Jackson, First Foreign King of Three Pointers

○… In this year`s contest for three pointers, David Jackson (TG) got the title for the first time in the All-star game history. During the regular season, Jackson has also recorded the most 3 pointers. In this year`s contest, Jackson brushed off the challenge from Kim Hee-sun (Samsung) by 9 points (23-12). During the preliminaries, he had a difficult time with Kang Dong-hee (LG), but in the extended period, he beat Kang 5-4, advancing to the "final."

○… In the dunk-shot contest, 5 players competed with each other. Three of the five, Hix (Orions), Treemingham (SK Knights) and Kim Joo-sung, moved onto the final. Then, Hix got the title with a 360° turning dunk shot. In the meanwhile, Perry (Korea Tender) was not originally eligible, but fans` demand got him to the final, and Perry performed a "windmill," paying back the respect of the fans and living up to his reputation as last year`s champion.

○…Without feeling any burden for victory, pro basketball players demonstrated various fantastic performances, making fans happy. In the process, errors happened. For example, Kim Joo-sung failed to catch Huh Jae`s pass, and the ball landed on Kim`s face.

○…For introduction of All-star players, the M.C. got into the locker room and called up each of the players in there. Whenever called up, a player entered the court, running all the way from the room, which was relayed to the big screen. Suh Chang-hoon got caught in camera with his shirts off. Upon seeing it on the screen, fans got burst into laughter.

Chang Jeon jeon@donga.com