Lets CELEBRATE! :] I must have voted 10+ times.. I am quite certain, clutchfans voting helped Mcgrady hold off the spot from Iverson
It's kinda hard to understand why fans want to watch Yao most, unless they want to watch him getting dunked on. I don't know. Maybe Yao's really so loved by the fans, more than Jame, Kobe..., but public opinions and media coverage certainly don't reflect that.
Interesting how Yao and his agent have differing opinions on if Yao will attend All Star weekend (not to play but to attend functions) http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4501206.html T-Mac edges Iverson to join injured teammate as West starters By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle As with any competition, the thrill of victory is tempered when there is no chance of losing. For the Rockets, there was one competition in the All-Star voting in question. As always, Rockets center Yao Ming was a certainty. Though hurt Dec. 23 and out the past 14 games, Yao was the overwhelming choice as the Western Conference starting center in the voting announced Thursday for the Feb. 18 All-Star Game. Yao, who will attend but not be able to play, received the second-most votes this season, behind only Eastern Conference forward LeBron James, and fourth-most ever. Yao, selected as a starter in each of his five NBA seasons, is second among Rockets in starting selections only to Hakeem Olajuwon, chosen a starter in eight of his team-record 12 appearances. The race to watch for the Ro ckets and their quest to have two starters for a fifth consecutive season, was at guard, where Tracy McGrady had a huge lead until Allen Iverson was traded from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Denver Nuggets and from the Eastern Conference to the West. In the most recent update, Iverson was within 48,479 votes. But with his recent flurry of nine 30-point games in the past 13 games, McGrady pulled away from Iverson to earn his seventh All-Star spot, giving the Rockets at least one player in the game for the sixth consecutive season. "To be voted in is always special," McGrady said. "It's always an honor. But this is huge for me. "This is the best of all of them because of what happened last year with the injury and I went out (a) couple games this season." McGrady earned the second Western Conference guard spot behind Kobe Bryant, receiving 129,158 more votes than Iverson and 437,970 more than two-time MVP Steve Nash. Looking forward After seven reserves in each conference are selected by the coaches, NBA commissioner David Stern will choose an injury replacement for Yao. "I really wish I could have played, because the All-Star Game is for the fans, and I feel very honored to have received all those votes," Yao said. "I hope that I can get a chance again to attend next year's event in New Orleans. Right now, I am going to continue working hard to get back on the court as soon as possible to help my teammates as we try to make the playoffs." Yao had said Monday he was not going to attend the game and other events, remaining in Houston to concentrate on his rehabilitation. Yao's agent, John Huizinga, however said Thursday that Yao will move his workouts that weekend to Las Vegas and plans to make the trip. "He is going," Huizinga said. "Based on everything we know today about his rehab, we expect he will be able to go to the All-Star Game without compromising his rehab. He is planning to go. I would say when I spoke with the NBA I qualified his attendance with a statement that he would go unless something changed between now and then with his rehab that meant it would compromise his rehabilitation to go. "Yao's rehab is his No. 1 obligation right now. We don't see any conflicts at this point with everything we know, to do his rehab and go to Las Vegas." Along with Yao, McGrady and Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan were named Western Conference starters. Shaquille O'Neal, who has played in only five games this season, was voted in as the Eastern Conference starting center along with Heat teammate Dwyane Wade. Chris Bosh held off Jermaine O'Neal for the forward spot next to James. Gilbert Arenas, the NBA's second-leading scorer, passed Vince Carter in the last two weeks to earn the other Eastern Conference guard spot with Wade. James was the All-Star Game MVP last season, with McGrady returning after scoring a Rockets record 36 points in the game at Toyota Center. Out to have fun "It's not necessarily more important this year (because Yao will not play)," McGrady said. "Its definitely great to have two All-Stars, but I can't really represent the Rockets any differently because he can't be there. I'm just going to go out there and have fun. I'm sure Yao will be around that weekend. "I'm just going to enjoy the weekend. I do enjoy it. You have all these different personalities. You face these guys night in, night out. You try to get to know them for the weekend and see what type of guys they are. It's a midseason party, chops it up a little bit. We all have fun. "After that, after that weekend, it's time to really buckle down and get down to business."
Funny quote from T-Mac about Yao USA Today link "It's definitely going to feel strange to be at the all-star game without my big man," McGrady said. "We've been out there together my first two seasons in Houston. "I'm hosting a party along with P. Diddy that weekend, so I'm hoping I can convince Yao to come in and hang with us for a night," McGrady said. "I know all he's thinking about is working like crazy to get back as soon as possible." --------------------------------------------------------------------- The artilce also suggests with Yao out D'Antoni will possibly start Nash in his place with this line-up: C- Duncan F - Garnett F - McGrady G - Kobe G - Nash So maybe Nash fans will still be happy.
Erick Dampier came in third among Western centers ahead of Marcus Camby, Mehmet Okur, Brad Miller, and Chris Kaman ?!?!?
Lol: Eastern Conference Western Conference F – LeBron James, Cleveland: 6-8 F – Kevin Garnett, Minnesota 6-10 F – Chris Bosh, Toronto F 6-10– Tim Duncan, San Antonio 7-0 C – Shaquille O’Neal, Miami 7-1 C – Yao Ming, Houston 7-6 G – Dwyane Wade, Miami G 6-4 – Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers 6-6 G – Gilbert Arenas, Washington G 6-2 – Tracy McGrady, Houston 6-8 Head coach: TBD Head coach: Mike D’Antoni, Phoenix Man, the Western starting five have a total of 19 inches on the Eastern Squad!
2 possibilities: a) He gained visibility by being on a championship team b) Dallas (bandwagon) fans are stuffing the box Evan
Congrats to both of them...Although Yao won't play, its good to get the recognition...I can't wait for him to come back...
He was VOTED by fans, which is all about this ALL-Star crap/festival. Fans want to see him, not Nash. They make their own choice, not by stupid team record.
Didn't really think it deserved it's own thread, but check out box #8: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-070125 " WESTERN CONFERENCE Starters: Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard Reserves: Shawn Marion, Carlos Boozer, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Allen Iverson Didn't make the team: Ray Allen, Pau Gasol, Elton Brand, Marcus Camby, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Leandro Barbosa. " Seriously start Amare over Yao? Cause Yao is injured? Can't be that cause his on the bench! Better stats, more worthy of a start? 26 and 9.4 vs 18 and 9.1. Bill Walton you are a frickin' genius.
I uploaded the T-Mac interview (after being announced as started on TNT) to YouTube for easy viewing. Will appear here once accepted by YouTube so you might have to wait a bit. <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vxinnGwy5oc"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vxinnGwy5oc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="600" height="350"></embed></object>
So, TMac is the PG and KG is the SF? I wish they would separate the voting in all 5 positions instead of centers, forwards, guards. At least make the categories like "Big men" "Swing men" and "Point guards" which is a lot closer to how basketball is really played.
