NBA All-Stars (2013, of course)

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My votes for All-Stars. Quick notes on my criteria: 1, I haven't looked at how the fans are voting and therefore have no idea how it looks like; 2, I try to give as much credit to the quality of team play as I do to individual play-- that is, if you are putting up 20 ppg on a team that is 2nd or 3rd in the league, that is worth more to me than if you are putting up 23ppg on a team that will not make the playoffs; 3, remember, for the first time, the NBA has essentially removed the "center" designator, meaning none need to be on the team at all; and 4, my starting line-up reflects the 5 players whom I think are playing the best out of the 12 I have selected.

West:
F Kevin Durant, OKC
F David Lee, Golden State
G Chris Paul, LA Clippers
G Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers
G Russell Westbrook, OKC
Bench: F/C Tim Duncan and G Tony Parker, Spurs; G/F Andre Iquodala, Denver; G James Harden, Houston; F Blake Griffin, Clips; C Marc Gasol, Memphis; F/C LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland. (Really struggled w/ inclusion of Gasol and Iquodala--both of their games, statistically, seem slightly down. However, they are both playing big minutes for teams that are more successful than ever, and each of them are key parts of that success. I ultimately believe players should not be overly penalized because they play for deep, athletic, well-coached teams where 8-10 players are capable of contributing on a nightly basis--and therefore, their statistics may not look as gaudy as, say, Kobe's).
Honorable Mention: C Dwight Howard (this one is contentious--though I figure he'll actually be on the All-Star team this season, probably at the expense of Gasol or Duncan, in reality his statistics are arguably the same as Tim Duncan's--the difference being the Spurs are actually winning, plus Duncan is shooting over 80% [remember when he couldn't shoot them?] from the free-throw line, while Howard's inablity to shoot free-throws has literally lost games for the Lakers this year), G Damien Lillard, G Stephen Curry, G Jamal Crawford, F Serge Ibaka (he should be the 13th man on this squad, in my opinion--he's having an excellent season and has improved significantly each season he's been in the league), F Zach Randolph, G Mike Conley, F Danno Gallinari, G Ty Lawson, C Omar Asik, F Chandler Parsons, C Al Jefferson, G O.J. Mayo, F Andrei Kirilenko, F Kevin Love (in reality he'll probably make the team, too, but he's missed a lot of games for a relatively underachieving team, and I don't think he deserves to make it this season).

East:
F LeBron James, Heat
F Carmelo Anthony, Knicks
F/C Joakim Noah, Bulls
G Dwayne Wade, Heat
G Rajon Rondo, Celtics
Bench: F/C Chris Bosh, Heat; C Tyson Chandler, Knicks; F David West and G George Hill, Pacers; F Josh Smith, Atlanta; G Jrue Holiday, 76ers; G Monta Ellis, Bucks.
Honorable Mention: G J.R. Smith, C Al Horford (he's quietly put together a good season for a surging Atlanta team and is much like Ibaka, above--he should be the first player put on the team if someone is out due to injury or something), G Jeff Teague, F Danny Granger, C Roy Hibbert, F Luol Deng, G Brandon Jennings, C Brook Lopez (his stats are significant and I gave him a pretty close look), G Deron Williams (I am assuming in reality he'll make the team due to name recognition, likely at the expense of Hill, Holiday, or Ellis--but if you look at his stats, this season he's only the 3rd-best point-guard in the East behind Holiday and Rondo--plus his team is falling in the rankings & he's been publically blamed for his coach's firing), F Paul Pierce, G/F Evan Turner.

Overall, I see a pretty interesting trend. Many of these guys are not the All-Star "perenials" we've seen over the past decade or so. No Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, or Ray Allen, for instance, and I'm not sure how many of the guys I think deserve to be All-Stars this season will still be in All-Star form by next season already (like Dwayne Wade or the indefatigueable Kobe--both of whom will probably keep making the All-Star team based on name-recognition, even when their games decline). I think it's just a matter of time before guys like Evan Turner, Brandon Jennings, Damien Lillard, Stephen Curry, and Chandler Parsons are All-Star level talent each season.

 

Kobe, actually forgot an adjective to describe his team - not good. While it is true that the Lakers have players who are "old and slow", the real problem is that everyone who doesn't fit that criteria is simply not that good. There's only 3 guys on the team that I would describe as old. The other 9 just aren't playing very well.

 

^Yeah, my personal opinion is Sacre and Morris aren't good enough to play in the NBA yet. To be brutally honest.

Duhon is, IMO, a strong third-option as a point-guard or shooting guard (i.e., he should be buried on the bench as a 11th or 12th man). Duhon, Sacre, and Morris are getting way too much burn for a team to be successful in the West. They don't defend, are offensively inconsistent, are turnover-prone, make bad decisions, lack confidence, and draw the attention of the other team's predators, who know they can get easy stats against these 3.

With the exception of one game maybe this entire season, when I've seen Jamison play I've been extremely unimpressed. He not only looks slow and old, but tentative, and at times, just lazy--or so completely confused about what he's supposed to be doing out there that he might as well just be lazy.

Meeks had a decent season or two in Philadelphia, but yeah, so far, his game reminds me what a great back-up shooting guard Shannon Brown was. He at least seems to play hard.

I think one of the problems with Dwight is that he's just not nearly as good an offensive player as some want to give him credit for. His hands are just okay, he can't reliably shoot from farther than 8 or 10 feet, obviously he sucks at the free-throw line, and even the jump hook he relies heavily on is somewhat inconsistent. He's an average passer, though he is relatively unselfish, but he has no particular eye for exploiting the defense (he's no Hakeem, Ming, or Sabonis, guys who could easily pile up 8 or 10 assists against teams if they attempted to double them every time down the court). He can get offensive boards, but other than Pau, there is no one else in the low post to take defensive pressure off of him--so he has to work hard all the time. He is legitimately big, aggressive, and athletic, but now that both his stamina and explosiveness are somwhat lacking due to this injury (as an guy with five discs that are either ruptured or bulging myself, I certainly sympathize), he's struggling. And despite his sunny disposition, he lacks emotional control on the court (though honestly, this makes him eerily similar to his predecessor). He also seems overly defensive when it comes to criticism, too. Perhaps he didn't feel that until he came to LA and is still trying to figure out how to deal with it.