Re: All-star madness

[Eggcentric@xxxxxxx]

<< Boos? Who did you hear this from?... 

DJessen33 >>

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Stojakovic wins another 3-point shootout

By PAUL NEWBERRY
.c The Associated Press 

ATLANTA (AP) - Peja Stojakovic won another 3-point championship with 
a do-over Saturday night.

The <A HREF="aol://1722:Sacramento Kings">Sacramento Kings</A> forward was 
given a second chance after a buzzer 
inadvertently went off midway through his round. He took advantage by 
scoring 22 of a possible 30 points to beat Wesley Person of the Memphis 
Grizzlies.

The final was a rematch between last year's top two, with the same result. 
Stojakovic became the fifth repeat champion in the 18-year history of the
 event that precedes the NBA All-Star game.

Three players competed in the final, but a playoff was necessary after 
Stojakovic 
and Person tied with 20 points apiece. Brent Barry of Seattle was eliminated 
with 17.

Stojakovic missed 10 straight shots after the buzzer went off, causing him to 
briefly hesitate on his third rack of balls. He resumed shooting when he 
noticed officials frantically waving for him to keep going.

The crowd at Philips Arena began booing louder and louder as Stojakovic
 kept missing. He hit his last two shots to finish with 12 points, but the 
public-address announcer quelled the furor by quickly announcing that 
Stojakovic would get another chance.

``When the buzzer went off, it threw me off,'' Stojakovic said. 

``When you get to the second or third rack, you're just finding your
 rhythm. They did the right thing.''

Person, the NBA's most-accurate 3-point shooter, scored 16 points, 
then Stojakovic took the court again for his do-over.

This time, the Kings star was dead-on. He made 15 of his first 18 shots - 
some balls were worth two points - to clinch the title before finishing his 
next-to-last set of balls.

``I felt more comfortable this year,'' Stojakovic said. ``I knew what to 
expect.''


Last year, Stojakovic and Person also tied in the championship round. 
The Yugoslav won that playoff - which was 30 seconds instead of 60 - 
by a score of 9-5.

Person wouldn't comment on the decision to give Stojakovic another chance.

``Right now, it's kind of quick for me to talk about it,'' Person said. ``I 
thought I 
was going to shoot second in that contest. When I shot before him, I gave
 him something to shoot at. You always want to have something to shoot at.''

Six players took part in the competition, which involves shooting from 25 
balls from five spots behind the 23-foot, 9-inch line. One ball in each rack 
is 
worth two points, the others one.

Orlando's Pat Garrity, New Orleans' David Wesley and Boston's Antoine 
Walker were eliminated in the first round. Walker, who has put up more treys 
than anyone in the league this season, had a particularly dismal performance 
with just seven points.

Walker put up a couple of airballs on his last rack, drawing scattered boos 
from the fans.
   
02/08/03 22:11 EST