PHILADELPHIA -- Being able to drain a 3-pointer is one thing. Being able to drain your 25th shot in a minute is quite another.

	Cleveland's Person has thought more about the shootout than most competitors.

That's the trick to NBA's 3-point shooting showcase, an undercard event to the dunk contest on Saturday's list of All-Star weekend festivities. Think you can hit a single 3-pointer? Of course you do. Try doing it over and over and over again while 20,000 fans live and millions worldwide on TV are watching. Even the best shooters don't always hit under these trying circumstances.

“You know, people try to rush their shots and they end up with five or six seconds left on the clock,” said Orlando's Mike Miller, a second-year forward and first-time participant in the event. “I just want to concentrate on the shot, not go as fast as I can.”

Miller, like the other contestants, was selected for the event because he's either among the league leaders in 3-pointers made or 3-point percentage. But unlike the veterans, Miller has actually thought about what he might do. No, he doesn't have a real plan, but he's seen the event enough to know why people get eliminated early.

“A lot of guys just shoot,” Miller added. “Everybody here can shoot. It's understood. I want to get rolling early, then maybe speed it up later.”

“It's like a defensive back. You have to have a short memory,” said Cleveland's Wesley Person, also a rookie for the event. “If something bad happens, you can't drop your head. Just stay focused. Basically you just have to make shots. That's all.”

Just make shots. Sounds easy. Of course, even the best shooters in the league run out of gas when the minute is almost complete. Check out the highlights, or lowlights, of the Knicks' Allan Houston, a top sniper year after year, making only 11 points in the first round in Washington, D.C., a year ago. Bye bye, Allan.

	Allen

	Stojakovic

The rules are simple: A shooter gets five shots from each of five spots around the 3-point line, starting with one corner and ending in the other. Larry Bird and Craig Hodges are each three-time winners in the 16-year-old event. Last year's champ, Milwaukee's Ray Allen, won with 19 points in the final against Peja Stojakovic and Dirk Nowitzki. Hodges once scored 25.

Unlike the dunk contest and rookie game, this event has had the same rules all along. It's a consistently entertaining show, especially the final round.

Even with the Bucks' Allen and Stojakovic coming back, it's tough to pick a winner since a good hot streak could win the event. San Antonio's Steve Smith is the lone NBA player hitting more than half his shots from long range, which is an incredible accomplishment, so he must be considered a favorite. But like Allen and Stojakovic, he hasn't given much thought to a game plan.

“First, I'd still say I was the favorite even if I was only hitting 20 percent of my shots,” said Smith with a smile. “But really, you just hit what you can.”

Stojakovic was more blunt. “I don't think about it," he said. "You just shoot the ball."

Said Allen: "If I go out and have fun, I will do well."

	“	I'd still say I was the favorite even if I was only hitting 20 percent of my shots. But really, you just hit what you can. ”
		— Steve Smith, Spurs guard

But is it just all about getting on a hot streak? In a normal NBA game, you don't fire up 25 threes in a minute, unless of course your name is Antoine Walker. Endurance must play a part, and having good form, like most winners do, is key.

Allen, who could probably hit 3-pointers with his eyes closed, is a natural for an event like this. His form is impeccable, and while he does have good nights and bad, he's not known as a streak shooter. He's very consistent.

In addition to Allen, Stojakovic, Smith, Person and Miller, Boston's Paul Pierce, the Clippers' Quentin Richardson and Dallas' Steve Nash are competing. Allen, Stojakovic, Pierce and Nash are also playing on Sunday. To them, the 3-point shootout is more fun than anything else. But for the others, it's a chance to win something.

Person, who has been in the league for eight years but is enjoying his best season shooting, hopes to have more luck than older and now-retired brother Chuck did. Person also might be the only competitor who has a plan, or at least has given some thought.

“I admit I did practice a little bit,” said Person, who enters the break coming off a 10-for-12 shooting night against Houston on Wednesday. “I thought to myself, is it better to go from the right or the left? I find I'm better coming off screens from the right, so I'll go that way.”

And in a competition where everyone can shoot, it might be the right way.

Eric Karabell is an NBA editor for ESPN.com.