All-Star Weekend Talk

[MHZ]

Obviously Melo was voted in as a starter, which is pretty cool. Chauncey has an outside shot at a selection, although I don't consider it likely. You never know with coaches, though, who clearly love Billups.

Marc Stein has Billups on the squad.

Kaman was omitted from the All-Star ballot after an injury-plagued 2008-09 season; Marcus Camby claimed a ballot slot among West centers instead. I'd argue that the omission has unintentionally created good buzz for Kaman, as it has for Randolph, but making room on the West roster for both ballot snubees is impossible when you consider that there are only two rosters spots left as it is for Deron Williams, Chauncey Billups and Pau Gasol.

How do you exclude one of those three?

Gasol has missed 17 games through injury, but the Lakers are 21-4 when he plays and just 11-6 without him, underlining how much difference-making help Pau gives Kobe Bryant when he plays. Billups has likewise missed eight games through injury, but Denver's 3-5 record without him -- along with his career-best scoring average of 18.8 points per game -- only enhances Chauncey's candidacy.

Williams, meanwhile, is still waiting for his first All-Star selection. He ranks as the Jazzman most likely to be chosen by the coaches, ahead of Carlos Boozer, but an invite might be even tougher to snag this time since Nash was voted in as a starter after being excluded entirely from the 2009 game in Phoenix.

http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-100122-23/reserve-judgment-all-star-game

[MHZ]

Here's a look at the uniforms for both:



I like how easy it is to see the star on the East jerseys, and damn near impossible from certain angles on the West jerseys. Conspiracy!

[corona]

billups should make it.

career high in points & 3pt fg%....and it's obvious how big his impact is for the nuggets. 3-6 when he was injured.

[MHZ]

The more I think about it, the more I like his chances. The guys in the media, for the most part, are ignoring him, but coaches won't.

The question is this, with two more guard spots and then the two wild-car spots.

Paul and Roy are in, correct? That leaves Deron Williams and Chauncey Billups fighting for a single spot, unless both spots are opened up to guards, which seems unlikely.

Here are the TNT guys discussing their All-Star reserves, which are atrocious lists, BTW:

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/sport ... 99677.html

I like how they insist that the Rockets have an All-Star.

[eathy]

In the past, the coaches never vote in Deron and they love Chauncey.

[MHZ]

Another storyline to watch is the possibility of George Karl coaching the West. Since Phil coached last year, which you can't do in consecutive years, the second seed from the West after January 31st will be the coach.

Obviously right now, Dallas and Denver are tied for second.

[eathy]

It'd be nice to see it happen.

Last time there been a Nuggets coach/player combination?

[corona]

Here are the TNT guys discussing their All-Star reserves, which are atrocious lists, BTW:

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/sport ... 99677.html

:facepalm:

aaron brooks and carl landry?

winning teams/players get rewarded by going to the playoffs. you don't need to reward average players in february for a teams success, just because there's no true star on the team.

i hate everything about all-star voting. the fans screw it up and/or stern rigs the voting, everyone is always contradicting themselves and can't make up their minds in terms of rewarding games played vs. star status vs. team success. is so-and-so a C or a PF. we have to have a certain # of this type of player and a certain # of that type.

its frustrating.

not to mention kirilenko & shawn marion getting into the ASG over melo in separate years. that still pisses me off.

who's the star...the guy that's in the playoffs every year, hits the game winning shots, has the other team game planning to stop him.

aaron brooks? seriously kenny?
billups is averaging better stats across the board, in fewer minutes, with the 2nd best record in the conference, he's one of the best leaders in the game today...and he's working on an 8th consecutive trip to the conference finals.

[JRMelo15]

Here are the TNT guys discussing their All-Star reserves, which are atrocious lists, BTW:

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/sport ... 99677.html

I like how they insist that the Rockets have an All-Star.

TRBL. Charles said it best when EJ called those 3 idiots experts - "We're no experts, man."

[MHZ]

It used to be done so simply back in the 90's and before. Take the best players and put them in the ASG. Now, you don't necessarily reward guys like Monta Ellis - chuckers on terrible teams, but it's not that difficult to find the real stars.

When the Pistons had four all-stars a few years back, it's a complete joke. I don't want to watch a lineup of four Pistons plus some random dude play. I can watch that every other night. The Celtics look like they'll have a minimum of three all-stars this year, and they're not even the best team in their conference so far, much less the league.

You hear too much of "the Rockets have to have somebody", or "the Lakers are the best team in the league, they need x all-stars because of it" regardless of how many games certain guys have missed. You shouldn't need to think about it this much, plain and simple.

[KAVK]

Melo well deserved & Billups IMO will get in. Fans other than us might not be able to see influence & leadership he brings to this team but coaches know that this dude is a stud. Please don't spank me for saying this: There aren't single coach that wouldn't want Chauncy on their team at this point PERIOD!

[SirHuey]

Ty has been left out of the Rook vs Soph game

[grippah26]

Not going to lie, but those East jersey look way sicker than ours...I'm still going to get Melo's though

[eathy]

Absolute joke.

I know they restricted on guard positions, but Lawson is ahed of Flynn, Curry, and Harden without a doubt.

[MHZ]

According to the leaked rosters, Chauncey didn't make the reserves.

[J Smitty]

Lawson's quote is spot on.


I'm not disappointed that Chauncey isn't playing in the game. The rest will help and it's not like he has ever exactly flourished in these type of games. But when all-star appearances are used in reference to things like hall of fame voting and stuff...that's where him getting snubbed is **** bull.

[MHZ]

Hollinger made a pretty fair point about how Lawson should certainly be in the Rookie Game over Curry, and the argument is certainly there over Flynn.

The Rookie Game, in the end, comes down to minutes. If Ty was on Indiana or something, he'd be in the Rookie Game. He's backing up Chauncey Billups right now, so he didn't have much of a shot.

[J Smitty]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_ ... -ty-lawson



By Henry Abbott

I happened to be on the phone with David Thorpe when the rosters for All-Star weekend's Rookie Challenge were announced.

The sophomore team ... it's murderous. They're unimpeachable: Michael Beasley, Danilo Gallinari, Marc Gasol, Eric Gordon, Brook Lopez, Kevin Love, O.J. Mayo, Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook.

The rookies are going to lose. But who are they? In alphabetical order: DeJuan Blair, Omri Casspi, Stephen Curry, Tyreke Evans, Jonny Flynn, Taj Gibson, James Harden, Brandon Jennings and Jonas Jerebko.

Not present in the list of rookies is Nuggets guard Ty Lawson, who Thorpe ranks today as the fourth-best rookie in the NBA (Insider). Thorpe writes:

Tell me what he can't do. Finish around the rim? He's over 50 percent. Midrange jumpers? Again, over 50 percent (though he's not great from the right baseline). How about from 3-point distance? Check his numbers from the five main spots: He's over 50 percent from two spots, over 40 percent from two others, and about 35 percent from one wing, for a total of 42 percent overall. Does he take care of the ball? Yep -- almost three times as many assists as turnovers.

Lawson has been consistently excellent since Week 1, and looks to be a leading candidate for the NBA Sixth Man Award starting next season. Rarely can a player under 6-foot-3 (he's listed at 5-foot-11, actually) impact the game in as many ways as he can: scoring, pushing the pace, creating shots for teammates, shooting from outside, hounding ball handlers and leading a team.

In particular, he's terrific at using his body to put defenders in a position of weakness as he attacks the rim, a skill that is tough to master when the player usually finishes below the rim. Not that Lawson isn't athletic, because he is (check this out). Opposing defenses have to account for him in the game plan; how many bench players can you say that about?

"That's a big story right there," says Thorpe, hearing that Lawson is not among the nine. Thorpe suggests Jerebko may have gotten the nod in part because this nine-player roster already has five guards who like the ball a lot, and is in dire need of size. (Blake Griffin, where are you?)

"Just watch," adds Thorpe, "the way he's going, in the next few weeks, Lawson could go even higher in my list."

Jerebko has been a tremendous bundle of long energy for the Pistons, and has made a bit of a difference. But even by the measure of plus/minus, which would reward Jerebko's defense and hustle, (while punishing Lawson's lack of size, if indeed it hurts the team on defense) Lawson has been better.

I also can't help but note that Flynn has put up some box-score stats, but by dribbling the ball almost all game long for one of the NBA's worst teams. If you were to switch their teams -- put Flynn on the solid Nuggets, and have Lawson play long minutes running the Timberwolves -- I can't help but think Lawson would be playing on All-Star Friday.

It seems a shame that the NBA would deny Lawson this honor simply because he was drafted far lower than he should have been, and fell to a team with a star point guard in Chauncey Billups, and an established rotation. This would seem to be a chance to correct that earlier error.

Because it's becoming increasingly clear that, despite his size (the only consistent knock against him), Lawson can play. He has proved it at every level. The good news for Lawson is that what he has lacked in adulation he makes up for in wins -- as an NCAA champion with North Carolina, and now as a key reserve for the second-best team in the West, riding a seven-game winning streak.

If you can't have the wins and the praise, take the wins.

[J Smitty]

Karl is officially coaching the Western all-star team. I'm not really sure why, but I'm kind of excited.

[JRMelo15]

Yea, me too. Hopefully the west doesn't get blown out by 30