions

The hosts discuss potential biases and the judging criteria that influenced the contest's outcome.

• Trey Kerby criticizes the scoring system:
  “Jaylen Brown, you're bringing out dunks that would've scored very well in 2005-2009. He's just on a different level right now.” [01:55]

• J.E. Skeets summarizes the overall grading:
  “I think you guys are in the right ballpark. Yeah, that's good.” [08:30] after discussions on giving the contest a grade of 47 out of 50.

Memorable Quotes:

• “Jaylen Brown's left hand glove dunk... he pulls out the left glove and dunks it that way.” [02:13] – Tass Mellis
• “They were dunking a white basketball so it looked like an egg... It is egg drop soup.” [03:41] – J.E. Skeets

---

3. Three-Point Shootout

The Three-Point Shootout featured a compelling face-off between Steph Curry and Sabrina Ionescu, delivering unexpected drama and high-level performance.

a. Competition Overview

• J.E. Skeets describes the buildup as similar to a heavyweight fight:
  “Felt sort of like a heavyweight fight. You know, them coming out one at a time.” [08:31]

• Trey Kerby lauds Curry's dominance:
  “Steph Curry actually was our three-point champion for both of them tonight.” [09:15]

b. Sabrina Ionescu's Outstanding Performance

Sabrina Ionescu's exceptional shooting, matching or surpassing expectations, was a highlight.

• Tass Mellis emphasizes her inspirational performance:
  “This was unprecedented to have a WNBA star come in and shoot against Steph, the best shooter ever... she hit her first seven shots.” [10:08]

• J.E. Skeets reflects on her consistency:
  “In warm-ups, they barely missed when they were showing.” [09:58]

c. Crowd Reaction and Presentation Issues

The hosts discuss the audience's response and technical aspects of the event.

• Trey Kerby recounts the crowd's excitement:
  “When she made her first seven, the gym was electric.” [09:15]

• Tass Mellis criticizes the visual presentation:
  “People are mad that people's faces were fluorescent.” [16:58]

Memorable Quotes:

• “She puts up a number that would have won the NBA three-point contest tonight.” [10:11] – Tass Mellis
• “If you can shoot, you can shoot.” [11:15] – J.E. Skeets referencing Sabrina's new Nike slogan.

---

4. Skills Challenge

The Skills Challenge faced significant criticism due to rule ambiguities and execution flaws, leading to a controversial outcome.

a. Execution and Controversies

• Tass Mellis points out discrepancies in scoring rules:
  “They kind of just scrap the rules. Really. You just go wherever you want and just do stuff.” [19:05]

• J.E. Skeets highlights specific incidents:
  “The tiebreaker with the half-court shot, which they struggled with.” [22:52]

b. Hosts' Opinions on Improvements

The hosts suggest alternative formats to enhance fairness and excitement.

• Trey Kerby proposes a revised approach:
  “Should play three on three or... mid-court to one, three or something.” [23:08]

• Tass Mellis expresses frustration with the current format:
  “It felt like a football game in terms of the length.” [05:20]

c. Notable Participant Performances

Despite the challenges, certain players stood out for their efforts.

• Tass Mellis supports Scotty Barnes' potential:
  “But I liked it. I like that Scotty fell one time as well. He went the wrong way around a pylon.” [21:33]

Memorable Quotes:

• “Anybody have to go back to another weirder shot with other weirders, probably ball.” [15:40] – J.E. Skeets
• “This was an awesome skills challenge.” [20:05] – Trey Kerby

---

5. Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Wrapping up the episode, the hosts reflect on the night's events and share their final impressions.

• J.E. Skeets encourages listener engagement:
  “Hit the like button. Make sure you subscribe. Let us hear in the comments...” [26:03]

• Tass Mellis shares her enthusiasm for future episodes:
  “Possibly. But also maybe not.” [26:35]

Memorable Quotes:

• “She made me buy them this weekend.” [25:37] – Tass Mellis on Sabrina's Nike shoes.
• “We should have just done that.” [14:04] – J.E. Skeets on Dunk Contest tiebreakers.

---

Key Takeaways

• Dunk Contest: Mac McClung emerged victorious, showcasing superior dunk creativity and execution, while Jaylen Brown's glove dunk became a memorable moment despite debates over scoring fairness.
• Three-Point Shootout: Steph Curry secured the title with outstanding performance, but Sabrina Ionescu's unexpected prowess provided inspiration and set a new benchmark.
• Skills Challenge: The event faced significant criticism for rule inconsistencies and execution flaws, prompting suggestions for format improvements.
• Overall Impression: The hosts appreciated the entertainment value of All-Star Saturday Night but expressed desires for smoother execution and fairer scoring in future events.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• “Jaylen Brown performed tonight, so that was fun. He also, when he did the Dominique in the first round, probably helped.” – Tass Mellis [02:13]
• “This was unprecedented to have a WNBA star come in and shoot against Steph, the best shooter ever.” – Tass Mellis [10:11]
• “They were dunking a white basketball so it looked like an egg.” – J.E. Skeets [03:35]
• “She put up her first seven shots and it's going to be impactful.” – Tass Mellis [10:13]

---

This episode of "No Dunks" provided a comprehensive and engaging analysis of the NBA All-Star Saturday Night, highlighting standout performances, addressing controversies, and offering insightful critiques to enhance future events.

Transcript

[Trey Kerby]

Foreign.

[J.E. Skeets]

Good evening, sweet world, and welcome to no Dunks live from the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. It's no Dunks Here. To recap All Star Saturday night, I'm J. SkS. We got T.K. we got Tass, we've got you. Hit the like button. Subscribe as we break this down. Three hours flew by.

[Tass Mellis]

Hey, Tassie, it's a little chilly up here as well. I wish there was some oil around me to make me a little warmer.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah. So look, we got a lot to talk about.

[Tass Mellis]

I don't know why I'm complaining about that. It was all right. It was long.

[J.E. Skeets]

It was, it was long. But it was a couple tiebreakers. Some fun.

[Trey Kerby]

Star studded man. Star studded event.

[Tass Mellis]

It was very good night.

[J.E. Skeets]

Let's start with the end and work backwards. Okay? Mack over Shaq to go back to back bars. Thank you. Yeah, not a bad dunk contest. I don't think it's going to be remembered as one of the greatest of all time. But clean dunk contest, not a lot of missed dunks. Entertaining, maybe some goosing of some scores for the one all star in Jaylen Brown. But setting up Jalen versus Mac McClung in the finals. What do you think overall?

[Trey Kerby]

Shout out to all my teachers out there. Grading on a curve.

[J.E. Skeets]

Right.

[Trey Kerby]

You know, I feel like we had two curves in effect tonight. We had the Jaylen Brown, you're an all Star, you're in the dunk contest, so maybe you're getting your score goosed a little bit. Curve. We also had the Mack McClung. We saw you do incredible things last year. Can you do it again? Can you top what you did last year? Curve. So I felt like the scoring was harder from him, for him in that respect as well. Not a shock that they both made it to the finals and Mack brought it with his last dunk, jumping over Shaq, just like Jaime Jacques Jr. Did with his first dunk. An entertaining night. And I think for me the most memorable one is going to be Jaylen Brown's left hand dunk. That was hilarious.

[J.E. Skeets]

You think so?

[Trey Kerby]

Absolutely funny.

[J.E. Skeets]

Was that your favorite dunk or will that be the one that most people remember from this?

[Tass Mellis]

I didn't think Jaylen Brown should have made it through to the second round, but I'm glad he did because he pulled out the glove. I felt a little like Michael Jackson.

[J.E. Skeets]

They played Michael Jackson in here too.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, because everybody has always said Jaylen Brown can't go left, he can't dribble left, he can't so he pulls out the left glove and dunks it that way. I'm not sure if NBA players are going to start wearing gloves when they play because that ball must have been stuck to his hand. Yeah, exactly. There's no way he could miss that dunk. Jaylen Brown performed tonight, so that was fun. He also, when he did the Dominique in the first round, probably helped. Dominique was sitting right there.

[J.E. Skeets]

Sure.

[Tass Mellis]

Sitting there judging him. I loved. I was going to call it Jacob Toppin. Obi Toppin again. Because he pulled out an Obi Toppin dunk. Obi did two years ago. That was awesome. That I thought in the first round, probably should have got him to the second round. But the best dunker won. Mac McClung won again.

[J.E. Skeets]

Clearly the best dunker of the four.

[Tass Mellis]

So are you gonna remember the glove or are you Gonna remember the McGlung?

[Trey Kerby]

Here's the thing. I think, for me, the most memorable dunk, when we're, like, going back and making lists and stuff more often, we'll come up the Jaylen Brown left hand glove dunk. The best dunk for me. Like, the coolest dunk for me was Mac dropping the ball in the air. His very first dunk of the contest.

[Tass Mellis]

That was very.

[J.E. Skeets]

What are we going to call that? Look Ma, no hands or something like that. Because I'm with you. I think that's the one that was the coolest dunk and the most unique dunk for sure. The oopsie baby something there.

[Trey Kerby]

Drop. Dunk.

[Tass Mellis]

Drop.

[J.E. Skeets]

We will. We'll brainstorm.

[Tass Mellis]

Drop it like it's hot. Something. Something with drop.

[J.E. Skeets]

They were dunking a white basketball so it, like, looked like an egg. So I feel like there's something with an egg we could incorporate into naming it.

[Trey Kerby]

But it was a egg drop dunk.

[J.E. Skeets]

Sure.

[Tass Mellis]

Egg drop soup, though.

[J.E. Skeets]

It is. But yeah. Overall, though, like, was there any other, like you think? Do you agree with tasks like that? Jacob Toppin maybe got a little hosed. Like, he maybe should have been in the finals.

[Trey Kerby]

Jacob Toppin could have a beef, I would have to say. But, you know, he did do dunks that we've seen Obi Toppin do. He didn't necessarily innovate the way Mac did, which is what you're expecting when somebody's kind of known as a dunker. Jaylen Brown, like, we're saying he was bringing out dunks that I think would have scored very well in 2005-2009. Like, pretty solid dunks, you know, but the game has kind of grown since then. He's just on a different level, I think, right now. So, yeah, Jacob Toppan. I think I would be happy inviting him back to see what else he can do. He's probably got some more stuff in the bag.

[Tass Mellis]

That's a good call. And I think what may have hurt him is that he jumped over somebody right before. Right after Jaime Hawkins jumped over Shaq. So that was an incredible dunk to jump over his brother. No, no touch. No touch. Like Jaime Hawkez did to Shaquille o' Neal. But you see two dunks in a row. It's just hard to score 50s these days. And to.

[J.E. Skeets]

There was only one.

[Trey Kerby]

I love that.

[J.E. Skeets]

Right into the.

[Trey Kerby]

I love that. Only 150.

[J.E. Skeets]

You were. You were convinced that when Jalen did the glove dunk that you were like, they're going to give him a 50. They're going to give him a 50.

[Trey Kerby]

I think they gave him the highest score at the time of the night.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah. Close, if not the highest. Yeah. And maybe deserving because it was funny.

[Trey Kerby]

It was funny. It was pretty funny, man. And Duncan with a glove hand. We don't know how sticky that glove is. It could have been sequins on the inside for all we know. We should have seen the glove.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, that's a good point. It's a good point.

[Tass Mellis]

But it was an incredible show in that there wasn't a lot of missed dunks.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yes.

[Tass Mellis]

Number one. Number two, I hate saying this, because I don't want to complain about how long everything was because this was fun being at a football stadium, but it felt like a football game in terms of the length of because. But the dunkers made it quick, so maybe we make everything a little shorter earlier.

[J.E. Skeets]

Do you want to see Mac McClung try and go back to back to back? Because he was asked about it after and sort of gave the like. Definitely not the I'll be back to defend. It was more. I'll think about it.

[Trey Kerby]

How about he can come back in a couple of years. We'll see what. What a completely fresh crop does next year. If they do anything that really wows us that says, hey, we need to bring back the ringer, the absolute pro. Can you actually beat this guy? Give him a couple of years to brainstorm more dunks.

[Tass Mellis]

Okay, let's brainstorm the line. I mean, the guy who went back to back is going to try and go Mac to Mac to Mac or something. You know, I mean, something. But he should come back. He was awesome.

[J.E. Skeets]

Did the led court add subtract? Not really do much for you in terms of not just the dunk contest, but all of the challenges tonight, competitions. Do you think it enhanced it?

[Trey Kerby]

I think there's a different experience for us here in the arena and people watching at home, because you look at some of the pictures that are floating around on the Internet, and it looks very much glowing skin for everybody. But here I thought it was pretty cool to watch, and it looked awesome from a distance. Up here in section 333 at Lucas Oil. I don't know, there was times, like, when somebody would land a dunk and the floor would shatter or something like that. The little trails behind them. I liked when Jalen did his Dominique dunk and they showed, like, a bunch of Dominique pictures on the floor, that kind of stuff. There's certain enhancements, for sure.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah. And we saw the tribute to Terence Clark. We saw. Yeah, Hawkeye Jr. With the Mexican heritage. Like, they incorporated that onto the floor, which was cool. Fine. But it feels like the technology of this floor, this LED court. Give it a couple more years because it's like, how's that? Like, tiny, still lacking.

[Trey Kerby]

What are they going to do in a couple of years?

[J.E. Skeets]

Everything's going to be a Spider man movie. That's all I kept thinking watching it, man. Imagine Spider man was doing these dunks.

[Trey Kerby]

I think my favorite floor moment of the night was when Jaylen Brown did his D. Brown dunk and he landed and they turned the floor into the Boston Garden floor. And people started booing the floor. They're like, how dare you change our floor to the Celtics floor?

[J.E. Skeets]

Jaylen Brown was the villain here tonight in the dunk contest. To the crowd, at least, because he was sort of getting scores that I think people thought were too high. Then the Boston floor, he got booed a couple times.

[Trey Kerby]

You don't change a team's floor in their own gym.

[Tass Mellis]

And I suspect, man plus pulling out the D. Brown covering his hands after he was landing about the end.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tass Mellis]

After he dunked.

[J.E. Skeets]

It is what it is.

[Tass Mellis]

Anyways, it was a good show, all in all. It was a good show.

[J.E. Skeets]

Okay, great. Grade the dunk contest. You go back to that teacher metaphor. How would you rate it overall?

[Trey Kerby]

How about if I grade it like it's a dunk contest?

[J.E. Skeets]

Okay, sure. That makes more sense.

[Trey Kerby]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I would give it a 47.

[J.E. Skeets]

Okay. Higher, low.

[Tass Mellis]

47.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tass Mellis]

I'm. I'm the math teacher, so I'm trying to do the math. I'm trying to give it an eight point. Yeah, that's 46.

[J.E. Skeets]

Okay. I think you Guys are in the right ballpark. Yeah, that's good.

[Trey Kerby]

It was good. Yeah, it was good.

[J.E. Skeets]

All right, let's move again. Going backwards. The Steph versus Sabrina. The three point shootout. Got Ernie Johnson out there on the court. Try and build the hype. I thought it started strong with building the hype. Felt sort of like a heavyweight fight. You know, them coming out one at a time. Eventually a belt showed up that looked cheap as hell. But then they interviewed the both of them and they're such like humble superstars, so there wasn't like a lot of smack talk going on. And it's sort of like we built to this point and then it sort of went back down. But then they started shooting and, well, they put on a show. I mean, they both tied or beat all the three point shooters in the challenge before them. So Steph Curry actually was our three point champion for both of them tonight.

[Trey Kerby]

That was by far the best event of the night. I don't even think it was close. And it was exceeded expectations. Like you're saying Sabrina hit as many as Dame Lillard hit to win the actual thing. And then Steph Curry came in and on his final rack showed. Remember who's the best shooter in the history of basketball and still the best shooter currently playing. It's me. On a night where we just seen how many racks of three pointers he comes in and wins it.

[J.E. Skeets]

Right?

[Trey Kerby]

Only going through once. Come on. That was awesome. And seeing Sabrina actually step up, hitting their shots from the NBA line, that was. It was incredible. When she made her first seven, the gym was electric.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, we were terrified coming into this. That like, oh, just one of them is not on tonight and just struggles. And then it's like. And that wasn't a problem at all.

[Trey Kerby]

No.

[J.E. Skeets]

In warm ups, they barely missed when they were showing. We were sitting here counting like the odd miss, but like almost like cash every time. So yeah. 29 for Steph, 26 for Sabrina. What do you think?

[Tass Mellis]

By far the most memorable moment?

[J.E. Skeets]

The loudest the crowd got?

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, for sure, for sure. And just as an event entirely, just the most impactful, the most inspirational, was fun. And yeah, they came out as heavyweight boxers at the beginning. But the fact is this is unprecedented to have a WNBA star come in and shoot against Steph, the best shooter ever. And she puts up a number that would have won the NBA three point contest tonight. Better than the finals numbers that the men put up tonight. And she was able to do it from the NBA three point line. She hit her first seven shots and it's going to be impactful. This was a night that all NBA fans generally watch, and now they get to see a WNBA superstar. So people will be inspired to play basketball. Steph, a daughter, a father of two daughters, you know, this meant something to him. And next year, I, I wondered if Steph lost, they definitely would have had a rematch because it's in San Francisco where Steph plays done and done. I hope there's some sort of rematch, though.

[J.E. Skeets]

Sure.

[Tass Mellis]

No matter what, it's got to be. It's got to happen in some way.

[Trey Kerby]

Caitlyn Clark's coming. She's going to be in it next year. Massive, massive star. So it'll be a matter of how they decide to work her, how they.

[Tass Mellis]

Do it, how they do it.

[Trey Kerby]

All three of them, for all I know.

[J.E. Skeets]

And then a lot of money going to charity, which is very cool too. And then talking to them after. And Sabrina basically just came up with a new Nike slogan. If you can shoot, you can shoot. So there you go. Just so you can print that, put that on T shirts and sell that tomorrow. So, yeah, overall, incredibly lived up to the hype again. The pressure. I can't get over, like the amount of pressure, hey, come out here and put up a good score and both compete because again, that could go so poorly. We see NBA guys in this contest now. Not tonight, but previous years. Kevin Herder goes for eight. Somebody. Michael Jordan struggled in the three point contest. Like it happens.

[Trey Kerby]

The sight lines are good here.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, I guess so.

[Trey Kerby]

Lines are great here. The numbers in the three point contest were good all around. And think about it. Sabrina said, I'm gonna shoot from the NBA line and made her first seven shots. That's incredible.

[Tass Mellis]

And it felt like she, like she was gonna win because Steph started a little slowly and then got hot himself. Would you rather have them shoot at the same time in different hats?

[Trey Kerby]

No chance. No chance. You like the, the drama of the last wreck.

[Tass Mellis]

I agree. I agree.

[J.E. Skeets]

Honestly, watching it, I don't know live, maybe it's different on television. It's almost tough to keep track while you're just watching one shooter. Imagine they're both going on opposite ends like they used to back in the day. Now I like it like this. I don't need to screw with that.

[Tass Mellis]

She was great.

[J.E. Skeets]

3 point contest. Pretty good showing by everyone. Like, like I said, we generally have one or two people that just lay an egg, like just can't hit a shot to save their lives. The worst score was 21.

[Trey Kerby]

I think Mitchell had 20 in the first round 20.

[J.E. Skeets]

Okay. So low 20s.

[Tass Mellis]

Money Merrill. Money Merrill. They're calling in that jersey when they're warming up. It was during a commercial. He had the five on his throwback Cavs jersey with the name Money Merrill underneath it. I was literally looking at it like, I, I don't know who's in the three point contest tonight or is there just somebody out there warming up that's not in the three point contest. I was confused. But he's throwing it up for his man Sam Merrill, who's having a great season on his team with a Money Merrill.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, it was Mitchell at 21 and Beasley had 20.

[Trey Kerby]

Okay.

[J.E. Skeets]

The worst score is. That's pretty impressive. But yeah, we had a tiebreaker situation where with three guys with, with 26. Halliburton four.

[Trey Kerby]

Right? Four.

[J.E. Skeets]

Four guys. Excuse me. That's right. We had Trey Young, we had Halliburton, we had Karl Anthony Towns, we had Damian Lillard. So the four way tie. Now you had a great point. I thought TK you're like, why do the tiebreaker? Why don't you just advance them all to the final? Because they're actually making it longer by having them have to do the 32nd tiebreaker to then go to the final. So it's a weird decision. They should have just done that. But at least they still were competitive in the, in the tiebreaker and the tiebreaker.

[Trey Kerby]

There was some drama because, I mean, we couldn't see it from here. We obviously were watching the broadcast to see the crystal clear images, but Carl Anthony Towns apparently kept stepping over the line. But if you're a referee, are you going to want to be staring into that led court for 30 seconds? Bad stuff. So not surprised they would miss a call. But yeah, I thought if they all four tied for the high score, just send them all into the next round. We're playing for first anyways.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kerby]

Doesn't matter who, how many go to play.

[J.E. Skeets]

100% could have been.

[Trey Kerby]

Okay.

[Tass Mellis]

And is that, is that why Damian Lillard, you know, kind of stuck it to the referees afterwards when he was, he was interviewed after he. Yeah, a little shot to the referees there. It was interesting because Karl Anthony Towns had his money ball rack at the top, but he moved it for the tiebreaker because you got to get to it. Got to get to it faster.

[J.E. Skeets]

They almost all put it. Yeah, yeah. First or second.

[Tass Mellis]

Of course.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tass Mellis]

He's one of the few guys to have a Moneyball rack right at the top.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tass Mellis]

You don't see that too often.

[J.E. Skeets]

True. Wings Are corners for most of these guys.

[Trey Kerby]

Loves a trail 3. Makes sense.

[J.E. Skeets]

I, I say this all the time. Every year. I, I like. Look, we've had it for a while now, so I guess I've gotten a little more used to it. I just don't love the deep ball, the starry range ball. And what I hate about it is not like it's cool to see them hit a deeper shot, don't get me wrong. But like it does ruin their flow at times where somebody gets on a run, somebody gets on a heater. Wow. 5, 6, 7. And then they're like, now I gotta go back to another weirder shot with other weirders. Probably ball. It feels a little different. I just can't stand that. I don't know what it is about three point shooters.

[Tass Mellis]

They can take a couple steps back.

[J.E. Skeets]

For a ride like. No, nobody hit. I don't think. Maybe, no maybe. Carl Anthony Towns once had a round where he hit both of them. Yeah, yeah. But otherwise nobody hit them both.

[Trey Kerby]

It does reduce the Craig Hodges potential.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, right.

[Trey Kerby]

Where somebody's gonna make 15 straight or something.

[J.E. Skeets]

That's my point. That's my point though. I guess Sabrina also.

[Tass Mellis]

She did it.

[J.E. Skeets]

She, she did it. So.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, yeah.

[J.E. Skeets]

Last year when she did it last year. Yeah, that's true.

[Tass Mellis]

One straight shot.

[J.E. Skeets]

Any other thoughts on the three point contest? It's usually good.

[Trey Kerby]

It was good, if not great.

[J.E. Skeets]

And it delivered.

[Trey Kerby]

Yeah, I did, I did think it was a little bit like watching Ursula and the poor unfortunate souls go on that green glowing court. I preferred the blue cord of the dunk contest to the glowing green star starry court.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yes. There's photos going around. Again, we were not watching the broadcast, but I mean, but we saw it.

[Trey Kerby]

You know, it's very green and I thought the blue was a much more subtle cool.

[J.E. Skeets]

Sure. But Lowry marketing looking like the incredible looking Hulk. Ish.

[Trey Kerby]

Yeah.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah. With the green bounce back on him.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah. No, you're totally right. People who we have chats with were mad about the starry. The starry court.

[Trey Kerby]

And I think it's a different experience on tv.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, exactly.

[J.E. Skeets]

That's.

[Tass Mellis]

That's why I was on the chats. Because I wanted to know what everyone was doing. Doing online from home. And yeah, people are mad that people's faces were fluorescent.

[J.E. Skeets]

This is why no dunks is up here in the 300 level. We couldn't be on the floor. Three white guys on a starry court. Just disaster waiting to happen. So that's why we're up here up in the Bleachers, in case you were wondering. Any other final thoughts on three point contests? No.

[Tass Mellis]

It's fun to look at guys who've repeated in the past because it's just fun.

[J.E. Skeets]

That's right. Well, we, I mean, fact check us out there. But yeah. I think the last guy to repeat now that Dame has done it was Jason Capono.

[Tass Mellis]

Yes.

[J.E. Skeets]

Who like Dame, switched teams. So that's the secret to going back to back in the three point contest. Have a fresh jersey on. Obviously. Dame with Portland and now Milwaukee and then Kapono with Raptors and Heat, I guess. And yeah, I'm not sure which order it was, but he definitely did it with two different teams.

[Trey Kerby]

I did like Dame missing a ton on his last rack so that he actually had to make the very last ball. That was pretty funny.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah. He said, he even said I wanted to build the drama there. He missed four.

[Trey Kerby]

He missed how many I had. I didn't know how many I needed to make. But I heard everybody going.

[J.E. Skeets]

Just hit that last one and he was good.

[Trey Kerby]

Pay attention to the crowd.

[J.E. Skeets]

So Dame goes back to back.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah. And good back to back interviews too. For Dame last year was in Utah by his school, Weber State. This time he just gave a shot to the referees. I don't care where I'm stepping. I don't care, as they talked about. Yeah. Whether or not they should take back a three point shot where he toes the line or whatever. Because it happened to Carl. Yes, it happened to Carl tonight. He stepped on one.

[J.E. Skeets]

Well, you want to talk about controversy, let's talk about the skills challenge.

[Tass Mellis]

Nice segue. That's a segue. It's tainted.

[J.E. Skeets]

I can't wait to read the last two minute report tomorrow on All Star Saturday night. Because that Matheran pass in that four has to be a bounce pass. And he just whipped it in there and they counted it and that was like the one that sort of advanced them there.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah.

[Trey Kerby]

So we're heading back to the hotel. We're grinding tape.

[J.E. Skeets]

Oh, yeah.

[Trey Kerby]

We're going to break it down frame by frame.

[Tass Mellis]

So many numbers.

[Trey Kerby]

Count every pass that goes into every single basket.

[J.E. Skeets]

I'm convinced that's the most stressful job of All Star Weekend. Anything where you have to count like these people, whoever the intern is at the NBA has to count these things.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah.

[J.E. Skeets]

Terrible, man.

[Trey Kerby]

Be terrible. Then they have to go back and check it. They're like, we tied twice and we have two buzzer beaters. Do they count? I'm telling you, the first Halliburton one in the first Round of passing. I feel like that one was late as well. They gave it to him anyways.

[J.E. Skeets]

I know.

[Trey Kerby]

Home cooking.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yep. Yeah. Team Pacers, you know, coming through in the end. But it's rigged. Frozen envelope. Frozen Starry balls. I don't know. Whatever they are.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, I'm into math because I've been looking at those numbers forever. For the last three hours in the skills Challenge, in the passing, they kind of just. They just scrap the rules. Really. You just go wherever you want and just do stuff. Look, I'll say they give you points and it should have gone to the All Stars. The game should have gone to the All Stars tonight because of that pass. That's how the tiebreaker was broken. It should have been the All Stars who won.

[J.E. Skeets]

Or.

[Tass Mellis]

What were you going to say? Yeah, what was I going to say? Something about math and the tiebreakers.

[Trey Kerby]

This was an awesome skills challenge.

[Tass Mellis]

You're not.

[Trey Kerby]

Okay, here's what I was gonna say. I remembered. I love the Pacers. They cracked it. They cracked, like, the code to this. Using analytics, they said we're not throwing it in the long two.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kerby]

Everybody knows the long two is a terrible shot.

[J.E. Skeets]

Dumb shot.

[Trey Kerby]

There's dumb pass as well. The other ones are worth way more. And guess what? They're closer. Why would you ever throw in the two? Doesn't make sense. That's how they goose their numbers. Got 94 to equal the 94 from team all Stars.

[J.E. Skeets]

If you had to give credit. And maybe they've talked about this in a post game press conference. I'm not sure who came up, like, who cracked it. Halliburton. You know, it was Halliburton or Matheran. Okay, it was Halliburton.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, but the Matheran pass shouldn't have been. No, I know, I know. And they put it up as a replay. Huge mistake here in Lucas Oil Field. Like, you know when you're watching a game and something happens to your team that shouldn't have happened or something like, awesome. You know, a guy drops somebody when he. On a crossover. They never put it in as a replay. They shouldn't put that as a replay because that helped me do the math.

[J.E. Skeets]

Well, there was like a bunch of other weird things in the skills challenge. It was, well, Anthony Edwards trying to shoot left handed.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah.

[Trey Kerby]

He said he was going to play the entire All Star game left handed. And I think he'll be reconsidering after today.

[Tass Mellis]

He did it earlier today.

[Trey Kerby]

The glass from the corner.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, Twice. Twice.

[J.E. Skeets]

We also had Scotty Barnes and Tyrese Maxey botching the relay. Oh, both of them. I mean, Scotty just lost the ball. Terry Smacksi just went the wrong way.

[Tass Mellis]

I don't care.

[Trey Kerby]

He just took off, man. He was just running all the way outside of it rather than weaving.

[Tass Mellis]

But I liked it. I like that. I like Scotty fell one time as well. He went the wrong way around a pylon. But to me, it all means that Scotty is ready to be a number one guy. His effort in the rest of the skills challenge proved to me. It proved to me that he is ready to be a number one guy. I was inspired and I'm. Yeah. Totally biased Homer right now.

[J.E. Skeets]

I want to get an official ruling on. Are you allowed to grab two balls when you go up to grab these balls?

[Tass Mellis]

God, he does.

[J.E. Skeets]

I know. And then everybody started doing it. Is that legal?

[Trey Kerby]

That was some of the best floor usage, I thought, because you could see, like, yes. The previous team's like, final score and like, it would track along with their players. So you could see when Scotty Barnes fell down, the team all star tracker would just stop there by that for a while, which it was maxi. It would go forward and it would have to come all the way back. Stop for a little bit, then weave through. That was pretty nice.

[J.E. Skeets]

Like Mario Kart, where you're taking on the. The ghost.

[Trey Kerby]

The ghost track and you're trying to.

[J.E. Skeets]

Battle it for your time trials. I did like that too. That was like maybe the best use of the led.

[Trey Kerby]

The skills challenge, I thought kind of was reminiscent of a video game. The way they used the court and the way you're, like, trying to pile up numbers and that kind of stuff.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tass Mellis]

Yes. And you had a referee twice because it was Ben Caro and Scotty Barnes who went the wrong way. She came through and said, hey, hey, go back this way. They were confused. The led wasn't a pat. I don't know why they're confused.

[J.E. Skeets]

How do you feel about them deciding that in a tiebreaker with the half court shot, which they struggled with? Both teams struggled with. I know that feels like hours ago because it was. Do we like that? Should they do something else? Like they should play three on three.

[Tass Mellis]

Like have a quick or have the.

[Trey Kerby]

Mid court to one, three or something. Yeah, I don't know. I do like the idea of half court shots, but it kind of just proves to me that half court shots are harder than. Than we anticipated. And Chris Bosh, that's why he's such a legend, man. That guy never missed a half court shot.

[Tass Mellis]

And it's a clear.

[Trey Kerby]

Not as easy as you would think.

[Tass Mellis]

No. Yeah. They were trying to rush it and they were just missing over and over and over again. We were at. We did a G league game a few weeks ago. We called the Skyhawks game. You hit a half court shot faster than these two.

[J.E. Skeets]

I hit a couple.

[Tass Mellis]

Not to toot your horn, but what that proves is that the mid court shot is better than the skills challenge. Not that we got to go back there, but it is. Watching the mid court shot and how we've done it over here for years. The shooting stars, it's better.

[J.E. Skeets]

You want that.

[Tass Mellis]

That's faster, too. Not that the. You know what I mean. Like the skills Challenge. Every year we're here and I say, what are the rules? We didn't know that there's three parts of it.

[Trey Kerby]

Oh, man.

[Tass Mellis]

I did.

[Trey Kerby]

No, I did. No, not me. I know every year challenge, the relay part finishes. I was like, oh, that was awesome. That was great.

[J.E. Skeets]

There's two more.

[Trey Kerby]

Two more stages. And a tiebreaker.

[J.E. Skeets]

And a tiebreaker.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah.

[J.E. Skeets]

They should play either. They should play three on three or. Yeah, run it again. But I guess it's fun if. If somebody hits the half court shot within the first 10 seconds, then maybe everybody goes, oh. But they were taking forever. And they had two different strategies. Was it the All Stars? They were chucking like crazy.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah.

[J.E. Skeets]

Like. Like they were just going pandemonium style, which I think was, like, would screw with you a little bit. Like, everybody all shooting at the same time. Pacer's a little more methodical with it. Your turn. My turn. Your turn. And then obviously they beat them by 20 seconds.

[Tass Mellis]

We shouldn't have had that tiebreaker because the All Star should have won at the beginning and then it would have been over.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yes.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah. Skills Challenge. I'll always remember the skills Challenge. The first. Yeah. The. The home team has won three. Three years straight.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah. Since they basically cheat, there's no rules.

[Trey Kerby]

Exactly. The home cooking.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah. All right, well, we'll call it there. That is a quick recap for you guys of all Star Saturday night. Oh, there we go. Jerome is showing us. Just throw it up to the camera, Jerome.

[Trey Kerby]

Have a look.

[J.E. Skeets]

Here's Jerome's phone, as we called it already. They. They got the. They got the Nike slogan there for Sabrina. It took an hour. Good for them. Oh, now, now you have to wonder, did she have it banked?

[Trey Kerby]

I think that one was easy to make.

[J.E. Skeets]

Okay. Why? She already said it.

[Trey Kerby]

No, I'm just saying it's one sentence on a picture. Of her shooting. I think that's an easy meme to create.

[J.E. Skeets]

No, I meant more. Did she come with the line canned?

[Trey Kerby]

Great question.

[J.E. Skeets]

Man, I can't sleep tonight.

[Tass Mellis]

Since you're on Nike, they're their Instagram there. Where can I get a Yonescu shoe? Because she made me buy them this weekend.

[J.E. Skeets]

Okay, you're in.

[Tass Mellis]

Everybody else she has. She's got hers with her green and gold on them. Same colors as my high school. Her say quack, mine are going to say caw. Because mine were the Hawks, not the Ducks as her organ. Anyways, they're cool shoes. Everybody's buying them. I'm buying more fans of them.

[Trey Kerby]

For sure. Wears them.

[J.E. Skeets]

All right, we'll call it there. Free little plug for Nike. Ever heard of that company Nike? Thanks for joining us though, guys. Hit the like button. Make sure you subscribe. Let's hear in the comments, you know, best contest of the night. What you think of the dunk contest? Did anybody get hosed? Should they bring back shooting stars? And all the controversy surrounding the three point contest and the skills challenge, Let us know in the comments. Enjoy the game on Sunday night. We'll be back next week at some point. Are we doing this again tomorrow night?

[Tass Mellis]

Possibly.

[Trey Kerby]

Oh, maybe, maybe.

[Tass Mellis]

But also maybe not.

[J.E. Skeets]

Hey, that's why you subscribe, so you find out if we're going live. But thanks for joining us and embrace the day people.

[Tass Mellis]

You could stay o every day and I'd be happy be every minute.

[J.E. Skeets]

It'S.

[Tass Mellis]

Been so long that you're the one I wait.