Steve Francis is just feeling the karma from actually starting in the all star games in the West when he had no business doing so.
I'm glad for Ilgauskas; he's a better center than he gets credit for. Pierce is a little iffy. Ginobili is a complete mystery to me; nice player but not All-Star material. I'm glad for Rashard Lewis since he's a hometown kid, but I doubt he deserves it either. I'm surprised at Marion too, but I suppose Phoenix had their run at the right time of year.
I saw some highlights the other night from Z and they were extremely impressive, so I went and checked out his stats. He's having a solid year. All-Star reserve type year? With so many weak big men, possibly, but I'm not sure. I can see how he could get the nod, though.
How did Ginobili get picked over Peja, Webber, Bibby, Brand, Boozer, and the rest of the western conference. Talk about overrated.
48 points against Pheonix. If Pheonix has 3 allstars why should San Antonio only have 1. It makes no sense
I think the key difference is Manu is the hard working player coaches love. He does everything you ask not only on the offensive side but also on the defensive side. He gives you great hustle over players like peja, bibby, and webber. I can understand why they voted him in, but for an all-star game with no defense? I'd rather see peja, or webber with their passing and shooting. This is entertainment man!!
yeah I dont understand Manu on this one, plus I dont like 3 players from the same team. SNash/ Amare and Marion? thats too much. Then Seattle / Spurs should have had more representation. SNash / SMarion makes more sense to me. I guess they threw in Amare as a Center behind Yao but you know who SNash is going to throw the ball too. J
pierce has a small lead in pts and reb, francis has a huge lead in assists. and like someone else said, pierce has been considered a malcontent this year. or at least i've heard more negative than positive. i didn't read it but there was an article on espn that intimated that pierce was the problem with the celtics and might oughta be moved and i'm pretty sure bill simmons just answered some email about how pierce is always calling for the ball with both hands and how that's not the type of guy you like playing with. so if the coaches don't like francis bouncing the ball on the floor and dunking then i would think they would like the selfish brooder even less. apparently not. as for this making up for francis going last year. no, last year made up for francis not going in arguable his best statistical season, his second year, when the rockets were also overachieving. things had balanced out, now francis is back in the red.
Because almost any GM in the league would rather have Marion, Nash, and Amare over Ginobili. The dude averages 16 points a game and he is the second option on his team.
What about the one he missed that he should've gone to. The year we won 45 games and missed the playoffs.
I don't get how Kidd is a snub. He's averaging 7.6 assists per game, which is the lowest of his career. Plus, he only averages 13.7 points per game, with a FG percentage of .398. He doesn't deserve to be an all-star. Yet, the first headline I read about reservers being announced has his name as being snubbed. There are many more deserving candidates.
Yeah, the second option on the best team in the league. He has a huge hand in the success of the Spurs and should be recognized. I think most aren't that surprised to have Ginobili selected to the team, I know I am not. He deserves it. Stuart
Can't argue with the West roster too much, all pretty deserving players in my eyes. I was shocked that no Kings made it, but I am thinking that the coaches, wanting to put a Sacramento King in the game, split their votes among Webber, Peja, Brad Miller and Bibby. The inclusion of Rashard Lewis (though deserving) was something I didn't expect, this was, in my opinion, the spot reserved for a Kings player. It's surprising to see both Zydrunas and Ben Wallace, I thought if one made it, the other would not. And Stevie not making it was really a shocker to me. Stuart
Just because he might have been having a good year and the rockets were winning didn't mean he EVER deserved the start over someone like Nash. Nash should have been starting the last 2-3 allstar games.
emjohn had a good point. I think what cost Steve the AllStar game is the unexplicable voting of Grant Hill in the starting lineup. Having two players from Orlando is a stretch. Manu deserves to be there, but so does Bibby. I would say Marion is a stretch. Solid player, but still, he's only the tird best player on his team... If San ANtonio sends its 2 best players, why would the Suns send three players?
possible Yao diss? http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/allstar2005/news/story?id=1986997 NEW YORK -- Dwyane Wade, Manu Ginobili, Gilbert Arenas and Rashard Lewis are NBA All-Stars. Jason Kidd and Steve Francis are not -- nor are any members of the Sacramento Kings. Six first-timers were among the selections Tuesday, when the NBA announced the reserves for the Feb. 20 game in Denver. The league's 30 coaches chose the reserves, rewarding several young players whose teams have exceeded expectations. The Phoenix Suns will be sending Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion, while the Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards and Seattle SuperSonics are sending two players apiece. "I'm thrilled, I'm excited, I'm very happy that in my second year I'm an All-Star," said Wade, the Miami Heat guard having a breakout season playing alongside the game's most dominant big man, Shaquille O'Neal. "To Shaq, who said when he got here that I'd be an All-Star, what can I say but 'Thanks, big fella. I love you."' Emotions were strong elsewhere, too, more so for those who did make it than those who didn't. Washington owner Abe Pollin stopped practice by wheeling a giant cake onto the court so the Wizards could celebrate the selections of Arenas and Antawn Jamison, the first time in nearly two decades the franchise has two All-Stars. Guard Ray Allen of Seattle and forward Dirk Nowitzki of Dallas rounded out the Western Conference selections. The East's other reserves are centers Zydrunas Ilgauskas of Cleveland and Ben Wallace of Detroit, forward Jermaine O'Neal of Indiana, and guard Paul Pierce of Boston. O'Neal was picked despite missing 15 games when he was suspended for his role in a brawl with fans at a Nov. 19 game at the Pistons. "This is yet another sign of him not only being a great basketball player, but a guy who persevered with dignity and class," Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. "Those are things that play into the coaches' votes." Among those left off were New Jersey's Kidd, who had played in every All-Star Game since 1998, and Orlando's Francis, a three-time All-Star. "I'm glad for Vince (Carter) and the guys who were selected, they've all had good seasons," said Kidd, who plans to spend the All-Star break vacationing with his family in Mexico. "It's just time for me to regroup and make a push for the playoffs." Sacramento center Brad Miller apparently was hurt by Western Conference coaches' filling in Stoudemire -- who starts at power forward for Phoenix -- as a center. Coaches were required to select two guards, two forwards, one center and two other players regardless of position. They could not vote for their own players. The Kings have three other players with 11 combined previous All-Star appearances -- Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic and Mike Bibby -- who were left off this year's team. "I'm sure Bibby and Webber deserved consideration, and Brad Miller's playing unbelievable. "They've got a lot of guys to pick from, but they don't have that ONE guy," said Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni, who found fault with the fans' balloting choices. "I don't want to offend anyone, but some starters shouldn't be on there." Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton, the starting backcourt for the defending NBA champions, also weren't chosen. "I was hopeful that all our guys would make it, but reality is that it doesn't work that way," Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown said. "There's no one going that doesn't deserve it -- Wade and Arenas are phenomenal players having tremendous seasons." The East's starters are Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, Miami's O'Neal, New Jersey's Carter, Orlando's Grant Hill and a seventh first-time All-Star, Cleveland's LeBron James. Kobe Bryant of the Lakers, Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming of Houston, Kevin Garnett of Minnesota and Tim Duncan of San Antonio will start for the West. Bryant hasn't played since spraining his right ankle Jan. 13. If he is unable to play in the All-Star Game, NBA commissioner David Stern will select his replacement. The coaches are Gregg Popovich of the Spurs for the West and Stan Van Gundy of the Heat for the East. The selections of Ilgauskas (Lithuania), Ginobili (Argentina), Nash (Canada), Nowitzki (Germany), Duncan (U.S. Virgin Islands) and Yao (China) gives the 2005 All-Star Game six international players, the same as in 2003 and 2004. Ginobili, a member of the Argentine national team that won a gold medal at the Athens Olympics, is averaging 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting nearly 50 percent for the Spurs, who have the league's best record (38-10). Wade leads the Heat in scoring, averaging 23.5 points along with 7.2 assists and 5.2 rebounds. Garnett, 28, is making his eighth All-Star appearance, the most of any Western Conference player. Shaquille O'Neal will be making his 12th appearance, the most of anyone in this year's game. Bryant, Duncan and Hill are All-Stars for the seventh time each, and Carter and Iverson are now six-time All-Stars. It'll be a reunion for Nash and Nowitzki, teammates with Dallas until Nash left in the offseason as a free agent. Nash has led the Suns to a 38-11 record by averaging an NBA-high 11.1 assists, while Nowitzki ranks third in the league in scoring for the 31-15 Mavericks. "Hopefully we'll be on the court together quite some time and it'll be a fun game," Nowitzki said. "It'll be nice to be on the same team as him again. He makes the game so much easier for everybody else."
The east effectively has 4 centers in O'Neal, Wallace, O'Neal, & Ilgauskas - why they use rigid classificiations so that guys like Ilgauskas who don't deserve it can get on there is beyond me.
Ginobili is getting by on 2 things 1. Barkley sucking his. . . . .. just joking Actually this IMO is a nod to the Agentinian Team from the Olympics Rocket River
