<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ElMaster @ Jan 25 2007, 06:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>McGrady said that he would let Nash start over him except for the fact that it would basically be a slap to the face to all of his fans that voted for him. Like me </div>The first thing that came in my mind when they started that interview with him was that he kept his daughter with him just so somebody wouldn't call him out on that
An interesting note and something I didn't even realize what that Nash is still probably going to start due to Yao's injury. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/...ers_x.htm?csp=1<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Fans select NBA All-Star lineups; Suns' Nash misses cut but could still startBy David DuPree, USA TODAYSteve Nash, who could very well be on the way to his third consecutive NBA most valuable player award, couldn't even get voted into the starting lineup for the Western Conference All-Star team announced Thursday. But the Phoenix Suns point guard could still end up in the starting lineup.Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets were voted the starting guards in fan balloting, along with center Yao Ming of the Rockets and forwards Tim Duncan of San Antonio and Kevin Garnett of Minnesota. Yao is recovering from a fractured bone in his leg, however, and will not play in the NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 18 in Las Vegas."It's definitely going to feel strange to be at the all-star game without my big man," McGrady said. "We've been out there together my first two seasons in Houston."I'm hosting a party along with P. Diddy that weekend, so I'm hoping I can convince Yao to come in and hang with us for a night," McGrady said. "I know all he's thinking about is working like crazy to get back as soon as possible."The head coaches from each conference vote on the seven reserves for each team. They must vote for two guards, two forwards, one center and two players of any position. They cannot vote for players from their respective teams, however.Mike D'Antoni of the Phoenix Suns will coach the West team. Since Yao has declared himself out of the game, NBA commissioner David Stern will name a replacement for him after the reserves, picked by the conference's coaches, are announced Feb. 1. D'Antoni will pick his own starter for Yao, however. The most likely scenario is for him to start Nash at point guard, move McGrady to small forward and Duncan to center.Besides Nash, the other former MVPs still in the league are Duncan, Garnett, Shaquille O'Neal, the starting center for the East ? even though he has played in only five games this season because of injury ? and Allen Iverson. Iverson had enough votes to be a starter in the East, but when he was traded to the Denver Nuggets, his votes went West with him, placing him third among West guards behind Bryant and McGrady, but ahead of Nash."It's always special to be a part of all-star weekend," said Cleveland's LeBron James, the leading vote-getter this year. "I think the No. 1 reason is because the fans vote you in. It's the one opportunity in the NBA season where the fans can bring all the best players to one venue. It makes it a little bit more special that it's in Las Vegas. It's a city that a lot of people love. It's about the stars in Vegas, and then you're bringing all the NBA stars there."With Iverson now in the West, Gilbert Arenas of Washington got the second starting guard spot alongside Dwyane Wade of the Heat, with Chris Bosh of Toronto and James starting at the forward spots."That was a blessing in disguise: It potentially opened years of getting in because of him going out West," Arenas said of Iverson's trade. "He ate up all of the votes, along with Dwyane Wade. Now all I had to do is catch Vince Carter, and that is what I did."It is an unbelievable feeling. Two years ago, I was voting myself in for the game; now fans are voting me in and I'm going to do what they are looking for. I've got something to give back to the fans during all-star weekend."The East coach is still up for grabs, with Eddie Jordan of Washington, Scott Skiles of Chicago, Mike Brown of Cleveland, Brian Hill of Orlando and Rick Carlisle of Indiana all in contention. The winner will be the coach of the team with the best winning percentage after the games of Feb. 4. Last year's coaches, Avery Johnson of Dallas and Flip Saunders of Detroit, are ineligible because coaches can't be an all-star coach in consecutive seasons.With only seven players to be added to the East team and eight (because of Yao's injury) to the West squad, some worthy candidates will be left off.In the East, Dwight Howard of Orlando, Jason Kidd and Carter of New Jersey and Chauncey Billups of Detroit are likely to be selected. That would leave only three spots for Emeka Okafor of Charlotte, Richard Hamilton of Detroit, Jermaine O'Neal of Indiana, Michael Redd of Milwaukee, Luol Deng, Ben Gordon and Ben Wallace of Chicago, Caron Butler of Washington and long shot David Lee of New York.The West is even more crowded. Nash and Phoenix teammates Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion, Carmelo Anthony of Denver, Iverson, Josh Howard of Dallas and Carlos Boozer of Utah are the front-runners for six of the spots. That would leave only two openings for Ray Allen of Seattle, Chris Paul of New Orleans/Oklahoma City, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker of San Antonio, Mehmet Okur of Utah, Elton Brand of the Los Angeles Clippers and Zach Randolph of Portland.</div>He did however forget to list Dirk as a "potential" reserve
Oh Yeah didnt think about that. Nash probably will start. That would be cool to see that because he deserves it, maybe break the record for most assists?
I'm thinking that Nowitzki should start in place for Yao. Dirk's having a MVP type season. But then Nash should also deserve it as well. He's also been having an amazing year. It would be awesome to see a Canadian to start too.
Dirk and Nash should both be starting in the ASG. They are both having MVP caliber years and yet neither are starting? To me that is just crazy.
WTF? How can Jermaine not be a starter?These polls are rigged. Bosh just puts up good numbers on a bad team. At least the Pacers are above .500. UGGHHH! I can't stand these non-NBA followers who vote. They all just vote for the guys with the numbers.
Anyone think that Charles Barkley's choices for the bench were ridiculous. He chose fu*kin 4 people hahahahaha. What a fackinjacksack
Ridiculous that Dirk isnt in the starting lineup. IMO, he could and should be in there over either Duncan or KG. He is having a great season and his team is 1st in the NBA as of right now. He deserves to be starting.And I hate Shaq starting, but I wont mind as much if he doesn't play that much. I dont think that he will considering he just came back from a huge injury.
Quite Frankly, I hate the ASG. Fans really shouldn't vote on who gets in. I'm sick of f*cking yao ming. He's going to end up with the most ASG appearances ever I'm sure. Such a ripoff, when the ***hole doesn't even play more than like 10 games in the first half of the last 2 seasons.
The all star game is based on popularity--not necessarily on how a player is performing. Shaq is going to be the Eastern Conference starting center until he retires whether you like it or not.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (LeBronJamez @ Jan 26 2007, 12:14 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The all star game is based on popularity--not necessarily on how a player is performing. Shaq is going to be the Eastern Conference starting center until he retires whether you like it or not.</div>Yeah we had this same discussion last year. The majority of fans do not not base it on the player skill. Instead, they base it on the player's popularity. So chances are, if your a player like Kevin Martin and your having the best season of your life, chances are you wont be voted in because theres other superstars that are more popular.
Nick collison will take his place lol but camby would be good for defensive reasons... I mean thats if the west wants to win! but then again he probably would get injured.Theres a lot of stupid votes here like Ginobili and Parker having more votes than ray allen and chris paul.. makes no damn sense.Dwight howard should be starting over shaq.who would give brad miller votes... waste.I was kidding about Collison. but Amare should start as Center.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>These polls are rigged. Bosh just puts up good numbers on a bad team. At least the Pacers are above .500. UGGHHH! I can't stand these non-NBA followers who vote. They all just vote for the guys with the numbers.</div>News flash: The Toronto Raptors are only 2 games behind the Indiana Pacers in the East. They have been playing some pretty damn good teams so far, half of them have been against either the Western Conference or teams with winning records. They lost Chris Bosh for 12 games and still managed to remain .500 during that time. Bosh is putting up better all around numbers than Jermaine O'Neal and his team has a similar record, he deserves to be in the starting lineup.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Quite Frankly, I hate the ASG. Fans really shouldn't vote on who gets in. I'm sick of f*cking yao ming. He's going to end up with the most ASG appearances ever I'm sure. Such a ripoff, when the ***hole doesn't even play more than like 10 games in the first half of the last 2 seasons.</div>10 games, what are you talking about? He has played 27 games so far this season, he played nearly 2 full months (He went down around Christmas time) For the most part up until now, he has been healthy this year.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BALLAHOLLIC? @ Jan 26 2007, 12:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>10 games, what are you talking about? He has played 27 games so far this season, he played nearly 2 full months (He went down around Christmas time) For the most part up until now, he has been healthy this year.</div>Exactly, and to top it off, Yao was having a GREAT season. He was playing extremely well, and when healthy, he's the best center in the NBA IMO. I don't know what dogma was talking about lol.
I agree with the lineups aside from Shaq....c'mon 5 games of the worst basketball of his career....and he's starting?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Iverson3 @ Jan 25 2007, 07:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>How do you think? He's the peoples choice. Everybody loves him not for how he plays but for his personality.</div>He shouldn't be in because it's a basketball game, not a personality game.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pacers fan forever @ Jan 25 2007, 10:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>WTF? How can Jermaine not be a starter?These polls are rigged. Bosh just puts up good numbers on a bad team. At least the Pacers are above .500. UGGHHH! I can't stand these non-NBA followers who vote. They all just vote for the guys with the numbers.</div> Both our records are like 3 games apart, plus the Raptors are doing better this season, while the Pacers are not. Bosh is playing better than Oneal too.
This is why having us the fans deciding on who starts in the all-star game is stupid bs. Every year someone who doesn't deserve to start gets voted in by the fans over someone who does deserve it.HERE IS WHO SHOULD BE STARTING:EASTG - Arenas (finally didn't get cheaped, its all cause AI trade though)G - Wade (though tough yr for Miami nobody better than him)F - James (the one only LeBron again)F - O'Neal (better shot blocker than Bosh)C - Howard (not even close, Shaq looks like trash)WESTG - Nash (yes top MVP player again)G - Bryant (I hate him butF - Garnett (better shot blocker than Dirk)F - Duncan (same reason as KG)C - Camby (as Yao's replacement... yes thats right CAMBY)As you see I think Bosh is being a little over hyped on being the best power forward in the east when the guy in Orlando, Dwight Howard to me would be the best if he didn't transform into a center so I gotta give it to the guy who has been the best for yrs in Jermaine O'Neal. Yes its obvious Shaq does not only deserve to not start in the all-star game he doesn't deserve to go with him not playing much, Miami falling off and his sad stats of 12 and 6 a game.Yes in the West once again the SG combo of T-Mac and Kobe are starting in the backcourt, another yr I say even though McGrady is my favorite player Steve Nash the 2 time MVP should be starting instead, but hey thats how it sadly works. Not to beat down on the Houston Rockets but Yao until this yr should of never shown up to all-star game rather than get voted in by everybody thats Asian. Marcus Camby you ask? yes Marcus Camby, just look at the fall off this yr of Amare Stoudemire, Brad Miller and Pau Gasol of course he deserves to start he should of started last yrs all star game.
