NBA All Star line ups to be announced in an hour

[lazarus]

It's likely to be the usual suspects, of course.

The interesting part is when we get to the reserves, chosen by the coaches. Will Manu Ginobili make it? Ray Allen? Brad Miller?

And does anyone else think we should quit splitting players up by position so much? I like the idea of front court and back court.

Yao Ming is the starting center, of course, because players like Tim Duncan still call themselves power forwards. But let's pick three forwards from the west. Duncan, Garnett, and Nowitzki.

You're telling me they need a center in that line up? Pshaw.

Thanks to foreign players and a few creative coaches, positions are blurring rapidly, thank goodness. The Dallas/San Antonio playoff series a couple of years ago is a good example. People just guarded who they got, regardless of position. It was team defense, whether zone or man-to-man.

[Lefty48197]

1. Longshot: Darko Milicek

ok really really really really looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong shot.

[lazarus]

2. poor Darko

I really do feel sorry for him.

I can't wait for Larry Brown to leave the NBA. He's virtually ruined Carmelo Anthony (his coaching in the Olympics was pathetic), and now he's ruining Darko, because he refuses to play younger players.

Imagine a lineup in the Olympics of Carmelo, Lebron, Amare, Duncan, and Dwyane Wade. You can't tell me that wouldn't have been at least fun to watch.

[Tummler]

3. Only the starters will be announced tonight

And there won't be any surprises there, because the fans always vote for the same players and the NBA periodically announces the current leaders in the fan voting.

Likely East starters: Shaq, V. Carter, G. Hill, L. James, Iverson

Likely West starters: Yao, Duncan, Garnett, Bryant, McGrady

The selection of reserves will be interesting, as usual, but we won't hear the coaches' choices for a few more days. (Go Manu!)

[lazarus]

4. More interesting is

the question of Kobe's health and good sense.

His ankle is still bothering him. And I think he'd be very wise to use that as an excuse to skip the All Star game in Denver, CO. Ya know?

[Tummler]

9. One would think

But as we all know, Kobe's judgment has been found lacking from time to time. (Especially when it comes to events in Colorado.)

I think he'll "just happen" to make a triumphant return from injury at the All-Star Game. Kobe loves that sort of engineered drama, and what better stage than a huge media extravaganza like All-Star Weekend?

It's too bad, because his absence would make Ginobili a virtual lock to be selected as an alternate.

[mark414]

5. where's nash?

[Tummler]

6. The idiot fans didn't vote him in as a starter

He'll surely be named to the team by the Western Conference coaches.

[1gobluedem]

7. No Big Ben Wallace?

What's up with that? He should be in there.

[Tummler]

8. Over Shaq?

Shaq and Big Ben were both classified as centers on the NBA's fan ballot.

Only one can be the starter.

The fans are often wrong (see, e.g., the perennial inclusion of Vince Carter), but they made the right call on this one.

For the record, the top ten in the fan balloting for the East's center slot:

Shaquille O'Neal (Mia) 2,488,089
Ben Wallace (Det) 798,454
Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Cle) 306,581
Alonzo Mourning (Tor) 223,743
Chris Bosh (Tor) 208,221
Eddy Curry (Chi) 111,378
Tony Battie (Orl) 100,040
Jeff Foster (Ind) 90,970
Primoz Brezec (Cha) 83,682
Samuel Dalembert (Phi) 60,412

Source: http://www.dfw.net/~patricia/nba-daily/scores2-3.txt

The Eastern Conference coaches will have to vote in at least one more center, so Ben Wallace will probably make the team as a reserve. It's possible, however, that he could be snubbed in favor of quasi-centers Jermaine O'Neal and/or Emeka Okafor.

[Renew Deal]

10. The fight

I'd bet on it.

[Tummler]

11. Fight or no fight, Ben Wallace is never going to be as popular as Shaq

As I posted above, Shaq outpolled Big Ben by an Obama vs. Keyes type of margin.

As long as Shaq's in the East, and as long as both are classified on the fan ballot as centers, Big Ben can't win the starting slot without the help of Diebold.

Wallace will probably be named as a reserve by the coaches. I doubt they'll hold the fight against him, especially since one of his main competitors for the squad (Jermaine O'Neal) was involved in the incident to an even greater degree.

[Renew Deal]

12. I might have misunderstood.

I thought he was left off the team all together. I didn't realize that it's just the fan ballot.