Go to NBA.com, and you can vote online for the All-Star Game. I have voted a couple of times for Yao (he is on the ballot) and the Francis.
Shaq qill not play all star most likely, he will use toe as a excuse, then Ming will be select as a replacement
Barbourg, Here's what you haven't considered. To be in the starting 5, it doesn't matter if you're shooting well or if your team is not in the playoffs. Allen Iverson makes 30% of his shots, and his team was a late seed in the playoffs at the time. Grant Hill was voted in as the starter last year, as was Zo (if I recall correctly). As for your assumption that Francis won't get voted in by the coaches, I disagree. If Francis doesn't start, gary Payton will be ahead of him. Outside of Gary Payton, your options are Highlight reel, winning, leading team in tons of categories Steve Francis, or Andre Miller or Steve Nash? i know they won't choose Steve Nash, and IF they do, Francis will be on the team as a SG. There's no doubt in my mind that Francis will be in the All Star game, barring injuries and unwillingness. As for Ming, we can make an estimate right now. How many ballots/votes did Shaq get last year and the year before that. Then you can say that 70% of Houston fans will vote Yao Ming as the starter, 70% os asian fans league-wide, 95% of Chinese basketball fans that have internet access, and 30% of NBA fans from Asia. What's my prediction? Francis will start. If the fans had a choice of Francis or Payton, they'd choose Francis. Especially the fans that vote for the All Star game. His scoring numbers are better, and he's much more likely to make people go "OOOOOOH, AAAAAHHHHHHHH" than any other PG in the league. Yao Ming will start in the All Star game, but only because Shaq won't want to play, and Yao Ming becomes the starter because he would be second leading vote getter at C. Of course, I would've liked to see Ming rest during the All Star game so we'd make a run at 5th seed, but I honestly would rather have him start on the All Star team as a rookie.
One other thing to remember is that Francis will be picking up a ton of new fans because of The Chinese Connection
Francis, probably via voting, if not almost surely via selection, will be on the all-star team. It would be incredibly biased to put Bobby Jackson or Andre Miller in instead of him. Also, Francis could also be selected (if not voted in) with the idea of him playing the two some--if the coach wants Payton and Nash to run the point. Shoot, after Kobe, Francis makes the next best SG in the west. Francis or KG should also be leading in the race in the Western Conference player of the month--and Francis team has been doing better than KG (and of course much better than Kobe's). In other words you can just about bank on Franchise in the all-star game one way or another. On the Ming issue, I think he has a decent shot--but less than Francis for sure. Do they usually take the top 5 vote getters as starters, or is it the top 2 guards, top two forwards top center? In other words, could Shaq and Yoa both be voted in starting roles--I can't remember how it works. Yao stands a decent chance anyway. Surely the West team would have more than one true center--so even if Shaq is the first one via voting, the 2nd would be between Kandi, Yao, Vlade and Robinson I suppose. Kandi deserve it as things stand now, but I don't think the coach would select two Clippers--and Brand has a better case than Kandi. If Robinson got it that would suck, Vlade selection would also suck, even if he doesn't suck as bad as Robinson does now. I think if Yao keeps playing solid, even if less spectacular than last night or versus the Lakers--the smart coach select him as the #2 WC center if it came down to it. Ming could lose out if they take Shaq as the only true center and look for Duncan or Notwitski or Gasol or Brand to fill in at the back-up center if need be however--thus the flood of quality PFs could be a problem.
