All-Star Starters Decided

[Andrew]

Story

East

C: Dwight Howard
F: Kevin Garnett
F: LeBron James
G: Dwyane Wade
G: Allen Iverson

West

C: Yao Ming
F: Tim Duncan
F: Amare Stoudemire
G: Kobe Bryant
G: Chris Paul

Pretty good selections this year with Iverson being the only one that's iffy (and you could still argue that he's an All-Star calibre talent who's not having his best year statistically).

[Dan's Brain]

Wow. A couple of changes since the last returns. Good to see Amare and Paul eventually getting the nod ahead of Carmelo and McGrady. I do find it funny that Bruce Bowen ultimately ended up third among West Forwards. We were only 68,031 votes away from Bruce Bowen starting the All-Star game.

[sdot_thadon]

I think they screwed around with T-mac and CP3's votes, a few days ago T-mac had a more than 200,000 vote lead over Paul on NBA.com. Not that T-mac deserves to start or anything, but thats like a 400,000 vote swing. No other position changed so drastically. Hmmm I thought Harris should have got the start over Iverson, but you know how that goes.

[mvpshaq32]

Wow. A couple of changes since the last returns. Good to see Amare and Paul eventually getting the nod ahead of Carmelo and McGrady. I do find it funny that Bruce Bowen ultimately ended up third among West Forwards. We were only 68,031 votes away from Bruce Bowen starting the All-Star game.

Seriously, who the hell voted for Bruce Bowen?
I think with a little extra help from the people holding the Starbury/Yi voting campaigns, Bowen could get into the starting line-up next year and upset quite a bit of people.

[Modifly]

I think they screwed around with T-mac and CP3's votes, a few days ago T-mac had a more than 200,000 vote lead over Paul on NBA.com. Not that T-mac deserves to start or anything, but thats like a 400,000 vote swing. No other position changed so drastically. Hmmm I thought Harris should have got the start over Iverson, but you know how that goes.

I totally agree with you. I have a very strong feeling that they messed with the votes. I mean, Paul erased a 200,000 vote lead, and also managed to gain a 500,000 vote lead instead? If the fans were the real reason behind this, then why didn't that happen in the first 6 weeks of voting then? I dont believe it, and I smell the bullshit. Besides, if you noticed, NBA.com has been posting articles about the fact that Paul deserves to start instead of T-MAC everywhere. Everywhere. And dont get me wrong, I totally agree that Paul is far more deserving, but doesn't that shows some sort of sign? One article even strongly persuade people to help "fix the situation" by voting for Paul instead of T-MAC, and to me that is unfair to McGrady. The fans have the right to vote for whoever the fuck they want. What rights have the author to do such things?

It's less than a week since the ballots was closed and the last update had McGrady leading by more than 200,000 votes. I just dont believe that Paul can get 700,000 votes within less than two weeks and T-MAC getting none. The numbers are so suspicious.

Anywho, what's past is past and it cant be change. I just feel that CP3's numbers aren't clean.

[Andrew]

Actually, it's not really that suspicious at all considering how many votes were counted between the last return and now. As of the last return, 2,275,385 votes had been cast for Paul and McGrady. The final tally saw them garner a total of 3.8 million votes (based on Paul's final tally, McGrady's tally at the last return and the reported difference of 500,000), nearly 1.5 million votes counted since the last return. Of those roughly 1,500,000 votes, Paul needed 157,063 votes to tie McGrady and then a majority of the roughly 1.3 million votes remaining to pull ahead. Very doable, nothing fishy and people certainly voted for McGrady; his final tally would have to be around 1.6 million, which means he likely garnered around 400,000 more votes during the final stretch of counting.

I can't prove there wasn't a conspiracy anymore than it can proven that there was, but the math checks out and it looks clean from where I'm standing, 1.5 million votes gives ample opportunity for such a big swing. Also note that these are votes that were counted in the last couple of weeks, not all of them were necessarily cast during that period.

[jonthefon]

Don't think it's really a conspiracy. McGrady has been hurt for a part of the period of time between the last voting returns and now. Maybe people woke up and started to smell the roses.

Harris probably should have started over Iverson but then again, it's a popularity contest so whatever. Amare probably deserves his spot even though at times he's looked pretty apathetic about playing.

[Andrew]

That's still at least 8/10 who "earned" the spot though, which is pretty good for a system that's supposed to be broken.

[NovU]

That's still at least 8/10 who "earned" the spot though, which is pretty good for a system that's supposed to be broken.

Who are 2 that didn't really earm the spot? I assume one being AI, the other one maybe Amare? Because I myself actually voted for Dirk over Amare.

[Lamrock]

Iverson making it is a travesty, since he is one of the worst (i.e. counter-productive) players in the NBA right now. Bowen missing out is just a shame and a missed once-in-a-lifetime opportunity out of nowhere.

Good to see STAT over 'Melo, KG over Yi and CP3 over T-Mac.

[Andrew]

That's still at least 8/10 who "earned" the spot though, which is pretty good for a system that's supposed to be broken.

Who are 2 that didn't really earm the spot? I assume one being AI, the other one maybe Amare? Because I myself actually voted for Dirk over Amare.

8/10 if we're considering Amare's selection to be iffy as well, though he makes a stronger case than AI this year so I personally would say 9/10 are on the money.

[erik_twism]

Does anyone know if the earlier returns of the ballot where just from the internet or also from the paper ballot?
I can definetly see the changes if they counted the votes on paper just now, I guess the people that go to the games would vote Paul over T-Mac and so giving him the boost.

[jonthefon]

I would say in the end Amare did enough to deserve it. His defence and rebounding at times has been awful and my homerism made me vote for Dirk (obviously) since he's continued to play hard and fight for rebounds (admittedly, his defence is still below average). But then again, the Suns have done a slight better than my Mavs, who have been awful.

[T-Time3]

when the subs be announced ??
shit T-Mac isn't this years starter...
hope he'll on the subs.

[The X]

when the subs be announced ??
shit T-Mac isn't this years starter...
hope he'll on the subs.

I give him as much chance as Sean Marks does of making it....

[sdot_thadon]

Yeah, T-mac is a no-go.....unless coaches think he's played better than a few of these guys:

guards:
Roy
Manu
Billups

forwards:
Dirk
Gasol

off-topic:
Of the handful of games I've been to since T-mac joined the Rockets, he's missed half of them.

http://www.blametracy.com/

[hova-]

T-Macs career is straight on on its decline. Definitely no chance for the All-Star game which shows that he has not only suffered from worse performances but also from less popularity. I wish him well to get back on the right track, thus it is important to really get back to 100% health. He should just sit out the complete regular season or even longer just to get back to his physical standard of 4-5 years ago (where his back was already killin him .. but his performance was still on All-Star level)

Im pretty glad with those All-Stars. Maybe AI was not deserving it as much as the last years but its okay to me.
Now I hope the reserves will also be alright. I want to see guys like Brandon Roy, Dirk, Shaq (pleeease, hes an awesome guy to watch during the All-Star game) or Chauncey in there.
For the East I think guys like Danny Granger and Devin Harris have very good chances. Except Pierce, CB4 and maybe Joe Johnson I dont see a huge among the other players. Will be exciting.

[Oskar]

People are so underrating AI, he's not scoring, but he's really unselfish and effective right now.

[NovU]

Very true, most of times, in losing efforts.

[Andrew]

Does anyone know if the earlier returns of the ballot where just from the internet or also from the paper ballot?
I can definetly see the changes if they counted the votes on paper just now, I guess the people that go to the games would vote Paul over T-Mac and so giving him the boost.

I forget which way around it is (paper or online first) but I'm also inclined to think that was a contributing factor in Paul's surge. As I said before, there were enough votes between the last returns and now to allow Paul to have that kind of swing. Consider that Dwight Howard also garnered another million votes over the final two weeks of counting. It's really not as suspicious as it may first appear.

[pado76]

i think iverson has not the merit to be a starter, but the people love him....(for me the best point guard in est is mo williams)
also me i prefer dirk on amar'e...
that's are my east west all stars...:

east:

d.howard
k.garnett
l.james
d.wade
m.williams

-------------
joe johnson
paul pierce
danny granger
davin harris
andre' iguodala
antawn jamison
rashard lewis

west :

yao ming
t.duncan
d.nowitzki
k.bryant
c.paul

------------
pau gasol
brendan roy
jason terry
chancey billups
kevin durant
yao ming
carmelo anthony
shaq o'neal

[pado76]

excuse me...1 player more in west team.....K.Durant : he's great but okc is not in good waters......hiiiiiiiiii

[hova-]

I find the East very interesting. With Orlando's success there could be at least one Magician next to Dwight. Further I like those new upcoming guys like Devin Harris and Danny Granger.
It's also interesting that there will be only 1 Piston on in there with AI. I dont see any other Piston playing an All-Star Calibre season. Not like two years ago where they had three in it.

An interesting choice I read above is Jason Terry. He has really emerged as the second force for the Mavs next to Dirk since Josh Howard is struggling with injuries all season long and Jason Kidd is slowing down calmly.

[Oskar]

Very true, most of times, in losing efforts.

Despite not watching AI a lot this season either, or the Pistons overall, you're doing wrong when you blame Iverson on it. AI is not in the position where he has been in before, he's been put to a role .. I mean, they try to put him into a role the Pistons managment thinks will mean wins for them, but they can't do that. One important reason why the Pistons are losing, is the small lineup that's being ran so often and also, Joe Dumars isn't a good coach. He's not in a role where he can get the team wins, but he's in a role that Dumars wants him to be in, which he is doing good at. It's the coaching staff that doesn't know how to use Iverson to get wins, but don't blame it on Iverson, he does what he is being told to, and he's doing it good.

[benji]

Joe Dumars isn't a good coach

He's also not the Pistons' head coach.

you're doing wrong when you blame Iverson on it. AI is not in the position where he has been in before, he's been put to a role

Are you watching Pistons games? The only reason the offense isn't grinding to a complete halt is because Stuckey has had a recent hot hand. Him and Iverson use 50% of the possessions while on the floor. (Often more.) The offense has fallen to 23rd in the league. This was one of the greatest offensive teams in the league during Flip's tenure and the only real personnel change has been Billups for Iverson. They were sixth last year with basically the same team.

People are so underrating AI, he's not scoring, but he's really unselfish and effective right now.

No, he isn't. He's having the worst year of his career barring 2003-04 where he missed half the season. The only reasonable claim to it being better than his rookie year is his defense is better after over a decade of learning the NBA game. And the younger Iverson doesn't have that decade plus of wear and tear. Compare this year to last year. His shooting has fallen from 57% to 51%. He's gone from assisting on 27.5% of his teams baskets to under 24%. His turnovers have risen from 11.5% to 13.5%. All while his usage has fallen from league leading levels to star player levels. (Grant Hill, Kevin Garnett, Isiah Thomas, Ray Allen, etc. levels)

The Pistons are imploding because Tayshaun stopped playing out of his mind. Rasheed Wallace has been the most lethargic player I've ever seen in my life. Iverson and Stuckey are making me flashback to Marbury/Francis floor-denting matchups, and as a result Rip's effectiveness has fallen apart with him having to play out of position (and now off the bench despite being the teams only high-usage shooter) and with nearly zero players who can hit him on his cuts. Then throw in the fact that on any given night Jason Maxiell, Antonio McDyess and Amir Johnson (the only Pistons continuing to be worth playing) may play as many minutes as the NLSC depending on Michael Curry's rediscovering of Kwame Brown on the bench.