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"I like the fact that the fans get the opportunity to vote and pick who they'd like to see in the All-Star Game, but I don't think it should be 100 percent," Allen said this week.

The nine-time All-Star said the fan voting has made the game "watered down" and called for a change in the process.

Allen said fans should have 50 percent of the vote, with the other 50 percent being divided evenly between the media and the players. He said players know who is playing the best, and believes with his idea, "you'd look at five guys starting the All-Star team regardless of hype or highlight."

On the other hand..:

Toronto forward Chris Bosh had little chance of starting the game in his hometown of Dallas, sitting well behind LeBron James and Kevin Garnett despite a terrific first half. Yet he doesn't want to change the voting format.

"It's all about the fans," he said. "It's all about who they want to see because they generate the dollars, they're going to watch the game, so they're going to vote for their favorite players and that's probably how it should be."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/allstar2010/news/story?id=4833965

I'd be happy if fans votes just wouldn't have to dictate the starting lineup. I don't mind McGrady in there to please some idiot fans. Just not as a starter. Give him 10 minutes off the bench.

Agreed with Bosh. The all star game is for the fans, it's just an exhibition game. There's always the All NBA teams for the players.

I think there should be a games played requirement, but other than that it is for the fans.

Although it would be nice if some players showed a little class and politely declined, noting that other players deserve it more.

I also think white people should only get 3/5ths of the vote.

I can see why he'd have beef with the fan voting. While I do think the fans should have a say in the game, putting McGrady or Iverson anywhere near the All-Star game this year is ridiculous.

Allen Iverson is going to start in the all-star game. Enough said.

I do agree, that it's a fun game, and the fans have a right to choose who they want in it. But let's face it...it would be alot better, if people who actually knew wtf they were doing voted. McGrady, Carter, Garnett, Iverson starting at the All star game over guys like Rondo, Joe Johnson, Danny Granger, Kevin Durant and Chris Bosh is all bull to me. Not to mention im getting tired of the same damn line ups every year...

IMO, one way to solve this would be to push the all star game about 2-3 weeks later, start the voting after about 35 games have been played on the season. And if the guy didn't play at least 20, his name wouldn't go on the ballot. Plain and simple.

They should have the coaches and players pick a pool that fans can vote starters from. That way AI and McGrady don't get in.

I think the fans shouldn't vote at all. There's too many fairweather fans voting. Let the guys who know basketball vote, the coaches. Either that or a point system should be made.

The NBA is at fault here. They open fan voting for over 3 months, starting Nov 10, and at that point in the season there is little playing time to vote against, so casual fans are just stuffing in names of players they know from previous years. No way it should be open that long, and no way the NBA should in cases like McGrady even be putting the player on the ballot.

The funny thing about this time of year is how everyone bitches and whines about how fans don't know who the hell they're voting for. This has been happening for as long as I can remember with All-Star games. There are always going to be worthy players left off the list. Even if we took away fan voting, someone's going to get snubbed.

However, thinking about it from a business point of view - if Stern were to take away fan voting, what message does that tell the fans? It's basically saying "You, the fan, don't know what the hell you're talking about, so I'm revoking this privilege from you. Have a nice day." That doesn't sound like a message Stern would want to give to fans. Stern has already shown that doesn't care about the integrity of basketball (just look at how he's handled the whole Donaghy scandal), so I highly doubt we'd see him lift a finger over an exhibition game. Shoot, I wouldn't put it past Stern for actually rigging the All-Star game voting itself. DIdn't Kobe get voted in as a starter in his 2nd year, despite the fact that he wasn't even starting for the Lakers?

That's a good point about taking it away from the fans at this point. At this point, it would probably be like trying to get the toothpaste back in the tube. Although, when they intentionally leave players like Yi Jianlian off the voting list because they are afraid of fans selecting an unworthy player to the team, it kind of sends a mixed message anyway, imo.

Anyway, how many hardcore fans even bother with watching the all-star game anymore? I haven't sat through an entire all-star game since 92-93, and I don't believe I have watched more than a few minutes of one since 02-03. These days, if there is a Celtic playing in it, I will typically watch the announcement of the starting line-ups and then change the channel.

Having said that, if the way the all-star is currently set up works for the NBA, then more power to them. My only gripe is when people, including journalists, list number of all-star appearances as evidence why one player deserves hall-of-fame consideration over another player. Other than that, the NBA is free to continue on with the all-star game as they please, I just won't be watching.

greenmachine_2849 wrote:
Anyway, how many hardcore fans even bother with watching the all-star game anymore? I haven't sat through an entire all-star game since 92-93, and I don't believe I have watched more than a few minutes of one since 02-03. These days, if there is a Celtic playing in it, I will typically watch the announcement of the starting line-ups and then change the channel.

You're correct. If there happened to be an NCAA game going on at the same time as the All-Star game, I'd rather watch that to be honest. The only time I'll tune in and watch is when it's the 4th quarter and it looks like it might a close game. Other than that, it's usually 3 quarters of guys not playing any defense. Doesn't really float my boat since it's not competitive.

That reminds me - if there's one privilege that David Stern should absolutely take away from fans, it's the voting for MVP of the All-Star game. Ray got robbed in 2008. Lebron played a great game that night, but it was Ray's shooting that won the game for the East. Ridiculous that it went to Lebron.

I agree with Ray.

how does this all star coaching goes agn? the coach on the team with the best record by a certain sunday (1/31?) gets to coach? but if he's already coached it last season, he doesnt get to coach it agn?? so i dont remember if the cavs coach was the guy last yr, but presuming he was and we hv the 2nd best record by that date, is Doc the guy then?? if so, i plead for KG to rest or at least asks whoever is coaching to let him play a token 2-3min or whatever (or 1st stoppage of play) and rest him for the rest of the game. same goes for PP if he gets picked. Rondo i'll want him to play some, especially with LeQueen at the same time :drool: