I wrote in a different thread that Boozer's 20.5 PER puts him in the All-Star discussion. So let's see who the competition is and how they're doing: Anderson 25.2 PER Bargnani 23.5 PER Josh Smith 21.2 PER Boozer 20.5 PER Bosh 20.3 PER Gooden 19.8 PER Amare 19.5 PER Garnett 18.2 PER Humphries 17.9 PER West 17.6 PER
1/11/12 Anderson 25.2 PER Bargnani 23.5 PER Josh Smith 21.2 PER Amare 19.5 PER Boozer 19.1 PER Bosh 18.8 PER Gooden 18.4 PER Garnett 18.2 PER Humphries 17.7 PER West 17.6 PER
Taj Gibson 14.0 PER Omer Asik 10.1 PER Trivia question. Aside from Rose, name a player on the Bulls since Jordan retired who had a 19.1 PER or better. Or better than Boozer's 18.8 PER last season (Elton Brand did it twice, Brad Miller once in 48 games)
1/12/12 Anderson 25.2 PER Bargnani 22.0 PER Josh Smith 20.9 PER Amare 19.2 PER Varejao 18.9 PER Gooden 18.5 PER Garnett 18.5 PER West 18.3 PER Humphries 18.3 PER Bosh 17.9 PER Boozer 17.7 PER
Luol Deng 13.7 Taj Gibson 14.8 Omer Asik 11.8 Joakim Noah 13.1 We've got 5 really good forwards, none are doing very well.
This thread title almost feels like a parody after last night's horrific showing. You're going to explain that John Lucas III is a bad point guard and didn't feed him the ball, and you're somewhat right. At the end of the day, though, none of that matters. An allstar is a player like Al Horford who is good no matter how bad the situation. Play out of position, no problem. Ball hogging teammates, no problem. Losing culture, no problem. That's the type of player who is an allstar and worth fifteen million per year, even considering his sad injury today. The Bulls took a shot in free agency on Boozer and it doesn't look like it's going to pay off, unless they beat the odds and win this year. Regardless, Boozer is on borrowed time. The decision of whether Reinsdorf steps up and amnesties him, or whether he guts the franchise's assets unloading the contract may define this team for the next decade.
1/14/12 Anderson 24.9 PER Josh Smith 22.0 PER Humphries 19.0 PER Varejao 18.7 PER Bosh 18.0 PER Amare 17.8 PER Boozer 17.5 PER West 17.4 PER Hansborough 17.4 PER Brand 17.2 PER Garnett 16.6 PER Note: I removed Bargnani. Hollinger lists Bargs as a center and according to 82games.com, he's played over 90% of his minutes at center.
Verajao plays C, too, I think. Interesting bunch when you consider our FA options at PF. Bosh, Amare, Boozer.
It feels like the hype machine (Jeff Van Gundy, at least) is building for a Luol Deng Allstar nod. His numbers aren't any better than in past years, and I'm not sure he's playing any better either. He's been good for a very long time. Deng would have to beat out Danny Granger and Andre Iguodala (both of whom's numbers are down on teams that are performing well), and Hedo Turkoglu (who's putting up good numbers, and his team is performing well.) I think Deng actually may have a relatively good shot at making it. I'd rather have him on the team than any of those listed above. And he certainly fits the profile of a player that produces, regardless of what situation he's put in.
He's not beating LeBron as starter. He'd make the team if the coach wants him. I'm guessing not, since Van Gundy also talked about how he's good at a lot of things but not excellent at any one of them. He's also scoring 15 points on 14.3 attempts. That's a poor ratio. Compare to Rose at 21.1 on 16, who's our best bet for making the all-star team
I think the stars are aligned for Deng this year. I get the impression Deng has always been more appreciated by coaches than lay fans due to his awkward offensive style and excellent positional defense. If our record stays what it is, we'll get a customary 2-3 selections. Deng's the most natural choice since there's the Boozer/Noah controversy, and I get the impression there's a feeling among the league that he "deserves his." One of Noah and Boozer have a good shot if they can get their act together before the break.
1/14/12 Anderson 24.9 PER Josh Smith 20.4 PER Humphries 19.9 PER Varejao 18.7 PER West 18.2 PER Boozer 18.0 PER Bosh 18.0 PER Brand 17.2 PER Garnett 16.6 PER Amare 16.2 PER As for Deng, I don't think he'll make it and I don't think he should. The All Star Game is all about glitz and glamor. Deng's game doesn't have any. He'd be out of place. The proper award for Deng is 2nd Team All Defense.
The two obvious SFs to make the East All-Star team are LeBron and Melo. Deng might have a shot at 3rd team all-nba, FWIW.
All-star awards are usually about team performance. I think it's a flawed methodology, but that's usually the way it goes. If we have the best record in the NBA, the chances are very good that at least one of Deng/Boozer/Noah will get a ticket to the game. I agree that Deng's game isn't suited for all-star weekend, and he's no better or worse than other seasons when he's been healthy, but that's the way the ball rolls.
Completely agree. I also feel like Deng has reached the last set of his productive years before his skills begin to decline. That's usually when a player like Deng gets a courtesy nod -- it's somewhat now or never. I think you can argue that over the course of Deng's career, looking at no year in specific, he deserved to make one (maybe two) Allstar games. It feels to me like this is going to be one of those years.
Sorry, but I just don't see it. I think Deng looks good now, compared to most other SFs, because the previous class of much better SFs are old and have declined in ability. Guys like Paul Pierce. Even in Deng's best season, LeBron and Pierce were the All-Stars, and there were several guys who were better choices for the All-Star team: Iggy, Butler, Jamison, Gerald Wallace...
Wait a f'in minute. Deng's 26 years old! He's the same f'in age as Gibson! As I said, I don't think he'll be an All Star selection and I'm fine with that (he could use the rest), but don't make him out to be entering his twilight years.
It seems to me that player longevity with the early-entry generation of NBA players is related to a mixture of age and miles, and Deng has played a ton of minutes over his eight seasons. It's all just speculation on my part because you never know how players will age -- Camby is somehow still productive -- but I get the feeling that the next few seasons, probably through the end of his current contract, will be his veteran-production years. Denny: Jamison has been an allstar twice, Wallace once, Butler twice. And this is kind of my point. It seems to me that Players in Deng's general performance range usually make it once or twice over the course of their careers, provided that they are playing on relatively good teams. I think a player's body of work is considered in the process. Iguodala and Deng will probably get one or two legacy nods, especially with the way their teams are playing.
Jaimson and Butler (and the others I mentioned) were consistently better performers than Deng throughout their careers. Was Washington a top tier team? How about Charlotte?
I shouldn't have been so quick to criticize...this could be good news since James, Wade and Bosh have all played more minutes than Deng. In Lebron's case, he's got Deng by like 8,000mins.
