It began with a bang and ended with a Corey Maggette windmill jam as the White team beat the Blue team 165-157 in the All-Star Charity Game Friday night at 7 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The game, which was played in the spirit of an exhibition fanfest--potent, flashy offensive skill and little in the way of defending--featured eight former men's basketball stars and seven of their NBA compatriots.
"Games like this can normally be where nobody cares and they don't put on a good show," said head coach Mike Krzyzewski. "These guys put on a great show. They were enthusiastic, they showed teamwork, and I think they tried, every third play, to play a little bit of defense."
The 15 players were divided into two teams, Blue and White. The Blue squad consisted of Darrell Armstrong, Brian Davis, Kirk Haston Christian Laettner, Corey Maggette, Morris Peterson and Ricky Price. Playing for the White team were Shane Battier, Jeff Capel, Juan Dixon, Mike Dunleavy, Danny Ferry, Jaren Jackson, Steve Kerr and Rodney Rogers.
Two notable Duke stars, Elton Brand and Jay Williams were not able to attend because of obligations to the U.S. national team.
Memphis Grizzlies' head coach Sidney Lowe called the shots for Blue, while Washington Wizards' head coach Doug Collins was on the bench with the White team. Collins was "assisted" by Grant Hill, arguably the most popular player in the history of the men's basketball program, who was not playing for precautionary reasons.
The game was played under NBA rules, with NBA quarters, NBA refs and a college three-point line, the result of which was a long distance bombing contest, as the two teams took more than 100 treys between themselves. Nearly everyone got in on the long range action including Haston, the Magic's 6-foot-9 center, who displayed his versatility shooting 2-for-4 from behind the arc.
"I love shooting the ball here. I shoot the ball pretty well here," said Dixon, who lead all scorers with 40 points. "I just wanted to get off to a strong start, just go out there and have some fun. I was able to get a lot of looks and I was able to knock down a lot of open shots."
It was Peterson, however, who took the most long range chances, attempting 25 during the game, 10 of which he made. His trigger-happy mentality even elicited a joke from Krzyzewski, who said at half time that Peterson had taken more shots in the first half than Tom Izzo, his college coach at Michigan State, let him take in eight games.
On the opposite spectrum, the game was also loaded with flashy under-the-hoop moves. Dunleavy, who was wearing No. 10, his new number with Golden State, had a few nifty behind-the-back style lay-ups, while Maggette used his time with the ball to put on a dunking clinic.
However, in a flashback to his days with Duke in 1999 when he broke away for a slam and then slapped the backboard only to received a technical foul, the Clipper took an alley-oop from Peterson, drove in home and did a chin-up on the rim, only to receive a technical.
However, it was all in fun as the basket still counted and the other team received no shots. In another amusing incident that received a chuckle from the fans, Lowe used a strategic 30 second timeout at the end of the first quarter to set up a play for the Blue team.
Instead of countering with a defensive move in the huddle, Collins told his entire team to bend over and slap the floor--Steve Wojciechowski or Chris Duhon style--something they did right before play resumed.
"The game was a big thrill for me," Battier said. "Since I missed it last year--and I was pretty upset about it--it was great for me to come back this year and have my name announced one more time in Cameron Indoor Stadium, come back with my jersey up in the rafters. It was a big thrill for me. I'm really happy I was here tonight."
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