As always, I wanted to put together a list of who I think should play in the NBA's version of Super Bowl Sunday. The fan voting has ended and the 2015 starters for the NBA All-Star Game have been announced. Now it’s time to ponder who should fill out the remaining rosters to play at the big game.
What do I think of the fans’ selection of the starting lineup?
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| All-Star selections; click to enlarge |
What do I think of the fans’ selection of the starting lineup?
Other than Kyle Lowry's surprise booting of Dwyane Wade from the starting lineup in the last round of All-Star balloting, voting in a player from an abysmal 9-37 team is just beyond me. Why David Stern or Adam Silver never stepped up and changed the impact of fan voting is equally perplexing. At least we can count on Mark Cuban to shed some light on other reasons why the system sucks - and cleverly without calling the fans a bunch of idiots. I of course am referring to the fans' selection of Carmelo Anthony. They may not have gotten the Lowry pick wrong, but a guy from the league's WORST team? Come on.
As for the West starting five, please copy and paste what I said about Melo and replace "Melo" with "Kobe." Sure, he will be replaced regardless due to a season-ending injury, but either James Harden or Klay Thompson belong in that 2-guard slot.
As for the West starting five, please copy and paste what I said about Melo and replace "Melo" with "Kobe." Sure, he will be replaced regardless due to a season-ending injury, but either James Harden or Klay Thompson belong in that 2-guard slot.
MY RESERVE PICKS
Key Omissions due to Injury:
Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City)
Eastern Conference
As I do every year, I base my picks off of teams who are winning. In a perfect world, I would put four Hawks on this year's team. What they are doing this year is not only legit, but incredible. We haven't seen a team exceeding its individual talent like this since the 2004-2008 Detroit Pistons. I'll settle for at least three, with Millsap being a potential injury replacement for Melo if necessary. They just won 17 freaking games in a row - reminding me an awful lot of the T-Mac-led Houston Rockets in 2007-08 that won 22 straight games; just a bunch of great pieces that complement each other very well without that much superstar talent. They might not win the championship, but they are legit and really amazing to watch.
I granted two All-Stars each to Washington, Chicago, and Cleveland - the next best teams in the East (sorry, Toronto, but you're too young and inexperienced). And yes, I do think Jimmy Butler is deserving of a nod more so than Derrick Rose - at least, to the season's midpoint. Rose has been ballin' of late - averaging 24.1 points, 5 assists, and 3.4 (!!) 3-pointers in the last 15 games. Had he been healthy and playing like this all year, he would be a lock in my book. But I gotta recognize Jimmy Butler, who is an odds-on favorite to win this year's Most Improved Player award.
Washington is a very intriguing team to watch. They broke out last season, making it to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs before bowing down to a crumbling-but-talented Indiana Pacers team. Marcin Gorat has only gotten better, and Paul Pierce's veteran presence seems to be paying off. And, he seems to have enough left in the tank before he vacates his small forward position in favor of Kevin Durant's homecoming. Too soon?
Speaking of homecomings, LeBron James is finally starting to look like himself, eh? After looking emaciated to start the year (he reportedly lost about 20 pounds in the offseason), he seems to be refreshed after missing a few weeks to heal his nagging injuries. He has a wrist injury that will prevent him from playing this weekend, but he is poised to have Cleveland finally gel together in the coming weeks. And hey, having Kyrie Irving - another sure-fire All-Star - helps too, especially when he can carry a LeBron-less team past a very, very tough Trailblazers squad and drop 55 on them on Wednesday night.
Now for the team LeBron left - the Miami Heat. Dwyane Wade, while still battling nagging injuries, is reminding everyone that he's not dead yet. He is averaging 21.4 points and 5.4 assists per game, and Miami's offense looks completely hurt when he's not on the floor. Looks like he's going to miss a little bit of time with a strained hamstring, and might need an injury replacement, anyways. Chris Bosh has missed some time as well, but is stepping up as a focal point in the offense post LBJ - averaging 21.3 ppg/7.5 rpg. With the (L)Eastern Conference as a whole being pretty shallow, that's good enough for me to make the reserve forward slot.
Speaking of Miami, let's play a "Guess Who" game. A Miami Heat player is ranked 6th in the entire NBA in PER. Who do you think it is? Well, if you go by my All-Star picks, it's gotta be either D-Wade or Bosh, right?
...Right?
......
Wrong. The answer is Hassan Whiteside, who has completely come into his own with a whopping 27.01 PER rating. Only Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Stephen Curry are ahead of him. That's it!! He's ahead of freaking LeBron!! Granted it's early in the season with a relatively small sample size of games, and he doesn't play that many minutes (17.1 on average), but still - the guy was an early second round pick in 2010 by Sacramento, and NO ONE saw this coming. Incredible story. But I digress...
Apologies to Milwaukee, whom I still can't name five players from off the top of my head, but I would not be opposed to Brandon Knight making a wildcard spot.
Western Conference
First off, my apologies to Russell Westbrook for the snub. Ironically, I am one of the most adamant defenders of this oft-criticized superstar. But I think both he and KD missed too many games to be considered for the contest. KD (as always) got voted in, but there are an astronomical number of deserving candidates in the West who played more games than both of them.
Golden State is this year's most talked-about and arguably most popular team. With Mark Jackson parting with them on rocky terms (at least with team management) at the end of last season, nobody knew if the Warriors could be serious contenders as constructed. But leave it up to Steve Kerr
- the world's most underrated basketball mind - to make Mark Jackson's inspiring coaching style a distant memory. They are now 36-7, and a whopping 21-2 at home. How they will respond to a predominantly road-heavy schedule after the All-Star break remains to be seen. But for now, I am rewarding them with THREE All-Stars: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and breakout star Draymond Green. Curry, of course, has catapulted himself into the league's best point guard conversation. Even last season, it was hard to see this coming with this position being arguably the most loaded in the NBA. But the fans already know that, and that's why he received the most votes of any player to play in Brooklyn on February 15th.
Whereas Curry was the leading vote-getter by fans, I think his running mate Klay Thompson will be the equivalent popular pick for head coaches. He has become arguably the best two-way shooting guard in the league. The guy has improved his game in so many ways - even putting himself in the record books by scoring the most points in a quarter in NBA history. This historic event can only be explained in NBA Jam terms. How did he get so good? This article by Ethan Sherwood Strauss is one of the most informative articles I've ever seen and explains all the work Thompson's new moves to add to his repertoire. Any explanation that shows video footage of a player's improvements is extremely telling.
And then there's Draymond Green. Admittedly, I am still giddy about picking him up on my fantasy team early in the season. But if you watch Golden State play, this guy has so many game-defining intangibles. In the Warriors OT loss to Chicago on Tuesday night, I watched Green - time and time and again - consistently out-hustle TWO seven-footers in Gasol and Joakim Noah for a lot of key rebounds and tip-ins -including a last-second tip-in after out-jumping both big men to force OT. For a guy who gives up about 4 inches to them, that is impressive. I know I'm pointing to a loss, but he makes relentless plays on a routine basis and is a HUGE reason why the Warriors are off to this start. Steve Kerr has recognized this from the beginning, and rewarded him with a starting role even with David Lee coming back from an injury. With his overall contributions to the best team in the NBA, I just can't get myself to leave him off the list.
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| Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap, Al Horford and company look to dominate the East |
I granted two All-Stars each to Washington, Chicago, and Cleveland - the next best teams in the East (sorry, Toronto, but you're too young and inexperienced). And yes, I do think Jimmy Butler is deserving of a nod more so than Derrick Rose - at least, to the season's midpoint. Rose has been ballin' of late - averaging 24.1 points, 5 assists, and 3.4 (!!) 3-pointers in the last 15 games. Had he been healthy and playing like this all year, he would be a lock in my book. But I gotta recognize Jimmy Butler, who is an odds-on favorite to win this year's Most Improved Player award.
Washington is a very intriguing team to watch. They broke out last season, making it to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs before bowing down to a crumbling-but-talented Indiana Pacers team. Marcin Gorat has only gotten better, and Paul Pierce's veteran presence seems to be paying off. And, he seems to have enough left in the tank before he vacates his small forward position in favor of Kevin Durant's homecoming. Too soon?
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| After a slow start, LeBron and Kyrie look to get the Cavs back on track |
Now for the team LeBron left - the Miami Heat. Dwyane Wade, while still battling nagging injuries, is reminding everyone that he's not dead yet. He is averaging 21.4 points and 5.4 assists per game, and Miami's offense looks completely hurt when he's not on the floor. Looks like he's going to miss a little bit of time with a strained hamstring, and might need an injury replacement, anyways. Chris Bosh has missed some time as well, but is stepping up as a focal point in the offense post LBJ - averaging 21.3 ppg/7.5 rpg. With the (L)Eastern Conference as a whole being pretty shallow, that's good enough for me to make the reserve forward slot.
Speaking of Miami, let's play a "Guess Who" game. A Miami Heat player is ranked 6th in the entire NBA in PER. Who do you think it is? Well, if you go by my All-Star picks, it's gotta be either D-Wade or Bosh, right?
...Right?
......
Wrong. The answer is Hassan Whiteside, who has completely come into his own with a whopping 27.01 PER rating. Only Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Stephen Curry are ahead of him. That's it!! He's ahead of freaking LeBron!! Granted it's early in the season with a relatively small sample size of games, and he doesn't play that many minutes (17.1 on average), but still - the guy was an early second round pick in 2010 by Sacramento, and NO ONE saw this coming. Incredible story. But I digress...
Apologies to Milwaukee, whom I still can't name five players from off the top of my head, but I would not be opposed to Brandon Knight making a wildcard spot.
Western Conference
First off, my apologies to Russell Westbrook for the snub. Ironically, I am one of the most adamant defenders of this oft-criticized superstar. But I think both he and KD missed too many games to be considered for the contest. KD (as always) got voted in, but there are an astronomical number of deserving candidates in the West who played more games than both of them.
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| The Splash Brothers have made their mark this season |
- the world's most underrated basketball mind - to make Mark Jackson's inspiring coaching style a distant memory. They are now 36-7, and a whopping 21-2 at home. How they will respond to a predominantly road-heavy schedule after the All-Star break remains to be seen. But for now, I am rewarding them with THREE All-Stars: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and breakout star Draymond Green. Curry, of course, has catapulted himself into the league's best point guard conversation. Even last season, it was hard to see this coming with this position being arguably the most loaded in the NBA. But the fans already know that, and that's why he received the most votes of any player to play in Brooklyn on February 15th.
Whereas Curry was the leading vote-getter by fans, I think his running mate Klay Thompson will be the equivalent popular pick for head coaches. He has become arguably the best two-way shooting guard in the league. The guy has improved his game in so many ways - even putting himself in the record books by scoring the most points in a quarter in NBA history. This historic event can only be explained in NBA Jam terms. How did he get so good? This article by Ethan Sherwood Strauss is one of the most informative articles I've ever seen and explains all the work Thompson's new moves to add to his repertoire. Any explanation that shows video footage of a player's improvements is extremely telling.
And then there's Draymond Green. Admittedly, I am still giddy about picking him up on my fantasy team early in the season. But if you watch Golden State play, this guy has so many game-defining intangibles. In the Warriors OT loss to Chicago on Tuesday night, I watched Green - time and time and again - consistently out-hustle TWO seven-footers in Gasol and Joakim Noah for a lot of key rebounds and tip-ins -including a last-second tip-in after out-jumping both big men to force OT. For a guy who gives up about 4 inches to them, that is impressive. I know I'm pointing to a loss, but he makes relentless plays on a routine basis and is a HUGE reason why the Warriors are off to this start. Steve Kerr has recognized this from the beginning, and rewarded him with a starting role even with David Lee coming back from an injury. With his overall contributions to the best team in the NBA, I just can't get myself to leave him off the list.
Okay, enough about the Warriors. The West is as competitive as it's ever been, but there are only a few spots left.
James Harden is making a strong case for MVP. Even a former teammate who he completely dissed upon his departure, Chandler Parsons, is vouching for his candidacy. Along with Thompson, he is a sure fire bet to get the coaches' votes, as he manages to drop about 30 ppg despite receiving continuous double and triple-team coverage.
Now for the team that defeated Harden's Rockets in the playoffs last season - the Portland Trailblazers. This victory, of course, was most famous for the thrilling series-winning buzzer-beating three-pointer by Damian Lillard - who absolutely has to be next in line in the guard positions after Harden and Thompson. He has carried that momentum this year to extraordinary levels and an endless pile of highlights. His less-flashy but equally lethal teammate, LaMarcus Aldridge, deserves his perennial All-Star bid as well - after several years of being a snub up until 2013.
With two current non-playoff teams - OKC and New Orleans - each having an All-Star representative in the starting lineup (KD and AD), that leaves very few spots left for a super stacked conference. If you reward the teams that are currently in the playoff hunt, you have to recognize, in some order, the guys who are making it happen for their teams: Duncan, Dirk, CP3, Mike Conley, Kawhi Leonard, Goran Dragic, and Eric Bledsoe. In other words, 7 guys for 2 spots. It's only fair that I pick players from the two unrepresented teams - San Antonio and Dallas - and go with Duncan and Dirk. With the Clippers already having Blake Griffin represent them, I have no choice but to snub Chris Paul. I'm even more mad about leaving off Mike Conley, who is also having a stellar year for the Grizz - but Gasol is repping Memphis already. One of these great guards will get an injury replacement call anyway (for Kobe), but for now I have to leave them off.
Damn, that was hard.
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| Lillard (left) and Harden (right) are two of the most lethal offensive weapons in the league |
Now for the team that defeated Harden's Rockets in the playoffs last season - the Portland Trailblazers. This victory, of course, was most famous for the thrilling series-winning buzzer-beating three-pointer by Damian Lillard - who absolutely has to be next in line in the guard positions after Harden and Thompson. He has carried that momentum this year to extraordinary levels and an endless pile of highlights. His less-flashy but equally lethal teammate, LaMarcus Aldridge, deserves his perennial All-Star bid as well - after several years of being a snub up until 2013.
With two current non-playoff teams - OKC and New Orleans - each having an All-Star representative in the starting lineup (KD and AD), that leaves very few spots left for a super stacked conference. If you reward the teams that are currently in the playoff hunt, you have to recognize, in some order, the guys who are making it happen for their teams: Duncan, Dirk, CP3, Mike Conley, Kawhi Leonard, Goran Dragic, and Eric Bledsoe. In other words, 7 guys for 2 spots. It's only fair that I pick players from the two unrepresented teams - San Antonio and Dallas - and go with Duncan and Dirk. With the Clippers already having Blake Griffin represent them, I have no choice but to snub Chris Paul. I'm even more mad about leaving off Mike Conley, who is also having a stellar year for the Grizz - but Gasol is repping Memphis already. One of these great guards will get an injury replacement call anyway (for Kobe), but for now I have to leave them off.
Damn, that was hard.
2 comments:
What's the justification of Teague over Kyrie Irving as top reserve? Even your "winning" mantra doesn't qualify this time as the Cavs are a top team. Kyrie is better in almost every statistic and he means more to the Cavs than Teague does to ATL. Historically Kyrie has been the reserve on a Cavs loser and has garnered MVP. If you need more then 55!, shoe game, and any game where Lebron and Kyrie are both dropping 30+ in ways not seen since 2012 Wade/Lebron. This is like Simmons saying Kyrie is barely Top 10 PG (#10).
#5 in the East doesn't qualify to me as a "top" team. But either way, I am more so just highlighting the Hawks than establishing a hierarchy of who should be on the team. I'm in no way suggesting Teague is a better point guard than Irving (he's not), but he is contributing to the Hawks' success in a big way.
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