Kapono shoots for grand slam

In the PBA, Jason Kapono is known as Sta. Lucia Realty guard Ryan Reyes’ teammate at Artesia High School in Los Angeles. In the NBA, he’s known as the three-point king.

Kapono, 28, led the NBA in three-point shooting the last two seasons. In 2006-07, he shot .514 from the arc with Steve Nash a distant second at .455. Last campaign, Kapono hit .483 to bag his second straight crown with Nash a runner-up once more at .470. Coincidentally, Kapono has won the last two Three-Point Shootout trophies in the All-Star Weekend.

Although the 6-8 Kapono is way behind in the league three-point standings this season, he’s a solid pick to claim his third consecutive Three-Point Shootout jewel at the All-Star Weekend in Phoenix this morning (Manila time).

This campaign, Kapono is connecting only at a .422 rate to rank 19th in the trifecta ladder where undrafted Golden State rookie Anthony Morrow is setting the pace with a .494 mark. But in the Three-Point Shootout, the Toronto Raptors gunner is expected to make mincemeat of the opposition, which lists Atlanta’s Mike Bibby, Miami’s Daequan Cook, Indiana’s Danny Granger, Orlando’s Rashard Lewis and San Antonio’s Roger Mason.

Kapono’s five challengers are ranked in the top 50 but only Mason is in the first 10, stroking .449 for No. 7. Lewis is hitting .415 for No. 28, Bibby .413 for No. 31, Cook .411 for No. 34 and Granger .398 for No. 48.

However, all five challengers have so far buried at least 100 treys with Lewis’ league-high 147 showing the way. Granger has sunk 134, Bibby 121 and Cook 113. Kapono has rifled in only 62. Expected to provide the stiffest challenge for Kapono in the Three-Point Shootout are Lewis and Granger.

It would be tougher competition if Nash, Dirk Nowitkzi, Memo Okur or Boobie Gibson signed up but from all indications, Kapono may just pocket his grand slam to join Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as the only players to win three Three-Point Shootout titles in a row. Bird did it in 1986-87-88 and Hodges in 1990-91-92.

Mark Price won two straight in 1993-94 and Peja Stojakovic, too, in 2002-03. Jeff Hornacek also captured two consecutive crowns in 1998 and 2000 since no competition was held in 1999.

* * *

Kapono shares the record for most points in a single round – 25 – with Hodges. He compiled 25 points in the finals last year to beat Gibson who scored 17 and Nowitzki who tallied 14. Booted out in the preliminary round were Stojakovic, Rip Hamilton and Nash. Kapono’s feat was highlighted by a streak of 10 straight conversions as he knocked down 20-of-25 shots.

Six players are invited to slug it out in the contest during the All-Star Weekend. Each participant has 60 seconds to shoot 25 balls from five racks in five stations outside the three-point arc. Each ball is worth one point except the last colored “money” ball in a rack counts for two. The “money” ball may be shot only after the first four balls in a rack. The first prize is $35,000.

The Three-Point Shootout is one of four All-Star Weekend events that will be aired live, exclusively on C/S 9 and BTV starting at 9 this morning. The other events are the Slam Dunk Contest where Dwight Howard is expected to unravel a new bag of tricks, the Skills Challenge and the Shooting Stars competition.

Howard will be tested by Denver’s J. R. Smith, Portland’s Rudy Fernandez and New York’s Nate Robinson in a four-way battle royale. The Skills Challenge features San Antonio’s Tony Parker, New Jersey’s Devin Harris, Chicago’s Derrick Rose and Cleveland’s Mo Williams. The Shooting Stars competition pits the defending champion Spurs (Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Becky Hammon) against the Detroit Pistons (Aaron Afflalo, Bill Laimbeer, Katie Smith), the Los Angeles Lakers (Derek Fisher, Michael Cooper, Lisa Leslie) and the hometown Phoenix Suns (Leandro Barbosa, Dan Majerle, Tangela Smith).

* * *

Here’s an All-Star reminder for all NBA fans. You’ve got until tomorrow, Monday, at 5 p.m. to submit your entries to our All-Star contest where we’re giving away 20 2009 All-Star Weekend mouse and mousepads from NBA Asia, Ltd., four NBA watches from La Estrella del Norte, two Spalding Never-Flat indoor-outdoor basketballs from Proline Sports Center, four PC NBA 2K9 DVD ROM games from 2K Sports and 10 NBA pillows and 10 NBA notebooks from Tuesday Licensing and Entertainment.

Just send the correct answers to three questions in a slip of paper to The Philippine Star NBA All-Star Contest, the Philippine Star office, R. Oca and Railroad Streets, Port Area. Don’t forget to write your name, address, age, occupation (if student, what year, course, school) and telephone number. Each entry must be accompanied by an original clipping of a Star front page masthead taken from any issue dated Feb. 11-13.

The three questions are – Who was the NBA All-Star Game MVP last year? What team does defending Slam Dunk champion Dwight Howard play for in the NBA? Who won the Three-Point Shootout in the All-Star Weekend in New Orleans last year?

Send your entries now. We’ll announce 20 winners in this column on Wednesday and prizes may be claimed that very same day from Babes Angat at Tel. 527-6607.

Make your All-Star Weekend experience complete by joining our contest and who knows, you may be one of 20 lucky winners to take home a package of NBA goodies.