NBA All-Star Game Starters and Selections

The Game Room
1

Well, the NBA has announced the starters for this year’s All-Star Game, as voted by you, the fan. Without further ado:

EASTERN CONFERENCE
F- Kevin Garnett BOS
F- LeBron James CLE
C- Dwight Howard ORL
G- Jason Kidd NJ (I had Ray Allen on my ballot)
G- Dwyane Wade MIA (Note to wise-acres: his first name is spelled correctly; anyways, I picked Joe Johnson of the Hawks)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
F- Carmelo Anthony, DEN
F- Tim Duncan, SA
C- Yao Ming, HOU (I chose Amare Stoudemire of Phoenix)
G- Kobe Bryant, LAL
G- Allen Iverson, DEN (I wanted Chris Paul)

Reserves will be announced on Thursday. Coaches pick the reserves, each selecting two forwards, two guards, one center and two others of any floor position from their conferences. My reserve selections:

EAST
F-Chris Bosh, TOR
F- Paul Pierce, BOS
C- Rasheed Wallace, ASS
G- Ray Allen, BOS
G- Joe Johnson, ATL
ANY- Josh Smith, ATL
ANY- Michael Redd, MIL (barely, over Richard Jefferson)

WEST
F- Dirk Nowitzki, DAL (ya know, putting Dirk on the All-Star team is kinda like saying Mick Jagger is a musical genius- you kind of feel obligated somehow)
F- Carlos Boozer, UTAH
C- Amare Stoudemire, PHX
G- Chris Paul, NO
G- Steve Nash, PHX
ANY- Marcus Camby, DEN
ANY- Baron Davis, GS (by the width of a Wheaties flake over Brandon Roy)

A lot of hard calls to make this year, especially among guards in the West. Lots of room for argument with my selections. Joe Johnson makes the cut on my list because, quite frankly, he deserves it. I’ll admit Josh Smith is stretch right now- in reality, he’s probably one year away. But I think he’s a very special talent and will be a fixture for years to come.

Any thoughts on the All-Star team, or the NBA season thus far?

2

I can’t argue with much of anything you have there on reserve, and most of the starters are right on.

The guard situation in the West is ridiculous this year, and I can’t wait to see some of those matchups come playoff time.

Although, I’d definitely like to see Roy in there, and probably not Iverson, but you can’t deny the points he’s putting up this year. I’m just nto an AI fan.

I’d probably boot Josh Smith and put Caron Butler in at forward. You don’t need two Hawks on the All Star team. Butler’s been the man during the Wizards run.

3

Moved from IMHO to CS.

4

Jose Calderon has to be a reserve.

90% on free throws, 50% from the field, 40% from three. Only five other players have managed that for a whole season. Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Larry Bird, Reggie Miller, and Mark Price.

Assist to turnover ratio of 5.44:1 and he’s averaged 8 assists per game. Only 2 other players have had a ratio above 5:1 and averaged over 5 assists per game.

His numbers are ridiculous and he has helped to carry the Raptors in the absence of T.J. Ford.

5

Interesting ,I saw an interview with Phil Jackson the other day and he said the Pistons were the best team. Yet none mentioned. You must be selfish to be an allstar ,other than point guard. Hope none make it. A health break would be welcome.

6

gonzomax, I have Big 'Sheed on my reserve roster, and I think a case could be made for pretty much any member of there starting 5 for the All-Star team. I honestly thought this might be the year that the Pistons started to drop off a bit, but they still look scary good. Right now, I don’t think Boston could beat them in a seven-game series.

Trunk, it would be nice if Brandon Roy made the team. In an ideal world, I’d tell Marcus Camby that he was now a Forward, put him in that reserve slot, and tell Dirk or Boozer to enjoy their time off during the All-Star break.