I was searching for an older thread to place this in, but had no such luck. With the starters all but locked in, and set to be revealed tonight, I was curious to see who everyone thinks should fill out the 7-man bench. Are you of the belief All-Stars should also have winning records? Or is it simply due to their statistics. Also, feel free to discuss the choices of starters as well and if you agree or disagree. East Starters: G: Rajon Rondo (BOS, 4th) G: Dwyane Wade (MIA, 9th) F: LeBron James (MIA, 9th) F: Carmelo Anthony (NY, 6th) F/C: Kevin Garnett (BOS, 15th) ----------------- These are my picks. East Reserves: G: Kyrie Irving (CLE, 1st) G: Paul George (IND, 1st) F: Josh Smith (ATL, 1st) F: Chris Bosh (MIA, 8th) C: Joakim Noah (CHI, 1st) C: Tyson Chandler (NY, 1st) C: Brook Lopez (BKN, 1st) I think, this year, Chandler and Smith will finally get their all-star nod. I think Lopez and Noah are playing great, and leading their teams well. George and Irving are the future for their respective teams; having a terrible team didn't stop D-Will from getting in last year, so it shouldn't stop Irving. George is having a break-out year and is making Granger look replaceable. I think Pierce is a snub for sure, but I can't see a 3rd Celtic making it, at least not with how they've been playing. West Starters: G: Chris Paul (LAC, 6th) G: Kobe Bryant (LAL, 15th) F: Kevin Durant (OKC, 4th) F: Blake Griffin (LAC, 3rd) C: Dwight Howard (LAL, 7th) ----------------- G: Russell Westbrook (OKC, 3rd) G: James Harden (HOU, 1st) G: Tony Parker (SA, 5th) G: Stephen Curry (GS, 1st) F: Tim Duncan (SA, 14th) F: LaMarcus Aldridge (POR, 2nd) C: Marc Gasol (MEM, 2nd) I think WB, Harden, and Duncan are definite locks. Parker and Aldridge should be the same. David Lee could easily make it in place of Curry, while Zach Randolph could be swapped for Gasol. Paul Millsap and Faried are honorable mentions, I think. I can't see Lilliard breaking into the game like MJ did. Maybe next year if he's as good as he looks. Love and Dirk have been injured too much to really have a shot in.
David Lee or Curry? Tough one, they're both putting up good numbers. Warriors deserve at least 1 All-Star.
Holiday has arguably been comparable to Irving. Irving (Cavs 10-31, 13th seed) 23.3 pts (46.3% FG, 40.5% 3PT), 5.6 asts, 3.6 rebs, 1.8 stls, 3.7 tos Holiday (Sixers 16-23, 9th seed) 19 pts (45.8% FG, 37.5% 3PT), 8.8 asts, 4.2 rebs, 1.4 stls, 3.9 tos Irving better offensively. Holiday the better playmaker and overall better defender.
I agree with everything but Gasol. He's not an all star based on performance. 13 PPG 1.8 BPG 7.4 RPG .475 FG% No way no how. Hell, Asik Has better numbers in fewer minutes and is a better defender. Subtract Gasol and add David Lee and I'll agree with your list.
East Reserves: BC - Holiday, Irving, Williams FC - Bosh, Noah, Smith, Pierce I just don't see Paul George getting in. Even though the 3 front court players are all PG's, they're all big enough to play the 2. And besides, how often do players that deserve to be in the ASG, actually get in? West Reserves: BC: Harden, Parker, Westbrook FC: Lee, Duncan, Aldridge, Randolph Parker/Curry was tough deciding on before last night, but now that Curry is out indefinitely, Parker should definitely get the nod. Although if Curry is healthy enough to play in the ASG I definitely think they'll put him in and take either Lee or Randolph out. East: PG: Rondo/Irving/Holiday SG: Wade/Williams/Holiday SF: James/Pierce/Smith PF: Anthony/Bosh/Smith C: Garnett/Noah West: PG: Paul/Parker/Westbrook SG: Bryant/Harden/Westbrook SF: Durant/Bryant PF: Griffin/Aldridge/Lee C: Howard/Duncan/Randolph
Appreciate the feedback. Curry and Lee is definitely a toss-up. Same to Holiday and Irving; though I believe Kyrie to be more impressive. If not Gasol, then Zach Randolph should be in in his place. Memphis deserves an all-star and it certainly shouldn't be Gay. I can't see Indiana not having an all-star. They are leading the Central division right now, and its a dog-fight between them and Chicago. When is the last time a division leader did not get an all-star? If not George, then at least West.
I think it should be pointed out that it's 5 guards and 7 forwards. Consequently, Kobe/Paul/Westbrook/Harden/Parker/Curry can't all be All-Stars. Someone's going to be left out, and it's almost certainly Curry, especially with yet another ankle tweak. To me, the West is pretty easy. Kobe/Paul/Westbrook/Harden/Parker are the guards, Lee/Griffin/Duncan/Howard/Aldridge/Randolph/Durant are the forwards. In the East, I really was annoyed with the East guards. Holliday/Wade/Rondo/Irving are all locks, but for a while, with Deron playing like dog crap, I was probably going to go with Paul George. Now with Deron playing well again, he's the 5th pick, though I'll admit legacy plays some of a role in that choice. Josh Smith has no business playing in the All-Star game. East: Rondo/Wade/Irving/Deron/Holliday Garnett/Lebron/Melo/Bosh/Chandler/Pierce/Noah. Honestly would have gone with Varejao instead of Noah, but he got injured. So, that's my pick.
I'm not sure, but George is listed as a SF on ESPN, not too sure if he was a front or back court. As far as front court players, I would probably take Deng, Lopez, and Chandler over him. As for back court, he probably deserves the spot over Dwill, but you can make a case for Joe Johnson over George. I just don't think the coaches will get Paul George in.
I don't think Smith necessarily deserves to make it this year, but I think he'll get in because he really should've made the past couple years, they did the same thing with Deng and Iggy last year.
I think they still don't have the structure right. It should be something like 2 point guards, 5 swing players, and 5 big men. Point guard is really the only skillset that you can't readily play out of position. Of course, the All-Star guards are dominated by point guards at the moment. So, taking firebomb's choices for the West, it might be: West Starters: PG: Chris Paul (LAC, 6th) Swing: Kobe Bryant (LAL, 15th) Swing: Kevin Durant (OKC, 4th) Big: Blake Griffin (LAC, 3rd) Big: Dwight Howard (LAL, 7th) ----------------- PG: Russell Westbrook (OKC, 3rd) Swing: James Harden (HOU, 1st) Swing: Eric Gordon? Swing: Chandler Parsons Big: Tim Duncan (SA, 14th) Big: LaMarcus Aldridge (POR, 2nd) Big: Marc Gasol (MEM, 2nd) Out: PG: Tony Parker (SA, 5th) PG: Stephen Curry (GS, 1st)
Parsons isn't close to making it this year, and how could you put Gordon in when he's barely played this year? I'll take a shot at this as well though East: PG: Rondo/Holiday Swing: LeBron/Wade/George Swing: Melo/Pierce/George Big: Bosh/Chandler/Lopez Big: Garnett/Noah/Lopez West: PG: Paul/Westbrook Swing: Kobe/Harden/Gallo Swing: Durant/Batum/Gallo Big: Griffin/Lee/Aldridge Big: Howard/Duncan/Aldridge Good idea though, only downside is the lack of swing players deserving to get in right now, especially over guys like Irving, Curry, and Parker. Can't really say Batum/Gallo/Iggy/Parsons gets in before Curry and Parker. I'd like the NBA to change the format in the future, especially when we get guys like Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Shabazz, Harrison twins, Gordon in the pros.
Remember at this point last year a bunch of posters were saying Lowry would be a lock as an All-Star if he were in the East?
Not only that but Holiday's team is actually competing for a playoff spot, while Irving's Cavaliers is a bottom feeder in the east. So I say Holiday > Irving..... if there was one spot left on the All-Star team.
you can make a strong case for Parsons to be one, if there was a "SF" position to pick, but the coaches will probably pick multiple power forwards over small forwards hell Wally Szcerbiak was a flipping allstar.....
