NBA 3-Point Contest 2012: Live Reaction, Recap and Analysis

As we get ready to settle into the Three-Point Challenge let's get caught up really quickly on who the contestants are and what we can expect to see from each of them, familiarize ourselves with the rules and project how the players will do. 

The Foot Locker Three-Point Challenge is a contest where each player has to go through five racks of balls, each of which has five balls on it. The racks are set up around the three point line with two at either corner, two at either elbow and one at the top.

The player chooses which corner to start at and then rotates around the court to the other side. He is awarded one point for every ball that goes in, with the exception of the last ball on the rack, which is a two-point ball. 

James Jones, last year's champion, is the first of two Miami Heat who are competing. If he's not defending the championship, he's probably not in the contest this year. He's only hit 21 deep balls all season long. I don't expect him to reset and I don't expect him to even make it to the second round this year. Of course, I wasn't expecting him to win last year. Jones scores 12 and goes out in the first round. 

Kevin Love is hitting .348 for the season from deep, which is great for a power forward who is grabbing 15 boards a game. It's not so great for a player in the Three-Point Contest. He's another one who doesn't hit them from the corners. Love probably won't fare well, as he'll struggle with the first rack and probably never heat up. I love Love's game, but he's not a threat here. Love scores 13 and gets eliminated in the first round. 

Mario Chalmers is the other member of the Heat, hitting .456. He tends to favor the corners when he hits his threes though, and there doesn't seem to be a lot coming from the elbows. He's got an outside shot to win, but I see him hitting a lot on the corner racks, while missing a lot in the middle. 

Every year you'll see some contestants who will streak through a rack of balls and then get nowhere on the next one. The reason is they have their "spots" where they can nail them but struggle form other areas. Chalmers will score a respectable 16 but he's not going to make it to the second round. 

Kevin Durant is a career .358 shooter from deep. He rarely hits them form the corners though. In fact over the last season and a half it only looks like he's hit about a dozen from either side. He hits most of his threes from straight up top or the elbows. 

Durant has that Durant factor though. He's a big time player and big time players make big time shots. 

Anthony Morrow is not a "star" but that's the tradition of this contest. It's not a popularity contest, it's a three point shooting contest. Morrow hits .402 of his threes and has an even distribution of them. If anyone other than Anderson can wrestle the title away from Jones, it's going to be Morrow. 

Morrow might be the best shooter, but I think he'll wear down in the second round. First round 24, second round 18.

Ryan Anderson is first in three point makes and attempts this year. His three point percentage of .434 isn't too shabby either and is good enough for 16th in the NBA. The other thing to like about Anderson is he really spreads his three-pointers around. It's fascinating, at least 10 of his 99 threes this year have come from each area of the court. 

The other thing to admire about Anderson is he's just bigger. I don't see him wearing down as easily. If you're looking for my favorite to win it all, Anderson is the man. First round 22, second round 23.