Thursday morning the NBA announced the reserves for the All-Star game in Dallas. As there is every year, there is always a player that doesn’t get in a year he deserves, and player that got in a year he didn’t deserve. In the case of not deserving, the answer (no pun intended) is obvious. Allen Iverson, making his 11th All-Star appearance, is averaging 14.5 points a game, his second lowest in his career. Despite that, his fan base is still extremely large and potent, (although he’s probably not liked all too much in Memphis) voting him in as an All-Star. To save the NBA even more embarrassment, an undeserving Tracy McGrady was edged out in the final weeks by very impressive 35 (turning 36 a week before the All-Star Game) year old by the name of Steve Nash. Joining Nash in the West is Kobe Bryant (12 time All-Star), Carmelo Anthony (three time All-Star), Tim Duncan (12 time All-Star), and Amar’e Stoudamire (five time All-Star). Representing the East is Allen Iverson and Dwayne Wade (six time All-Star), Lebron James (six time All-Star) and Kevin Garnet (13 time All-Star) at the forward positions, and Dwight Howard (four time All-Star) at center.
All the starters were voted in by the fans (I think that was obvious,, while the reserves are picked by the NBA itself. Seven reserves are making their All-Star game debuts, and all are very deserving. Reserves in the west are Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Brandon Roy, Kevin Durant, Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, and Zack Randolph. In the East you have Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Joe Johnson, Paul Peirce, Gerald Wallace, Al Horford, and Chris Bosh. I am extremely glad to see some new faces at the game, and some that have been deserving of an All-Star spot for a few years. The first that comes to mind is Utah’s young stud Deron Williams, who ironically is from Dallas. Williams posted career highs of 19.4 points and 10.7 assists a game last year and didn’t make the team. Unfortunately due to the overload of talented guards in the west, it took him five years to make it here. Although they are deserving, it seems the following will have to wait at least another year to get their shot. Here comes the snubs…
The catalyst as I like to call him, Chauncey Billups has been nothing short of MVP caliber both this year as well as last year. Billups is averaging a career high in points at 19.2 and posted a career high in points in a game early this season with 37 to go along with 8 rebounds and 8 assists. In the eight games Billups hasn’t played this year the Denver Nuggets, who are second in the Western Conference by only 3.5 games to the Lakers, have gone 3-5. With Billups in the line-up, they have gone 27-10, proving just how important Billups is to this team.
Chris “Kaveman” Kaman is averaging eight more points per game since last year and a career high 20.2 a game along with 9.1 rebounds a game, helping keep the Clippers relevant in the Western Conference playoff hunt.
Josh Smith, somehow someway won’t be in Dallas for the All-Star weekend. Not for the dunk contest (deserving), not for the HORSE game (deserving) and not for the All-Star game (more than deserving). His teammate Al Horford made the team despite Smith averaging two more points and 1.7 more combined blocks and steals. This guy is a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year (just ask Dwight Howard) and has shown huge steps in maturity, leading the Hawks to an impressive record.
I heard someone criticize David Lee’s number because he was in Mike D’Antoni’s offense. That is ridiculous, just because a certain player flourishes in a certain coach’s offense, there is absolutely no reason to mark him down. Many players do terrible in certain offense and can’t even see time on the floor (this time ask Superman’s kryptonite Nate Robinson about that) but their praised once they come back and do well. With numbers like 19.4 points a game, 11.4 rebounds a game and 3.4 assists per game (that’s first among all centers), David Lee is an All-Star.
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