My Ballot, Part Two
Yesterday I discussed whom the fans selected for the Western Conference All-Star team and whom I would have voted for if NBA.com didn’t require registration to vote. Today I’ll focus on the opposing team.
Dwyane Wade and Jason Kidd were selected to fill the guard positions on the Eastern Conference team by the fans. Two years ago I probably would have also voted for both of them. However, this year is an entirely different story. Both the Miami Heat and the New Jersey Nets are out the playoffs right now, although the Nets are only half a game out of eighth place in the east. Sure Wade is putting up great numbers, but his team just snapped a 15 game losing streak. As I mentioned when discussing Yao Ming yesterday, individual performance on bad teams shouldn’t be rewarded.
Kidd on the other hand is basically quitting on his team and demanding a trade (although I admit I wouldn’t mind if he ended up on the Lakers if it didn’t cost them either Lamar Odom or Andrew Bynum). He is also shooting 36% from the field. That doesn’t really say all-star for me. All that being said, he would probably still get my vote because there just aren’t many great guards in the east right now with Gilbert Arenas being hurt. I would vote for Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Pistons, who is averaging 18 points and 7 assists on the second best team in the east, in place of Wade. But neither Ray Allen of the Celtics nor Richard Hamilton of the Pistons make very compelling arguments to replace Kidd. I might have even just left the second guard position empty on my ballot.
At the forward position are two of the best players in the game: LeBron James and Kevin Garnett. As amazing a year as James had last year almost single-handedly leading the Cleveland Cavaliers into the Eastern Conference Finals, James started the year playing even better. He’s averaging nearly 30 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists on a team that’s 24-19 and 4th in the standings. I’ve longed argued that Kobe Bryant was the best player in the league, but every day that passes it gets harder and harder to make that argument with a straight face.
As much as I hated to see Kevin Garnett go to the Boston Celtics and dash all hopes I had of him becoming a Los Angeles Laker, you can’t dispute that Garnett is the best player on the best team (at least record wise) in the NBA. The only reason he wouldn’t be on my ballot would be out of spite. And if I were to vote for another forward, it would probably be for Caron Butler who is doing an amazing job of keeping the Washington Wizards in the playoff hunt without Gilbert Arenas.
Finally, at the center position, the fans chose Dwight Howard. Once again, I can’t disagree with the fans on this one. Howard is a beast in the middle and this year he has the help around him to lead his team to compete with Boston and Detroit. When you look at the alternatives at the center position in the east (Shaquille O’Neal, Rasheed Wallace), the decision really is a no-brainer.
So all in all the fans did a good job of selecting the all-star starters. Thankfully, the coaches can correct the couple of oversights that took place and I’m sure we’ll see Paul, Nowitzki, Stoudamire, and Billups when the all-star reserves are announced on Thursday. However, I’m sure the coaches will also make some screw ups and I’ll be back soon to correct them.
Dwyane Wade and Jason Kidd were selected to fill the guard positions on the Eastern Conference team by the fans. Two years ago I probably would have also voted for both of them. However, this year is an entirely different story. Both the Miami Heat and the New Jersey Nets are out the playoffs right now, although the Nets are only half a game out of eighth place in the east. Sure Wade is putting up great numbers, but his team just snapped a 15 game losing streak. As I mentioned when discussing Yao Ming yesterday, individual performance on bad teams shouldn’t be rewarded.
Kidd on the other hand is basically quitting on his team and demanding a trade (although I admit I wouldn’t mind if he ended up on the Lakers if it didn’t cost them either Lamar Odom or Andrew Bynum). He is also shooting 36% from the field. That doesn’t really say all-star for me. All that being said, he would probably still get my vote because there just aren’t many great guards in the east right now with Gilbert Arenas being hurt. I would vote for Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Pistons, who is averaging 18 points and 7 assists on the second best team in the east, in place of Wade. But neither Ray Allen of the Celtics nor Richard Hamilton of the Pistons make very compelling arguments to replace Kidd. I might have even just left the second guard position empty on my ballot.
At the forward position are two of the best players in the game: LeBron James and Kevin Garnett. As amazing a year as James had last year almost single-handedly leading the Cleveland Cavaliers into the Eastern Conference Finals, James started the year playing even better. He’s averaging nearly 30 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists on a team that’s 24-19 and 4th in the standings. I’ve longed argued that Kobe Bryant was the best player in the league, but every day that passes it gets harder and harder to make that argument with a straight face.
As much as I hated to see Kevin Garnett go to the Boston Celtics and dash all hopes I had of him becoming a Los Angeles Laker, you can’t dispute that Garnett is the best player on the best team (at least record wise) in the NBA. The only reason he wouldn’t be on my ballot would be out of spite. And if I were to vote for another forward, it would probably be for Caron Butler who is doing an amazing job of keeping the Washington Wizards in the playoff hunt without Gilbert Arenas.
Finally, at the center position, the fans chose Dwight Howard. Once again, I can’t disagree with the fans on this one. Howard is a beast in the middle and this year he has the help around him to lead his team to compete with Boston and Detroit. When you look at the alternatives at the center position in the east (Shaquille O’Neal, Rasheed Wallace), the decision really is a no-brainer.
So all in all the fans did a good job of selecting the all-star starters. Thankfully, the coaches can correct the couple of oversights that took place and I’m sure we’ll see Paul, Nowitzki, Stoudamire, and Billups when the all-star reserves are announced on Thursday. However, I’m sure the coaches will also make some screw ups and I’ll be back soon to correct them.
posted by The Pocho at 12:17 PM
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