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PLAYER
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TEAM
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POS.
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HT .
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WT.
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COLLEGE
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Ray Allen
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Milwaukee
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G
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6-5
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205
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Connecticut
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Mike Bibby
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Vancouver
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G
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6-2
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190
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Arizona
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Hubert Davis
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Dallas
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G
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6-5
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183
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North Carolina
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Jeff Hornacek
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Utah
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G
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6-4
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190
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Iowa St.
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Allen Iverson
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Philadelphia
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G
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6-0
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165
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Georgetown
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Dirk Nowitzki
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Dallas
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F
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6-11
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237
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Germany
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Terry Porter
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San Antonio
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G
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6-3
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205
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Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Bob Sura
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Cleveland
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G
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6-5
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200
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Florida State
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SHOOTERS TO WATCH
Jeff Hornacek
Jazz
Defending champ not having best season, but still shooting well
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Hubert Davis
Mavs
Pure shooter with great stroke leads NBA in three-point accuracy
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Ray Allen
Bucks
Emerging talent takes, makes as many from long range as anyone else
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Allen Iverson
76ers
Can't count against him, though this isn't his real strength
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Dirk Nowitzki
Mavs
A foot taller than Iverson, darkhouse candidate definitely has some range
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AT&T Shootout
Why you should care: Some of the best marksmen in the league the last 13 years have competed here and put on a show. Craig Hodges, who didn't offer much else on the court, won three straight titles in this event to begin the 1990s. Larry Bird won the first three titles and Dale Ellis, Mark Price, Glen Rice and Steve Kerr have also starred here. This is an exciting event, racing against the clock for points, and there have been some great efforts in the past. Think about hitting half your shots from that range and how tired you would get.
What to watch for: Utah's Jeff Hornacek, who also competes in the 2ball competition, will try to defend his title. Dallas' Davis is currently leading the NBA in three-point field goal percentage, and has to be considered one of the favorites. Other sharpshooters here are league scoring leader Allen Iverson, Mike Bibby, Ray Allen, Terry Porter, Bob Sura and Dirk Nowitzki. So we have point guards, pure shooters and big men, too. Normally you'd see one-dimensional shooters in this event, but clearly that's not the case here. These guys are all-around players, which, is important to compete in the league. Specialists just aren't enough anymore.
There's money on the line here to make it worth everyone's time. Winner gets $25,000, runner-up earns $15,000, third place gets $10,000 and the others get $3,000. To refresh your memory, there are three rounds. Each player has one minute to shoot from five different spots around the three-point line. You shoot five balls at each spot, with the first four worth one point and the final ball, the one with lots of pretty colors, worth two. That's it.
Key players/matchups: There aren't any great rivalries here, sorry to say. Who is Dirk's big rival? Iverson shoots all the time in real life and is normally not the most accurate, so he wouldn't be a favorite. Same with Sura. Hornacek and Davis have beautiful releases on their shots, and it's worth watching.
History: The record for highest three-round score is 65 by Tim Legler, who has been fighting injuries the last few years but could always drain a long jumper. Hodges once hit for 25 in a round and Hubert Davis, Price and Hodges had 24 once. Hodges, amazingly, made 19 straight shots in the 1991 semifinals. The second-best mark is merely 11, done by Davis and Bird. There's been a different winner here each of the last five seasons (Hornacek, Kerr, Legler, Rice and Price). The first nine years only four people won it.
Who should win: Davis won the thing a few years back, and since he's shooting so much better than anyone else in the NBA right now from this range (Among qualifiers, Davis is at .535, Dell Curry is at .459), we say he wins again.
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ALSO SEE
NBA All-Star Game 2000
NBA All-Star 2000 Viewer's Guide
Sizing up the Slam Dunk competition
Sizing up the Rookie Challenge
Sizing up the 2ball competition
NBA East: Mutombo no ordinary Hoya
NBA West: Stockton deserves selection
Ratto: Latrell's not coming, if anyone noticed
Lawrence: All-Star game is kid's stuff
All-Star game rosters
All-Star Game history
NBA Power Rankings, Feb. 8
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