On Thursday, June 12th the IBL All-Star Festival will be held at the Genesis Convention Center. The festivities will begin at 6 p.m. with the doors opening at for fans at 5 p.m. The evening will begin preliminary rounds of the Three Point Shootout and Slam Dunk Contest. The game will tip off at 7:15. The exhibition will feature the best players from the Southwest and West Divisions battling the best players from the Midwest and East Divisions. Their will be FREE ADMISSION for children under the age of 12. Tickets will be on sale for as little as $5.
Five teams from the western divisions of the IBL will have representatives competing in the All-Star Festival. The Bellingham Slam, Los Angeles Lightning, Edmonton Chill, Portland Chinooks, and the Central Oregon Hotshots will be coming in 2-0, winning both years of the IBL East-West All-Star games.
The East will be dressing an impressive roster with six teams represented in the game. Fans from the Elkhart Express, Battle Creek Knights, Holland Blast, Grand Rapids Flight, Windy City Soldiers, and the home team Gary Steelheads will be looking to break the West's winning streak.
As mentioned earlier, the night will be filled with exciting contests like the Slam Dunk Competition. The early favorite would have to be the Gary Steelheads' Royce Parran. The standout point guard placed third in the NCAA dunk contest in 2007. The most impressive fact about Parran is that the high flying rookie guard stands at about 5 foot 9 inches. His electrifying energy will keep every fan in attendance on the edge of their seats.
The Three Point Contest will feature competitors including local standout Eric Rhinehart (Valparaiso High School). The 6'9" sharp shooter will be trying to show off his range in front of the hometown faithful. One person that could steal the show would be UCLA alum Billy Knight. The Los Angeles star and former Bruin will be sure to put on a shooting clinic during the 2008 Three Point Shootout.
2008 IBL All-Star Game Starting Lineup
East
G Shaun Fountain Gary
G Kenny Langhorne Grand Rapids
F Eric Rhinehart Windy City
F Bobby Madison Battle Creek
C Wu Yong Elkhart
West
G Tyler Amaya Bellingham
G Zach Ramey Central Oregon
F Wayne Oliver Los Angeles
F Shohn Williams Portland
C Lee Scruggs Edmonton
For additional information, feel free to call the Gary Steelheads front office at
(219) 883-3000. Also, you can log on to the IBL website at www.iblhoopsonline.com
http://www.oursportscentral.com/service ... id=3657036
It is awesome that they are also hosting three point shooting and slam dunk contests. Hopefully, Sportscenter and other news outlets will get a whiff of this night. Gary has a nice set of loyal fans who should be in attendance. I'm excited for the IBL.
Anyway, I would not be surprised to see Lee Scruggs steal the show. Also, where are some of the top players? Cedric Moodie, David Lucas, Toby Bailey, etc. Billy Knight is in the three point shooting contest, but why is he not in the actual allstar game?
I would like to see a bit more of the allstar talent playing in this game, but the talent level is still pretty good.
