Saturday, January 24, 2009

The 2nd Annual Brad's Sports Fix NBA All-Star rosters....

Title says it all....HERE are my picks (not the actual picks) for the respective 12-man All-Star Teams....First in the East


Starters:
  • PG - (disclaimer, my starting lineups will have actual positions whereas the real ones, for whatever reason, go G-G-F-F-C) - Devin Harris, New Jersey.... Far and away the East's best PG this year so far....22 points and 6 assists per is enough for me to overcome some team shortcomings....especially in a down PG year...

  • SG - Dwyane Wade, Miami.....Shoe-in really...29, 7, and 5 is out of this world, and for my money, he's been the league's 2nd best player (to Lebron) this year....Yes, including Kobe....He's taken them back to the playoff chase, and he edges Joe Johnson

  • SF- Lebron James, Cleveland....umm, do I need to explain? Best player in the game having a historically great offensive season while teaming with a leaps-and-bounds improvement on D....

  • PF- Chris Bosh, Toronto....I'm gonna get pounded for this....yes, his team is in the tank....but he's putting up 23 and 10 and KG's numbers are really not overly impressive...I'll take the flack

  • C- Dwight Howard, Orlando....Let's just say the gap between him and Center #2 is even bigger than the gap between Lebron and the next guy at his spot....

Backup Guards: Joe Johnson (easily the #2 SG and the 3rd best in the league today behind Kobe and DWade), Jameer Nelson (Edges AI because the numbers are comparable and Orlando is hands-down better, and he's the main reason for their improvement), Vince Carter (boy it pains me....but he's the most worthy of the remaining guards....sigh)

Backup Fowards: Kevin Garnett (Absolute shoe-in with Bosh), Danny Granger (Who I would place above Bosh if I was picking just forwards, averaging 26, 5, and 4 this year), and Paul Pierce (having another very good year and they continue to win)

Backup Center: Emeka Okafor (probably the least deserving guy on either side....but having his best year of his career with 59% FG, 14 pts, 11 boards, 1.8 blocks per)

To the west.....

  • PG- Chris Paul, New Orleans- Never a doubt here....A bonafide superstar and the class of his position....no longer a debate with Deron Williams...21, 11 and 3 steals per? Get outta here....

  • SG- Kobe Bryant, LAL- Well, he's Kobe Bryant for God sake....
  • SF- Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas- I'm bending my own rules a bit here....Dirk plays a great deal of the 3 spot on offense because he is a jump shooter by trade....and there is an absolute dearth of small forwards in the West right now....So there it is
  • PF- Tim Duncan, SA- Still one of the best players in the league, fantastic at both ends every single night and the pillar of consistency and fundaments....Man, I love him
  • C- Yao Ming, Houston- 20 and 10....despite what you may think of him, he's definitely the best center in the West when he's out there, and he's played 42 games so far....
Backup Guards: Brandon Roy (best player on a very good team, averaging 22, 5, and 5, etc.), Kevin Durant (Somehow he's listed at guard on the ballot....Averaging a ludicrous 24 ppg at 20 years old and possesses one of the top 5 offensive packages in the L), and Chauncey Billups (leading Denver to the playoff hunt despite the loss of Melo, and putting up numbers to boot)


Backup Forwards: Amare Stoudamire (Not a big fan of his game, but 21 and 8 can't be ignored), David West (I've been underwhelmed by him this season as well...but again, 20 and 7 gets you in as a West Forward)


Backup Centers: Al Jefferson (nothing in the rules against taking 3 centers, and he's really a forward anyway...averaging 22 and 11 and making Minny competitive nightly), and Shaquille O'Neal (initially I scoffed at Shaq getting here...but he's playing very well and the team record when he plays is significantly better than when he doesn't...and again, Jefferson is really a forward, lol)


Well....there it is....no these aren't the 24 best guys in the league (Shaq, David West, Billups, and Okafor wouldn't be there)....but by the criteria they give me, this is what I came up with....Ideally (and I've bounced this off a few people) I'd say they forget the East-West teams thing and literally have captains (at this day and age it would Kobe and Lebron) and literally pick teams of 12 and go at it....No, I didn't make this idea up, but I love the concept....maybe even put like $1 million on the line? Something to get these guys to try....Either that, or make a rule that someone with the last name of "Kidd" "Nash" or "Paul" be on the court at all times for each team....maybe include Deron Williams in that, or Jose Calderon since the 3 of them would probably get tired.....I just need a distributing point guard....I get sick of watching Allen Iverson play point in all-star games lol or Steph Marbury, etc.....Okay, rant over!

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