Jrue Holiday has been the best thing (occasionally, the only good thing)
about watching the Sixers this season, and for his efforts to make our
team watchable—usually in vain, but at least the boy tries—he was
invited to hobnob with the NBA elite at All-Star Weekend this year. Not
only will he be playing in the game proper, as the youngest Sixer ever
elected to represent the Eastern Conference at the Mid-Winter Classic,
but he'll also be participating in the Skills Competition, where he'll
get to prove that he can dribble through cones and pass through
cylinders and prove what a fundamental boss he is.
The skills
competition is up first on Saturday night, probably around 9:00-ish
(just after the always-riveting Shooting Stars competition), and Jrue is
currently being pegged
by Vegas as the favorite at 3 to 1, ahead of Tony Parker, Damian
Lillard, Jeremy Lin, Brandon Knight and Jeff Teague. (Sounds right to
me—my money would either be on Jrue or Lin.) The All-Star Game is on
Sunday at 8:00, with Jrue coming off the bench for the East. Expect the
Damaja to get a decent amount of burn as one of only two point guards
the team will have at their disposal, along with Cavaliers sophomore
sensation Kyrie Irving.
No other Sixers at All-Star Weekend this
year, regrettably—Arnett Moultrie's recent hot streak was far too
little, too late to get him into the Rookie-Sophomore Game, and none of
our other guys are skilled enough to get into any of the other
competitions on their own merits. Still, if we were to send but one
representative to basketball's three-day celebration of its best and
brightest, we could do a lot worse than Jrue. Support your a11-star,
won't you?
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