http://www.nba.com/allstar2005/allstar_game/reserves_050208.html East: Arenas Jamison Wade Illgauskas J. O'Neal Wallace Pierce West: Nash Norwitzki Ginobilli R. Lewis (glad to see him here) Amare (yuk...) Allen Marion have to admit, Stevie got snubbed but it was a tossup between him and Arenas and i guess since the Wizards are rolling, he got the nod.
Hopefully stevie uses this as motivation and works harder on his game. First he gets traded and now he's not even an all-star by the fans or by the coaches. He's out of his comfort zone now. Maybe he will improve after this. maybe not
pierce and wallace over francis? give me a break. and jamison is debatable as well. you can argue the east needs size and chose wallace for that but i don't think of him or anyone on detroit as having had a standout year. ginobili and lewis over webber? give me another break. webber is at like 21/9.6/5+ and gino is at 16/4.4/4. a really nice player but not better than webber. though i suppose if kobe's injured webber could get the nod, but then the west would need another guard perhaps.
I am SHOCKED that BOTH Z and B. Wallace made the team! I would have thought that Wallace would have been the backup C and Z would have lost out. Francis did get snubbed there! Shocking really! Cool to see Rashard Lewis make it. I am surprised that Webber didnt make it though. He is having a great season! Other than Webber and Francis not making it, the list is about what I thought it would be. The Francis snub and Z making it though is unbelievable to me!
Francis got shafted bad!!! He has more highlights than any other person in the East this year, he has also turned around the Magic Organization. Pierce doesn't need to be there. They should have gone with either one of Z or Wallace, both of them backing Shaq up is kinda useless.
I think Pierce has had a solid season. He has a right to be there. If not Pierce than why not Richard Hamilton or Michael Redd? To me the big head scratcher is BOTH B. Wallace and Z. Francis not making the team I think says a lot about what the Eastern Conference coaches think of him and his game.
The coaches vote for the reserves by position. They get to name 2 guards, 2 forwards, 1 center and you can't pick a player on your own team. So, Wallace or Jamison making the team had absolutely nothing to do with Francis not making the team. Likewise, Ginobili's selection didn't cost Webber a spot. My guess is that most coaches thought that Arenas was more deserving and then they selected a SG (Pierce) for the other slot, rather than picking a 3rd PG. Makes sense, especially when LeBron will also be running some of the PG duties for the East.
And 2 "other" picks, right? Still, both Wallace and Ziggy making it is rather odd. Pierce over Francis is very logical, not only with the roster makeup, but because Pierce is averaging more points, more rebounds, more steals, and on higher percentages than Francis. Plus, as sad as it is, Boston leading its division. Sacramento is the #4 seed and has 0 all-stars this year. I take Bibby over Ginobili, fwiw.
I agree he got snubbed this year but he played like crap last year and got to START. Both years have canceled each other out.
Plus Webber, Miller, and Peja. Ginobili is a nice player and all but I'd pick any of those 4 ahead of him.
Bibby and Webber should have been there over Man-gino and Lewis IMO. Lewis over Webber? Their teams have almost the same record and Webber's stats are better across the board in less minutes! West with only 1 PG?
Wow - really tells you what the coaches think of Steve. That's nasty. Can't argue with: 2 G: Wade, Arenas 2 F: O'Neal, Jamison 1C: Ilguaskas (though this could be Ben Wallace like in previous years) But for the two 'any position spots' we get Paul Pierce and Ben Wallace. Eek. I can understand the voting to a point, but Pierce, averaging similar numbers to Steve, has been a boderline malcontent all year and has actually been hurting the C's. They must be rewarding the Celtics for being a (BS) #3 seed. Two players from the Magic is tougher to justify, I suppose. But how does Wallace get in as well as Z? The Pistons have been flat, and Rip or Billups would have been a better call than Ben. His numbers are down and his game has been off. For certain, Steve is calling hitmen to make sure LeBron's ankle isn't going to get better. Nancy Kerrigan anyone? Evan
Ironic, the one year stevie really deserves to be there, he doesn't make it. (He didn't deserve it last year so maybe it's payback)
Looking at JRich's numbers this years 22.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg, and 44.5% shooting percentage, it looks like he's more qualified than Ginobli too. I guess you really have to have a team that's winning to have a serious shot at this.
