I'm a big fan of Lin but I hope he does not get voted in. Look at all the people on CF that don't want him voted in, now imagine what it'll be like outside of a Rockets board. If he gets voted in it's going to be a mess and the last thing I'm sure he wants is this kind of attention.
Yes, obviously I hate Lin because I think he doesn't deserve to be an All Star. Wow. I'll always root for Lin as long as he is a Rocket. I hope he can someday develop into an actual All Star talent. That day has not come yet though. Those who can't see that are blinded by their love of Lin.
Thank You Clutch. If Lin was playing ALL STAR level, we wouldn't mind him leading the voting. Harden is playing better, yet he is below Lin. You think it would be fair that Lin has more votes than CP3? If he does at the end? Ever since All Star came about, its about players who have played real good whether they have fans or not. The term ALL STAR should speak for it self. Lin is not an ALL STAR. (He might be later by what many of ya'll view him as) He is not YET an ALL STAR (or playing like one).
That's exactly right -- and all that negative publicity will be aimed at Lin, despite it not being his fault in any way. In my opinion, the worst thing that can happen here for Jeremy himself is to be voted a starter in the All-Star Game. He'll knock someone deserving out of the game, become more of a target for opponents and further establish an unfair "gimmick" reputation. It will be very awkward for him.
i thought it was clear that the all-star game was just a popularity contest. and the all-nba team consisted of the "best" players.
There is still roughly a month of voting left. He got himself a lot of votes the other night beating the Knicks on national TV. If he continues to score 15 to 20 pts a game for the next month he'll get his averages up to respectable. You can't ignore being a "fan favorite" as a factor to the voting. Whether he will accept or decline if voted in will be a differen story. There may well be more controversy to come... But imagine if he did get voted in but declined. He'll get more props for saying something like "I am really thankful for all the support from the fans. I think I can still improve my game substantially, I still have a lot to learn as a young player. I think I can be an all star one day truly deserving of your vote. But for now I respectfully decline. I think there are many great players at my position in the western conference who are more deserving of the honor. I will take the time from this upcoming all star weekend to continue to work on my game, to improve. Hopefully I can help our team to more wins and a run at the playoffs."
And I thought it was clear that the all star ballot was an opportunity for the fans to vote in those they consider not only the best players, but also the most worthy of being considered all-stars. There is a reason why people bring up all-star appearances when discussing hall of fame credentials.
I can't remember but didn't Iverson or TMac or somebody bow out of the ASG when they were getting a ton of votes but knew they didn't deserve it?
We all know All-star voting is mostly about popularity. Basketball is a business ! THE popularity counts a lot !
was the all-star vote always open to fans? i can't remember. anwyay, i still don't know how to determine if someone deserves to be popular.
If you have a favorite player, by all means vote your heart out! This is not meant to be "the best" in ability but "the best" in popularity. For example, some one may vote for Kevin Garnett but obviously, Lebron is a better player. This is your personal perference, not Clutch, Tinman, or Dei or Torocan. It is your vote!
I am confused. Both Asik and Lin are work in progress, so how can Asik deserve to be voted then lin not? Double standard? Is Asik the best center in The west conference? No, he still has lots of work to do to be one. The same goes to Lin.
Talking about the present: Lin doesn't deserve to be part of the USA team, for international competitions. Lin doesn't deserve to start over several other PGs, as CP, Tony Parker, Deron Williams, Westbrook, etc... if they were in the same roster for a NBA season or other competition. Lin doesn't deserve to be named for the first team, either NBA or conference's. So, if we say the All-Star game is a competition, or meant to reward the best performances of the year, yes Lin doesn't deserve to be there. On the other hand, if the ALL-Star game is an exhibition, and a game to please the worldwide audiences, that is a whole different case. In this case, I would rather see Lin and all the thrills he provides with his drives and crowd reaction, than OJ Mayo or Deron Williams. Lin would be much more entertaining for me. Likewise, I would rather have Griffin on the team than Love, even if I think Love is by far the best player. Because Griffin is more entertaining. I would even prefer to see Rubio over Westbrook or Tony Parker. So, it all depends on how we approach the meaning of the All-Star Game. That being said, I really think is a little bit of both. Of course it is a popularity contest, but also, is a way to reward the best players of the season, or the player's history. So, for me, that defines a little room for choices as Griffin over Love, Westbrook over Parker, or Duncan over Howard. Because even if those players are not necessarily playing better than the counterparts above, the level of quality is still similar. But, Lin over Westbrook or Parker, for me, today, is quite disturbing and it would lead to some embarrassment. The gap is still big between Lin and those players. In the future, if the gap is smaller, I don't see anything wrong about Lin playing the All-Star Game, even if the others are slightly better.
That is a valid point, Clutch, but I may disagree. In life, when you do something well or win something, there are always people jealous of you, unless you totally suck. When Lin signed the contract, JR spoke openly about how it "would" cause locker room issue. Should Lin give up the money to satisfy him? Would we do that if we get a promotion? Backlash from other players? As if there are any less now. I don't think Lin plays better than some of the elite guards in the league, not even close. But remember, all star game fan voting is not restricted to "qualified" or "knowledgeable" or supposedly "objective" fans. It's a promotion event, a party like business event, and it's to attract more viewing. I live in New York, and experienced Linsanity first hand. It wasn't just about Lin, Linsanity was about the phenomenon, including all the people who enjoyed it. There are people who never watch NBA following him now, there are female viewesr asking what technical free throw is following him now. After the Knicks game, in the office, there were people talking about how Felton and Kidd are doing fine, but they preferred to have Lin, coz it was more exciting and more fun. BTW, they are not Asian. Again, I never vote for all star, but I never have a problem with people voting for someone they like or root for, whatever the reason that might be. They didn't break any law, nor did they violate any rules or even moral standard. They just say they want to see certain player. How wrong could it be? It's not like what Shaq said, how a billion people vote for Yao or Lin. How many votes does he have now? Not even half million? Even if a billion Chinese vote for Lin, so what? Lots of people don't even like NBA to start with, are now supporting Lin, and rooting for Rockets to win. Yes, they might only do so that Lin can win. So what? What's the harm to basketball? What's the harm to Rockets? What are we afraid of? Fans preferring other players to start, should act like those who vote for Lin, using their votes to voice their opinions. They should mobilize and accumulate support to vote as much as possible, so that they can see more "deserving" players starting.
Lin is facing a double edged sword at the moment - if he continues to play well, he'll probably be voted in as a starter for the all-star game and get a ton of hate his way: "overrated," "overhyped," "only voted in because he's asian." He get enough criticism as it is, there will be a huge backlash from fans and players. If he starts playing poorly, he'll receive similar criticism: "overrated," "overhyped" "nothing more than a bench player." He's screwed, damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. I hope he doesn't get voted in, maybe next year if his jump shot improves and he's consistent, but he's not all-star calibre yet. This guy is in a super awkward position, they should have never put him on the ballot - we all saw thing coming.
If they wanna.see Lin be Lin then they could watch the rockets but Lin hasn't been Lin so they really can't see Lin be Lin.
I just had a look at this ESPN and the opinion for "does Lin deserve to be an All-star" is a resounding no! He's going to get a tonne of hate. http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/post/_/id/8746971/jeremy-lin-all-star He'll probably get voted in too, I was reading some of the comments and Lin has some crazy fans, that are like "I'm going to vote for him everyday" which had a bunch of likes. Oh boy. I feel bad for the additional hate this kid will get.
Too bad his fans don't realize that the more they overrate him, the greater the backlash will be towards him. Voting him in as a starter would only make things really awkward for him, so I don't understand the rationale behind it.
