All-Star Picks: East

As is with the way they have you vote, lets move from the West to the East.  Actually, for the past few years, the East has always consistently outplayed the West in the ASG, which leads to some contention, but usually the game is good.  The balance of stars has always been there, just not the balance of teams, so in this case (the ASG) then it doesn't really matter.  On with the show...

Starters:

Again, remember you voted (well, fans that voted, including you if you did) for these players, so I really can't do anything about who starts or not, so the main picks by me in this case would have to be the reserves and wildcards. 

Dwayne Wade (SG, Miami Heat)

D-Wade's revival has been sort of the marquee of the year since the Beijing Olympics over the summer.  Last season was a major disappointment with him trying to recover from a devestating shoulder dislocation from a collision with Shane Battier, and then knee problems, eventually forcing him to miss the majority of the season, causing the Heat to stumble to an embarassing league worst of 15-67, which ultimately turned into a lottery pick landing them Michael Beasley.  Now the Heat stand at a respectable 23-19 and that's largely thanks to Wade's return and revitalized play.  Wade is averaging an insane 28.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.5 blocks on 47.5% shooting.  Ridiculous.  This is a guy who fantasy owners were disappointed in because he fell below 2 blocks per game in his averages.  As a guard.  Yeah.  Scary.  His averages thusfar for points, assists, steals, and blocks are all career highs.  Also good to note that he's the league's leading scorer at the moment scoring 0.7 more points per game than LeBron, and a whole 2.4 points more than Kobe.  

Allen Iverson (SG, Detroit Pistons)

This is a point in time where a player's reputation is a little greater than his actual on-court value.  At least from what we've seen so far.  Detroit has managed to hold to a 24-19 record while trying to fit The Answer into a more team oriented system.  Iverson still has a lot of game, definitely one of the best if not the best undersized players in the game.  I'm more prone to blame adjustment to the system than his age for the dropoff in production, but I could be wrong.  Since the swap for Billups, McDyess, and Samb, Iverson has been averaging 17.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.6 steals per game on 41.9% shooting.  While it is his career low scoring average at the moment, I think that was to be expected with the team oriented offense system as opposed to Iverson-oriented offense that AI is used to.  Instead of playing around players like Aaron McKie, Dikembe Mutumbo, and the like, who were all supporting cast for Iverson, AI now has to play with players that produce with the ball more, taking away his shots, like Rip Hamliton, Rasheed Wallace, and the emerging offenses of Tayshaun Prince and Rodney Stuckey.  Definitely disagree with this pick, but hey, the fans like him, so to me, this is a fan pick more than anything.  Iverson makes enough sense to keep David Sterns tinkering ways out of this vote.  So, he's in more because of career achievements and the fact that he can still kind of play, more so than that he's actually playing well.

LeBron James (SF, Cleveland Cavaliers)

I really shouldn't have to say anything here, I shouldn't, but I will, just because.  Maybe there's some contention as to whether or not he's the best player in the league at the moment, however, I don't think there should be any contention that should he continue to develop, he will be the best player in the league at his prime, if not the best player of all time.  His scoring, rebounding, and assists are down from last year, but that's largely because of the help that Danny Ferry got LeBron in the form of Mo Williams, as well as the revitalized play of the other supporting cast like Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Delonte West.  While Big Z and West's injuries are worrisome, the Cavs are still one of the elite teams in the East (there I said it), though I personally am not convinced that they have what it takes to win, but still they have LeBron, and that's quite a bit.  He's "down" averages are: 28.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 2.0 steals on 49.4% shooting.  Ridiculous.  As a reminder to all of you, he just turned 24 this past Christmas (well, technically a little after).

Kevin Garnett (PF, Boston Celtics)

The reigning DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year) I think is deserving of an ASG slot.  While I didn't vote for him, he's definitely bringing a lot to the floor.  More so than the numbers tell.  His averages are definitely down across the board; 16.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.2 blocks on 52.5% shooting.  Some of it might be attributed to age (he turns 33 this year) however, I believe a large part of it is the emergence of Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins as major forces on the floor, in addition to the strong starting performance of Ray Allen.  What Garnett brings to floor beyond the numbers though, is a tenacity and intensity that invigorates his teammates.  He is the anchor of the defense, where Tim Duncan is the silent, lead by example kind of player, Kevin Garnett is the opposite, he's the guy that will get in your face and get loud and be intense.  Garnett and Duncan are like the polar opposite PFs of the time, but both are elite and show that both ways can work.  Definitely a beyond the stats pick, not my pick, but he deserves it.

Dwight Howard (C, Orlando Magic)

What's amazing about this pick isn't that it's Dwight Howard, there are no other centers in the East that really deserve to be the ASG except for Howard.  What's amazing, is that Howard got more votes than Kobe, LeBron, Wade, Yao, and Duncan, the other position vote leaders.  That aside, Dwight Howard is a beast.  He's starting to refine his game a little beyond spin and dunk, and while he has the big-man weakness of not being able to make free throws, you can't really fault him too much on that as it's something other great bigs like Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal struggled with.  Superman is averaging 20.0 points, 13.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 3.2 blocks on 56.5% shooting.  Yes, I did type that correctly, 3.2 blocks per game.  As the currently league leader in rebounds and blocks Howard is also 5th in FG%, behind Nene, Shaq, Emeka Okafor, and David Lee.  Like LeBron, Dwight is still a ways away from realizing his true potential, he's only 23.  While he's been known to take plays off on times, and Stan Van Gundy recently called him out, he's been crucial to the Magic success (33-10), and he's definitely making the difference.

Reserves:

Ah, now here we go, my picks.  Remember; 2 guards, 2 forwards, 1 center, 2 wildcards

Joe Johnson (SG, Atlanta Hawks)

Joe Johnson has his game together.  His not-too-shabby averages of 21.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.1 steal, and 2.0 threes per game on 42.6% shooting are definitely one of the reasons the Hawks stand 26-17, 4th overall in the Eastern Conference.  Ok, so I don't put a huge amount of emphasis on team performance, so let's just get back to the Armadillo Cowboy.  He's been playing amazing basketball, and honestly, I would've voted him in over AI (I did vote for him I recall) and the numbers don't lie, he's playing at a high level, I can't think of another guard on the East more deserving to be in the ASG (well, after Wade I suppose).  

Devin Harris (PG, New Jersey Nets)

He's not by far the best PG in the East, but he is the best PG.  On that alone, he should make it in.  While the numbers should be taken with a grain of salt, that grain being that Lawrence Frank is running most of the offense through Harris, 21.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 1.6 steals on 44.6% shooting is still rather impressive.  Most people have already locked him in as MIP (Most Improved Player) and I wouldn't disagree.  Most people also say that he's now making the Jason Kidd trade look stupid, and while in terms of player value, maybe the Nets won out, I wouldn't say that the trade didn't make sense, perhaps that's where the grain of salt comes in.

Danny Granger (SF, Indiana Pacers)

So a lot of people are probably saying, "I told you so!" to me and my earlier "Danny Granger is overrated" posts.  Well, maybe not, because that would mean that people are actually reading this.  Nonetheless, Granger has indeed proven me wrong, and it's a good thing I think.  I like being proven wrong in this case.  Granger has definitely stepped it up on a Pacers squad that really didn't look like much (still isn't looking great, but definitely some great pieces in there).  He's definitely become the floor leader for this squad and has brought it, his game has definitely stepped it up.  While some might argue that his per-48 stats are actually similar to previous production, he's just getting more minutes, the fact that he's putting up 26.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.0 steal, and 1.4 blocks per game, on 44.3% shooting just means that he was that good to begin with.

Antawn Jamison (SF/PF, Washington Wizards)

Of a dismal Wizards squad, surprisingly Jamison has been the one bright spot.  I give him this slot because Jamison is one of those hard workers that always brings 110% to the floor.  While I have my doubts that Jamison would actually be put on the ASG East team, I think he deserves a spot because of his consistent contribution.  He's averaging 20.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.2 steals on 47.2% shooting.  Solid numbers.  This is the point where I note that I think ASG is more about individual achievement though arguably if a guy is All-Star material he should be contributing to the team's win category as well, but honestly I can't hold that against a guy like Jamison.

Chris Bosh (PF/C, Toronto Raptors)

Chris Bosh again wins the "center" spot on the reserve roster.  Regardless of what position it is, Bosh definitely deserves a spot in the ASG game, let me first get that straight.  However, being that he's close enough to being a center, and there are no centers I think deserving of the spot (Zydrunas Ilgauskas is injured, Jermaine O'Neal on the injured list too long, Rasheed Wallace too inconsistent, Kendrick Perkins isn't a big enough factor, and it just tails off from there) Bosh gets the spot.  People have held the Raptors' recent struggles against him, but again, I can't really blame him for the ineffectiveness of Jason Kapono, Jamario Moon, and Anthony Parker as well as the injuries to Jermaine O'Neal and Jose Calderon.  I voted for Bosh to start instead of Kevin Garnett, because he deserves it.  He's averaging 23.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists on 49.7% shooting.  

Wildcards:

Vince Carter (SG, New Jersey Nets)

It feels weird putting two Nets into the ASG, but, still, Carter definitely has put himself in a spot that deserves it.  A lot of people (myself included) questioned Carter's motivation for playing with the Nets, as the franchise is obviously moving towards the rebuilding phase (only Carter, Harris, and Eduardo Najera have contracts longer than 2 seasons).  However, Carter came out this year playing strong, and while he's struggled a couple of games, he's definitely shown that his heart is still in the game.  He's kept his head in the game and playing the basketball that we've wanted him to play for as long as we can remember.  Late is better than never.  He's averaging: 21.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.1 steals on 44.8% shooting.

Rashard Lewis (SF/PF, Orlando Magic)

I had a really hard time picking this one, really, there are a lot of guys that could go in here, but I'm going to have to go with Lewis.  While a lot of people think throwing that $15 million contract at Lewis was a big mistake, I happen to think the opposite.  I think Rashard Lewis is a quality player, an All-Star caliber player.  He makes a huge difference on the defensive end, playing out of position, guarding PFs, making them work for their shots with his length, and he's been a solid contributor on the offensive end as well.  He's averaging 19.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2.9 treys on 44.8% shooting.  He's leading the leagues in 3-pointers made (per game).  I think that warrants a shout-out.

Potential "snubs"

Ok, before I start this list, I know you people are going to yell at me, because of the people I left off, so I'd just kindly request you remember that these are just my picks, you can civilly disagree in the comments if you so please.

Ray Allen (SG, Boston Celtics)

As I mentioned earlier, Allen has been playing great.  He came into the season with some hot shooting and has sustained that thusfar.  He's averaging 18.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.0 steals, and 2.4 treys on 50.4 % shooting.  50.4%!  This is a guy that's supposed to be the team's 3pt specialist.   As great as he's been playing though, I think that other players have stepped it up more. 

Paul Pierce (SF, Boston Celtics)

Let me again get this straight, 19.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.1 steals per game on 44.2% shooting is great.  It really is.  However, Pierce hasn't really brought it every game.  Sure he hasn't needed to, but some of his earlier struggles in the season definitely haven't helped his overall individual performance, and thus he gets nudged out.

Caron Butler (SG/SF, Washington Wizards)

He's about as deserving as Jamison, except, I suppose he hasn't lived up to expectations.  He really hasn't been a huge difference maker on his team, and has faded at times.  He doesn't take over the game like the Wizards (or the rest of us) really want him to.  Granted, you can't blame everything on him, but he just hasn't been there consistently.

Rajon Rondo (PG, Boston Celtics)

Rondo had a streak of craziness, but he's kind of come back down to earth.  While his game has significantly improved, it hasn't to the point where he's All-Star material.  Certainly, he deserves some consideration, but, with the Celtics, it's hard to point to any individual contributing with outstanding performances, which is something I take as the most important in an ASG candidate.

Jameer Nelson (PG, Orlando Magic)

Nelson has proven a lot of people, who didn't think he had what it took to run a club wrong.  He's been having a phenomenal season and is the floor leader that the Magic look to for offense intiation.  Consistency has been another issue here, and Nelson, while for the most part solid, has sort of tapered off.  

Other players that I don't have time to write about, but I considered were Emeka Okafor (PF/C, Charlotte Bobcats), Gerald Wallace (SF/PF, Charlotte Bobcats), Josh Smith (PF, Atlanta Hawks), Mike Bibby (PG, Atlanta Hawks), Hedo Turkoglu (Orlando Magic)