I actually think the fans do more justice to the All-Star games than some of the coaches do. If the fans voted for every position, David West would've lost out to Melo, Durant, and possibly Artest. While, Gasol might have still made it, I don't see how he is playing better than Milsap or Al Jefferson. If a coach is putting a player, like Wally Z or Jamaal "Dunking with my Eyes Clothes"Magloire, that's controversial enough to say that the coaches don't always make the best selection.
umm hello they already did that...T-mac should be a starter because he had more votes, but yet at the end Chris Paul got like a ton the last week and beat T-mac...obviously that didnt happen just like last year but yet they gave paul more votes to put him in. and if the fans are voting unintelligently why make the game for them? The game means nothing to begin with. Its just a game where fans get to see their favorite players. It has no impact on the season at all. Players should not even care if they get snubbed or anything because it is pointless. Its just recognition as to your popularity (the fans) and the coaches (who vote the reserves) and why would they care what other coaches and the fans think when they are playing to win a championship. Ok u even mentioned it yourself. Devin Harris made it and so did Chris Bosh and Granger and they are on teams with losing records. No one has any say for the starters due to the fans, but the coaches vote three players from the east that have losing records. Thats three out of the seven selected so thats enough for losing record teams. The other four players had winning records and they should be rewarded for having a winning record. And in your last post u said Gasol deserves it because he made them a contender. Well then you can't argue that Rashard lewis and Jameer made it because they make Orlando an elite team (not considered contender yet)
I'm probably putting too much into this since you are right about something: it is a meaningless game for fun. I mean, if I were an All-Star level player I would probably want the weekend off but that's just me. It is a popularity contest and a whole bunch of mumbo jumbo that NBA players probably don't even enjoy that much, if you asked them honestly. Again, I just wish there was some sort of contingency to control the fan vote to make sure the correct players are awarded the starting spots. Look at it this way: the fans place their votes and cast 8/10 starters correctly. What i'm suggesting is the coaches then intervene to properly cast the remaining two spots. It's the best of both worlds: fans get their votes, coaches make sure the line ups are fair and make sense. I understand your point about three players with losing records being selected by the coaches. I'm glad they got that right as they were all obvious choices. Still, I have a problem with your "they should be rewarded for their winning record" naive line of thinking. This is exactly what i'm talking about. Why is that the first thing you look at? As for your Gasol vs. Rashard comparison, I don't like that. I've stated how I think Rashard is overrated and arguably the 4th best player on that team. Gasol has made the Lakers elite. The Magic are approaching that distinction collectively. Rashard is a good player and he's a big part of that but he's not Gasol.
Logic would tell us that coaches should know better than fans. For one, they are the professionals. They understand basketball a lot better than the average fan, which is the majority of the people who vote. For two, most fans only follow their favorite teams and know other players only by boxscore stats. Coaches, however, have to play against those players, and get prepared for them. So if the coaches don't think Melo or Durant are better than West, what basis do we have to disagree other than our subjective judgment?
I see what you're saying but using this thinking you might as well pull the plug on anybody with a microphone or sports column as well. Second guessing is half of the fun in sports. Am I wrong?
I don't mind fans and columnists b****ing about what player is better than who. After all, this is what we are doing here. What I don't buy is for fans to claim that if the coaches do not agree with what fans think of as obvious, then the coaches must be wrong. And I always have a beef with the idea of fan voting for all stars.
Ya, but the problem with that is there will always be a debate about who deserves to start and who doesn't. Ok take Amare for example. I don't have a problem with him starting. His numbers are good, and the only person that could debate taking his place as starter would be nowitzki. But in an all star game would you rather see Nowitzki jacking 3's and jump shots or amare taking it to the basket and dunking. Thats how you should look at it lol Ok for one well its basically got to do with fans and bandwagon jumpers that will gain teams with winning records support. The more a team wins, the more they are talked about in the league, the more support and bandwagon jumpers. If your on a bad team and your a great player, you don't have much support because you don't win. Everyone talks about the winning team with the great players not usually the losing team with the great players because they don't win. Is that right? Probably not because they don't win but thats just how it is. I wasn't comparing Gasol to Rashard. They are no way similar. Gasol is the 2nd best player on the lakers we agree. But with the magic, even if u say he is the 4th, he still consistent and helping them become elite.
I don't agree with this idea that the all star game and being selected to it means nothing (or that it's all about what the fans want). I bet this line of thinking is what contributes to the weekend being less and less fun to watch. I mean, you could make a case that all-nba teams, mvp's and other awards are also irrelevant because they don't affect a teams wins and losses. It means something. If it didn't, we wouldn't discuss it so much.
