End of the World: LeBron Leads Wasatch to First-Ever All-Star Victory
LeBron soared through the jungle on his way to EBP honors.
LA GRAN SABANA (La Verdad)—Led by All-Star EBP LeBron James, the Wasatch Conference broke a 5-year curse, humiliating the World Conference by a final score of 7-2.
The combination of James, Durant, Nowitzki, Lopez and Deron Williams proved too much for the World, who were without superstar Kobe Bryant. LeBron's return to the country he called home the last two years was, as the EBP-frontrunner called it, "bittersweet".
"Bitter because I'm bitter towards the Iguanas for never surrounding me with the players I needed to win a title," the Trojan small forward explained. "Sweet because we kicked the World's trash, and I got another All-Star EBP trophy."
For the World, it was the end of a dominant era in the mid-season classic. In the two previous meetings that pitted the Wasatch against the World, the World had won handily.
"I think there's a lot of things to which we can attribute this loss," said Commissioner Barnes, head coach of the World All-Stars. "For starters, LeBron's natural jumping ability combined with the high altitude—remember, we played the game on top of Earth's highest waterfall—made it near impossible for anyone on our team to guard him. Plus we put Melo on him. That was probably a mistake.
"Secondly, Chris Bosh kept complaining about the ball being too wet, what with all the humidity and moisture up here," he continued. When pressed to answer why the ball moisture didn't seem to affect the Wasatch All-Stars, Barnes concluded that it had something to do with Wasatch assistant coach Pau Gasol, who handed out exfoliating lotion before the game. "You know, the kind that has little bits of sand or whatever in it. It's grippy."
Despite all of the "disadvantages" the World had, many believe it was the mangoes that kept falling on the court that did them in, especially when point guard Steve Nash slipped on a smashed mango and fell off the edge of the mountain, tumbling down the waterfall.
"Yeah that probably hurt us a little," said Barnes. "I bet Chris Paul wouldn't have fallen off the edge of the cliff, though."
_________
Wasatch Replacements:
Steph Curry replaced Mo Williams at PG
Deron Williams started in place of Mo Williams
OJ Mayo replaced Brandon Roy at SG
World Replacements:
Baron Davis replaced Chris Paul at PG
Andre Iguodala started in place of Kobe Bryant
Joe Johnson moved to backup SG
Josh Smith replaced Kobe Bryant at SF
World 4 (50%)
Fun Facts: Feb 12-18, 2007
NEW ORLEANS (AP)—On paper, a collection of the top players from the four most dominant teams in the WFBL (and Indiana) should be able to defeat a similar collection from the so-called "lower tier" teams in said league.
Luckily for the World squad, WFBL games are almost exclusively played on paper.
And so it is fitting that Bayside's Shawn Marion, the top-rated player in the league all-season, statistically, led the World to a 5-3-1 victory over the Wasatch and the game's EBP trophy.
The game was close throughout, but when it came down to it, the rebounding of the World, along with the Wasatch's propensity for turning the ball over, led to the close victory.
"We knew we had a good team coming in," said Marion. "We had a good time, it was a pretty good weekend, and hopefully we put on a good show."
It appeared at the outset that the World would dominate, and with a formidable lineup – no player was ranked lower than 18 – it is easy to see why that would be expected. But the Wasatch, led by Twin Falls' Kobe Bryant and St. George's Gilbert Arenas, would not back down and made it interesting throughout the game, despite their lower player ranking (two players ranked in the mid-twenties).
"I may have been a little out of line when I made that 'shock the World' comment last week," said a contrite Arenas on his blog. "I was gonna try to go out there and get that EBP award, but once I realized that I was missing a lot of shots and we were losing, I figured I'd just play."
In all, New Orleans was a great host city for the annual showcase of WFBL talent. Most importantly, there were no arrests and no public embarrassments as of press time. Pundits believe that this can be owed to the fact that the hooligan Indiana Sand Dunes and their troublemaking fans didn't make the trip.
Could the game return to the Big Easy again next year?
"Who knows," said Commissioner Barnes, festooned in Mardi Gras regalia. "There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to anything we do in this league. But that's what makes it so interesting, I think."
The league takes Monday off before getting back into action Tuesday for the final five weeks of the regular season.
LeBron soared through the jungle on his way to EBP honors.
LA GRAN SABANA (La Verdad)—Led by All-Star EBP LeBron James, the Wasatch Conference broke a 5-year curse, humiliating the World Conference by a final score of 7-2.
The combination of James, Durant, Nowitzki, Lopez and Deron Williams proved too much for the World, who were without superstar Kobe Bryant. LeBron's return to the country he called home the last two years was, as the EBP-frontrunner called it, "bittersweet".
"Bitter because I'm bitter towards the Iguanas for never surrounding me with the players I needed to win a title," the Trojan small forward explained. "Sweet because we kicked the World's trash, and I got another All-Star EBP trophy."
For the World, it was the end of a dominant era in the mid-season classic. In the two previous meetings that pitted the Wasatch against the World, the World had won handily.
"I think there's a lot of things to which we can attribute this loss," said Commissioner Barnes, head coach of the World All-Stars. "For starters, LeBron's natural jumping ability combined with the high altitude—remember, we played the game on top of Earth's highest waterfall—made it near impossible for anyone on our team to guard him. Plus we put Melo on him. That was probably a mistake.
"Secondly, Chris Bosh kept complaining about the ball being too wet, what with all the humidity and moisture up here," he continued. When pressed to answer why the ball moisture didn't seem to affect the Wasatch All-Stars, Barnes concluded that it had something to do with Wasatch assistant coach Pau Gasol, who handed out exfoliating lotion before the game. "You know, the kind that has little bits of sand or whatever in it. It's grippy."Despite all of the "disadvantages" the World had, many believe it was the mangoes that kept falling on the court that did them in, especially when point guard Steve Nash slipped on a smashed mango and fell off the edge of the mountain, tumbling down the waterfall.
"Yeah that probably hurt us a little," said Barnes. "I bet Chris Paul wouldn't have fallen off the edge of the cliff, though."
_________
Wasatch Replacements:
Steph Curry replaced Mo Williams at PG
Deron Williams started in place of Mo Williams
OJ Mayo replaced Brandon Roy at SG
World Replacements:
Baron Davis replaced Chris Paul at PG
Andre Iguodala started in place of Kobe Bryant
Joe Johnson moved to backup SG
Josh Smith replaced Kobe Bryant at SF
All-Star Game Voting Results:
Wasatch 4 (50%)
World 4 (50%)
Week 15 EBP:
LeBron James, Rigby—4 votes (66% of vote)
________________________________________________________
Fun Facts: Feb 12-18, 2007First-class stamp: $0.39
Average movie ticket price: $6.58
#1 Song: "Irreplaceable"—Beyoncé
#1 Movie: "Ghost Rider"
#1 Movie: "Ghost Rider"
Each week, This Week in the WFBL looks back and shines a light on a moment in the WFBL's illustrious history. This week, we look at All-Star Week from 2007 (Feb 12-18). Before the WFBL was even split into conferences, the 2nd Annual All-Star Game pitted players geographically from the World and the Wasatch. New Orleans was the host city, and since the festivities happened to take place during Mardi Gras, Indiana Team Mom Regan Barnes forbid her team to participate. Turns out the World didn't need her team's help, anyway.
ALL-STAR WEEK, FEB 12-18, 2007
The World Is Enough: Bayside's Marion Leads World to 5-3-1 Victory
NEW ORLEANS (AP)—On paper, a collection of the top players from the four most dominant teams in the WFBL (and Indiana) should be able to defeat a similar collection from the so-called "lower tier" teams in said league.Luckily for the World squad, WFBL games are almost exclusively played on paper.
And so it is fitting that Bayside's Shawn Marion, the top-rated player in the league all-season, statistically, led the World to a 5-3-1 victory over the Wasatch and the game's EBP trophy.
The game was close throughout, but when it came down to it, the rebounding of the World, along with the Wasatch's propensity for turning the ball over, led to the close victory.
"We knew we had a good team coming in," said Marion. "We had a good time, it was a pretty good weekend, and hopefully we put on a good show."It appeared at the outset that the World would dominate, and with a formidable lineup – no player was ranked lower than 18 – it is easy to see why that would be expected. But the Wasatch, led by Twin Falls' Kobe Bryant and St. George's Gilbert Arenas, would not back down and made it interesting throughout the game, despite their lower player ranking (two players ranked in the mid-twenties).
"I may have been a little out of line when I made that 'shock the World' comment last week," said a contrite Arenas on his blog. "I was gonna try to go out there and get that EBP award, but once I realized that I was missing a lot of shots and we were losing, I figured I'd just play."In all, New Orleans was a great host city for the annual showcase of WFBL talent. Most importantly, there were no arrests and no public embarrassments as of press time. Pundits believe that this can be owed to the fact that the hooligan Indiana Sand Dunes and their troublemaking fans didn't make the trip.
Could the game return to the Big Easy again next year?
"Who knows," said Commissioner Barnes, festooned in Mardi Gras regalia. "There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to anything we do in this league. But that's what makes it so interesting, I think."The league takes Monday off before getting back into action Tuesday for the final five weeks of the regular season.
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