NBA All-Star Saturday Wrap Up.

Coming into this NBA All-Star Saturday, expectations were high, especially for the dunk contest. Unfortunately, the fans were left a little disappointed once again. It's alright though, the point of the All-Star weekend was to have fun and despite the minor complications with the new scoring system, the night was still entertaining. For those of you that missed it or were unable to catch the festivities, here's a short recap.

Terrence Ross, 2013 Slam Dunk Champion. Via: Instagram

Sears Shooting Stars: Usually, this event is a snooze fest, but as you all know, anything Chris Bosh is in, automatically becomes the most interesting contest of the night. In the first round, Russell Westbrook's team advanced into the finals with the fastest time among all of the squads. For the East, it was Chris Bosh's team that continued to the next round, where they would come out on top and become the eventual champions. Chris Bosh, of course went insane. (Via: SB Nation)

Taco Bell Skills Challenge: This always comes to down to the player that tries the hardest. And this time it happened to be Damian Lillard, who defeated Jrue Holiday in the finals with a time of 29.8 seconds. Tony Parker, the defending champion finished with the worst time of the night. Dude was totally tanking so he won't get invited back for next year.

Foot Locker Three Point Contest: After a whole month of campaigning for Matt Bonner, the Red Rocket, now Mamba has left me utterly devastated. He led the first round with a score of 19. but would only improve to 20 in the finals against Kyrie Irving. Irving caught on fire in the second round, scoring 23 points, 2 short of tying the record in the victory. If only Matt wore his custom Red Mamba warm-ups, then maybe he would have won. (Via: @cjzero)

I am still mad at Kyrie.

Sprite Slam Dunk: You would think that with all the hype surrounding this event, the dunk contest would actually meet expectations for once. Actually this never happens. Every year we fall into the trap of thinking the dunk contest will be a spectacular event, but it never changes. Thanks a lot, Vince Cater. You really ruined this competition for the future contestants.

Anyway, this wasn't the prettiest of all contests, it started off slow and picked up a little at the end. It definitely didn't help that almost every dunk required more than 5 attempts until completion. In the end, it was Terrence Ross of the Toronto Raptors, who took home the trophy for probably being the only one that finished his dunks with the least attempts. Defending Champion, Jeremy Evans was the runner up.

Here are the night's best dunks from each of the contestants.

Gerald Green: The former dunk champion started off great, but just couldn't pull off the difficult stunts he planned.

James White: The man who once dunked from the free throw line, while putting the ball between his legs failed to show up on the biggest stage. That is what you get for not practicing your dunks and doing them on the fly. So much for that guaranteed win.

Kenneth Faried: To be fair he is every definition of an in-game dunker.

Eric Bledsoe: Nice try, little guy.

Jeremy Evans: It was close, at least you pulled off a dunk, no one has ever done. You didn't have to brag about your painting skills though.

Terrence Ross: How can you not win when you dunked over the son of the CEO of Twitter.

Oh, by the way, if you were keeping count, I was completely off with all of my predictions. None of them were correct and I will now return in to the sad, dark corner of my room and weep until the sun comes up.

Rajon Rondo isn't planning to hang out with any of his fellow All Star teammates.

I don't know why KG is in his Celtics uniform, NBA apparently didn't take his picture with the East jersey on. They probably didn't think he would make it, which makes sense because he wasn't even an All Star last year.

Let's face it, Rajon Rondo is not one of the most likable guys in the NBA. He might be one of the best point guards in the league, but his attitude is the worst. On the court, I understand that he is only standing up for his teammates and will get into fights if he has to. Off the court, in media sessions, Rondo is possibly the Press's least favorite person to interview. He even makes Coach Popovich look good, because while Pop is doing most of it for comedic relief or the fun of ruining journalism careers, Rondo just hates everyone. Answering to media comes with the job, the least you can do is answer their questions in a professional manner and not look like a convicted serial killer. Just look at that mug in his All Star picture, he doesn't even bother to crack a smile.

After what happened in the past few months, with the Melo drama and the Heat beating the Celtics in a Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals to win the Championship, that starting line up is kind of interesting. I can guess that Rondo won't be too exactly thrilled to see those people in the locker room.

From ESPN Boston:

So will Rondo be hanging out with Wade and Melo that weekend?

"Why would I?" asked Rondo.

"No, I don’t do much socializing," he said. "If I make it, I hope one of my homeboys makes it, [Atlanta's] Josh Smith. If he makes it, KG makes it, we’ll all [hang out]."

Just don't expect any members of the Knicks or Heat to get an invite. Rondo noted on Thursday, "I don’t try to be friends with anyone outside my team."  

Good thing he didn't go try out for the USA Olympic team, there would have been so much blood.

On the other side,

 The West is much better, we get all smiles, but we all know that secretly Kobe wants to kill them all. 

All photos from @NBAAllstar

NBA West Preview: Who makes the Playoffs?

The West have been a powerhouse for years now. Making the playoffs in this conference is no easy feat. The competition is tougher, and for lower seeded teams, making into a guaranteed playoff spot is always a struggle. A lot have changed in the West since last season, some teams went under construction, some added new players, but one thing is for sure, the strong remained strong. Any thing can happen in a full 82 game season, here are my predictions for the 2012-2013 western conference playoff spots.

1. San Antonio Spurs
I got to give it to the Spurs. Every year you expect a drop off, but they always make a late run to the top. Not much has changed to the solid Spurs team, their core group remained intact, and the bench stayed just as deep. Tony Parker will once again pick up the baton and conduct beautiful music with this team. This time however, he will have more help from Kawhi Leonard whose continuous improvement can guide this team to a deep playoff run.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder
Coming off the beating they took in Game 5 at the hands of the Miami Heat, the reigning western conference final champions will play with a sense of revenge. The Thunder comes back this year without any veterans. They instead, added more youth, drafting the enigmatic Perry Jones III, and picked up Hashen Thabeet. All is good for Scott Brooks, Eric Maynor returns from his knee injury, providing OKC with a defensive back up point guard.

This might be Thunder's best shot at winning the Larry O' Brien trophy. After this season, James Harden will likely be gone. Kevin Durant and company will have to take advantage of this opportunity to seal the deal. They will give the Spurs a run for their money as the top seed, but inconsistency will be a factor, as they can often shoot themselves out of the game.

3. Los Angeles Lakers
Without a doubt, the biggest story of the whole summer, adding Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, makes this team a title contender again, and a damn good one too. They added more offensive weapons to their bench, with Antawn Jamison and Jodie Meeks. The problem for the team is that it still lacks depth and defensive presence (except Dwight Howard, of course). Mike Brown will need to make this team gel quick, and find ways to rest his stars, without letting leads blow away.

I would put them up higher in the seeds, but in a 82 game season, for a roster full of aging players, injuries are inevitable. Any injury to the core group, will cost them games. If they somehow stay healthy, they would take 2nd seed. Don't even think about 73-9 Metta World Peace, you will be lucky to get 60 wins.

4. Los Angeles Clippers
No idea how the new flopping rule will affect this team. I do know that they still have their all stars, and they will definitely improve with a full training camp. Giving Chris Paul time to adjust with his teammates will make this team all the more offensively devastating. With Billups returning, they will get a veteran guard that can control the pace and hit shots when it matters. Additions of Lamar Odom, Matt Barnes, Jamal Crawford and Grant Hill provides more overall depth.

Defensively, the Clippers will miss Kenyon Martin and Reggie Evans who held down the paint for them. DeAndre Jordan will have to pick up the responsibilities of guarding the west big men, which will be different than his usual help defensive role. How well he adjusts to this change will determine where the Clippers stand.

5. Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets will stay burning the soles of their opponents with their incredible speed. Andre Iguodala provides them with versatility at both ends of the floor. His defense will be heavily relied on, especially against fellow All Star players from opposing teams. Javale McGee should have settled in to Denver by now, and if he absorbed even half of what he learned from Hakeem Olajuwan this summer, it will give the Nuggets something in a half court situation.

Ty Lawson will be appointed to lead this team on the open floor, despite his height, he is a huge threat offensively in transition. Gallinari has to play at an All Star level for this team to get to the second round, he can not continue to miss open opportunities. This team will have a lot of defensive troubles, hopefully Kenneth Faried, McGee and Timofey Mozgov can cover the porous back court defense.

6. Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies was a surprising 4th seed last year. This time around, Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph have time to mesh together. The front court of Marc Gasol and Randolph is the key to this team's success. They have to rely on post scoring or involving them in some kind of play to find points. This will be a gritty defensive team, but on offense the lack of shooting can hurt them in the long run.

7. Dallas Mavericks
 Another team you can never count out. The Mavericks rebuilt their front court with Chris Kaman and Elton Brand. Kaman gives the Mavs something that never got from Haywood, an actual offensive package in the low post. This depth in the front court is new to the team, and Rick Carlise will have to figure it out. Without other offensive pieces, the Mavs will be fighting for this spot, and possibly a early playoff exit.

8. Minnesota Timberwolves - Utah Jazz
Edge to Timberwolves if Ricky Rubio comes back 100%, if not Jazz will sneak in at 8 again. The Wolves have all the pieces to take this spot if they can manage to stay off the injury list. Kevin Love will continue to put up big numbers, and new wings Andrei Kirilenko and Brandon Roy can put points up in bunches.

The Jazz kept their bigs, which will be a plus in the west. Favors and Hayward are bound for a break out season, and if the new back court of Mo and Marvin Williams work out, they can easily creep up on Minnesota.

The Others (Not in Order):
Golden State Warriors 
Stephen Curry is finally back, hopefully for good. This team might make a splash late in the season, only if Bogut comes back, Klay Thompson's promising future holds up and the rookies adjust quickly. Oh, and they will have to learn how to play defense too.

Sacramento Kings
I don't even know what is going on with this team. They have alot of talent but they just never seemed to be able to get it together. For any playoff hopes, they will have to make some changes.

Portland Blazers, Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets and New Orleans Hornets
These are all teams in rebuilding mode, the future is bright for the Suns and Hornets. As for Blazers and Rockets, it is not looking too good.