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NBA ALL-STAR WEEKENDFebruary 17, 2007Jason KaponoLAS VEGAS, NEVADA Q. Were you feeling all right tonight, did you know you were going to do well? JASON KAPONO: I actually felt kind of bad to start with. I had an air ball or two. I kind of heard the crowd saying, "What the heck is this guy doing out there?" I felt pretty good after the first round. It's such a weird way to shoot. On the clock and 25 shots to shoot in a short amount of time. Obviously you're kind of nervous at first, but I settled down and I lucked out in the first round, Gilbert and Dirk posted a pretty big score there. Q. It's the Miami Heat's night tonight, you take the Three-Point Contest and D. Wade wins the Skills Challenge. JASON KAPONO: It's been good for us. We, I guess there's just something in the Heat team, blood or water, that allows us to do well here. I look forward to coming back again next year. Q. Do you think winning this is going to blow your cover of anonymity now? JASON KAPONO: Probably not. I'm just glad to take part. It's something that I dreamed of as a kid. You watch Larry Bird and all the guys shoot. And obviously I learned early on that I wasn't ever going to be in the Slam Dunk part of this. I figured the only shot I had to do this was in the Three-Point Contest. I'm glad to take part and thrilled to win it. Q. You made 16 of 18 at one point. In your practice -- JASON KAPONO: 16 of 18 tonight? Q. Yes. Did you ever have a run like that before when you were practicing for the event? JASON KAPONO: Actually like in practice, I mean, I set the bar kind of high. I was getting 26 and 27. So actually like my guys who helped, Doleac, Jay Will and Chris Quinn, they kind of wanted me to get a perfect score of 30. So I tried to do that tonight, but I didn't have it in me. Q. As far as the season, did you know you could have this type of production if you had the minutes and got the playing time? JASON KAPONO: That was my goal coming in. I felt like I was a player that needed a chance to play. That's why I spent so much time in the off season trying to get ready for training camp trying to get in the best shape possible, and I just wanted to prove to coach that I should be on the floor. It's been good so far, but obviously as a team we need to turn it up, here, in the last 30 games so we get a higher playoff seed and make a run. Q. You had to sweat it out a while before you got the invitation, does it make it more gratifying considering you may be the last guy into the field? JASON KAPONO: It was tough. I obviously wanted to take part in it and I felt like I did my part on the floor, you know what I mean, to be a part of this. But whatever. I was here for a reason and definitely glad that I did my part and I'm taking home the trophy. Q. Were you aware of how close you were to that record, what the record is; and did you and Dwayne talk before about trying to both win these things? JASON KAPONO: Yeah, Dwayne and I definitely said we need to come out here and try to win it. We take pride in anything that we do. So whether that be in a regular basketball game or in a fun thing like this. So I could definitely hear those guys on the sideline telling me to leave it, to shoot it, all that good stuff. So it definitely helped me. Q. I was going to ask you what Shaq and Zo and Dwayne were saying to you. Did they tell you anything else? JASON KAPONO: Shaq's coin phrase is "Leave It", which means follow through. So I guess the Shot Doctor Shaq coin phrase is "Leave It", so he'll be coming out with a tape here pretty soon entitled "Leave It". Q. Is it true that opponents curse at you to try to get you to miss? JASON KAPONO: Actually I think you're referring to a guy was asking me if anything talked trash to you. And it's pretty common when you shoot threes from the corner in front of the other team's bench that they say a lot of stuff to you. So it's part of the game. I play with a guy by the name of Gary Payton, so I've definitely heard a lot of terms or phrases or anything of that nature. End of FastScripts |
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