HOUSTON – All-Star weekend always provides its share of excitement, and this year was no exception. Between the bizarre dunk contest, the exciting finish to the game itself, and the torrent of league-related news over the weekend, we have plenty to talk about.

Perhaps the biggest news, looking forward, is that the league’s competition committee is looking at changing how the playoff seedings work. The potential second-round matchup between Dallas and San Antonio in the West, despite the teams having the two best records in the conference, is the wakeup call the league needed to do something about a haywire seeding system that seems to benefit teams seeded second and sixth much more than those in the first, fourth, or fifth positions. Unfortunately, no changes would go into effect until 2007 at the earliest.

In Saturday’s annual “state of the game” address, Commissioner David Stern provided a few news items of interest. He reiterated his position that the Hornets will return to New Orleans in 2008 if at all possible – although he’s been carefully wording things to provide maximum wiggle room – and confirmed that four teams will conduct training camps in Europe next season.

Locally, the Knicks stayed on the tips of everyone’s tongues with their involvement in a variety of trade rumors – including a massive 18-player, four team deal that would turn over half the roster. With Thursday’s trade deadline looming, one would expect Isiah Thomas to pull the trigger on something shortly – if nothing else, he’s hoping to find a taker for Penny Hardaway’s expiring deal, and plenty of other teams are willing to oblige.

But all that news, interesting though it was, took a backseat once the lights went on at the Toyota Center. Here’s one reviewer’s look at the weekend’s events:

ROOKIE-SOPHOMORE GAME: B In marked contrast to previous years, this one actually resembled a real basketball game, with defense and everything. Well, except for the fact that nobody was watching. The house was decidedly less than full for the event, and the TV ratings have always been about what you’d expect for the average NHL preseason game. Most of America missed a heck of a show, as Andre Iguodala put on a scintillating preview of his dunking prowess and even threw in several three-pointers for added effect.

DUNK CONTEST: C In terms of great rigged events in Knicks history, this one may even surpass the Ewing lottery. Nate Robinson required only 22 tries to nail his last two dunk attempts – a success rate mirroring that of his team recently – yet that somehow was good enough to earn him the title of dunk “champion.” Worse yet, it means he’ll be invited back to defend his title next year. As a result of Robinson-gate and the mockery it made of the contest, expect a five-attempt maximum in 2007 … and expected somebody else to win. I gave the contest a C rather than an F because Iguodala’s off-the-back-of-the-board reverse was the stuff of legends.

3-POINT SHOOTOUT: C I have two problems with this event. First, the officials screwed it up. Dirk Nowitzki’s last shot in the first round clearly came after the buzzer, but the officials counted it. Without that error, he wouldn’t have made it to the second round and Jason Terry, Ray Allen, and Gilbert Arenas would have been competing for the prize won by Nowitzki. Second, there was some unusually poor shooting compared to past seasons, with no player breaking 20 points in either round and both Terry and the Knicks’ Quentin Richardson firing airballs on their first attempt.

THE MAIN EVENT: BYes, the first half wasn’t very good and there had to be some kind of record set for most botched alleyoops, but the second half was worth sticking around for. LeBron James and Tracy McGrady had an entertaining mano a mano battle going throughout the fourth quarter, and Ben Wallace and his Pistons teammates infused the game with a rare defensive intensity to lead the East’s comeback.

MEMORY MAKING: D Other than Iguodala’s dunk, Houston ’06 provided few memorable moments. The best I can come up with is Yao Ming’s dance move in the pre-game introductions, but realistically, I doubt I’ll be downing beers with friends a decade from now and saying,” Remember when Yao Ming flapped his arms during lineup intros …”

The other memorable moments all involve Shaquille O’Neal, who was the only person to realize that the game was about entertainment. Shaq dribbled up court as though he was the point guard, did an extended chin-up on the rim after a dunk, and playfully mugged in freeze-frame after drawing a foul on Pau Gasol. And of course, there was his effort to alley-oop a free-throw attempt to himself off the backboard – waved off by the zebras, unfortunately, but memorable all the same.

ARENA: A Props to the real star of the show, Houston’s Toyota Center. The Rockets’ new home has great sight lines, wide concourses, easy access and exit, and a nice downtown location. And best of all for us ink-stained wretches, the press areas are spacious and convenient. The only thing that could have improved the grade would be relocating the place somewhere else. Speaking of which …

CITY: C- This will probably go down to a D after Las Vegas blows Houston’s doors off next year. Look, it was a fine weekend and the Toyota Center is a wonderful arena, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was an A-list event in a B-list city. Houston is a sprawled-out, unplanned mess with virtually no mass transit, which makes it a less than ideal place to bring tens of thousands of people for a single weekend (of course, that hasn’t stopped it from hosting two All-Star games and a Super Bowl in less than two years). I’m sure the people there are nice and it’s a great place to live, but the league’s marquee event deserves better.

Mr. Hollinger is the author of the 2005-06 Pro Basketball Forecast.