Who makes the All-Star teams? West: PG Chris Paul SG Kobe Bryant SF Tracy McGrady PF Tim Duncan C Greg Oden Yao Ming Brandon Roy Andrew Bynum Dirk Nowitzki Carmelo Anthony Chauncey Billups Steve Nash East: PG Derrick Rose SG Dwyane Wade SF LeBron James PF Chris Bosh C Dwight Howard Kevin Garnett Paul Pierce Joe Johnson Devin Harris Elton Brand Danny Granger Rasheed Wallace This is what I'm thinking so far. In the west, I see Denver sending two. LA sending two. Portland sending two, even though I'm not sure if Oden deserves it, but I could really see Greg getting voted in. Anyway, this is just me spit-balling. Any thoughts? Predictions? These are subject to change.
Who makes the All-Star teams? West: PG Chris Paul SG Kobe Bryant SF McGrady PF Tim Duncan C Yao Ming Bynum (mostly due to their record) Brandon Roy Dirk Nowitzki Carmelo Anthony Chauncey Billups Steve Nash Deron Williams East: I don't care. There is no way Oden makes it this year. His #'s, while serviceable, are not All Star worthy.
Don't underestimate how popular Oden is. Go back and look at Yao Ming's numbers as a rookie. They weren't much better than what Oden is doing right now, and Oden isn't even playing his best ball. Also, don't throw the "China factor" into this debate. I've explained before, Yao wasn't even in the top 5 of vote getters last season. I think Oden has a very good chance of getting voted in. Oh, and I think Billups gets the nod over Deron Williams. Billups has single-handedly turned that team around.
You're right entity, but Greg is a center and LeBron was a forward... or was he a guard that season? I don't remember. Anyway, Greg is only going against... 10 guys? The only real competition is Yao and Bynum. Don't underestimate how many fans Oden has.
Yeah, I know he started the season as the starting point guard... was that where he showed up on the ballots? Either way, he was going against a lot of competition. Oden only has a handful of decent players in the west at the center position. I'm not saying that Oden necessarily deserves the nod, I'm saying he has a really good shot at being voted in simply because of how popular he is.
You think Rose is going to get the vote in? Vince Carter and Ben Gordon deserve to get in above Wallace/Brand, but might be screwed over by positional selection.
I think there's a good chance Rose gets the vote. I'm not sure. Who else would get it? Rondo? Calderon? Harris? I haven't payed much attention to the east this season. You're probably right about Gordon and Carter. I thought about both of them, but the east is so heavy on guards and forwards.
IIRC, he was the top vote getter for all the years before that. Don't underestimate the "China factor." How popular is Oden anyways? At least over guys like Bynum?
Pretty much everything Oden does ends up on Sportscenter. Bynum? Probably the better player at this point, but not nearly as hyped. I guess we'll see. At this point, I'd say Bynum is definitely more deserving than Oden of the starting nod. Will it happen? Probably not. If Oden isn't voted in, it will be Yao. I'm convinced that Yao is a product of the NBA. I watched him in the Olympics and he was garbage.
^^ Insert your All-Star team here... The Lakers are the best team in the west... if that holds there's more than a little chance they will have multiple All-Stars (look at the Celtics last season). I don't really think Pau is putting up All-Star numbers, so I'm going to say that Bynum has the best chance of making the team. You don't agree? Who makes it instead? The real bitch of it is that I'll probably lose my bet to DaRizzle. I never anticipated the Lakers coming out this hot. I think the Blazers have a good shot at two All-Stars too, I'm just not sure who else would make it. Rudy?
As much as I'm happy with Greg so far this season, there's no way he gets into the all-star game putting up 8 pts per game and 8 rebounds, even if it is in just 22 minutes per game. Rookie-Sophomore challenge? Sure.
Nik... go look at what Yao was averaging his rookie season. The numbers don't knock you off your feet. I'm not saying Greg deserves to make it, I'm saying I think he could be voted in. Since when does a popularity contest have anything to do with numbers? How many times has someone been voted in while injured? Without logging a single minute that season? It happens.
Unfortunately we don't have 1.2 billion chinese people backing us up. Yao is one of those special cases ... Hell even Yi Jianlian might get in with the popular vote, which would further highlight just how fucking stupid the whole fan vote method is.
