All-Star

So, tomorrow night TNT will announce the reserve lineups for the All-Star game. Since I like to make predictions/speculations about everything else, I'd be remiss if I didn't make my own choices as well. So here we go...

West...
C - S. O'Neal (18/9 for the season, 21/9.5 since Dec. + all the nostalgia + the name = 'nuff said)
F - P. Gasol
F - D. Nowitzki
G - B. Roy
G - C. Billups
O - T. Parker
O - C. Anthony

... basically every team in the top 9 in the west gets to send at least 1 guy. And the best ones (LAL, SAS, DEN) get to send two. PHX gets two even though they're not in the top 3 cuz they're the host city and all. Though, imho, Amare really doesn't deserve it (but the fans, or at least the NBA rigged it that way). If I had my choice, Nash would get that last spot and Melo would have been voted into the starting lineup (and I hate Melo). Utah doesn't get any because all their stars have been hurt too much. If Boozer had played all season, he'd be a shoo-in (probably over Melo). As for Deron, he missed almost all of November and played hurt/rusty through the first week of Decemeber. It hasn't been until the new year, that he's looked liked an all-star (19.7/10.8 for the year), though his shot has still been off (43%). It'sa shame, but I think he'll miss the all-star game again this year. It's really weird/sad, but most fans would probably rank Deron as a top3 PG in the league, yet he hasn't been able to make the All-Star game for 4 years now. Maybe next year. Honorable mention goes out to Al Jefferson and Kevin Durant... both are putting on gaudy numbers and their teams have been playing much better lately. Still, though, with all that competition in the west... I think you have to reward the team records.

As for the East...

C - C. Bosh (they're gonna cheat him into this spot, just like last year, cuz there's no other Cs in the east)
F - D. Granger (26 pts, 4th best in the NBA)
F - P. Pierce
G - J. Johnson
G - J. Nelson
O - R. Allen
O - R. Lewis

That's right, Celts and the Magic both get to send 3. That's what you get for being so far and away from anyone else. Big Z probably would have made it from the Cavs too, but he's been hurt too long. Mo Williams of the Cavs is a long shot but Nelson's stats are just so much better. And really... the Cavs are a one man, Lebron show. He means so much more to that team the KG or Dwight to their teams. As for the rest... the east is a bit different in that there's no that much difference bettween the eighth seed (currently MIL @ 22-26) and the 2nd worst record in the East (currently IND @ 17-27). Record wise, it's 2.5 games back, but I like to count just losses (since you don't get those back), so really, it's like 1 game separating 8th and 14th. As such, there's no clear cut guarantee for a "playoff bound" team to get an All-Star. Your really have to stand out from your peers and nobody from DET, PHI, or MIL really do that. That's same reason why great players (Bosh and Granger) from bad teams get to make it.

Honorable mentions go out to Devin Harris, Vince Carter, and Andre Igudala. Harris looked like a sure thing through early December, but he's been fading fast recently (15 pts in Jan, down from 22 in Dec, and 26 in Nov). While Carter's stats hasn't fallen that much, he's hurt by the Nets overall drop, going 11-18 since the start of Dec. As for Igudala, he's actually the opposite. Iggy started slow in Nov (13 pts), picked up speed in Dec (19 pts), and am now playing near all-star levels (22.6 pts, 5.9 rebs, 6.2 asts, 2.2 stls, 54% fg in Jan). And the Sixers are actually sitting in 7th and playoff bound. Still though, most people thought the Sixers would be BETTER than they are currently (myself included). If Iggy was playing this well all season then he'd be a shoo in as well, as it is, he'll probably have to wait for next year like Deron too.

So yup, that's my picks for the All-Star game. I'll tentatively give the All-Star MVP nod to James as well.

And while I'm at it... here's my picks for the rookie/sophmore games too, no explanations given/needed ;-)

Rookies:

G. Oden
K. Love
M. Beasley
O. Mayo
D. Rose
B. Lopez
R. Westbrook
E. Gordon
R. Fernandez

... honorable mentions goes out to M. Gasol, M. Chalmers, and J. Thompson... but this crop of rookies are just too good. If somebody was gonna steal that last spot from Rudy, it'd be Gasol, but for now, I'm gonna have to slot Fernandez in there. And I'm going to go ahead and give the rookies the nod this time to win the game.

Sophmores:

A. Horford
J. Green
A. Thornton
K. Durant
R. Stuckey
L. Scola
T. Young
W. Chandler
N. Young

...honorable mentions goes out to A. Brooks, S. Hawes, and D. Cook. Weird/interesting observation, but like the sophomores are almost all natural SFs. I count T. Young, Chandler, Green, Thornton, and Durant as all SFs. I guess that's just how the cookie crumbles. Green and Chandler can both play bigger at the 4 and Durant can play the 2 so I guess it'll be alright.