Kobe's stars dazzle, tantalize
MANILA, Philippines - After overpowering a PBA selection team with a never-ending barrage of slam dunks and highlight reels the other night, Kobe Bryant and his Smart All-Stars found a quicker and more game Smart Gilas Pilipinas but still fashioned out a 98-89 win yesterday to complete a sweep of the Smart Ultimate All-Star Weekend.
Playing before a jampacked crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Bryant and his star-studded crew still didn’t disappoint as they dazzled the crowd the way they did when they overpowered the PBA selection team, 131-105, Saturday night with rim-rattling slams, razor-sharp crossover moves and nifty passes.
Against the Nationals, however, the NBA stars, who carried the banner of Smart All- Stars, had to work hard for every unforgettable moments they produced.
Smart Gilas, priming up for the FIBA-Asia Championship in September, was as awed as the PBA players but played the way the NBA stars and fans would have liked it – tough and rough.
“They played extremely well, they’ve very talented players, they know how to play as a team and executed their plays,” said Bryant in a short post-game interview at center court.
“It’s a tremendous honor to play here. Thank you for the love and passion you have in the sport. I hope this will not be the last,” he added.
“We had a lot of fun out there, we had a lot of competition,” said reigning MVP and Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose.
After flushing in over 30 dunks against the local pros, the Smart All-Stars slowed down with just 14 slams this time, including six from the seven-foot Washington Wizards’ JaVale McGee, who has a wingspan of a nine-footer. He capped it with a Statue-of-Liberty dunk late in the game.
There were also some bumping matches.
Left to guard two-time scoring champion Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma Thunder in an isolation play, Asi Taulava, one of the five PBA reinforcements in the team, forced the former out of bounds with his wide body and was called for a foul.
“It was one of the best days of my life,” said Durant afterwards.
Dondon Hontiveros likewise defended Bryant as tough as he could in another post-up play and he too was called for a foul.
While NBA stars wowed the crowd with their awe-inspiring moves, the Filipinos also had their share of moments too.
Japeth Aguilar rammed in a pair of spectacular slams – the first in a breakaway play against Durant early in the game and the other when he slammed in an alley-oop pass from Chris Tiu before the break.
Naturalized Marcus Douthit also came through with a pair of dunks – off a putback after a missed triple by Fil-Am Marcio Lassiter and off an alley-oop play from Mac Baracael both in the fourth quarter.
The visiting squad actually led by as many as 22 points, 65-43, after Rose, cheered on by the crowd, drove in early in the third quarter before Smart Gilas made a big run to close to within seven points.
Meanwhile, McGee, who owns the world record of the most balls dunked in a single jump with three in this year’s NBA slam dunk competition where he finished second to eventual winner and ROY Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers, begged off from the slam dunk side event due to migraine.
He still finished with 16 points, the same output put in by the sweet-shooting Durant while Bryant topscored with 17 points.
The other members of the Smart All Stars were Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings, the “Bearded One” James Harden of the Thunder, Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers and rookie Derrick Williams of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Lassiter led the Nationals with 16 points while Douthit, Chris Lutz and Hontiveros chipped in 14, 12 and 11 points, respectively.
While the Americans scored most on close range and dunks, the Filipinos did their thing from beyond the arc where they drained 11, including four by JV Casio, three by Hontiveros and a pair from Tiu.
The NBA stars had five triples.
Chris Paul, a former ROY and who nearly won the MVP in 2008, was impressed by the way Filipino guards played.
“The guards in the Philippines are really good, they play defense, pressures a lot that you’ll always like to see in a team. They’re just like international players, everybody can shoot the ball,” he said.
Boxing pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao arrived with 10.42 minutes remaining in the contest and halted play for a few minutes to shake hands with Bryant and the rest of the NBA players, who also posed with the Filipino champion.
Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman used 14 of his 15 players as Ranidel de Ocampo was forced to just sit out with a broken nose and missed the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
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