2010 All-Star Starters

[Andrew]

The official announcement is not far away now, but reports say that Nash has overtaken McGrady and will get the start for the West. Iverson however has been voted in as a starter for the East.

[Rip32]

McGrady ended up finishing in fourth. I hope both CP3 and Deron Williams make the West's bench, you could have a 3-pure PG line-up, that'd be fun to see. I think the starters ended up pretty solid, aside from Iverson.

[Lamrock]

LOL at Iverson making it. What a joke of a player and person. Glad to see Nash make it, though I was hoping Dirk would make it over Duncan. Nash making it bodes well for D-Will and Z-Bo. Fingers crossed.

[deihatein]

I wish Dirk was the Forward starter.

[jonthefon]

Dirk not starting over Duncan sucks epically. I guess you can justify it though, unlike the Iverson pick.

[NovU]

Dirk this year has been more impressive than Duncan, but I don't think it can go wrong either way anyways. Nash making it really is deserving. Good job, fans. Iverson I guess he still got many supporters out there which is good for him. I hope to see him playing really well again like in his old days for the rest half of the season.

[SpaceFlare]

Well, at least T-Mac didn't make it..

[Andrew]

Official results, for those who haven't seen them.

East

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

West

C: Amar'e Stoudemire
F: Tim Duncan
F: Carmelo Anthony
G: Kobe Bryant
G: Steve Nash

Of those players, only Iverson and Garnett really stand out as odd choices and in Garnett's case, injuries/limited minutes are a contributing factor in his numbers being down as he's still a significant player on an elite team.

[Lamrock]

Well, I couldn't help it. Here are my picks for the all-star reserves.

Western Conference:
C - Chris Kaman: Is putting up huge numbers, and is the primary the reason the Clippers have managed to stay afloat without their prized #1 pick.
F - Zach Randolph: The Grizzlies are surprisingly good, and he is having a career year, averaging 20 and 10
F - Dirk Nowitzki: No brainer. The guy is a legitimate superstar, and is having perhaps his best season to date.
F - Kevin Durant: Can't leave him off. Hate to say it, but he is a superstar and is carrying the Blunder
G - Brandon Roy: Shook off a slow start and flourished with Oden out. Has put up great stats, and has kept a ridiculously short-handed team in the middle of the playoff picture
G - Chris Paul: A very obvious pick, since Chris Paul is a top 5 player in the NBA, and is the second most valuable, only behind LeBron.
G - Deron Williams: Long overdue. Deron Williams isn't having a career year, and the Jazz aren't contenders, but he remains a top 20 player in the NBA. Plus he deserved it the last three years and was robbed.
Snubs: Chauncey Billups (kinda sucking this year, and missed some games); Pau Gasol (too many injuries); Aaron Brooks (I like him, but he isn't an all-star caliber player); Tyreke Evans (not quite an elite player yet, and the Kings are 11 games below .500); Monta Ellis (is a complete moron, and the Warriors have only won a dozen games); Carl Landry (by far the best player on the Rockets, but his 26 MPG hurts his cause); Nene (maybe last year); David West (Mediocre starting PF on a mediocre team... but he somehow keeps making the games); Carlos Boozer (too inconsistent and oft-injured); Tony Parker (off year)

Eastern Conference:
C - Al Horford: The best center in the East. His massive improvement is one of the three reasons Atlanta is doing so well.
F - Chris Bosh: The best power forward in the East. Bosh is putting up huge numbers, and would be an MVP candidate if the Raps had 5-10 more wins. Nonetheless, CB4 has carried his shitty team all season, and is a lock for his 5th straight appearance
F - Josh Smith: The second best power forward in the East. Smith, who should be a lock for the Most Improved Player award, has gone from an extremely inconsistent project to a legit star in the league. J-Smoove is exceeding even the loftiest of expectations, and should definitely make the team
F - Paul Pierce: Pierce has been very good this season, leading the team in scoring, and doing so very efficiently. He isn't the best player in the NBA (3rd best on his team, even top 20 in the league is a stretch), but he has been very good.
F - Gerald Wallace: Hopefully the Defensive Player of the Year recipient. G-Force is the second leading scorer and by far the best defender on the #5 team in the East (my one good prediction!) and best defensive team in the league.
G - Rajon Rondo: He's by far the best point guard in the Eastern Conference. Easily makes it due to the lack of quality guards in the conference. Thank God AI made it for the sake of this like.
G - Derrick Rose: I hate him, and he's overrated, but I can't bring myself to put Carter in this spot. Plus Jennings has sucked for the past month or so, and I can't justify four all-stars for Boston. After a poor start to the season, both individually and for the Bulls, he and they have recovered, and now look to make the playoffs. Rose has been playing better lately, and makes the team out of popularity, and because of a lack of talent at his position. (Jamaal Magloire 2.0)
Snubs: Joe Johnson (he'll make it, even though he isn't one of the team's top 3 players); Andrew Bogut (Best player on a surprisingly decent team, but simply not as good as Horford); David Lee (better offensively than Horford, awful defensively); Brook Lopez (Nets: 3-38); Danny Granger (missed most of the season); Mo Williams (injured, and hasn't been that good); Brandon Jennings (one good month skewed his stats and public perception); Jamal Crawford (Hawks' third best player, but they already have Horf and Smoove); Shaq (:(); Ray Allen (odd man out for Boston, but will likely be a replacement for when KG inevitably gets injured again)

[Abctest123]

Is this Nash and Melo's first time being selected as a starter?

[Andrew]

No, both have started before (Melo in 2008, Nash in 2006).

[J@3]

I hope Bogut's picked as a reserve. I think Maggette deserves a look, people can say what they want about his D or the Warriors but 20/6 on 64% shooting is pretty impressive.

[benji]

Chauncey Billups (kinda sucking this year

And here I thought I had been teaching you over these years.

64% shooting

Now there's a student, even if he can't round.

I'd post mine but it's more fun to predict the coaches picks. Which I did like two weeks ago and probably don't need to be changed much. I can see Randolph getting a nod now though.

I do think a Bogut/Horford situation is even more likely now. I rejected it back then because of the Hawks record, but now you're going to get vote splitting on both that might put them both in the game. P.S. DARK HORSE: Shaq! P.P.S. Will the West Coaches organize to screw the East? Have they done it before? (Houston, Mason, etc.) P.P.P.S. They could send three centers and cut a third forward and guard! P.P.P.S. Consult with Aaron Burr first!

[Kenny]

Snubs: Chauncey Billups (kinda sucking this year, and missed some games)

He's missed a few games, but he's been awesome recently. 37 against the Warriors, 29 against Utah and 24 against Orlando. Plus he had almost a triple double in the Golden State game with 8 assists and 8 rebounds. He's no Nash, but I reckon he's far from sucking this year.

[Lamrock]

My bad about Billups. Been reading too much RealGM, and bought in to the anti-Billups forum rhetoric. Bad Porn seems to be having an epic season. I hate his game with a passion, so I'm glad coaches hate bad teams.

Didn't really check the stats on those for the most part, aside of the Hawks picks and East guard decision. (Who would you pick with Rondo, Ben? Ridnour?)

[J@3]

64% shooting

Now there's a student, even if he can't round.

I'll round you

[J@3]

C - Al Horford: The best center in the East.

I don't get this to be honest. I'm sure Ben's got more stats on this than I have access to but outside of his insane offensive efficiency everything else isn't that spectacular. He's not much of a shot blocker, doesn't stand out rebounds-wise, not many assists etc... everything is based on his offensive efficiency. But even then a guy like David Lee takes 14 shots on 59% shooting compared to Horford's 10 shots on 62% so he isn't really blowing them all out of the water either. Obviously Lee is a shit defender and turns the ball over more but when you consider the fact that Lee's comparable offensively and Bogut beats Horford in most other non-shooting categories (points, rebounds, assists, blocks) and barely loses the other two (0.9 STL% vs 1.2 and 11.8 TOV% vs 11.5) I'm not getting the Horford love there.

Obviously his ORtg kills everyone elses but that goes back to his offensive efficiency. Also I think you forgot that Dwight Howard exists, unless you are just being edgy by ranking him below Horford

[Modifly]

It sucks to see Iverson get the starting spot, and I was hoping that Dirk will start over Duncan too. Nevermind, he'll definitely be on the reserves team.

[benji]

Howard's the starter Jae. I think Lamrock was picking reserves and meant it in that context.

Honestly though, I wouldn't mind all three going considering how horrific the East guards are. Take all three plus Bosh and throw in Wallace, not sure you need more. Not even if you take Pierce along.

Lamrock, I don't want to send any other East guards. Flip a three sided coin between Allen, Johnson, Mo WIlliams, Iguodala, Ridnour, etc. Hell, send Arenas just for the lulz. (I'd honestly rather go big down the stretch against the West than play the other East guards, I might accept Johnson for that reason as well.)

It's Howard-Bosh-LeBron-Wade plus... anyway in a close game. I like Rondo there but Allen works for three point shooting as well.

Really, if you look back, the East wasn't REALLY in question anyway. It's the West that's the confusing one and I'm still not sure who the coaches will be sending.

[hova-]

Bad that Dirk did not make it for his home game. Saying Duncan is not as impressive as Dirk is not right though. TD is putting up big numbers just once again and he totally deserves it. Still tough for Dirk, as I already said.

I feel like Joe Johnson does not get enough reward for his performance. It's obvious that the ones of Horford and Smith are the big contributors to the recent success of the Hawks. But Johnson's game did not take a hit. He was the guy who got them into Playoff race for the past two years with Horford being inconsistent and Smith chucking up threes. This guy is just as much part of the Hawks success as any other, he just is kind of the basis for their success, while the other two were the keys for even higher spheres.

[NovU]

Bad that Dirk did not make it for his home game. Saying Duncan is not as impressive as Dirk is not right though. TD is putting up big numbers just once again and he totally deserves it. Still tough for Dirk, as I already said.

True. TD individually is having a great year as usual. Somewhere along Spurs's dynasty years, I guess our expectations from Duncan has been raised way too much. We've grown to take it granted that Spurs should always be a serious contender with Duncan in roster. And Dirk and Mavericks have been surprisingly good surpassing Spurs in the ranking so far in the season, so I guess wanting to see Dirk instead of Duncan can be somewhat justified because of team's success.

[Andrew]

Dirk will undoubtedly be selected as a reserve though, so he'll have an opportunity to put on a show in front of the hometown fans. I expect he'll see a decent amount of minutes (and ample opportunity for All-Star MVP honours).

[benji]

Somewhere along Spurs's dynasty years, I guess our expectations from Duncan has been raised way too much.

That's not a good reason considering he's having the best offensive year of his career. Highest shooting percentage, highest offensive rebounding, second lowest turnovers and second most points per 36.

He's just playing only 32 minutes a game so people are misled.

[Rudy]

Yeah, I've seen these names first and I'm confused, but they should enter to. These are:
- Kevin Durant
- Zach Randolph
- Al Horford
- Derrick Rose
- Rajon Rondo
Interesting. In 2007 Mehmet Okur and in 2002 Wally Szczerbiak entered, they are same as these 2010 selections.

[Cleveland wins]

I agree with the people that said that Dirk should have started, because he can spread the defense better than Duncan, although Duncan has a good long range shot as well, i guess he starts because he's been starting for a while now and he's won nba titles, also i would have loved seeing Steve Nash and Dirk Norwitzski starting on the same team one more time. Nash to Norwitzski, three pointer good! Even though i'm for the east as always, gooooo cavs!