My 2012 NBA All-Star Reserves

The fan voting has ended and the 2012 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.  This is one of the weirder years to make such picks, with the shortened season being a huge factor.  With only a month of basketball to base our All-Star picks, players sitting out due to injury will have a huge disadvantage.  And without much of a training camp, most of the league has been sluggish over the first month of the season – resulting in a relatively poor quality of play overall so far.  So, a lot of my picks will have shaky logic behind them.  I realize this is hard to read, so click on the chart to pull up a better view.

What do I think of the fans’ selection of the starting lineup?

The fans did OK here for both teams, with the exception of voting Carmelo Anthony as the starting forward for the Eastern Conference.  With the Knicks struggling and currently out of the playoff picture, Anthony deserves some blame for the disappointing start.  There are many players over the years I can think of off the top of my head – e.g. Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, Allen Iverson – who are considered top-tier players and perennial All-Stars, but whose teams get better after they leave.  Those are exactly the kind of players that can be considered overrated, or at least the players whose talents don’t translate to winning team basketball.  I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again:  Melo is no exception as one of these players, as evidenced by Denver’s success and New York’s woes. As I’ve said repeatedly, I believe both Melo and his teammate Amare Stoudemire are stars only by name, not by deed. They would be much better served as 3^rd or 4^th options on a team behind true stars that know how to facilitate their teams, where they can afford to be just scorers and not facilitators.

Chris Bosh has stepped it up during his second season
in a Heat uniform

So if not Melo, who should have been picked instead?  Easy:  Chris Bosh.  He has been on an absolute tear this season, setting out to prove that there really is a Big Three in Miami.  Dwyane Wade has battled injuries all year, but Miami has gone 8-1 in the games in his absence – in large part due to Bosh’s much-improved play.  The question of whether he can be an effective third wheel still remains, but there’s no question he’s worthy of a spot on the All-Star team.

The rest of the starters on both teams are spot on, although I would have been OK with Russell Westbrook getting the nod over Chris Paul as the starting guard out West.  Then again, CP3 has been filling up the stat sheets lately and has propelled his Clippers to 2^nd best in the West.  His latest string of games has been particularly impressive, helping his team handily defeat the Thunder at home, and getting tough road wins against Denver and Utah (no small feat).  They are an elite team, and their franchise fortune-turning play is well deserving of having two All-Star starters represent them.  

MY RESERVE PICKS

Key Omissions due to Injury:

Rajon Rondo (Boston), Luol Deng (Chicago),  Manu Ginobili (San Antonio)

Eastern Conference

We've seen plenty of J-Smoove highlights -
but somehow no All-Star appearances

Since Bosh should be starting, he should be a lock for a reserve spot.  The Hawks have been playing great basketball despite losing Al Horford for the season, and Joe Johnson and Josh Smith have both been the main reasons why.  Oddly enough, Smith has NEVER been selected as an All-Star, but I can’t see coaches snubbing him this year.  Even without Horford, I think the Hawks are good enough to give Miami or Chicago (depending on the seeding) a run for their money in the 2^nd round of this year’s playoffs. In any case, Johnson and Smith should both make the team.

As I do every year, I base my picks off of teams who are winning.  Since Philadelphia and Indiana have played winning basketball this year, they absolutely must have some All-Star representation.  Jrue Holiday has been the key to the 76ers’ great start; he has been orchestrating an offense responsible for getting SIX players averaging double figures in points, with Evan Turner (9.8) and Jodie Meeks (9.0) not far behind.  He and Andre Iguodala have been the primary playmakers for this team, averaging 9.7 assists between them.  I’m not sure if anyone had Philly winning the Atlantic Division this year, but they’re going to win it by a long shot.

The 76ers have become the league's most surprising team this season

A broken nose hasn't stopped Roy Hibbert from
becoming one of the league's elite bigs

For Indiana, Roy Hibbert has become a beast in the paint and has added another dimension to the Pacers’ offensive and defensive schemes.  He’s displayed his fair share of toughness as well, especially against the Lakers – where he broke his nose and played through it to help the Pacers to get a road win in LA.  

It’s funny seeing Danny Granger and Iguodala as my wild cards, because of how similar their situations have been in recent years.  Neither of their teams has been particularly good in years past, but the two of them have been steady leaders for their squads for a few years now.  Two of the most dynamic and athletic wing players in the league, they have had plenty of help this particular season from their respective supporting casts – and it has translated to their teams’ success.  

Western Conference

Aldridge is long overdue for an All-Star bid

After declaring Westbrook a shoe-in, this is where things get tough.  Kevin Love has arguably become the best power forward in the league (how many PF’s have ever averaged 25 points and 15 rebounds?), so you can’t exclude him.  Besides, Larry Bird has been craving for white superstars in the NBA - you gotta appease the Legend.  Anyway, let’s keep going:  LaMarcus Aldridge was the biggest snub last season, so I don’t think coaches will leave him off the team this time around.  Rudy Gay has filled in admirably for the Grizzlies after Zach Randolph went down, so he is deserving of a first-time All-Star bid as well.

Nene is one of Denver's
many solid pieces

So after rewarding players who are long overdue, let’s try to reward the teams that are winning – like the third-place Nuggets.  Denver is a team much like Philadelphia and Indiana – one without a true superstar, but full of very good players.  Still, you have to reward them with at least one All-Star.  I picked Nene, since there are not many other very good Centers in the West (or the league, for that matter).  As much of a bad rap as Dallas has gotten for their slow start, they are still sitting in 4^th place overall in the West.  For that reason, I just can’t get myself to deny Dirk an All-Star bid – even though he’s played well below his potential and has missed several games due to injury. 

This leaves one more spot, which should go to someone from either Utah or San Antonio.  Since Manu Ginobili, the Spurs’ leading scorer, has been hit with injuries all season, I can’t pick him.  Utah, though, has exceeded everyone’s expectations.  Their two bigs – Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson – have both been a load for opposing front courts.  So since I can’t decide which one of them should get the bid, I’ll say that they are both equally deserving.  I hate how shaky my logic has been for this, but there are going to be some players in the West that are bound to get snubbed.

Best Defenders of the NBA

You could describe yesterday’s Thunder-Lakers and Heat-Knicks games with one word:  defense.  Despite all four of those teams being known for their offensive firepower, these games were really about a terrific display of defense.  As any coach will tell you, close games come down to defensive stops.  In the case of these two games, the Lakers and Knicks were able to come up with stops, and the Thunder and Heat were not.

In the final possessions of the Thunder-Lakers game, LA made three crucial defensive stops: Gasol took a charge on Westbrook’s drive, Ron Artest deflected a pass intended for Kevin Durant that led to a steal, and of course LA contested the desperation 3’s in the last five seconds by KD and James Harden to perfection.  On the other end, OKC’s Thabo Sefolosha played tremendous defense (as usual) on Kobe all night, but was unable to stop Kobe’s dagger fade-away in the closing minutes. 

In the Heat-Knicks game, LeBron James was seemingly scoring at will against the Knicks defense.  But in the closing minutes, he failed to convert on a driving layup – thanks to Amare Stoudemire making a great block coming from the weak side (yes, I complimented Amare’s defense – but he deserves credit for this one time) – and he missed a potential game-tying three pointer in the closing seconds thanks to Carmelo Anthony’s contest (and LeBron’s inability to hit clutch jump shots, as I’ve pointed out earlier).   On the other end, Chauncey Billups made some clutch plays, including draining a serious long-ball from about 33 feet after catching D-Wade off guard - tricking him by picking up his dribble and looking to pass to a teammate.  I bet Knicks fans don’t miss Raymond Felton anymore after the last few games since the trade. 

Melo was locked in defensively vs. LeBron

Great offense beats great defense, but that is what makes making defensive stops that much more challenging.  As Charles Barkley says, there are two sides of the court, and you need to judge teams and players at both of those ends.  If there was only one side of the court, the Mike D’Antoni era of the Phoenix Suns would have been a dynasty.  But that’s what leads to the saying of the cliché that everybody in the basketball world has come to learn:  Defense Wins Championships.

There are several ways a player can help his team on the defensive end of the court.  Perimeter players can play great one-on-one defense and contest shots as best they can.  They can also be active on the passing lanes and create easy offense and transition plays.  Big guys can either play great post defense one-on-one, or they can anchor the paint and help on opponents that drive to the rim.  All of these examples of contributions are critical to team success.  In other words, there’s a reason why guys like Sefolosha, Anderson Varejao, Ben Wallace and Jason Collins are in the NBA; they all are extremely skilled defensive players and are very valuable to any team, despite their limited offensive abilities.  Since there are so many different types of effective defense, it doesn’t make sense to crown one person as the league’s best overall defender.  Instead, you look at several categories and aspects and see who excels in those areas.  Keeping this in mind, I will break down the league’s best defenders in some of the major areas for both perimeter and post players.

First, let’s go through categories of perimeter defense..

PERIMETER DEFENSE

1.       Most Pesky Perimeter Defender – also known as the best “Edward Scissorhands” (aka the Bruce Bowen award) player who uses quick and disrupting hands the most effectively when guarding the NBA’s prolific perimeter scorers.

2.       Best “Post” Perimeter Defender – the perimeter player who is the toughest to score on in the post.  This category includes defending bigger guards, and guarding bigs when caught defending them on a pick-and-roll switches. 

3.       Best Help Defender on Perimeter – player most effective with pursuing double teams on the perimeter and helps off their man to create turnovers in the passing lanes.

4.       Best Help Defender in the Paint – perimeter player who most effectively helps off their man to protect the paint against players making driving or post-up moves

5.       Best Ball-Denying Perimeter Defender – player who makes it the most difficult for players they guard that try to free themselves to get the ball.

6.       Best Charge-Taking Perimeter Defender – perimeter player who is the best at taking charges versus driving players.

7.       Best “Kobe Stopper” – player who guards unstoppable perimeter scorers the most effectively one-on-one without help.

Most Pesky Perimeter Defender (the Bruce Bowen Category) – Rajon Rondo, Boston

Rondo is a real pest against players with the ball.  When he guards you, you better make sure you have a tight grip on the ball.  Always among the league leaders in steals, Rondo uses his hands to take swipes at the ball and also is good at waving his hands around to deter the vision of players he’s guarding.  Pesky play is very effective at getting under the skin of great scorers.  It’s the reason why Doc put him LeBron during their last game in Boston.  It was very difficult for LeBron to facilitate the offense and get in a rhythm with Rondo playing him that way. 

Runner-ups for this category are LA's Derek Fisher and San Antonio's Manu Ginobili.

Best “Post” Perimeter Defender – Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers

Even great post-up scorers like Melo have a hard time scoring on Kobe

This one’s easy.  Kobe is a perennial All-NBA defender, even at this stage of his career.  When coaches design pick-and-roll plays, they tend not to design them even for their big guys to post up against Kobe.  Why?  He’s hard to score on for anybody, both perimeter and post players.  If you’re a guard that likes to post up (e.g. Andre Miller, Jason Kidd, Chauncey Billups), forget about posting Kobe up.  He’s very strong and can body up on almost anybody.  If you do want to post him up, you gotta be both stronger and taller than him.  Even then, he’ll make it tough on you. 

If you want proof, just go back and watch any playoff series they had with Phoenix.  D’Antoni tried running some pick-and-roll plays with Kobe switching on to Boris Diaw, and Diaw couldn’t make Kobe budge in the post.  Also, one of the major downfalls of the pre-Redeem Team Olympic squads was their defense against the pick-and roll.  Chris Paul, Allen Iverson, and other small guards were constantly abused by bigger defenders that they had to guard at times.  When Kobe joined the Redeem Team in 2008, opponents had no such luck in those situations.

Runner-ups for this category are New York’s Chauncey Billups and Miami’s LeBron James.

Best Help Defender on Perimeter –Chris Paul, New Orleans

Using his speed and quickness to his advantage, Paul gambles off of his man fairly often and makes very effective double teams on both post and perimeter players.  Whenever opponents face the Hornets, they always have their mind on Chris Paul, whether or not he is guarding them individually.  He is everywhere on the court, and every opponent is extra careful in both perimeter passes and entry passes to into the post.  Because he’s so good at this, he creates tons of fastbreak opportunities off steals by creating havoc in the passing lanes. 

Runner-ups for this category are Boston’s Rajon Rondo and Miami’s Dwyane Wade.

Best Help Defender in the Paint – LeBron James, Miami

I am giving LeBron this category almost solely because of his signature chase-down blocks on both fastbreak and half-court drives to the rim. This feat makes every player second-guess themselves on driving opportunities, even when they’re wide-open.  If LeBron’s nearby, it’s hard for anybody to make a layup without him chasing it down and swatting it emphatically into the backboard.

Runner-ups for this category are Miami’s Dwyane Wade and Portland’s Gerald Wallace.

Best Ball-Denying Perimeter Defender – Ron Artest, LA Lakers

Artest has aged and his ability to stay in front of defenders has declined a bit.  Still, no matter how many picks are set for an offensive player, Artest takes tremendous pride in staying on him and denying him the ball by being physical and using his quick hands.  By doing this, he deflects a lot of passes (as with the aforementioned stop vs. Kevin Durant) and frustrates scorers that try to get the ball.  He is also good with the dirty veteran tactics, such as holding players jerseys before they try running away from him.  To this day, very few players have had success against Artest.  

Runner-ups for this category are LA’s Derek Fisher and OKC’s Thabo Sefolosha.

Best Charge-Taking Perimeter Defender – Derek Fisher, LA Lakers

No longer very good at guarding quick point guards, Fisher still knows how to step in front of driving players and taking charges.  His flopping ability helps get him the calls, as well.  It's tough for a defender to draw charges, especially since referees tend to favor superstars on their drives to the rim.  But Fisher is able to deter their reputation by drawing those fouls very effectively, even when he doesn't have position.  By the way, Fisher is the third Laker on this list.  If you wondered why even the best perimeter players struggle against this team, that fact reflects the reason behind it.  

Runner-ups for this category are Memphis’ Shane Battier and Utah’s Raja Bell. 

Best “Kobe Stopper” – Tie:  Dwyane Wade, Miami AND Thabo Sefolosha, OKC

Sefolosha has great defensive one-on-one instincts

I know I’ve previously declared D-Wade as the best Kobe defender.  But after watching Sefolosha yesterday, he reminded me how great of a one-on-one defender he really is.  He NEVER falls for pump fakes, reading his opponents’ moves extremely well.  We saw Kobe burn him on this day in the end, but that was as tough a shot as he could have taken and Kobe still only ended up 8-22 from the field.  Jeff Van Gundy raves about what a world-class defender he really is - and Jeff knows good defense when he sees it.  With his defensive talents, Sefolosha is asked to guard every opposing team’s best perimeter defender, and he does an outstanding job at it.   We never hear of him because he is not much of a scorer, but he has relished the role of a defensive stopper.  For now, I’ll say he’s on par with D-Wade, who is no slouch himself.  Wade averages the most blocks per game of any guard, and those come from both his one-on-one and help defense. When he doesn't get the rejection, he does a great job of at least contesting every shot he can.

When the playoffs come around, these two guys will be guarding the best offensive players in the league in their respective conferences.

Runner-ups for this category are Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince and Memphis’ Shane Battier.

POST DEFENSE

Now, let’s give the big guys some of their own defensive categories:

1.       Best “Perimeter” Post Defender – the counterpart to the above category of perimeter players that guard post players – the post player most effective at guarding perimeter players, particularly after pick-and-roll switches.

2.       Best "Hedger" – the post player best at hedging, or trapping, perimeter players off pick-and-rolls and returning to the post.

3.       Best Weak-Side Shot Blocker – player most effective at coming from the weak side – off their man – to block post or perimeter players.

4.       Best Overall Anchor of the Paint – player who is the best at protecting the paint and intimidating any intruders, particularly when helping their teammates on the perimeter get beat on drives to the rim by opponents.

5.       Best One-on-One Post Defender – player who is the most effective at individual post defense. 

Best “Perimeter” Post Defender – Kevin Garnett, Boston Celtics

Garnett is arguably the league’s most versatile defender who can guard all 5 positions.  He has a deadly combination of length and quickness, and is the main reason why Boston became a defensive powerhouse when he arrived for the 2007-08 season.  KG combines his natural defensive abilities with his infamous verbal jousting playing normal one-on-one defense, but also uses it to intimidate perimeter players from coming his way.  Perimeter guys like Steve Nash feast on mismatches when a big switches to guard him on the perimeter, where he can blow by his bigger, slower opponent.  But if you’re a perimeter guy facing a big, long and scary dude who’s clapping in your face and stays in front of you, it’s intimidating.  Just watch this clip of him guarding Toronto point guard Jose Calderon.

Runner-ups for this category are Miami’s Chris Bosh and Atlanta’s Josh Smith.

Best "Hedger" – Chris Bosh, Miami

Say what you want about Bosh’s lower-than-expected contributions on the offensive end as the third fiddle behind D-Wade and LBJ.  On defense, he is one of the main reasons why Miami is a great defensive team.  Bosh is particularly good at trapping perimeter players on pick-and-rolls, and is very effective at cutting off passing lanes to cutting bigs. He was very effective at this during in the 2008 Olympic Gold-Medal Run.  Team USA had sorely lacked someone like Bosh in their losses from 2002-06, despite having several prominent bigs (e.g. Duncan, Lamar Odom, Carlos Boozer, etc).  Bosh isn't the greatest one-on-one post defender, given his small frame. But he sure makes up for it in many other defensive facets.

Runner-ups for this category are Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao and Boston’s Kevin Garnett.

Best Weak-Side Shot Blocker – Tyson Chandler, Dallas Mavericks

Chandler gives the Mavs some much-needed help D

Before this season, I would automatically gives this award to Josh Smith.  But Chandler has come into his own on the defensive end this year.  When healthy, Chandler is always among the NBA’s best post defenders.  He has proven to be a great asset to Dallas and a perfect complement to Dirk Nowitzki, whose defensive shortcomings were constantly exposed in recent playoff losses.  With a healthy Chandler helping Dirk from the weak side, Dallas should be a championship contender.

Runner-ups for this category are Portland’s Marcus Camby and Josh Smith, Atlanta.

Best Overall Anchor of the Paint – Dwight Howard, Orlando

A perennial Defensive Player of the Year contender, Dwight is always among the league leaders in blocks and rebounds.  This is solidified by his command of the paint on the defensive end.  If you’re a perimeter defender on the Magic, you have the luxury of Dwight protecting the paint against anybody who beats you off the dribble.  Therefore, it allows defenders to press up against players on the perimeter instead of backing off (i.e. they don’t have to fear their opponent blowing by them as much).  

Lately, however, Howard has publicly expressed frustration with teammates for abusing this luxury and not putting any effort in keeping perimeter players in front of them.  Howard is great at anchoring the paint, but even he can’t guard everybody.  A final straw for Magic GM Otis Smith to pull the trigger on trading away Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis was for this very reason – particularly against Denver, when Carmelo Anthony absolutely torched Orlando for 35 points on 14-21 shooting.  Now in Phoenix, Carter has been getting benched in favor of Mikael Pietrus, a much better defender who Orlando misses dearly.  Dwight is the one guy you can’t blame for players getting points in the paint, so instead people question Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis’ defensive deficiencies (and rightfully so). 

The Two-time defending Defensive Player of the Year is a beast on the low block

Overall, Dwight makes it intimidating for any opponent to drive to the paint.  NBA coaches’ offensive schemes generally are designed to avoid dealing with D12 in the paint area.

Runner-ups for this category are San Antonio’s Tim Duncan, Portland’s Marcus Camby and Boston’s Kevin Garnett.

There are certain players who are among the league’s elite in more than one category.  But this really shows that there are multiple ways to be effective on the defensive end.  There really aren’t any stats you can use to quantify these categories of skills.  But NBA coaching staffs do notice great defensive qualities, which is why you sometimes see offensive juggernauts benched in favor of better defenders when the game is on the line. Some great defenders aren't the flashiest or most exciting players, and thus are seldom talked about outside of their home fan base.  But take a look at the best defenders from the last three years - these guys do get recognition.

All-Star Starters Announced

I was 100% correct in my All-Star starter predictions....

Ok, nothing to be proud of.  But the starters were announced on TNT tonight.  Following the announcement,  endless debate ensued regarding who the reserves should be - just as expected . But the TNT crew, one of the most (if not THE most) entertaining TV crew in all of sports, had several points of contention among them.  Here were the main debates, with my take on them:

1.  Kevin Love - All-Star or not?

As mentioned earlier, I do not think Kevin Love should not be one of the reserves because of his team's success, or lack thereof.  Kenny Smith reiterated my thoughts on this - it's no disrespect to Kevin Love himself, but rather he is a victim of his team.  Charles Barkley and Chris Webber strongly disagreed, thinking that Kevin Love should make the team if Blake Griffin does (Griffin was unanimously picked among everyone in the TNT crew).  C-Webb said something that got me thinking:  "If Blake Griffin couldn't dunk, would you still think he should be an All-Star over Kevin Love?"  What he obviously meant by that notion is that while Griffin and Love have been equally impressive, people only give Griffin the nod because of his frequent highlight reel-making plays (and perhaps the bigger LA market).  

That's a good point by C-Webb.  Kevin Love has had a double-double in EVERY game since Nov. 19th.  Pretty absurd.  Off the top of my head, it's been slightly longer than since Blake Griffin has not recorded one.

Unfortunately for Love, what throws a wrench in his argument is the team success variable.  As Kenny said, Minnesota has won just two more games than Cleveland.  Griffin and the Clippers started very slow, and do not appear to be a playoff team.  Nonetheless, they are still +7 games ahead of Minnesota in the West and started 1-13.  After getting his first few NBA games under his belt, Griffin has been an absolute beast and has given the Clippers the one thing they have rarely had in the history of their franchise:  hope.  That cannot be measured in stats.  You can argue that the Clippers have more talent than Minnesota (which is true), but the All-Star game is also a fan's game.  The coaches are going to vote Griffin in over Love no matter what.  Even with the Yao injury, I don't think Love will get in because of all the other reserve candidates on winning teams that may not get initially voted in (Parker, Nash, etc.).  

2.  Bosh/Duncan - Lifetime Achievement or Deserving All-Stars?

The TNT crew had varying opinions on whether these two guys deserve to get in.  Barkley feels as though some players on great teams get awarded "lifetime achievement" votes, where players are voted in based on reputation instead of their performance through the first half of an NBA season.  This is probably true to an extent, but not in the case of these two guys.  Not if you value team success.

Miami would not be as good without Chris Bosh, and I think people have finally acknowledged that while he's been out with an ankle injury.  Though not a prolific low-post scorer, he is an absolute nightmare to guard for opposing 4s and 5s.  Too quick against bigs, and too tall and too good of a shooter against shorter bigs. His quickness also makes him a terrific pick-and-roll defender; he deserves much credit for Miami's suffocating D. I honestly think that if you turned back the clock and Bosh and Amare traded places this past offseason, the Knicks would be just as good (if not better) with Bosh and Miami would not be nearly as good with Amare.  This is mostly because I think Amare would not be putting nearly the same effort when the ball's not in his hands as often.  Even as the 2nd fiddle behind Steve Nash in Phoenix, he was a god awful defender.  Remember him getting absolutely lit up by Pau Gasol in last year's Western Conference semis?  I still wouldn't trust him to anchor any team's defense.

As for Tim Duncan, how can you leave him off the All-Star team?  Do the Spurs go 39-7 at this point in the season without him?  I didn't think so.  If you put him in the Timberwolves, he may not be getting multiple 20-20 games like Kevin Love is.  But he damn well would win them a lot more than 10 games to this point.  

3.  Changing the voting process

Ok, so maybe this wasn't even an argument.  But Yao being a shoe-in every single year is getting old.  Last year, it was Allen Iverson that was controversially voted in.  Tracy McGrady was very close to being voted in over Steve Nash, also.  Yi Jianlian was almost voted in a couple years ago when he was on the ballot.  I think every year, at least a handful of players either get selected or receive several more votes than other more deserving players.  

Are you kidding me?  How has this not been addressed yet?  I know the All-Star game is a fan's game, but things have changed since voting has become available electronically worldwide.  It's way too easy for certain countries with the highest population to vote for certain players who don't deserve to be voted in. Hell, if I were on the ballot, India would probably help me get more total votes than 90% of the players.  The sad part is, that's probably not much of an exaggeration.

Ray Allen suggested giving fans a partial vote, similar to the way it's done for the regular season MVP ballot.  I'm not sure what the best way to do it is, but David Stern and his board has to come up with something better than the way it is now.