First All-Star votes in, Garnett leads all votes.

[shadowgrin]

I really hate it when others complain. All that complaining makes me angry.

[BIG GREEN]

People forget the all-star game is for the fans and not some kind of reward for having good stats.

[shadowgrin]

So you would rather have Yi Jianlian in the starting spot that Kevin Garnett or LeBron James?

[benji]

Forwards: Kevin Garnett (Bos) 1,527,963; LeBron James (Clev) 1,294,019; Chris Bosh (Tor) 411,313; Paul Pierce (Bos) 352,243; Yi Jianlian (Mil) 291,447;

For some reason, I don't see that happening.

And the question that is yet to be answered...if the fans don't pick...who does?

[shadowgrin]

Voting by percentages?
Say..
Internet: 5%
Fans: 25%
Media: 20%
Players: 50 %
..or something like that. The coaches already vote for the reserves so no need for them in voting for the starting five.

[benji]

I don't know why fans at the games, the media or the players should have a say more than fans voting on the internet.

[JT_55]

Fan voting being voting by person? Most fan vote by internet anyway.

I think that eliminating multiple votes via internet will help. Limits those crazy guys who vote for Battier/Fatoine 24/7 (apparently by their vote totals no one has done that yet, but...).

EDIT: I seem to get beat by 1 minute every single time today. At least this time didn't affect the outcome.

[BIG GREEN]

So you would rather have Yi Jianlian in the starting spot that Kevin Garnett or LeBron James?

No i wouldn't...but i'm just one fan with my own opinion. What gives me the right to tell the chinese and other foreignors who they should want to see in a fan voted all-star game? I'd be pissed off if it was decided by journalists and coaches and they selected Yi over them. Nothing makes me more of a basketball fan just because i'm in America.

[shadowgrin]

Good point. It all comes back that everyone can't be pleased.

I don't know why fans at the games, the media or the players should have a say more than fans voting on the internet.

It's not soley fans in the internet. Fans, coaches, players, and media can vote repeatedly in the internet.
It's possibly open to abuse by pranksters.

[JT_55]

But the ratio of fans to coaches/players/media combined is higher. And there is a less chance of those crazy guys being a coach, player, or media. Those guys actually have to work.

[shadowgrin]

I'm stumped.
Guess I'm not over that Yao over Shaq fan voting in the past.

[The X]

with all due respect, I think the worst All-Star roster decisions have been made by coaches....the thought of guys like Tyrone Hill & Jamaal Magloire being former All-Stars is ridiculous....

[BIG GREEN]

Yup.. they try to reward good players with all-star nominations. It's like when they selected all the pistons starting 5 for the bench a couple years ago. Then the coach subbed all of them in at the same time and i was left wondering who the all-star game was for exactly. No one voted them in cause the casual fan thinks they are boring....get over it you "anal-ysts" and coaches.

[Andrew]

I'd agree with that. All the same, the format has traditionally worked out alright. Ten popular players, most of whom tend to be amongst the top at their position anyway are selected to start and the benches are filled out with other star players and maybe a couple of guys who are having career seasons and the coaches feel should be acknowledged. At the end of the day, you've usually got about 20 of the elite players in the league making up a couple of superteams that will battle it out, featuring duos and dream lineups we'd usually never see.

Somehow that mystique seems to be gone for a lot of fans though, with the complaints about the number of alley-oops or the dedication to defense not always being there. I'm one of those people who looks at the All-Star game as somewhat of a spectacle, an exhibition between a selection of the best in the league where there'll be a bit of showboating at times followed by competitive stretches, particularly if it remains close late into the game. To me, that's what make the game entertaining. To each their own though.