I hope Lin doesn't make it simply because the poor guy will be hated on by the media, his peers, and by opposing teams fans. He doesn't deserve it either.
This is a big reason why he shouldn't be in it. The media scrutiny and criticism will just increase if he was legitimately voted in. You will get headlines everywhere questioning the league for letting undeserving players into the all-star team. Imagine him in the locker room with Duncan, Griffin, Love, Durant, Paul, Kobe, Howard etc. He would be surrounded by people who knows he didn't earn his spot.
It's pretty long so I will just copy the part where it mentions Rockets and Lin. Remember when James Harden had to come off bench in Oklahoma City because there was too much ball-needing overlap between him, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook? It's fair to wonder whether the Rockets need to pursue a similar arrangement to get Jeremy Lin the ball enough now that he's been teamed with Harden. Somehow, Lin had only played 57 Harden-free minutes heading into Monday's game against San Antonio, and had posted disappointing results while struggling as a floor-spacer next to the basketball world's second-most prominent left-handed JH. The good news in all this is that Harden sat out Monday's game against San Antonio, and Lin showed he still has the goods to be an offensive focal point if he's not paired with Harden. Going up against a top-notch opponent, Lin scored 38 points, made only two turnovers and generally looked like the guy who had Knicks fans in a lather last spring. The solution couldn't be more hammer-to-the-head obvious: Play Lin when Harden sits, and give him the rock in a constant stream of pick-and-rolls for those 12 minutes. In other words, do almost exactly what Oklahoma City did with Harden. This would mean "demoting" Lin to a backup role, but it actually would make his function in Houston much more prominent, not to mention helpful. And since this is a story about the positives, the real takeaway from Monday is that yes, by golly, Lin is still capable of this. Not that he'll score 38 or make 4 of 5 3s every time, but he can be an offensive focal point and create high-value scoring chances. Linsanity wasn't a mirage. Plz delete post if this is inappropriate.
Now is that because of his on court performance or because of his race? Of course he has fans around the globe, everyone does. Majority of Lin's are racist Asians that don't really care about basketball though and only supports players based on race.
I never understood how some people reference to someone's greatness by mentioning how many all-star appearances they had. It's such an arbitrary award. Seems like all-pro would have some substance to it, but definitely not all-star.
it does show your longevity...someone who has only appeared in it 2-3 times (like a steve francis) vs someone who has appeared in it 10+ times (duncan, kobe, garnett,etc. )
Obviously a combination of both, some will place more emphasis on skills, others will place more on race. A lot of Lin's fans focus entirely on race.
There's always 5 all-stars from each conference who don't earn their spots. That's exactly the point of the system. Fans can vote for whomever they choose! You can't argue that the 5 guys voted into the starting lineup are always the 5 most deserving, it's most of the time simply not true. If Lin gets voted in, good luck to him! Fan based system rewards what fans want, surely?
The coaches choose the benches right? So there is some substance to it. It's as meaningful as first or second team all-NBA (unless you're an all-star starter, then it may or may not mean anything!)
Embarrassing? GTFO. All they do is run up and down the court, play no D, and crack jokes. Its a game for the fans voted by the fans...
The "front court" "back court" categorizing is an improvement from the guard-forward-center way. But it is still pretty unnatural. SF is closer to SG than to PF. They should use a point-wing-big system, or simply perimeter-interior. Anyway, I have long lost interest in All Star game. Not just the voting part, but I just don't care much about a game that is pretty much meaningless.
The difference between Lin and other players that don't deserve it is that the other players are already stars. They usually put up pretty solid numbers still, just might not be the best. Compared that to Lin who hasn't even played a full season of good basketball.
That's not necessarily always true though. For example, if Chris Paul wasn't voted in as the starter, he will get in as a reserve. I think most of the time, the players voted in by the fans earned a spot. The only players off the top of my head who didn't deserve their spot for the last few years is Yao and Iverson, but even these players had major impacts in the prime of their career. For the most part, the voting system has brought in the deserving players in my opinion. I think what the league should do is make the fan votes count for X amount of coach votes. That way, the fan votes still matter, but isn't the only thing that matters.
Well, the Rockets forum technically should be the last place one finds anger that a Houston starting PG is getting lots of votes. This kind of virtriol should be more in the say...OKC forums. But anyway, put it this way...those of you who feel embarassed, don't. If Lin gets the votes, it shows that there are enough supporters to back him up against the hatred he will get in the media or from rival fans. It IS a popularity contest after all, and Lin IS a star, even if his play hasn't been too outstanding this season. It is what it is...Rockets starting PG will likely be in the All Star game. If you're a Rockets fan, cheer for him regardless. Don't root against one of the team. If he gets no love when the All Star game is held in Houston, then it's an even greater embarrassment! FYI, I vote for Harden, Parsons and Asik too. Just cos I want them all there.
